Jazmyne's Secret (Chapter 3)
Jackson's anger doesn't faze Gabriel at all. What stands out in his mind is the feeling he had minutes ago when the world disappeared and reappeared right in the middle of his fight. Gabriel keeps walking to his math class.
Finally, he arrives and not a second too soon. A short Indian teacher stands in front of the class, and Gabriel slowly walks up him to explains why he is late. "Sorry, you wouldn't believe I was in the wrong class the entire time."
The teacher nods, and Gabriel makes his way to the back of the class; he sits in a corner desk and pulls out his notebook. He pretends to take notes as he catches his breath and calms his nerves. Suddenly Gabriel's side feels warm and tingly, and the tingling sensation becomes a sweltering pain. Gabriel lets out a yelp and gropes for the mark on his side. He looks around the room and nearly passes out, but had to forcing himself to focus he notices the red haired girl from earlier that morning is looking straight at him and smiling.
Now that he is actually close to her, he sees that her face is flawless. Her tiny diamond earrings glitter from perfectly shaped ears that gently frame the rest of her face. Gabriel feels like he is in a daze; he can't take his eyes away from hers. Enjoying every moment of her beauty, Gabriel feels a nudge. A boy with really bad acne leans across the aisle.
"Dude, you elbowed Jackson in the face? You got guts man," the boy whispers. Gabriel's heart begins to race. How does this guy know? He gets his answer when he notices, the guy holding a phone showing Gabriel swiftly elbowing Jackson in the face.
Gabriel turns around slowly and keeps his eyes down. This is bad. Dad is not going to be too happy about this no matter what excuse I give him. Dad hates when I fight. He was furious when I came home beat up and my shirt was ripped from protecting Josh. Gabriel groans inwardly. Shifting his focus, he notices the design on his side is still hot. He begins to wonder why nothing seems to make sense.
Gabriel thinks through the morning events for the rest of class. The mark seems to get warm when he feels like he is in danger...like the fight with Jackson. So why is it hot now? There is no danger around him. He glances up from his notebook and occasionally sees the girl staring intently at him not blinking. Gabriel finds himself breaking eye contact out of nervousness, when he finds himself staring, he feels at the same time as if he is dreaming. The dazed feeling disappears the moment he turns his eyes from hers.
Finally, the bell rings and Gabriel pulls out his schedule to find his next class. To his relief, it is P.E. Getting up, he comes face to face with the girl with the red hair.
"Hi, I'm Jazmyne. Listen, I heard about what you did, and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind waiting for me in the gym after your P.E. class." She is looking down at his schedule, "I really would like to show you something, Gabriel." She ends her statement with a perfect smile.
Feeling weird, like he was drifting through a really thick fog. Gabriel notices the floor is moving beneath him, and he struggles to respond. Finally, he stammers, "Yeah, I can."
Jazmyne claps with glee. "Good, I guess I'll see you later. Okay, Gabe?"
Gabriel's mouth feels as if it is stuffed with cotton. "Yeah," he mumbles as he watches her walk away. Slowly, the floor returns to him. That girl is just too beautiful. I feel like such an idiot around her. Gabriel collects his things and finds his way to gym class. The coach hands out hideous gym uniforms as Gabriel steps onto the ugly green tiled floor in the locker room. Gabriel followed the other boys and changes into the oversized yellow shirt and green shorts.
The boys in the locker room are rowdy as they change. They eagerly ask if Gabriel had beaten up Jackson. "No, I didn't. I was protecting my friend. No big deal," Gabriel shrugs. They leave the locker room and enter the massive basketball court. The boys who had been asking him questions exchange bewildered looks and whispers. Gabriel knows what they are thinking. How the heck did this short skinny kid beat up an older student? Gabriel smiles to himself.
The gym class was short but fun; passer tests are required at the beginning and end of the semester, and Gabriel was the only one who passes with ease. Gabriel wipes himself down with some of the faded green locker room towels when the class had gotten back in the locker room. He throws them on the top of the gray lockers and takes his time getting dressed. He has his secret rendezvous; He hopes none of the other guys will linger.
Making sure everyone else has left, Gabriel makes his way out onto the gym floor. He stands there a moment looking around. The gym is huge; with bleacher stands on both sides. Walking over to the bleachers, he sits down. I wonder where the gym coach went off to? Probably has his lesson planning time after he sees our class. Gabriel fidgets and shifts positions in an attempt to make himself look cool.
After a few minutes pass and Gabriel comes to the conclusion he's been stood up. Gabriel lets out a deep sigh and head shaking at his stupidity, starts a slow walk to the gym doors but before he can reach them, the design on his side begins to burn and throb.
A sweet soft voice from behind him breaks the silence. "You weren't thinking about leaving were you Gabriel Heart?" Jazmyne suddenly appears directly behind him. Gabriel is a shocked and taken aback.
"How did you get in__" Gabriel starts to ask, just as his eyes meet hers. The dazed feeling returns with a vengeance. Gabriel looks deeply into her eyes--they were so perfect. While Gabriel stands smiling like a drone, Jazmyne takes his hand and leads him to the center of the basketball court. Gabriel's side is on fire, but he ignores it. This girl is no danger to him; she is so perfect and beautiful... Gabriel had always dreamed of the moment when a beautiful girl would notice him; they would fall in love and share their high school experience with each other. Dropping Gabriel's hand Jazmyne takes a few steps back.
