The girl seemed taken aback by that for a moment, and slightly deflated. "What? I'm not..."
Zoe shook her head. "I'm going to class. I don't want anything of what either of you are selling." She headed off, leaving the two in the hallway.
Sarah Madison looked at Athena Devries. "I'm not..." the brunette insisted. "And now...look what you did...Zoe Meadows thinks I'm some kind of racist. I'm not."
Athena clutched her head. That other girl who seemed so familiar...her name was Zoe Meadows. Somehow, without her standing there, Athena wasn't overwhelmed. The weird images faded a bit, but that left her feeling shaken. "I'm not crazy or a freak just because I'm different."
"Sorry..." Sarah said. "Do you like...need to see the nurse or something?"
Athena seemed to center herself. She felt like something was missing, but not the wild cascade of images when she saw Zoe Meadows. "I just...when I saw her, suddenly everyone felt strange. I'm not sure...but..." She studied the other girl. "Who are you? You look familiar."
"Sarah...Sarah Madison. We have a bunch of classes together."
Athena shook her head. "Sorry..."
"Everyone notices you...I guess."
"I don't dress like everyone else," Athena pointed out. "Not that I'd want to...Why do you want to be like everyone else?"
"Look, I said I was sorry." Sarah said. She could just imagine her mother, Linda, if she found out about this. Or even her older brother, Jon. Jon was a dork, but he always disapproved when she said something bad about someone at school. She needed to stop shooting her mouth off.
"Have you ever had blond hair?"
"Umm...well, I wore a blond wig last Halloween. Why?"
Athena paused. "Meet me behind the gym after school," she said. Then she walked away, still seeming disoriented.
Sarah blinked and headed off, wondering why she was thinking of meeting Athena, of all people.
