A Game of Secrets, endorsed by IEnterprises

Hello all readers, curious people, trolls, and lurkers! This is my newest story: A Game of Secrets! For all those people hoping to find an actual game here, sorry, this is a story thread, so you should probably leave. In fact, if you don't want to read a story by and awesome person, (that would be me) you should also leave. Now I know those of you who actually DO want to read the story are probably like: "Yeah, yeah! Now can ya get on with the story?" and my answer would be: "Just a sec! I know I put it here somewhere..."

Now dim the lights, because here comes A Game of Secrets

Chapter one
I sat nervously in the wooden chair, waiting for the headmaster to arrive. I tapped by boot impatiently on the floor and played with a strand of my curly auburn hair, why wasn’t he here yet? My eyes wandered from the closed door to the bookshelf. It was filled with books on magic.
Ever since I found out I had the ability to do magic, I had been saving up my money to come to this school. I still didn’t have enough, but my father heard about a scholarship I could get. All I had to do was become the headmaster’s apprentice, no problem. Only, there was a problem. The headmaster had already turned down everyone that had come before me, why should I be any different?
“Sorry I’m late.” The headmaster said, entering the small room.
“It’s no problem.” I said turning my head to look at him.
I gaped. The headmaster couldn’t be older than twenty years old. He smoothed back his dark brown hair and smiled at me, his warm brown eyes twinkling.
“What?” he asked when he saw how I was looking at him.
“Nothing.” I said, and looked away blushing.
“Ah, you didn’t expect me to be so young.”
I shrugged. He walked over to a desk and sat down in the chair. Opening a drawer, he pulled out a white feather and placed it on the desk. He beckoned me towards him. I stood up and walked the short distance to the desk.
“Now, to be my apprentice you must have a large enough magical capacity to handle the advanced magic I will be teaching you.” He paused, and I nodded like I understood (which I didn’t). “So I’m going to test your magical skill with a series of tests, starting with making this feather float.”
“What?”
“Make it float. You know, with your magic?”
“But I haven’t had any training.”
“Jade, that is your name, right?” I nod. “Jade, I know you haven’t had any training; I want to see what you can do without training.”
“Okay.” I say, still unsure.
I look at the feather and concentrate the part of my brain I associate with magic on raising it. It shoots upward towards the ceiling.
“Well done!” he says clapping, “Now how about something heavier, like a book?”
I levitate a book, and then he tells me to take a book off the shelf with my powers. These don’t seem like very hard tests, and I tell him this.
“No? Well how about we try something harder? Levitate the chair you’re sitting in.” I start to get up, but he says: “With you in it.”
I plop back into the chair and focus. This time, it isn’t as immediate as the others. I have to concentrate really hard, but I get the chair to levitate three feet off the floor. Good thing I’m not afraid of heights, I think.
“Very good, now stay up there, and get ten books to rotate around you.”
I don’t dare reply, for fear of losing concentration and falling to the ground. I get three books to rotate around me when he starts talking. He’s talking nonstop about who knows what nonsense, and I cannot concentrate. I drop the three books.
“You need to learn to concentrate.”
“I’m trying, but you’re talking!”
“If you want to be my apprentice, you will need to be able to perform magic in many different places, including a noisy one.”
He starts talking again and I close my eyes. This is harder than I thought it would be. I slow my breathing and concentrate on the steady beating of my heart. One by one I get the three books that fell orbiting around me again. After several minutes I get ten. Feeling proud of my accomplishment I open my eyes.
“Now I’m impressed. Just one more test.” Excitement makes my heart beat faster, and I almost lose my concentration and drop all the books again. “Slowly lower yourself to the ground.”
This didn’t seem that hard, but when I started I almost dropped every single book.
“You must learn to multitask.” He says.
I take a deep breath and devote a second of my time to lowering the chair, and another second to lower the books. It’s an unsteady trip to the ground, but I make it.
“Clever method, very unique.” He complimented me.
“Thanks.” I reply, wiping the sweat from my forehead.
“Congratulations, I think you have the magical capacity to be my apprentice.” I practically leap in joy, “But,” there was always a ‘but’, “Do you have the patience? You will train with me for a long time, and you won’t get to your family. Can you handle that?”
“Yes.” I say, excitement building inside me.
“Then welcome, apprentice.”
<^>
We walk back down the hallway I had come down. I was going to say goodbye to my parents while he dismissed the rest of the people that had come, hoping they would get chosen as his apprentice.
We entered a big room with chairs lining the edge. My mom looked at me with a questioning look. I smiled big at her. She nudged my father who was reading the newspaper and whispered something into his ear. He looks at me and gives me a big grin. I race towards them and tackle my father in a bear hug. Well, more like I attempted to tackle him. It turned quickly from me giving him a bear hug, to him giving me one.
“I’m so proud of you!” my father whispers into my ear.
“Thanks dad.”
“Oh sweetie, this is so exciting! You’re going to learn magic!” my mother exclaims.
“I know!” I practically squeal with excitement.
The headmaster cleared his throat and I realized that everyone had already left.
“Oh, hello.” My mother says pleasantly.
“I am Caleb, the headmaster at this school.”
“Headmaster?” my father asked confused.
“Yes.” I say.
“Well, take good care of our daughter, and when I see her again, I hope that she’ll be packed with new knowledge.” My mother smiles politely.
“May we have a word with our daughter in private?” my father asks.
“Of course.” He said, and walked over to the other side of the room near the door that led into the hallway we had come from.
“Now Jade,” my father said, “A man like Caleb could take advantage of a pretty little girl like you, don’t let that happen.”
“Dad! He’s twenty, way too old for me. And I can take care of myself!”
“I know honey, I just want to make sure your safe.” He said, “Well, I guess I’ve got to say goodbye.”
He caught me in another bear hug and then let my mother wrap her dainty arms around me and say goodbye. I watched them walk outside before I turned around and walked toward Caleb. He had an amused look on his face, though I couldn’t tell you why. As we began walking down the hall he said:
“I’m nineteen, not twenty.”
“You eavesdropped on our conversation!” I accused.
He shrugged like it was no big deal, and I rolled my eyes and laughed. I thought that I might like this guy. Boy was I ever wrong.

