Shannon: Don't forget to review if you like the story or not.
Puck: Like it? I already love it and you haven't mentioned me yet. By the way, when are you going to add me in? My fans are begging you to add me!
Shannon: *gives a short laugh* Don't worry Puck, it won't be long now. Maybe in chapter 5 or 6.
Puck: Chapter 5 or 6? But that's ages off!
Shannon: Don't complain to me! I could just as easily not add you at all.
Meghan: Come on now, Shannon. Don't be so hard on Puck - he can't help being him!
Puck: Hey! *throws a stick at Meghan and sticks his tongue out*
Shannon: Children... *shakes head even thought she's a child herself*
I ran into Green Lake High and went straight for my locker. Everyone was staring at me but I couldn't think about that now. I slowed down to a jog, then to a walk as I came closer to it. My best friend, Allison, was waiting there for me. She knows that I can see the fey and she doesn't mind because I can tell her if any of them are trying to do stuff to her whilst they're invisible and she pulls out all of her iron jewellery. She thought I was joking at first and I had no way to prove it because she didn't have the Sight. I doubted that they would reveal themselves for my sake so I showed her my healing magic and she pretty much believed every word I said.
"You shouldn't run before PE you know. Coach is making us do laps this morning so you'll need the energy." She said as I started twisting the lock on my locker.
"Good morning to you too Allie." I said. I unlocked it and swung the door open and it nearly hit Allie in the face. "Whoops, sorry."
She moved around to the other side so she could see me. "Just looking out for your best interests Tal," she handed me a coffee. "Happy birthday!"
"Thanks. With extra sugar?" I asked.
"Mmm hmm." She replied nodding.
"Not as much milk?" I questioned as I sniffed the coffee. I swear my senses have heightened today because I could practically taste it from a single smell. I wasn't complaining, it tasted amazing.
"Mmm hmm." She said again.
I took a sip and warmth burnt my throat. I continued to feel it slide down my neck and into my stomach. "Ah, you know me too well."
"Well that's what BFF's are for, right? Oh Tal! Come here." She nudged me out of the way and started rearranging my entire locker. I hate it when she does it and she does it every morning. I've had enough. As my anger rose, the same cold feeling came over me again.
"Allie, stop it!" And with that a gust of wind came in her direction and slammed the locker shut.
"What type of voodoo magic was that? I don't recall you ever being able to control the weather." She asked as she realised it came from me.
"I don't know." I said and slid down my locker so I was sat on the floor. "Nothing makes sense anymore." I pulled my legs up close to my stomach and rested my head on them. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's ok." Allie soothed and slid down next to me. She put an arm around me and shivered when she touched my shoulder. "God Tal, you're getting colder everyday." And with that she pulled an extra jumper out of her bag.
"Thanks but I think I don't need it. I can't feel the cold as much as I want to today. For some reason, my entire body's going cold one minute and hot the next!" I said trying to shrug off the jumper. "I could run around naked in the snow today and I wouldn't be able to feel the cold as much."
"That's so cool." She said with a sigh and I think that she wished she could do that as well. "But I advise you not to run around naked in the snow - you'll get frostbite in places that shouldn't be touched." And with that we both laughed. The coldness fled once more and I began to feel normal for the second time today.
I sighed. "This morning I met Kim's new boyfriend and he was fey. When I shook his hand to see which court he belonged to, my hand got so cold under his touch that I formed a layer of icy frost where I had touched him. Now I can control weather? I don't like it. I have to admit it is cool but what if I seriously hurt someone on purpose or by accident? I wouldn't help but feel responsible and you know full well me and guilt don't get along together." I turned to face my best friend and put my hands on her shoulders but I made sure it was on her jumper part. "Something's happening to me Allie and I'm...scared." I admitted.
"We'll figure it out - you and me - and maybe you could use it to your advantage. Let's test it in PE."
"What?! Allie, what if it goes wrong? What if I accidentally freeze coach? What if-" I asked with worry.
