Um, yeah... Sorry for not actually posting the chapter with the note... Yeah. ----------------------------- Chapter twelve Tyler fell backwards and landed on the ground. My staff fell out of his hands and rolled away from him. I placed one knee on either side of his rock hard torso and one elbow on either side of his head. I sat there with my head in my hands smirking. I broke the silence by saying, “You need to improve your stance.” Then someone started clapping. My head shot up and looked for the source of the noise. It was Caleb. “That was marvelous, Jade,” He said. “Um… Thanks,” I said. “You should get back to my training room,” Albert told me. I agreed and walked back. I entered the room, and all of the girls stared at me. One with blond hair walked towards me. She stopped a foot from me, and she glared at me. What did I do to you? I thought. “Stay away from Tyler; he’s mine,” She said. It took me a while to formulate a response, and in that time the other girls formed a circle around me. “Well, Tyler likes me, so….” “No he doesn’t. Have you even kissed?” The blond asks. I stay silent. “If you haven’t kissed he doesn’t like you.” Tyler decided to choose that minute to make his entrance. “Jade, hide me!” He said. “What did you do?” I asked. “I escaped my punishment, but not for long if you don’t hide me,” Tyler said. “That’s just going to make it worse when they do find you.” “So?” “Fine,” I said. “But I’m in the middle of something here! Well, I’m in the middle of a circle of girls, but you know what I mean!” “Yes, I do know what you mean. I don’t have time to care though.” “Okay, one question first.” I pointed to the bruise that had formed on jaw. “Did you do that on purpose?” “Well… Yeah. But it was a fight…” “Good. If you did it on accident, it would have meant you were going easy one me.” “I can kiss it better for you,” Tyler offered. I rolled my eyes. I heard angry voices down the hall. “Okay, come on.” I led Tyler to a closet half full of dummies. “You can hide in here,” I said. Tyler stepped in and I was about to close the door when he pulled my in with him. The door slammed closed behind me. The last thing I saw was the girls with their jaws on the floor. The voices got louder, and I knew they were in the training room. I couldn’t exit the closet without looking guilty. “I was serious about kissing it better,” Tyler whispered into my ear. Tyler started at my ear and kissed his way down to my jaw. I heard things being said outside the closet door, but my brain couldn’t make sense of them. “Is it all better?” He asked. “No.” I could feel Tyler’s lips form a smile as the continued to kiss me. I tilted Tyler’s chin a bit higher so his lips met mine. I felt warmth explode in my chest when he kissed me. Although we were already close to each other, I needed to be closer to him, so I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled his body against mine. “… Get to lunch,” Caleb said. I pulled away from Tyler when I heard this. Caleb was right outside the closet. My heart beat faster than it already was. Both Tyler and I held our breath as we heard Caleb’s footsteps retreating. We exhaled when together when we could no longer hear him. “We should probably get to lunch,” Tyler said. I laid my head on his chest. “Mmmm…. Probably,” I replied. Tyler lifted my chin up so his lips reached mine. “We need,” kiss “To go,” kiss “To lunch.” Kiss. I nodded, dizzy and out of breath. Tyler opened the door and let the light shine in. I unwillingly stepped out of the dark sanctuary the closet had become with Tyler close behind me. <^> Walking into the eating room late was interesting to say the least. Everyone turned around and stared at us. I had no idea what they were thinking, but I can guess. Judging by the way all of the girls were glaring at me, they hated me for walking in with Tyler after being in a closet with him. I had no doubt that Blondie had shared that information with the whole school by now. Caleb looked at me and raised an eyebrow. Gosh, I hope he doesn’t know, I thought. The boys were all making room for two more bodies at the already packed table. “Jade, what happened?” Alex asked. “Tyler hit me with a staff,” I told him and took a seat. “Tyler!” Alex yelled. “Hey, she got me pretty bad too,” Tyler defended. “Really,” Ben said. He wasn’t convinced. “Here, I’ll show you,” Tyler said and begun unbuttoning his shirt. He finished and displayed his bruise for everyone to see. I don’t think anyone actually saw the bruise. They were all too busy looking at how muscular Tyler was. I looked down at my sandwich and blushed. Someone started laughing. “Jade is