Chapter two
“This is your bedroom, if you ever need me; I’m right through that door.” Caleb said.
My bedroom was very basic. All it had in it was a bed with a white bedspread, and a wooden dresser. I was about to plop down on my bed when Caleb said:
“I’ll give you time to settle in later. Right now let’s go to my office.”
I followed him back out of my room and farther down the hall. Soon we came to a wooden door. Caleb opened the door and let me go in first. The room was dark, with only a few lamps lit. In the dim light I saw a bookshelf; it was filled with necromancy books. That was odd, necromancy was against the law. Maybe he studied them so he could know how to defeat a necromancer, I thought.
“I see you are admiring my books. It is quite a collection.” Caleb said, “How about we start your training today, what say you?”
“Sure. The sooner the better.”
“My thoughts exactly. I think we can skip the basics with you; you can figure them out on your own. How about we start with draining another warlocks power.” He said pulling a book off the shelf.
“But that’s necromancy.” I said, confused.
“Yes. I am a necromancer, and you are my apprentice.”
“Necromancy is against the law.”
“Laws are made to be broken.”
“No, laws are made to keep order in a country.”
“So? Now if you’re done lecturing me on what necromancy is and isn’t, let’s get back to our lesson.”
“You’re serious,” I realized, “You’re really serious.”
“I am.”
I began backing out of the room, first slowly, then running. I ran down the hallway, not caring where I went, just running. Without stopping I glanced over my shoulder to make sure I wasn’t being followed. When I turned back around was met with a wooden staff to my face.
“I’m so sorry!” the guy with the staff said.
“I’m okay.” I replied, although I could feel blood dripping out of my nose.
“You shouldn’t run into the training room when people are practicing in here.” He advised.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” I suddenly became aware that everyone in the room was staring at me.
“I’ll bring you to a healer.” He volunteered.
“Thanks.” I said with a smile.
<^>
The healing room wasn’t very far from the training room, so I didn’t have to walk far. First the healer wiped away all the blood with a cloth, and then she healed it. I had never had a wound healed before, and I had always imagined it being painful. I mean, having your skin knit itself back together doesn’t sound appealing. But it wasn’t painful at all. When she was done, the healer walked back to a desk in the back corner of the room.
“I’m really sorry I hit you with my staff.”
“No, it’s fine, really.”
“I’m Tyler.” He said, extending his hand.
“Jade.” I said, shaking his hand.
“So Jade, might I ask why you are wearing a dress?”
“What do you have against dresses?”
“Nothing, it’s just that students don’t wear dresses here. You are a student, right?”
“Yeah, today is my first day.”
“Really? We don’t normally except new students this time of year.”
“Well, I got a scholarship.”
“So you’re the headmaster’s apprentice.” Tyler said, taking a better look at me.
“Yeah.” I said, feeling a blush creep up my face.
“Well that’s something.” He said, lying down on the rickety bed next to me.
“I guess so.” I muttered yawning. “Are people normally tired after a healing?”
“Yup.” He offered no further explanation.
I lay my head down on the crisp white pillow, and let my auburn curls splay around my head. He put his head by mine and out of the corner of my eye I could see his messy brown hair. I was just drifting off to sleep when the door opened and closed loudly. I sat up in the small bed and rubbed my sleepy eyes.
“What happened here?” asked Caleb, picking up the cloth the healer had used to wipe off the blood.
“What do you want?” I snapped at him, still tired.
“I would like you to answer my question.” He said calmly.
“She ran into staff practice, and I accidentally hit her.” Tyler answered for me.
“Hmmm… well, let’s get back to our lesson, Jade.”
“Fine.” I said, getting up and trudging into the hall.
“I will meet you back in my office, but first I must speak with Tyler.” Caleb said.
Why would he have to speak with Tyler? I wondered as I walked back down to Caleb’s office. I told myself I didn’t care, but I knew I was kidding myself. I was truly wondering. I arrived at Caleb’s office, and saw the book that he had pulled off the shelf. When he didn’t enter the room, I walked over and opened the book to the chapter about draining a warlock’s power. I began reading and by the time I finished the first page I pretty much understood it. I glanced at the other pages, but felt no need to read them, I felt confident in my ability to do this. I was just about to set the book down when Caleb opened the door.
“Ah, you read it.” He said. “Well, that’s good, but we won’t be learning that today, there has been a change in plans.”
“What will we be doing?” I ask.
“We will be talking about personal powers. Every warlock has a personal power, and everyone’s personal power is different. Do you know what your personal power is?” Caleb asked me.
Goosebumps had formed on my arms when he said this. I did know my personal power, but I didn’t want him to know what it was. I was afraid he would use me. I shook my head.
“Now Jade, don’t lie to me.” He said with a smile. “What is your personal power?”
“I don’t know.” I told him.
“It’s that bad?” he asked. “Your power must be gruesome.”
“No, not exactly.” I said, “But I won’t tell you either way.”
“You’ve got a little fight in you, don’t you?” he said looking at me closely.
“I would hope I have more than a little.”
“Very well, suite yourself. Don’t tell me.” He said, flipping through a book.
For the first time in a long time I used my personal power. I just couldn’t resist. I closed my eyes briefly, and when I opened them again, everything was in black and white. I looked down at my hand. Glowing a dull yellow color was a small cut on my hand. Where I had bruised my knee the night before was now a bright orange. I knew that my head was glowing a vibrant red, for it was my greatest weakness. I could see people’s weaknesses. I looked up at Caleb and gasped at what I saw. He had no weaknesses.

Chapter three
“You have a weak mind.” Caleb said, bringing me back to reality.
“So?”
“So I can easily see into it.”
“Did you look into it just now?” I ask, cold fear making my voice shake.
“No, did you use your power?”
“No!”
“Will you promise not to lie to me?”
Strangely I found myself saying: “Yes.”
“Good girl. Now tell me, did you use your power?”
“Yes.” I couldn’t stop myself from saying this.
“It’s amazing that you can use it on such short notice. You must have practiced it a lot.”
“I did. But then I stopped.”
“Why?”
“People might want to use me for my power.” I answered. Why was I telling him this?
“What is your power?” he asked, moving closer to me.
I pressed my lips together, suddenly realizing that he was using some kind of mind control power on me. I bit my knuckle so as to not tell him.
“Ah well. You will tell me in due time.”
“Yeah right.” I muttered under my breath.
“Oh you will. Don’t doubt it.”
“Why did you need to talk to Tyler?” I asked, desperate for a subject change.
“He is a known trouble maker. I was just making sure he didn’t hit you on purpose.”
“He didn’t.”
“I understand that.”
“He seems nice.” I found myself saying.
“Hmm?” he said, seeming surprised. “Tyler? Nice?”
“Yeah, he’s sweet.”
“Really…” Caleb seemed deep in thought.
He said no more, so neither did I. I sat down in the chair and slumped low in it. I felt my eyes droop, and let a yawn escape. I quickly found myself drifting off to sleep, and I couldn’t prevent it. I struggled to stay awake, but I was just too tired from the healing and a long day of travel. I was half asleep when Caleb shook me, bringing me back to reality.
“What?” I said, crankily.
“I will bring you to your room. You obviously need sleep.”
“Mmmm.” I agreed, walking out the door with him.
We reached our room and I saw that my bags were already there. I thought briefly about unpacking, but these thoughts vaporized when I saw my bed. I walked lazily over to it, and fell into it. I was practically asleep already, but I was just conscious enough to hear:
“You called me? What did I do wrong now?” It was Tyler.
Dimly I thought about how Caleb could have called him. He had been with me the whole time, and I hadn’t seen him call Tyler.
“For once it’s not what you did wrong, it’s what you did right.” Caleb said.
No amount of curiosity could have kept me from falling asleep, and let me tell you, I was extremely curious.
<^>

 

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Yeah, I'm gonna continue it, just need to discipline myself to write!

 

