JULY 31ST, 2017 - MONDAY

REBECCA’S POV

Rebecca Hale was a lot of things. The oldest of three children, the Hale family matriarch, and even the top of her LSU class. One thing she wasn’t was easily confused. She had a strategic mind and could solve the most challenging problems that her family faced, but a handful of students had stumped her. One, Perseus Schuyler, who she already knew, was more of a puzzle than anything, but the other three were unknown factors.

Adam Tolliver was a genius, plain and simple. During the pre-school meeting, the other teachers had informed the two Hales of the boy’s intelligence. Neither had understood why he chose to stay with his peers until they brought up his best friend, Casey Boyd. She, no, he was the opposite of Adam. Below average grades in everything but tests, which had confused his previous teachers. He rarely turned in homework or participated in class, and all in all, seemed to be content to coast through life. Rebecca hadn’t expected anything from the boy labeled as an idiot, but then she met him.

Casey was observant and straightforward in a way that most teenagers weren’t, and Rebecca quickly realized that he was much smarter than anyone believed. She could sense the anger in him and a sadness that no child should ever have to feel. The matriarch watched the students, but there was something different about Casey.

“Alright, you’ve been acting weird all week, what’s up?” Rebecca glanced away from the road for a split-second to her youngest brother in the passenger seat. Christian arched a perfectly-plucked brow at her as she pulled into the school parking lot and stared expectantly. “Is it the Schuylers? I thought you were fine with them being in town.” Fine with them living in their own territory, yes, but trusting? Never of their kind.

“You know I am, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to turn a blind eye. You know what they are, Chris.” Her little brother was quiet for a few seconds as he sipped his overpriced energy drink and then sighed.

“What they were, Becca. They aren’t like that anymore,” he stated with a surety that she just did not have, but that was her baby brother. He was always too trusting.

“You know that what they used to be changed them, Chris, their instincts don’t just go away.” Rebecca exited her car before he could reply and headed inside. She headed straight for the gym as it was her week to watch over the students and grabbed a chair from the closest storage closet. Students began to file through the open doors as she took a seat and quickly found Adam Tolliver’s platinum hair. The young boy took the bleachers two at a time to the top and plopped down without a care. His earbuds were visible in his ears, and rock music was easily heard despite the other students. Perseus showed up not soon after and nodded in Rebecca’s direction, a happy smile on his lips. However, she could see what was behind his hybrid-colored eyes.

Casey was nowhere to be seen as Rebecca began responding to emails, some school-related. In contrast, others were family matters, those of which took precedence. Every so often, she would look up until she saw the boy stride into the gym, his music even louder than his friend’s, and her blood ran cold as her eyes caught sight of his discolored skin. Spanning from his jaw and across his cheek was a purpled bruise that Casey definitely did not have on Friday. Rebecca could sense his pain beneath his neutral mood, and she frowned at the thought of someone hurting the poor kid.

“Might want to check your eyes, Alpha Hale.” Perseus’ smooth voice invaded her hearing, and she quickly ducked her head to reign in the unknown emotion that was rising within her. “He’s not hurt, tired, but uninjured.” Uninjured? He has a bruise the size of a baseball on his face, Rebecca’s mind hissed unhelpfully. Her eyes tracked the young boy as he ambled up the bleachers to sit down beside Adam, his skateboard in hand per usual.

“Someone hurt him,” she muttered, meeting Perseus’ eyes once more. “Can you find out who?” A smirk pulled at his lips, and it grated on Rebecca’s nerves.

“You could simply ask him,” he offered, chin resting on his hand almost jokingly. “Use those senses of yours to discern whether he lies or not.” Yeah, because that isn’t an invasion of his privacy or anything.

CASEY’S POV

“Dude, you look like shit.” Casey rolled his eyes at Adam’s blunt comment and gently pressed against the bruised area. It had been worse last night, a deep purple that stood out in the worst way, but his gift had done its work. The bruise was healing faster than the average person, though thankfully not enough to be noticeable, so it would be gone by tomorrow. Still, it drew too much attention as Casey had definitely seen Mrs. Hale watching him.

“Still a step up from what you look like,” he said, finally replying to Adam as he pulled out one earbud. “Did you do the homework?”

