Chapter Twelve - Cat Fight
Who's excited to see what happens now that Teague has explained his actions to Mina? I know I am. So let's find out!
Anonymous : Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Roseberry007 : Ya, it was pretty stupid. cx But I agree, it was definitely cute stupid!
xXMADD1EXx : I'm glad you feel better! And hehe, I agree, Meague for the win!
Guest 1 : I'm glad it wasn't overly gushy!
Evx : Ya, I've heard it happen before, which is one reason I implemented it. cx Boys, take my advice, and don't do what Teague did!
booknerd00 : That might've just been my favorite review yet. xD Thank you! I'm glad it was so Teague like!
Guest 2 : Yup, Annalora is definitely angry...Especially cause she was just shoved into the bathing pools.
Mina's POV
In The Past...
"So...What do you want to do now?" I ask, shaking my hair and flinging water droplets everywhere.
"Are you trying to change the subject because you don't like admitting that I saved your life?" Teague asks, raising an eyebrow. He doesn't bother to avoid the water.
My face goes bright pink. "Just tell me what you want to do."
"Uh...Well, how about you tell me about yourself?"
"There's not much to tell." I respond, my voice even as I'm trying to keep cool. I can't say a ton of things, or else he could guess what I can't let him know...
"Come on, how can I consider you my friend if I don't know anything important about you?"
"'Important?'" I echo. "And what sort of things are important?
"Like...What's your favorite color?"
"That's going too far." I smirk, and shake my head.
He laughs a little. "No, seriously, what is it?"
"I'm not sure." I bite my lip in thought. "Well, I hate the color red. I also hate the color gold..." I finger my hair, "So as you can see, that's a bit unfortunate for me with gold hair and a gold tail."
"But surely there has to be a color you like?" Very persistent, isn't he?
"Light blue." I answer after giving it some thought. "Definitely light blue. And your's?"
He grins. "Black."
I roll my eyes. "Of course that's it."
"Hey!" He protests, but I just laugh. "What about hobbies? Do you have any special talents?"
"Not really..."
"Come on, there must be something you're super amazing at!"
"Not me. I'm just plain, old Mina who's no good at anything."
"You need more confidence. Come on, name one thing that you're always told that you're brilliant at."
"Well, art in general...I guess."
"Art?" That raises his interest. "Will you draw something for me?"
"I have no paper and pencil."
"That's no problem." He makes both appear, and hands them to me.
So, I begin to sketch. It's black and white, but I do my best, focusing. I block out Teague, the noise of the forest, and focus on my drawing. It's hard, since it's darker out, but in the end I finish, and sit up straight again to admire it.
"Who is that?" Teague asks, looking a bit confused.
"What, can you not tell your own face on paper?" I tease lightly, but I also am a little disappointed that he didn't recognize it. Maybe I'm not as good as I hoped?
"I didn't want to seem conceited or anything because I thought the picture on the paper was me..."
I roll my eyes. "I wouldn't have thought it was conceited." I hand the paper to him after signing it. "There. You can have it."
"Really?" His eyes gleam.
"Would I have handed it to you and said you could have it if I didn't mean it?"
"Maybe..."
"Just take the paper, doofus!"
In The Present...
The next day is going by much better than the day before. Teague is talking to me again. Thank goodness too, because I was getting really bored. At breakfast and lunch, we talk, and I'm certainly excited for the next test now that I know I'm not hated by Teague.
"Hey, are you ready for this?" Teague asks when I step into the room.
"That depends on what this is."
"Swimming contest. Don't ask me why we're having a swimming contest. I guess to see how you cope with water, but I didn't design any of these tests, so I can't tell." He chuckles.
"Really? Swimming?" He nods, and I grin. "Yes!"
"Geez, calm down, Mina. It's not that big of a deal."
"Yes it is! This is one thing I actually know I'm good at!" I still grin, peering into the water. "So we just...Swim?"
"Basically. You swim from here to there," He points to the end of the pool, "and back."
"Way too easy." I scoff.
I take no hesitation leaping into the water though. As I do, I allow my tail to take the place of my legs, and then quickly take off. It takes about twenty seconds flat from me to get to there and back. I can see Teague's jaw drop.
"Wha-But-Th-How?" He speaks a jumble of words, before ending with how.
"I'm a siren. I practically lived in water my entire life. What did you expect?"
He frowns. "That's true..."
"Exactly." I smirk triumphant. "So, I take it I did good?"
"You always do good." I don't know if I was supposed to hear that or not, because it's whispered. He speaks up, looking me in the eye. "You can go that way." He points to another door. "Be careful though. You're only the second person to go - as you probably know - and Annalora is in there."
I nod, and walk into the room. Annalora looks up as I enter, and the glare takes her face. "Well, look who it is. Little miss fish."
"Shut up, Annalora. Or are you still bitter that Teague shoved you in a pool and went to go to me instead?"
It has the intended effect. She scowls, stepping closer. "Shut up, fish."
"Aww, you are bitter."
"I said shut up!" She snarls the words.
"Do you think I care, wart-face?" I shoot back.
She punches me in the face. Again. It's about that time that Ever walks in, and her eyes widen. "Annalora, what did you do?!"
"Y-You set me up!" Annalora is even angrier than ever, but I don't respond, putting a hand over my eye. I'll heal it later. She lowers her voice so only I can hear. "I promise you, this isn't over."
She stalks off to the other side of the room while Ever sits me down and sits beside me. She's very sympathetic - although I don't explain why Annalora punched me, as that wouldn't be good - and I'm relieved that I at least have one friend that's a princess here. The others don't seem to like me...Not that I try to fit in. Of course, there's Dinah, but beyond her? I have no friends here.
Hm...I wonder if this injury is enough to get Annalora sent home? Someone with violent tendencies shouldn't be in this competition.
There totally wasn't a small Hunger Games reference in there. Nope. Nade. Zinch. Uno. I mean...Uh...Okay, ya, there was one. Anyone catch it?
So, did you guys like this chapter? If you did, review! We need five in order to have Chapter 13 posted
~ Dagger
