Under A Blood Moon (Elemental Enchanters) (4 page)

When they surfaced, Melissa swam to Lance
, and Thomas swam to Ava. Being in the water rinsed away Ava’s worries.

“Hey, I have a great idea.” Melissa looked at Ava. “
Remember when we were kids and we’d hold our breaths under water to see how long we could hold them? I think we should have another competition.”

Thomas rubbed his face. “Who holds the record?”

Lance held his head high and puffed out his chest. “That would be me.”

“How many minutes?
” Jeremy asked.

Lance
exhaled. “Like two.”

Melissa sat on the bottom step in the pool.
“Okay, well I’ll time everyone.” She held up her hand. “Ready? Go!”

Ava
grinned before she went under. After a couple of minutes, she watched the three guys struggle to keep going. Thomas went up first, then Lance, but Ava stayed under. The chatter above was stifled. She was relaxed beneath the water. It was comforting to her. Minutes ticked by.

“How long has she been under?” She heard Lance’s muffled voice ask.

“Is she okay?” Jeremy asked.

Thomas
grabbed her arms and pulled her up. She laughed along with Melissa and Gillian.

“What is so funny?
” he demanded. “How could you hold your breath under there for so long? Did you cheat?”

Ava flashed a proud grin.
“I can breathe underwater.”

Jeremy moved
to the edge of the pool. “What?” he gasped.

“You can what?”
Thomas’s jaw dropped.

“It’s true,” Melissa said. “
And I can make myself invisible. So can Lance. Gillian can manipulate minds. Jeremy can create strong winds.”

Thomas nodded.
“You got a lighter and a candle?”

“
Here.” Gillian grabbed the citronella candle and the lighter from the table and handed it to him.

They all watched Thomas light the candle and then place hi
s hand over the fire. His hand abruptly burst into flames.

Ava yelped and doused his hand with water from the pool.

He sighed. “Dammit, I’m trying to show you something.” Again, his hand lit in a blaze.

Its warmth
heated Ava’s face. The orange glow fused into dark blue. She gasped as the flame moved to the palm of his hand in the form of a ball. He closed his hand and extinguished it.

“Yeah
? Watch this.” Jeremy challenged.

They waited and watched
the trees around them rustle. The wind picked up strong, until it knocked a large branch to fall from a tree nearby. Then, the wind stopped.

Gillian squealed.

“Jeremy! Not so close to the house, okay?” Melissa said.

He chuckled. “Sorry
.”

It was all so amazing to Ava. But then her
stomach tightened, and suddenly her hamburger and fries weren’t sitting well. Thomas could manipulate Fire. Jeremy could control Air. Could she be a Water Enchanter? If that were the case, that would mean three of them were Elemental Enchanters. Exceedingly rare. And incredibly powerful.

“What’s wrong, Babe?” Thomas moved in front of her as she leaned against the pool wall.

“You realize three of us might be Elemental?”

“So?”

“That’s very rare.”

He shrugged. “But oh so cool.
Just think of what we can do now. Nothing can stop us. I’m gonna have so much fun with some of those people at school.”

What were he and Melissa going to do
exactly? Would they go so far as to hurt someone like Kristen? Would Thomas use his power against Peter if he found out how much Ava liked him? Her heart jumped.

“
No.” She pushed him away. “This is serious. These powers are not meant to use whenever you want. We’re not supposed to use them on humans.” She spoke to everyone.

Thomas cocked an eyebrow. “Whatever.”

“Will you calm down?” Melissa said, and then narrowed her eyes. “Why are you really concerned about this?”

Ava knew that Melissa knew what she was thinking.
“Because we’re not supposed to. We could get in trouble.”

“You sound like Gillian. Just trust us. We aren’t going
to do anything crazy.” A wicked smile spread across her thin lips.

The first day of
junior year started under a hazy sunny day. Ava would much rather be swimming than be stuck inside a drab building all day. However, she was actually a little excited as she pulled into the parking space near the four-story brick school building. She wondered if she would have any classes with Peter and hoped she’d at least get to see him.

She got out of her car. The morning took no time to become hot and sticky. The thick air made it difficult to breathe, but there was a cool breeze.

Thomas stood by the gray double doors, waiting for her.

“Morning,
Babe.” He licked his lips then gave her a quick peck on the lips. He placed his meaty arm around her shoulders and walked inside. Disheartened students walked to their lockers along the concrete walls under the boring fluorescent lights. No one wanted to be there, except maybe for the few who enjoyed school. Thomas walked Ava to her locker, kissed her, and then walked away.

Algebra two
with Mrs. Duke started Ava’s morning and luckily, Melissa was there to share the misery. Ava despised any type of math. The only ones in the group who were good at it were Jeremy and Lance.

