Try and Stop Me

Sparrow Shadow

Full Summery: Drama, Drama, Drama. Jess and Cornelia start fighting after a accident at the pool. Soon after, the earth guardian and the lightning guardian are assigned to sing together in the talent show. The problem is, they can't agree on anything. Jess won't even speak to Cornelia (Of course she doesn't speak to anyone much). Luba decides to force the girls to work together by switching their powers. Now Cornelia is shorting out the lights when she gets mad and Jess keeps getting attacked by vines that she can't control. Both girls need to take a trip into each others mind to find how they control their own powers, and, in the process, discover something about themselves.

Also, I need to explain about Luba. She was never in the TV show, but she was in the books. She lived in Candracar and was the keeper of the Aurameres, the balls of light representing the girl's powers. She was a real bitch who kept trying to interfere with the girl's powers in order to convince the Oracle that the girls were not capable of handling such great power. She almost caused the powers to shatter completely, not to mention the she also caused all the girls to loose their powers except Cornelia, who ended up with all the powers. Needless to say, that caused problems.

I forgot to mention that Jess always wears a black wristband with a teardrop design on her wrist. This becomes important later.

Chapter One: Issues

"Oh come on, Jess," Hey Lin chirped as the lightning guardian pulled her book out of her back pack.

"No thanks, Hay Lin."

"Well why not?"

"Because I don't want to." Irma pouted.

"Why don't you come in and swim with us?"

"No!" Will dove into the pool at the Sheffield Institute Athletic Center, where the girls had chosen to spend the afternoon. Even though fall was quickly approaching, the indoor pool was still opened. Cornelia slid into the water and Jess raised an eyebrow. "I thought you couldn't swim,"

"Will's been teaching me." Jess nodded.

"Why don't you come in with us?" Will pushed.

"I don't want to. I have a book I am trying to finish." The lights suddenly flickered, a sign the Jess was best left alone. It was good advice not to harass her when she was angry. Cornelia didn't care.

"I bet you're scared," she pressed on.

"I am not scared. I just don't want to swim."

"You're such a wimp, Jess," she instigated further, pulling herself out of the pool. Jess stood to face her.

"I am not!" The radio behind them shorted out, as electrical appliances often did around Jess. Cornelia stood in front of her, right in her face.

"Prove it!" she hissed, giving Jess a small push. She screamed and landed in the pool. Will giggled as did the other girls until Will realized that something wasn't right. Jess was kicking and fighting to get to the surface, but not in a way that would get her out of there before she drowned. Suddenly, a thought clicked in the back of Will's mind: What if she couldn't swim?

Will dove underwater and hooked an arm around Jess's waist, pulling her to the surface. Hay Lin and Cornelia pulled her out of the pool and Will came up behind her. "I'm so sorry, Jess. I was just playing." Cornelia said as Will and the others attempted to revive her. Jess opened her eyes, choking and coughing and glaring at Cornelia.

"Hello, I can't swim!" she sputtered as Irma tried to extract some of the water from her lungs, causing her to gag. "Thanks Irma, but I'll just stick to coughing." Cornelia hovered helplessly in the background.

"Why didn't you tell me you couldn't swim?" The blonde asked.

"Because I didn't think you would try to drown me," Jess snapped and the lights flickered again and temporarily went out. Will put a comforting hand on Jess's, cooling the lightning guardian's shocking temper. Cornelia tried to help her up, but Jess didn't want help. She wrung out her curly brown hair and her black t-shirt and wrung her hands down her jeans to press the water out of them. Will led her to the locker room were Jess changed into her gym cloths.

"Are you ok?" she asked as the lightning pulled her wet hair back with a white bandanna. She sat on the bench shivering and Will sat beside her.

"Yeah Will, I'm fine." They lapsed a few minutes in silence.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. A lot of people are afraid of water," she said comfortingly. Taranee nodded as she, Irma, Hay lin, and Cornelia came in to check on them.

"I used to be afraid of fire," she said, sitting on the other side of her. Irma and Hay Lin squatted down on either side of her, their hands on her knees and Cornelia sat down beside Taranee.

"I'm sorry Jess," she said softly.

"I know."

"What happened to make you so scared of water anyway?" Jess shrugged.

"To make a long story short, it involved a negligent foster family, a back yard swimming pool, and a broken diving board."

"You fell off?"

"No, Cornelia, I was using the diving board as a boat." Jess's hostility towards Cornelia hadn't ebbed yet. Jess stood suddenly, and bid them all farewell. She trekked out the door and Will followed hesitantly. She caught up with her further down the street.

"Don't you want to stay with the girls?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were ok. You really freaked out."

"I am terrified of water," she said softly. "I don't even take baths. I take showers. Quick ones." She sighed as the cold air hit her wet body, the gym shorts making her feel like she might as well be naked.

"We should get you home before you get sick," Will said gently. She knew Jess already had a bad cold. She knew that Jess wouldn't take it easy while she was sick, not with all evil breathing down their guardian necks and midterms causing an even deeper fear. Will hesitated a minute before she broke the silence. "Cornelia was just teasing. She didn't know that you would freak out like that."

"I know, Will. I'm not mad at her. Well, not any more then usual." Will knew that Jess was lying, that girl was really a practiced liar, but she didn't say anything.