Selection (Book 2 of P.O.E. chronicles)

Chapter 26 This is how I live now

Feeling a million times better I stuck through the rest of the tests and tried to act the same way as I did earlier in the morning. Although I probably needn’t have worried since all three people in the room with me were the least emotionally aware creatures I knew.

When the end of the day finally rolled around, I was unceremoniously deposited into a random room by Heather, who told me to wait in there. I looked around and came to the conclusion that it must be some kind of common room, equipped with sofas and a small kitchenette.

Sinking into the plush sofa I sighed, wondering if Lynette was ever going to let me go back to London Citybase to see my family again. At this rate I would be stuck here until I turn thirty.

The sound of doors opening startled me and I looked up to see a group of young adults strolling into the room. Surprised, I watched as the guy at the front stopped a few meters away from me

I could tell the guy was studying me and I took that time to study the group as well. There were five of them in total, four boys and one girl. The leader who was sizing me up had ash brown hair and hazel green eyes. When our eyes met he narrowed his eyes and took a step forward.

“So…” he said, pacing in front of me and dragging out his words. “You are Abigail Beckett.”

I raised my eyebrow at him, not sure what kind of game he was playing. So they knew who I was, which wasn’t a big surprise; the question was, what were they doing here?

One of the other boys, one with almost shoulder length dark hair gave me a playful smile when our eyes locked and waved at me making the only girl behind him scowl.

“It’s very rude not to introduce yourself you know.” I said, directing it at the hazel-eyed boy. He chuckled and stopped pacing right in front of me, dropping down so we were at the same eyelevel. I tried not to let the proximity bother me and stared right back at him holding my ground. This felt like school again and I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with the petty drama.

“I am Gerald.” His hazel eyes bored into mine and it felt almost like he was trying to read into my mind. “Gerald Fitz William.”

My glance flickered towards his companions however they showed no indication of introducing themselves. Turning back to Gerald, I nearly grimaced when he inched even closer to me.

“You are not what I expected.” He stated, then standing back up finally giving me back my personal space and began pacing again. Despite only meeting this guy for two minutes he was beginning to get on my nerves; I had never met anyone who sounded so pompous. Maybe with the exception of Fred Bowen.

I kept my mouth shut as Gerald settled down on the couch adjacent to me. His gang seemed to take this as a signal and scattered all around him. The girl and the long-haired guy sat down next to him, the girl still scowling and the other guy watching our exchange with interest.

“I heard you are powerful.” Gerald said; he was finally getting to the point and I shrugged, not giving anything away. I leaned back against the soft cushions hoping that if I ignored them they will just get bored and go away.

Before I could blink however, a mind wave hit me and the mental force was so strong that I was almost knocked over physically. Surprised and outraged I retaliated almost instinctively, tracing the source back to a skinny man standing behind the coach who was now splayed across the floor as my mind wall knocked him over.

Gerald exchanged a look with the girl and I immediately braced myself for whatever might come next. Sure enough the girl lifted the coffee table between us and hurled it towards me, using so much force that if it hit me I would most likely end up with a broken neck.