Sofia: Phoenix Rising - Fire Within! Book 1
Chapter Two

“Sofia, over here.” turning my head in the directions of her voice, I spot Lori’s platinum blonde head and make my way through the crowded cafeteria and over to the spot she has claimed for lunch. Normally we would be comfortably seated out in the courtyard, even this late in October (just two weeks away from Halloween), Mother Nature however, decided to spring an early snow upon us today, but as this is Ohio, I am sure that by this time tomorrow it will be back in the high seventies!

Sitting my lunch tray on the table, I take a seat across from her and then raise an eyebrow, questioning the cheesy grin that is plastered across her face. “What?”

“Okay. So, Mr. Hottie is from Australia, and his name is Ash Dritan. He just turned eighteen a week ago, roughly around the 11th of October and is a senior like us.” I am shocked that she states he is from Australia, I didn’t hear any kind of accent when he told the homeroom teacher his name, but I guess, I really wasn’t paying attention to his voice when he spoke…

I grin at her, causing her to question me in turn, with raised eyebrows of her own and a “what?”

Laughing, I choke out, “nothing. I just never thought you were the type to gossip.” Lori shrugs her shoulders at my answer and a coy smile gracing her lips. “But you’ve got me intrigued now. How did you find out so much about him in less than two hours when we’ve been in class a majority of that time?”

“I’ve got my ways,” she says slyly, smirking. “So anyway…” she goes to continue her gossip session, but I interrupt her.

“—Oh, guess who I ran into, literally!” I exclaim wide eyed as I look at her like she should know.

“I have no idea. How would I know who you ran into?” Lori asks, baffled. She looks at me expectantly as she bites into a carrot stick.

“BLAKE TAMA!”

“What! No way! Tell me everything!” This for some reason causes me to giggle and it takes me a moment to compose myself enough to be able to respond, because I take myself by surprise, I am NOT the giggling type.

“Well, I was headed to my first class, trying to make my way into the art room, not paying attention to where I was walking and literally walked right into him. The funny thing though, he claimed it was his fault, that he had not been paying attention. He then placed his hand on my upper arm,” I point to the exact place to where he had laid his hand on my bicep, “and then get this, he said my name! Blake Tama knows my name!” Lori and I both squeal at this fun little fact because in the world of high school, we are ‘nobodies’ and he is the king of popularity.

“Wow, could this day get any better?” Lori asks thoughtfully. Knowing she is not expecting an answer from me, I sigh wistfully at what the rest of the day could have in store for me as I crunch into another carrot stick. I should have known not to get my hopes up. Nothing good ever comes for free.

^^^

There should be a loophole for students who have no coordination whatsoever. An alternative to gym class, like speed reading or something. Because, let me tell you! I do not have one competitive bone in my body, let alone agility and grace to move around on my feet. Heck, I do well just managing to sit down. If you cannot tell, my last class of the day is gym. We are currently lined up two rows each on either side of the gym floor, anxiously waiting for the Phys-ed teacher to blow the whistle so that we can grab rubber balls and throw them at the opposing team in a ‘friendly’ game of dodge ball. Yay!

About twenty minutes into the class, I start to feel ill. My body begins to sweat, and I feel like my temperature is rising rapidly. I can hear the voices of the other students and the teacher, but I cannot make out what anyone is saying. The room begins to spin, and I feel like I am either going to throw up or pass out. And then boom! My world goes black.

Fire. Heat. ’Her body should not be able to function at the temp she is running. Doctor? Hospital? Not sure.’ I can hear people talking around me but have no idea where I am or what is happening to me. I moan and my eyelids flutter, attempting to open, but the darkness is weighing too heavily upon me, and I give up trying, allowing myself to fall back into the darkness. Sleep. Finally, I open my eyes, however, everything around me is blurry and I cannot seem to focus my vision on any one thing. The room swims about me, consumed in fire and smoke. I need to get out of here but again, I do not know where here is! I cannot locate any windows and am unable to see a door anywhere and I want nothing more than to scream out my frustration which ends up turning into more of a mumbled cry for help.

“NO!” I shout out sitting up right, my hands gripping the edge on either side of the bed that I am on. Panic has hold of me as I whip my head around, trying to figure out where I am.

“Shh, you’re alright. You’re in the nurses’ office.” A deep soothing voice says to me, at the same time I feel a strong masculine hand run up and down my left arm causing me to shiver and goose bumps to form along my skin.

The room has an uninviting feel to it, causing a chill to run the length of my spine, I shiver again. The smell of pine and disinfectant wafts throughout the room, unsettling my already sensitive stomach. I scrunch my nose up, trying to lessen the atrocious sent, hoping that I will not throw up on whomever is standing near me.

Even though the lighting is dim, it is not dark, and I am able to see the other person who is in the room with me. I gasp. Twice in one day my gaze lands upon Blake Tama. The shock at seeing him here with me has caused my jaw to fall open and render me silent in a matter of seconds. He looks at me with genuine concern flashing across his hazel eyes, and I look at him curiously. Why in the world after nearly ten years of invisibility, is he just now taking notice of me? We have six months left until we graduate and now people start to ‘see’ me?

“Um, hey,” I finally manage to utter. “Why am I here or better yet why are you here?” I look at him pointedly, intrigued as to what his reply will be.

“I had to stop by the gym to pick up some equipment from the coach at the same time that you passed out. I offered to bring you to the nurse’s office.” He says simply with a shrug, as though it wasn’t a big deal that he had to carry me from the gymnasium which is at the far end of the school all the way to the nurse’s office on the opposite side of the building. My eyes go wide and then embarrassment floods my cheeks.

“Y-you, you carried me here?” I stuttered.

He chuckles out a; “well you wouldn’t have been able to walk here on your own. You sort of blacked out.”

“Oh, my, stars. Oh, my, stars! I have never passed out in my life and then the one time I do, it is in front of you, of all people. Oh, my, god.” I drop my head into my hands, shaking it back and forth causing my hair to fall forward. Gently I feel him brush my hair back, tucking strands behind my ear. My head snaps up at the gesture.

Blake tilts his head, and his lips lift at the corner of one side, with a half grin forming. “It’s not like you’re heavy, you can’t be more than a hundred and five pounds. It was nothing to carry you here. And what do you mean; in front of me of all people?” I really did not think my cheeks could get any redder than they already were, but color me wrong!

“Oh, um, I just meant in front of the popular guy, you know… I um …” I trail off, not sure what else I could say to save myself from this crazy conversation. But I guess I didn’t have to say anything more because he burst out laughing at me.

“Just because I’m popular doesn’t mean I’m not a nice guy.” He runs a hand through his straight sandy blonde hair as he continues to look at me. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FɪndNøvel.ɴᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Oops, I didn’t say you weren’t a nice guy. I just did not figure I would be worth your time. Oh wow, I’m not saying this right.” I say, my voice falling to a whisper as I realize that no matter what I say, it will not make sense to him, someone who has never felt invisible.

Blake grins and I take in the strong contours of his jaw and chin. His chiseled features are beautiful, and I can see why he has girls falling all over him. Plus, he is funny and genuinely a nice guy. Looking at him just now, I could see myself easily falling in love with him too.

“Well Sofia, I’m glad you’re feeling better. I guess I’ll see you around.” He picks up his backpack, slinging it over his right shoulder before looking back at me with a smile on his lips and says, “take care of yourself, okay.” And then he was gone.

Sᴇarch the FindNovel.net website on G𝘰𝘰gle to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.