Chapter 5
It was a peaceful autumn afternoon in Heatherfield. The bright orange sun was peeking through the clouds, providing a blanket of warmth over the almost bare branches. At the entrance of a modern-looking building five girls were discussing something fiercely.
"Relax Corny! He can't do anything to her, a heart has to be given, it cannot be taken by force remember?"
"Yes I remember Irma", Cornelia snapped. "But what if it was Christopher we were talking about? Would you be so chill if your enemy was playing tea party unsupervised with your brother right now?"
Irma kept silent. The blonde turned to face the others.
"I want him out of my house!"
"Cornelia, you know he has to stay on Earth close to us otherwise Nerissa may get a hold of him"
"Yeah, well why does he have to stay with me?" She paused for a moment "What happened to "Phobos will be with you only for a few weeks then we'll take turns" huh? It's almost been a month now!" The girls narrowed their heads guiltily. "Aren't you gonna say anything?!"
"Cornelia, you know that if we had the chance we would take him" Hay Lin murmured…
"I'm done with your lousy excuses! I have my reasons not to want him too, you know. Do any of you think it's a good idea for him to be so close to the heart of Earth?!" Cornelia raised her head and gave them a cold look.
"I already told you, he's powerless" Will said irritated " We should focus on finding Elyon"
"I see you're taking this job very seriously, Will" The blonde fixed her eyes on the leader "All month you haven't said a word about this! No plan, no nothing! You've just been chasing Matt around the city and thinking about your sinking relationship. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Will bit her lip. She knew she messed up.
"That's it, I'm done with all of you. All you can think about is yourselves!"
"Hey! That's not true and you know it!" Irma yelled. "Stop acting as if you're the victim all the time! All of us go to work or are studying and only you are not. We don't all have a daddy to grant our every wish" "Excuse me?" The blonde raised her voice and made a few steps towards the water guardian.
"Enough!" Taranee yelled. "Stop it! Both of you! We are a team and we should stick together"
"Yeah right!" Cornelia turned around and headed towards the door. Nobody tried to stop her.
…..
"Alright, qualifications are after 10 days people, get your mindset ready and your jumping technique straight. After this practice I will announce those of you that will go to nationals"
"You're the all time greatest Venus, that little wannabe can't compete with your style and elegance.. and she knows it as well! The last time she had to compete against you she even made up an excuse so she could get out of it!"
"Yeah and I don't think miss Finney was very happy about that! I'm sure she'll keep that in mind when she chooses the finalist. Besides, how on earth could Hale represent anyone if nobody's rooting for her?"
"You're right guys that blondie is too snobby to have friends"
"Or too honest to buy them like you Venus!" The girls looked startled at her. They couldn't imagine that she had heard them. Cornelia gave them a cold look before going along to make another lap on the rink. I'm better off alone anyway. The earth guardian told to herself. I don't need people rooting for me! Who cares what they say? Right now I just need to concentrate.
"Okay girls. It's time I announce my decision" The skaters gathered in a tight circle, eager to find out the names of the chosen ones. Miss Finney flipped a page on her notebook.
"Sanders, Jones, Williams and…Hale"
"Alright Venus!" Some cheered.
Yes! I made it! Cornelia cheered in her mind.
"Cornelia, Venus", miss Finney looked at the girls, "Could the two of you please stay for a minute?"
"Girls I'm not gonna lie, this year's nationals are going to be tough. There's a lot of competitors out there and this is why I want to make sure we send our best representatives on the rink. I have high hopes for both of you. Your scores until now are high and if you score high here too you might get a chance to the olympics. This is a serious opportunity for your career girls, it can propel you very fast. I hope you understand that" Her gaze travelled across the two skaters.
"Venus, your jumps are powerful but you need to focus on your presentation. Your attitude must not get a hold of you while you're competing. Cornelia's technique is better, but.. " she looked at the blond haired girl with disapproval. "Cornelia you must understand that this is a very important event and you must take this sport seriously"
"But I am taking this seriously, miss Fanny. I.."
"Sorry but your actions don't seem to be in sync with your words" Miss Finney shook her head "Skipping classes and not doing your stretching at home holds you back. I'm not sure that you will be ready for the event if you keep this up"
"But, I.."
"I don't wanna hear it!" Miss Finney raised her hand. Cornelia looked down guiltily. She felt anger creeping in because all the fault came on her for things she didn't have control over.