red like a tomato!” Someone said. I pulled a tomato off my sandwich (yeah, sandwiches two days in a row) and chucked it the laugher’s face. “Now who’s red like a tomato!” I said and smiled sweetly. “You could have used my tomatoes,” Tyler said. I looked. He indeed had a neat stack of tomatoes on his plate, but he still hadn’t buttoned up his shirt. I blushed again causing more people to laugh. “Alright, you asked for it,” I muttered. I grabbed Tyler’s rejected tomatoes and started throwing them everywhere. When I was done I just grinned like a fool. My grin disappeared when they grabbed their own tomatoes and started tossing them at me. I leapt behind Tyler. He stood up and turned around. He was covered in tomatoes. Now it was my turn to laugh. Bad choice. Tyler peeled a tomato off his face and threw it at me. “Tomato war!” I yelled. Tomatoes flew everywhere. I had deadly accuracy and the knack for avoiding getting hit. Even when our sandwiches had been robbed of their tomatoes, people just picked them up off the floor and flung them. “What’s going on?” Although Caleb spoke quietly, everyone heard and dropped their tomatoes. “It’s Tyler’s fault!” I said, breaking the silence. Everyone else was quick to agree with me. “What? No it’s not! Jade started it,” Tyler said. “Yeah, but it’s your fault I threw the first tomato.” Once again, everyone agreed with me. “We’ll discuss this in my office, Tyler. The rest of you, finish what’s left of your lunch,” Caleb said. How much trouble was Tyler going to be in? <^> I walked back from lunch and had just gotten to Caleb’s office when I heard, “… Just can’t do it anymore.” It was Tyler. Caleb started laughing. “Tyler, you don’t understand. Without you…. Jade, it’s rude to eavesdrop,” Caleb said, all of his laughter gone. “Wasn’t eavesdropping. I just happened to overhear,” I replied. “You may come in, Jade,” Caleb said. I opened the door to Caleb’s familiar office. The only unfamiliar thing was Tyler sitting in the chair I normally occupied. “Tyler, you may leave,” Caleb said. Tyler sighed and left. Caleb looked at me and got an amused look on his face. “What?” I asked. “Nothing.” Had Caleb found out about Tyler and me? Oh gosh, I hoped not. “What will we be learning today, oh powerful one?” I asked. What I needed was a magic lesson to keep my mind off things. “Ah yes, magic,” Caleb said. “You will be learning to play the fiddle.” “I already know how to play the fiddle.” “Alright, show me.” Caleb gently lifted a fiddle from its case and handed it to me. I played a lively, fast tune on the fiddle, not stumbling once. “Very nice, but can you play this?” Caleb handed me a sheet of paper. I studied the music for a minute before I started to play it. It was a slow, fancy song. It was very easy. “Good, that was very good. Now play this one.” He handed me the new sheet of music. It was just the harmony of the first one. I played it just as easily. “This isn’t magic,” I said when I finished. “Not yet it isn’t, but it will be,” Caleb replied. He pulled a second fiddle out of another case and placed it on the table. This one was reddish with the ebony of the chin rest shockingly dark on the bright wood. “Levitate this.” I did. “Now the bow.” Once I had both in the air he told me to play the song on it. It was challenging because I was always pressing either too hard or too soft with the bow. I couldn’t feel how hard or soft I pressed, so I had to listen. I saw Caleb wince whenever I hit a bad note. “Yes!” I shouted when I finally got it. “Impressive,” Caleb murmured. “Now play both of them at the same time.” This was the hardest thing yet. I had to concentrate on both fiddles and play both tunes at the same time. After a few tries I decided it would be better if I first memorized each piece of music before I tried to play them together. Caleb lost interest in watching me practice and was flipping through one of the bigger books on necromancy. I made little progress at first, but once I had memorized both pieces it became a lot easier. Once I thought I had it down, I played through it a couple of times to make sure. “I’m finished,” I told Caleb. He looked up at me startled. “So soon?” He questioned. Instead of answering I played the music for him. “You are a very fast learner, Jade.” “Thanks, I guess.” “But can you do it in front of people?”
