The girls at school never really drooled over Jeremy, but Ava assumed it was because he kept himself hidden behind a book. Like her, he didn’t like a lot of attention. His sandy blond hair parted down the middle and fell on either side of his head, like an upside-down bowl. If Gillian wasn’t playing with her own hair, she was sure to be playing with his. His frame was smaller than Lance and Thomas, but he still had muscles.
“Oh, look who’s walking this way,” Thomas announced after finishing his last bite of his second burger.
They all turned their heads to see Kristen Miller, an average-height girl with bushy brown hair and a plain face. She walked up the sidewalk with a chubby boy who held her hand. Ava exchanged exasperated looks with Gillian and Jeremy. They knew Thomas and Melissa were going to tease Kristen. She hated it when they did this. She didn’t know why they needed to feel superior.
“Her hair looks like she teased the hell out of it. I should give her fashion advice,” Melissa said.
“Hey, Kristen.” Thomas flashed his famous sexy smile as Kristen walked by.
“Leave her alone,” Ava warned under her breath.
Kristen’s face immediately reddened. She and the guy stopped at their table. “Hi.”
Melissa lit a cigarette. “Is that your boyfriend?”
“Yes.” Her brown beady eyes lit in eagerness.
“Wow. That’s incredible. It’s like a match made in heaven.”
Kristen smiled. “Thank you. We just started going out this summer.”
Thomas sucked the last of his drink and then made that annoying slurping sound with his straw. Ava swiped the empty cup from him. “So, Brent is it?” he asked.
“Brett,” he responded, his blue eyes glaring.
“Yeah. We’re looking for another player for our team, y’know?”
“You are?”
“Yeah.”
Ava kicked Thomas under the table, but he ignored it. She wished they would stop.
“Isn’t it too late to join football?”
“No. Lance and I could totally get you in.”
“What position? I tried out for the center.”
“Oh yeah, we can talk to Coach about adding you.” Lance joined in the conversation.
Thomas snickered. “Well, it won’t be center. We need someone to wash our jock straps.”
“I thought they needed a base for the cheerleader’s pyramids.” Lance laughed.
“Kristen could do that!”
Thomas, Melissa, and Lance laughed hysterically.
Kristen’s face fell, and Ava knew she was about to cry while Brett just glared and urged her to start moving.
“Why do you have to be so mean?” Gillian said. “Like you three are so much better.”
Melissa blew smoke in the air. “Oh come on, that was funny.”
Ava shook her head. “No it wasn’t. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
“Whatever. I’m sure they won’t even give what we said a second thought,” Thomas said.
“They’ll be thinking of this constantly.”
“Lighten up, will you?” Melissa asked.
“Come on, let’s go throw the football,” Thomas suggested as he stood from the table and walked away with the guys.
Melissa turned to Gillian. “You know what you should do?”
“You’re going to make me apologize, aren’t you?”
“No. Just, you know, use your ability.”
Ava dropped her jaw. “She shouldn’t do that.”
“I agree, Melissa. It doesn’t sound like a good idea.”
“Why not? Why do you always have to follow the rules? Come on, it’ll be fun.”
Gillian pursed her lips together, contemplating.
“Don’t do it, Gillian. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“Will I get in trouble?” she asked, ignoring Ava.
Melissa flicked ashes in the ashtray. “From who? It won’t hurt anything. Besides, you should see if it works on anyone besides your mom and me.”
Gillian thought about it for a moment. “Okay.” She stood and jogged to catch up to Brett and Kristen.
“Why do you always do that?” Ava asked.
“Do what?”
“You know what. You always make her do things, and she always listens to you. Why can’t you just let her be?”
“It’s not bad. She should live a little.” She took a puff of the cigarette and exhaled.
“I don’t think manipulating someone into doing what you want is living.”
“For Gillian it is. She never does anything. It’s like she’s begging to come out of her shell.”
“It could turn ugly.”
“Stop being so paranoid.”
