She's Fine?

Jared smiled one last time as he left the lunchroom. Tristan was trying to get his new pet to sit in one place and stay there, but wasn't having much luck. Chira didn't understand enough English to obey, and Tristan didn't understand enough "chirr" to make his wishes known. Tristan was frustrated, Chira was confused, and Jared thought the whole thing was hilarious.

But he couldn't stick around and chortle. He had a job to do, and he was going to do it. After all, why not? It was easy, along his way, and personally interesting. Since kindergarten, he'd been creating a little kingdom of social ties and information byways, and so knew everyone in the hallways by sight and name, if not social group and personal interests. Yesterday after school, he'd sent out some of his most trusted informants out looking for information about new student Destiny Hunt. They'd all come to him this morning, all empty-handed. School records, legal files, and pure hearsay had told them nothing about her, ordinary or outstanding. Such a lack could only mean one thing.

Destiny Hunt didn't exist.

__________

Jared walked to Latin class, absentmindedly identifying every student he came across while his thoughts wandered elsewhere. His school was the safest in the district, and such was a matter of personal pride to him. No struggling student went without help, be their struggles with grades, home life, addictions, or simple self-esteem. He learned about such problems within hours of their first being spoken, and aid was organized and deployed before nightfall. Blair was one of the newer additions to his realm, but like any good king, Jared was interested in her personal safety. If she or any other student was in trouble, he wanted to get them out.

He walked into the classroom and scanned the desks. Blair was sitting in her usual seat, checking over her homework like she did every day. He walked up to her. "Hi, Blair."

She looked up at him. "Hi, Jared."

He smiled, trying to be disarming. "I went looking for you yesterday, and couldn't find you. Where'd you go?"

She shrugged. "A friend's house."

"Oh?" He sat in the seat next to her, just as he usually did. Blair was Jared's special project for the year. She didn't have many friends, kept a low opinion of herself, and had a tendency to draw into herself when she was frightened--which was most of the time. Jared wanted to fix all three problems before summer. "Which friend?"

She returned to her homework. "The new girl, Destiny."

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing..."

"Well, you had to be doing something."

"What if it's none of your business?" she snapped.

He frowned. Since when did Blair snap at anyone? For that matter, since when did she display any sort of assertiveness, let alone aggression? "Are you feeling okay?"

She returned her glare to her homework. "I'm fine."

"Blair--"

"Jared, I'm fine. Stop worrying about me."

"But--"

The bell rang, and the Latin teacher stood. Jared frowned and turned his eyes to the board, if not his attention. Blair had looked fine, but looks were deceiving. Blair didn't get annoyed, she got shy and backed out of the conversation. Why was she suddenly being so defensive? Perhaps her new friend was the source of the change?

It was a good thing he and Tristan were meeting after school. This was a new development Jared wasn't sure how to handle.