... I hate this chapter Enjoy! ------------- Chapter thirteen “In front of people? Why would I have to do that?” I asked. “The winter festival. Every year I bring five students to represent the school.” “I’m not a people person.” “I figured. That’s why you’re playing the fiddle, so you don’t have to talk much.” “Okay,” I said. “Put the fiddles in your room and go help the rest of the troublemakers pick up the tomatoes.” I don’t bother responding; I just get up and exit Caleb’s office. I don’t want to help pick up the tomatoes, but I guess I am sort of responsible for them being on the floor in the first place. It turns out that “the rest of the trouble makers” means Tyler. “So she’s arrived,” Tyler said as I stepped into the room. “What took you so long?” “I was learning to play two fiddles at the same time,” I said and started to pick up tomatoes. “What for?” Tyler asked. “Some winter festival.” “So you’re one of the five students.” “Is it a secret who they are?” “Sort of. The five students know that they are going to be performing at the winter festival, but they don’t know who the other students are until Caleb announces it.” “Shoot. Am I in trouble for telling you?” I started to panic. “Calm down. It’s no big deal; I’m going too.” “Oh? What are you going to do?” “I’m a magician.” “Wonderful. What are you going to do?” “Perform magic tricks.” I picked up the last tomato. “All done,” I said with a sigh. “Wait a minute, you didn’t do any work!” “So? There’s nothing for me to do now.” “I hate you.” I glared at him. He just grinned and walked away, leaving me with a bucket of tomatoes. I think I was supposed to put them in the compost, but I didn’t know where that was. I hauled the bucket down the hall, determined to ask the first person I saw where to put the tomatoes. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anyone. Just my luck. I decided to go to the boys’ dorm and ask them. Perhaps I could even make Tyler do it. But then Blondie walked out, and even her uniform looked a little too tight to be comfortable. Probably showing off for Tyler or anyone else who was stupid enough to be her boyfriend. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the tomato queen.” She sneered, and got right in my face. “You think that you have Tyler wrapped around your pretty little finger don’t you? Well, think again. Tyler is going to ask me to be his date for the festival, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” “You know what Blondie? Why don’t you think again? Oh, that’s right, you can’t because that would make your dizzy little head explode!” I used a high pitched baby tone. I giggled, and continued, making her back up. Now her bravado was flickering, her face showing surprise. “And you know what? I’m going to dedicate my act in the festival, which I actually had enough brains and talent to get into, to Tyler to get it into your thick skull that we’re together.” She screamed, and raked her sharpened nails diagonally starting from my left temple to my right cheek. I saw red, and her face looked so smug. I smiled sweetly at her, ignoring the hot trickle of blood that ran into my eye; the red started pulsing in my vision. “Thanks Blondie. You know what? I have a surprise for you too.” I dumped half of the bucket of tomatoes on her head, and the remaining down her shirt. “Now you get to be the tomato queen. See ya!” I said, and walked in the other direction, leaving her fuming. I walked down a hallway that looked a bit familiar. I guessed that Tyler had led me down this hallway before we went to Al’s Place. I found a door and knew it was the boys’ dorm immediately. No one else could make that much noise. I knocked three times and everyone inside went quiet. “What did you do this time Tyler?” One of the boys asked. “I didn’t do anything,” Tyler responded. I muffled a snicker. He sounded like a kid who almost got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Then you open the door,” A different boy challenged. “What? That’s stupid. You open the door,” Tyler said. “I don’t care who opens the door, just somebody let me in!” I called through the old, wooden door. I heard someone scramble to it and finally yank it open. I had been hoping for Tyler, but I didn’t recognize the boy who invited me in. my disappointment was gone the second I saw a shirtless Tyler smile at me before he disappeared into the bathroom. Probably to get the first aid kit. “Jade!” The boy exclaimed. “What happened to your face?” “What? Oh yeah. This blonde chick went berserk and clawed half of my face off. I just stood there and minded my manners.” “Hey, didn’t you clean up the tomatoes in the cafeteria? Where’d you put them?” “Uh… I sort of crowned Blondie the tomato queen? Half went on her head, and the other down her shirt.” The boys broke out in hysterics, and Tyler used the chance to push the guy next to him off the bed and make me sit down. “Still so controlling,” I muttered