I’m pretty sure I slept only a few hours, although Caleb assured me I slept through the rest of the afternoon and the night. I was wearing a uniform that Caleb had set out for me; like Tyler had said, no one wore dresses. The uniform consisted of a plain white shirt, brown breeches, and a red tunic. The tunic was made out of some silky material, and as I walked with Caleb to the eating room I couldn’t stop rubbing my hands over it.
“So are you going to tell me your personal power now?” Caleb asked.
“Huh?” I said before my mind had time to process his words, (I do that a lot) “Oh right! No; not now, not ever.”
“Suit yourself.”
We walked into the eating room. It was filled with teenagers, most looking to be about sixteen years old. That was one year older than me. Caleb walked up to the front of the room and called for attention.
“Good morning students.” There were mumbled replies back, “As some of you may know, I chose an apprentice yesterday. This is Jade.” Caleb pointed, and everyone stared at me.
I saw Tyler way in the back of the room; he was surrounded by a large group of boys and girls alike. Tyler gave me an encouraging smile. Caleb ushered me to a table in the front of the room, which to my dismay was easily seen by everyone. A plate of food was plopped in front of me, and then Caleb left. You would think a headmaster would sit and eat with his apprentice, carefully watching over everyone, but not Caleb. He walked between the tables mingling with the students.
I noticed he spent a lot of time by Tyler, and I wished I knew what they were talking about. I looked down at my food. It was porridge with a sweet breakfast roll. I dipped my spoon into my bowl and tasted the porridge. It was flavorless and clearly watered down, but if I dipped my roll into it, it wasn’t that bad. I felt eyes on me, so I looked back out into the crowded tables. It was Tyler and Caleb. When I looked back at them they quickly looked away. I kept my eyes fixed on Tyler, and I used my power. I didn’t mean to, well, I guess I did, but I couldn’t help myself.
My vision clouded, and then I was seeing in black and white. I focused in on Tyler. I was shocked to see that he, like Caleb, seemed to have no weaknesses; that I could detect anyways. Strangely the people around Caleb and Tyler seemed to have weaker minds than the people farther from them. Tyler must make friends with the weak minded.
I was surprised that very few people stared at me. Everyone seemed to not care in the least that I was Caleb’s apprentice. People started to get up and leave the eating room. But I stayed where I was, even after I had eaten all my food. I only got up when Caleb and Tyler began to leave. I wasn’t the only one who got up with Tyler and Caleb, practically half of the people in the eating room left when they did.
I squeezed through the people in the hallway with mumbled “excuse me’s”. I struggled to make my way to Caleb and Tyler. I was only planning to ask them if they were talking about me, but when I finally caught up with them (out of breath and tired) I said:
“I saw you staring at me.”
“Well, you are a sight for sore eyes.” Tyler said.
Normally I would blush if a guy said that to me, but strangely I just grinned.
“I hardly think your eyes are sore.” I told him, remembering how he had had no weaknesses.
“And how would you know that?” Caleb asked.
“Just a guess.”
Caleb looked me over carefully, probably looking for a sign I was lying, which I was. I looked downwards, and then at Tyler. I looked anywhere but at Caleb. I risked a quick glance at Caleb, who was still staring at me.
“Okay, an educated guess.” I said, against my will. “Stop it!” I added angrily.
“I’m not doing anything.” Caleb said, “Honestly.”
“Well, you two can argue about what did or didn’t happen, but I’ve got to get to class.” Tyler said, and he smiled at me.
My ‘goodbye’ was caught in my throat when he smiled, and it came out as a squeak. I managed to smile though. I turned and followed Caleb down the hall to his office. Caleb was smiling.
“What?” I asked.
“Oh nothing.” He said, continuing to smile.

 

Chapter four
“… and once you’ve done that, make sure you concentrate, then draw upon your power to drain the other warlock’s power. Got all that, Jade?”
I nodded my head, although I hadn’t listened to a bit of what he’d said. I’d read all this two days ago, or half of it. Right now I was playing around with my weakness spotting power, trying desperately to find a weakness, physical or mental, that Caleb had. But, sucks for me, I didn’t find one.
“Jade!” Caleb said.
“What?” I said, annoyed.
“I asked you to try the spell on me twice already.”
“Oh… on you?” I asked, suddenly nervous.
“Yes, if you would be so kind.”
“Uh, sure.”
I remembered the first step of the spell was to locate the position of your opponent’s power with some other spell. I glanced at the open book, but it said no mention of the spell. Right, let’s do this my way. I took a deep breath to settle my nerves and to help me concentrate, and then I drew upon my magic.
My magic was in my brain, but according to the book, it can be anywhere; it’s where the warlock chooses it to be. The most common places are the heart, the core of your body, or your brain. After activating my magic, I started to see dark red spirals whenever I blinked. This assured me that my magic was working, and ready to do my bidding. Since I had absolutely no idea where Caleb’s magic was, or what the spell was, I just took a good amount of magic and thrust it towards Caleb with the goal to find his magic.
Only seconds later it returned to me with the information. Caleb’s magic was in his brain. I couldn’t help thinking how easy that was and I hoped that draining his powers would be just as easy. Instead of murmuring the words I decided to do the same thing as last time. I sent my magic out and told it to drain Caleb’s powers. It returned soon later, but this time some dark blue was mixed in with the red. I must have stolen his magic instead of just draining it.
“Very interesting…”
“What’s interesting?” I asked Caleb.
“Oh nothing, it’s just odd that I didn’t notice your magic inside me at all, and the only proof it was there is the fact that some of my magic is gone. Normally my magic would continue draining after the words were said, but this time it was only stolen.”
“I kinda didn’t use the spell.”
“What? Explain.”
“I just told my magic what to do. I told it to find your magic and then drain it, only it stole some instead.”
“Freestyle.” Caleb whispered.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a type of magic that doesn’t benefit from spells like most do. In fact, spells slow this kind of magic down. It’s also a very valuable kind of magic, because it can enter and leave anyone’s body without alerting them, even the strongest of warlocks.”
I smiled a smug smile. I could steal Caleb’s magic any time I wanted without alerting him that I did it.
“Don’t give me that look. You will be broken.”
“You talk of me like I am a horse. I will not be broken, conquered, or anything of the likes.”
“That’s what you think.” He said, and gave me a knowing smile. “I will break you, and if I cannot I know someone who can.”
Instead of answering him, I just gave him my best glare and crossed my arms. I was stronger than he thought, and he would not break me.
“I’m planning a winter ball for the holidays.” Caleb said as if we were just two friends speaking to each other.
“So?”
“Just letting you know. It will be tomorrow.” A bell rang. “That’s the lunch bell, we should get going.”
“I’m not hungry.” I said with a tight lipped smile.
“Whatever you say.” And with that Caleb walked out the door.
I knew he must have realized what I would do. He must have. As soon as the door shut behind him I sprang up out of my seat. Now where would he put the real magic books? Not that the ones on the shelf weren’t real, I just wanted a book that taught me the stuff the others were learning.
I glanced at the book shelf, but there wasn’t a single book that wasn’t about necromancy. I searched his desk, opening drawers, but no books. I sat back down and sighed. Then I saw it- a chest. The chest was dusty, as if it hadn’t been opened in a while. I walked over and tried to open it. Locked. I walked back over to Caleb’s desk and opened some more drawers. One had lots of keys in it.
“Great. Just Great! It’ll take forever to try all these keys.”
I glanced at the chest again and saw that maybe it wouldn’t. Tied on a ribbon to the side of the chest was a key. I closed the drawer and walked back over to the chest. The ribbon was so old it crumbled when I tried to untie it. I stuck the rusty key into the lock and turned it. I heard a click and then I hefted the lid up. My nose filled with the scent of musty books. These were the books I was looking for! I sorted through them and stopped when I held a thick paper bound book. The pages were yellowed and the cover was half ripped off, but I saw the words: Freestyle: the basics. This was my book.
I put the books back and added the rusty old key to the key drawer before running to my room with the Freestyle book.
<^>

 

