Enchanted Ch 5
Author's note: Glamour: a touchable illusion designed to hide a faes true appearance. Also a mental distraction used to confuse predators or people
Death metal: any form of iron, deadly to fae and highly disruptive of their magical abilities.
Ward: a protection against magic of any kind, can be passive i.e. as a block or aggressive i.e. reflective.
Friday Night Xandria's Dorm
Xandria pulled the dress up over her head and discarded it on the bed with all of the other rejected outfits. She sighed and pulled on a pair of jeans, that she had dug out of her drawers. They were black and hugged her legs so tight they looked painted on. She grinned at her reflection and grabbed a short and equally tight tank shirt, which playfully said, "keep dreaming" on its front. Some one knocked on her door and she slid her feet into some sandals she had bought. Then opened the door. Tyler was there waiting for her and he had flowers. She smiled and took them from him, emptied a fast food cup and put water in it. Then set the flowers in it before walking out and locking the door behind her.
He led her out to his car and held the door for her to get in. then went around to the driver's side. "Gonna hold the door for me?" said Reid. Tyler glared at him and climbed into his seat. "Fine be that way," said Reid climbing in the back seat. Xandria looked at Reid in the back seat. "Sorry to be a party crasher hun but he promised me a ride," said Reid. "Hope you don't mind he's going to the same place" said Tyler. "It's fine, I don't mind," she said. Tyler seemed to relax at that statement and started the car. He was unusually quiet on the way to Nicky's. Even though Reid kept trying to get him to talk all the way there. He seemed nervous about something; Xandria could have sworn it was her.
When they pulled up he found a parking space quickly and shut off the car Reid climbed out quickly. Tyler turned to her and said "were here" He found her much closer than he thought she was before. "Yes we are," she murmured. Tyler swallowed nervously. "Hey you two coming or what?" Said Reid. That broke the moment and he looked embarrassed "we should get going" he said "yeah, I guess" she said reluctantly and reached for the door handle. Tyler did the same locking the doors as he got out. "About damn time" said Reid. Xandria came around the side of the car and slid her hand onto Tyler's arm. Reid looked at them and shook his head. He walked towards the door ahead of them. He made a scowl again when Tyler once again held the door.
Reid was making his way through the crowd, well ahead of them. So Xandria used the crowd as an excuse to move closer to Tyler. When she brushed up against him she felt a jolt of electricity. Her proximity made it impossible for them to move through the crowd with her hand only on his arm. So he put and arms around her. Guiding her towards the table he had spotted. Already seated around it was the group. Reid had managed to grab a pool table and was racking the billiard balls for a game. "Hey Tyler you gonna play tonight?" asked Reid "maybe later" he said sitting down in Reids now empty seat. "Well I'm gonna play" said Pogue. He got up from the table and pushed the chair towards Xandria who sat down in it. Tyler hailed a waitress as Sarah and Kate said their hellos. She was sitting so close to Tyler that she could lean back on him, which she did. He found himself putting his arms around her.
Xandria leaned farther back into him and nuzzled closer. A waitress set a plate of fries and two sodas down in front of them. Sarah was grinning at them weirdly so Tyler ducked his head into her hair. He was greeted bye the scent of Jasmine and something else. For a moment he was reminded of the forest. He closed his eyes for a second lost in the moment until someone tapped his shoulder. He blinked in momentary confusion before registering what Caleb was saying to him. "Hey man snap out of it," said Caleb "what, huh" said Tyler. "I said I need an opponent, come on foosball is boring by yourself" said Caleb. Tyler looked at Xandria like he was going to ask something. "It's all right go have fun, I've got the girls to keep me company," she said. "Thanks babe you're beautiful" he said. "Aaah! That's so sweet," said the other girls. Much to Tyler's embarrassment "come on bud, lets go play" said Caleb.