under my breath. His lips twitched as he started cleaning the cuts and I hissed, clutching the sheets. “So you didn’t mind your manners?” “Not so much,” I chuckled, and shrugged. “Oops.” There was a sigh. “What did you do this time Jade?” I jumped guiltily and zeroed in on Caleb leaning against the door frame. “Nothing,” I tried once, and from the looks of it, absolutely no one believed me. Caleb definitely looked unconvinced. “I thought you promised that you wouldn’t lie to me anymore Jade.” I gestured to the hall, and he walked out without looking back. I followed him to his office obediently. I slouched in the chair, avoiding his eyes. He sighed, waiting for me to talk. I almost smirked when he ran a hand through his hair, and looked me in the eye. “Come on, talk. What did you do?” “I am no longer the Tomato Queen. I have crowned the new heir to the throne. Headmaster, please welcome the new bloody red Queen!” And right on cue, she stormed into the office unannounced, completely missing the fact that I was there. “You HAVE to expel her Caleb! Look what she did to my hair! And my clothes! Oh, don’t even get me started. When I see her again-“ “Well, it looks like it’s your lucky day Bimbo.” I gave her a mock salute. “Hi.” And she lunged for me, knocking the chair back with me still in it. She fell on top of me, yanking at my hair. I flailed under her, and she slammed my head into the back of the chair. Black spots and dark red swirls danced around the room, and suddenly she was off me, lying down flat on the floor, struggling. There was the faint glow of my magic around her, pulsing in time with my heart. I found that I couldn’t look away from her eyes. I could see Caleb and Tyler in my peripheral vision waiting to see what I would do. Behind them the boys from the dorm, who had followed us, were anxiously waiting to see what would happen next. Alright, if they want a show, I’ll give them a show, I thought. Blondie was staring intently at me chanting words that I couldn’t hear, but I had a feeling she wasn’t granting me my deepest desire. I drew upon my power and contemplated what to do with it. I shoved it towards her hypnotizing spell and shattered it. Standing up, I shoved her to the ground and recreated her hypnotizing chant. I grabbed all of the power I could find and planned to do something really nasty to her, but then I realized the headmaster was standing there watching. I decided that I very well couldn’t leave her unscathed, so I dragged a finger across her forehead. Blondie stared at me, entranced the whole time. When I was done I walked back to admire my masterpiece by Tyler. “I’m dumb,” Tyler read. “You sure are,” I agreed. “You know what I mean,” Tyler said, glancing at me in appreciation for what I accomplished in my recent fight. “I think it’s time for dinner,” I said. Our small group of people, including a confused blonde girl with lettering on her forehead, walked towards the dining room. We were halfway there when Caleb spotted the mess left over from the tomato queen crowning. Too late I realized I was still holding the bucket. Caleb pointed at me, and then to the mess. With a roll of my eyes I started cleaning up the mess I had created. So worth it I thought, humming as Blondie attempted to read her forehead. I tried very hard not to smirk and or laugh, but you have to understand, she was nearly going cross-eyed trying to get a look at her forehead. I sighed, and chuckled under my breath, grinning as I thought, definitely worth it. <^> Unfortunately I didn’t think so anymore when I realized that because of my little…ahem, ‘temper tantrum’ as Caleb put it, I wouldn’t get a bath tonight. Just great. Now I was irritable because I had to clean up the mess twice, and I have tomato juice and seeds in my hair, and in places that I won’t mention. I couldn’t tell if someone was knocking on my door, or if my headache was just getting worse. If I used a lot of my magic, I would get a dull throb at the worst, but it felt like my head was splitting in two. Ben poked his head in. “What?” I snarled, and he squeaked out. “Um… we’re going to Al’s Place again. Tyler wanted me to ask you to come along.” “Not with this headache I’m not.” I growled, and shoved my pillow over my face. The muffled click of the door felt like a needle going straight between my eyes, burrowing into my screaming brain. I might’ve dosed, but my head was far from better. I felt the bed sink, and I immediately knew who it was when I took a deep breath through my nose: sweat, sun, ocean, and boy. I muttered something that I forgot as soon as the words were out of my mouth; something about sleep and no more drinking. He pulled the pillow off my eyes, and I knew I must be a sight to see. I tried to weakly grab it back, and block the view, but he put it behind him, and pecked me lightly on the lips. “Why were you so mean to Ben?” he murmured into my hair. “Hmm?” I said, distracted and sleepy did definitely not help me sound smarter. “When he came back into our room he looked like he about crapped his pants. What’d you do?” “No bath tonight because of what happened with Barbie, and I had to clean up that mess twice, and my head hurts from magic,” I said, trying not to whine. He was silent for a minute, and I almost fell back asleep. Almost.