"No more what ifs! If something goes wrong, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If you do happen to freeze coach then that's a plus. We won't be able to do PE until they find a supply teacher and with the amount of work coach gives us, they'll have to find someone that's up to his standards. Don't worry Talia, you'll be fine." I wasn't anymore convinced. The bell rang to say that it's period 1. "Come on." She pulled me up off the floor. "Let's get to class."
We walked silently for the rest of the way to the girls changing rooms. When we got there 2 minutes later, almost everyone was present apart from Bianca and her crew. By crew I meant the 2 slightly less annoying bitches that followed her around 24/7. They're called Kiko and Suzy. I honestly hate all 3 of them. They think that it's funny to pick on me and they've made it their life's mission to make my life a living Hell. I think they're doing a better job than the Faeries!
"I wonder where the 3 musketeers are?" I asked Allie with a smirk as I unzipped my bag and pulled out my Green Lake PE kit.
"Probably freaking out because she smudged her lipstick." She replied with a chuckle.
We both began to take off our clothes. I had no desire to do PE so I went slow but Allie was way too excited and was already in her PE kit by the time I had my shorts on. I took off my teeshirt and was about to slide my top on when Bianca and her crew walked in and she was walking so slow that it looked like a slow-motioned movie entrance.
"Is it just me or is she coming towards us?" Allie asked as she hurried me to get my top on.
Oh no, I thought. "What does she want this time?" I asked with a groan and I got my top on just in time for her to make a scene without me half naked.
"Well, well, well," she started looking me up and down. "Look what we have here." She said a bit slower. I was in no mood for her creating a brawl between us and I was getting tired of her always pushing me around. So I decided that today, I was going to fight back.
"Why you so late Bianca? Was your hair not perfect enough this morning and you thought you'd try and sort it out?" I asked trying to sound braver than I was feeling.
"What do you mean try to sort it out? How dare you!" She asked and pulled out a mirror. It was pretty amusing actually; for the first time in history, she had worry marks on her forehead. Peering into the mirror, she started smoothing out pieces of her hair.
"Don't listen to her Bianca - that's just what she wants." Suzy stated.
"Yeah Bianca, your hair looks perfect. As always." Kiko added.
I completely ignored Suzy and Kiko's statements. "You heard me. You obviously tried to sort your hair out because I have to admit, it's looks better than it usually does - which doesn't take a lot to do. But let's face it Bianca, you failed." I gained a lot of raised eyebrows from the girls in the changing rooms.
"You have no room to talk goth wannabe, with your black hair and blonde highlights. Did you really think you'd pull it off? Well, let me tell you something, Talia, you're wrong." She strained to get out, a little embarrassed from my statement before.
"One - how am I a goth wannabe? Granted I'm not little-miss-sunshine but I don't shut people out, self harm myself or dress completely in black from head to toe. I don't even wear make up unlike goths do. Two - my hair is naturally like this. So you're wrong actually, I'm not a goth wannabe so get your facts right." I just about managed to stop myself from shouting. But all the same, my hands were balled into fists and I was tensing so hard with strength that I never knew I had, that I was sure I'd drawn blood. I couldn't quite feel the blood though because I felt the streak of coldness again and I was sure that I had frozen over the wounds. It was all I could do to stop my self from grabbing her throat and sealing her lips shut with my frosted hands.
"Someone's getting angry." She taunted me with a smile. "What's the matter? Bianca's got your tongue?"
No, but ice will have your throat if you don't shut up Bianca, I thought to myself - biting my lip to make sure I didn't say it out loud, or should I say Biwanker? I was about to go forward to her but Allie put her hand on my arm to stop me. She shivered under my touch. She gave me a nudge and looked down as my fists. When I followed her gaze, I gasped as I noticed a layer of solid ice forming over my knuckles - ready for me to land a punch on her face that would damage her completely. I stopped trying to go for Bianca and closed my eyes for a moment. I realised that my pulse had quickened and I concentrated on lowering my heartbeat. I relaxed my shoulders and I could feel the cold going and a burst of warmth traveling down my arm, into my hand. Allie gasped at my sudden change in temperature and I opened my eyes. My skin was slightly glowing, like a really dim light, but still glowing. I watched as the ice melted almost immediately.
