Tompkin's School (For The Extraordinarily Talented Book 1) (20 page)

“Maybe this is just your power,” he shrugged.

“But we both have the ability to do magic with our hands,” I said, “we already experienced it when we transitioned the first time.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Kain commented, “can we go?”

“Fine,” I sighed, still frustrated that that didn’t work.

I bet he wasn’t focusing enough. We headed to the back entrance to the cafeteria and as Kain reached for the door handle we heard a terrible crunch sound. It was the sound of metal breaking. We both stopped.

“What was that?” I asked.

Kain let go of the handle and as he did so a handful of metal came with him.

“Whoa,” I gasped.

“Uh, something must’ve been wrong with the handle,” Kain said.

“I don’t think so,” I grinned.

“Don’t say anything,” he scolded, “let’s just go eat.”

“I’ll get this one,” I laughed as I opened the other door.

We entered the cafeteria that was filling up with students. I didn’t see any of our friends yet, so we sat our stuff on the nearest table.

“So, I heard you’re taking Kia to the social,” I said, “are you two a thing again?”

“We were never a
thing
,” Kain replied, “and yeah we’re going together.”

“What’s that all about?” I asked as we headed to the food line.

“I didn’t know who else to ask,” Kain shrugged, “and she was already going. Nosy much?”

“Just trying to make conversation,” I said, “on another note, aren’t you excited about that power?”

“Izzy!” Kain hissed, “
not
here!”

“No one’s listening,” I whispered, sarcastically.

“Still,” Kain replied, “no need raising any suspicion. Definitely not with Chuck watching our every move.”

“Fine,” I shrugged, “but we definitely have to find a time to practice.”

“Don’t know how that’s going to happen,” Kain said.

“Come on! We have to get a grip on all of our power before the social,” I reminded.

“I didn’t say we weren’t going to try,” Kain added, “calm down.”

I rolled my eyes and focused on getting my food. It was Indian food day. Great, now my breath was going to smell like curry. I opted for a salad, a side of rice, and called it a day. I spotted Kia back in the line waiting to get her tray and waived.

“Kia!” I called.

When she looked up I motioned to our table before taking my seat. As I got comfortable I felt someone brush past me. I looked up and gasped as I felt a stabbing pain explode in my head. I saw the curly brown hair and instantly knew who it was.

“Amadeus,” I whispered.

“Yes,” he said.

“What do you want?” I demanded.

“I know what you did,” he replied.

“You now what?” I asked.

“I saw what you can do,” Amadeus clarified.

“So, that
was
you this morning,” I sighed, “and?”

“
And
I wanted to let you know,” he chuckled, “that I think we’ll just keep this between you and me...for now.”

“Is this some sort of threat?” I growled.

“Call it a mutual understanding,” he replied, “let’s just say you’ll owe me one, Izara.”

I heard chairs move and I felt the stabbing pain lift. I slowly opened my eyes and saw that Kia and Leslie taking a seat at our table.

“Oh, hey Amadeus!” Kia said, “are you joining us?”

“Yeah,” I heard him say.

His voice was like listening to nails on a chalkboard, sending painful shivers throughout my body.

“I’ll go get my food,” he said, as I heard him stand up to leave.

I really wished he’d find another table to torture. Kain finally came over to the table, taking the seat that Amadeus was just sitting in, and the table soon filled with random conversations as we ate our food.

“We have a problem,” I whispered to Kain.

“Does this have something to do with that Amadeus guy?" He asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, “he saw me use magic this morning.”

“
What?" He
hissed.

“Yup,” I said.

“How could you be that careless?" He demanded.

“I thought I was alone!” I replied.

“Well, you weren’t,” he said, shaking his head.

“Thanks, captain obvious,” I said, sarcastically.

“So, what did he want?” Kain asked.

“Nothing,” I shrugged, “yet.”

“Great,” Kain chuckled, “now in addition to some psycho wanting to kill us we have Amadeus threatening to expose us.”

“Yeah, I know it’s bad,” I said.

