kneeling next to me. He put one hand on my jaw, the other behind my shoulder for balance.
He said, "Are you all right? What happened?"
"I, uh, I think I ran into the wall."
He chuckled. "You should avoid those, though they have a tendency to leap out at us at the worst of times."
My nose bled momentarily from the impact. Yeah, that's a pretty sight.
"Are you good to stand?"
"Um, yeah, thanks." He helped me stand up.
"Wow, you must work out, you have great muscle tone on your back."
"I do, thanks." I smiled. He was thinking to ask me for my number. I figured I'd head that off to avoid having to reject him. "Thanks for helping me, but I'm really late, I've got to get to class." I quickly hugged him, I'd have kissed his cheek but for the blood on my lip, and then I rushed into the building toward the nearest building.
I was almost out of mental hearing range as he thought of how to catch me. He hadn't expected me to run off so fast. I didn't slow down.
Mindviews appeared and disappeared from nearby rooms, perhaps from other floors. The voices of people thinking something occasionally made me glance around as if they were nearby.
It took me a minute to reach the nearest restroom to clean up. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Thank goodness for not having any mindviews in here. Everything looked in place once the blood had been cleaned off. I couldn't even tell I wore my costume underneath the clothes.
I ran out of the restroom to reach class. I was already late by a minute when I reached the classroom, although Professor Zilgard hadn't begun speaking yet. He was busy writing something on the board at the front of the room. One glance around the room showed most of the thirty seats full, with those near the front empty. Megan sat at a desk with an open seat and motioned me to her. I rushed in and quickly sat down, barely finding the seat due to the mass of mindviews that appeared.
The mindviews instantly reminded me of my error. I had completely forgotten about my problems yesterday in my rush. The desks held pairs of students in this classroom, as with most. This left at least fifteen mindviews spread out in my vision, most of which were studying me at the moment. It was too many to concentrate; it took effort to swallow and even try to look like I was paying any attention to the professor.
I blindly dug out my notebook and pen with effort, listening to the clamor of mental voices wondering who I was. Most people recognized each other by April in classes this size, and my new gold hair stood out. Most of the din quieted down, but at least five people mentally made loud background noise for me at all times during class. It turned out to be a waste of time. I failed to learn much of anything, perhaps apart from acting like I was paying attention while under what felt like a mental assault.
The end of class was the worst, as everyone walked nearby on their way out. I swayed slightly as I fought a losing battle for consciousness. The students that had been out of mindview range all packed together near the exit … and me. The only thing that saved me was Megan sitting next to me. She reached out and steadied me until most of the students had filed out and freed my mind from the barrage of images and voices.
I had my eyes closed and was breathing deeply as I heard her respond to Professor Zilgard. "This is Stephanie, she must have colored her hair."
He said, "Huh, I didn't even recognize her. That’s a pretty wild hair color. Stephanie, are you all right?"
I took another deep breath, opened my eyes and blinked a few times. "Uh, yeah, yeah. I'm fine."
"Are you on drugs?"
"What?"
"I said, are ... you ... on ... drugs? I expect an honest answer."
"No! Why would you ask that?"
"Oh, perhaps the unfocused look all class. Maybe the swaying. Possibly the flushed face and odd blinking eyes? Maybe those reasons? Either that
He said, "Are you all right? What happened?"
"I, uh, I think I ran into the wall."
He chuckled. "You should avoid those, though they have a tendency to leap out at us at the worst of times."
My nose bled momentarily from the impact. Yeah, that's a pretty sight.
"Are you good to stand?"
"Um, yeah, thanks." He helped me stand up.
"Wow, you must work out, you have great muscle tone on your back."
"I do, thanks." I smiled. He was thinking to ask me for my number. I figured I'd head that off to avoid having to reject him. "Thanks for helping me, but I'm really late, I've got to get to class." I quickly hugged him, I'd have kissed his cheek but for the blood on my lip, and then I rushed into the building toward the nearest building.
I was almost out of mental hearing range as he thought of how to catch me. He hadn't expected me to run off so fast. I didn't slow down.
Mindviews appeared and disappeared from nearby rooms, perhaps from other floors. The voices of people thinking something occasionally made me glance around as if they were nearby.
It took me a minute to reach the nearest restroom to clean up. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Thank goodness for not having any mindviews in here. Everything looked in place once the blood had been cleaned off. I couldn't even tell I wore my costume underneath the clothes.
I ran out of the restroom to reach class. I was already late by a minute when I reached the classroom, although Professor Zilgard hadn't begun speaking yet. He was busy writing something on the board at the front of the room. One glance around the room showed most of the thirty seats full, with those near the front empty. Megan sat at a desk with an open seat and motioned me to her. I rushed in and quickly sat down, barely finding the seat due to the mass of mindviews that appeared.
The mindviews instantly reminded me of my error. I had completely forgotten about my problems yesterday in my rush. The desks held pairs of students in this classroom, as with most. This left at least fifteen mindviews spread out in my vision, most of which were studying me at the moment. It was too many to concentrate; it took effort to swallow and even try to look like I was paying any attention to the professor.
I blindly dug out my notebook and pen with effort, listening to the clamor of mental voices wondering who I was. Most people recognized each other by April in classes this size, and my new gold hair stood out. Most of the din quieted down, but at least five people mentally made loud background noise for me at all times during class. It turned out to be a waste of time. I failed to learn much of anything, perhaps apart from acting like I was paying attention while under what felt like a mental assault.
The end of class was the worst, as everyone walked nearby on their way out. I swayed slightly as I fought a losing battle for consciousness. The students that had been out of mindview range all packed together near the exit … and me. The only thing that saved me was Megan sitting next to me. She reached out and steadied me until most of the students had filed out and freed my mind from the barrage of images and voices.
I had my eyes closed and was breathing deeply as I heard her respond to Professor Zilgard. "This is Stephanie, she must have colored her hair."
He said, "Huh, I didn't even recognize her. That’s a pretty wild hair color. Stephanie, are you all right?"
I took another deep breath, opened my eyes and blinked a few times. "Uh, yeah, yeah. I'm fine."
"Are you on drugs?"
"What?"
"I said, are ... you ... on ... drugs? I expect an honest answer."
"No! Why would you ask that?"
"Oh, perhaps the unfocused look all class. Maybe the swaying. Possibly the flushed face and odd blinking eyes? Maybe those reasons? Either that
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