"Girls, for the next few weeks I want you to strive for perfection! We'll be training twice a day and after your choreographies are cleaned up we'll slow the tempo so you go on the rink well rested. Alright?" Both girls nodded. 'Ok, that was it. Have a nice evening"
"Bye miss Fanny"
"I did it, I did it! I made it to the nationals!" Cornelia was jumping joyously as she was heading out of the rink. "I can't wait to tell the girls!" Suddenly she froze and her rucksack hit the ground. What am I talking about? The blonde stared at her bag bluntly. I'm so stupid, the girls have nothing to do with this. The success is all mine! In any case they wouldn't even understand how important this is since all they can think about is their own problems. She adjusted her rucksack and headed home.
Ding dong
"It's about time, that should be Harold" Elizabeth was setting the plates on the dinner table.
Today was a day for celebration at the Hale's. The smell of home cooking filled up the apartment.
"I'm home! Sorry I'm late!" Harold gave a brief kiss to his wife as he came into the kitchen. "Phobos! Nice to see you!" He shook the young man's hand.
"Nice to see you too mister Hale!"
"Oh please, call me Harold. Now where's my champion!"
"Daad!"
"Whaat? It's not every night we can throw a party for someone chosen for the national skating championships! I'm so proud of you pumpkin!" He hugged the blond and gave her a fatherly kiss on the forehead.
"Daad, stop embarrassing me!" She laughed, pushing him off softly.
She noticed Phobos smiling at her. It was a sincere smile.
"How nice it is to have parents that support you" He said and just for a moment Cornelia saw sadness passing through his eyes.
"Oh you should have seen him when she started competing…" Elizabeth emerged from the kitchen carrying a loaf of still warm bread. "He went to every competition and yelled his lungs out"
"Hahah, not just that!" Harold raised his finger "Me and Lillian were even matching her attire!"
"Oh my god yeah! That was so embarrassing!" Cornelia laughed and facepalmed herself.
Phobos couldn't help but imagine the middle aged man with his little blonde daughter both wearing pink tight suits and screaming hysterically. He laughed sincerely!
"Let's make our way to the table, the food is ready!" Elizabeth smiled.
The conversation at dinner was lively and cheerful. After the feast everyone made their way to the living room to watch a movie. Harold sat on the armchair and Elizabeth positioned herself on the sofa together with sleepy Lillian who almost instantly dozed off. Phobos stretched his legs on the chase part of the sofa and Cornelia sat next to him. Surprisingly, he dragged her towards him, embracing her in a hug. She was shocked at first but then she remembered the 'boyfriend' thing and let it go. It wasn't necessary that they should hug but she decided to go with the flow. She was tired and watching the whole movie up straight would have been a challenge for her. Besides, she didn't mind his warm embrace. It felt kinda nice.
In the past few weeks Phobos was acting kinda normal. He said good morning to her once and they even had a few conversations that didn't end with them yelling at each other. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Cornelia thought. He almost looked…human
Ring ring ring ring
The alarm clock rang. Cornelia turned around and grabbed her phone. She forgot to turn it off for today. Miss Finney had told them to get a day off from training and relax before the event. She glanced at the time, 6:30. Alright there's still time to sleep. She rested her head on the pillow and just as she was about to doze off again she felt someone's arm around her. As she was recalling last night's events she heard a familiar voice.
"Good morning"
She turned around. Phobos was looking at her. They were inches apart. His cold eyes were fixated on her. He looked pleased.
"Uhm hi", she jumped back a little
"Didn't expect me?" A smirk appeared on his face. She was just staring at him bluntly, not sure what to say. "I had a very nice time with you last night" He purred as he narrowed his eyes and her jaw dropped at the shock. Her reaction was so hilarious he started laughing.
"Hahah relax blondie, we just fell asleep on the couch"
"You're such an idiot!"The guardian said angrily as she threw a pillow at him.. She stood up on her elbow and looked around. There was no sign of her parents. They probably left after the movie, she thought. They were covered by a blanket, probably her mother's doing. Seems like both her and Phobos dozed off.
"Sleep well?" Her attention went to him again. His eyes seemed warmer than usual.
"Yeah, I guess so" Cornelia smiled awkwardly not sure how to react to his non-aggressive behaviour. She quickly glimpsed at her phone. "I have to get up for training" She lied and jumped on her feet. He was just watching her, observing her every movement. She could feel his gaze on her. He was wearing his usual slimy smile but there was some contentment in it too. Weird. She tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible and went upstairs. Since she had nowhere to go at 6 AM she decided to go for a jog in the park to clear her mind.