Corellia …15 BBY


"Hey…" A voice from behind Bo seemed wanting his attention.

The party was loud, and with a background composition in tune with latest trend, most difficult at best to hear anyone talking. It was difficult to hear the person you were trying to converse with, let alone someone trying to get your attention.
But Bo did hear the voice, a female voice behind him. It had a strong tone, one demanding attention. But for reasons in line, with what he was currently trying to score with this night; being the blond who's back was resting on the wall, seemingly without a doubt interested in whatever Bo had in mind, his ears perked up like that of a fox caught in the hen house. Not knowing who it was behind him, thinking it was of a conquest conquered and pillaged, he made like he didn't hear. Not that this tactic worked all the time, but had worked once before to warrant giving it a go. After all, what could he loose but getting a cold drink down the back of his neck. It had been the price paid, before, for that well devised one hit wonder tactic of his.

"Hey, just want to say something…" the voice now was accompanied by a tap on his shoulder. Ok, so no ice, no shove, no slap to the back of his head…safe to assume she couldn't be that pissed off of a chick..
Bo gestured a moment with his index to the blond in wait, and turned around.

It was apparent in his features that he didn't know who this girl was at all…or at least could not recall when he had ever met this brunette before at all.
Yet, something striking about her was familiar…
 Her eyes?.. No.
Hell if he could ever remember any girl's eyes…including the very same blond he was just trying to infiltrate now. One would reason he hadn't at all honed his tactics for efficiency. Then again, there were plenty of biting game fish, to not have need for tweaking his game at this young age. His looks, physique and predatory charismatic game set got him luckier than most other jocks. That and being one of the better players in the sport field kind of put him in the limelight of many popular girls in his class.
So although he honed in on the brunette's orbs, as that was a good starting pint for him to see if he were in good light or was about to feel a good sting from a girl's open palm again on his face. You'd think Bo would at least file those eyes to good memory and maybe place the brunette anywhere.

No, it were not yet eyes that he would put to good use in memories. That, he would learn much later.
What came to light was a little scar by her lip. It was small…minute really. But one that Bo for some reason unknown to him, drew his eyes, his interest to it. He knew it could only have been gotten in some sort of tuffle. Well, last he could recall, he had never rough housed with any chick; so that too wasn't the case with him knowing her. But hell if it looked damn good on her for some reason or other…


"You don't remember me, do you?" The brunette said with a smirk, accentuating the little scar drawing Bo's attention to it more. Damn if it didn't suit her, as she seemed to carry it like a medal; whereas other chicks would have it covered, as minute as it was, under a kilo of plaster-of-paris.  
Her eyes momentarily passed him and on to the perturbed blond who was eyeing her, but somehow was curbing her tongue. Maybe the blond knew her?…
But it wasn't her that the brunette was speaking too. In fact, she was coming on as an ol'chum…for certainly it wasn't any other form of intervention.

No, Bo didn't recall this brunette at all.
But that didn't put his mind at ease as to 'what have I gone and done now', concerning this demanding girl. And what about that smirk she had on? Was he supposed to recognize her?
Bo made like it was hard to hear with the up-beat percussion of the music which was pumping out its ambiance. But this move too was a tactical one, as he was using it to buy him some time to search his memory of her…trying to place her in both sober times and not, but coming up so short.
The blond then finally peeped, saying something in a low tone, in the line of her not being a wallflower. Bo turned to her, as he certainly heard that, having the feeling of good score suddenly falling out from under him. Damn…he had almost gotten her defenses down, too…

But doing that, gave way to the hearing difficulty he had been playing. The Brunette tapped him on the shoulder again to get his attention back. Bo turning back to her, made the blond peel herself off the wall and take leave.
The look of loosing good conquest on Bo's features made the brunette chuckle.
"Hey, I'm sorry about that…really.
I'm sure you can hook her on your line again.
Listen…" The brunette was persistent.
Ok, so now she had his undivided attention…

"The brawl the other day on the field… " She started to jog his memory.
Yea, ok…. he could recall that, sure.
Bo shrugged, gesturing 'what about it?'.

"I want to say thanks…
Thanks for pulling me off him when you did." She then said, suddenly striking a chord.
Whoa…wait a minute-
YEA, he knew her now.
Bo took a step back to look her over better, as no way had that girl been-
Well damn, had she cleaned up nice!
"No way!…you?!" His reaction was one of revelation.

