by Cece Rose
“Okay, can we go back to our room? Or do we have to go back to class?” she asks, her voice a little wobbly.
“Room, definitely.” Standing up, I reach across and offer a hand to help her up, which she takes. Once on our feet, we make our way out of the makeshift, first aid room. I sign Kelly out on the clipboard by the door, so they don’t worry where we’ve gone. We weave through the quiet halls; the majority of students are currently still in lessons.
As we step out into the courtyard, I hear someone shouting. I look around, but I can’t spot the source of the noise.
“Up here, Kenzie!” the voice yells. Up?
I turn my head up and catch sight of Easton hanging out of a window. A third-floor window. And, he’s about to fucking jump.
“EAST!” I scream as he jumps. At first, he falls quickly, then suddenly his descent slows, so he’s floating down softly. Air. East has an air mark. Breathe, Kenzie, breathe.
He lands on the floor gracefully, and smirks, the amusement reaching his eyes. “Worried, were you?” he teases, as he walks over to us.
“You may have given me a slight heart attack,” I admit begrudgingly.
“You totally freaked, were you worried about his pretty face being ruined?” Kelly points out, laughing at the mortified expression on my face. Drop me in it, why don’t you Kells.
“No!” I snap.
“You don’t think I have a pretty face?” East asks, stepping closer to me. “I’m hurt, offended, and not at all amused, Mackenzie,” he says softly, danger lacing his teasing tone.
“I-I never said that,” I stammer out. Great. Now, that was so smooth.
“So, you do think I’m good looking?” he asks, smiling even wider. Smug ass.
“No, I just meant that your face is probably considered pretty, hell maybe even a touch feminine, actually. You’re not really my type,” I say, keeping my face as blank as possible.
“What? You can’t be serious? Feminine?” he sputters, running a hand through his stupidly perfect hair.
“What? Shocked the whole world doesn’t want to bang you?” I ask, smiling.
“Well, not the whole world, but I’m pretty sure the female population of the school does. And, ‘feminine’ is not the word to describe me, definitely not,” he says confidently.
“Well, not me,” I answer. “Why don’t you go find one of those other members of the female population to fall at your feet, East. You may do better with them,” I retort.
“Well, I could do that. But, I prefer a challenge.” He winks at me and steps back. “I’ll catch you later then, Kenzie!” he says, turning to leave.
“Wait, what did you want?”
“Oh, shit, I meant to ask about what happened in your fire lesson,” he says, turning back to us. “It’s already been going around the whole school. Someone said you tried to fling a fireball at the teacher, is that true?”
“Of course, it’s not true,” Kelly interrupts with a laugh.
“Yeah, why would I throw a fireball at bitchface?” I ask, not really expecting an answer. “Then again, maybe I should have,” I add, muttering under my breath.
“Then why is half of her hair missing?” Easton asks.
“Um, I kind of lost control and made fire tornadoes, oops?”
“’Oops’?” he mimics. “‘Fire tornadoes’? Why am I not surprised?” Easton chuckles. “Pro-tip, don’t mix fire and air unless you want to cause disaster,” he says teasingly.
“Yeah, so I’ve since been told,” I mumble. Why did everyone else think of that but me?
“Anyway, I need to get moving, just wanted to make sure you were okay, and that you weren’t attacking teachers with fireballs.”
“Well, I’m fine. Catch you later, East,” I call after him as he walks off.
The second he’s out of earshot, Kelly turns to me. “That man is sex on legs, and you know it,” she says.
“Oh, I so do. You know who else is sex on legs,” I say, wriggling my eyebrows.
“Oh Gods, Kenzie, you cannot go after Mr. Sexy, no matter how sexy he is,” she replies, and starts moving towards our dorm building.
“Why not,” I whine.
“Because Mr. Sexy is a teacher, and although not illegal for our kind because we don’t even start school till we’re seventeen, you know it’s frowned upon. Your dads would freak for one, and he would be fired,” she answers.
“I know, I know. But, he’s so hot. Like, ‘fuck me on your desk’ hot,” I reply.