“If Theodore or Chuck get word of this…” Kain didn’t even have to finish that sentence. We both knew the consequences of that.

We both sat there in silence. Not wanting to verbalize the obvious. We were screwed and in more ways than one. But I kept thinking about our developing power. I mean the potential power I felt when in transition seemed limitless. If we could muster even half of it by the social we could be unstoppable. We just had to focus on that instead of whatever Amadeus wanted from us. He wasn’t exactly an immediate problem, it seemed. We couldn’t lose focus on what needed to be done first which was getting our power under control.

“Want to meet someplace to practice this weekend?” I asked.

“Sure,” Kain shrugged, “not sure what use it is. Seems like it’s all random.”

“Well, we have to make it not random,” I replied, “I think I know the perfect place.”

We agreed to meet early Saturday morning where the paths to the two dorms met. It would either be successful or a complete fail. Either way we had to try. I suddenly realized that we hadn’t been keeping up with any conversations with our friends and tried to catch up.

“It’s leg day at the gym for me today,” Duran was saying.

“I thought that was yesterday,” Laurent laughed.

“Don’t you have basketball practice after this?” I asked.

“Now that the season’s over it’s just basically PE,” Kain commented.

“Huh, well cool,” I smiled.

“Not really,” Lee laughed, “coach mostly has us lifting weights, but we don’t get to even practice shooting hoops.”

“But you get to work out those sexy arms,” Kia winked.

The table laughed and continued eating and making conversation.

I glanced around the cafeteria and spotted Chuck seated not too far. He seemed so normal from this distance, not like a dangerous man at all. But he was the perfect example of how looks deceive. The true dangerous one is the one that looks perfect on the outside. The one who has the most to hide tries the most to fit in. But what did that mean for Kain and I? We did have something to hide. How long would it be until everyone knew that we were the ones responsible for that murder in the city?

“Izzy!” Kia suddenly called, interrupting my thoughts.

“What?” I asked.

“What do you think about going to the concert?" She replied, “Amadeus has several extra tickets.”

“Cool, who’s playing?” I asked.

“Katy Perry, of course!” Kia said, “It’s going to be amazing.”

“Really?” I replied, “That’s awesome! Yes, I’m in.”

Even if it was Amadeus who was providing the tickets, I wasn’t going to miss this! I had no idea that someone like Katy Perry would come to a deserted place like this. Although it was probably in the city, but still.

“What do you think, Kain?” Kia asked.

“Ha,” he smirked, “no thanks.”

I saw the brief reaction Kia had to Kain’s response and I felt bad. She really did like him and this would be a chance for them to hangout.

“When is the concert?” I asked.

“It’s in January,” Amadeus replied, causing a shiver of pain to roll down my spine.

“I know it’s not until after the break,” Kia said, “but it’s a huge event, planning should be done early.”

“Come on, Kain,” I urged, “don’t be a downer.”

“We’ll see,” he shrugged.

“Oh, we’re going to be late!” Kia commented, “Let’s go.”

“I thought drama didn’t start until 1:20,” I said.

“Yeah, but we’re going to Norman to see a play,” Kia said, “remember?”

Not really, but I just shrugged and followed Kia’s lead in standing up and as I did so Lee grabbed my arm before I could go return my tray.

“Wait a minute,” Lee smiled, “I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.”

“I’ll be back,” I laughed.

Lee reached his hand towards my cheek and the butterflies returned, making me nervous. I hoped he wasn’t about to do what I thought he was going to do. I didn’t want our first kiss to be in the middle of the cafeteria in front of
everyone
! He leaned forward and instead of a kiss he gave me a hug and my heart raced. I was surprised that this made me feel both relieved and disappointed. But it was definitely not the time or place for that so I would take the hug.

“See you later,” he whispered.

“Bye,” I smiled.

“Come on, Iz,” Kia chuckled, “no pda.”

I just laughed and followed her to return our trays and headed out towards where the buses usually picked us up.

“Looks like Ms. Morgan is back,” Kia pointed out.

“Hey, so I saw what happened in there,” I said.

“What are you talking about?” Kia replied.