"Save it Bianca for another day, I actually want to go to PE and your holding me up." I said a little out of breath. I might not have wanted to before but now I really wanted to see what I could do. Once I found my limitations, I was going to humiliate Bianca and bring her crashing down. I lifted my chin up and walked out.
"Oh she did not just go there!" Kiko whispered to Suzy and Bianca as I came to the door.
For some reason, my ears picked up the sound as clear as if she was standing right next to me. I didn't understand it but i would try and make sense of it later. I was just glad I did hear it so I could make one last remark. I angled my body to half face them and turned my head to look Bianca in the eyes. "Oh yes I did." I whispered back and I couldn't help but notice that everyone was shocked that I heard that from the other end of the room. I simply smirked then carried on going to the field.
"Whoa! Nice one. Ive never seen you stand up to her before and what was going on with your hand?" Allie asked trying to catch up with my fast paced walk.
"Thanks and like i said before, i don't know. It's like every time i'm upset or angry, i get this cold chill throughout my body and that seems to actually make my skin colder. I mean, did you see what just happened in there? I wanted to hurt her so badly that my hands got really cold with anger and my knuckles formed a thick sheet of ice so the impact i was going to make hurt her. Then when i tried to calm myself down, i relaxed and thought of things that make me happy and i felt this warmness replacing the cold. I think that's why my body suddenly felt so hot." i replied trying to make sense of it all.
"Maybe but did you see yourself? When you went really hot, your whole body started glowing. Not glowing so bright that everyone else could see it - because it was so dim - but you were actually glowing! Do you know what this means?" i could hear the excitement in her voice and i knew i wouldn't like the answer. "Maybe, you're a Faerie!"
I didn't realise i'd been holding my breath until i choked on it just then. "What? Do you know how crazy you sound?" i stopped at the bottom of the field and Allie fell into me.
"Just think about it for a moment. You've always been able to see Them right from the minute you were born. Plus you keep forming ice over your hands - i thought you said it takes glamour to do that. The next thing i know, you're blowing in cold winds and slamming your locker shut with it. And what about your healing magic? I'm pretty sure humans can't do magic." i couldn't believe i was hearing this.
"Allie, 100 people in the world can see faeries because of a potion. I asked Tom how he got the Sight and he said that 250 years ago, a scientist was born with the Sight meaning he was half fey. When he had a child, the child wasn't born with the Sight so he made up some elixir that would give it to people. As it turned out, you needed to be half fey and half human to get the Sight. If your parent was half fey and your other parent was fully human, you didn't get it. You had to be exactly half fey and half human or fully fey. He gave it the child and he could see them too. Unfortunately, he didn't write it down because he didn't think that it would work. He had made only a half a litre bottle full and kept it in the family. When he died, his child sold the elixir and it got passed all over the world. Tom said that when he was given it, there was only enough left for one more person. I guess that it was given to me." i said because it was the only explanation i was willing to accept.
"So then how does that explain your pow-" she only got that far before coach cut her off.
"Stop your dilly-dallyin and get running! You think you can slack off and not get any punishment?" he screamed in our faces, "Well you're wrong!" he paused for a few seconds and we were too scared to moved a muscle. "GET MOVING!" he shouted one more time and we hurried off to run our first lap.
"I feel sorry for his wife. She'd be deaf by the time the years up." i said to Allie hoping to change the subject.
"I doubt anyone would want to be his wife." she said and then turned to face me and saw my smile on my face. "Wait a second! Don't try and change the subject."
I groaned. "Fine. What were you going to ask me before?" i asked and prayed to God that she would forget.
"Oh yeah, that's it." Did i forget to mention that God hates me as much as life does? "So how does that explain your powers?"
"I keep telling you, i don't have the slightest clue!"
"I do." she simply said.
