Burning Butterfly (Prefect #1)

9. You Lost Me

A/N: Yet another new character ;P

Song above is 'You Lost Me' by Christina Aguilera :3

Image above is roughly how I imagine Leesha (Lee) Brookes ;D

*~*

Ash had found me bawling my eyes out in our Dorm Room, and after explaining to her what had happened, she simply stared at me.  "He did that?" she asked slowly, and I nodded.  Ash blinked rapidly.  "Wow.  Well, that's a first for the Prefect."

I frowned.  "What do you mean, Ash?"

Ashlynn shrugged.  "I mean, Prefect Eli doesn't date.  Yeah, he's had flings, but nothing serious.  He's been trying to find his Buddy for years, but always came up empty-handed."  Ash directed her green-eyed gaze over at me.  "Until he found you."

I scoffed and rubbed at my eyes.  "Are you kidding?  He didn't even want me as his Buddy in the first place, so why would he change his mind now?"

Ash shrugged once again and stroked Ace's tail, who currently sat in her lap asleep.  "Beats me.  Do you ever think that maybe he was actually serious about you on Saturday?"

I had thought about that.  But who uses my parents as an excuse to be with me?  That's just down right cowardice.  I shook my head then.  "There's no way he could have meant all that."  My thoughts suddenly drifted to Ari then.  "Oh, Ash!  Have you heard about the new transfer student?" I asked my roommate.

Ash grinned then.  "You mean that cutie?  Of course!  Who hasn't?"

I chuckled.  "So you've met him already then?"

Ash nodded.  "Yeah, I passed him in the hallway when I dropped my books from some of the younger kids bumping into me.  He picked them up for me and introduced himself.  And then you won't believe what happened next!" Ash exclaimed, and I frowned, now curious on why she was so excited.  "He turned out to be my Buddy!"

"What!?" I shrieked from shock.

"I know, right!?" Ash shrieked in excitement.

I frowned.  "I thought Loki was your Buddy?"

Ash scoffed, and shook her head.  "That son of a Mage?  No way in hell.  He was just a mistake of a fling."  She waved away the topic of Loki and directed it back to Ari.  "Can you believe it, though?  I thought I would never find my Buddy until I Graduated."

I chuckled.  "Well, I'm happy for you and Ari."

Ash blinked at me, her green eyes wide.  "How do you know his name?"

I raised an eyebrow.  "Ari and I grew up together until he moved away five years ago."

"No way!"  Ash gripped my shoulders then and shook me rapidly.  "You have to give me all the details!"

"Calm down, woman!" I shouted while laughing, and began telling her stories from when me and Ari were just kids, completely forgetting about Elliot and our kiss, and not noticing a snow white Owl perched on our balcony that was watching over me.

~+~

The rest of the week seemed to pass by in a blur, and I discovered several things during that time.  One; My childhood friend and roommate were Buddies.  Two; I also found out that Rian and Loki were Buddies as well, despite the troublemaker always skipping class and yet still managing to pass, regardless.  Three; I managed to avoid Elliot that entire week, Professor Ivangard back to teaching, not bothering to explain his whereabouts to his students.  And Four; I became aware of a shadow following me this past week.

I first noticed the shadow when I was heading back to the Dorms late at night, since I stayed after to practice, now refusing to have Elliot as my Tutor, still not forgiving him for stealing my first kiss from me.  Although what I didn't expect was for my shadow to be a young girl.

I had been walking up the stairs to my Dorm where Ash waited for me when Ace noticed the presence over my shoulder, and I swiftly spun around, wand at the ready and cast the wind Spell Elliot had taught me despite my mental protests.  "With a whirl and twirl, I command the wind to flow.  Sanatio Airo!" I cast the Spell, and heard a small squeal as I opened my eyes, the wind dissipating into nothing once again.  Looks like I still needed more practice.

I peered over at my shadow and saw that it was a young girl of about twelve, her uniform matching my own, only in a smaller size because of her age and grade.  She had long midnight black hair up in two pigtails that hung down to her waist, and bright blue eyes that looked oddly familiar to me.  "Ouch," she muttered, rubbing her behind since my wind Spell had knocked her off her feet.  Only then did I finally react.

"Oh my Mage!  I'm so sorry!  I thought you were a creeper or something!" I apologized, and glimpsed the girl's cheeks turn bright pink as I helped her back on her feet.  She wasn't that tall compared to me.  I was 5'4" and she seemed to barely pass my waist, but she still managed to stand tall even after I knocked her over.

"It's fine," she mumbled, and stared down at the floor.

Crossing my arms, I raised an eyebrow.  "Now is there a reason you've been following me the past couple of days?"

The girl's head snapped up, blue eyes wide in surprise.  "H-how did you know I've been following you?"

I chuckled.  "I didn't."  She blushed then.  "Ace told me, though, so that's how I know."

"Oh," the girl looked down at the ground then, "I'm sorry, I just, I didn't know how to talk to you."

I sighed and hunched over on my knees, peering up into her face as she glanced at me.  "What's your name?"

"Leesha, but you can call me Lee."

I nodded.  "Well, Lee, care to tell me why you were following me?"

Leesha scuffed the toe of her shoe on the floor and crossed her arms behind her back.  "I heard that you were Elliot's Buddy, and I was wondering if you've talked to him lately."

I frowned.  "How do you know Elliot?"

Leesha blinked up at me in confusion.  "You mean Elliot never mentioned me?"  She sighed then.  "Figures he wouldn't.  My big brother has always been the reserved type," Leesha shrugged while I stared down at her.

"Wait, 'big brother'?  You mean to say that Elliot is your brother?  As in, Brookes?" I asked disbelievingly, and Leesha nodded.  "Oh, boy," I muttered, and rubbed my forehead.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but something's happened to my brother recently.  Nobody's seen him for the past week, and I was wondering, as his Buddy, if you knew where he was?" Lee asked desperately, blue eyes wide.  Eyes that matched her brother's.

I frowned then.  "You mean he hasn't been at school?"  Lee shook her head.  "Well, where would he go?"

Leesha shrugged.  "I figured you would know since you're his girlfriend and all."

"G-girlfriend?" I sputtered out, and rapidly shook my head.  "Oh, no, you have it all wrong, Lee.  I'm not dating your brother."

Lee frowned.  "Why not?"

Why not?  That really was the question, wasn't it?  I felt my face start to heat up, and rubbed my arm.  "I-it's hard to explain," I mumbled, and looked down at the ground.

Leesha sighed.  "Well, if you see him, please let me know.  I'm really worried about him."  Then she left.

I sighed and bit my lip, looking out the hallway window into the moonlit night.  Leesha's admittance to being Elliot's younger sister was a shock to me, but not as much as hearing that Elliot hadn't been at school this entire week.  Where could he have possibly gone?

Elliot, where are you?

*~*

A/N: I know it's short, but it was all I got ._. Oh well XP

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