Yea, he had pulled this player off another team member that had followed a penalty call. But that girl had been something else. She had been on that poor guy like a hell-cat bent on defending her cubs. Bo and a few of his buddies had been running the track when they came upon the fight. Bo had not stood there like most others enjoying a good brawl. He had jumped in and pulled the girl off the poor guy.
Naturally, he got a few of her knuckles to his face, but nevertheless, he held his poise. He got between her and her attempt to finish the guy.
Bo had called 'enough!…he's down already!'… holding up an open palm to keep her at bay.
The girl had her hair back in a ponytail and soiled features. Bo could only remember this brunette at her worse.
But now here she was…and what a looker.

"Yea, me….
Seriously, thanks." She then said nodding starting to give him space again.

"Whoa, wait!" Bo reached over putting his hand to her arm, as he took a step toward her.
Her eyes immediately went to his hand, then straight to his orbs. First time ever he could read a no-no in a girl’s eyes.
Bo removed his hand off her arm.
"I…I don't know your name." he said.
It were more him asking than a statement.

"Sara." She replied, giving him a light friendly slap on his cheek.
"And sorry for that bruise.
You should most times not grab a girl's chest that way when you pull her off someone." She then said with a laugh.
Bo's smile widened, as this girl certainly got his full attention. She was something else entirely different. A girl yes…but something more. He didn’t know what it was…but something inside him was telling him he wanted one….a girl like this one.

"Got to go. Have my sister to pick up." Sara said, upon her parting.

"Boris, right?..
Your blond…she's still eyeing you." Sara gave him a heads up on the former wallflower. She then made a fishing pole and reeling in gesture, before vanishing into the crowd.
Bo remained watching Sara until she disappeared, standing there with dripping glass in hand. His hunting trip tonight was over. He wanted a bigger game.


~ ~ ~

The next morning, being the second day off from studies, found Bo at the very sport field that he had first met this girl Sara. Only today he had showed up bright and early than usual. And he had come again in his running shorts and light sweat pullover with hood, as it was quite chilly this time of year so early in the morning.
There were already a few students out, going about their normal routines upon which Bo had already counted them out.
And in all honesty, he actually didn’t know what he had planned if and when he spotted the girl. This one somehow had cost him much sleep. Actually, no sleep at all, since he himself exited the party. And of the blond… Bo had never turned around to see her hooked on the line. He simply cut her loose in his mind.
The rest of the night had been to grill some buddies about this Sara. Not many knew her, except for one…Keia, a buddy’s girlfriend.  
She laughed hearing that Bo was asking about her…but not before she gave a quick look about. Seemed Keia, who otherwise had an opinion for everyone with no scruples in voicing them publically out loud, seemed cautious before she referred anything about Sara. Sara was a jock…a Tom boy…not anyone Keia thought Bo should be thinking about. At least not in the manner he was with typical girls. Basically, this Sara was not in any of Keia’s social circles. Sara was not one of the populars, but often referred to as one of the jocks, as she had always been athletic minded. Even Sara’s school grades were lacking below Keia’s class mates of populars.
What did Bo learn from such insights?
Nada.
Hell, his own grades weren’t in the top 40..or were they now down in the 70’s? What did it matter? He still was on the list…er, maybe.
 If it weren’t for Matheron’s tutoring on a few academics; Bo would have never even made the top 100 list. Then again, Matheron’s was like top 10.

As the early light of morning took into warming up, he pulled off his hooded sweat shirt and tossed it on the spectator rail. He needed some good running to stable him out. He was much too anxious…very unbecoming of him.
Bo then took to pace himself to doing a few laps around the track…

Re: Of Dust, Blood and Blues.

Sara would usually enjoy training days – not so this one, though. It had already started miserably with a quarrel at the breakfast table, in the course of which her little sister had knocked over her bowl of cereals, pouring all the milk over Sara’s cloths. Changing had taken enough time to be late for classes, which were starting with her least favoured subject today – maths.

