A Breath of Fresh Air

Kiara reached the rooftop just as the song finished. She checked her iPod to
see which song was next on her playlist. Ah, some Cher Lloyd. She wasn't a fan, but for some odd reason her mood slightly
lifts when she hears her songs.

She sat down somewhere, it didn't really matter where, but when she leaned a bit forward, she saw how beautiful the place was at night. The shops were brightly lit, the clubs were even more brightly lit, a tower a bit far away was also lit... it was beautiful. She's never felt so sad and happy at the same time.

Yeah, Kiara was sad. Trouble-making, anti-social Kiara was sad. She felt horrible. And what did that mean? Her tree was dying. Unexpected, yeah, but when you're a dryad and you feel horrible, it means your tree is dying. And when your tree dies, so do you. So, yeah, she felt horrible and sad, but happy at the same time because of the amazing view.

Kiara checked her watch and found that she still had an hour and a half before curfew. A breath of fresh air was all she needed. She just needed to calm down. With a sigh, she hugged her knees to her chest. The cold, fresh air was making her feel rather drowsy, and it felt really comfortable...

Kiara's eyes suddenly opened when she heard the door open. She turned around to see who it was.

Silas Worthington needed to get away from the rest of the people. It was too crowded downstairs. Having somewhat of a sixth sense as his powers, he had been having some problems with his powers acting up lately. Little, boring, trivial things about people were flooding into his brain so that he couldn't think.

Going up the stairs to the rooftop, he slowly opened the door, leaning on it. A few moments later, however, he realized he wasn't alone. A girl with flaming red hair was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest. She noticed him and looked at him.

"Sorry if I'm disturbing you," he said anxiously. "I had to get away from the people downstairs. Too much noise in my brain... it's..."

He realized she probably didn't understand.

"Well, crowds and that kind of thing have been overwhelming me lately, anyway."

Kiara turned back to the view once the boy started speaking. "I-I'm not really... you didn't... I was just..." she muttered, shrugging. She wasn't really disturbed. "I... kinda wanted to get away from everyone too... I mean, not that I don't want you here," she added quickly.

Kiara raised her eyebrows, but of course the other didn't see. "So you have some sort of heightened sense or something?" she asked before she realized what she was saying. She cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah... I don't like crowds either," she said quietly.

Silas nodded and said, "Well, yeah, it's sort of a sixth sense. It's only supposed to work when I concentrate. But in extreme situations or when I have stress or things like that, it will also act up. I don't know what's causing it this time."

He thought the girl sounded a little troubled. However, he said nothing about the matter. Instead, he looked out over the edge and saw the view.

"I haven't been around long," he said. Then he turned back to her. "My name's Silas," he said, stooping a little and extending his hand.

Kiara sighed, then nodded. "Oh, yeah, alright..." she muttered. They were quiet for a few minutes, until the boy spoke once more and introduced himself. She took his hand and shook it, then replied, "My name's Kiara."

"Kiara," Silas said. "Nice to meet you."

His sixth sense momentarily flared up again, and he suddenly realized she was somehow not well physically. He couldn't pin it down, but it seemed to him that it might be rather serious. But he wasn't sure if he should mention that either.

He decided to ask a more general question. "How are things?"

"Nice to meet you, too, Silas," Kiara replied.

She studied him for a moment, and for one second he looked rather alarmed, but when she blinked he looked normal once more. Hm... weird, Kiara thought. Then she shook her thoughts out of her head when he asked her a question.

"Mm... okay, I guess," she said quietly.

Without thinking much, Silas spoke.

"Okay, you guess?" he asked. "Doesn't sound very convincing to me."

He
could tell from her voice, and all things considered, that she was not
feeling all that okay. Then he wondered if he had said the wrong thing,
unsure of what to do next. He waited anxiously.