“3 detentions to be served consecutively?” Mom cries, waggling her tablet in my face. Her signature is signed giant at the bottom of three yellow pages. “Larissa May Canmoor I have never-“ She pauses, sighing. She rubs the bridge of her nose. “What did you do to get so many detentions?”
“I was making noise in the hallway,” I mutter, looking away. I can’t tell mom, not when I don’t even know what’s going on myself. She’d take me out of school and move me somewhere far from Noway Tom. I don’t want to leave my school or get up any earlier than I already do.
My mom stares at me, a frown on her face.
“Oooh, you’re getting the mom eyes!” Ophelia taunts, stepping into the room.
I glare at her, “Shut up, Pheels!”
“Hey, I’m not the one who got 3 detentions,” Ophelia laughs, taking a seat at the counter.
“No but you did get called to the deans office 14 times for failing your aerokinesis classes for a whole year,” Mom says, crossing her arms.
Ophelia visibly blushes, fiddling with her fingers, “That’s not fair mom! I’m the top aerokinetic these days!”
“Emphasis on these days,” Mom says. She glances at me, “I know you’re going through a lot and I love you sweetie, but…” Mom sighs again, “Just please try to do better.”
I nod, folding my hands together.
Mom turns away from me, walking down the hallway towards her bedroom. The door closes.
“Wanna go to a movie?” Ophelia asks.
…
“That was absolute trash,” Ophelia cries. “The comics were waaay better.”
“I thought it was pretty cool. It has consistent characters and plot,” I say, walking down the sidewalk.
“That’s cause you haven’t read the adventures of galactica and her alien cohort,” Ophelia retorts.
I glare at her, “That’s all I read when I was in 1st grade,” I say.
Ophelia nods, “Oh, right.” She fiddles with her fingers, sighing, “Sorry I couldn’t protect you then.”
I raise an eyebrow, “It’s fine Pheels, no harm done from a little water,” I chuckle.
She nods, “Yeah but even now…people are always trying to hurt you.”
I frown. Yeah…they are. My mind flashes to my neck, how it was sliced open, how I tried to ask for help but I could only think it. I was choking, drowning-
Ophelia rubs my head. I squeeze my eyes shut as I push her arm away. I glower at her, “Pheels!” I growl.
“That’s life lil sis,” Ophelia smiles. She frowns and looks away, “That’s just simply life.”
We enter a café. The walls are white with tables facing the windows and long chairs pushed in. Two seated, round, table tops float all along the café with two chairs seated at them. At the front is the cash register, and a familiar cashier sits at the front.
Rose. She looks up, her hat nearly flying off her head as she slides across the counter. Her arms embrace me before I can think a next thought. She hugs me tightly, squeezing.
“I thought I lost you,” She says into my shoulder, the top of her head hitting my chin. “Glad you’re not dead.”
“Uh…thanks?” I chuckle.
“Your welcome,” Rose says, stepping back. She observes Ophelia beside me, staring at her as if to process who it is. “OPHELIA!” Rose reaches her conclusion. “Oh my God! You’re back in Noway Tom already?”
Ophelia nods, “I only live a few miles away, Rose.” She crosses her arms, smiling, “How’s senior life treating ya?”
“Still can’t manipulate water,” Rose responds. “Although I am getting tutoring from this girl named Sarah.”
“She’s younger than you?” Ophelia asks.
“How’d you know?”
“Just a hunch.” Ophelia shrugs, “I’d say one day you’ll be one of the best hydrokinetics in the city but it might be too late for that.”
Rose chuckles, “Yup. It’s not like I care anyway. I’m going to be a dancer.”
“Can’t wait to see one of your shows then,” Ophelia smiles.
“Me neither,” Rose smiles back.
I push past my sister and Rose towards the bathroom near the back. I find the bathroom marked for women and stumble in, pushing through a bathroom stall to do my business. Once I’m done, I go to the sink to wash my hands. I rub them together, watching the soap bubble and pop on my skin. I look into the rusty mirror, to find the same girl from yesterday behind me. I turn around, glaring at her, “Do you like surprising people in the bathroom?” I ask.
The girl chuckles. “You’re funny. A real jokester.” She rolls her eyes, holding out her hand, her blue eyes fierce, “Now give me your marks.”
That African American girl, who I soon learned is named Elliot, told me to not give them up until she has time to explain. I swore I wouldn’t. In the end, it’s still my choice, but if someone who knows more about this situation than me is advising me, it’d be wise to listen.
