Page 6 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

I bite the pencil hard, roll my eyes away from Pete, and clench my teeth. If I gave them a drink, Sara would sniff it out before taking a sip, and I don’t want them to question my morals. Any careless move will draw unnecessary attention, and if anyone becomes too curious about me, my lies might unravel, revealing an ice elemny among the sheep.

Chaos will spread. And in the blink of an eye, I envision myself atop the high castle walls with a spear through my head.

Yeah. Screw that. I need to find a different way to get rid of his friends.

Also, when has Xavier ever shown an interest in hanging out with his friends? Since dating, all he seems to want is to objectify me. Every time I brought up the idea of a “double date”, he brushed it off, and we went back to the apartment, where he would touch me and treat me like a puppet.

At least this time, I am in control despite stooping so low.

“Hey, Panda. You have written nothing.” Xavier glides his hand across my thigh. My body tenses, and my joints become stiff as he slides his hand so high up that he’s on the fringe of tasting the heat between my legs. “Is everything all right?”

“Oh…” I look at Xavier and lower my chin as I look up at him. Any concerns about my well-being disappear, and the hungry look of a fire elemny eager to consume me intensifies.

His fingers move closer to my warmth as he bites his lip to hold back his excitement.

Disgust courses through me, but before I can consider how I do things, Mr Rams taps the blackboard with his ruler. His silver eyes watch us, and not just his—the other students turn in their seats and snigger.

Xavier removes his hand from my thigh and goes about glaring at his textbook. I watch him for a moment longer before focusing on the work before me. Like Pete’s, my work lies bare, with no clue what to write or what we’re meant to do today.

So, I scribble down what Xavier writes. Later this evening, I will rewrite everything and change the wording so it doesn’t appear that I’ve plagiarised his work.

It’s not as if it matters. We’re learning about events that took place two thousand years ago, about the rise in the disappearances of children and teenagers. Mr Rams wants us to speculate about what happened because nothing in our history books tells us how they vanished.

Not only does it sound dull, but I also dislike revisiting the past. It should remain buried, behind locked doors, where all my demons seem to hide.

The bell rings when I finish writing at least a page’s worth of information. As I pack my textbook and notebook into my bag, Mr Rams says, “Tomorrow, we will learn more about the Kingdom of Crystal and its downfall.”

The chewed pencil snaps, and I toss it into the pencil case, zip up my bag, and sling it over my shoulder. I follow Xavier out into the corridor, and he heads to his Fire Class. Sara walks with him since her Earth Class is in the same direction.

Kylie and I make our way to the ground floor for our Water Class. As we wait outside the doors for the teacher, Kylie glares at a text message on her phone. She deletes the message from her mother and shoves her phone back into her pocket.

My thoughts drift to extracting information from her. But then again, should I care? After I kill King Ragan, I’ll head back home and away from this wretched, corrupted Eraminia. I doubt there’s any point in getting closer to them when I leave after Xavier awakens.

Still, I am curious.

“Is everything okay at home?” I ask Kylie as we enter the classroom. She remains silent until we reach our table, and I wait as patiently as I can. At the front of the classroom, Mrs Rams—Mr Rams’ wife—wants us to see if we can move water in a plastic bottle.

Fuck me, right?

Whatever.

Mrs Rams sets the water bottles on the table when Kylie finally speaks. “Uh, not really. My mother keeps asking who is coming with me to Xavier’s awakening. Except, if I read between the lines, I know all she’s asking is whether Sara is coming.”

As I grab the water bottle with one hand, I pinch my thigh with my other until a stinging sensation shudders down my leg. Half my focus is on the pain to prevent myself from letting the ice seep into the bottle and reveal what I truly am.

“They don’t like her?”

“No…They were hoping I was tethered to a guy.”

I put on a smile. “You’re lucky you didn’t, honestly. They all seem to think with their dicks.”

Kylie snorts a laugh. “Xavier is annoying you, eh?”

I eye her and then look away. “Sometimes. But it’s normal, right?”

The water in Kylie’s bottle sloshes with every tap of her finger. “Sara will never get on my nerves. It might be because we’re connected, though. I’m more in tune with her emotions, so when she’s upset, I feel it and can be mindful.”

Tethering sounds so draining. I can’t fathom experiencing someone else’s emotions and being perfectly fine with it—the unexpected jolts of desire, annoyance, anger, affection, and illness. Far out, a torturous cycle. How can Kylie love it? It seems like a fucking nightmare.