I had just reached my room, breathless from excitement, and I was about to open the Freestyle book when I noticed a plate of food sitting on my bed. I picked it up and saw the note under it. It said:
Find what you were looking for?
- Caleb
Yes, I did find what I was looking for, I thought. Good, a whispery voice said in my head. I screamed. Shhh! The voice said, it’s me, Caleb! What the heck are you doing invading my thoughts? I ask Caleb. You have a weak mind, remember? Caleb said, and I swear the whispery voice laughed. Well that’s going to change! I thought angrily, and opened the book.
I flipped to the table of contents and saw almost immediately what I was looking for. Techniques to strengthen the mind was there, but the reason I saw it was because it was underlined sloppily in charcoal pencil. This must have belonged to a child. I flipped to the inside of the cover and saw that sure enough, printed in sloppy caps were the names: Tyler and Caleb. I understood Caleb’s name, but not Tyler’s. Why would they have shared a book? I rubbed my temples thoughtfully, but my head hurt just trying to untangle this riddle.
Eventually I flipped to the chapter that would teach me to strengthen my mind. Basically what the first few pages said was that strengthening my mind would be hard and that it should be taught while you are still young. Great, I’m not young, so this will be even harder.
Trying to be optimistic I flipped the page and began reading. After reading the next few pages I practically gave up. It was telling me that the key to a strong mind was in recognizing my weaknesses. I knew my mind was my greatest weakness, but I didn’t know anything beyond that. It told me to go within and find my weaknesses. What did that even mean?
All thoughts of optimism had dissipated, and I flipped to a random page. It just happened to be about personal powers and how to strengthen them. Written on the page were instructions to a type of meditation that would help me understand my power and strengthen it. I decided it was worth a shot. If I could strengthen my personal power maybe I could strengthen my mind.
I lied down on my bed and closed my eyes. Taking deep breaths I relaxed my body and allowed any thoughts that came to my mind to slip away. Eventually I felt at peace. I drew upon my personal power. I had no idea what would happen if I used my power with my eyes closed; every other time I had used it I had my eyes open. I was astonished! I could see everything in black and white- with my eyes closed!
I could see my mind –a bright red- but some parts were darker red than others. I was about to enter my mind, (I don’t know how I planned to do that, but I felt as if I could) when suddenly I was walking. I couldn’t open my eyes; I couldn’t control anything my body did! I was scared out of my wits. I was running down the halls, I was almost to the eating room. I saw three bodies ahead of me. One had no weaknesses; he was either Tyler or Caleb, Tyler judging by the height. I was running fast now. I couldn’t stop myself before I collided with Tyler.
I finally managed to open my eyes and I saw that I was on top of Tyler. I got up, my cheeks burning. I brushed my clothes off.
“Next time we meet under odd circumstances can you not run into me?”
“Hey,” I said, suddenly brave, “I wouldn’t have run into you if you weren’t there.”
One of his friends snickered.
“She’s got a point. But hey, she was running down the hall with her eyes closed so I don’t know what to believe. I’m Alex by the way.” The friend that didn’t laugh said.
“Yeah, I can explain that… or rather I can’t. You see I was meditating and suddenly someone… or something took over my body and then I was running…” I could see they didn’t believe my story.
“If you like Tyler you can just tell him.” The guy that laughed said.
“I don’t.” was my immediate response.
“But you do!” The same guy exclaimed. “My personal power allows me to see when someone is attracted to someone else.”
I opened and closed my mouth, but no words came out, causing Alex to laugh this time. Luckily I was saved by Caleb. Or I was just put into my own personal hell.
“Jade, Tyler, follow me.”
I walked right beside Caleb, while Tyler took his time, walking a few paces behind him. I tried to explain what happen to me to Caleb, but it became clear that he wasn’t interested so I walked in silence. We reached Caleb’s and my room and stopped.
“Jade, grab your lunch.”
“I told you, I’m not hungry.”
“And you also agreed not to lie to me.” He said entering his room.
“Under forced circumstances!” I shouted at him, desperately. “Which, might I add, is a direct violation of my rights!” I added as I walked through the doors that connected his room to mine with my lunch.
“You know where I stand with the laws.” He said, with a small smile. “I think I’m going to like you, Jade.”
“I think I already hate you, Caleb.” I said, matching his polite tone.
“Well, if you’re all done arguing about one of the many things you two disagree about, can we get to the reason we are here.” Tyler asked, plopping down on Caleb’s bed and stretching out his body.
“I have a job for you to do.”
“What kind of job?” Tyler asked, his jaw tightening.
“Not that kind of job.” Caleb said, in a reassuring manner.
“Not what kind of job?” I asked.
“Nothing.” Caleb said. “What I want you two to do is decorate for the winter holiday ball.”
“Levitating decorations? That’s it?” Tyler asked.
“Yes. That is all.”
“You know, I’m sure that Tyler can do this by himself, I mean, he’s much more experienced.”
“I know, but I want you to exercise your magic.”
“Then why not let me do this alone? More magic exercises.”
“There are a lot of decorations.” Caleb said, walking out the door, probably going to his office.
“Well, he’s right.”
“About what?”
“There are a lot of decorations. We’d better get cracking.”
“Wait. Can I show you something?”
“Sure.”
I walked into my room and grabbed the Freestyle book. I flipped to the inside cover and showed him the names. I watched his face carefully. I definitely saw a flicker of recognition, but then his face went back to a mask of uninterested boredom.
“Never seen it before. It must be a different Tyler. Come on; let’s get started on those decorations.”
He led me out into the hall; well, herded me was more like it. He obviously wanted to get away from that book. Once in the hall, I saw that Caleb was just outside his office. Tyler looked at him, and when their eyes met, I knew Tyler was sending a message. I instantly activated my magic and told it to retrieve the message and tell me what it was. I felt a wave of magic sweep out of me; more then I intended to leave. I felt sort of woozy with the sudden loss of magic.
Suddenly I felt as if a horse had kicked me in the stomach and I fell against Tyler. He held me up.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I don’t know what happened.” I said, breathing heavily. “My stomach hurts and my head…”
“She’ll be fine.” Caleb said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I felt something rush into my body. It was magic, Caleb’s magic, with some of mine mixed in. “Jade, you aren’t ready for that kind of magic yet. Tyler was just concerned about the book you stole from my office. Although I’m not worried, that book will help you learn your kind of magic better than I could teach it. Although I must compliment you on your instincts.”
I nodded and stood a little straighter. I pretended to take his explanation, but when my magic mixed with his had entered my body; my magic told me the real message:
Danger.

 

Please dont post here!

 