After the mess at home and the reprove of her picky teacher Mrs. Derricote for coming late, she had really looked forward to the training in the afternoon. Unfortunately, she had forgotten that the trials for the new players would be held today. And to top it all, her coach greeted her with a telling-off because of the fight she’d picked last week – hell, that numbscull Janev had deserved the bleeding nose! But her coach wouldn’t care for that, of course. This was not the first time she’d come to blows during a match or training, and Coach Dahn had warned her before. Up till now, he had mostly turned a blind eye on it, maybe because she was the only girl in Berethron High’s Rugby Team, maybe because, being the fastest runner in the team, she was able to outrun most of the opposite’s defence and scored quite often. This time, however, he told her she’d stay on the bench for at least the next two matches. And what the hell did he mean by “I already know who will replace you”!? Stunned and boiling inside she followed the rest of the team out onto the field, where there was already a bunch of youths waiting for the try-out to begin. In her aggravated state she didn’t give them more than a passing glance before she followed her team mates into a slow jog around the field to warm up, while Coach Dahn welcomed the hopeful aspirants and instructed them to warm up, too.

Still boiling, she didn’t concentrate much on playing, and when she finally got the ball and ran for the opposite’s goal, she was a little too slow to dodge the oncoming defence. Crashing into a tall guy that must be one of the newbies, she was lifted off her feet and fell backwards to the ground. Like in slow-motion, she felt her helmet slipping away from her head – in her anger she had forgotten to fasten the laces! ‘Dork!’, she thought before her head hit the ground and she passed out.

When she opened her eyes again, several of her team-mates looked down on her. Next to her knelt the boy who had crushed her down, staring at her with a shocked expression on his face. It was this Boriskno, the guy who had pulled her off Janev last week. For a moment, she wondered what he was doing here, but then it came to her mind that he must have applied for the team.
Groaning, she lifted herself into a sitting position, only to be stabbed into the back of her head by a sharp pain. Coach Dahn came running towards her, shooing the other players away, and Boriskno, still looking dismayed, asked if she were alright. The nod she gave made her flinch with pain again, and the coach ordered Bo to take her to the school nurse. He helped her up and offered his arm, but she tried to walk alone. She lost her determination to get to the nurse all by herself when dizziness took over after her first two steps, however, and gratefully leaned into the attendant lad.

On their way, Bo made a big thing of apologizing for tackling her, until she cut him short with a wave of her hand. “Don’t be silly, man! It’s a rough game, things like that happen. And you’re really the last to blame that I’ve forgotten to fasten the laces of my helmet, aren’t you?”
He side-glanced at her and answered: “Well, you’re right, of course, but still I didn’t mean to hurt you…”
Rolling her eyes, she said: “Give it a rest, will you? It’s just a bruise, I’ll be ok.”
There were a few moments of awkward silence, until she spoke again: “How come you applied for the team? I mean… I saw you out running a few times, but I hadn’t thought you were interested in rugby very much.”
“Uhm… well… I am interested in… uhm.. rugby.” Thankfully she didn’t notice him blushing when he answered, and their conversation was cut short when they reached the nurses’ office.


Two hours later, Sara was on her way home. The nurse had given her a cold pack and sent her to hospital to let her head be checked for further injuries, but the bruise and a mild concussion seemed to be all her fall had caused her. Now there was another reason for her to stay on the bench for some time… not that this made anything better. She was really curious to see how the new players would perform. Some fresh blood would do the team good, she thought. She pursed her lips when Dahn’s words came back to her, however. She had a sneaking suspicion who he wanted to deploy instead of her, and she didn’t like the thought at all…

Re: Of Dust, Blood and Blues.

It took a while… almost two hours before Bo realized what he was doing. And what he had realized was that he was not at all himself. Why had he found himself standing outside the school ground sitting across from the main entrance looking to see when this Sara would come out? And she was certain to come out, as no emergency ambulatory speeder had pulled up at the school as of yet. And it had been well over an hour already past since he left the girl in the care of the school’s medical care. So what was he now doing…actually sweating her out here like a little school boy with a crush?

“Frak!” He let out, rising to his feet.
 Looking about and running his hand through his hair he could see no one of any consequence was walking around. This was good, as he had taken awhile to realize how pathetic he was waiting for this Sara. No way, he reasoned, was she the type of girl that would be interested in a guy being soft on her. Neither he himself were interested in a puppy canine anxiously waiting at his feet, so why would she?
So it finally came to reason, and none too late it came to him, that if he were to hook up with this girl in any way that it wasn’t by acting like a little canine puppy.  Letting out a sigh, Bo picked up his belongings and headed back to his dorm. He knew he’d see her again. Maybe not today, nor tomorrow even… but he’d see her soon. After all, they were in the same school, and team.

