Chapter- X
A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. -Max Lucado
It wasn’t Chaud. That was the first thing I noticed about the person sharing a booth with us in the restaurant. I had been hoping to see him- how was it possible to miss someone so much in only two days? -but it wasn’t meant to be at the moment. I frowned at the thought.
“Hey, chin up, girlie,” Aria bumped her shoulder playfully into mine, and I looked up at her, grinning.
“You’re right,” I admitted gruffly.
“Some things never change.” She sang cheerfully.
“She’s correct, you know,” A rich, British accent flooded over me, “where Aria is concerned, she’s typically right about most things.”
I looked up, struggling to remember the name of the guy sitting across from Aria and I, and next to Sol. I blinked at him; his red hair caught the light in a distracting way, making it look softer than it probably was, and kept pulling me from my thoughts.
“That’s true, Aidan,” Sol piped up, and I looked to him gratefully. I smiled at his confusion, just happy I knew Aidan’s name now. It was always an awkward moment: when you just met someone, and can’t remember their name, but you’ve been talking to them long enough it’s embarrassing to both of you to have to ask. I shuddered mentally. I hated awkward social situations.
“Aidan, where did you say you were from?” I asked politely, steering the conversation to something more entertaining.
“I was born in Oxford, England.” He said, taking a bite from the burger he was eating before continuing, “I lived with my Mum until I was 15, then moved over here with my Dad after my parents divorced 3 years ago.”
I made a face, “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged, “It’s not a big deal; I’ve gotten over it already.”
“So… how do you know Sol?” Aria piped up, taking a sip of her diet coke.
Sol leaned forward, catching Aidan’s eye. The two of them exchanged a glance I didn’t necessarily like, before Sol answered Aria’s question.
“When Aidan came over here with his dad, we actually met at a Predators hockey game.”
“I wanted to see what Americans were so enthralled with,” Aidan said.
“Ugh,” Sol crinkled his nose in distaste, “I was actually there for the opposing team,” He admitted, “I don’t do Nashville.”
Aidan shrugged, “If I remember correctly, that would mean your team lost. Maybe you should ‘do’ Nashville.” He tried to use the same slang-terms Sol had thrown around so easily, but they came out stilted and irregular with his dialect.
I held back a smirk, taking a drink to hide my expression.
I wondered why we were meeting with Aidan, and why now. I had so much to think over, and begin to understand, and yet here we were, sitting in a cheap restaurant eating lunch with someone who had no connection to us. He had no real connection to the Five.
Aidan looked at me with a knowing smile, the kind that made my blood chill.
“No, I don’t have a real connection to the Five,” He spoke, shifting his head down to look me directly in the eyes, “but I do have a mental one.”
I gaped at him. I hadn’t said that last statement aloud, had I? Sol laughed at me, but Aria’s expression showed confusion. She obviously hadn’t known.
“You can… you’re a…?” My voice betrayed me, and I was left speechless. I didn’t appreciate the feeling.
“Mind-reader?” Aidan supplied cockily, his accent stressing the syllables oddly.
Aria gasped. “What? You’ve been reading our minds all this time?” Her face flushed a light pink, and she looked down at her hands, embarrassed by something.
My eyes widened with curiosity at what she must’ve been thinking to be so embarrassed, but I pushed it back, forcing myself to focus.
Aidan looked away from Aria with raised eyebrows, and turned to me.
“No, I’m actually not a mind-reader,” He said cryptically. “Not in the sense that, I can’t read everybody’s mind, only members of the Four.” He blinked in late realization, and hastened to correct himself, “I mean the Five.”
“Oh, it’s alright.” I assured him, for I was still new to being an element-wielder, too. I didn’t think it was something I could ever get used to.
Sol cleared his throat, and I returned my gaze to him, nearly forgetting he was there in my strict attention on Aidan.
“He can only read our minds if we allow him to, or, if we don’t know how to protect our minds.” He looked at me pointedly.
“Are you the only one?” I asked Aidan.
“I’m afraid not,” He replied.
“And some of the others,” Sol said, ominously, “would do anything to get inside our heads, and cause whatever sort of damage they can.”
I tried to guard my thoughts after that. It was hard, though, censoring things in a place you never had to before. People naturally speak to suit the person they’re talking to; whereas in their minds, they are free to say whatever they please. But suddenly, that wasn’t the case for me.
We left Aidan at the restaurant, and I finally got back to my house. I was itching to take a shower, which I hadn’t been able to earlier this morning.