“Yeah, last night. Lemme guess you didn’t?” The healer chuckled and reached up to brush his hair away out of habit, but was met with empty air. Right, I shaved my head. Keep forgetting that fact.

“Of course I didn’t, I went skating when Mrs. M dropped me off and was out late working on a new trick. Then I was up finishing the drawing I was workin’ on Friday,” Casey explained with a half-shrug, uncaring of the zero that would be going into the grade book. “You know me, dude, grades are like the last thing on my mind. I’m just trying to get to high school, no plans after that.”

“I don’t see why you don’t try, man. You’re, like, just as smart as me,” Adam stated, frowning when Casey snorted derisively. “You are, you just need to care.”

“I’m pretty sure we had this discussion, like, a year ago. My opinion hasn’t changed, Adam. There is literally no point in me caring about grades and making friends and all that shit.” Casey knew he sounded negative, but that was the one expectation he couldn’t possibly disappoint. The bell signaled the end of the conversation, and they exited the gym behind their peers. As they marched down the hallway like prisoners, Casey heard his name and immediately knew why.

He slowly turned back to find Mrs. Hale rapidly approaching and donned a neutral expression. “Mrs. Hale,” the healer greeted politely.

“Casey. I assume you know what I’m about to ask?” He was grateful she didn’t mock him with false niceties and sugar-coating.

“Yeah, and it’s from football.” That got a raised eyebrow and a dubious look.

“Football?”

“Yep, just an accident.” The force behind it wasn’t an accident; Casey getting hit instead of Matt was the accident. Not that she needed to know that, nor was he lying, so after a handful of seconds, the older woman nodded.

“Try being more careful, Casey. I’d hate to have you miss class.” Casey’s head tilted as he observed his teacher, his eyes watching closely for any little signs that her words were false, but found none. Still didn’t believe her, though. No teacher has ever wanted me in their class, not after the first week.

“I make no promises,” was all he could say as he continued walking. It was probably rude in the woman’s eyes, but to him, the conversation was over, and he had to get to math. Casey grabbed his textbook and binder from the locker, tucking his board inside with care, and then jogged to the opposite end of the eighth-grade hall. He thumbed through the books' pages where he had stuck the homework pages when he bumped into a very solid chest. Casey tucked the book close to his chest and held out his other arm for balance, but he wasn’t falling.

An arm was wrapped securely around his waist and attached to the last person Casey wanted to see. Shit.

Grinning down at him, Perseus asked, “Are you alright?” The New Kid was closer than ever, and Casey quickly removed himself from the awkward hold.

“I’m good, sorry for almost knockin’ you over.” Perseus’ lips quirked upward, and he scratched at the back of his neck almost awkwardly.

“I would’ve been fine, but apology accepted,” he replied teasingly, “see you in science.” The brunet didn’t dare look back as he jogged the rest of the way to Mr. Hale’s room. His seat was thankfully still unoccupied, so Casey took his place and searched through his book once more for the unfinished homework. A few problems were done mainly out of boredom during class Friday, but the majority remained undone. The papers were passed to the front, and then the class began. First on the list of standards, converting between fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals.

As someone who worked with mixing paint and using money, fractions and mixed numbers came quickly to Casey, but converting was where he had struggled. There were many rules, but his tutor had ingrained them well, so he simply sat back for the lesson and doodled instead. The subject was an odd goblet seated near the edge of Mr. Hale’s desk. It was either bronze or a filthy gold with unknown carvings etched into the metal that Casey wished to study closer. It seemed to have special meaning to Mr. Hale because he would occasionally look at it. His eyes would then soften like he was feeling an emotion all over again.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Casey couldn’t see the etchings clearly enough to draw them, not accurately at least, so they just focused on the general shape. It was easy enough to remove the run-in with Perseus’ from his mind while he drew, but the second he paused, it came rushing back. The New Kid was inches taller than him, as most people were, and had caught Casey without hesitation. He held him with ease and didn’t seem the least bit phased by their close proximity. At least, not like Casey was. His body hummed, and his skin tingled where Perseus’ hand had rested on his hip even through his skinny jeans.

Out of thought, his fingers grasped the snowcone pinned to the breast pocket of his jean jacket. There was no specific reason for the snowcone; Casey just liked them.

“Casey, can you tell me what three-fifths is as a decimal?”