The following day Bo made it a point not to look for her in the hallways between classes. Not that he had ever run into her before, but most definitely not start purposely looking for her. Naw…he‘d give it some time.  He knew he’d have to give it time.
Hell, it was difficult not to think of her for some reason or another, he was certain she would need some time, maybe to think of him.  Being in her face so soon would actually turn her away, he had concluded.
Time. He had to let time do its work.
THUD…
 “Hey, watch where you’re walking!” A student yelled as Bo inadvertently plowed into him, not thinking in the present moment.  

“Sorry…” He responded, gesturing an apologetic shrug to the student.
Ok, so aside from purposely not looking for this Sara, he had to stop thinking of her so much.
“Sheesh…. I need to do a few kilometers…”

Practice was a lot easier than he thought. First, Sara was not in the field, but rather on the sideline, benched. He was cool. Not one glance over to her. Not one. Hell, his peripheral was awesome and he used it to its fullest potential.
!WHUMP!
”Uhmf!” Poor Bo didn’t even see that tackle coming. He found himself on his back 5 minutes into the scrimmage.
Getting his self back up quickly, he shook the brunt of the impact off.
“Mind on the play, Boris!” the coach’s voice broke through the ring.
Yes, he got reminded the hard way as to what he was out in the field here to do. This was good in some ways, as he began to focus better on the play rather than-
Before he could finish that thought, he caught his self before that noddle started wandering again. Bo’s fix was where he should be at the moment…in the game, not on that girl!
The scrimmage and the rest of the practice went as it should. And rightly so… as his own team mates kept his attention on the up. They were on this field for real and those that lacked were easily discovering pain was nothing to be dreaming about.   So it was that Bo somehow took to pushing and hitting harder which naturally kept both pain and Sara off his mind.

“ Alright…good sessions team!” The coach clapped as loud as he spoke.
“ We’ll pick up again tomorrow….Go hit the showers!” …so ended the practice.

“Boris!… Here, front and center!” Bo heard the coach call him, as he was about to head back with the rest to the lockers.

Following a brisk short run to the coach. “Yes, coach, what’s up?” He asked.
“Glad you joined in today. Thought you were elsewhere at the start.” The coach had somehow picked up on his early daze.
“Yes sir…Did get my head on straight.” Bo replied.
“Yea, you did. But you almost lost it, too. Your team’s relying on you. Lose your focus for a minute and your team mates all go down with you.
You keep your mind on the field, or you’re history.
Got it?!” The coach’s index made his point quite clear.

“Yes coach…sir!” Bo replied, looking him in the eye. Yea, he was here. No way he was going to slip again.

“Good, see you here tomorrow.” The coach dismissed him.

Bo nodded and turned, heading again toward the lockers. He was now the last player to leave the field.
Picking her up through his peripheral, he didn’t indicate one bit that he noticed she was heading off the opposite side of the field.

The sun had set by the time he left the school grounds. A few of the guys had plans on a few brews over at an undisclosed place. But Bo this time declined. Normally he wouldn’t even give it a second thought when an invite to drink was presented. But he thought it best to call it a day, seeing how messed up in the head he was over a mere girl. What was so …
Well, what was it that he kept thinking about her like that? Damn if he had caught some kind of bug.
Best sleep it off and reset, he decided. Maybe it would have him wake up with a clearer mind

Re: Of Dust, Blood and Blues.

Sitting on the bench and watching today's training session, Sara gritted her teeth. It was as she had feared - Dahn had deployed Janev instead of her, surely just to bug her. He couldn't be serious about this, Janev was not half so fast as she was. He had better put Fel in her place, he was the only one whose speed would match hers - had it not been for his bulk, which wouldn't allow him to loop through the field as she did. Still, she thought he'd be the better choice to outrun the opposition; Janev wasn't fast enough and he lacked the bulk to charge through any oncoming defense. He was always depending on others to keep his opponents from him. Sara hated him. She would have liked to just leave, but the coach wouldn't look kind upon her acting like a sullen toddler, and he had the right of it, as she had to grudgingly admit. Still she was somehow relieved when the training was over and she had no longer to watch how that blockhead messed up.

She was feeling much better again, but she was still not allowed on the field. Instead, she had taken to running. In her opinion, that was a rather dull affair, so she decided to ask Boris if he'd like to join her - after all he'd been running a fair deal before applying for the team. He seemed a bit clumsy at times, only to surprise her with a perfect throw the next moment, and that also made her curious about him.