I waved goodbye to both Sol and Aria before heading up my driveway, enjoying the feel of the sunshine on my arms.
My mother and father weren’t home when I opened the door, but there was a note on the kitchen table. I sighed as I read it; I swear my parents were like typical teenagers in that they were never home. Between my schedule and theirs, we hardly saw each other, much less did anything other than coexist in the same house.
I stretched and headed up the stairs to my room. I remembered that I was supposed to call Margie, from the sticky-note I had placed on my mirror. With everything else going on in my life, I finally realized I needed some way to keep everything straight in my head.
Picking up my phone, I dialed Margie’s number, and put it on speaker phone, setting it down on my bed. I rummaged around in my bag, searching for my laptop. I wanted to Google Aidan’s abilities. I had been striking out when it came to searching about element-wielders, but I knew that if I kept trying, sooner or later, something would give.
And I was planning to be there when the first wall fell.
-
“You’re telling me that you and Chaud aren’t an item?” Margie asked incredulously.
“I’m just saying that I don’t know what we are.” I tried to explain, speaking slowly into the phone.
“No, that’s not going to fly with me, missy.” Margie said sassily, “Something’s definitely going on with you two. I just don’t know how far it goes yet.”
I laughed, “That makes two of us, then.” I admitted.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure.” Margie said sarcastically, “You’ve got to admit it to yourself. How do you feel about him, Stella?” She said quietly.
I opened my mouth, and then shut it. I didn’t know how to respond to that. I mean, I liked Chaud… I really liked Chaud. But there was a part of me that didn’t enjoy relying on anyone for anything, and I had been already relying on Chaud an awful lot. And I told her just that.
“I like him, Margie. Hell… I really like him.” I smiled at my words, “but sometimes I feel like I’m… I don’t know, dominating his time? Is that stupid?” I asked insecurely.
“Well, yeah, a little bit.” Margie replied honestly, which I appreciated. “I mean if he wants to spend most of his time with you, who are you to turn him away?”
I laughed. “Thanks, girly. How is it you always know just what to say?”
Margie laughed with me, “It’s a talent of mine, that’s for sure. Now how about I come over tonight, and we have another movie date? I know I’m not Chaud, but… I don’t know. It could be fun…” She wheedled.
I smiled at her silliness, “Of course. Just text me a time… and hey, you bring the movie this time!”
-
Margie came over, and we watched a movie together, complete with even more popcorn. She filled me in on John, and how their relationship was progressing. I was happy when she was happy, and I hoped their relationship would go well.
My parents had arrived home sometime after Margie had come over, and they finished watching the movie with us.
“Hi, Mom. Hey, Dad.” I said to them after the movie had gone off.
“Hey Stella, how was your day?” My father replied politely, picking up the newspaper from where it laid on the coffee table.
“It was good. Where did you and Mom go?”
“We met up with a couple old friends of ours, honey. Sorry we didn’t tell you; we had to leave earlier and didn’t want to interrupt your day with your friends.” My mother replied.
“And how are you, Margie?” My mother asked, turning to Margie, who was eating the kernels from the bottom of the bowl.
“Oh,” She said, surprised, “I’m good.”
“Really?” My mother arched an eyebrow, and I looked quick to Margie, mouthing ‘heads-up’. “You’re not still upset about your dog, are you?”
“My dog?” Margie asked dumbly.
“Yes, Stella told us about how you had to have it put down. You poor thing!” My mom wrapped her arms around Margie in what I was sure was supposed to be a comforting manner.
Margie’s face cleared, and I knew she had caught up- that I had told my mother that as an excuse, and she needed to play the ‘good friend’ and cover for me. Again.
“I’m still… it’s still weird to think she’s gone.” Margie sniffed convincingly, “Sometimes I’ll think I need to take her for a walk, or feed her, and then I’ll remember… she’s gone.”
“Aw, sweetheart! It’ll be alright, things will get better. You’ll see.” My mother said determinedly.
“Oh, I hope so.” Margie replied softly. Over my mom’s shoulder, she looked to me, mouthing ‘You-owe-me.’
I knew I did.
-
Margie couldn’t stay the night, much to my displeasure. I didn’t feel like spending the night all by myself. But I didn’t see another option. As thoughts of Chaud ran through my head momentarily again, I had had enough. I had been thinking about the boy all day, and since it was obviously up to me to make sure we talked today, I shot him a quick text. I looked at the clock only after I had sent him a message, and grimaced. It was almost 1 o’clock in the morning. I was supposed to be asleep. Or, Chaud was, anyhow.
