Cosmic

It's the night everyone goes to Cosmic to unwind. Someone ALWAYS has to ruin it, huh?

The next day was long. It was finally the last class of the day and Andie had Advanced Potions. She sat in the back row with Kira to her left and Mykal to her right. Landin sat in front of Kira, but he was normally quiet in this class. Andie figured it was because he could listen in on peoples thoughts, and he didn’t really want to say too much, afraid he may accidentally answer someone’s thought out loud. Not because it would bother him, because everyone knew he could read minds, but to keep others from being embarrassed around him. Kira had been taking extra-curricular classes to learn how to block some thoughts from him, and Kira had teaching Andie a few basics. Sometimes it drove Landin nuts trying to read Kira’s mind, and Andie thought it was both fun to watch and almost cruel.

Today in Advanced Potions, as happened every Friday, Mr. Zopa gave them a short but difficult quiz.

Andie tapped Kira on the shoulder. “What herb causes people to have illusions of flying?” She whispered. She was pretty good at potions usually, but the names of things often escaped her. Writing it down was never the same as actually handling the ingredients.

Kira shrugged and began to say something but was interrupted by a deep voice from the other side of Andie.

“Strilla.” Mykal whispered to them, perfecting to rolling of the R and the combination of the two L’s “It’s a flower related to the lotus, which makes people fall in love.” he cooed toward Andie.

Kira looked at Andie with a raised eyebrow. Andie shrugged and started writing down the answer. Soon, Mr. Zopa collected the quizzes and told them that they could have the remaining ten minutes to socialize.

“Andie, I’m heading out at about five to beat the line, you coming with me or are you meeting us up there?” Kira asked.

“I’ll go with y’all. Meet you at the corner between the girls and guys dorms?” Andie asked.

“Yeah. Like I said, I’ll meet you there a little before five and we-” she was interrupted again.

“I hope you will save me a dance.” Andie turned to see two very dark eyes looking back at her. “I won’t be there until six.” Mykal added with a sly, dark smile.

Andie raised an eyebrow and shook her head, and turned back to Kira, trying to ignore Mykal. “Anyway… I’ll meet you at the corner of the dorms.” Andie finished as Kira nodded and turned to whisper to Landin.

Soon, the bell rang to dismiss class and Landin and Kira darted out of class before Andie had a chance to catch up to them.

Andie left the room and started heading to her dorm room which was on the second floor of the first dorm building. She checked her watch for the time. “Only 3:45” she mumbled to herself. Then the watch on her wrist disappeared. She jumped and turned around quickly. Behind her, not even a whole two feet, stood Mykal, holding her watch.

Andie took a step closer to him and tried to grab the watch out of his hand, but he pulled it back quickly. “Give it back, Mykal!” she yelled trying to grab the watch again, but he pulled back again, holding it high in the air swaying it back and fourth.

“What do I get for giving it back?” He asked, watching her jump to try to grab the watch away from him, unsuccessfully.

“What do you GET for giving back the watch you STOLE?!” Andie yelled at him, exasperated. “If you give it back, I might not KILL you!” She hissed angrily.

“Nah.” He shrugged. “I think I’d rather keep it.” He smiled down at her, tauntingly.

“Mykal, please, just give me the damn watch back, I need to go!” Andie said, trying to sound calm.

“ok, under one condition.” He had a devious look in his eyes.

Andie looked at him with a warning glare. “What could you possibly want?” she asked, her voice thick with the same warning that was showing in her eyes.

“Oh, nothing too much, Just a dance. Save me one at Cosmic tonight.” He started lowering the watch.

“What ever, just give me the watch!” Andie said, grabbing the watch out of his hand before he had a chance to change his mind. She turned around quickly and started walking away. “What a waste of five minutes!” she growled, walking toward her dorm building. By the time she actually got to the door of her room, it was 3:55. She opened the door and walked inside. Sasha was sitting in her flame printed chair again. She was already dressed and made-up for the club. She wore a bright pink, see through dress that only fell to mid-thigh. She smiled up at Andie.