She glimpsed him after lunch and went after him, catching up in front of his locker, where he was talking to some of his cronies. They threw her some curious looks before leaving, obviously amused about something. Sara wondered if she had tomato sauce in her face and decided to check before returning to classes. Boris looked as if he was feeling sick all of a sudden, fidgeting with the book in his hand.

"Hey Fel, you allright?" she asked. He attempted to answer, but all that came out was a rasping sound, so he nodded instead. "I wanted to ask if you'd like go running with me", Sara continued lightly. "But if you've caught a cold…"
"No!… No, I'm alright", he blurted, incredulous to the luck he got. He wanted to get near her, and here she was, suggesting they'd go running together.
"Fine!" She smiled at him, her eyes all sparkling. "Around four at the main entrance?"
He nodded again, and off she was, leaving him stunned. He really had to stop acting like an idiot around her, he thought. And wondered for the hundredth time, what it was that made him so insecure when she was near.



"Eat my dust, Fel!" Sara laughed as she passed him, running even faster than before. In the field, he knew, she was the fastest runner of them all, though here on the track, he could beat her if he tried. Now however, he let her pass and enjoyed the view of her rear…

When he caught up to her, she leaned at the railing, a smirk on her face that made her eyes glitter. For a few days after her fall, she hadn't been allowed to do anything, and she had missed moving, as well as competing with others - hell, was it good to be out again.

He came to a halt next to her and began stretching out his muscles. She joined him, and when they were done, he asked: "Same time tomorrow?"
She grimaced and shook her head. "Sorry, I can't. Mrs. Derricote will be testing us the day after tomorrow, so I'll have to bury my head in my books if I don't want to screw up - not that it will help much", she added miserably.
Bo hesitated for an instant. He had already heard that Sara wasn't among the top students, and apparently, she wasn't very happy about it. Maybe that was another chance to get closer to her…

"I could help you", he offered, trying not to sound too anxious or, even worse, presumptuous. "I mean… we could learn together…"
She looked up, smiling. "You would? Well, I guess you'll regret it, but I'd be glad to have someone who might make me understand that stuff…"

Both were smiling when they parted, pleased by the outcome of their meeting, though their reasons were quite different…

Re: Of Dust, Blood and Blues.

“Look, I’m not what you call a book worm. I’m just getting by, barely hitting over the average grade.” Bo explained, not trying to sound like there was more at stake than a better grade.

Yea, he got passing grades, sure. But just holding his own in class wasn’t going to cut it, if he was going to pull a coaching slider on this girl. He needed some pointers from one of his book smart friends. And hanging with most of the same likes as him, the only book guru he could approach without looking like a moron was his only real smart friend, Math.
 
“All I’m saying is that I need better, you know, study habits.” Bo continued.
Now how hard could it be to get his buddy to set him up with some pointers? Some trick or whatnot that at least looked legitimate enough for him to pull off alongside this girl while studying.
But try as he may, pulling a wool over his buddy wasn’t cutting it as smooth as he had figured. Matheron just wasn’t buying Bo’s, -I want better grades explanation-.
Not a week ago, when Bo got a low surprise quiz score had Math tried to give him a pointer as to keep ahead of such quizzes that Bo just laughingly blew off. He hadn’t been interested in putting more time in study when there could be more free time to party. On the contrary, Bo had tried to get Math out more with his team mates at the off-campus watering hole. That was the place to be after school and practice, rather than let the remains of the day go wasted with a book. Hell, like what were classes for, if you had to do more studying at the dorms? Bo did have a knack for paying enough attention and a sharp enough memory to get through the courses by class study alone. Like, what were the average grade for anyway? He was certainly in the average category and that was passing grade enough. So had been Bo’s philosophy up to this day.
Math knew all about his study habits and for Bo to come to him out of the blue and to suddenly approach him with some half-baked story of trying to improve his grades wasn’t at all getting past his buddy too well.

