Page 13

Malia

“We are going to the library again today,” I tell Wystan on our way to class on Saturday, suppressing a silly smile to avoid any more teasing.

Aiden and I have been hanging out for five days, and it’s been fun.

I might even say I’m starting to catch feelings.

Or some serious interest at least. Having a cute person flatter and listen to you on a daily will do that, I guess. The smooching helps. Mostly, it’s nice to have my very own person to hang out with. It makes it a little easier to understand that while Wystan and Dustin don’t try to shut me out, their focus just naturally sticks with each other above all.

Wystan hasn’t exchanged more than a few sentences with Aiden, but they are happy for me.

He’s a private guy and things are so fresh and exciting that I can’t fault him for wanting to see me separately.

It’s honestly kind of romantic that he can’t seem to keep his hands off me. Even though that means I have to tell him off about twenty times a day. He takes it in stride.

“Just stay safe,” Wystan jokes with a lame wink, and I shove them slightly.

They’ve been dropping a lot of inappropriate jokes and hints, and while I don’t mind, they’re completely unwarranted.

We’re about as far away from needing contraception as we are from Thailand.

I don’t bother explaining that again though.

“Look who’s talking!” I shoot back, making my friend’s cheeks burn up just as we enter the classroom.

Very few heads turn as we find our seats, used to our antics by now.

In the morning lesson, we learn how to heal scratches with our powers.

We’ve been introduced to this ability a few weeks ago and therefore haven’t progressed to major wounds.

Still, even on a small scale, it is beyond fascinating. Seeing the skin heal right below my hand has something mesmerizing to it.

At training this afternoon, we duel with weapons.

We do it every few weeks for a change to make sure we can defend ourselves without our powers as will be mostly required on mundane missions on the force.

Today’s weapons are five feet long staffs. They’re hollow and made out of sturdy wood to make them lighter, but the object still feels hard to control in my hands. We were allowed to train with a sword once but didn’t duel since it would have been “too dangerous” without the right practice. We had daggers before as well, and I heard there will be bows and guns too for some aim practice.

Holding a real sword made me feel like the main character of one of those fantasy books I sometimes read in the library, and I’m dying to learn how to fight with it later on.

The same goes for bows.

Kaz pairs me with Eteri today, and she seems horribly eager to start as I step onto the mat.

My nerves act up a little despite myself, knowing how fast and agile she is.

I take a subtle breath as we get into starting position, only to get interrupted by Keahi before the first move can be made.

“I’ll train with her,” he announces, focusing his dark eyes on me from across the room.

“Why?” Eteri and I ask in unison.

I fight the urge to acknowledge the unintentional jinx.

If this had happened with Wystan, I would have cursed them into silence immediately. In these circles though, I would have probably just been called childish and ignored.

“I feel like this is the appropriate time for payback since you took your sweet time at giving me a headache this Monday,” he says nonchalantly.

With one last grim look at the boy she’s infatuated with, Eteri steps off the mat, even if reluctantly so.

I look at Kaz, waiting for him to interfere, but he spares us half a curious glance before looking away. I guess everyone’s just letting Keahi do as he wishes today. Great.

It’s weird, though.

I always thought Kaz forbade him to duel me after what happened in our first ever training session together, but now I wonder if that was never the case at all.

Maybe Keahi was just too scared to lose again to try to fight me.

I can get behind that idea, as unlikely as it may be.

I cock an eyebrow while the bane of my existence saunters over, twirling the long wooden staff in his hand as if it were so easy.

Damn him and his big hands.

He’s really grown up over the years. He’s probably around 5’10 by now, and I doubt he’s done growing. As if the eight inches he had on me weren’t bad enough, he’s also recently started filling out that huge frame. Based on all that, it should be easy for him to clean the floors with me.

Still, they don’t call me a natural for no reason.

Whereas he might be stronger, I’m nimbler.

And let’s face it, I’m definitely cleverer than that ogre. I wait for him on the mat and ignore the rising tension in the room as people watch us.

Instead of arguing or granting him a reaction, I get straight to the point.

For once, I make the first offensive move and jump at my opponent.

Keahi remains frozen for the fraction of a second, his surprise at my changed tactic apparent before he schools his features and rolls off to the side.

He jumps back to his feet behind me, and I whirl around just in time to block a jarring jab aimed at the side of my head.

I shoot him a glare, but we don’t talk or tease each other, both too focused on maneuvering the foreign object in our hands.

After minutes of sparring with the heavy weapon, I am able to hit him in the stomach with the back of my staff, winning the first fight as he stumbles off the mat.

As the second round begins, I realize just how much of an advantage his strength is as my arms start burning trying to navigate the staff that’s almost as tall as me.

Keahi seems undeterred and eventually manages to pull my feet from underneath me, winning round two.

We get back in position, both panting slightly.

Whoever wins this point wins the round, and tense ambition of years of rivalry is palpable in the air between us.