"Boys never do change do they?" said Sarah "nope" said Kate. "I don't think I really want them to change," said Xandria. Sarah snorted "yeah but it would be nice to be included in the fun" said Kate. "I don't know about the fun part I think its all about competition" said Xandria "might have something there" said Kate "well there's no reason why we can't have fun too" said Sarah. She had a wicked grin on her face as she got up and headed for the jukebox in the corner. Xandria watched her suddenly confused "what's she doing?" she asked "getting us some tunes to dance to" said Kate. "Oh" said Xandria as music began to fill the room. 'Come on lets make those boys regret leaving us by ourselves" said Kate with a grin. Xandria grinned back and followed the girl to the dance floor. Sarah was already swaying her hips to the beat when Kate started to do the same. Xandria watched for a few seconds until she got the songs rhythm down and began to move. The girls were dancing very close and very sensuously together.
Which started to draw a small crowd of male admirers. The noise and the girls dancing caught the boys' attention at last. Caleb nodded towards Tyler and started walking towards them. Pogue was finished with his game of pool with Reid and started making his way towards the group. Reid glared at his retreating back and accepted a match from one of Aaron's friends. Money was slapped on the table and Reid ignored the group of his friends to concentrate on the game. He won with a little push here and there which pissed off Aaron's friend and Aaron who came to his friend's defense. Soon they were herding Reid outside. While Xandria was dancing with Tyler she happened to glance in the direction of the group herding Reid out the door. "Ah guys where's Reid Going?" she asked Tyler glanced back at the table then at the door in time to see Reid's blond hair go out the door followed by Aaron.
"Guys Reid's in trouble" said Tyler. Pogue and Caleb both turned to look at the closing door, Reid had gone through. Tyler was walking towards it already Caleb and Pogue soon following after telling them to stay here. Xandria watched their retreating backs and snorted, then started to follow them. "Hey where are you going Caleb said to stay here" said Sarah "so, he's not in charge of me" said Xandria. Then she kept walking towards the door. "Ah! Shit" said Sarah as she watched her go then they decided to follow her. Xandria walked out the door, barely avoiding the teen hitting the wall next to her. She stepped over the boy and walked towards the group on one side was Aaron and his friends who were yelling at Caleb. Who was yelling back at him. Pogue and Tyler were standing by a bedraggled Reid who looked like he had been hit a few times.
The boys on Aaron's side were accusing Reid of cheating them out of some money. Caleb was arguing that Reid was just a better player. "More like a cheater, I'll bet any one of my friends could beat anyone in your group" said Aaron. "Your on" said Xandria. The boys turned to her and said "huh!" Aaron blinked in surprise "say what?" he said, "I told you to wait inside" said Caleb. Slightly annoyed that she hadn't listened She ignored him "you said anyone of your group against one of ours, or are you too chicken to accept your own challenge" she goaded. Aaron took a step forward that was meant to be menacing Caleb stepped between them. "Fine you want to lose some money for this loser it's on you doll" said Aaron. Then he turned to one of his friends a guy named Max and said, "how about it Max you want to show these losers how to really play?" the kid known as Max shrugged. "I guess, though it seems unfair to play against a girl," said Max
She raised one eyebrow and retorted "more fair than a four against one fight" she answered calmly. Aaron chose to ignore her insinuations and headed for the door "you losers coming" said Aaron. His friends followed him inside. Caleb watched them go and then turned towards Xandria as if to yell at her. She ignored him and walked past to where Tyler was helping Reid up. "Are you ok?" she asked. Noticing his cut lip and bruised eye. "Yeah I'll be fine," he said shrugging off Tyler's helping hands before striding towards the door. Tyler and Pogue followed him leaving Caleb and the girls.
The girls followed Pogue inside, giving her a mouthed good luck before closing the door. "You could have gotten hurt," said Caleb. When she started to walk towards the door ignoring his rant. "Hey! I'm talking to you," he said grabbing her arm. She turned to face him glaring at him as she did so. "What?" she said defensively "I'm trying to keep you safe here listen to me" he said "that's Tyler's job not yours" she said coolly and pulled her arm from his grasp. Then walked back inside. Caleb cursed and followed her.