“Point six,” he replied without thought, not looking up from his paper.

“Okay, what about seven-fifths?” That wasn’t on the board. Mr. Hale was testing him, and usually, he rose to challenges, but not in class.

“No clue on that one.” One-point-four. The older man frowned just slightly, but it was gone before anyone else could have noticed it.

“It’s one-point-four because five-fifths is equal to one, and then you have two-fifths leftover. Think of it as…” Mr. Hale’s baritone voice trailed off in Casey’s ears, and he sat back with a small frown. Casey used to care a lot about his grades to get his parents to care about something that involved him. Still, after being brushed off so many times, he simply stopped trying. They didn’t care if he made good grades or bad, so why should he?

Casey found himself watching the clock, watching the minute hand slowly tick closer to the nine. The brunet was out of his seat the second he heard the shrill ringing and left Mr. Hale’s curious gaze behind. He nodded to Adam in the hall as they passed before ducking into Mr. Carter’s room.

Casey plopped down at his table and found a cup sitting on the teacher’s desk to add to Mr. Hale’s. He was pulling out the paper when a shadow crept up to his right.

“Hey, can I sit here?” Well, fuck me, Casey thought with an inward sigh as he looked up at the intruder.

“Don’t you sit over there?” He questioned quietly, eyes darting to where Perseus had sat last week.

“Is that a no?”

“Is that an answer?” Casey retorted, watching closely to see if he becomes defensive, but the New Kid only smiled.

“I sat there last week, but she’s all show and no go, between you and me.” The healer had no clue what that meant but could infer from those handy dandy context clues. Casey glanced around Perseus, where Nina Ross sat with a frown, her gaze on her lost partner that now stood beside him. “So, can I?”

After a split-second, he nodded. Perseus beamed, practically the embodiment of sunshine holy fuck, and sat down with surprising grace.

“Thank you, you seem to have a cool head,” the New Kid said softly as Mr. Carter started the day’s lesson, his weird eyes glinting in the dim room. Jeez, Adam was right about him speakin’ like he’s from the forties. Casey didn’t have anything to say to that, so he chose to observe Perseus instead.

He sat carelessly in his chair, ankle resting on his knee as he leaned back dangerously and had an easy-going sort of smile on his lips. Perseus was obviously confident from how he moved to how he spoke, and Casey wondered where it came from. Was it real, or was he as fake as the healer? Honestly, the healer assumed it was all-natural. Something about Perseus was so assured, and he knew that the other boy could back it up.

Casey stopped his observation and returned to drawing, subtly putting his arm around the paper to keep the New Kid from noticing. Nonetheless, he could feel Perseus’ gaze. At least it’s not my sketchbook. An artist’s sketchbook was personal, especially Casey’s, as his art was typically locations from memories. Not even Adam was allowed to flip through it, and his best friend thankfully respected that. Unlike everyone else who saw the book. They always got in Casey’s bubble, asking for drawings or touching shit, like no, bad human. Quit touching shit that ain’t yours, geez. The healer knew their parents had taught them enough southern manners to not mess with people’s stuff without permission. Ugh, assholes.

“You don’t talk much, do you?”

“I have nothing to say,” Casey replied simply, not bothering to look up from his paper. Perseus hummed softly beside him, and he saw the other boy smiling.

“I think you have plenty to say, Casey.” His name rolled smoothly off the New Kid’s tongue, and he shivered unconsciously, cursing the unfamiliar reaction. What is it about him…

“No, I don’t. What you see is what you get, Perseus,” he muttered, emphasizing his name with only mild annoyance. Not at Perseus, sadly, but more that he already Casey figured out. The healer had plenty to say on various subjects, not that he would ever get the chance. It was easier to be the unseen kid, the outcast.

Finally, Casey looked up and right into Perseus’ eyes. He was transfixed by the red-ish grey irises, unable to look away even as the other boy began to smirk. The noises around them dulled, and he could feel his blood pounding in his ears. It was like being under a trance, but Casey knew everything that was happening. It was a silent conversation and a moment of understanding all at once. I see you, and you see me. Whether I want you to or not.