Ava w
alked to the back of the classroom once she saw Melissa with her head down on the desk. She plopped her books onto the desk next to her, and jolted Melissa awake.

Ava chuckled and slid into the chair.

“Why do you have to do that?”
She groaned.

Her appearance bemused
Ava. She’d pulled her blond hair into a messy ponytail, and little hairs stood in several directions. Redness surrounded her green eyes, and she wasn’t wearing makeup, not that Ava ever felt she needed to, but Melissa always wore it.

“
What the hell happened to you?”

“Lance and I stayed up way too late,” she
murmured.

“Are you still drunk?”

Melissa smiled. “Probably. I can’t tell.”

“I can’t believe your parents let you get so drunk, let alone drink.”

“Technically, they aren’t my parents, but I love them all the same.”

Ava rolled her eyes.
“You look like death warmed over.”

“I feel it, too.”

“Why are you even here?”

“What and miss this? Are you kidding?
” she said. “You should’ve been there last night. We got G drunk.” She snickered.

Ava knew it would happen sooner than later.
It bothered her that Melissa could persuade Gillian into doing anything. She never understood why Gillian would do anything to please Melissa, like they’d stop being friends if she didn’t.

“Ugh.
I know what’s going through your mind right now. And no, I did not force her to do it.”

Ava
met her eyes.

“Don’t give me that look.
I don’t want to hear it either.”

Ava shrugged and turned to the front where Mrs. Duke
wrote on the dry erase board.

A
fter a long and boring lecture, Ava sleepily found her way to chemistry—another boring subject of hers—until Peter strolled inside the classroom. Her heart leapt.

“Hey.
” Peter’s vigorous smile was contagious, and it always reached his chestnut-colored eyes. His smile smoldered and revealed a genuine sexiness. It was intoxicating to her. His shaggy dark brown hair came above his collar, and his bangs almost reached his thick eyebrows.

“Hey, I’m so glad you’re
in this class.” Ava stood and hugged him. She loved the way his arms perfectly fit around her and held her so tight, if only for a second. His lanky, muscular figure stood a couple of inches taller than her. He smelled wonderful. Fresh and clean, like water. Ava realized she missed him more than she thought which wasn’t a good thing.

“Yeah, me too.”

She returned to her seat and he took the desk next to hers in the back of the classroom.

He smiled widely.
“I brought you something back.”

“
You did? What for?”

Peter shrugged. “I just felt like it.
Plus, when I saw it, I immediately thought of you.” He plopped his backpack on the top of the desk, unzipped it, and pulled out a small leather-bound book. He held it out to her, still smiling.

She looked at the cover. Edgar Allan Poe’s poems.
“Peter? Wow, thanks.” His unprovoked generosity overwhelmed her as she flipped through the book. Her mom had always read Poe’s stories to her as a child, and he was her favorite author.

“Yeah I thought that since you had a copy of his stories, you needed one of his poems.”

“Thanks,” she said. “So, how was Boston?”

“
Ah, it was great. Got to see a baseball game and hung out. My dad had a good time. I have to confess though. I missed you.”

Her heart skipped a beat.
“Oh,” she looked away. Inside she was smiling, but she couldn’t put too much thought into it.

“
How was the rest of your summer? Anything exciting happen?”

If only
you knew.
“Uh, no, nothing. Thanks for your postcard. I liked it.”

“
Cool.”

The bell rang, sending students to their seats.

Short, pudgy Mr. Horn didn’t even greet the students as he walked through the room handing out the curriculum. The smell of Icy Hot drifted by Ava as Mr. Horn placed a packet on her desk. His wild white hair trembled in the strong currents of the air conditioner. When he returned to the front of the room, he droned on and on in a monotone voice explaining what the class would endure during the semester. His thick glasses magnified his hazel eyes and made him look over ninety.

Peter leaned closer to Ava.
“So did anyone give you a hard time for hanging out with me this summer?” he whispered. She knew he was asking about Thomas.

“No.”

“You know I’d still like to hang out. I hope that doesn’t change.”

“Of course not
. I like hanging out with you.”

He nodded
and grinned.

Ava
read her new Poe book and watched the clock slowly count down to lunch.

Once the bell rang, Peter
walked with her to her locker. “Hey, you wanna eat with my friends today? They haven’t met you.”

She wanted to say yes.
“I should probably eat with my friends. Might look a little odd if I sat with you. Thomas would get the wrong idea.”

“
But we’re just friends.”

“I’m sorry
.”

“
So it’s okay for him to flirt with every female in this school?” His eyes veered past her. “But you can’t be friends with anyone else?”

Ava followed Peter’s gaze and found
Thomas talking to and touching some brunette on her arm. The girl was in awe of him, just like every other female in this place. Ava wouldn’t be surprised if Thomas had started to have flings on the side since she had turned him down. She suppressed an irritated sigh and looked away from him.

