We had a substitute for Physics. Since they planned on letting us have a free period I asked to be excused to go to the Library. Today there would be no study period and I wanted the chance to write back to Brynn. The sub shrugged and handed me a pass. 

Walking through the hall I wonder again how I was going to keep Jessica away from Brynn. Perhaps Brynn's superpower of being invisible to most people would be enough to keep her flying under Jessica's radar.

Even I have been guilty of ignoring Brynn and not just in high school but in grade school too. I remember how she missed a lot of class in fifth grade and then again in seventh, but outside of noticing her like one would notice a car passing by I never gave her any thought until she left me hanging at the bus stop.

Mrs. Moore smiled at me when I came into the library and I smiled back and nodded, knowing better than to talk and disturb the other students. I found my spot in the back among the poetry. This part of the library always seemed deserted and I had adopted it as my own personal space when I wanted to be alone.

Turns out that even though most of us teenagers love to write poems, few of us seek out the masters. Me, I have a love-hate relationship with poetry. Most of it I like but there are some poems that are so flowery. Is that a word? I just don't get it. This year, my English Lit class has been my most difficult class. It is so hard to understand these crazy sonnets Miss Valentino has us reading.

Looking over the shelves I wonder...

I take down my favorite poet of all time, Robert Frost, and look for the poem that always sounded like a dream to me. I know knew how to start my letter to Brynn.

Hello Little Ninja,

Perhaps you are right.

I just may be fishing for something.

How to say what it is I'm fishing for...

I'll leave to Frost.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

― ROBERT FROST

I've always gone down the beaten path.

Always have I known where I was headed,

Until now...

Curiouser and Curiouser,

Finn Nash

Finished with copying the poem, I slide the book back in its place and pull another book from my book bag. I flip the pages until I find the perfect shape. Again I practice until I've mastered it. Looking very proud of my accomplishment, I set the note in my bag. With luck I will see her again in the gym, if not I will have to wait until tomorrow.

I should probably stop trying to talk to Brynn. Especially with Jessica now on the prowl, but I just can't. I don't know why. Part of that path less traveled thing, I guess. She feels like a key to some treasure I have yet to explore. No, that's not exactly right. I can't really explain it. I'm certain somewhere on those shelves someone has experienced what I am going through and has put it into verse but I have no idea where to begin. I guess as with any journey it begins with the first step.

The bell rings I'm on my way to my last class of the day before practice. This game against Eastern is huge as they are our biggest rivals. I need to get my head back into the game. Tyler was right. I let myself be too distracted during drills the other day. I owe it to my team to be on point. Sleep would help.

My thoughts are wandering and so am I it seems as I once again bump into another open locker. 

"Shoot!" I rub my forehead. That one hurt. The locker door swings back and I hear, "Ow! Hey!"

"Sorry!" I mutter still nursing my wound. Am I bleeding?

The locker slams shut and there ready to do battle is Brynn, my little ninja.

"What the hell is your....?"

She stops midsentence, I guess because it's me staring at her. "You know there are less painful ways to get a girl's attention." She laughs. "Here let me see?"

I take my hand away from my head.

"Ooo, yeah. You may need to see the nurse for this one." 

I look down at my hand and see blood on my fingertips. "Shit." I feel myself sway and my vision starts to blur.

"Whoah now. Stay with me, big fella." Brynn grabs hold of my arms to steady me and I try to zero in on her face. 

Ever since I was a kid I could never stand the sight of blood, most often times it would cause me to black out or worse vomit. The school blood drive was one extracurricular activity I avoided like the plague.

She lets me go but then takes my hand and starts walking at a pretty fast pace, to where I have no idea. I find we are standing in front of the elevator the school uses for kids who are disabled. "Brynn you need a special key to use the..."

She pulls the key out of the front pocket of her bag and inserts it into the elevator's keyhole. It rumbles quietly and then opens up to us. "You doing okay?" she asks while pulling me in with her.

"So long I don't see it. I'm fine."

"See what, the blood?" Brynn pushes the button for the ground floor. She still hasn't let go of my hand.

"Don't say it unless you want me to vomit over your shoes," I warn her. I hear her stifle a chuckle and I give her a grimace. I am not amused. "Why do you have a key to the elevator?" There wasn't anything physically wrong with her, at least not that was obvious.