“I know there is more to you than what you show your peers, I can see it,” Perseus whispered. Casey opened his mouth to tell him that he was wrong, that there was nothing special about him, but no words came out. Instead, he managed to tear his gaze away and focus back on the drawing, but his pencil never moved.

Casey sat in a daze for the rest of science, barely hearing a word Mr. Carter said, not when he was hyper-focused on his new partner. Perseus was close enough that he could feel the heat coming off his body, hear every soft breath, and found he matched the action. Their chests rose in sync; each breath shared and creating their own bubble until the bell ran out, and Casey was thrown from his hazy state. Nothing about this situation was right to him, and he didn’t like it, not one bit.

“Okay, what the hell is wrong with you? You’ve been acting weird since English started. What happened?” Adam questioned as Casey drew the coffee mug directly in front of him.

“Nothing, just thinking.” It wasn’t necessarily a lie. Casey had been thinking about Perseus since their moment in science and what it meant. The healer didn’t have moments with people; he didn’t get distracted like that.

“Okay, then what are you drawing?” He finished the last lines of the sketch and then held up the paper for Adam to view. “Cups?”

“One from each class,” Casey said, “just to keep me busy.” Adam held out his hand and then looked to the brunet hopefully, so he handed the paper over. The other boy traced his fingers over each drawing, eyes tracing over the lines and then turning it over.

“Woah, is this Mr. Hale?” Casey glanced at the doodle from last Monday and nodded, his body tensing when he felt someone too close behind him.

“That’s very good, Casey, when did you do that?” He swore internally and reached for the paper as Mrs. Hale smiled down at him.

“Monday morning.”

“May I?” She held out her hand, and Casey was tempted to refuse, but slowly placed the scrap paper in her palm. “Is this the guidelines for my brother’s class?” Adam snickered beside him, the ass.

“Um, yes,” Casey said slowly, unsure if her smirk was good or bad for him.

“You’ve got real talent, have you thought about pursuing art classes or careers?” The teen resisted the urge to scoff and ran his hand over his head awkwardly.

“Not really, it’s not that big to me.” All aspects of art had meaning to the healer. Writer, music, drawing, it was a part of him just as anything else was, but words took up the most significant in his heart.

“Do you mind if I show my brother?” The question surprised Casey; he wasn’t too big to admit that, but his agreement was more shocking.

“Keep it, just a doodle anyways,” he murmured, thanking any deity above when the bell decided to ring. Casey slung his back haphazardly over his shoulder and lead Adam out the door, not pausing even as Mrs. Hale’s ‘thank you’ reached his ears. Not entirely unlike with Perseus, the healer’s skin tingled from the older woman’s close proximity. Casey stopped by his locker and grabbed his board while Adam tucked his books away. He moved out of the way for the other boy to simply chuck his things inside and slammed the door.

As he was turned, a large body rammed into his side, shoving his left shoulder into the lockers with surprising force. Casey gritted his teeth and glared at Wes’s retreating back. He was tempted to push the taller boy down the steps, but it seemed that karma had his back. A breeze blew past the two as they reached the exit, and then Wes was landing on his face faster than either could blink, a steady stream of red flowing from his nose and down his sun-kissed skin. The athlete swore viciously as he pushed himself to his feet and glared at any who dared laugh. Casey smiled slightly but paused when a soft laugh reached his ears. Turning his head, he found Perseus standing at the bottom of the steps with a smile of his own that wasn’t entirely friendly.

The New Kid’s eyes gleamed in the sunlight, and Casey could have sworn they were glowing, but when he reached up to shield the light from his eyes, they were back to normal. What the hell? Perseus tipped his head just so before slipping into the blue Mustang from last week. A quick glance told the healer that the driver was the same redhead as well, and she looked downright pissed. However, from the other time that he had seen her, Casey could assume it was her natural expression.

“Man, now that is what I call some cosmic-fucking-karma,” Adam laughed as Casey dropped his board gently, though not moving.

“Yeah, karma.” Something niggled at the back of his mind as he watched Perseus drive away, but he couldn’t put a name to it. “I gotta go, bro, I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that, Casey didn’t wait for a reply and instead took off down the sidewalk. He only narrowly avoided colliding with a few younger students, mainly because of them and not his distracted state. He hoped. There was something downright wack going on, and Casey was going to figure it out if it killed him, and a feeling in his gut told him that it just might.