Lucas winced at Alice’s bringing up football practice. Now very grateful for having a good grip on his powers and not letting a spark slip out from his subconscious, he forced a carefree smile. As much as his blossoming senioritis urged him to lie and say he [i]did[/i] have practice, or hell, even let her do all the work, he felt inclined to contribute some. He was especially interested in Alicia’s psychic friend. Though she was apparently shy and he doubted he’d get the chance to meet her or find out who she is, he would love to find out more about her and her powers. For once, a school project was actually proving to be a helpful learning experience.

“I, uh, I’m actually not playing football this year,” he replied in a low voice so others wouldn’t hear. “I missed the damn tryouts. So I’ve actually got a lot of free time on my hands.”

Lucas turned and looked at the clock to see that class was almost over already. He turned back to Alice and smiled again. “Why don’t you come over to my house? I’d be happy to help out with the project.”

He reached down and pulled a binder out of his backpack and opened it. “I have a car,” he was saying as he rummaged for a piece of scrap paper. He picked out his calculus syllabus and tore a thin strip off from it. “So if you need a ride, you can meet me after school, or just meet me at my house if you got your own car.”

After returning his binder to his backpack, he uncapped his pen and scribbled down his cell number on the strip of paper and handed it to her, just as the school’s electronic bell system resounded throughout the school.

“The project’s due on Friday,” Mr. D called out to the students who were already beginning to leave.

“Shoot me a text if you wanna meet up or you need my address,” he told her as he stood up with his backpack hanging form one shoulder. “Oh, and the name’s Lucas by the way.” He gave her a subtle wink and a chuckle before turning to leave the class.

“See you around,” he said as he went.