Chapter 28: The Sixth Round!

Aelin was glad her adrenaline was pumping by the time she got to class, and the teacher announced the new round.

"Since the weather's clearing up, today's round will be based on your biking athletics. You will have artificial landscapes that are already set up outside, that you must overcome on the bike of your choosing."

Aedion's hand shot up, "Can we shove people off their bikes?"

The teacher rolled his eyes in annoyance, for calling out and his question, "I could care less about horseplay, but if you fall off your bike, then you are out."

Aedion's grin held all sin.

Aelin settled for a fiery red bike. With literal flames as streamers. Poor Rowan had woken late and had to settle for a 2 foot bike that had barbies and pike ruffles.

They lined up at the mark. She positioned her dominant foot against the petal, leaving the other one rooted to the ground.

Arobynn blew his horn, and Aelin started.

At first, she stumbled. And a few people were in front of her. But then, she shifted the gears on the handles and paddled with determination and speed. She went around the people in front of her, intimidated others that dared to be close to her, by getting in their path. And eventually, she settled.

The first thing she did once she was settled, was swerve her back wheel so that sand would spray at the people behind him. She could almost see Rowan's disapproving face, but he was almost the last person, because of his clown of a bike. But she certainly did hear his curses of frustration.

After the sandy ground, was the jungle. Aelin peddled over sticks and dirt and bugs. Leaves and whatnot bristled her left and right. But she ignored them. When an object was touching her leg and was there for a while, did she finally look down. It was a snake.

Aelin whipped her head back. There, Aedion was hollering.

She gritted her teeth and yanked the snake away from her.

After she got out of the jungle, came her last stage. Ditches. In the ground were big holes, which Aelin jumped over with grace. But she laughed at the sounds of shrieks, crashes, and curses.

In the end, there were two people that made it the whole way.

Aelin, of course. And Rowan, who appeared an hour later, tooting his little horn and sprinkling pink glitter.

"I got that on video!" Aedion tipped his head back and laughed.

They were discussing Rowan's humiliation. And Rowan looked as if he was going to snap all their necks off.

Lysandra chuckled, but it faltered. She remembered something, "Hey guys, we have one more competition until we are done with school. What happens next? What happens to us?"

A solemn silence fell over them.

Aedion shoved Lysandra, "Way to ruin the mood."

But really, what would happen to them? It was unrealistic to say they'd all be best friends forever.

Aelin wished they did.

Elide bit her lip. She quickly removed all traces of her presence at the laptop. She took extra long to dry her hair, comb it, and style it. She took extra long to pick her outfit, then garnish her body in lotions, then carefully put the clothes on. Lorcan still was not back in time for his shift. Elide went down to the kitchen without him.

When she go there, Emrys questioned his appearance. Elide shruggged. She didn't want to know what he was up to. What he was scheming. She thought he was done with that life. It seemed he wasn't. So she work diligently and with laser focus. She didn't want to focus on anything else. She prepared the bread, and then brewed the stew. She set out the snacks, and cut countless fruits and placed them in bowls. She set out the ingredients for wraps, and the cookies were already baking in the oven.

She finally looked up and wiped the sweat off her brow. She glanced at the time - somehow, there was still an hour left before everyone was going to come. They would especially hungry. A new challenge for the students. So Elide cleaned up the dishes she used, layed out dishes the students would use, cleaned the counters and floors. And then there was 30 minutes left. So she went around and wiped tables and chairs, and the floor for the students. This was more work than she was assigned. Way more work. Emrys would be pleased. Lorcan wasn't there so she had to double her efforts, but instead, she had tripled them.

Afterward, she was tired. She slumped into a seat and closed her eyes. For a moment, it was quiet. And then she heard mumbling. Students weren't allowed in yet. Elide opened her eyes. It was Lorcan. He was waiting right outside the school doors. Through the windows, she could see him waiting on the front steps. Waiting for someone. He had money in his hands. Maybe he was waiting for mail. She had to confront him on this.

While she was contemplating on how she would address the situation, she heard a knock. She turned. The mail man came through the wrong exit. Elide glanced back at Lorcan. She bit her lip. Then she looked at the mail man. She stood and walked over.

"I am looking for someone named Lorcan Salveterre. Do you know him? I have to deliver this." He gestured to the box he was carrying.

Elide willed her power and smiled, "I'm that person."

The man rose a brow, "You?"

Elide ignored the comment, "Yes." She purposely lowered the octave of her voice. She puffed her chest and gave him her stone-cold look.

The man nodded and handed her the box. Elide fished a 100 dollar bill from her wallet. That was how much Lorcan had in his hand outside - that must be the cost.

The man took the money and left.

Elide glanced at Lorcan, who was growing agitated. He could spot her if she really wanted to. So she hid behind a counter and sat against its cabinets. She fumbled with it's annoying tape. She slowly opened the box, afraid of what might be inside.

AU: One of the One-Shots on my account, was an original draft for a chapter. But I decided to make it something else. It's called Broken Birds - check it out for some Elorcan Fluff!

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