However, my phone lit up with a new text only a few minutes later. I smiled as I read his message.
If it does, then I’m crazy, too.
I went back to my sent messages, clicking the one I had sent to Chaud only a moment before.
Is it crazy that I sort of already miss you?
I texted him back.
Well, we can be crazy together.
I yawned, fatigue finally overwhelming me. Today had been a long one, and I mentally scolded myself as I realized I had tons of schoolwork to do tomorrow. Yet, here I was, up at 1 in the morning, texting away. I opened up my phone one last time, reading the message, before turning off the light.
I’ll be crazy for you. :)
-
Sunday passed before I knew it; I was thankful I’d had enough time to get all of my school work done. Classes weren’t getting any easier, that was for sure. I decided to try to spend some time with my mother and father. We even went out to dinner together, as a family. Although all their recent efforts to make time for me had me slightly apprehensive as to their motives, I shut down that line of thinking in order to appreciate it as much as possible.
-
As much as I hated to go to school and start the week the following day and face the music, I couldn’t find another excuse to avoid it. Blinking blearily as I made my way down the steps, I was pleasantly surprised to see my mother making breakfast.
“Mom?” I questioned, “Are you sick?” I asked slyly, mocking her earlier appraisal of my cooking in the kitchen.
“Good morning, honey.” She said in a slight sing-song voice, turning around to look at me.
“You made me breakfast?”
She nodded, returning her attention to the stove.
She flipped a pancake, and laid it down on my plate.
“Mom, this is really nice and all, but I don’t know if I’ll have enough time for all of this…” I trailed off at her puppy-dog look.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” I asked again, confused by her behavior.
“Oh, I’m wonderful! I just want you to have a good breakfast. And be careful with any school-bought lunches; you can never know just what they put into those to make them so cheap to produce.” She rambled on in her motherly tone.
I choked around a mouthful of pancake. I had known that Mom was pretty, uh, unique, in her beliefs on the school system’s food production, but still. This was a bit of an extreme case.
“Wow, thanks, Mom, for that picture. There goes me buying lunch.” I groaned.
“Don’t you worry, I already packed it!” My mother said excitedly, beaming as she handed me a brown paper bag.
“Alright, thanks Mom.” I said, gulping down the pancake and heading for the door, bagged lunch in-hand.
“Love you sweetie!” She yelled after me.
I shook my head in amazement. Today, I had a feeling, was going to be an interesting day.
-
Facing the music was boring. I swear I might have lifted my pencil 3 times all day. Once to get it out of my bag, once to write my name on a paper and one more time to put it back away. Pathetic.
Getting ready for one of the last weeks of soccer practice- which was over once Thanksgiving break began in a couple weeks, I reverted to my old habits, not thinking about it and stripping myself of all jewelry. I couldn’t really stand having anything dangling, bouncing, or jingling on my body during sports; while I’d been making an exception for the key in the past, I didn’t consider it at all that day.
I put it in the front pocket of my sports bag, which I strolled out with to the field, setting it down on the sidelines. I began to put on my shin guards, when I realized I had forgotten to bring a pair of soccer socks. Groaning aloud, I turned and walked around to the rest of my teammates, asking and pleading to borrow an extra.
Thankfully Cadie had an extra pair, and I smiled at her gratefully before I went back to sit down and finish getting ready.
-
After practice, I was met with a surprise. Parked behind my silver car was somebody’s little-rich-boy car. I couldn’t get all my stuff together fast enough, and I mentally thanked coach for allowing us to miss out on excess sprints tonight.
I jogged over towards his car, but opened my own car’s door to put my things away first. I tried to act like I wasn’t crazy to see him, but I don’t think I pulled it off. Not judging by the little smirk on his face, anyhow.
“Hey you.” I said, giving up on acting nonchalant, and realizing I was all bubbly.
“Hi.”
I cocked my head to the side, “Whatcha doin’ here?”
He laughed, “You want the cute answer, or the real answer?”
“Well, if you could spin them together somehow, that’d be nice.” I said softly.
“I mean, on a side note, I found out something about that key, but the real reason I’m here is because I missed you.” He raised an eyebrow at me, “How was that?”
I shifted my weight back and forth, pretending to be in thought.
“Eh, I’ve heard better lines.” I shot him a wicked grin, and he stood up from where he’d been leaning against his car.