"No, i'm not a faerie." i replied back. I don't pointed ears like faeries, i thought to myself.
"What if one of your parents was fey?" that had never occurred to me before.
"I doubt Rena and Sam are-"
"I'm not talking about Rena and Sam here." she cut me off. "Like i said, think about it. You don't know who your parents are and there's a good chance that one of them was fey."
"It might be a good chance but it's not 100 percent so unless you're certain, stop going on about it." i said angrily.
"Ok, i get it. You can't face the truth." she said, teasing me.
"That's not what i said!" i snapped and felt the cold chill.
"Chill, don't freeze me." she replied with a smile. Chill? Seriously? Was that pun intended?
"Well i definitely feel the cold running through me so if you don't want to end up as an ice statue, then i suggest that you run ahead or fall behind." i said through gritted teeth.
"Ok, ok. I'll fall back. Just promise me you'll talk after school. You're not in any of my classes today." she reasoned.
"Can't, i'm meeting Kim in the library. She needs my Calculus notes."
"Fine, whatever." she said clearly annoyed.
For some reason there and then, i wanted to run around and let some steam off. "I'm just going to do 3 laps then we'll talk again, i promise."
"I'll hold you to that, Faerie." she said with a wink.
"For the last time, i'm not a Faerie!" and i sprinted faster than i've sprinted before. I heard Coach gasp at my speed and Allie stopped. She pulled out her phone and recorded me. I swear i was going at least 40 mph and it felt awesome! I cleared the 3 laps in 30 seconds and pulled to a stop - not even out of breath - when i came to Allie.
"Tal, you've gotta see yourself." she pressed play and we watched the 30 second clip.
"Wow. I knew i was going fast but not that fast!" i answered to find the whole class starting to make their way over here.
"Now do you believe me? You're fey!" She squealed but I wasn't quite certain yet and I definitely wasn't getting my hopes up.
I panicked and felt the chill come over me. If i was a faerie like Allie said - i'm not saying that i am - then i would have the power to become invisible. I closed my eyes and thought, i want to be invisible. I want to be invisible. I want to be invisible. I repeated. Unfortunately, when i opened my eyes, i was still there. I told you that life hated me.
"OMG!" One girl said to me. "I never thought you were that fast."
"You should join the Cross Country!" Another girl added.
"You were awesome." Someone mumbled, probably in disbelief.
"Do it again!" A distant voice said.
"Yeah Talia, do it again." The cold words slicing through the paper thin air. Everyone turned to face Bianca who was, as usual, hating the attention being drawn away from her. "Or are you going to make up an excuse to get out of it because clearly, that never happened. It was simply a trick or an illusion. Not even the fasted man ever recorded can run that fast."
I knew she didn't believe me and I would have been happy to prove her wrong right there on the spot. But with all eyes on me, all that attention, I couldn't risk exposing the faeries. I know I might not like them very much, but they have been kept unknown to humans for as long as they can remember and if they found out that I had exposed them, I couldn't even begin to describe the misery they would bring my family and friends. I opened my mouth and tried to tell them that it was a trick but nothing came out. I tried again but still nothing.
"You know what Bianca?" I asked about to tell her the truth, "I won't lie to you because I'm not one to lie. The truth is that I did run that fast and I don't have to prove it to you. You can't help but notice all the attention I'm getting because I'm better than you'll ever be and you're jealous." I confronted her.
"You keep telling yourself that. I think that you can't do it again because it was a trick. And you know what else I believe? I believe you did it because you were jealous of me." She said and stuck her head up.
"Yeah, I'm so jealous of you." I said sarcastically, "I've always wanted the IQ of a brick. You want proof? Ask the 30 students surrounding you who all witnessed it. If you still can't admit it by then, then go and ask coach because he saw me too. Don't believe it after him? Allie recorded it. If you still think it's a trick by then, then you live up to the stereotype for your blond hair." I added with smirk and the bell rang. It had clearly been longer than I had expected. With a final sigh of satisfaction, I ran into the changing rooms.