We're getting so close to the end! I love you guys! ------------------- Chapter Fourteen It took me forever to fall asleep, but that was probably because Tyler never left my side after he heard about my bad day. I wasn’t uncomfortable—quite the opposite. I never wanted this moment to end. Eventually, though, I had fallen asleep. When I woke up, Tyler had left. I felt deserted even though I knew he couldn’t risk being in trouble with Caleb. I sighed and pulled myself out of bed. I stepped into the hall, surprised to see that it was still dark out. “Oh, good,” Caleb said, walking by me. “You’re up.” “I am,” I said. “Why is that? It’s much too early to be out of bed.” I didn’t wait for Caleb to say anything before diving back into my bed. “Jade, the Winter Festival is today,” Caleb said, shaking my shoulder. “What!? I learned to play that one song yesterday. Why did I not know that the Festival was today?” “Because I’m your evil necromancer teacher that keeps you isolated from the world. Now, get up.” I rolled over to shout something nasty at him, but Caleb pulled me out of bed and into a standing position. “No,” I moaned, pushing him away. “I’ve had a bath prepared for you, you know where…” I didn’t give Caleb time to finish his sentence before sprinting in the direction of his room. Goodbye tomato-stink! <^> Even after the bath, the sun still hadn’t risen. No one seemed to care though. Everyone was awake and preparing for the Winter Festival. As it turns out, I would not be wearing my usual uniform, but a dress. I picked up the note off of the dress that Caleb had left for me and read it. Since you are my apprentice, I want you to stand out. —Caleb I rolled my eyes and examined the dress. It was a pretty light-blue color with while accents. I slipped it on, not surprised at all that it fit me perfectly. No shoes were provided, so I put on my usual boots. I looking in the mirror, surprised at my reflection. It had been a long time since I’d worn a dress, and I’d never laid a hand on one this lovely. I couldn’t help but feel small in the beautiful piece of fabric. The only experience comparable to this one was when Tyler made me clothes to go to Al’s Place, but even that was different. For the first time in a while I felt… beautiful. I smiled at myself and got to work pulling my damp hair back in a braid. Once that was done, I pinned it to the back of my head to create a loop. I grinned outright this time. I could see why Caleb chose this dress. It was the clothing equivalent to the song I was playing. Now that I looked the part, I felt much more confident about playing my fiddles. I skipped out into the hall and almost ran straight into someone hauling a chair down the hall. “Watch it!” he said, not glancing at me twice. Everyone was awake despite the early hour. Girls were perfecting their appearances with spell after spell until teachers yelled at them to help carry things outside. I managed to dodge teachers left and right until I made it to the dining hall. Apples and oranges were being handed out to students looking for breakfast before they were shooed out of the room to help everyone else. I grabbed an apple and hurried into the hall where I found Caleb. “What’s going on?” I asked, grinning with the excitement of it all. “I thought only five students were going to the festival.” “No! Don’t bring that outside!” Caleb shouted at a student who was carrying a distinct black suit of armor. “Bring that to my room. Jade, I don’t have time for you right now.” Caleb walked briskly down the hall, ordering students about as he went. “But, you said only five students were going!” I shouted, jogging to catch up. Curse my stupid, short legs. “No, no. Everyone’s going. Five students will be performing magic and representing the school. The rest of them will be enjoying the festivities.” “Oh, I see,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You just want to keep an eye on me.” Caleb’s only response was to say, “Jade, I