“ What?
 No, what could I be up too?” Bo was finding his self, starting to back pedal.
“I’m just saying…
You know, like, maybe you could, you know…give me some study know how’s…you know?”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want Math to know the why. But if a reason was behind Bo’s shenanigan, it was that Math knew him to be a player, pretty much on both the athletic and social fields. Under different circumstances, Bo would just spear head to the chase without so much of a battle strategy when it came to chicks. But this Sara was no chick. Well, for the most part, not just any chick. She had his attention and by all reasoning behind it, his interest. There was something different about this chick that made him hesitate. For the life of him, he just couldn’t fathom using ol’war strategies in gaining ground with this girl. Not that his strategies were infallible. They were. Bo had a lot more failures than victories if one were to sum up the score, per say. But those failures mattered little, if at all to Bo altogether. And in some awkward instances, due to his indifferences in the said failures; Bo unknowingly a few times hit up the same chick a month or a week later even, at a party, not realizing the strike out he had already had with said girl.  
But this girl…this Sara had something about her that stuck on his mind. She seemed to be on his mind. One could construe that she was on his mind a lot.
No, no he wasn’t just going to just wing this one. He had to have some sort of battle plan if he were to really approach her…win this one out. Failure was not an option., not this time, not with this one.
He wanted to know her more. Wanted to talk, walk…run with her. Talk about what, he wasn’t too clear on that himself. But one thing was certain; he felt different than he had ever felt before when he was around her…even in passing. Reason as to what it was that he was hung over on her ; Bo did his best to not tread there for now. Hell, he had never walked those grounds before. He never had any girl before, like he had Sara on his mind in that fashion.
Aside from all those said victories, he was by all means now, lost in treading these new territories. Girls up to now had come and gone. There was really no shortage of girls to party with per say…just never had he found himself unbalanced over one. And this Sara had him off his feet most times.
So he needed to set his sights, his battle plans down if he were to gain any good ground with her.
Enter, Matheron. Math as many, including Bo, called him.
Math was much more rounded than he. And that was in both scholastics as well as athletic. But Math, unlike himself, had a sort of born like leadership from the gecko. At least that was the way Bo perceived his friend. And Bo could say that Math was a friend, as he was at many times the go-to guy when Bo hit these complex crossroads. Although, they (advice needed) had never involved a girl before. But then again, Bo had decided early on not let Math  in on his hang-up with this Sara. It wasn’t normal for Bo to share such weird thoughts (feelings) concerning a girl with another guy…even if it was his trusted friend, Matheron.
    
“No, I’m not failing, no.
But, maybe I want, you know, up my grave point average…you know?” Bo sustained, despite the tell-tale sign that  Math wasn’t buying it.
His friend crossed arms and leaned against his locker with a raised eyebrow that only meant he was waiting Bo out till the real reason for this out of the ordinary bull ran its course.

“Hmm…” Bo didn’t have much more to say, as the gig was up.
“Ok, look…..” He took a moment to re-arrange his battle strategy.
“I do really need some study points. Like, this mid-term coming up…. I committed myself in studying with a group-“ Bo stopped short.
No, no more games.
Not with Math.
 Math knew already that this group study banta fodder wasn’t at all Bo's gig.
“…Ok, I'm studying with a girl.”Bo’s eyes, which did a sweep of the hallway, indicated this was close to the truth.

Math told him to go-on, to spill it.
“Look, the thing is, I offered to study with her…together like. Just that I don’t want to show up unprepared and get blown out of the water before I even get my feet wet.”
He now had his friend’s interest….and smirk.

“What?” Bo asked, taking notice of math’s amusement.
Math just shrugged his shoulders and replied that sooner or later, everyone gets bit by the bug.
“And what the hell you mean by that?!” Bo for a moment got defensive, for what he himself had tried hard to scathe, Math had hit it on the nose. Damn Math could well become a great mortar man with a hit like that.
Bo was reminded that it was he who had come to Math for help and not at all in good faith. If there was something that Bo wanted, he shouldn’t be yanking his chain. Out with it and don’t beat around the bush about it. He was here for Bo. It wasn’t like he was asking him to commit a crime or anything.

“Bo gave another sweep of the hallway. No one was within eyesight, never mind earshot.
“This girl…
I don’t know… “ he then hesitated but a moment,
“I like her.” He admitted. ..just not only to Matheron.
“Something…something about her that I can’t seem to get out of my head.” Bo sustained, reflecting on those thoughts upon which he had tried averting himself.
 But now, here in the presence of his friend, he found the words easily flowed. Maybe because he wasn’t dancing around the truth this time. Matheron uncrossed his arms and gave Bo a goodhearted pat on the shoulder. He agreed to give him some pointers on how to study in a group. When asked which part of the week Bo wanted to get together with him, he answered Math… “How about now?”  
That of course brought about the reason Bo needed Math’s help quick. Bo had arranged to meet Sara in about 3 hours.
Short notice, sure; but Math had time and Bo had the interest.