“That hot, huh?” she asks, pulling a face.
“Yup. I’m not seriously going after the guy or anything, but I will say this, if you want to be with someone, you should be with them,” I say, my tone losing its playfulness.
“You really think so?” she asks, looking thoughtful.
“Definitely,” I answer without hesitation. “You can’t help who you fall for.”
“I think so, too,” Kelly replies, linking her arm in mine.
“Come on, I have snacks under the bed, and I know you missed lunch.”
“You’re a Goddess,” I reply, linking my arm back in hers as we make our way to our dorm room.
Chapter 9
Kenzie
“Now class, because spirit is such a rare gift among our kind, we only have one class for all three year groups,” the teacher explains as she comes to stand in front of her desk, her long skirt swishing around her ankles.
I shift in my seat and eye the five others in the small class room. No kidding, teach. We’re all sitting in a small semi-circle, and sitting right next to me is none other than the asshole one minute, and kissing me in the vision of the future the next, Enzo. Great.
“Now we only have one new student blessed with Spirit this year, Mackenzie, welcome,” she says warmly. I look up into her warm, welcoming face and relax a little. Maybe this class won’t be so bad.
“Thank you, Miss . . .,” I trail off, not knowing her name.
“Miss Dommett,” she supplies for me. “But, call me Stacey, I hate formalities.”
“Thank you, Miss Do—Stacey,” I correct myself as I reply.
“Fabulous, let’s make sure to make Mackenzie feel nice and welcome, guys,” she says to the class. I notice for the first time that I’m the only girl in the class, which makes sense considering the male to female ratio of our kind. “For her benefit, let’s go around and introduce ourselves.”
“I’m Jack,” the guy on the far right says, throwing a hand up in a mini-wave gesture.
“I’m Steve,” the next in the line says.
“Ryan,” the next says.
“Same name as my brother,” I reply with a smile.
“Ryan Crowe?” he asks with a smile.
“That’s the one,” I reply.
“You really don’t look like Ryan’s sister, other than the black hair, maybe,” he says.
“Everyone says that,” I reply, returning his smile. Stacey turns to Enzo next and waits for a moment silently before a frown takes over her face.
“Lorenzo, aren’t you going to introduce yourself?” Stacey asks, her tone losing its cheeriness.
“No, fire-starter, here, and I met yesterday,” he says, throwing me a disgruntled look.
“And, here I was thinking we wouldn’t have any classes together,” I reply sarcastically. One could have hoped, anyway. I add silently.
“No such luck,” he mutters under his breath, but I catch it.
“What is your problem?” I ask through gritted teeth, as Stacey turns back towards Jack to answer a question.
“You are my problem,” he answers. “Thinking you’re all that with your twelve marks.”
I laugh. Not even attempting to keep the giggles in. Like seriously, the guy is jealous about my twelve marks? I don’t even want them!
“What is funny, Mackenzie?” Stacey asks. That snaps me from my laughter. Oops.
“Nothing Mi—Stacey,” I answer.
“It sure sounds like something was,” she says, narro
wing her eyes and glancing between me and Enzo.
“Just something Enzo said,” I answer. That’s kind of the truth, anyway.
“Yes, my little brother does have quite the sense of humour,” she says, rolling her eyes.
Her little brother? You have got to be kidding me.
“Little brother, huh?” I direct my question to Enzo, whispering.
“She’s the only spirit teacher in the school, there was no choice but to put me in her class when I was marked by spirit,” he answers, shrugging.
“Now. I want everyone to tell me one thing they know about the spirit mark,” Stacey asks and looks at Enzo with an arched eyebrow.
“The spirit mark makes it possible for us to see spirits that stay around for a short period of time after their deaths,” Enzo answers in a bored tone.
“Mackenzie?” Stacey asks, and I try to think of anything my dads and mum told me. My mum has spirit, but she always said it’s useless. When she lost someone close to her, she couldn’t see their spirit and since then, she never tries to use the power.
“That spirit is extremely unreliable,” I answer, and she nods.
“Spirit is useful to find out clues for murders,” Steve adds next.