“Why do you put up with that?
I could never do that to my girlfriend.”

“You get used to it.”

“Uh huh. Is clenching your teeth a way of getting used to it?”

Ava let out a small laugh.

“I’ll talk to you later. Call me,” he said and then turned on his heel. He disappeared into the crowded hallway.

“Who was that?”
Thomas asked as he came up from behind. He kissed her cheek and they followed a large group entering the lunchroom.

“Peter.
”

“Who?”

“Remember, I told you about him. We hung out during the summer.”

“
That
was him?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought he was some retarded kid you were helping out.”

“Why would you think that?”
She had to raise her voice as they came into the large cafeteria. With a high ceiling, the voices reverberated off the cement walls. Little rectangular windows at the top of the wall broke the monotony of the gray.

Thomas shrugged.
“What did you do with him then?”

“
I told you. Watched baseball with Dad.”

“H
e’s younger than us, isn’t he? Like you’re just being nice because he has no friends, right?”

“What? No, we’re the same age.
He’s only a friend.” She could see the muscles in his jaw clench. They walked to their usual table in the back, and Thomas dropped off his bag then went to the line to get their lunch.

“Did you hear?
We’re getting a new kid at school.” Melissa sat at the lunch table next to Ava. She looked more awake now. Gillian took the seat across from her and didn’t look the smallest bit hung-over.

“No.
Who cares?” Ava shrugged and pulled Jack Kerouac’s
On the Road
from her backpack.

“This girl in my
English class told me he’s really creepy. Like, when he looks at you all you can do is shudder and look away. But I think she’s a wimp.”

“You think everyone’s a wimp,” Ava
said.

“Well, most of them are.
Anyway, I’m curious to see the new kid. I wonder if he’s in here.” She looked up, searching the lunchroom for the mysterious new guy. “His name is Xavier Holstone.”

Ava shook her head and
opened the book, ignoring her constant babble about the new kid. She was almost done with the book, since that’s how she spent her Sunday night after watching the game with her dad. That and daydreaming about Peter.

She read a couple of pages
and then Jeremy sat down next to Gillian. “How do you like it?” he asked.

“It’s good,” Ava said.
“I like his writing style. The story is so real.”

“
I know. It definitely—.”

“What is all the commotion?”
Thomas interrupted him as he sat down with his and Ava’s trays of food. Lance joined them and squeezed in next to Melissa, who still searched for this new kid.

“What commotion?”
Ava marked her place with a scrap of paper and shoved the book in her bag. She grabbed the packet of salad dressing, poured it over her salad, and began to eat.

“This new guy
. I swear everyone’s talking about him.”

“Aww, Thomas, are you sad that he’s stolen your spotlight?”
Melissa teased.

“No
.”

Ava
suppressed a laugh.

“Well, he could surpa
ss you as the hottest guy here. Girls may not swoon over you anymore. They’re already talking about how hot he is.”

“Melissa, stop,” he
demanded.

She shrugged a
nd bit off a piece of a carrot and crunched it loudly.

“I heard he already
knows more than his classmates. I heard he was really smart.” Gillian’s tiny voice barely made it over the hundreds of echoed conversations in the room.

“We’
ll see. Ooh, I think that’s him.” Melissa was agape as she looked toward the doors. Ava followed her gaze.

It
was as if her voice bounced off the walls, broadcasting his arrival, because all eyes were on the dark, mysterious young man. The conversations seemed to have hushed, and Ava imagined several girls’ hearts skipping beats.

Xavier Holstone elegantly
glided across the white tiled floor with a crooked smile as if he liked that everyone stared at his tanned skin and ash blond hair. His oval face was severe with high cheekbones and a perfectly straight nose. His muscular, but thin, build made a few girls blush, though his dark eyes saw no one as he made his way to an empty table in the back. Ava didn’t really think he was attractive, but there was something dangerous about him.

Lance crumbled his milk carton and cocked an eyebrow.
“Do I need to worry about your new fascination?”

“He
is
hot,” she said.

“Wow. Thanks for boosting my self-esteem,”
he said with a playful smile.

Melissa winked at him.

“I don’t see what the fuss is about. He’s got no muscles. He’s got nothing. I’m taller than him,” Thomas said. “And a lot bigger.”

Ava patted his hand.
“Of course you are.”

“Let’s hope he’s not as egotistical as you,” Melissa said.

Jeremy pushed his glasses up to the top of his nose. “I don’t think anyone could beat Thomas at that.”

“Jeremy!”
Gillian smacked his arm.

Melissa roared
with laughter, which was contagious around the table but did not reach Thomas. Instead, he fumed as he picked up his tray and stormed off to the trash bin.