Since everyone is busy with their own duels, I finally cave and tease Keahi as we circle each other.

It’s too familiar by now to repress the urge, and I can’t deny how much fun it is to rile him up.

“You sure you don`t just want to tap out now? We wouldn’t want you to publicly lose and get grounded once more, would we?”

“Rambling is a sign of fear, you know,” he merely shoots back, recycling the words I told him two years ago and looking way too smug as he does.

I pretend to be fed up with his cockiness and don’t muster up a retort.

Instead, I start our last round by attacking him first. Sadly, this time, there’s no surprise on his part, but the duel still goes on for longer than the first two, both of us too stubborn to make a mistake.

That is until I swing for him a little too hard.

My move is sloppy, and when Keahi dodges my staff, I keep turning until my back is facing him, my balance lost for a fatal second.

He takes this opportunity and brings his staff up in front of me, placing it just beneath my chin.

Before I can twist away, his hands grip the staff on either side of my face, and he pulls me tightly against him.

The wood is pressed up against my throat, just loosely enough to allow me to breathe, my back is against his front, and I can feel his warm breath on my exposed neck as he leans down to whisper in my ear.

“I win,” he taunts.

I suppress a treacherous shudder, but the goosebumps pricking my skin give my reaction to his proximity away.

Of course, it has nothing to do with Keahi specifically being that close to me. My body would never appreciate his nearness. It’s just the whisper of a touch against my sensitive skin that evokes a reaction.

I wish I could tell him that, especially when he notices my goosebumps.

“Are you enjoying this, Princess?” he taunts me.

I can almost hear the smug smile on his face. I try to move out of his grip, but he only pushes the staff harder against my skin, forcing me to step back until there’s not an inch of our bodies that isn’t pressed up against the other.

Oh Stars, what is he doing.

Even worse, why am I not screaming out to stop this.

There must be something seriously wrong with my brain because while I wiggle slightly in my enemy’s hold to keep up the appearance, a part of me is enjoying this like Keahi noted. It must be all the smooching I’ve been doing with Aiden. Maybe it altered my brain chemistry. Maybe my body immediately connects the proximity of a person with pleasure and excitement now.

I’m dragged from my spiraling thoughts when Kaz snaps at my opponent.

“Keahi, that is enough.” Keahi raises his hands in surrender and gives me a slight shove from behind, making me stumble a step.

I roll my eyes and straighten up, shaking whatever sensations my hormones made me think I felt.

Thankfully, one look at Keahi’s cold expression is enough to douse the heat on my skin.

Good.

Distance is good.

From another mat, I can see Eteri glaring at me.

We switch groups twice, and I thank the stars I don’t have to duel her.

“You look beautiful,” Baia says from where she is sitting on her bed watching me get ready for my date with Aiden.

“Thanks.” I chuckle shyly.

I curled my long dark hair slightly and am wearing some form fitting clothes.

I usually don’t care about my appearance since I end up sweaty every day at practice, but I figured it won’t hurt this once. I top it off with some natural makeup and leave.

Wystan and Dustin start showering me with compliments as soon as they see me, and my cheeks burn redder with every syllable.

I tell them goodbye when Aiden waves me over after eating with his friends as usual.

Immediately once I’m within reach, he wraps a firm arm around my waist and gives me a kiss hello in front of half the academy.

A few chitters go up around us and I distinctly hear Wystan hoot from further away.

As if my cheeks weren’t red enough before. “You look good enough to eat,” he whispers in my ear. The low timbers of his voice do nothing to help my horrible case of tomato-face, but before I can make more of a fool of myself, he whisks me out of the cafeteria.

Once we’re in our usual spot in the library, he immediately pulls me close to go for another kiss.

It’s a little unusual for him, this lack of charm and cavalry.

Usually, he’s big on asking me about my day and talking about all sorts of things. It’s what I like the most about our dates; having someone to talk to.

Sure, I’ve grown to like kissing him on the occasion, but only because he seemed interested in me beyond that.

On our other dates, he waited for the time to be right and the tension to rise a little before bringing his face to mine.

Today, there’s no build-up of anticipation and I find the resulting kiss rather lacking.

Aiden sits down against a bookshelf and pulls me on top of him before quickly reconnecting our lips.

It’s a stumbly, awkward move, and I’m not sure why he is in such a hurry all of the sudden.

Still, I don’t try to stop him. He told me I looked good enough to eat, after all. Maybe this is just him expressing his approval of my enhanced looks. If I look at it that way, it’s almost flattering.

I straddle his hips, hovering in an attempt to maintain some distance even as we make out.

He seems fine with that, keeping his hands on my waist respectfully.

It goes downhill when he makes an effort to slip them beneath my shirt.

I jerk in his hold, trying to move his arms back down, but he ignores me and tries to pull me closer.