“I saw you with Mykal.”

Andie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, he’s an egotistical a*s-hole!” she growled again.

“What is he up to this time?” Sasha asked, twirling her curly, black hair around her perfectly tanned finger.

“The little rat stole my watch. He ransomed me into dancing with him for one dance tonight at Cosmic.” Andie said and gathered her outfit and make-up that she would need.

“Lucky.” Sasha sighed.

“Not really. And I intend to walk all over his feet!” Andie stepped into the bathroom and showered, got dressed and put on her make-up. When she walked out, she wore a black halter top with orange flames encircling her waist. Her make-up was naturally colored and wore a light red lipstick. Her dark blonde hair was straightened perfectly and pinned in a messy half-up-do. She had on black bell-bottomed low-rise jeans, and her halter top showed off her flat stomach. She looked down at her watch again, then back up at Sasha. “Hey, it’s 4:55. I better go meet Kira. I’ll see you there…? Mykal will be there around 6:00, incase you were wondering…” Andie grabbed her tiny backpack that substituted a purse and headed out the door. Just because she invited Sasha didn’t mean that they had to show up together. Andie could handle being around the girl, but in all honesty, she didn’t have to like her. Sasha was too much of a fan-girl type for Andie to really consider a friend.

At the corner where the girls dorms met the boys dorms, Andie stopped by the vending machine and waited. Soon, she saw Kira walking hand-in-hand with Landin. Kira was wearing her favorite belly shirt which was dark blue and had pink letters across it that said “Remember My Name…” and jeans that matched Andie’s in every way except the color. Kira’s were a dark blue that matched her shirt. Landin was wearing the same style he always did. A loose fitting gray t-shirt that was tucked into his baggy black cargo-jeans.

“Hey you!” Kira called in her musical voice.

“Hey! Nice outfit!” Andie said to Kira then turned to Landin. “So your going to have to keep a leash on her, or someone may just pick her up and walk away.” She teased him.

Landin held Kira closer. “I’ll have to chase them down and kick their a*s.” he said, planting a kiss on Kira’s cheek. Kira smiled up at him, probably sending him a thought.

“Well, if we want to beat the line, we better get going.” Kira finally broke the silence, starting to walk toward the door.

They arrived at the Cosmic doors at exactly 5:00. The line was only about eight people long. The bouncers checked their bags and took their entrance fee’s and they all went in.

“Should I find a table?” Landin asked the girls. Kira nodded.

“Close to the dance floor, please.” She said, letting go of his hand.

“Andie, is someone coming to meet you?” He asked, probably out of courtesy, since he probably already knew the situation thanks to his extra ability, as he counted out how many chairs to grab.

“Yes, unfortunately. But don’t bother getting him a chair.” She said, rolling her eyes. Kira gave her a confused look, but Landin didn’t look surprised. “It’s Mykal. He’s kind of ransoming me. He took my watch and would only give it back if I agreed to give him one dance tonight. He gives me the creeps.” she said, shuddering. The two nodded and then the DJ started playing some fast music. The room was filling quickly and several girls rushed to the dance floor. Andie smiled and looked to Kira. “Wanna dance?” She asked teasingly holding out her arm.

Kira put a hand on Andie’s arm. “Of course!”

The two girls walked out to the dance floor to the familiar song They swayed their bodies and made circular motions with their hips. Andie looked over toward the table that Landin had picked out for them. It was right against the dance floor in the center row.

She smiled. Kira and Andie were dancing quickly, nearly hip-to-hip beside each other, and facing each other. Several guys were staring and girls were rolling their eyes. It didn’t take long for a circle of other dancers and on-lookers to form around them.

Andie smiled widely. “Lets give them a show!” she shouted to Kira. She snapped her fingers and flames burst out around metal-banded watch on her wrist forming bracelet-like circles around both wrists. She waved her arms through the air and Kira laughed.

