Chapter III.
Over the next couple of weeks, Lyra made no more attempts to talk to Jonah. But she watched him constantly. He was like a magnet that drew her eye wherever he was. Sometimes he caught her staring, and though she was deeply embarrassed that her fascination was so obvious, she was incapable of keeping her eyes away from following him for long.
It wasn’t just that he was gorgeous—though that would have been enough. But, his aloneness bothered her. He rebuffed all friendly gestures from the few who attempted to engage him. On the one hand, Lyra saw this as a good sign—at least it wasn’t just her. On the other hand, she was confounded as to why he seemed so determined not to make any friends in Lake Placid. He never laughed or even smiled. She didn’t think he was just rude or stuck up. He didn’t seem arrogant. Rather, she sensed that there was some deep wound that kept the walls up, and darned if she didn’t want to be the one to break them down.
It didn’t take long for word of his cold attitude to spread. Within a week or two, anyone who was, or might have been, inclined to be friendly stopped bothering. He never talked to anyone. When he was called on in class, his answers were always correct, but curt, almost to the point of rudeness, making it very clear he did not appreciate the attention drawn to himself. Eventually, interest in the ‘new guy’ wore completely off. Lyra was saddened to see that her classmates and even teachers gave up entirely. People talked over him and around him as though he was not there, as though he was invisible. But Lyra’s awareness of him did not diminish. He was the proverbial elephant in the room. It was as if he radiated a high frequency signal to which she alone was attuned.