I make a sound of protest in the back of my throat, but since he doesn’t stop kissing me for long enough to let me speak, it’s inconsequential. He must notice my insistent shifting since he huffs against my mouth even as he tries to still me with a firm hand on my hip.

With that, he officially crosses the line and seriously makes me want to stop this.

I shove his arms away from me and lean back.

Stars, I mean, we’re in a library.

A public place.

In this Academy, you don’t come back from a scandal like that if you’re caught. That sort of attention is the last thing I need. Besides, even if we were somewhere private, I still wouldn’t appreciate this hurried attempt to get into my pants after less than a week of hanging out.

“What?” he snaps, finally realizing that I’m not reciprocating his attempts.

“I don’t want you to undress me,” I tell him, but he doesn’t seem to listen.

“You’re fine,” he insists, leaning in to kiss my neck.

His wet breath fans against my sensitive skin and I flinch, growing more uncomfortable with every passing second of having him this close.

I push him away once more and clumsily get off his lap, trying not to shiver unpleasantly when I catch sight of the bulge in his pants.

Jesus, is that what he wants to do? It? I had my first kiss less than a week ago.

I’m good on firsts for a while.

“I said no,” I tell him, getting a roll of his eyes in return.

“Are you actually serious right now?” I don’t reply, frowning as I cross my arms over my chest.

What kind of question is that even? And in that tone of his as well.

“Fine then, be a tease like that.

I’m done with this.

Winning this stupid bet is not worth this much time.” Aiden’s voice seems so different from before, packed with annoyance and far from charming. Foreboding settles in my stomach, followed closely by embarrassment. I don’t like being talked to this way. I don’t like a lot of things about his statement.

“What bet? What are you talking about?” I try to keep my voice even but can’t quite hide a small quiver.

Despite my standing over him, his scathing look makes me feel incredibly small and stupid.

To make matters worse, Aiden straight up laughs in my face. I recoil at the sound of utter mockery.

“You can’t possibly be that na?ve! Did you really think I wanted you? This is awesome.

I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but the only reason I spent time with you was that the guys and I made a bet about whether I could get in your pants in a week.

But it turns out they were right. You really are the world’s biggest prude.

“Don’t you know what they say about me? Or did you think you were special? Just because you ace your tests and coaches can’t shut up about what a talent you are doesn’t mean anyone actually wants to get to know you on a personal level.

Especially since all you talk about are said tests and other Academy related topics.

Like come on. We’re stuck here all day every day, all taking the same classes and here I was wasting all my evenings listening to you drone on about them since you’ve got nothing else to offer. It’s sad how you’ve made school your entire personality.

“All the things from your life before the academy you could have tried to impress me with.

I mean, you grew up in Italy for Pete’s sake, but of course you avoid the one interesting aspect of you like the plague.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume you’ve got something to hide, but I know that can’t possibly be right since you are too. damn. boring. to have an interesting secret.” He keeps laughing while his words cut through me like a knife through soft butter. No one has ever talked to me like that. I bite down hard on my lip and do my best to keep my expression blank, channeling my inner badass.

“If you have nothing of importance to say, how about you leave me alone? I wouldn’t want to waste more of your precious time,” I snap, and luckily, my voice comes out with more bite than expected.

It’s not the best of comebacks by far.

I could have insulted him right back. Maybe I should have, but what good would it have done in the end. I really don’t want to drag this moment out.

As I glare at him, undoubtedly expressing the disdain I feel in this moment very clearly, I notice how his laughter dies and his smile slowly dims.

With no small amount of petty satisfaction, I recognize the small sliver of respect he has for me when I ball my fists, about ready to attack if he doesn’t leave the next second.

He scurries off soon enough, allowing me to drop my stony face.

I lean back against a bookshelf, slowly sliding to the ground.

I don’t cry, but my mind is reeling, trying to sense of what just occurred. I really was na?ve.

“Did you really think I wanted you?” These words have my gut twisting because why would he? No one’s wanted to get to know me since I got here.

At least not in that way, and it makes sense.

Not only must it be really annoying for everyone else if the teachers talk about me as much as Aiden just claimed, but he was right in saying that all I ever talk about is school and practice. I’ve never even noticed it, but I guess it just happened since it’s all I think about, too. I guess I really am boring.

Stars, this is embarrassing.

I hope he doesn’t tell everyone about this.

His friends I can handle because I couldn’t give less of a rat’s ass about their opinion, but if word reaches my social circles, I’ll wither and die.

I am glad the library is always empty since I really don’t want to be around anyone right now.

Not even Wystan.

I feel so stupid for getting my hopes up and telling my friends about it, too. Now, they’ll want to know what went wrong, and the last thing I want to do is explain that the first boy that has ever showed interest in me only did it because he and his idiot friends made a bet.

I vow to myself that no one will know about this.

I look at the clock ahead of me and see it’s a little after 11 pm.

Curfew is not for another two hours, so I grab a book, not wanting to go to my room and possibly have to interact with Baia.