It was only a second before Kira winked an eye and a crown of sparkling ice formed on her head and strings of ice crawled down her arms in much the same fashion, creating a disco-ball-effect. Between the two girls’ powers, the room was sparkling and alight. There were ooh’s and ahh’s coming from the circle of people around them and some guys cheering and whistling. The girls continued to dance for a whole other song before the circle finally thinned out enough for the girls the slide through. Andie allowed the fire around her wrists to die out and Kira let the ice shatter and they broke though the circle to find their table.

Andie thought that Kira’s and her friendship was ironic. Normally fire and ice wouldn’t mix in any form of a relationship, but Kira’s cheery, bright personality stood out to Andie and they had become fast friends; practically sisters.

Landin was sitting at the table, his face solemn.

“Hey, Babe, what’s wrong?” Kira asked, sitting in the chair next to him. Landin didn’t answer, he only glanced at a crowd of boys sitting at a table in front of them. Kira sighed. It wasn’t hard to figure out what he was a bit upset about. The boys were practically drooling and staring back at the girls.

“Hey. It’s ok. Maybe instead of reading their thoughts, you should read mine. Just because they are looking at me, doesn’t mean I’m looking at anyone but you.” Kira smiled and kissed his cheek.

Landin’s scowl faded and a slight smile formed in it’s place as her wrapped his arms around Kira’s waist and kissed her. When he pulled back, he was almost laughing. Andie looked back at the table to see the guy’s disappointed looks. A few kept their eyes on Andie and she just smirked back at them and shook her head ‘no’.

Kira sat back in her chair and Andie sat in the chair next to her. She leaned over to whisper to Kira. “I think I’m gonna go for another dance and let you two have a little alone time.” she teased.

Kira rolled her eyes. “Alone time? In the middle of a dance club? Good luck.” she laughed. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” She asked.

“No, I’ll be fine. It’s just dancing. Besides, you make me look bad.” she laughed and stood up.

“I don’t think so. You could easily show me up on the dance floor.” she giggled and turned her attention back to Landin.

Andie walked back onto the dance floor as the multi-colored lights flashed in time to the music. She found an area that wasn’t over crowded and started to dance. It wasn’t as fun alone, but it still helped to take her mind off of school and almost everything else.

Lately everything in Andie’s life had been changing. Kira had been spending more time with Landin and less time hanging out with Andie like they used to. Andie’s grades had been dropping and she was loosing her focus. It was impossible to focus on anything in the past month. She had stopped receiving letters from her Mom. The last one she had gotten said the she was moving into an apartment in the city so she could be closer to her new boyfriend, Dylon. Andie despised Dylon. He was rude and he seemed the complete opposite of perfect for her mom. Not to mention he had tried to take her fathers place. He was the reason Andie and her mom didn’t talk much anymore.

Her focus on her problems was interrupted when someone tapped her shoulder. Shocked, Andie turned around quickly to see who it was.

“Hey. Why are you dancing alone?” Sasha asked, trying to keep up with Andie’s dancing beside her.

Andie didn’t stop dancing. She moved her feet less, but her hips still swayed back a fourth with the music. “No reason.” she said coldly.

“Ok, then you don’t mind if I dance here with you?” she asked, trying to sound polite.

“Nope. Not at all.” Andie replied, still sounding annoyed. She danced for another few seconds beside Sasha and then a slow song started. Andie sighed, annoyed by the couples that flooded the dance floor. Andie walked back to the table and found it empty. ‘Go figure’ Andie thought to herself, scanning the dance floor for Landin and Kira. She spotted them in the front left corner of the dance floor. Kira’s head was on Landin’s chest. Even Andie had to admit that they were an adorable couple.

When she looked back in front of her, there was a guy standing there. She didn’t recognize him. He was tall, at least a foot taller than herself, he had dark hair, and he was slightly tanned. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing sitting by herself?” He asked with a cute smile. Andie didn’t have to have Landin’s ability to know he was asking her to dance, but she was going to play it dumb.

“Nothing, literally. Waiting for a fast song, watching my friend and her date dance.” she said, looking at the boy as if she had no idea why he was standing there.

