Sorry guys, I know this is a very late update and a very short one at that. But unfortunately the updates will be somewhat late from now on because of my studies. Anyhow, don't worry. I'll not be leaving the story. I'll only be updating a little late

{Chapter beta'd by Otaku Neko Ninja Miko Tenshi}

Chapter 4

"Okay, now I just have to concentrate, right?"

Lily shrugged as she focussed on petting her bird. "Dunno. I guess?"

"You're hopeless."

I stared forlornly at the glass of water in front of me before closing my eyes. I relaxed my muscles and started concentrating on the liquid. All of a sudden, something overcame me.

The feeling rushed through my body, a torrent of power flooding down to my fingers and palms in a tidal wave, the force tingling to be released. My eyes snapped open when the glass tumbler made a noise, the aqua floating mid-air.

I heard my friends give a collective gasp.

"Cool," I breathed "Let's see what else I can do."

My hands made cups from a reasonable distance, moulding the water into different shapes that froze with the point of a finger. The heart I made remained sustained, frigid, above the cup.

"Whoa, you can freeze stuff too?" said Lily in amazement.

"Seems so!" I chirped with a grin, willing the model to twirl around.

Allison whined. "It's unfair – you get two abilities at once!"

"Yeah," Rose frowned "It's like you got both Gray's and Juvia's powers."

I hesitated. "Not… exactly," I explained "I can manipulate and control water and ice, but I can't produce it out of thin air like they do."

"Oh... That's not very beneficial then," Rose muttered.

"So it turns out."

*CLICK*

The sound of an opening door lock made us all turn around, m y creation dropping a little with the surprised jolt in my pulse. Curious green eyes stared at me, the boy in the doorway looking at our party as if we were aliens.

"Who are you people and what exactly are you doing here?"

The Riddle of our group found her voice –"We, um…"– only to trail off.

"Well?" He prompted. A scowl was evident on his face. "Listen, if you hurt my mother in any way-"

"Wha-" I interrupted frantically "No, no, no! No, we didn't do anything to her; we could never hurt Miss Anna; we love her for helping us out and letting us stay here! We could never do anything to bring her harm!"

Allison, recovered, supported my claim: "Yeah, we swear we didn't do anything. We're here because we were asked to come."

"Yeah, we love her!" Rose and Lily chimed in.

A doubtful eyebrow was raised in our direction. "Yeah? How do I believe you?"

"You'll believe me, right?" Miss Anna's tone came from the doorway leading into another room. Easy steps lead her towards the stranger, their hackles lowering when she surrounded him in a hug.

"You alright?" he questioned, returning the action. Miss Anna nodded against him with an "Of course, dear!"

The woman withdrew and faced us. "Girls, meet Alex, Alex Hemmings. He's my son." Alex nodded in greeting. "Alex, these girls are new in Magnolia and will be staying with us for some time. So Behave."

He rolled his eyes and averted them to us as Miss Anna introduced us.

"This is Allison,-" (curtsy) "Rose,-" (nod) "Lily-" ("Hello."), "...and Crystal."

I smiled in response. The introduction didn't take long, but I took the time to observe the newcomer: sharp-featured, spiky-haired and of average height, he had mischievous green eyes that went well with his red T-shirt/black pants/green jacket ensemble. From this, I deduced one thing – all in all, despite seeming mean, that didn't mean he wasn't handsome.

'He's cute,' I thought to myself. As if on cue, those emerald irises flickered over, Alex's lips curling into a smirk.

"By the way, girls," Miss Anna continued "Alex is also a mage; he can read people's minds. He likes to play pranks, though, so be warned. You too, Alex, they're our guests, so I expect you to be nice."

He huffed and glanced away at that comment. We smiled at that, but my mouth dripped into a frown when I realised what his magic meant – he'd smirked at me when I thought about him being cute. He must have used his telepathy.

For confirmation, I gave him a pointed stare and watched as his smugness increased. I was right.

Oh, that jerk!

I vowed to be more careful around him.

"Why's he smirking at you like that?" Allison whispered, leaning towards me when Alex rotated to talk to his mother.

"'Cause he's a jerk!" I hissed. Storming into a corner, marking the boy in question with death glares. My curly-haired friend followed.

"Okay, what's got you so mad?" I'd provide a solution, but she began piecing up the evidence anyway. "So, Alex was smirking at you, and now you're angry… He can read minds, which is probably why he smirked… He… Ooh, I know, he read your mind!"

She looked entirely too pleased with herself, in my opinion.

"Geez, how'd ya know?"

A happy shrug disregarded my question. "Ah, child's play. I mean, since we've been together for so long, it was easy to tell." Her eyes slanted. "So what exactly were you thinking about?"

"Nothing," I denied.

Lily popped up with Rose. "What nothing?"

"Alex read Crystal's mind and now she's mad," Allison clarified when I returned to my sulking.

"Let's kill him!"

To her credit, Allison stayed true to her 'Fully Sane' category. "What? No, we can't do that! Seriously, what is with you?" she cried at Lily.

"Oh, come on~ He read your best friend's mind without permission; you shouldn't be defending him!"

"I am not defending him, but that doesn't mean you can commit murder! How would you manage, anyway? Use your pet bird or something?" Her arms crossed firmly across her chest.

"Hey, that's mean…" Lily's puffed cheeks deflated.

"No, Lily, she's right," Rose contributed "You can't kill him. That would be going too far."

"We have to do something!"

A strangled noise came from Allison. "Then just stamp on his foot instead!"

"Let's punch, kick and slap him!"

"Ooh, that's harsh," Rose commented, impressed. "I didn't know you were this violent."

"Ya, you're lucky… for now," I said. Knowing how much Lily's innocent violence went. And also knowing how thankful Allison was that I hadn't yet supported her in her decision to kill him.

"We could give him a warning," Was our resident brunette's suggestion, though Lily denied the notion.

Rose, ever the neutral, supplied an alternative: "Let's think of something in-between, something not too harsh."

I had an epiphany.

"Lil'... let's kick him where it hurts!"

"That's a nice idea," agreed Lily with a shake of my hand to seal the deal. Vaguely, I heard Allison give a wary "And my luck's gone…"

Rose gave her a pitying pat.

"So…?" I drawled, Lily and I expectantly gazing at Allison.

She sighed. "Fine, do what you want. But a only a light kick, okay?"

"Sure!" We jumped to fist pump. "We'll give him a very hard one!"