Ava stared at her defiantly, and clenched her teeth. A lazy breeze blew, slightly cooling her, and she relaxed. She fiddled with the plastic lid on her empty water bottle and wondered what Peter was doing. Then chastised herself because she shouldn’t be thinking about him so much when she had a boyfriend.
A few minutes later, Gillian rejoined them. She had a suspicious smile. “Well, they’re no longer mad at us.”
“What happened?” Ava asked.
“It was amazing. I was able to control both their minds at the same time. At first, they didn’t want to talk to me, but then I told them they needed to hear what I had to say, and they stopped and turned around.” Gillian sped through her words. “I just sent messages to their minds or something. I guess that’s how it works.”
Ava clumsily lost her grip on the bottle and it rolled across the table. She was shocked. Of course, she’d heard of Enchanters being able to do this, but it was uncanny to think her best friend could control a mind. “What were the messages?”
“Just that nothing happened between us and them. Afterward, they smiled at me as if it was the first time they saw me tonight. It was so weird.”
“That’s my girl.” Melissa wrapped her arm around Gillian and pulled her into a hug.
Gillian smiled like a kid who had just earned an A on a test.
Ava eyed her speculatively. But she knew she didn’t have to worry. Gillian was smart and conscientious. However, she wondered if Melissa would try to convince her to use her ability more than needed.
“Let’s go swimming,” Melissa suggested.
Though Ava was glad to finally leave and try her ability again, she didn’t like the knowing look Melissa suddenly shot her.
As Thomas drove to the outer part of the city, the stars above blazed into view. Ava usually liked to poke her head out a little to feel the warm breeze through her hair. But tonight, she only stared out the window, twirling her ring around her finger.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” Thomas said.
It was hard to tell if he meant it since he was handing apologies out quite often. But she didn’t want to argue anymore. “It’s fine.”
“I’ll understand if you want to wait. It’s not right for me to force you.”
He sounded so sincere it took Ava a second to respond. “Thanks.” Little pieces of the Thomas she knew before that stupid night emerged, but it was becoming rare. And she still felt guilty for thinking about Peter so much.
Thomas pulled into the driveway of Melissa’s brown split-level ranch house. Little round lights lined the sidewalk to the front door. Ava climbed out of the Jeep, and they went inside the house without knocking. Her parents had always treated all of them as if they were their own children.
Cailin Rollins greeted them with hugs and a warm smile. “Hey, Ava. If I had known y’all were comin’, I would have baked you somethin’,” she said through her thick Southern accent. Ava had to bend slightly to hug Melissa’s petite mom. Her honey blond hair was cropped and Ava noticed crow’s feet near her smiling brown eyes.
A lavender scent wafted by as Ava pulled away. “You don’t always have to bake us something.”
“Though anytime you wanna make some of those chocolate chip cookies, I won’t mind,” Thomas said.
Mrs. Rollins smiled and playfully patted his shoulder.
“We’re going swimming.” Melissa corralled everyone through the sliding glass doors to the pool.
“Okay, y’all be careful. Your Daddy and I are going to bed.”
“Goodnight. Love you!” Melissa called then closed the door.
Thomas shed his shirt, revealing his smooth chest, and slipped off his flip-flops. He ran from a corner and cannonballed into the water, splashing Ava and Melissa. Lance followed. Jeremy and Gillian sat at the patio table. Ava and Melissa held hands and jumped in together.
When they surfaced, Melissa swam to Lance, and Thomas swam to Ava. Being in the water rinsed away Ava’s worries.
“Hey, I have a great idea.” Melissa looked at Ava. “Remember when we were kids and we’d hold our breaths under water to see how long we could hold them? I think we should have another competition.”
Thomas rubbed his face. “Who holds the record?”
Lance held his head high and puffed out his chest. “That would be me.”
“How many minutes?” Jeremy asked.
Lance exhaled. “Like two.”
