Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume 1 by L.A. Jones Page B

get recruited to the NFL, he’d returned to his
high school alma mater to coach. He’d been at that for about
twenty-five years or so. By now he was pretty much an institution
in the small town.
    The students grunted
and heaved through their various, torturous
drills. It provided good background white noise for Aradia as she
did her work.
    After a while Aradia
checked her watch; her dad would be arriving soon. She’d finished
her Biology, World Studies, and English readings. She had already
completed her Latin homework during Study Hall, and so far she
hadn’t been assigned any homework in her 2D Art or Personal Fitness
classes, which only left Algebra to do at home. Not bad , she
assessed.
    When she was almost
finished packing up her books, she suddenly felt very uneasy, and
turned to the field just in time to see the quarterback slip and
fall. At first the other players laughed, but when the QB did not
get up, they stopped what they were doing and hurried over to
assist.
    At first, Aradia just
watched as people swarmed around the kid. He was still conscious,
which Aradia took as a good sign. She thought about getting
involved, but the coach and sports nurse the school kept on hand
were both on the scene, so she kept her distance for the moment.
With help the boy got upright, but when he tried to stand on his
own, he screamed in pain. Aradia grew more alarmed.
    The coach helped him
hobble to the bench at the sideline and let the nurse inspect the
injured area. His
ankle , Aradia noted.
    “Looks like a sprain,
Jayce,” the nurse, whose name Aradia hadn’t learned yet, declared.
He went on, “Sit out the rest of practice. If you still can’t stand
on your own, I’ll call your folks and drive you to the ER
myself.”
    Aradia watched as a
couple members of the team approached the injured quarterback. He
snapped them away like an irritated crocodile. Some leader , Aradia
thought sarcastically . After that, the other boys stopped trying,
shrugged, and left him as they finished their practice.
    Strong leader or not,
he didn’t deserve to suffer needlessly. He had his head buried in
his hands and was shaking it vigorously when Aradia
approached.
    "You okay?" was the
first thing Aradia asked him.
    The boy whipped around
to face her, and immediately regretted it. He’d also banged his
head on the way down, and the rapid turn made his forehead throb.
"Who the hell are you?"
    He had short blonde
hair which was glistening with sweat. His face was sharp with a
pointed chin and a nose that was almost triangular. His green eyes
blazed and his face was currently twisted with a combination of
pain, anger, and, Aradia suspected, fear.
    Aradia was taken aback
by his rudeness and also at how cute he was. This school! she thought. Is there something in
the water here? This boy, however, wasn’t one of the
preternaturally good looking ones. So far as Aradia could tell, he
was just regular old all-American cute.
    She ignored his snappy
response and continued with her attempt to help. "My name is
Aradia. Are you okay?"
    "Do I look
okay?"
    "No, but that's why I
am asking," Aradia stated matter-of-factly.
    The boy peered at her
bemusedly.
    After a brief standoff,
he went with, "Well, it’s none of your damn business."
    "What if I paid you a
penny for your thoughts?”
    Jayce stared blankly,
not seeing where she was going.
    “Would that make it my
business?" Aradia expanded on her last question,
smiling.
    Jayce sighed and asked,
"If I tell you, will you get the hell out of here and leave me
alone?"
    "Probably not, but
maybe," said Aradia bluntly.
    The boy sighed and
said, "I just found out that I sprained my ankle.”
    “Are they sure?” she
asked.
    “Look at it,” he
replied. She complied. His ankle was already swollen to the size of
a small grapefruit.
    “Oh geez,” Aradia said
without thinking.
    “Yeah,” Jayce agreed.
“It’s definitely sprained, or worse. I’m not walking this off.
There is no way in hell it will heal in