Chapter five
As Tyler led me to where the decorations were kept, I couldn’t stop wondering about what was dangerous. Was it me? The book? Putting up decorations? I was scared, because if it was me, I didn’t know what Tyler would do to me. But when I saw the decorations I let all worries slide away from me. They were beautiful; although breathtaking would be a better word to describe them. There were stars covered in silver glitter, and the plates and goblets looked like they were made out of frosted glass! In fact, as I touched them, I realized they were.
“You like them?” Tyler asked me.
“Yes!”
“Well, then you’ll like how the eating room looks when we’re done with it.”
“Wait, the eating room? Don’t we still need to eat dinner? And tomorrow we’ll need to eat breakfast and lunch, right?”
“Dinner will be delivered to our dorms and as for the other two.... Well, I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.”
“What surprise?” I asked, “Wait, no need to tell me. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if you told me.”
“Actually, I was going to tell you, but suit yourself.”
“Please tell me!”
“Not a chance.” He said, smiling.
We reached the eating room and dropped the first two boxes of decorations of the floor. The room wasn’t the same as this morning. All the tables had been cleared away, leaving a large open room.
“Race you back to the closet.” Tyler challenged.
“There’s no way you’re winning.” I said, accepting your challenge.
“I’m gonna win.”
“Over Caleb’s dead body.”
That made him laugh, so while he was distracted I started running. I loved to run. I loved the way the wind made my curls bounce against my back and the steady sound of my feet on the floor. I heard another set of feet quickly catching up to me, so I increased my pace. I reached the closet first, and took time to catch my breath. When Tyler finally made it, I said:
“Looks like Caleb won’t have to die after all.” That made him laugh again.
I picked up a box of glass plates and began walking again. All the way back to the eating room I taunted him. “How could he let a girl beat him?” Was the most common thing I said, but “I totally creamed you!” was up there.
“All right, all right! You creamed me, I get it. Now let’s get these decorations up.” Tyler said when we reached the eating room.
“What do we do with them?” I asked with a smug smile.
“We levitate the stars and set the plates in a stack by the cups. That’s pretty much it.”
“Doesn’t sound too challenging.”
“It’s not.”
As Tyler and I started to levitate two of the stars, a cook came in and placed a large bowl of punch on the table. It had raspberries and blackberries floating in it. I felt a tug on my star pulling it downwards. I glanced up but saw nothing. The tug seemed to vanish at first, and then it came back stronger. I sent a tendril of magic to go see what was happening. It returned to me with a small bit of orange magic as an answer.
“Stop messing with my star.” I told Tyler.
“Caleb did say he wanted you to exercise your magic.” Tyler shrugged; then strengthened his pull on my star.
At first all it took was a bit of effort, but then it actually started to get hard. I felt sweat trickled down from my forehead and into my eyes, and when I reached up to wipe it away my star came crashing down. It fell into the bowl of punch, causing it to splash all over me. With a last effort I shoved my star into the air and detached the magic I was using, ordering it to keep my star in the air.
“Look what you did!” I exclaimed, but strangely I wasn’t really mad.
“Don’t worry; you go wash up, and I will finish the decorations.”
As I walked into the hall my anger caught up with me. Squeezing out my hair I thought about marching back and yelling at him. I didn’t though. I removed my hand from my hair only to see that they were stained with berry juices. Great. I knocked on Caleb’s office’s door, and he answered almost immediately.
“What happened?” he asked, with something like concern on his face.
“Tyler happened.” The concern vanished, and was replaced with a small smile.
“I had a bath drawn for me, you wash up. Go into my room and it’s the red door.”
I didn’t thank him; just turned around and walked to his room. Thankfully his room wasn’t far from his office, and I had sunk into the bath in less than a minute. The bubbles surrounded me and a sigh escaped my lips. My eyes closed, and I lay my head back, letting the warm bathwater perform its magic.
<^>
I had barely fallen asleep when Tyler jumped in the bath with me. Yes, you heard right; Tyler jumped into the bath with me still in it. Thankfully he was fully clothed, but I still had one problem- I wasn’t. I crossed my arms over my chest and sunk low into the bubbly water. Tyler put a finger to his lips. I just stayed put, crossing my legs.
A few seconds later I heard footsteps coming down the hall. They entered Caleb’s room, and the bathroom door was opening. Tyler moved quickly and silently ducking under the water. Caleb entered, with an enraged look on his face.
“Have you seen Tyler?” he asked.
“No. I’ve been in here.”
“Ah. Right. I just thought that maybe when you were walking here…”
“Nope, sorry.”
He stopped and looked at me for a while. If he was reading my mind or something he would know where Tyler was. Tyler! He must be running out of breath by now.
“Uh, privacy please?” I asked.
“Right.” Caleb said, and left the room.
Tyler resurfaced when I kicked him in the leg.
“Ouch! What was that for?”
“You’re asking that question? Why did you just decide to hop in here?”
“I needed a hiding place.” He said as if it was simple.
He laid back against the other side of the bath his brown hair dripping wet and his clothes clinging to his body.
“Why did you need a hiding place?”
“I made some changes to the decorations. It’s a shame you won’t get to see them before Caleb changed them back.”
“I’m sure they would have been delightful.” I said sarcastically. “Look, can you leave? I’m kind of in the middle of a bath here, if you haven’t noticed.”
“First you have to kiss me.”
“Come again?”
“You heard me.”
“Actually I must have had some soap in my ear or something, ‘cause I’m pretty sure you just told me to kiss you.”
“Great, so we’re both on the same page.”
“I don’t think I’ve even opened the book.”
“You’re avoiding the subject.”
“The subject was never relevant.”
“Don’t try and confuse me.”
“Why? Did it work?”
“Ah, well... that’s beside the point.”
“Suuuuure it is.”
“Look, this bath is warm and comfortable, and I am in the company of a lovely lady, so it’s going to take some persuasion to get me to leave.”
Oh my god, did he just call me lovely? I made a mental note to slap myself later for falling for his flattery. I fixed my face with the best scowl I could muster in my mushy state and kissed him quickly on the cheek. He shook his head and pointed to his lips which formed into a smile. With my arms still crossed tightly over my chest and kissed him once more, this time on the lips. I’d meant it only to be a quick kiss like the last one, but somehow his lips seemed to hold me where I was. I felt time slip away as if it held no meaning. All I wanted was to stay here for eternity. I quickly pulled away before I did anything stupid.
“Out.” I said.
“Fine.” Tyler replied, stepping out of the bath and splattering water everywhere. He didn’t leave the bathroom.
“Leave.” I demanded.
“That would require another kiss.”
He leaned in, but I didn’t kiss his this time. As soon as he was close enough I grabbed his hair and shoved his head into the water. His whole body followed with a splash. I sprung out of the bath and grabbed my towel, wrapping it quickly around myself.
“That was unfair.” Tyler said, pouting.
“The situation was never fair in the first place. A strong fellow like you taking advantage of a delicate-“
“Delicate, riiiiiight.”
“-and defenseless girl like, I hardly consider that fair.”
“You do realized defenseless means you cannot defend yourself, right.”
“I am aware of that.”
I walked out the door and into my room, closing it on Tyler’s face. I found the key and locked it. Tyler tried the knob.
“Come on!”
“I’ll let you in when I’m done changing.” I said slipping into my nightgown.
He stood silently waiting for a while.
“You done yet?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Then open the door! You promised!”
“I lied.”
“That’s unfair.”
“Get used to it.” I told him. To myself I added: “I sure have.”

 

Chapter six
I don’t know why I put my nightgown on; I haven’t even eaten dinner yet. I sat there on my bed, thinking about nothing, yet every thought possible to think seemed to be rushing through my mind. Unfortunately one of those thoughts was the reminder to slap myself. I did.
“Ow!” I exclaimed, holding my face.
Another unfortunate fact is that Caleb chose that moment to enter my room.
“What’s wrong?”
“Everything.”
“I mean what’s wrong with your face. It looks like somebody slapped you.”
“Can’t we talk about the everything part of my problems?”
“It’s not my job to listen to your problems.”
“No. It’s your job to turn me into a little necromancer.”
“Precisely. Now what did happen to your face?”
“I slapped myself.”
“You what?!”
“I slapped myself.”
“Why?”
“I’d rather not tell you.”
“Okay, but if it was Tyler, just tell me.”
“It wasn’t!”
“Then why did I find him outside of your room?”
“What? How’d he get there?”
“You tell me. He was soaking wet too.”
“Maybe some punch spilled on him too.”
“Maybe.” Caleb agreed, but he knew I was lying, he just couldn’t understand it quite yet; I hope he never will.
“So… why don’t we eat dinner?” I said, changing the subject.
“Of course. Dinner is in my office.”
Dinner turned out to be noodles in a delicious cream sauce. It looked and tasted amazing, but I had too much on my mind to enjoy it. And Caleb had no intention of making those worries disappear; only adding to them.
“I know the real message Tyler sent you. It was ‘Danger’.”
“It was. Although, that wasn’t the whole message.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“What you and I play is a game of secrets. I reveal information to you when I will gain the most from it and vice versa.”
“This isn’t a game; it’s a fight for my life.”
“Indeed it is, indeed it is.”
We sat there in silence some more, until Caleb got up and grabbed a book off the shelf. Great, more learning, just what I need. He set the book in front of me and before I could stop him, his face was on mine. What the heck! Why in the world was he kissing me? I pushed him away and felt my face flush in anger. I blinked twice and realized my magic had turned on without me telling it to. Caleb had an expecting look on his face as if he expected me to blast him with my magic. Then I realized he did. Somehow he knew my magic would turn on. My anger was replaced with confusion.
“You shouldn’t think before you act, it would make you so much more predictable.”
“On the contrary, you should think before you act.”
“I did, I had this whole lesson planned out. I kiss you, you get angry, and you use your magic without thinking on me…. Only you thought about what was happening instead of just going with the flow.”
“I tend to do that.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“Well if you’ve noticed, then why didn’t you predict what was going to happen?”
“Does everything have to be an argument with you?”
“I like arguments.”
“That’s because you normally win.”
“So you admit I won?”
“Ugh!” Caleb said, tossing the book at me.
“How to use your anger to fuel your powers.” I read out loud. It was a thin paperback.
“Yup, that’s what I taught you. The book is just a reminder. Basically your powers turn on when you get angry and you need to learn to use that anger to fuel your magic. So next time you’re mad at me, go for it.”
“That would be refreshing.”
“Assuming I don’t block it.”
“So basically I’m never gonna hit you with a spell.”
“Not in your lifetime.” Caleb said walking over to the trunk I retrieved the Freestyle book from.
He dug around a bit and brought up a book on transportation. He handed it to me saying:
“Read it and report back to me tomorrow knowing how to transport yourself properly.”
“Read the whole thing?”
“No, just the part on transportation. Of course the whole thing.”
“This isn’t a necromancy book.”
“No, but you can’t just learn necromancy, you must learn other magic as well. The art of necromancy is combining the two.”
“I must be crazy, because you’re starting to make sense.”
“Of course I am. Now Jade, I figured it out.”
“Figured what out?” I say nervously. Did he figure out why Tyler was outside my door?
“I figured out why those drills I used to test you were so easy for you. It’s because you’re a Freestyle. It would have been so much harder if you were normal.”
“Right, so I’m not normal. That makes me a freak.”
“No, in magical terms it makes you a Freestyle. Now go read that book.”
I took the book in my left hand and walked out of Caleb’s office.

