Lost in Thought: First Book of the Sententia

Chapter 5

I saw him the next morning. I was surprised, though I’m not sure why. After lying in bed pretending to sleep got old, I decided to get up and clear my head before swim practice by learning the campus a little better. It was cool out, bordering on cold, but crisp and refreshing. The sky was the pearly gray of early morning but sure to be clear and bright later. New England autumn at its best. I tugged down my sleeves against the chill and headed off toward the ponds.  

Main Street was still and empty beyond the gates. I skirted the big pond and followed the path past the Admissions building. Penrose’s stood dark and silent across the street. I was supposed to be clearing my head of the weirdness, so I purposefully turned up a branch that led toward the middle of campus, putting the bookstore at my back and pushing thoughts of the cute, disconcerting boy to the back of my mind. Of course, then I saw him.

I was coming out between, according to my directory, one of the science buildings and the Infirmary when Carter ran past me. I was close enough to call to him, but I kept quiet and watched him instead. He was jogging quickly, his stride sure and even, sweat making his shirt cling to his back and outline his broad shoulders. Watching him for only a minute, I could understand what Amy had said about the school wanting him to run on their track team.

He didn’t seem to be doing anything suspicious though. I don’t know what I expected, shifty glancing around maybe, a secret meeting at the woods’ edge. But he was just running. Fast. I came out from beside the building and took the same turn he had on the road that bordered the woods. When I crested the small hill, he was already disappearing into the trails behind the faculty quarters.

I shook my head and mentally slapped myself for my foolishness. Just because I was going crazy didn’t mean that everyone around me was in on it. This was all on me. I hadn’t had a dizzy spell and nothing truly strange had happened since I arrived. The longer I thought about it, the less I believed I’d seen anything at all yesterday. I was nervous about being here, nervous about my growing craziness, and trying to make myself feel better by making everyone I met seem as weird as me. I took a trick from all of Aunt Tessa’s yoga classes and concentrated only on my breathing until my mind was sufficiently relaxed and I could enjoy my early morning walk.

I got to the gym a little early for swim practice. “Gym” wasn’t really the right word for it. Athletic complex was closer to the mark, but even that barely did it justice. It was enormous, modern, and as nice as any of the student centers at the biggest universities where my aunt had taught. The pool—or the natatorium, as my admissions counselor had called it—was in the back.

I found the girls’ locker room and Coach Anderson’s surprisingly cheery little office with ease. She directed me to the equipment room, where I was told to help myself to whatever I wanted, and assigned me a locker. I changed quickly and headed out, grabbing a towel from the generous stack by the door. Really, I could get used to this prep school thing. Coach Anderson didn’t waste any time and sent me straight into the pool for an evaluation. I was no swimming star in the making, but I was strong, and she thought I’d be a good distance swimmer by the end of the season.

The other students had started to trickle in during my test, some of them stretching, a few in the Jacuzzi to limber up, but most of them covertly—or openly—staring at me. Talk about awkward. Nothing like meeting a bunch of your new classmates for the first time while in your swimsuit, dripping wet and breathing a little hard. Before I had time to meet more than a handful of others, Coach blew her whistle and gave us our workouts.

The time flew by. Or glided, really. Going back and forth, the sounds of the pool and the other swimmers, concentrating on what my arms and legs were doing, all of that lulled my overactive brain into a sense of calm and normalcy. When the final whistle blew, I realized I’d enjoyed myself, though I was sure I’d be sore tomorrow. I met most of the girls back in the locker room, promptly forgetting all of their names, before I quickly showered and hung my new suit in my locker to dry.