The cafeteria was loud as always, but I\u2019d found a table off to the side where the noise was more of a dull hum than an assault. Salisbury steak again \u2014 not great, not terrible. I was halfway through it when Gabriel slid into the seat across from me, tray in hand, his eyes locked on me like he\u2019d been waiting for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou got a second?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I chewed, swallowed, and gave a slow nod. \u201cSure. What\u2019s up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat pencil thing.\u201d He leaned forward a little. \u201cYou\u2019re not gonna tell me that was normal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was just reflexes,\u201d I said evenly, stabbing a bite of mashed potatoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His eyes narrowed like he didn\u2019t buy a word of it. \u201cUh-huh. Mind if I try something?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDepends,\u201d I said, a faint edge of amusement creeping into my voice. \u201cYou gonna throw something at my head?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot your head.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before I could respond, he palmed the unopened carton of milk from his tray, flicked it up into the air, and sent it spinning directly toward my face with a quick, sharp toss. He\u2019d done it point-blank, no warning, no chance to see it coming \u2014 for anyone else, anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My hand snapped up, catching it mid-spin without even looking at it. The whole move was so smooth I didn\u2019t spill a drop. I set it down gently beside my tray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A couple of kids at nearby tables had turned to look, but Gabriel didn\u2019t even notice them. He was staring at me, his blue eyes lit with something between shock and fascination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo way,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cI\u2019ve seen fast. That\u2019s not fast. That\u2019s\u2026\u201d He shook his head. \u201cI don\u2019t even know what that is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I kept my expression neutral. \u201cGood hand-eye coordination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He smirked faintly. \u201cSure. And I\u2019m the King of England.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I took another bite of Salisbury steak like the whole thing had never happened. \u201cIf you say so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the rest of lunch, he didn\u2019t bring it up again \u2014 but every time our eyes met, I could see it there in his head, turning over like a puzzle he couldn\u2019t leave alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The cafeteria was loud as always, but I\u2019d found a table off to the side where the noise was more of a dull hum than an assault. Salisbury steak again \u2014 not great, not terrible. I was halfway through it when Gabriel slid into the seat across from me, tray in hand, his eyes locked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-school-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions\/34"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}