Zodiac Academy

9. Lake

  "Will you go to the dance with me?" A single flower was shoved in my face.

  The Signs Dance was tomorrow. I had been asked to the dance a total of eight times -and counting it seems- over the past five days since it had been announced.

  And during those five days, Jenny had been trying her hardest to get me to change my mind. Bribes, food, money, a date. It wasn't going to happen. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could change my mind.

  I looked up from my crossed arms on my desk. "I already have a date, sorry," I lied, giving the boy a sympathetic smile.

  He crossed his arms after setting the flower on my desk. "That's a lie. You've rejected everyone who has asked so far."

  "Are you stalking me?" I asked.

  His eyes widened a smidge. "What? No."

  "How would you know if I had rejected all of them unless you have been watching me?"

  "It's not like that. I was told about it," he replied swiftly.

  "Ah." I nodded my head in an unknown understanding. "So you were dared to see if you could get me to go?"

  The boy's face flushed. "That's not- No, I -" he tried.

  "It's cool. For now. So get out of my face before I make you."

  The boy's features shifted to anger as he stomped away from me. It didn't really matter to me. I'm sure it was my loss and all that shit.

  Jenny slammed her hands onto my desk. "Why are you like this?"

  I picked up the single flower, twirling the stem between my fingers. "And that's supposed to mean?"

  She rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you have been asked multiple times and still refuse to go. People want you to go!"

  The flower flew right where I wanted it to. She swatted it away with Air before it could touch her. "Aquarius," she said sternly, "stop being a baby and accept someone's proposal."

  "I'm fine being single." The bell rang, stating the study period was over. I grabbed my many textbooks about business and the economy.

  "You know that is not what I meant. Hey, where are you going?"

  I waved behind at her without looking back. I was headed in the direction of the Aries building. I had heard they were throwing a huge party because yesterday was the beginning of their dates. And they weren't allowed to refuse another sign from showing up.

  Zodiacs were supposed to get along. Supposed to.

  The building was packed with people. Surprisingly, there were more signs in one place than a mandated assembly put together by the Zodiacs. I suppose a party being thrown to celebrate the other sign's dates were a truce of some sort.

  A Virgo slapped my shoulder as she walked by. She stuck out her tongue and held up a rock and roll sign with her fingers. Her tongue was pierced in the middle and her hair dyed a dark red. Her shirt sported a nasty looking crab, which also had piercings of its own.

  "'Sup, babe?" She gave me a saucy wink and ran further into the building.

  I pondered walking out the doors this very moment. But I needed some "normal" behaviour. Continuously being a part of some Gemini scheme was tiring. Hopefully, a party could help me relax a little.

  Another Sign shoved past me. The first thing I had to do was get away from the door.

  Another person shoved my shoulder as they walked in. A party may be a truce, but not an entirely peaceful one. I was ready to chew then out and I hadn't even been here for five minutes.

  I walked away from the door before anyone else could hit me one more time. Drinks of varying colors were set on tables, the lights were dimmed down to almost nothing, and many people danced to loud music.

  It was like a very beat down version of the Gemini Club. I'm pretty sure the Gemini had actually been drinking alcoholic beverages. Or at least a little spiked.

  "You'll come to this party but not the dance?" someone yelled.

  I turned around to see the second person to ask me to the dance. It was a Capricorn. She had given me a piece of chocolate and lots of body language.

  All I could do was shrug. What did she want me to say? 'Yeah, I'd rather be at a dumb party than an even worse one tomorrow?'

  The Capricorn sighed, pushing aside her black hair. "Alright. Then why don't we spend this party together?"

  This is the part where I should have weighed my options. Where I might have weighed my options weeks ago. Instead, I nodded my head slowly. Why not? It was just a night.

  Right?

°^°^°

  The Capricorn's name was Lake. She was surprisingly good at dancing and hated small talk. Currently, she was swaying her hips to the music and staring me down.

  Unnerving is one word I would call it.

  Suddenly, pebbles started to zap toward her body. Her hands were moving above her head fluidly. She must be using her Earth. The small pieces of rock swung around her moving hips. All the while her eyes never left me.

  I used my Air to make the pebbles sway along with her instead of protecting her body. Making them dance along instead of becoming armor.

  She gave me a wicked smile once she realized I was using Air to make her Earth come to life. It almost seemed like it had made her open up a little more as well.

  She threw her arms in my direction -which was on the verge of impossible because of all the other people shoving each other about to dance as well- and the pebbles flew toward me. They stopped before reaching me, my Air still making them sway to the beat.

  Lake never stopped dancing. She winked at me and the small chunks of rock began to change colors. From onyx to purple to green. And every color in between.

  "I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary," she said into my ear as she slid closer to me.

  Poetry? What did she mean by that?

  She began to try to get me to dance along with her. She placed her hands on my hips and forced me to move until she was satisfied I was doing it correctly. The warmth from every other body in this room did not compare to the warmth her hands brought to my skin.

  If she was going to make me dance all night, it was going to be a long night. I didn't usually dance. Especially not with another person and using Air to make multicolored pebbles float in the air.

  It was a first for me. And I wouldn't label it as a bad one. I was actually quite content. Just allowing the music to flow through my body and use Air to sway the Earth Lake was using.

  Maybe going to this dumb party was a good idea after all. However, I couldn't get rid of the undying sense that something was going to happen. And I don't believe my bad luck streak was going to let up any time soon.

^~^
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