“That’s a hard pass,” I say, bolting toward the door.
The girl reaches for me, but misses me. I slam into the wall in front of the door. I push off the wall, staggering forward as I sprint. I skid in front of my sister, grabbing her by the shoulders, I flip her around. “RUN!” I cry.
Ophelia fights me as I push towards the door.
“Not so fast!” The girl’s voice growls.
I look over my shoulder. The girl races forward, a knife sheathed in her hand. “I tried to ask nicely!” She cries, jumping up, her knife raised. It never reaches me. Ophelia whips around, heaving in she blows. The wind whips wildly in the café, pushing the girl back against the wall. She grunts, clattering to the floor like a toy fallen from a desk.
“Lars, what the fuck?” Ophelia cries.
“I’ll explain later, go!”
I push Ophelia toward the glass doors of the café. They slide open as she stumbles out onto the sidewalk, Rose following close behind.
“Lars, why is someone trying to kill us?” Rose asks.
“I’ll explain later!” I cry.
I sprint down the street, my heart beating fast in my chest. The wind sweeps me off my feet. I fly through the air, smacking into the ground, my body dragging to a stop. Tingles scatter across my body as I slowly get up. I glance around to see Ophelia and Rose on the ground too. Ophelia managing to catch herself.
“OOOOH you are so dead if you pull another one of your air tricks!” Ophelia growls, getting into a fighting stance, holding her fists out.
The girl laughs, “I’d like to see you try. I’ve been personally trained by Grimm himself. I’m better than half my peers in aerokinetics and I’ve defeated many. Don’t be so-“
Ophelia blasts the girl back. She immediately catches herself, jerking back to place as she floats.
“Cocky? Was the word cocky?” Ophelia raises an eyebrow, “Don’t you know I’m one of the top aerokinetics in the city? You’ll have to try harder than that.”
“OOOOH!” The girl cries happily. “This’ll be fun.” She seems to disappear, her body a blur as she flies toward Ophelia, her knife raised. Ophelia jumps, easily dodging the girl’s attack. The girl turns as Ophelia summons a vortex of air around her fist, pulling the girl toward her. Ophelia winds and swings, her knuckles slamming into the girl’s cheek. The girl grunts, losing focus as she falls down, her whole body clattering to the floor. A ball of air lifts the girl up. She roundhouse kicks, but Ophelia catches. The girl yanks her foot away and flips back. She disappears in a blur again, her form only vivid for a second as she appears above Ophelia, pointing her knife towards Ophelia’s neck. Ophelia rolls out of the way, facing the girl. She doesn’t give Ophelia a chance to search for her. She zips in a blur towards her body, cards suddenly swirling around her body as she circles Ophelia. The game cards swirl around Ophelia in a blur. Ophelia visibly winces as they slice her skin. She bites her lip as if to hold back any cries of pain. She shakes as she adjusts her thick black glasses. She heaves in and lets out a breath. Like steam blowing out of a boy, air blasts out of Ophelia’s body, scattering the cards across the air.
“Rose, find a source of water, quick!” Ophelia cries.
Rose nods, glancing around the area. The shops lined up along our bodies are clothes stores, nothing that really sells water. Rose gasps, she glances at the soggy ground. Right, it rained yesterday. Rose smirks. Slipping off her combat boots, she slaps her feet against the ground. The ground hardens, the water becoming crystal clear. Rose slams her heel into the ice, wincing as her foot breaks through it and stabs into the ground. She summons the ice shards, shooting them toward the girl. She dodges, Ophelia flying forward as the girl is distracted. They slam into the ground, Ophelia straddling her.
“I didn’t catch your name,” She muses. “But-“
“Melody. And you’ll remember it when I beat your face in!” She cries, struggling in Ophelia’s grasp.
“As I was saying…I doubt it would matter once we’re done, you brat!” Ophelia cries, grabbing the girl’s head and smacking it against the ground.
The girl sucks in a breath, holding her head as she curls up into a ball.
Ophelia gets up. “Let’s get home and heal up.” Her back facing us, she stretches.
“We’re not going to capture her?” I ask.
“We don’t necessarily have the resources to. If we call the police we won’t be able to stay without her recovering and escaping. Our best bet is to leave and come up with a plan when we’re all healed up.” Ophelia says, pointing to me. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Yes I do…don’t I.
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