Chapter 23
Xavier threw himself on Selena, covering her with his body. But instead of hitting them, the portion of the catwalk stayed suspended in the air a few inches above them.
“Move away!” yelled Ms. Bermudez.
Selena and Xavier scurried away just before the metal finished falling. Suddenly, it brought down the whole catwalk section, landing on top of Sebastian.
“Sebastian!” Ms. Bermudez screamed as she, Selena and Xavier rushed to him.
Sebastian lay crumpled to the ground. Most of the catwalk had missed him, but the part that had hit him had knocked him out. A wound on the right side of his head bled steadily as he groaned in pain.
“It hit me,” he announced in delirium. “Why did it hit me?”
“It was an accident, Sebastian,” stated Ms. Bermudez, trying to be soothing. “Calm down.”
Moments later, Selena and Xavier watched as Sebastian was attended to by paramedics and placed on a stretcher. Before being taken to the ambulance outside, he called out for Xavier.
“Yes?” asked Xavier with burning curiosity after having walked over to him.
“We should be on the same team,” he mumbled, his hand on his head.
“What?”
“We’re the same.”
Xavier stared at him with an astonished expression.
“Don’t mind him,” said a paramedic. “He’s delirious. He probably doesn’t know what he’s saying.
Shaky and with a desert dry mouth, Selena’s voice had disappeared, so she let Xavier explain to the principal what had happened. His voice, not as completely self assured as it usually was, told Mr. Sanchez how they were at the theatre to meet with a friend when the catwalk fell.
“I don’t understand how it could’ve broken off,” Mr. Sanchez declared, upset. “How? This school was built only a few years ago.”
“Accidents happen,” Xavier mumbled.
“And you two shouldn’t have been in there at that time,” he stated sternly. “Nor Sebastian.”
Selena nodded. “We’re sorry,” Selena managed to get out.
“I’m not going to reprimand you because I think that with the catwalk almost falling on top of you, you received punishment enough, but don't let me catch you where you're not supposed to be again.”
Even though the principal had allowed them to go home early, Selena and Xavier decided to stay. Both were without question completely off kilter and barely able to verbally communicate with one another. Xavier’s fluid eyes went deep within themselves and Selena didn’t try to pull him out of where he was. He fiercely held her hand as she just as intensely squeezed his.
Refusing to leave school, they looked around them to see if they could catch any clue as to what had just happened. Xavier needed to feel out the people around them, and Selena wanted to speak to Cora Rivera. She finally got her chance between class periods. Cora vehemently denied ever writing the email.
“That’s not even my email address,” Cora declared, upset. “I know that it looks like it could be mine with my name in it, but it’s not.”
“It’s not?” Selena muttered, more to herself than to Cora.
“Who played this trick on you and why are they using me to do it?” Cora questioned furiously.
“I don’t know.”
“This stinks!” Cora blurted out, full of overwhelming emotion. “You almost got killed in that freak accident because someone played a joke on you, and you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Selena put her hand on Cora’s shoulder. “Don’t get so upset, Cora.”
“The Its are the ones doing this. I just know it.”
“Maybe.”
Tears abruptly rushed out of Cora’s eyes. “What’s happening to our school, Selena. Things have changed so much. The Its are taking over.”
“I know,” Selena mumbled quietly.
“My boyfriend broke up with me. Did you know that?”
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
“I wouldn’t join the Its, so he chose them over me.”
“I’m so sorry, Cora.”
“What’s happening to our school?”
When Selena had told Xavier about the conversation with Cora while enjoying lemonade on her porch after school, he let out an exasperated breath. His dark eyes, deeper than usual, raked over Selena with concern and frustration. She could hear his jagged, uneven breathing next to her. Even though they were much less shaken than earlier, and most of their composure was back, the sharp edges of uncertainty and macabre eeriness still jabbed at them.
“The greedy gifted are out to get us, Selena,” he said gently.
“I know,” she answered as quietly as him.
“That email came from them.”
“I know.”
“That falling catwalk wasn’t an accident.”
“I know,” she repeated, more quietly than before.
“My first instinct failed me when the catwalk started to break off,” he said with emotion in his voice.
“What do you mean?”
His dark eyes went into a faraway space. “I should’ve used my abilities to stop that thing from falling, but I froze just like in my mother’s accident.”
“Xavier,” Selena said gently, touching every letter of his name with an embrace, “you threw yourself on top of me to protect me. You didn’t exactly freeze.”
“But I could’ve stopped it!”
“Stop punishing yourself. The important thing is that the catwalk didn’t hit us.”
“I would’ve never forgiven myself if it had hurt you.”
“Well, it didn’t.”
“In trying to get us, it fell on Sebastian instead. Thankfully, it didn't seriously hurt him.”
“Do you think he's a greedy gifted?”
“There’s something very twisted and confusing about this whole situation. It’s hard to make heads or tails out of it.”
“For sure, he has something to do with them, and he’s trying t recruit us,” Xavier retorted. “As if I would ever join that team.”
Selena’s face hardened in a knot. “That It Club is becoming more and more powerful.”
“Yes, and I’ve got to do something about it.”
“Do something about it?” she asked.
“I can’t be on the sidelines anymore. I’ve got to learn to use my abilities better.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“Xavier—“
“Selena, I’m not letting something like this happen again. I’m going to work on myself and work on my abilities.”
“For you to work on your abilities means that you have to accept them, right?” she asked gently.
His dark eyes raked over her with warmth and fierce determination. “If that's what it takes to protect us from getting hurt at the hands of the greedy gifted then yes, I accept who I am."
The Key of Hearts Page 23
