Willow - Legend of the Dryads, Book 1

Chapter 3

Jayne had geography again the next day, but she just could not keep her eyes open long enough to hear a single word Mr Rogers was saying. The two hours for which she had actually been asleep the night before had been troubled by bad dreams and her messed up mind was spinning with a thousand thoughts and worries which were beginning to make her feel slightly nauseous. It hadn't helped much when the sight of Fabien again that morning had triggered the memory of seeing him floating in mid-air and she felt almost sure that she would have thrown up had she eaten breakfast that morning.

Jayne had already found herself completely shunning Fabien during form, worried about what any sort of conversation might have led to. She'd spent the entire morning trying to convince herself that she had imagined the whole thing, and she really didn't want anyone at that moment telling her otherwise.

"Hey, what's going on between you and the new guy?"

"What?" Jayne span round to look her best friend in the face.

"Well, why does he keep looking at you like that and why do you keep hiding your face?" Jayne took that time to shoot a glance over at Fabien, who was indeed looking directly at her. She felt sicker than ever.

"Are you all right?" Tara asked her, "You've gone ever so pale."

"Nothing," Jayne lied, "Nothing's the matter."

"Don't lie to me," Tara said, "I know you too well."

Jayne sighed, but didn't get the chance to say anything.

"Alright everyone," Mr Rogers belted after clearing his throat. "Silence now, please." Everyone instantly shut up then, afraid to get Mr Rogers into one of his bad moods for which he was infamous.

The silence was too awkward for Jayne to handle. Everyone was working individually, yet she felt like all eighteen eyes of everyone else in the class were boring into her. The quietness rung through her ears and again all she could hear was the blood pumping through her veins. It brought back the vivid and disturbing memories of the night before. Jayne felt tense. She itched. She fidgeted. She felt hot and flushed.

"Are you okay?" a voice made her jump. It was Fabien; she knew his voice by now. She looked up. He was looking ahead, but she had heard his voice as plain as day in her head. Everyone else was getting on with their work, silently. They hadn't seemed to hear him. Fabien had thought the words to her, and she had been able to read them just the way he had been able to read her mind the night before.

Jayne refused to let anything more freak her out, but was still scared to think anything back.

"Sorry I scared you yesterday," she heard Fabien say. Looking now at the back of his head, Jayne could just about make out a subtle green sheen sitting atop his ruffled, otherwise dark brown hair.

"No, I'm sorry I ran," Jayne answered, thinking that she'd feel pretty stupid if it turned out he was not talking to her at all and it was all in her imagination.

"Don't be. I must have really startled you." Yes. He was definitely talking to her. "Look, do you think you could meet me in the forest again this evening?"

Jayne didn't think anything. She didn't know which one she feared most: Fabien or the forest.

"Aw, come on nah, dahlin'," Fabien was now thinking to her in an American cowboy accent. "Ah didn't mean'a scare ye. Cut a fella some slack, doll," he drawled. Jayne couldn't help it - she started to giggle at Fabien's phony accent. Fabien smiled.

"Is something funny, Jayne?" Mr Rogers eyed her suspiciously. "Would you care to share it with the rest of the class?"

"No, Mr Rogers," she said, hanging her head, swallowing back her guffaws.