“Come on,” I said, raising an eyebrow, “when Kain shut down the concert idea? What was that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kia shook her head as we climbed into the first available bus.

“Seriously?” I replied, “your face was so obvious! I know you were disappointed that Kain didn’t seem excited about the concert.”

“Ugh, whatever,” Kia sighed, “I just don’t know what we’re doing? He asks me out to the social and as soon as I ask him to go to a concert he just shuts it down?”

“There it is,” I said.

“I’m just confused, Iz,” Kia said, “can you talk to him? Maybe find out subtly how he feels about me?”

“Look,” I began, “I’m totally not known for my subtly, but we’ll figure this out. If it’s meant to be it’ll happen.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Kia said, “I just don’t know how many times I have to apologize for him to forgive me.”

“I know my brother, okay?” I said, “I’m sure he’s not still hung up about what happened at the party. If anything he has more of a problem with Katy Perry than anything else.”

“I hope that’s all,” Kia commented.

“He’ll go, okay?” I replied, “even if I have to drag him there. I know he likes you. Otherwise he’d go to the social by himself.”

Kia just shrugged and we road the rest of the way in silence. I couldn’t worry about her too much right now, not with all the other people threatening us right now. I had to focus on exploring the depth of my power. I knew I could do more than just move things, but conjure things as well and probably so much more. And Kain could do the same if not more than I could. He just had to put his mind to it and then we would be ready for the social.

Finals were soon over and the only thing left before winter break was the social. Kain and I had been working hard to tap into our full moon power and we had finally gotten a few tricks up our sleeve. While others worried about what they were going to wear and how to dance to impress, Kain and I were scheming to retrieve the journal. Kain’s scouting had determined that the journal was indeed in that mansion, but not in the most obvious hiding places. We had to be careful as to not draw anyone's attention, especially not to our dates. But the plan seemed to be unfolding perfectly. We would arrive, dressed in our finest, and ensure that the punch was thoroughly spiked so that everyone was distracted. This would allow us to spend the rest of the time looking for any clues for a basement or secret hiding spot. Granted, it wasn’t the best plan in the world, but it was the only one we could muster. In addition, I would be able to move things with a wave of my hand and conjure small simple things like a key if necessary. This could get us into any safe and if someone came after us? Kain could beat them to a swift and silent pulp.

“Oh my word!” Kia exclaimed, interrupting my attempts at applying mascara.

“I am
so excited
about this party tonight,” she continued.

“I know,” replied, “I can’t wait either.”

“I still think you should have gone with that mint colored ball gown,” Kia commented.

“I know,” I shrugged, “but I’ve got something just as amazing as that one.”

“Eek, I can’t wait!” Kia jumped with joy, even though we still had a full day of classes ahead of us.

“Kia, we still got classes to go to,” I reminded.

“I know,” Kia smiled, “but then we have the most amazing start to winter break to look forward to! Come on, you can’t tell me you’re not excited about this social? It’s at the president's
house
!”

“Of course I am!” I replied, hoping I was convincing enough.

I was definitely excited about going to the social as Lee’s date. On the other hand, I was most certainly not excited to have to ditch him to undergo an impossible mission. We were most likely to fail and I was not stoked to see the messy ending.

“Then why do you look so gloomy?" She asked.

“I don’t know, maybe you’re just reading into things?” I suggested.

“Stop it,” she laughed, “I’m not going to let your rotten attitude ruin my day.”

“It’s not rotten,” I replied.

“Are you not looking forward to seeing your eye candy all dressed up?" She asked.

“Uh, yeah definitely!” I said, “I guess I’m just nervous and trying to keep realistic expectations.”

“What you should be expecting,” Kia replied, “is to have a wonderful time with the guy you’ve been crushing on all semester.”

“Yeah,” I smiled.

Little did she know this was not all I was realistically going to expect. Normally, I would just be a girl excited about going to her first formal with her new boyfriend. But it was, obviously, not that simple for me.

“So, who all do you know that’s going tonight?” I asked.