told you, I don’t have the time! Go make yourself useful and help the boys with the horses. On second thought, don’t. We can’t have you ruining your dress. Sit in your room until I come and get you.” I sighed and walked to my room, choosing to ignore the boys who eyed me as I went. Yes, I am wearing a dress. Big deal. I sat down on my bed and waited for an annoyingly long time. Eventually, I heard Caleb banging around in his room, and the moment the sun peeked over the horizon, he shouted, “We’re late!” He burst into my room wearing the black suit of armor. “Jade, let’s go. We can’t be any later than we already are. Do not make trouble for me, please.” Caleb was clearly stressed, so I simply nodded. We walked down the halls and out the door into the cool morning air. Everyone was chatting and giggling as they filed into their carriages. Caleb placed a hand on my back and led me to the carriage at the front of the line and helped me in. I shoved his hand off of me. I could get in by myself. Apparently, that was a lie. I could not. I tripped over the hem of my dress and would have landed in the dirt had Caleb not caught me. This time, I took his hand. I clambered into the carriage, surprised to see that it was already occupied. Tyler waved at me from the spot he was sitting in. He didn’t seem thrilled that he was being babysat by the headmaster. I knew the feeling. Caleb got in himself, awkwardly sitting in his suit of armor, and then we were off. To say the ride to the city was awkward would be an understatement. Tyler sitting next to me and across from Caleb? Needless to say, not a word was spoken. The moment the carriage stopped, though, I was off of it and breathing the tensionless air. Tyler was off next, and he grinned at me. “It’s a lot different during the day, isn’t it?” he asked. I grinned and nodded. I spun around in my dress, taking in all that was going on. It may have been early, but the Festival was in full swing. I could see the spot reserved for us, so I walked over there with Tyler. “So what exactly are you doing, again?” I asked Tyler. “I know you said, ‘magic tricks,’ but what does that mean?” “You know,” he said. “Stealing watches, levitating hats, the like.” I rolled my eyes. “But seriously, what are you doing?” “I am being serious.” Before I could question him further, Caleb called me over. The moment I was near him he sat me down in a chair and gave me a fiddle. “It would be best if we start drawing a crowd now, so you should start playing.” Caleb didn’t have time to direct me further, so I pulled the fiddles out of their cases and began my song. When Caleb said “crowd,” he wasn’t exaggerating. People gathered around me the moment the first note rang out. Some people started dancing, but most just listened. I was nervous, but it was comforting knowing that I wouldn’t have to talk to them. I never stopped playing, as the end of the song led right back into the beginning, so people would just burst into applause at random times during the song. I smiled to show my appreciation. “Step right up! Step right up!” I heard Tyler’s voice ringing above the crowd. “Wanna see a magic trick? Step right up.” A small portion of my crowd ventured over to see what was happening. It turned out that Tyler had indeed been telling the truth. He stole watches from people, and gave them back made of gold. Of course, the spell wore off in a few minutes, but it was funny to watch people’s faces. He did card tricks and levitated hats, cats, and even a little boy once. He certainly charmed everyone. After observing him for a while, I went back to focusing on my song. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the festival. Eventually, everything went quiet, but I still didn’t open my eyes. I was in almost a trance. I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder, and I started, nearly dropping both fiddles. Someone laughed. I looked over the crowd that had gathered again to see that it was Tyler. Of course, who else would have the audacity? I looked to Caleb who had not removed the hand from my shoulder, and then to the two people standing in front of me. I saw the crowns first and rushed into a curtsy, levitating both violins as I did. When I stood back up, I recognized a face. “William?” I said before I could stop myself. It was the William from Al’s Place, the one who shared a name with the Prince… the one who was the Prince. “Jade, right?” he said. “You two know each other,” Caleb asked. “Yes, we met at Al’s,” he said as I said, “No, just a guess.” I smiled sheepishly. “Tyler’s fault,” I whispered. “We’ll speak later.” Actually, though, we wouldn’t.