Melissa sat on the bottom step in the pool. “Okay, well I’ll time everyone.” She held up her hand. “Ready? Go!”
Ava grinned before she went under. After a couple of minutes, she watched the three guys struggle to keep going. Thomas went up first, then Lance, but Ava stayed under. The chatter above was stifled. She was relaxed beneath the water. It was comforting to her. Minutes ticked by.
“How long has she been under?” She heard Lance’s muffled voice ask.
“Is she okay?” Jeremy asked.
Thomas grabbed her arms and pulled her up. She laughed along with Melissa and Gillian.
“What is so funny?” he demanded. “How could you hold your breath under there for so long? Did you cheat?”
Ava flashed a proud grin. “I can breathe underwater.”
Jeremy moved to the edge of the pool. “What?” he gasped.
“You can what?” Thomas’s jaw dropped.
“It’s true,” Melissa said. “And I can make myself invisible. So can Lance. Gillian can manipulate minds. Jeremy can create strong winds.”
Thomas nodded. “You got a lighter and a candle?”
“Here.” Gillian grabbed the citronella candle and the lighter from the table and handed it to him.
They all watched Thomas light the candle and then place his hand over the fire. His hand abruptly burst into flames.
Ava yelped and doused his hand with water from the pool.
He sighed. “Dammit, I’m trying to show you something.” Again, his hand lit in a blaze.
Its warmth heated Ava’s face. The orange glow fused into dark blue. She gasped as the flame moved to the palm of his hand in the form of a ball. He closed his hand and extinguished it.
“Yeah? Watch this.” Jeremy challenged.
They waited and watched the trees around them rustle. The wind picked up strong, until it knocked a large branch to fall from a tree nearby. Then, the wind stopped.
Gillian squealed.
“Jeremy! Not so close to the house, okay?” Melissa said.
He chuckled. “Sorry.”
It was all so amazing to Ava. But then her stomach tightened, and suddenly her hamburger and fries weren’t sitting well. Thomas could manipulate Fire. Jeremy could control Air. Could she be a Water Enchanter? If that were the case, that would mean three of them were Elemental Enchanters. Exceedingly rare. And incredibly powerful.
“What’s wrong, Babe?” Thomas moved in front of her as she leaned against the pool wall.
“You realize three of us might be Elemental?”
“So?”
“That’s very rare.”
He shrugged. “But oh so cool. Just think of what we can do now. Nothing can stop us. I’m gonna have so much fun with some of those people at school.”
What were he and Melissa going to do exactly? Would they go so far as to hurt someone like Kristen? Would Thomas use his power against Peter if he found out how much Ava liked him? Her heart jumped.
“No.” She pushed him away. “This is serious. These powers are not meant to use whenever you want. We’re not supposed to use them on humans.” She spoke to everyone.
Thomas cocked an eyebrow. “Whatever.”
“Will you calm down?” Melissa said, and then narrowed her eyes. “Why are you really concerned about this?”
Ava knew that Melissa knew what she was thinking. “Because we’re not supposed to. We could get in trouble.”
“You sound like Gillian. Just trust us. We aren’t going to do anything crazy.” A wicked smile spread across her thin lips.
CHAPTER THREE
THE NEW KID
The first day of junior year started under a hazy sunny day. Ava would much rather be swimming than be stuck inside a drab building all day. However, she was actually a little excited as she pulled into the parking space near the four-story brick school building. She wondered if she would have any classes with Peter and hoped she’d at least get to see him.
She got out of her car. The morning took no time to become hot and sticky. The thick air made it difficult to breathe, but there was a cool breeze.
Thomas stood by the gray double doors, waiting for her.
“Morning, Babe.” He licked his lips then gave her a quick peck on the lips. He placed his meaty arm around her shoulders and walked inside. Disheartened students walked to their lockers along the concrete walls under the boring fluorescent lights. No one wanted to be there, except maybe for the few who enjoyed school. Thomas walked Ava to her locker, kissed her, and then walked away.