“Is that so?” He ducked his head, just a bit, so he caught my gaze, and his blue eyes were smoldering. I smiled widely at him, trying to hide the effect he continually had on me, saying,
“Yep!”
By now, the other girls had caught up to us, and while most of them decided to head home regardless, more than a few had stuck around to scope out Chaud. My jaw clenched automatically, until I realized I had no real hold over him, and therefore, not too much room to be jealous. My lips curved down at the thought.
I turned around to look at the girls behind me, raising a quizzical eyebrow at them. A few had the decency to look ashamed of themselves at least, and walked off to where their rides were waiting patiently.
I turned back around to see Chaud examining me, an odd expression on his face.
“What?” I asked.
He smiled at me, shaking his head.
“Okay… So what did you find out about the key?” I coaxed.
Chaud blew out a low breath, seemingly trying to fit words to the use of the key.
“It’s supposed to unlock a safe house of the Hunters. Well, it’s really much more than a safe house, in that it’s their head house. It’s where all their major meetings are held.”
My eyes widened at the realization the Hunters could be taken down a notch with the help of this key and the Five. My hand reached up where my necklace chain typically is, but only touched skin. I lightly touched my collarbone, hoping the necklace had just shifted during practice.
Then it hit me, I had taken it off before practice, unthinkingly. I had received threats from both the Elemene and the Hunters that upon taking it off, I shall lose it. So what did I do? I took it off.
“What’s wrong?” Chaud looked at me quizzically, tilting his head at me.
I looked down at the ground a bit ashamed of myself, “I might have… uh, lost it?”
“What?” He sounded incredulous, and shook his head a fraction. “Well, we need to find it. ASAP, babe.”
“Okay, okay…” My mind drifted, thinking back to where I could have left it. My soccer bag! I blew out a slight sigh of relief; at least I knew where that was…
I opened my car door, and grabbed my bag.
“I think I put it in my front pocket here before practice.” I explained to Chaud, rummaging around in my bag. My hand came up empty though. Maybe I had put it in my jeans pocket? I opened up the main compartment of my bag, only to find it filled with someone else’s stuff. What?
“What’s the matter? Have you found it?” Chaud’s voice came from right behind me.
I jumped.
“No, not exactly…”
Chaud lightly shoved his way forward, and took the soccer bag out of my hands. “This isn’t yours.” He said emotionlessly, tossing me an unreadable look.
I folded my arms over my chest, “My bag must have just gotten mixed up with someone else’s. Really, I don’t see the harm, Chaud. Besides, they’re all,” I lowered my voice, “human anyway. They’ll think it’s a key to a chest of my baby clothes up in the attic or something.” I waved my hand dismissively.
“Yeah, well that’s all fine and good, but what if they weren’t the ones who stole it?” He countered sharply.
I shot him a glare, “Then we can cross that bridge when we get to it.”
“If one of the Hunters got it…” Chaud trailed off, before aiming a sarcastic little smile my way, “Well, let’s just hope the bridge doesn’t collapse before we get to it, shall we?”
-
He followed me home.
He thought that, as someone “stole” (his word, not mine) my bag, then that same someone was sure to be after me. I rolled my eyes at the thought.
I appreciated his willingness to look after me, but I couldn’t help but think that he was being a bit dramatic. Being overprotective was not appealing to me. That had always been the one problem I had with every romance book I’d read, with every movie I’d seen. The female leads were always so helpless, falling over themselves when danger headed their way, always needing to be rescued by their prince.
Well, not this princess.
No, I would find my own way around things; rules, precedents, and stereotypes be damned.
-
Walking in my house, after waving goodbye to Chaud, I noticed my answering machine was blinking with a new message. I pressed the button, before sliding my school bags onto a chair.
The message sounded like something for Mom or Dad, so I hit pause and, grabbing a banana, I headed upstairs to finish my homework.
My room was chilly enough that I threw on an extra sweatshirt as I entered it. I wondered why it would be so cold, with the heat on at this time of year, until I saw my window.
It wasn’t that it was open, which my mother could have done on her lunch break. No, my window was busted open, like some idiot had rammed his way through it.
I froze. Slowly, I ran my gaze around my room, cataloging every minor detail, hoping something would be of use to me later.
A creak, a groan, a shuffle of feet, I could never be sure quite what the noise behind me had been. Regardless, it had made me turn around, right as a gravelly voice met my ears, “Stella.”
-