Fly: A PORTAL Chronicles Novel (The PORTAL Chronicles) (12 page)

I stifled my laughter. “You totally schooled him,” I whispered. “How did you know that?” I only knew the answer because I had a photographic memory and could speed read, memorizing anything in seconds. I suspected she knew because of her dad.

“My dad,” she whispered. “As I was about to tell Dr. Trivedi, I used to sit through similar courses when Dad worked at Cambridge. I was stunned to find a high school course on it here.”

“Yeah, Brightman Academy isn’t your average high school. Dr. Trivedi hails from MIT.”

“I thought so! His name sounded familiar. I wonder if he worked with my dad when he taught his summer course there.”

I liked this girl. So much.

Over the rest of the period, I watched Sophie out of the corner of my eye as she diligently took notes on Dr. Trivedi’s review of Geometric Algebra’s application to classical mechanics and quantum electrodynamics, as well as multi-particle quantum mechanics and quantum information, and how this would translate into learning Geometric Algebra’s application to Mathematical Physics over the coming semester. The thought of it made my head hurt, explaining my gratitude when the bell signaled the period’s end.

“What class do you have next?” Sophie asked, packing her things.

“AP Spanish with Mrs. Martinez.” I was fluent in English, Spanish, French, German, Cantonese, and Japanese, so the class would be a breeze.

“Oh. I have Advanced Literature.”

“What do you have after that?” I asked. If she hadn’t changed her class schedule any more, she had P.E. and then lunch.

“I have P.E. with Mr. Marsh,” she answered. “I think I have lunch after that. What about you?”

“Advanced Chemistry with Mr. Weiss and then lunch.”

“I’m glad we have the same lunch period. Will you sit with me?” she asked.

“Sure. Mia has lunch during fourth period too. We can all sit together.” I immediately regretted the comment wondering if it gave the impression that I liked being in the friend zone. The dynamics between us were getting tricky fast.

We merged into the overcrowded hall. Students were everywhere, frantically scurrying to their next destination.

“Do you know where Mrs. Allen’s classroom is?” Sophie asked, staring at a campus map.

“Follow me,” I said, setting off. “It’s right by my Spanish class.”

I made my way through the crowded hallway, ever so often looking to make sure Sophie was still behind me. Seeing she was getting knocked about, I grabbed her hand, pulling her along. Reaching a staircase, I let her go ahead of me. We were progressing fine until she stopped. Noticing, I abruptly halted causing the guy behind me to face plant into my backpack. Like a domino effect, people down the stairs careened into each other one by one.

“Sophie?” I asked, partly irritated and partly concerned. I looked at her and noticed she had the same blank expression as with Hagen a couple days before. Sure enough, I followed her gaze to find Hagen descending the stairs, his eyes locked with Sophie’s. My stomach tightened. “You’ve got to keep moving, Sophie.” I nudged her.

Without a word, she began climbing the steps, though mindlessly, like a zombie, her eyes still on Hagen, who stared back at her with a funny smirk.

Then Sophie fell.

Chapter 15

R.I.C.E.

It happened so fast I didn’t have time to catch Sophie. She missed a step and stumbled forward, slamming hard into the marble stairs, her heavy book bag going down on top of her. I reflexively reached down around her waist and lifted her up. She was back on her feet so quickly that I doubted anyone saw she’d fallen.

“Nice job! I give it a ten,” Hagen said loudly, laughing as he passed.

Okay, except for Hagen. And how thoughtful of him to announce it. I swore at him under my breath, shooting him a look I hoped communicated, “You’re not welcome here, scum bag. Leave and never come back!”

Half-carrying-half-dragging Sophie up the stairs, I found a bench to set her on. “Are you okay?” I crouched and peered up at her face. I knew I was supposed to be guarding her from the enemy’s attack, but I never foresaw having to save her from herself. Chin quivering, she stared at her hands in her lap with a mortified look. “Talk to me,” I pleaded, swiping her hair from her face. “You fell pretty hard. Does anything hurt?”

“My knee, my arm, my side… and my pride,” she answered, tears pooling in her eyes.

“At least your sense of humor is in tact.” She glanced at me before focusing on her hands again. “It’s these stupid boots you’re wearing,” I said, unzipping one and taking it off. Looking around to make sure the hall had cleared, I handed her the boot. “Here. Throw it.”

“What?”