She was already at the table Tyler was asking her something and she nodded yes and walked towards the table. Both groups were gathered around the table to watch the match. "Would you like to rack or should I" said Max. "Sure I'll rack what way are we playing regular or tournament rules" she surprised him by asking. Max got a worried look on his face before replying "tournament" thinking she didn't know what she was talking about. She grinned and racked the balls regulation style. Lifted the rack and set it in its place. "Would you like to break?" he asked. "No your supposed to" she said. He nodded and took up position to break.
He wasn't expecting her to actually know how to play apparently. She smiled at his discomfort while she applied chalk to her cue stick. "Stripes" said max "15 in corner" he called calmly and lined up the shot. He made the shot but missed his next when the cue ball went wide for some reason and right into a pocket. "Scratch" she called Max frowned and stepped back. She stepped forward taking the cue ball out of the pocket and lining up her shot "1 ball side pocket" she called and glanced up once before making her shot. Reid was directly across from her and his eyes were solid black. His eyes widened in shock when he realized she saw. Then quickly turned blue again. Xandria shrugged it off and took her shot, which went in.
She wondered if she saw correctly but shrugged it off for a moment "four off bank this side" she said tapping the hole in front of her. The audience gasped that was a difficult shot because there were balls between both the side bank and the target hole. She smiled glanced at Reid one time then took position and shot. She wasn't watching the balls on the table she was busy watching Reid. Who confirmed her suspicions by using again. Forcing the ball she had shot to glide smoothly between the other balls bank off the side and right into her intended target.
Apparently Aaron and his boys were right Reid had been cheating using magic to control the balls on the table. She frowned at him. When he glanced at her she mouthed stop it. Then called her next shot this one just a little more difficult than the last. Reid once again used to control the shot. Making it apparent that he wasn't going to heed her warning. She sighed and walked towards the other end of the table under the guise of lining up her next shot. Her hand was lightly touching the table as she did so, effectively warding it against Reid's influence. She called her next shot confident that it was her skill she was using now not his interference. She made the shot and glanced up at Reid again. He had a puzzled frown on his face. She smiled at him took her next shot and missed. Then she stepped aside for Max to take his shot. Max made another shot in, so he took another shot.
The score was now 5 to 3, five for Xandria and Three for Max. Max missed his next shot and stepped aside with a worried look on his face. Xandria grinned wickedly and called a seemingly impossible three way bank shot into one of the corner pockets. Tyler looked worried and glanced at Reid who looked back equally worried. Xandria lined up her shot; the audience held its breath and she shot. The ball sailed smoothly across the table bounced off the side hit another ball sailed to another side bounded back and hit another ball, bounced in another direction and rolled towards the hole.
All eyes were following its progress across the table. So when it seemed to pause before falling into the hole they gasped. Then it fell in and they seemed to release their breaths. She called the next one and knocked it smoothly in. leaving her only the eight ball to knock in. "any last requests Max?" she said teasingly "yeah miss" he said back. She shot and it flew smoothly into the pocket she called "sorry Max, request denied" she said grinning. "Good game" he said and handed her the wad of cash. She took the bills and stuffed them into her pocket. Max threw his cue on the table and walked away.
The guys thumped her on the back and congratulated her on a good game. Tyler hugged her "wow babe, you sure can play," he said. Reid looked pissed and stormed out. "What's his problem now?" said Pogue. "Heck if I know" said Caleb. Tyler watched Reid walk out the door with a worried expression on his face. He did know and Caleb would be none too happy with the blond. "Ty honey can you go get me a drink I'm going to go talk to Reid a sec okay" said Xandria. "It's better if you just let him cool his heels" said Pogue as she turned to go "I'll be right back" she said following Reid out the door. After she was gone Caleb pulled Tyler aside "out with it baby boy what going on?" said Caleb. Tyler being a lousy liar anyways said, "I think she saw him use"
Caleb looked at Pogue, they both looked worried. "Girls we'll be right back" said Caleb and he headed for the door they went out. Pogue and Tyler followed him. "Caleb what are you going to do?" said Pogue.