 

Transporting turned out to be harder than the book claimed it to be. I read the part about Freestyle transportation and it seemed to be perfectly simple. Activate your magic, concentrate your magic on your body, and thing of the place you want to transport to. Oh, and then there was the part about losing limbs. It turns out that if you don’t concentrate on a certain part of your body, then that part won’t transport with the rest of your body. This could be undone by transporting back to the spot that you were standing on before.
I laughed imagining a warlock transporting in to a battle to save a fair maiden only to have to go back to re-attach his arms.
The first few times I tried to transport nothing happened. The book said that this was probably due to the fact that when I chose a destination I stopped concentration on my body. The next time I tried I actually succeeded in transporting to the other side of my room. My moment of triumph was ruined when I fell down, probably a side effect of having no feet. I looked at the other side of the room, and sure enough my feet were there.
“Okay, time to transport back.” I muttered to myself.
I did transport back, but when I arrived (with feet re-attached) I had lost my arms. It was a frightening experience losing body parts. Only after about thirty times did I manage to transport (this time to get my finger) without losing any other limbs.
“One more time.” I said to myself.
I concentrated on my body and then told my magic to transport me to the other side of the room, only this time I didn’t go anywhere. My clothes did though. And to make the matter worse, Tyler chose that moment to enter my room. I screamed.
“Jade? Is that you?”
“Yes! Who else would it be?”
“Where are you?”
“I’m right in front of you!”
“Then why can’t I see you?”
“I’m invisible?”
“Oh. That would explain a lot.” Tyler said, “Are those your clothes.”
“Yes, those would be my clothes which transported off my body.” I said, grabbing them and putting them on. “Can you see my clothes?”
“Yes, now turn back.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Well then, you’re stuck and in need of help I suppose.”
I walked up to him and kissed him slowly then pulled back.
“Now help me.”
“Am I really that predictable?”
“She’s good at predicting people.” Caleb said. How long had he been standing in my doorway?
“Really?”
“Yes. See, watch. What am I thinking about?”
“Our lesson today.” I said with a huff, it was too obvious.
“But two can play that game.” Tyler said, “You are embarrassed now, Jade.”
I thought it through. I was invisible by mistake in front Tyler, and chances are Caleb saw me kiss him, while invisible by mistake. I had every reason to be embarrassed.
“I am, but that much is obvious. Based on Caleb’s face I couldn’t tell what he was thinking about, I had to infer.”
“What happened in your lesson that you would know what he was thinking about based on previous happenings? And don’t forget, I can’t see your face.” Tyler said.
“Don’t try and sound smart, and I’d rather not talk about it.” I said getting really angry, so angry that my magic turned on.
I remembered what Caleb had said about ‘going for it’ when my magic turned on, so I decided, why not?
“Caleb?” I said.
“Yes, Jade?” he said, turning to face me.
I sent my magic at him with the intention of injuring him. He caught it but a startled look appeared on his face. He opened his mouth, then closed it and rolled his eyes.
“Interesting.” Tyler said, then he sighed: “Well, I’ve got places to be.”
“Wait! Make me visible again! You promised!”
“I lied.” Tyler said, walking out of the room.
“Don’t worry Jade, I’ll change you back.” Caleb said, then he muttered something and I was visible again.
“Thanks.” I said glumly, watching Tyler’s back.
“So can you transport yet?”
“Let’s see. Not really.”
“Well show me what you can do.”
“Okay…”
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes so I could concentrate better. When I opened them again I was on the other side of the room. I had done it! Or not, I thought, as I fell to the floor. Once again I had lost my feet.
“Okay, why don’t you sleep on that one. I’ll reattach your feet, but it’s going to hurt a bit.”
“Please don’t, if it has anything to do with pain I don’t want to-“ I stopped speaking when the pain hit me.
“Sorry Jade.” Caleb said.
“A little bit? It hurts a little bit?”
“Maybe a bit of an understatement.”
“You think?” I agreed, struggling to get to my feet.
“Look, just sleep on the transporting thing, maybe you’ll be better in the morning.” Caleb said, walking out of my room and into his.
I let a large breath escape my lips in a sigh and sunk into my bed. I was almost asleep when I rolled onto the Freestyle book. I was reluctant move off of it and sit up. I reluctantly began the meditation I had started earlier the day, hoping it went better this time. It took longer to feel at peace than last time, probably because I had so much on my mind. When I did get to that feeling of peace I turned on my power as I had done last time, and just like last time I saw everything in black and white despite having my eyes closed. It was thrilling.
Then I focused on my mind, which was a blazing red. As I moved in deeper I saw the different shades of red. The two brightest were right next to each other. I chose the lighter of the two first, saving my biggest weakness for last. As soon as I “entered”, memories flashed before my eyelids showing every time I had ever been distracted by something in my life. I inhaled sharply, being as surprised as I was, and I almost broke the meditation. It felt like an eternity of memories but I had this feeling that it had only been a few seconds. So my second greatest weakness was not being able to concentrate. Not a good weakness to have.
Moving away from my “Disaster of Distractions”, as I named it, I prepared to enter my greatest weakness. This time I was prepared for the memories, but I felt like kicking myself when I saw what my greatest weakness was. The first memory was my first friend, a boy named Samuel, next came the guys I had crushes on in my town, and finally, Tyler. My greatest weakness was not boys! It couldn’t be! But who was I kidding? There was no denying it. I was boy crazy.