"You're mom gave me a key, for when I have to take pictures on assignments for the yearbook. I have to move between floors quickly to get the shots she needs sometimes. The elevator is the fastest way to do that. It's my own personal Time-Turner."

Brynn laughs at her own joke but I don't get it.

"Harry Potter?" She looks stunned that I don't understand. "Hermoine uses the Time-Turner to be in two places at once?"

"Who?" I'm having a really difficult time following this conversation.

"You really do live a sheltered life, don't you?" 

I don't get a chance to respond to this as the doors open and she pulls me down the hall with her to the nurse's office. "Hi Ms. Carroll, got your next victim for you?" Brynn ushers me through the door.

"Ha ha, Brynn. Don't listen to her Mr. Nash your in good hands. Have a seat." The school nurse points over to the small table that's across the room.

"Uh, he's a fainter," Brynn says, taking me over to the place the nurse pointed to.

"Really? And you're a ball player?" Nurse Carroll looks at me with concern probably wondering how I've survived this long or what would she do with six foot something student passed out on her floor. "Okay... easily solved."

I take a seat and the first thing I notice is the lack of warmth in my hand. Brynn had finally let me go.

"Don't you have a class to get to?" Nurse Carroll was talking to Brynn and not me. She gathers some supplies from a cabinet.

"Study hall," Brynn answers, and I notice she's making no attempt to leave. I smile at her and she smiles back crinkling up her nose at me.

"Won't they be missing you?" Ms. Carroll asks her, now approaching me.

Brynn makes this face. The best way to describe it is to say, it says, Ms. Carroll should know better than to ask such a foolish question.

"Close your eyes," the nurse tells me and I comply. "Okay, slowly take your hand away. Oh yeah, you did yourself a number here, huh? What happened?"

"Walked right into my locker." This time Brynn didn't even bother to hold back the chuckle. I could almost picture her grin. 

"Good news! No stitches will be required, a little suture and you'll be fine. Now, this may sting a bit," Nurse Carroll warns.

"Mmmm," I growl, pressing my lips together. Why do Doctors and nurses lie to you like that? That stung a whole lot! Do they think by saying it will only hurt or sting a little that it will really work that way? Maybe they just never subject themselves to their own brand of medicine so they don't really know.

"Brynn since you are sticking around put on those gloves and come here," Nurse Carroll instructs her. 

I hear some shuffling noises and then Brynn sounds much closer when she asks, "What do you need me to do?" Her voice sounds breathy and almost excited. 

"Just hold here and here. Keep the skin close together while I put the sutures on. Perfect," she tells Brynn. "Just a second longer."

Brynn is so near that I can feel her breath on my face. I can't help wondering what she looks like this close and when I give into the temptation to open my eyes I find she's smiling at me. Her beautiful brown eyes look right into mine and I can't help but wonder what it would be like to kiss her. Whoa! Wait! Where'd that thought come from? 

Her smile grows and gets positively mischievous. I pray to God that she can't read minds. Although the heat in my face may be a dead giveaway. She must be standing on a footstool to be face to face with me since I'm pretty tall and sitting on a table. 

 Her eyebrows raise. "Ah, Ah, Ah. No peeking until we're done." I sigh and frown before closing my eyes again.

"Okay, you're all set. Let's just clean up that hand and you'll be good to go." 

"Thank you, Ms. Carroll," I say and I feel Brynn move away from me and I miss her warmth already.

"Nice work, Brynn. You have a real future if you decide to get into nursing." I hear the sound of snapping gloves as she removes them.

"Thanks." But her reply sounds a bit non-committal.

"All done, Mr. Nash. You can open your eyes now."

I touch my head and feel two butterfly sutures near my hairline. My hand is all cleaned up too. I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Okay you two, I'll fill out the report. You're both good to go."

"Thanks again, Nurse Carroll," I say and she smiles at me while gathering up her things to put back in the cabinet. I grab my book bag and head out, with Brynn close by my side. Well, I guess one good thing came out of all this, I got more time with Brynn. 

The hallways are deserted as everyone was in class and we have a get-out-of-jail-free card for the next fifteen minutes.

"Want to see something cool?" Brynn asks, taking my hand and once again she begins leading me, I know not where. The path less traveled, and I'm suddenly struck by the thought that I would follow this girl anywhere, so long as she doesn't let go of my hand.