He held out an arm to her. “You shouldn’t have to sit back and watch. You should come dance with me.” He said, not really putting it in question form.

Andie shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t dance.” she lied. Well, she didn’t really lie, she stretched the truth. She danced, obviously, just not to the slow songs. Not because she couldn’t, but because she didn’t want to dance with the guys.

He grabbed her arm a little rougher than necessary. “I know you dance, I was watching you. Come on, dance with me.” He said, his voice deeper than before as if he were getting angry.

Andie pulled back from him. She didn’t know what power he had, but she never let anyone ever get away with touching her or talking to her like that. “Hey, back off! I said no, now go sit with your buddies before you get your a*s handed to you by a girl here in the middle of the club!” she barked at him.

He tried to grab her again, but someone grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. “Hey, leave the girl alone. She’s here with me.” Mykal said in a calm voice, tossing the boy back. The boy stumbled a little, rolled his eyes and walked away, mumbling under his breath.

Andie stood up and started to walk away. “I could have handled that myself.” she said, shaking her head.

Mykal followed her and stepped in front of her. “And I see you were doing a great job at that.” he said sarcastically.

Andie pushed around him and headed for the door, but persistent Mykal grabbed her shoulder and lightly turned her around to face him. She could see the laughter in his eyes. “Mykal, just leave me alone.” she said, not turning away yet.

“You owe me a dance.” He reminded her.

“And maybe you’ll get one. Or maybe I’ll burn you to a crisp for bothering me.” She said bobbing her head in rhythm to her threat.

Mykal smiled. “And why don’t you show me how you plan to do that?”

Andie growled under her breath and tensed her arms to prepare for an attack. She lifted her hand and snapped her fingers. A slight spark appeared, but it fizzled out almost instantly. She tried again, but this time she noticed that her watch had disappeared again. “Mykal! Give it back! You know I need that to focus my energy for my flame to work!” she yelled at him

“Yes, I know. But I also seem to remember someone promising me that if I gave it back, they would dance with me. And I trusted them and I came all the way out to this club, and now she’s gone and changed her mind. A deal is a deal.” Mykal said, lifting the watch out of his pocket.

Andie growled again under her breath. “Mykal, you stole it to start with, just give it back! I need it!” She complained, getting very angry. She hated the way her nerves worked together. Andie could avoid crying if she was sad, but sure enough, if she got angry enough, the tears would roll. She inhaled deeply to keep from crying in her anger. She didn’t want to cry here in Cosmic in front of everyone, especially not in front of Mykal. It was a sign of weakness. She refused to be weak around him, or any man. “Mykal, PLEASE, just give it back!” she said, still holding back angry tears.

Mykal smiled that mean grin that showed that he wasn’t going to back down. “A deal is a deal.” he repeated.

“Fine! One stupid dance!” Andie barked, trying to grab the watch out of his hand.

“Nuh-uh-uh.” Mykal said, shaking his head and pulling the watch back and putting it in his pocket again. “You can have it back AFTER you dance with me.” He smiled. “Just to keep you honest.” His dark eyes seemed to smolder while he looked over her.

Andie grabbed his arm. “Come on! Give it back!” she knew he wasn’t going to give in now. “Ok, Mykal, lets go. Your one dance starts now!” She said, giving up.

“Don’t be hasty, Andie, this song is almost over, we’ll wait till the next song.” He smiled triumphantly. “Don’t look so upset, I promise you’ll get your dance.” he chuckled.

Andie tightened her jaw. “Shove it.” she spat at him, trying, yet again, to hold back tears of rage.

Reviews

[Jules]

I liked the legnth of this chapter. It wasn't too short, yet it wasn't excrutiatingly long. Like your previous chapter, the dialogue was realistic. I like how the characters classes at the school are completely out there and fantastical (is that a word?) and more than likely wouldn't be seen in real schools, even a gifted school, it definitely adds something to the novel and makes it unique, which of course is a good thing. I liked how you used time in this. You made it evident that it was the next day after the previous chapter. Good work! Keep writing!