 

Chapter Seven
My meditation was over, I couldn’t stay calm a second longer. I opened my eyes and tried to rip a pillow apart with my teeth. It didn’t work out so well, and I only ended up hurting my teeth. I was so angry at myself for my stupid weakness, until I thought: Isn’t that every girls weakness? Duh! Of course! Now I can sleep in peace. Just for fun I made the pillow explode, but then I got sad because I no longer had a pillow to sleep on.
Falling asleep without a pillow is easy. But so is waking to Caleb screaming in your face.
“Jade! Why aren’t you at the ball?”
“Wha…?”
“The winter ball! It starts at midnight! It’s twelve thirty.”
“Midnight thirty…” I said, remembering something from my childhood; the memory was a little foggy, but I was laughing at my father.
“Jade! You have to be there! Get up.”
I obeyed, and stood up.
“Do you have a dress?”
“What do I need a dress for?”
“The winter ball! Now do you have one or not?”
“Nope.”
“Fine, I’ll make one for you.”
Caleb looked at me, and seemed to be taking measurements. At least I hope that was what he was doing. Then he muttered something I swore sounded like “Bippity boppity boo”, and I was wearing a floor-length dark green dress and gold shoes that had heels. My feet were still sore, and these shoes were not helping me at all.
“I do not like green dresses. They clash with my eyes.” I said.
“Ah, your eyes are the color of jade. I never noticed. And the dress looks fine.”
“I am offended! My eyes are my most stunning feature, and you didn’t even notice them!”
“Sorry, I was more concerned on how fast you learn the magic.”
“So we have a deadline, do we?”
“Indeed we do.”
It’s times like this when I remember that Caleb was using me for his mysterious purpose, or, as my dad called it, taking advantage of me. If only it was like my father had thought, but my life had never been that simple.
“I guess I’d better go.”
“Yes, you should.”
I took a single step and it was clear that I wasn’t making it to the eating room without help. Caleb had to practically carry me the whole way. When we entered through the room I immediately saw Tyler. He was saying to one of his buddies:
“… reason for holidays is because all the girls want to dance with us guys.”
“Correction, all the girls want to dance with you.” His friend answered.
“True.”
“Would you mind taking over here?” Caleb asked Tyler, handing me to him without waiting for an answer.
I fell into his arms and tried to stand up, but Caleb had made the shoes with too big a heel. I tried to magic them shorter, but they only got taller.
“Don’t waste your energy.” Tyler recommended.
“Would you magic them shorter for me?”
“I would, for a cost.”
“I believe I paid up for a different deed, and you didn’t help me there.”
“That was payback.”
“I never got revenge on you for, eh, taking advantage of me.”
“Tyler, what did you do to her?” Caleb asked, he hadn’t left yet.
“Yeah, Ty! She’s just a defenseless girl!” his buddy said.
“See, I am defenseless. And I bet Caleb thinks I’m delicate, right?”
“Delicate? Defenseless? Yeah right!” Caleb said.
“Two against one.” Tyler said.
“Two against two!” I protested.
“Ben doesn’t count, he won’t fight for his opinion like you.”
I looked at Ben, and he only shrugged.
“But seriously, what did Tyler do to you. Did he slap you?”
“Does that sound like something I would do?” Tyler asked Caleb.
“No, I slapped myself.”
“I thought you think before you act!” Caleb said.
“It was a thought over action!” I said, getting a bit desperate.
I remembered something then: disaster of distractions. Tyler was distracting me from figuring out what secrets Caleb has, so I decided to work on my concentration. I observed every detail about Tyler and let nothing distract me. The white of his teeth, the chocolate brown of his eyes; nothing was lost to my eyes.
“What are you doing?” Tyler asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re staring at me.”
“She’s got it bad for you, Tyler.” The kid with the power to be able to tell who’s attracted to who said.
“Now tell me, why would I be attracted to him?” I asked the guy. “He’s been quite… what’s the word…”
“Mean?” Ben suggested.
“Distracting?” Someone else said.
“Awesome?” Tyler smiled.
“He’s been questionable.” I said.
“I’ll tell you why you like Tyler.” A girl in a blue puffy dress said.
She took my hand and smeared something sweet smelling on it.
“You have a weak mind.” She said.
“Don’t rub it in.” I groaned.
“Well, it’s easy to see your problem. You like Tyler because… well, a few reasons. First of all, because you like danger, and you can sense he’s dangerous. Second of all because he’s good looking, a no brainer, and lastly, because you have a weakness for-“
“Okay!” I said, pulling my hand away. “I don’t like people looking into my weaknesses.”
Realizing how hypocritical I was being I laughed out loud, and decided to turn my personal power on. Tyler still had no weaknesses, and Tyler’s friends still seemed to have weaker minds than the rest of the room. Then Caleb came running at me at full speed. I turned my power off as he stopped in front of me.
“You used it!” Caleb said.
“Used what?” I said, acting innocent.
“Your personal power! Dang you’re good at turning it off and on fast!” he said.
“Caleb doesn’t know you power?” Tyler asked. “He should know, that way he can teach you things specific to help you grow as strong as you can.”
“Jade thinks I’ll use her for her power.” Caleb said.
“Now, Jade. That is something I would do.” Tyler said.
“Trust me, Jade.” Caleb said.
“Trust you?” I said, laughing, “That’s a good one! Like you’ve given me reason to trust you!”
“Ah, true. Well, suit yourself.” Caleb said, walking off.
“You wanna dance, Jade?” Tyler asked.
“I can’t even walk in these shoes, and you want me to dance?”
“Let’s go.” Tyler said, taking my arm, despite my protests.
After about a minute of dancing I concluded that dancing was boring. You just sway back and forth on the dance floor. Tyler wouldn’t listen to anything relating to stopping dancing. As we dance longer I began to notice a pattern. Tyler would dance toward one glittery star, then another, and each time we crossed under one he would whisper something. We had one star left to cross under, and it was on the other side of the room.
“How about we just grab some punch? It would be quicker to get under that star.”
“Dang you’re good!” Tyler said, and then led me to the punch, stopping briefly under the star.
“So what was that for?” I asked sipping my punch.
“When Caleb walks under a star- well, watch.” Tyler said, pointing out Caleb to me.
As he walked under the star, I saw the glitter cascading down over him, and before he could react, I activated my magic and sent the glitter flying to Tyler. He was covered in glitter. I poured the rest of my punch on his head. The word I said next was quiet, but echoed around the silent room.
“Payback.” I said, and walked out of there, miraculously managing to stay on my feet.
<^>

 

