A Witch's Way

Chapter 28

Serena stared at Jasper from the other end of the field, her blood rushing in her ears. She didn't want to fight him, but if this was the only way to catch him and talk to him--then so be it.

"Start!" Suzuki's voice rang through the clearing, tensing up everyone as they leaned forward, eager to see who'd be victorious in the fighting.

Jasper darted forward, grabbed Serena's wrist, and flew up, leaving everyone in a tunnel of dust below. People shouted in disappointment from below, wanting to see what was going on.

Serena yelled, trying to rip away from him. "Get off!" she shouted, forming thorny vines around her hand. She slammed it down and he hissed, recoiling with the pain and dropping Serena.

She was falling. She couldn't hear anything except the wind in her ears.

Serena screamed, a vine grabbing her out of the air and setting her down on the field. The vine dissipated and she looked up to see Jasper still floating there. She shot a vine toward him and yanked down, sending him sprawling onto the ground. Dust rose into the air at the impact.

Everyone was silent.

Serena felt her hair move and she swallowed, feeling a burst of air propel her forward to the edge of the field. Something stopped her, and she bounced back, each blast of air accompanied by a light tap to her stomach or back.

She thought she heard Jasper apologize after each hit. She couldn't be sure, but she was almost convinced that he didn't want to do this just as much as she didn't.

She bit her tongue, and fluid filled her mouth.The taste of something metallic assaulted her mouth and she wanted to throw up. She stopped herself, vines finally catching her and she grabbed onto one of them, steadying herself. She wiped at her mouth and ignored the streak it left on her arm, staring at Jasper.

"What the hell are you doing this for? Why the hell are you acting like we were never friends?" Serena shouted, launching forward, arm coiled back to throw a punch on his jaw.

She didn't know if anyone could hear them, but she didn't care. She was sick of him acting like this, and she didn't want this to be a repeat of last time they fought. She couldn't take it.

Jasper caught her easily and spun her around, his hand folded over the top of her fist. "I just thought that--that since you didn't want to be my partner for this then maybe...you wanted some space..."

Serena gritted her teeth. How stupid was he? "You can't be my partner for everything, Jasper!" Serena shouted, wanting to sock him in the mouth with a thorny vine.

Jasper stared at her and swallowed, pushing her back with air. "That doesn't make any sense."

Serena lurched forward again to swing at Jasper, only to be stopped by him spinning her back around. He pushed her back again, this time to the edge of the field.

She cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted, "Just because I didn't want to be your partner for this doesn't mean we can't ever be partners!"

When Jasper never responded, she opened her mouth to shout again but had it shut by Jasper appearing in front of her.

Instead of letting him speak, she threw a punch, thorns lining her knuckles, and sent him tumbling to the ground. She held her hand, hissing through her teeth at the pain sparking up her arm. "How dare you act like...like...that, and then act like you hated to ever meet me," Serena snapped, having enough. "I don't get it. Don't make this a repeat of last time," she said, her voice breaking. "I just don't get it," she repeated.

Jasper pushed himself up off the ground and moved his jaw back and forth, a crooked smile back on his face. "Of course you don't," he stood up and moved forward to stand in front of Serena. His jaw was bleeding from the scrapes on it, and Serena had half a mind to reach up and apologize to him.