Fire's Angel

New Student

New Student

"Ah-choo!"

"I told you that you'd get sick."

"Oh, shut up," I said, glaring at my girlfriend as we walked away from her car. "And it was just a sneeze. I'm not sick."

Alice glanced at me. "Give it a day," she replied, worry and smugness warring on her features.

I rolled my eyes before grabbing her hand and leading her into the school. "And, if I remember correctly, you're the one that decided to stay out in the rain to play hide-and-seek once it got dark. Most humans would get sick after doing that."

Alice stuck her tongue out at me before pulling me to a stop.

"I didn't hear you complaining," she answered challengingly.

I couldn't argue with that. It had been fun playing the childhood game with her in the rain. We had stayed out playing for hours. And making out with my soaking wet girlfriend while it continued to downpour around us wasn't so bad, either. Let's just say, a wet Alice makes an incredibly happy Bella.

I pulled my hand out of Alice's grasp before crossing my arms and turning away from her.

"That's what I thought," she said smugly, before placing her hand on the small of my back and pushing softly, directing me toward our first class. I let my hands fall and unconsciously reached for hers, lacing our fingers together. I saw Alice smiling softly out of the corner of my eye and couldn't keep my own smile from appearing on my lips. We both knew that I couldn't actually stay mad at her for much longer than a minute.

We fell into content silence as we continued through the school.

But, of course, our peaceful walk through the halls was interrupted by another sneeze. I abruptly jerked to a stop, pulling Alice along with me, squeezing my eyes shut and trying to cover my face all at the same time. When I reopened them, there was a handkerchief hanging loosely in front of me. I glanced over at Alice, planning to thank her, when I noticed her glaring at something ahead of us. Her grip tightened on my hand before I slowly looked up into the eyes of the person actually holding the offered handkerchief.

In front of me stood a boy, shaggy brown hair covering his eyes. He quickly shook his bangs out of his way, revealing bright green eyes. I studied his features for a moment longer. His face was chiseled with light stubble forming, lending to the assumption that he hadn't shaved that morning. He had high cheekbones, accenting his eyes. His body was toned from what I could see, and he wore clothing that made him look like an Abercrombie and Fitch model.

I looked at Alice questioningly before realizing that this boy was still waiting for me to take his offering. I straightened myself up quickly, staring the guy directly in the eye and tightening my hold on Alice. Even if I had made a fool of myself just moments ago, I would try to gain some dignity.

"Uhm, thank you," I said, reaching out to grab the handkerchief. The boy smiled warmly at me, and stood a bit straighter. I realized then that he was quite a bit taller than me, meaning that he actually towered over Alice. I glanced at Alice out of the corner of my eye to see that she was still glaring at the boy menacingly.

A silence fell over us, no one moving an inch. The boy continued to watch me, seemingly unaware of the anger rolling off of Alice in palpable waves. I rubbed the back of her hand softly with my thumb, trying to get her to calm down.

Finally, Alice spoke.

"We have to go," she said shortly, pulling me around the boy still blocking our way and then further down the hall. For a moment, it seemed as if we would be able to make a clean getaway without having to actually speak to the strange boy.