-"How can I thank you enough?" asked Tara.
-"You don't have to." Elliot seemed almost… ashamed. He bit his lips nervously as he was passing his hand through his dark, disheveled hair.
"He's probably wishing he hadn't come to my rescue." Tara thought. And why wouldn't he?
He was in his third year in the Academy. He probably wouldn't even have talked to her in the first place. But tonight, maybe because there wasn't anyone to witness this, he had helped her back to her dorm, after he had seen her fall from the fence.
Thinking of this reminded her of the throbbing pain in her ankle and she gritted her teeth.
-"Are you alright?" He seemed genuinely concerned. How could he actually be that popular and yet nice? She hadn't anticipated that.
-"Oh yeah don't worry! I'm sure it'll be fine tomorrow." She actually knew it would be way worse tomorrow and she'd have to come up with an excuse to miss the Strategic Fighting class.
-"This doesn't usually happen to me, I swear! I do this every week to go to town with my friends and I never fall but I- "Shit-now I've said too much." -I mean, not every week but like…"
"It's okay, don't worry I won't tell. We all do it. We just get better at it over time" He winked. He WINKED. "Don't you fucking blush" Tara ordered herself.
-"Well… I'd better go. Good night, hope you'll be on your feet tomorrow!"
-"Yeah sure!"I have to say something to him, think fast! " See you around!"
Elliot turned to meet her gaze as he was already going down the stairs of the dimly lit tower.
-"Sure, see you around, Tara"
She tried to look nonchalant as she was closing her door, but it was hard to, firstly because of her foot which she thought would explode with pain at any moment, and most importantly because of how mesmerizing Elliot looked, his hand lightly resting on the handrail, the muscles in his arms still pumped from carrying her all the way up to her room, and his soft almond eyes, reflecting the flickering light of the candles.
As she locked her door she realised he knew her name, which was certainly a good sign. "The gang won't believe me tomorrow". However she didn't have the luxury of lingering on that thought, she had to manage her ankle.
The Exam was in two months, and she had been certain she'd make it to the three best students. Until tonight. Because of that fall, all of this was compromised. She'd have to miss at least three training sessions, which would give that stupid Daron the opportunity to place first on the temporary ranking. "Shit" She didn't feel ashamed anymore, but she was definitely angry at herself. Why did she have to go out tonight! She thought of the evening she had spent with her friends in town, and how she had ironically left them earlier than usual because she wanted to "feel good at the training tomorrow".
Well that wasn't going to happen now.
She sat on her bed and she took off her boots. "Oh shit" Her ankle was red and swollen. She opened her window to get the bag of sand she always left hanging outside in the freezing nights in case of an emergency like this one. The cold soothed her ankle a little. She didn't even bother to undress and fell asleep almost immediately.
She was woken up by a loud banging on her door. She felt disorientated at first, but she remembered quite clearly the events of last night as the pain in her ankle intensified. She groaned as the banging on her door kept going.
-"Tara! What the fuck is happening? Can't you hear me?"
Tara realised the pain had had her thoughts messed up all night long. Milo probably had been hearing her since his return to the building last night.
-"I can't open the door, I think I broke my ankle" She told him in her head.
-"Finally! You had me scared all morning you weren't replying!"
-"Sorry I was sleeping"
-"Never mind, I'll get Daria to come and help you with the pain.
Thank God for Daria and her magic touch. That girl had saved pretty much each and every one of her friends at least once since the beginning of the year. They were lucky to have a soother in their group, let alone one as skilled as Daria.
After what felt like hours, Milo and Daria finally entered Tara's room. She had felt them coming, since Milo's distressed thoughts were loud, and Daria had already begun sending a soothing wave.
-"What did you do? Did you go and train last night?"
Fortunately, Milo answered that one : "She wished. She fell off the fence. And, if I might add, had a sexy dream about the one and only Elliot, which I'm sure you'll be willing to discuss now that Daria's soothing you."
-"Fuck off" groaned Tara, as she sut her thoughts off of her nosy friend. "And it wasn't a dream, by the way".
Their eyes widened and Daria's wave weakened. Tara held her breath, trying to hide her pain. But that was useless against Daria's extreme sense of awareness and she instantly focused on Tara's ankle.
-"Shit I'm sorry, your ankle is probably sprained"
-"Never mind that ankle, what actually happened with Elliot?"
-"Damn Milo, straight to the point as always…Well if you must know, he heard me when I fell down from the fence, which, I know, how could I fall down like an idiot, but oh well I met him so… Anyway he saw me struggling to get up so he offered to help me get to my dorm."
-"What was he doing in the yard at that hour?" asked Daria
-"How good did he look in the moonlight?" added Milo.
-"I don't have a clue, aaand fucking amazing. He was wearing his training suit, the black one"
-"Gods, how do you always get sooo lucky Tara?"
-"Well her ankle is in a pretty bad shape, Milo"
-"At the time I thought it was totally worth it, but now I'm not so sure.. I'm going to have to miss training today guys…"
-"Let's get you to the infirmary, I won't be able to soothe you when we get to class, it's too far away."
-"Do I really have to? Can't you make me some sort of splint?"
-"I know you think I'm some kind of genius but I'm only a first year soother honey, we have to get you some real soothers and doctors"
-"She's right," said Milo firmly. "Let's get you up". Tara was lucky that Daria was so skilled and she felt almost nothing when Milo lifted her up to his arms."
-"You actually are a genius Daria, you will have to accept that fact one day or another" said Tara gratefully.
Daria smiled softly as Milo protested : "And nothing about me? I have to carry you and you seem to forget that you weigh as much as a dead Strayder"
-"Elliot didn't have any problem carrying me up, maybe you have to work harder at training"
-"Elliot is an enhancer, you silly girl. That's cheating, whereas my muscles were earned by hard work"
-"We don't actually know that, Elliot. You just say it because you're jealous of his performance".
-"Daria! How dare you!" Milo said, looking outraged.
Tara was lucky she had those two.
-"We'll make a detour through the East wing, otherwise we'll risk running into the others and the trainers." Thank Gods for Daria, she always thought of everything
-"Do you want to kill me?" Milo's sweat was dripping onto Tara as they were climbing up the stairs."
-"Thank you Mils" said Tara through gritted teeths. "Thank you both. I'd be in deep shit if it weren't for you".
-"We know" answered Milo, smiling in an insolent way.
Tara rolled her eyes and almost immediately felt a sharp pain in her ankle. That damn Milo had probably ran her into one of the stone walls of the narrow staircase.
"Shit so-sorry"
No, not a wall. It was Elliot. Well actually, Elliot's abs, which were definitely as hard as a piece of granite.
She was looking at him in disbelief when he said, looking down at her :
-"It seems to be your habit to get around this Academy exclusively in student's arms. That's an interesting way of transportation"
Tara started to feel her cheeks flush dangerously and couldn't think of a single thing to say to him.
-"We're actually taking her to the infirmary, her ankle's probably sprained."
-"I thought so too." Said Elliot, his smile slowly fading away. "Best of luck, I hope it heals quickly."
-"Th-Thank you" Tara stuttered as Elliot was going down the stairs.
-"Aren't third years supposed to be doing their exam?" Asked Milo.
Tara glanced at him, visibly upset.
Elliot froze and slowly turned to face them. "Yes they are. But I'm excused" The three friends looked at him blankly. "Personal reasons". He added. And then he promptly went away.
-"What the hell did that mean?" Outed Daria. " No one gets to skip the exams. If you do, you're out."
Milo nodded absently "Yeah that's shady."
They walked to the infirmary in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.