3 hours later Bo was casually sitting midway in the library. The table was not too close to the main desk, nor the far end one either. It wasn’t even by one of the large windows, so as to avoid being distracted. By any measured standards, it was just a table like so many others with all of the looks of a study table.
But that strategic location had actually been suggested by Math. Bo had first opted for the far table, the one out of the mainstream. Math had shook his head to that plan, as it was an obvious location if one had no real intentions of studying books, but biology.. The window one didn’t fly either for the impracticality of the said outdoor distractions.
So there sat Bo, in the inconspicuous library table; actually flipping a read page when Sara spotted him.
Looking up at her, near the last few of her steps toward him, Bo opened up with a friendly smile.
“I wasn’t too sure you’d make it” he said, moving one of his other texts that were in the way of where she chose to draw a chair.  
Of course Sara took up the seat across from him. But that, Bo had already calculated she would naturally do. Putting his books there only gave him a chance to check her out more, drawing the books  toward his end as she sat herself down. Yes, this was by far a better seating arrangement than in Mrs. Derricote's class. Sara's features were much more pleasant to look at than just the back of her head.

“I’m a little behind on a few chapters myself.” He began.
Math had not only coached him in some quick study guides, but also not to appear like a smartass.
“But we can go over what you like first. Maybe what we independently are strong on, we can help the other with the weak points…no?”

Re: Of Dust, Blood and Blues.

"I'd be glad if I was just behind with anything", Sara replied with a wry smile. "I fear some of that stuff will never stick in my head."
She settled down and took the books from her bag, setting them in front of her on the table, then she showed him what it was that troubled her most, and they set to work. Sara hadn't exaggerated - she had a hard time to get the hang of it, no matter how hard Bo tried to explain to her the logic behind the mathematical formulas.

At one point, Bo caught himself staring at her as she was explaining about an especially difficult problem, pointing at the figures on her pad. He averted his eyes, but at the same time he felt the blood creep up his face - and Sara looked up just then, noticing his blush. "Something wrong?" she asked, watching him apprehensively. This would have been the point when he had replied something like 'I've just wondered how beautiful you are', if she had been just any girl. But somehow he didn't think that would work with Sara, so he feigned a cough instead and fished a bottle of water from his bag, hastily taking a swig.

"I just thought… It came to my mind… well, I thought what will the others think when they see us together so often…"
With 'the others', he obviously referred to their team-mates. Sara snorted, then she donned a wicked grin. "They'll think you're trying to score with me, of course. Are you?"

That question took him off guard, obviously. Sara bit her tongue not to laugh out loud when she saw his blush deepen even more. He tried to give an answer, but wasn't able to find the right words. Sara found it very amusing to see a guy like him lost for words, wriggling like a mouse under a cat's paw. He was one of those boys who were notoriously chasing after the girls, she knew, one of those all the silly chicks made sheep's eyes at. But there was more to him than just a broad back and a pretty face, and she liked his company, so she didn't want to embarrass him any further.

"Draw some breath, man! I was just kidding", she laughed, finally. He relaxed only slowly, still not sure if her question had really been just teasing, or if she was suspecting something. But Sara didn't seem to mind either way, and smalltalk came easy with her, so he soon regained his confidence and they were back at their studies in no time.




A few days later, they got their tests back. When the bell rang for break, Bo was startled by a dark-haired whirlwind who jumped right into his arms. Taken by surprise, he nearly toppled over backwards, as Sara was already drawing away from him after her short hug, triumphantly holding up her papers. "I haven't screwed up!" she grinned. "Mrs. Derricote was most pleased. Thanks, Bo! I owe you one." she added a bit more serious and actually planted a small kiss on his cheek.

"There's a party tonight at Taleed's place, I hear. Will you come? The boys will be there, too."

'The boys' were some of their teammates with whom Sara used to hang around after classes. Sometimes a few girls were with them, too, sometimes not. There were also a few girls Sara knew and hung around with during schooldays, but they didn't seem quite as close as the usual band of giggly females that were found everywhere on campus.

Taleed was a pretty brown-skinned girl who shared one or two courses with Bo and was notorious for the parties she threw whenever her single father was on a business trip.

Sara stood before him, still grinning with the test clutched in her right, looking up at him expectantly…