Vitality | Elementals 1

Chapter 9

When school finally ended, I went to my locker to put my stuff away and grab my English notebook. While I was doing so, Lincoln walked up to me. "Hey," he said. "Sorry I'm not your partner for the project."

"It's fine," I said. "I was wondering when you would ever want to partner up with Wendy anyway."

"So, do you want to hang out today?" Lincoln asked. "We can go to the beach."

"I'm actually going to meet my partner in the library," I said. That, and ever since water kept moving on me and I got that peculiar mark on my shoulder, I tried avoiding water. Well, except for when I had to shower, of course. It was a pain at first because the water kept moving, but I finally got it to stay.

"Oh," Lincoln said, sounding a bit disappointed. "Okay."

"Are you sure everything is okay with you?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Well, I should be heading home then. I'll see you when you get home."

When he walked away, I watched as I furrowed my eyebrows. Something really was bothering him. I hoped he was able to figure it out soon, because he was acting really different.

I grabbed my English notebook out of my locker before closing it and heading to the library. Simon was already sitting at a table, reading a book. As soon as I sat down beside him, he quickly closed the book and covered it with his notebook. "I'm guessing you don't want me to know what you're reading," I said.

"Not really, no," he said.

I shrugged, taking my bag off and setting it on the floor. I took out a pencil and the short story so we could get to work. However, we decided to get to know each other a bit more before we started.

"So, have you lived here you whole life?" Simon asked.

"Uh, yeah," I said. "I live with my best friend and his dad. Actually, when I was a baby, I was left on their doorsteps. I have never met my parents before."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Simon said.

"It's fine," I said. "I kind of accepted it. Besides, I like living with my best friend. His dad owns the resort here, so we get in all the time and get free food."

"Wow, lucky," Simon said. "And if it makes you feel any better, I've been fostered basically all my life. I just recently found my mom, but she was sick in the hospital and on Friday, she passed away."

I frowned. "I'm so sorry. That must suck."

"Yeah, it does," Simon said. "But at least I got to spend a few days with her. I just wished it was longer." He then cleared his throat. "We should probably get started on the project."

We were able to plan out what we wanted the story to go like before deciding that we would be able to start writing it the next time we were able to work together.

Our walk to our houses ended up being in the same direction, so we started walking together, talking more. As it turned out, Simon has lived all over Florida and he never stayed in the same place for too long. He was hoping that he would actually stay here for a long time.

We got to my house and I stopped in front of it. "And this is where I live," I said.

Simon looked at the house with an impressed look. "Wow," he said. "It's huge. You're quite lucky."

"I guess I am," I said. "Hey, tomorrow at lunch, you can see with me and my friends. You'll like them. There's my best friend, Lincoln. He's really nice and gets along with everyone. Then there's Heath, the captain of the soccer team. He's a jokester, so prepare for a lot of cheesy jokes. And then there's Wendy, Lincoln's girlfriend. She's the head cheerleader, but she's nothing like those stereotypes. She's really nice."

"Yeah, I'd love to sit with you guys," he said. "Thanks."

"I'll see you tomorrow then," I said.

"See you," Simon said before continuing walking down the path.

I walked into the house where Lincoln was sitting on the couch, watching TV, and his dad Marvin was reading a book. "Who was that?" Marvin asked.

"Simon, he's new," I said. "He's my partner for an English partner. Were you spying?"

"Some may call it spying, but I call it looking out the conveniently large window facing the sidewalk," Marvin said.

I rolled my eyes and sat down beside Lincoln on the couch. "Want to hang out now?" I asked.

"Nope," Lincoln said, keeping his eyes on the TV. "I'm comfortable here. Besides, you're the one who didn't want to hang out with me when I asked."

"Because I already planned to meet with Simon," I said. "But I'm done now, so we can hang out if you want."

"I don't want to," Lincoln said.

"Okay," I said, standing up from the couch. "You know, you should probably tell someone, anyone, what's going on with you. I'm worried about you."

"I'm fine," he said.

"So you keep saying," I said. "Even if you feel fine, just talk to someone so they can confirm that you are."

"How about you tell your old father?" Marvin asked.

"Dad, I'm fine," Lincoln said. "I don't need to tell anyone what's going on."

"Keep telling yourself that," I said. "I'll be in my room if you ever decide to tell me, or even if you just want to hang out."

___________________

Simon finally met one of the others. Woooooooo

He's still my bae. I love me my Simon.

And trust me, nobody will ever guess what's in the envelope. cx