“Oh, well,” she began, “I’m sure it will be a pretty small group. Maybe thirty or forty students. I only know of Kain, Lee, and you. Possibly Amadeus, of course he made it to the Honor’s Society, but I don’t know if it’s really his scene.”

“Amadeus?” I replied, hoping she didn’t suspect my nervousness.

“Yeah, duh,” she laughed, “he’s like the smartest guy in school so, of course, he’s invited. It’s whether he shows up or not.”

“He doesn’t party much, does he,” I assumed.

“No,” Kia agreed, “but he does seem to have a dark and mysterious side.”

“Isn’t that what you like?” I teased.

Kia just rolled her eyes as she pulled leggings on.

“I can’t believe how cold it’s gotten,” she commented.

“I know,” I agreed.

“Does this mean I
have
to wear a coat tonight?" She complained.

“Eh, I don’t know,” I said, “maybe not. Depending on the dress. We’ll be inside mostly.”

“True,” she agreed.

“Now, to more important things,” I began, trying to distract myself from my dire thoughts, “what are
you
going to wear?”

“Oh, I was hoping you’d ask!” Kia exclaimed, “let me show you.”

She leaped to the closet and pulled out a dress bag,securing it to one of the drawer hooks so she could unzip it.

“I am wearing this gorgeous gown,” she said, as she pulled out a plum colored sequined dress with a strapless heart shape neckline.

“Wow,” I gasped, “it
is
gorgeous! Where’d you get it?”

“A little shop in the city,” she replied.

“What about you?" She asked, “what are you wearing?”

“It’s a surprise,” I winked.

“Okay,” she replied, “but don’t blame me when you can’t accessorize because you left your best friend out of the loop.”

“Ha, no worries,” I laughed, “come on, let’s get some food and head to class.”

“You have US History first, right?" She asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Cool, that’s on my way to Geometry,” she said, “let’s go.”

We headed out the door and towards the cafeteria. We stepped outside to be welcomed by a light drizzle and an ice cold breeze.

“Gah, I definitely did not dress for this weather,” Kia complained.

“I know, me too,” I agreed.

I crossed my arms as we forced ourselves out into the cool morning. I looked up at the gray sky, remembering what it was like to gaze up and not see anything but sky scrapers. New York was filled with people, noise, commotion, and yet it still felt more calm than it did here. Here everything was quiet, suspenseful, like it was waiting for something to happen. It made me uneasy.

“Don’t you think?” Kia asked.

“What?” I asked, not noticing that she had been talking this whole time.

“Did you not hear me?" She demanded, “What’s wrong with you this morning?”

“I don’t know,” I lied, “I just seem to be spacing. Not sure how I’m going to last through class today.”

“I know how you feel,” she agreed, “at least about the class thing.”

“So, what did you ask?” I asked.

“Oh, nevermind,” she said, rolling her eyes, “I’m not going to let whatever mood you’re in ruin my day. You know, you and your brother are more alike than you’d like to admit.”

“Ha!” I laughed.

“Seriously,” she said, “you both get into these weird pensive moods and completely spaz.”

“I do not!” I denied, “I stay completely in control of my emotions.”

“Of course you do,” she said, sarcastically.

“Whatever,” I laughed, hooking arms with her as we entered the cafeteria.

We entered the line for breakfast and I looked to see what was on the menu.

“Eggs benedict and french toast,” I said.

“Ugh, calories I can’t have,” Kia complained.

“Since when do you have to worry about calories?” I asked.

“Since I have a dress to fit into tonight,” she explained, “I have to look my best.”

“The eggs benedict look good,” I said, “and they’re eggs. Eggs are good for you.”

“Yeah…” she said, doubtful.

“Come on,” I said, “starving yourself doesn’t make you look good. Plus, I’ve heard it’s really bad for you to skip breakfast and can actually cause you to gain weight.”

“Fine,” she caved.

“Eggs benedict, please,” I said to the server, “she’ll have the same.”

We got our breakfast and headed over to the table where our friends were already sitting.

“You guys are up early,” I said, taking my seat.