Algebra two with Mrs. Duke started Ava’s morning and luckily, Melissa was there to share the misery. Ava despised any type of math. The only ones in the group who were good at it were Jeremy and Lance.
Ava walked to the back of the classroom once she saw Melissa with her head down on the desk. She plopped her books onto the desk next to her, and jolted Melissa awake.
Ava chuckled and slid into the chair.
“Why do you have to do that?” She groaned.
Her appearance bemused Ava. She’d pulled her blond hair into a messy ponytail, and little hairs stood in several directions. Redness surrounded her green eyes, and she wasn’t wearing makeup, not that Ava ever felt she needed to, but Melissa always wore it.
“What the hell happened to you?”
“Lance and I stayed up way too late,” she murmured.
“Are you still drunk?”
Melissa smiled. “Probably. I can’t tell.”
“I can’t believe your parents let you get so drunk, let alone drink.”
“Technically, they aren’t my parents, but I love them all the same.”
Ava rolled her eyes. “You look like death warmed over.”
“I feel it, too.”
“Why are you even here?”
“What and miss this? Are you kidding?” she said. “You should’ve been there last night. We got G drunk.” She snickered.
Ava knew it would happen sooner than later. It bothered her that Melissa could persuade Gillian into doing anything. She never understood why Gillian would do anything to please Melissa, like they’d stop being friends if she didn’t.
“Ugh. I know what’s going through your mind right now. And no, I did not force her to do it.”
Ava met her eyes.
“Don’t give me that look. I don’t want to hear it either.”
Ava shrugged and turned to the front where Mrs. Duke wrote on the dry erase board.
After a long and boring lecture, Ava sleepily found her way to chemistry—another boring subject of hers—until Peter strolled inside the classroom. Her heart leapt.
“Hey.” Peter’s vigorous smile was contagious, and it always reached his chestnut-colored eyes. His smile smoldered and revealed a genuine sexiness. It was intoxicating to her. His shaggy dark brown hair came above his collar, and his bangs almo
st reached his thick eyebrows.
“Hey, I’m so glad you’re in this class.” Ava stood and hugged him. She loved the way his arms perfectly fit around her and held her so tight, if only for a second. His lanky, muscular figure stood a couple of inches taller than her. He smelled wonderful. Fresh and clean, like water. Ava realized she missed him more than she thought which wasn’t a good thing.
“Yeah, me too.”
She returned to her seat and he took the desk next to hers in the back of the classroom.
He smiled widely. “I brought you something back.”
“You did? What for?”
Peter shrugged. “I just felt like it. Plus, when I saw it, I immediately thought of you.” He plopped his backpack on the top of the desk, unzipped it, and pulled out a small leather-bound book. He held it out to her, still smiling.
She looked at the cover. Edgar Allan Poe’s poems. “Peter? Wow, thanks.” His unprovoked generosity overwhelmed her as she flipped through the book. Her mom had always read Poe’s stories to her as a child, and he was her favorite author.
“Yeah I thought that since you had a copy of his stories, you needed one of his poems.”
“Thanks,” she said. “So, how was Boston?”
“Ah, it was great. Got to see a baseball game and hung out. My dad had a good time. I have to confess though. I missed you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Oh,” she looked away. Inside she was smiling, but she couldn’t put too much thought into it.
“How was the rest of your summer? Anything exciting happen?”
If only you knew. “Uh, no, nothing. Thanks for your postcard. I liked it.”
“Cool.”
The bell rang, sending students to their seats.
Short, pudgy Mr. Horn didn’t even greet the students as he walked through the room handing out the curriculum. The smell of Icy Hot drifted by Ava as Mr. Horn placed a packet on her desk. His wild white hair trembled in the strong currents of the air conditioner. When he returned to the front of the room, he droned on and on in a monotone voice explaining what the class would endure during the semester. His thick glasses magnified his hazel eyes and made him look over ninety.
Under A Blood Moon (Elemental Enchanters) Page 3
