He tried not to sniff the air like a dog

She hesitated and he could tell she was thinking her answer through carefully. "Oh I'm fine. I fell down the stairs and slapped my cheek right on the banister. Klutzy me!" She chuckled.

She was a terrible liar. Her whole posture slumped over and down with the weight of her conscience. He speared her with a knowing look, but didn't press.

"Wow! Can I see it? Is it bad?"

She shrugged her shoulders and slowly lowered the ice pack. "Yeah, I guess it's bad, I haven't even looked at it yet."

He looked away immediately and took a quick steadying breath; his face turned a pale white. When he saw the large black bruise forming around her swollen eye and the cut on her lip, he was instantly livid. She was lying. Someone had hit her. Who? He needed to know.

"Who did this to you?" He hoped he hadn't growled. She gave him a strange look.

"Eleanor, I've never heard you talk like that. Are you okay? Really, I just fell down the-"

"Not true," he interjected persistently. His face softened. "Please don't lie to me. Friends don't lie to each other." He smiled in what he hoped was a convincing and sweet display of concern. He was rewarded with only an awkward lift of her eyebrow.

"Friends?" she asked, aghast. "It was just last week you were behind me, pulling on my hair and throwing spitballs at me every time the sisters turned their heads. And now you're my friend? You're acting really weird. I'm going to go lie down for a while."

His hand went to her wrist and squeezed firmly. “Please. Don’t go.” When she tried to pull away, he saw a bracelet of bruises around her left wrist as well. He let go immediately but lunged into an apology. "I am sorry for pulling your hair. Please, forgive me." His plea was so sincere it threw her for a loop. Stunned silence was good, so he plunged onward. "I know I'm acting weird. I just realized how much I care about you when I saw you were hurt and wanted to make amends." He stopped now to give her time to absorb his confession.

She glanced down at the bruises on her wrists and pulled her sleeve down quickly, but it didn't cover it, so she put her hand behind her back. "Okay." She didn't offer up anything else and started walking again. He followed beside her. Even being in Eleanor, his heart pounded in reaction to his intense emotions. This girl was special. He felt like he knew her, yet he had no idea why. He tried not to sniff the air like a dog; he wanted so badly to identify her scent; wanted to bury his nose in her hair and disappear. This was different, he admitted. She scared him a little, despite her obvious disadvantage of being human.