"Why are you here?" Jazmyne asked coldly. Still in a dream-like trance, Gabriel is confused by her question. "This would have been the perfect feasting ground for me. This high school is filled with selfish people. I could have fulfilled all their wishes and wasted them without any fighting or problems. But then here comes a Champion, with that awful smelling Phoenix Mark! I just wanted to eat." Jazmyne glares at Gabriel. A final flare from his side is so hot it brings him out of his trance.
"What are you talking about? Phoenix mark?" Gabriel's smile slowly fades into a petrified stare as the reality of his surroundings set in. Two things disturb him the most: first, he had never told Jazmyne his name. And then, even scarier, she had just called him a Champion like Lockland from his dream. A cold chill makes its way down his back. Just then Jazmyne's red hair suddenly burst into flames, and hot coals replace her lovely eyes. Her perfect body flickered with orange and yellow flames. Gabriel yelps and stands to back away from her, tripping over his own feet and falling on his back.
Suddenly Jazmyne roars, "LIAR! YOU CAME HERE TO STOP ME. WELL, CHAMPION, YOU CAN DIE WHERE YOU STAND!" Throwing her arms, Jazmyne flings a flaming ball right at Gabriel.
Time feels like its slowing down, and Gabriel feels his natural instinct take over, and it sends him into a backflip. He feels his landing in his knees as his feet touch the floor again. He quickly looks at the spot where he had been laying moments before. It was a smoking, scorched black from the blast. His mind races. I've never done a backflip in my life. How did I do that? As he was wonders he takes off in a crisscross sprint. He runs towards the green bleachers on his right while dodging the barrage of fireballs. He glances up to see a person sitting in red robes with an oversize hood covering their face at the top of the bleachers.
"Gabriel," the figure calls in a booming voice, "That is a Jinn. Her weakness is water. What do you think you should do?" Gabriel slows down in confusion and feels the heat of a flame pass his ear. Who is this person? What the heck is a Jinn? And water? Where am I supposed to get water from? Suddenly as if a light had gone off in his head, he knows what to do: Jazmyne is made of fire, so what if I pull the fire alarm? The sprinklers would be sure to get rid of her! While he keeps rolling and ducking fire blasts, his eyes scan the gym for the fire alarm.
Bingo! But his success seems short-lived; the alarm was behind the Jinn, whose fiery hair and body were now brighter and larger. Ugh, why didn't I see her like this the first time? Now how do I get behind her? He rolls to the left a millisecond too slow, and the heat from a fireball is scorching his clothes. He has an idea but doesn't like it. He was running out of space to run, and the fireballs were starting small fires all around him.
Balling his fists, Gabriel takes off in a full sprint toward the Jinn. Her face written with shock at Gabriel's sudden aggression and puts up a firewall to protect herself, but it blocks her sight momentarily. Gabriel's feet didn't slow; he braces himself and jumps. He lands behind the Jinn feet first. The impact makes his knees wobble, but he doesn't stop running toward his goal. The Jinn turns around and lets out a high-pitch scream when she realizes his plan.
Somehow, Gabriel gets to the fire alarm and yanks it down. The piercing alarm screeches, and a burst of water from the gym's ceiling pours onto the court. He watches in fascination as the Jinn screams in agony before melting into a black mushy puddle.
Gabriel stands there for a moment cold, wet and afraid. He looks toward where the hooded figure had been and sees no one. He hears the shouts of teachers and students outside. He runs out into the commotion.
"Everyone evacuate, there has been a gas leak!" shouts Gabriel's math teacher as he guides students out of the door.
As Gabriel follows the crowd, he replays the event in his head. There was no gas leak. It was that thing. While his mind wanders, he bumps into someone. Gabriel gasps because the person who was in the red robes and hood is in front of him. Gabriel stares at the hooded figure aghast as they adjust their hood so he can see them more. It's a woman! And not just any woman, either...the woman underneath those bulky robes had familiar beautiful glowing markings on her face and hands. She looks to be in her fifties, but her eyes horrify Gabriel. They are absolutely white. "Oh Gabriel, your mother would be so proud of you," she said softly.
"You...you're crazy," Gabriel cries out and gives the woman a push out of the way. He runs past the scared student towards the bike racks, and he curses in anger. He had left the key for the bike lock in his locker along with his book bag. While grabbing the chain out of frustration and he gives a tug. The chain and small padlock breaks. Gabriel stands dumbfounded. This is insane. What is going on? Gabriel fumes as he threw the chain on the ground, grabs his bike, and speeds down the street.
When he gets tired of pedaling, he finds himself in front a park with a playground. He leaps off his bike and quickly guides it over to the nearest bench where he sits down. He feels hot tears of frustration swell up in his eyes. What is happening? I don't know what to do.
He did know one thing: he had to tell his dad, no matter what the outcome would be. Gabriel stands up, wipes his eyes, and grabs his bike. He needs to get home and fast...before anymore weird things come out of the shadows.
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