She turned heads wherever she went. Her long dark lashes shaded her eyes of an uncertain green color. Her lips were always red, though no one knew if it was because of lipstick, or just natural. Her silky gold-brown hair fell in ringlets down her back, and bounced when she walked. She was unusual with her odd ways and odd smile. No one really knew her, but everyone watched her. She was always somwhere else in her head, and didn't really see anything around her. Her small, slender figure was well known around the school, though she didn't attend. Nobady knew how old she was, but many thought her to be perhaps fifteen. She was rarely ever seen without either a sketchpad or a gnarled pine staff. The boys dared each other to ask her why she hung around, but no one ever did it. Then there was Aidan. He was a geek at the school, a nerd, the lower class of pupils. He was also a favourite of the bullies. The stuck to him like the plague. Literally. If he saw them coming, he would run. He should have tried out for track team, that's how much practice he had. He was a small kid, five foot three, at sixteen, with brown hair and brown eyes. He had an Italian background, and always carried around a black laptop bag. One day, he was being chased by the bullies, and eventually they couaght up with him, as always. Two of them grabbed him while he struggled. They consulted their fearless leader (ha ha) and tried to decide how to bully him today. One bully was thinking hard and happened to look down the slope and saw the girl walking past, an odd look on her face as she swung her pine staff in one hand. She looked slightly angry. The bully had a sudden idea.

"Let's roll him down the hill! That girl'll settle him, she looks mad."

The others had to agree, she did look mad, in both senses. She had a short cape on and under that, jeans and a flowy shirt that complemented her beautiful form. Her pine staff added to the wild look and the look on her face was even wilder. Aidan was, of course, scared because of all the rumors he had heard about the girl. And he was sure he wouldn't last a minute with her, the way she was looking. He felt a massive push from behind as he was sent hurtling out into space. He lost his glasses as he hit the slope of the hill. Rolling down the hill might have been fun, had it not been for the terror that lay at the bottom. His braces pierced his upper lip as he smacked his face on the ground. He came to a stop at the feet of the girl he was so terrified of. He closed his eyes tight and tried not to think about the person above him. He felt something poke him in the side. He opened one eye and looked up. The girl was staring at him with those pretty green eyes in curiousity, like he was an animal at the zoo.

"Getting up?" she asked in a light, silvery voice. Aidan almost relaxed.

"Um..." he squeaked (his voice hadn't changed yet).

"Yeah."

He pushed himself up into a sitting position. His blurry vision just barely saw the hand reaching down to him. He grabbed it and pulled himself the rest of the way up. The girl was remarkably strong for her size. She brushed some stray pieces of grass off his shirt.

"What happened?" the girl asked.

"Rob and Kirk shoved me down the hill. Where are my glasses?"

He began to search for his missing eyewear. The girl gestured at the top of the hill.

"They're up there. 'Bout a foot from the top. I can see 'em from here."

"Oh no! Now I'll never get them back! My third pair this year!"

"I'll get 'em for ya. Wait here."

She began to walk up the hill, seeming to glide without the aid of her staff. She spun it with the agility of an expert batonist from a parade. She smiled that odd smile that made her look like a wild animal. Walking right past the glasses, she walked straight up to the bullies and said hi. They all straightened themselves up a bit and greeted her cordially. She smiled that odd smile and spun her staff again.

"Which of you are Rob and Kirk?"

Two of them made themselves known.

"That's me."

"Right here."

"Now which of you came up with the brilliant idea to shove that kid down the hill?"

Rob raised his hand.

"Me again!"

"Good," the girl smiled broadly. She brought her staff cracking down on his arm like lightning, then spun it on Kirk with the speed of light and whacked his shins soundly. Whirling her stick again, she dealt with all the others in similar fashion and sent them all packing. Then she turned and stepped back onto the grass. Stretching out her hand, she looked down and the glasses sped to her hand. She dropped to the ground and rolled down the hill with much more grace than Aidan had had. As she made it to the bottom of the hill, she stood up quickly and handed him his glasses.

"What happened? I heard them yelling and something hitting something else."

"I got your glasses with an argument. My stick argued and they didn't stick around to hear the end of it."

"You beat them up?"

"In a word, yes."

"Um, I gotta get home!"

She collared him as he turned to leave.

"Oh, no. You're coming with me. You need a friend, and an adventure, from the looks of it. I'll take you to the elders and we'll decide about it."

"The what?!" he squeaked as she dragged him off.