“Ow,” I say, when I feel something poke into my side. I turn to see Enzo smiling at me, holding a pencil in his hand which he is flicking between his fingers. I go to ignore him and listen to Stacey, when he does it again. I turn in time to see him use air to float his pencil back over to his hand.
“Stop poking me,” I say through gritted teeth and he just shrugs, looking forward.
“Is there a problem, Mackenzie?” Stacey asks.
“No, Crowe was just flirting with me and graciously, I very gently let her down,” Enzo answers, and I narrow my eyes at him as my cheeks start feeling warm.
“Well, if we could have your full attention, Mackenzie, that would be appreciated,” Stacey says. Although, she shoots her brother a look that says just how much she buys what he said. He shrugs at her, not the least bit bothered. I nod and lean back in my chair, listening to the conversation she is having with Ryan about how we can see the spirits of animals as well as people when I feel a poke in my side.
I don’t say anything this time, but I do glare at him. He only looks back at me, his eyes drifting over my body slowly and then looking back at Stacey.
I don’t think he is going to get a chance to save me in the future. No, there’s more of a chance I’m going to try and kill him.
“How was spirit? See any ghosts?” Kelly asks as I sit next to her on the table at lunch. My eyes meet Enzo’s, as he sits down next to a couple of guys at another table, and he smirks at me. Jerk.
“No, but I do have a guy in mind to kill and test if I can see his ghost,” I say, and she laughs.
“Who?”
“The hot jerk who saved me from the fire. He just spent three hours poking me with a pencil,” I say, nodding behind her. She turns to look at Enzo, and then she laughs loudly as she looks at me.
“Maybe he wants to poke you?” she says, and I glare at her as I pull my hair up into a high ponytail.
“He won’t be doing any friggin poking, no matter how hot he is. He is still a jerk,” I reply, and she laughs.
“Sure.” She smiles, the humour in her voice is thick. She doesn’t believe me.
A large hand slides down my arm as I look up to see Locke as he sits next to me. Locke looks amazing today, dressed in a tight, white shirt and brown shorts. My eyes drift to all the muscles under his shirt that I can see outlined.
“Hey, Kenz, how is my firestarter?” he asks, and I narrow my eyes at him as I pick up my sandwich.
“It was an accident,” I reply, choosing to ignore his question, and he laughs. I freeze as he puts one of his big arms around my shoulders and whispers in my ear. His lips are so close, that they brush the top of my ear, and I can feel his warm breath on my neck.
“Guess what?” he says, and I struggle to swallow the bite of sandwich I have. Man, this guy smells nice up close, and the brief brush of his lips against my ear has given me goosebumps.
“What?” I ask, as my eyes look around the room and catch Enzo’s. Enzo watches me and Locke, his eyes seeming darker than ever, and he gets up, storming out of the room in anger. What is his problem?
“We have water class together next. I personally can’t wait to see you in a bikini,” he says and brushes his lips against my ear one more time before moving away. He starts eating like he said nothing, and Kelly gives me a cheeky look. I did manage to find my phone last night in one of my suitcases I hadn’t unpacked yet. The academy app is really cool and has my timetable, and a lot of other useful stuff on it. The water class had a note saying to wear a swimsuit, and then I was lost for an hour when I found the games.
“I have to go, but I’m sure Locke will take you to your next class,” Kelly says as she stands up.
“Of course I will,” Locke replies, and she winks at me before walking away. We eat the rest of our food in silence, with me being aware of how close Locke is to me the whole time.
“Come on, or we will be late,” he says standing up and holding a hand out for me. I slide my hand into his. He doesn’t let go as we walk out, instead he links our fingers together.
“The swimming pool is in the basement,” Locke says as he walks to the doors of some elevators I didn’t see before. They are under the stairs, hidden out of sight. Locke presses the button just as I hear the first bell ring. We get into the elevator, which only has one large green button. After pressing it, I feel my stomach jerk as it quickly descends. We reach the ground, and the elevator chimes.