“It will make you feel better.”

Stifling a smile, she took it. “Stupid boot!” she hollered, launching it down the hall with gusto.

“Whoa! Not that hard. Knowing Mia’s taste, those boots are worth at least a few hundred dollars.”

“Oops.”

I laughed at Sophie’s sheepish expression. Fetching the boot, I looked it over. “It’s not damaged and you feel better, so we’re good.”

“Except for my right knee,” Sophie said, wincing as she extended it.

“May I see?” With her consent, I took off her other boot and inspected her knee, glad having a doctor for a father and completing medic courses for agency training had done me some good after all.

The bell rang.

“I’m going to be late for class,” Sophie whined. “And I’ve made you late, too.”

“It’s okay. I have connections, remember,” I tried to cheer her.

“First the tea and now this. It’s so like me to make a total fool of myself. I fell like a ton of bricks.”

“That you did,” I snickered.

“Hey! You’re not supposed to agree with me!” She slugged me and I laughed harder. “It’s not funny!”

“At the time it wasn’t. But think about it now.”

“Nope, not funny.” She then laughed. “Okay, maybe a little funny.”

“There! A smile!” I cheered.

“Ouch!” She winced as my fingers grazed a tender part of her knee.

“That’s it. I’m taking you to the nurse’s office. Thankfully, it’s not far.” I offered my hand to help her up. “Do you think you can walk on it?”

“Yes.” She stood and immediately sat down again. “No.”

“Okay, hold these,” I said, handing her the boots. Grabbing our bags, I helped her to standing position before pulling her onto my back.

“Bad day to wear a skirt. Big mistake,” she whispered.

“No one is here to see,” I said, moving quickly nonetheless.

“That reminds me… do you think he saw?” Sophie asked.

“Who?” I asked, knowing full well whom she meant.

“Hagen.”

“Yes. Did you not hear him announce it?” I fumed. “He openly laughed and didn’t even stop to help you.” I softened, knowing this probably made her feel bad. “He’s a creep, Sophie. Mia thinks so, too. People like him aren’t worth your time.”

“You don’t like him very much, do you?” It was more of a statement than a question.

“No, I don’t like him. I’m very protective of my family and friends, and he’s been rude to me, made snide comments about my brother, and then today, disrespected you. In my book, that’s three strikes.”

“I can understand that.”

“Here we are,” I said, entering the medical office.

Nurse Pennycoat looked up from her desk. “Well, what be the matter here?” she asked in her thick Irish brogue.

“First casualty of the school year,” I joked, placing Sophie on a nearby examination table. Sophie shot me a look. “Nurse Pennycoat, this is Sophie Cohen. Sophie, Nurse Pennycoat. Sophie tripped on her way up the stairs. I think she sprained her knee.”

“Well, Everett’s usually pretty accurate about these things,” Pennycoat said, her ruddy cheeks especially red today. “Let’s have a look.”

I normally would have left for privacy’s sake but feeling protective, I took a chair beside the table.

After a quick examination, Pennycoat said, “I concur with Dr. Everett’s diagnosis.” She laughed at her joke. “It’s just a grade one sprain — very minor. You overstretched the ligament, dear. It’s not swelling too badly though, so some ice, painkillers and elevation, and you’ll be good as gold. Do you hurt anywhere else, love?”

“My side and my arm,” Sophie said, holding up her right arm.

The nurse pulled the sleeve of Sophie’s shirt back to reveal a large blue bruise. “Oh dear! You did a good job, you did!” She felt around. “You’ll probably have a hefty bruise for a time but, thankfully, nothing’s broken. Now lie back, dear, so I can take a look at your side.” She pulled up Sophie’s shirt, exposing her stomach.

Sophie obediently laid back, her face redder than ever. I figured it was my presence that embarrassed her. I wasn’t about to budge but I did look away.

“Ouch!” Sophie quietly exclaimed.

My eyes shot back up.

“I think we have ourselves a fractured rib — either that or a severely bruised one,” Pennycoat mused. “You must have had yourself a hard fall, yeah? Take a deep breath for me, dear.” Sophie obeyed. “Well, you’re not having issues breathing and both sides of your rib cage rise and fall together, so I don’t think there’s a break. Does it hurt to breathe?”

“No. It only hurt when you touched it,” Sophie replied.

