Shattered - By Sophia Sharp Page 0,5
fear disappeared. His eyes were normal again, and he as looking at her askance.
“Why are you looking at me that way?” he asked.
“What way?” she answered. “And what’s wrong with your eyes?”
“My eyes?” He looked perplexed. “There’s nothing wrong with my eyes.”
“But just now, when you looked at me, they were…”
“—they were what?” he asked.
“They were… raging.”
“Raging?” He laughed. “I’ve never heard that one before.”
“Ah! So you do know what I’m talking about.”
“No, I’ve got no idea.”
“But you said ‘that one,’ like you’ve heard things before?” she answered slowly.
“Did I?” he mused, and smiled at her. “No, I promise you, I’ve got no idea.”
“Then why’d you say it?”
“Say what?”
“That you’ve never heard that one before.”
A wide smile slowly spread across his face, and she suddenly understood. He was teasing her!
“Very funny,” she said drily. He spread his arms in response. “So, Mr. Funny-man, it looks like we’re both stuck here for what remains of this week, and potentially this whole semester. So I think we’d better start this relationship by exchanging names.”
“Logan,” he said simply.
“Logan?” He nodded. “That’s funny, you strike me more as a ‘Jonathan’ or ‘Steve.’ I’ve never met a ‘Logan’ before. My name’s Laura.”
“Nice to meet you, then,” he said. “I’ve never met a ‘Laura’ before, either.”
“So it’s something new for the both of us.”
“Looks like it is.”
“Ahem!” An angry voice at the front of the room interrupted, causing both of them to look up. Mrs. Millburn stood behind her desk, frowning. “You two lovebirds are here for a reason, and that reason is to learn math, is it not? Laura, why do I not see your textbook, or a single worksheet, on your desk?”
“Sorry, Mrs. Millburn,” Laura said, thinking quickly. “I was just… asking Logan how much math he’s done in the past.”
“Well, you’d better start to show him what we’ve done in the past. Unless you want me to extend your stay here?”
“No, Mrs. Millburn. I will, Mrs. Millburn.” Laura hated being so subservient, but it wasn’t like she had much choice. She reached down in her bag to pull out her math textbook, and put it on the table.
“She’s a bit of a hag, isn’t she?” Logan asked, eyeing the desk where Mrs. Millburn stood warily. “What’s the history with you two? Did she always hate you, or did that just start today?”
Laura sighed. She didn’t feel like explaining all of that to Logan right now. “Never mind that. We need to at least start looking through this math book, or else she’s going to yell at us again.”
“Yea, alright.” He looked down again, and for a second Laura found herself admiring Logan. There was something about him, something… different. Something mysterious, maybe. The way he walked around, shoulders slumped, was a stark contrast to the way he had just teasingly interacted with her. He was probably just shy, coming to an entirely new place, and found it easy – for whatever reason – to open up to her.
And now that she’d talked to him, she thought it even less likely that he could possibly have been responsible for any of the horrible things that were being said about him. He seemed like the shyest, most peaceful kid ever.
In any case, Laura didn’t think she’d be dreading coming here afterschool anymore. She thought Logan might develop into somewhat of a friend.
Chapter Four
~Brady Shell~
The rest of the week passed without incident. Laura still hadn’t managed to find Brady anywhere, and began doubting whether she’d be able to do good on her start-of-semester resolution. She was still determined, however.
But thankfully, her afterschool detention sessions with Logan were turning out not quite as bad as she’d imagined. She learned that Logan actually knew more math than she did, and ended up teaching her some of the things she didn’t yet understand. He was sharp, and afterschool, in the relative privacy of the near-empty classroom, he was engaging, lively, and interesting.
Which was why she didn’t understand the way he acted during school. Every math class she had that week, he’d arrive after her, and shoot her a shy smile as he passed. Otherwise, though, he didn’t acknowledge her presence in any way. Or anybody else’s, really. He kept his head down, and always wore the same, dull clothing. It was like he wished he could shrink his long limbs so they would stop taking up so much space.
Laura found herself starting to wonder what happened to cause him to transfer here. What really happened. She didn’t put any