Stepping out, we walk into a massive room. There’s a huge, circular swimming pool in the centre of the room filled with sparkling, clear-blue water. The room has high ceilings and no windows, just bright lights on the walls. It’s not dark at all in here with the pool floor lights too. On one side, is a row of twenty singular, changing rooms and waiting for us is a woman with long, grey hair. She smiles and walks over. The woman is wearing a black swimming costume, and despite her age she looks good in it. I hope I look that good in a swimming costume at her age.
“Please get changed and then meet us out here,” she says. I nod, letting go of Locke’s warm hand when we get to the empty changing rooms. I strip down inside, leaving on my red bikini and go to check my phone. It’s flat. I know I should have left it on charge longer last night. Damn academy game apps I stayed up playing.
“Wow,” I hear when I walk out of the changing rooms, and Locke is standing a foot away from me. I should be the one saying ‘wow’. Locke has on tight, blue shorts that show off way too much, and I can’t look away. His chest is firm, with a clear eight-pack, and I can see quite a few marks all over him. When I finally look up to his bright eyes, he is staring at me, and he takes a little step forward.
“Class, come over,” the teacher shouts, breaking apart whatever moment is happening between us. I walk over with Locke to the other eight people in the room with us. This is a small class.
“I’m Miss Betson, and welcome to intermediate water class,” she says. I wonder if I’m in the wrong class—shouldn’t I be in the beginner’s class?
“So, I would like us all to pair up and get into the pool. We will start with a very simple test. I want you to swim to the bottom of the pool and sit down. The longer you can stay underwater will tell me all I need to know. Pairs go down together and remember to call your water mark,” she says, and I nod.
“You’re with me, Kenz,” Locke says, his hand once again sliding into mine. I don’t know why I don’t pull away. It’s likely something to do with those abs I can’t stop looking at. We walk down the steps into the warm water and swim out to the deeper side.
“Ladies first,” Locke says with a smirk, and I laugh. I call my water mark by imagining the shell-shaped mark, before lowering myself into the water. I swim down and open my eyes. It stings at first, but I force myself to ignore it
. I cross my legs and sink the final part to the bottom of the pool. I resist the urge to smile when Locke sits in front of me, he smiles though and bubbles leave his mouth. It’s not long before I know I have to swim up for air, and Locke follows me. I take a deep breath and wipe the water from my eyes.
“Brilliant timing. You were under five minutes, and for your first time that is impressive. Now, everyone please sit on the edge of the pool. Mr. Valentine and Miss Crowe, please come here,” she asks, and I swim over.
“Mr. Valentine, I want you to make a water fountain, and, Miss Crowe, I want you to copy,” she directs, and I watch as she swims away.
“Come closer, Kenz,” Locke says, and I swim right in front of him. He pulls me tightly against his chest and every part of me seems to stick to him as I place my hands on his shoulders. I watch as he spreads both his hands out, the water instantly rises around us and shoots up into the air and falls around us like a fountain. I don’t watch the water, only Locke as he smiles down at me and then winks as he moves his head closer to mine. I let go of his shoulders and float back a little. The water falls to the pool as he moves his hands away. Jesus, I was so friggin close to kissing one of the sexy twins.
“Well done, it is now your turn, Miss Crowe,” the teacher shouts. I copy what Locke did, by holding my hands out.
“Just imagine the water going up,” he suggests, and I nod. I call my water mark in my mind, thinking of the water going up. Nothing happens. I feel like my power is doing something and my hands are glowing blue when I look at them, but there is no water going up above us.
“Stop!” I hear the teacher shout, and I give Locke a quizzical look, but he is looking down. I follow his eyes to see the empty pool below us, and I realise what I’ve done.
I’ve lifted all the water in the pool into the air. And us, floating with it.
“Hold on to me and let go of the water, okay?” Locke says as he moves closer and wraps his arm around me. I hook my legs around his waist, and he nods at me after a second. I drop my hands, and the water falls with us as I wrap my arms around Locke’s neck and hold in a scream as we fall. The sound of the water slapping against the pool fills my ears as I keep my eyes closed shut.