“Coach assigned us an early morning run,” Lee said, reaching his arm around me as I sat next to him.

“Hi,” I said to him, smiling.

“Hi,” he winked.

“Come on, you lovebirds,” Kia joked.

I just rolled my eyes and started eating breakfast. The social was all the table seemed to be able to talk about, at least for the ones who made it into the Honor’s Society or were going as someone’s plus one.

Izzy…

Someone else’s voice creeped into my thoughts. I looked up and saw Kain, sitting across the table, staring straight at me.

“Was that you?” I mouthed.

What do you think?
a corner of Kain’s lip curled into a half smile as he saw my shocked face when his voice slithered into my brain.

I took a deep breath. He had been practicing. I focused inward, hoping I could reproduced what he had just done. I hadn’t even figured that one out so far from the full moon! It was one thing to do it hours before the transition, but weeks? That was amazing.

You’re not the only one with tricks up their sleeve,
he winked.

I rolled my eyes.

That’s not all,
his voice once again invaded my personal space.

He quickly looked around, making sure no one was watching, and raised his hand over his glass of orange juice. Within seconds his glass began to bubble.

I gasped.

Fancy, huh?
his thoughts said, setting his hand down before anyone could notice,
I’m able to increase its temperature to boiling in an instant.

Again, I attempted to push a message to Kain. It seemed so easy for him and it would be so useful for us to be able to communicate to each other without others knowing.

I squinted, wondering if that would help, but I couldn’t feel any communication being pushed his way.

“Izzy,” Kain’s voice called.

“What?” I said, opening my eyes to the strangest view ever. I looked around the room and all the students were there, but didn’t seem to be moving. The only other moving creature in the room was Kain.

“What did you do?" He asked.

“I-I don’t know,” I stuttered in shock.

I glanced at Lee who was in the middle of taking a bite of food, holding his fork in midair. I waved my hand in front of his face, but there was no response. I looked up at the lunch line, even the servers were frozen. I wondered how much I could have frozen and how long they would be like that.

“Have you ever done this before?" He asked.

“No,” I shook my head, “I was just trying to communicate with you.”

“Well, I think we found our new secret weapon,” Kain said, “just hope you can do that again tonight.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “and for long enough. I have no idea what all I’ve frozen or for how long they’ll be like this!”

“You can’t just, unfreeze everyone?" He laughed.

“I don’t even know how I did this,” I said, “let alone how to reverse it!”

“Want to go check outside?" He suggested.

“No!” I cried.

“Why not?" He asked.

“What if they unfreeze?” I asked, “If we’re not here in our seats then everyone will be asking questions.”

Kain looked around the room.

“Yeah, I don’t think they’re unfreezing any time soon,” he said, jumping up from the table.

“Kain!” I hissed, as if others could overhear me...could they? “Kain!”

He was already halfway to the doors and I had no choice but to follow.

“Ugh, you never listen,” I complained, tossing my napkin on the table and made my way to the entryway.

He pushed through the doors and we both stepped outside. We saw a flock of disturbed birds fly off from a group of trees and in the parking lot a teacher pulling a stack of papers out of her car.

“Well,” Kain said, “I think it’s safe to say your freezing only worked in the cafeteria.”

“I have to unfreeze them,” I said, panicking, “what if someone comes in and sees? What if
Chuck
sees?”

“Did you see him in there?" He asked.

“I didn’t notice,” I said, “did you?”

“No,” he said.

“Come on,” I said, heading back to the cafeteria entrance, “we need to figure this out.”

“Wait,” Kain said, “look.”

I glanced in the direction that he was pointing towards and realized why he sounded so panicky. Chuck was making his way from the path leading to the dorms and was most certainly headed for the cafeteria..

“What do we do?” I asked.

“Let’s get back inside,” he said, pulling me through the front door.

We had maybe three minutes before Chuck would enter the building and realize what we were.

“We’ve got to figure something out,” he said.

“How?” I cried, completely freaking out.

“You were the one who froze them,” he replied, “just try redoing whatever you did before.”

“I don’t
know
what I did though!” I said.