“Okay, then. I think you’ll be okay for the day, but you might want to have a doctor look at it. Maybe Everett’s father, yeah?” Pennycoat asked, glancing my way. Sophie looked at me as realization dawned.

“I can arrange something if needed,” I agreed.

“Anything else I can do for ya’ then or is my job here done?” Pennycoat asked.

“Do you have a remedy for injured pride?” I spoke up. “Sophie was complaining about that as well.”

Pennycoat chuckled, her round shoulders and belly shaking. “Get some rest and your pride — and the rest of ya’ — will be good as new in no time. I’ll fetch ya’ some ice and ibuprofen and be back in a jiff.”

Sophie sat up with a wince before pulling her shirt down with emphasis.

“Good job, Slick. A sprained knee and a possibly-fractured rib. Maybe I agree with Hagen after all — I give it a ten, too.”

“Everett!” she snapped, seeming hurt.

I softened realizing it was unfair to channel my anger for Hagen to Sophie. But what did his eyes do to make Sophie go blank? Did Hagen actually have something to do with Sophie falling or did she actually fall due to her clumsiness in Mia’s boots? “I’m just glad I was there to help because we both know Hagen didn’t.”

“Okay! You’ve made your point. You don’t like him. I don’t want to discuss it further. Besides, you shouldn’t judge. You don’t even know him.”

It irritated me that she defended him. “And you do?” I shot back before I could stop myself. She looked away. “I’m sorry, Sophie. Just promise me you’ll watch your back with him.” I fought the urge to add,
And that you’ll never see or talk to him ever again.

She looked annoyed but my sincerity must have shown through for she nodded and said, “Okay.”

Pennycoat bustled back into the room with a long cloth bandage, a bag of ice, two packets of pills and a water bottle. She told us about the R.I.C.E. formula (rest, ice, compression, and elevation), and with a little sweet talking, we left with notes excusing us from our classes for the day.

“Your place?” I suggested, excited about the prospect of spending the day with her.

“You’re going to keep me company?” She sounded surprised.

“If you’d like.”

“I'd love,” she said, again hopping on my back. “Lead the way, Knight in Shining Armor.”

I liked the sound of that.

Chapter 16

The Answer

I loved how the day had turned out. It took me publicly humiliating myself to get here, but the reward of time alone with Everett was well worth it.

The past two days with him had been amazing. Everett was funny and intelligent and I was astounded how we meshed so naturally. I’d never met a guy quite like him, and the more I got to know him, the more I felt like I’d known him for ages instead of days, even though when I thought about it, I realized I didn’t know much about him at all.

“Time to play doctor,” Everett said, unloading Nurse Pennycoat’s goodies from his book bag and handing me the ibuprofen and water. Plopping on my couch, I popped the pills in my mouth and chugged some water, spilling much of it down my shirt. “Man, it’s not your day,” Everett laughed.

I groaned, exasperated. “No, it’s not my week. I’m going to change.”

Putting my arms out, Everett pulled me up with a little too much force, sending me flying into him. His arms tightened around me as he balanced us. Both of us froze, eyes locked, not knowing what to do next.

I wondered then if he’d done it on purpose. I didn’t mind if he had. There was a magnetism with Everett that I’d never felt with another guy, and while I’d never dated, I somehow knew it was something special you didn’t come across too often.

Our faces were so close that Everett only needed to lean down slightly to kiss me. Unlike my altercation with Hagen, I didn’t mind if he tried. But then he stepped away, steadying me from an arm’s length.

Confused and embarrassed, I spun on my good leg, quickly limping to the safety of my bedroom and shutting the door behind me.
What was that!?!
I thought, bewildered. The look on Everett’s face as he pushed me away — a mix of anger, worry, and disdain — shook my confidence. Here I thought we were hitting it off, that everything was leading to us possibly dating. The horrible truth set in giving me a sinking feeling. Everett didn’t like me
like that.

After pulling on some sweatpants and a clean shirt, I headed to the bathroom to check myself out. To my horror, my mascara had smudged and ran from crying earlier in the day, leaving subtle trails through the plains of my cheeks. I quickly washed away my mask to reveal dorky old me. I took out my makeup bag to touch up, but resisted the urge accepting there was no need to look nice since my relationship with Everett was clearly on the road to platonic friendship, and not budding romance. Catching myself primping my hair in the mirror, I willed my hands to my sides, quickly marching from the bathroom.