I don’t know if sleep came easily, but I think it must have, because I don’t remember waiting for sleep to find me. I woke up feeling refreshed and energized; ready to run a mile. I had always been a fast runner, and running was something I loved to do. I could run a mile.
“I can run a mile.” I said to myself.
“Good, because you’re going to have to.” Caleb said as he walked into my room.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I mean that you’re already late for physical training. Get up, get dressed, get to the room where you first ran into Tyler. Move.”
I raced to get my clothes on and pull a brush through my tangled hair. I hated my curly hair because it would never behave itself! I was sprinting down the hall and made it into the room panting.
“Finally!” The teacher proclaimed. “What took you so long Jade.”
I heard someone saying quietly: “Just because she’s the headmaster’s apprentice she thinks she gets special privileges.”
“Caleb didn’t wake me up on time.” I said, suddenly guilty of my good night’s rest.
“It’s not his job to babysit you.” The teacher said. “Now stretch out class.”
As I stretched I thought: it is so Caleb’s job to babysit me! If he doesn’t keep a close eye on me, I’ll just poof away, and never be seen here again.
“Jade! You can touch your toes, cant you? And wipe that smirk off your face, or I’ll find out what it’s about and tell the whole class.”
“You can read people’s minds?” I grunted as I touched my toes.
“My personal power is the ability to see what people want most hidden. When I want to anyways.” He said. “Now get ready to run! Today we’re jogging outside.”
Caleb better keep an eye on me. Outside I’ll be as free as a bird! I was about to follow the others outside when someone grabbed my wrist. It was Caleb.
“Don’t even think about it, I’ll be watching.” He whispered in my ear.
“What would ever give you the reason to think I would run?” I asked innocently.
“Maybe he can’t read minds…” Caleb said.
“Enough said.” I replied, skipping off to join the others.
They had already started jogging and were several meters in front of me. Looks like “coachy” wants to see what I can do. I caught up easily, but then stayed to the back of the group, jogging about two meters back. I stayed there until a girl slowed down beside me and said:
“If you can’t keep up you shouldn’t be here.”
Red hot anger blazed in my chest. I’ll show her who can keep up! I picked up my pace tremendously, passing the girl easily. I saw Tyler up by the front of the group so I decided to catch up with him. I was by his side in seconds. He glanced at me and smiled.
“I thought you had somehow cheated our race when you hung back there.” He said.
“Me? Cheat? Sounds like something you would do.” I laughed.
“Yeah, your right, it does.”
Tyler pointed to a black flag up ahead that was flapping in the breeze.
“We turn around there. I’ll race you back to the school. And I bet my lunch I’ll win.”
“Deal.” I said, and I pushed my limits, letting go of my stored up stamina and putting my all into this race.
I felt a kind of focus I had never experienced before, and it was just me. That’s how I would explain it. It was just me; no one else could distract me. I was just running, no longer racing; to myself I was just running. I kicked open the door and slowed down. Tyler entered a few seconds after me.
“No… Fair…” he panted.
“Fair.” I said.
The rest of the kids came trickling in pretty soon after I had caught my breath. The teacher entered somewhere in the middle of the group.
“It seems I underestimated you, Jade. You can keep up on our jog, but what about in our lessons? You have a lot of catching up to do.”
“I think I can manage.” I told him.
“Good. Partner up and start sparring. Not you, Jade. I still have to show you the basics with a staff.”
I followed him over to one of the walls; it was lined with dummies. He handed me a staff. I grabbed it, placing my hand about a foot away from each other in the middle.
“Not bad. Your hands are perfect, and your stance isn’t terrible.”
I glanced at my feet, and spread them a bit farther away from each other, then looked up for confirmation. He nodded and then grabbed a staff and began teaching me some basic thrusts. He watched me for a bit, and then went to help the others. When I was sure he wasn’t watching me, I tried some spins with my staff and slid my hands closer together or farther apart depending on the thrust to make it flow smoother.
“Very nice.” He said, and I jumped because I hadn’t realized he was there. “I think you can move onto sparring with a partner. Brett, would you mind sparring with Jade?”
Brett came over and got ready spar. I did the same, spreading my legs into the proper stance. He struck without warning, and I blocked. Basically I just blocked his thrusts, trying not to get hit.
“You seem to be very defensive.” The teacher said.
“Jade is not defensive.” Tyler disagreed. “She waits until she sees a chance and then she strikes, knocking you over.”
Despite Tyler’s predictions, I continued to block. Then I saw it- a pattern. Every few thrusts Brett would falter, as if unsure what to do next. Like he prepared a few moves but then had to stop and think for a second. The next time he did this I lunged forward and hit him in the stomach. He wasn’t prepared for this, and faltered again, so I hit him in the shoulder. I continued to lunge and thrust until I swept his feet from under him. I looked to the teacher, noticing we had gathered a small crowd.
“Good, good.” The teacher said. “Most people defend that long without being tired out. But once you beat him, you need to assure he stays down.”
I put my foot on his chest.
“No, I meant sit on him.”
I sat on his stomach and his breath came out with an “Oof”. I crossed my legs in front of me, and my arms over my chest. The teacher chuckled, as did some of the people in my class.
“No, like this.” He demonstrated.
He put one knee on one side of Brett’s torso, and the other knee on the other side. He grabbed my staff and thrust it under Brett’s chin.
“Like that.” He said, handing me my staff.
I copied him, blushing furiously as I did so. I got up as soon as I had it right.
“It looks like we’re about half way through class and I have nothing else to teach you. Do whatever.” The teacher said.
Kids walked off chatting, some grabbed books to read, and others went outside to jog or walk. I picked up my staff and walked over to a dummy to start practicing again.

 

Chapter eight
The teacher was coming over to teach me something more advanced, and Tyler was following him.
“Can I please, please, please, please move on?” Tyler was begging.
“I’m not sure your ready.” The teacher responded.
“I’m the top of the class; no one else is more ready.”
“Well… Fine.”
“What?”
“I said you can go, be happy.”
“I’ve been begging you for a month, and no it’s all paid off?”
“Leave before I change my mind.”
Tyler left.
“Where’s he going?” I asked.
“He’s moving on early; going to learn how to use a sword.”
“Oh.” I said.
“Don’t get lazy with your stance; you don’t want someone to knock you off balance. Using the staff is all about balance.”
Obediently I fixed my stance and continued to hit the dummy.
“I see you’ve figured out the basics on your own. You’re a fast learner, Caleb was right to pick you.”
“Thanks.”
He began to teach me more advanced moves that used different stances. Also I started to learn to use the staff with one hand. I was pretty bad at that.
“Watch it!” The teacher said when I accidentally hit him in the face.
“Sorry.”
“I am going to put myself out of harm’s way. You can practice alone until the end of class.”
I did practice. A lot. I didn’t even notice when people started to leave. I just focused on using my staff properly and keeping my stance perfect.
“Looks like someone is working hard.” Tyler said.
Startled I whirled around and almost hit Tyler with my staff. Now I noticed we were alone.
“Jeez, what did I ever do to you?” Tyler asked.
“No need to over react, I didn’t even hit you.”
“Yes, but that was clearly your goal.”
“You startled me, now let it be.”
“Fine.” Tyler said. “Notice anything different about me?”
Although I had already seen the sword that hung by his side I made a big deal of observing him and then said:
“Nope.”
“Come on! See this here? This is a sword.”
“No, it’s a feather.” I said, practically tasting the sarcasm. “No duh it’s a sword.”
“You wanna hold it?” he asked.
“I’m content with my staff.” I said, but Tyler didn’t take no for an answer.
Tyler unsheathed his sword and handed it to me, leather bound handle first. I sighed and grabbed it. And fell over. If the staff was all about balance, the sword was all about… well, unbalance. I wasn’t joking when I said I fell over, to my embarrassment that did in fact happen.
“It’s not that heavy.” Tyler said, helping me up.
I opened my mouth to object, but all thoughts of protest were bound, gagged, and most likely killed off when Tyler put his mouth to mine. Unlike all the other times he’d kissed me, this time I felt a foreign heat fill my chest. I dwelt on the feeling of his lips pressing softly against mine, and lingered in the heat. When he pulled back I felt the heat recede, filling me with longing and disappointment.
“Why did you do that?” I asked.
“You were going to argue, and I don’t want to lose another argument to you, even when I’m right. The sword is probably one of the lightest they have.”
I opened my mouth again to protest, but Tyler kissed me again. For some reason this time I remembered: biggest weakness- boys, and disaster of distractions. Maybe he’s distracting me! Or maybe I’m over thinking things…. But just then Tyler removed one hand from my waist and reached for his sword. But I was way ahead of him. I ducked underneath his first swing and grabbed my staff. His face showed his confusion momentarily, but even a few moments can be precious in a fight. I hit him in the stomach and then swept his feet from under him in a jerky ungraceful movement. I sat on him the way the teacher had shown me. I heard clapping.
“Very nice work, Jade.”
Oh no. How much had he seen?
“I just wish I could have seen the whole fight.”
Thank goodness!
“Can you get off me so we can get to lunch?” Tyler asked.
“I don’t know; I’m kinda comfortable.” I said and gave him my most charming of smiles.
“Ugh.” Tyler said, laying his head on the ground.
<^>