Chapter Twelve
Even though George was an idiot, the guy was in the same league as Lucian when it came to his good looks. Hot as hell with dimples like Sammy's.
“George?” Sammy asked. Becky fell on her bed and cried.
“Okay, that sucks,” I said. It was the first words that popped into my head. It was the truth because I knew she didn't like George one bit.
She looked rather upset at the realization that he was the only Moon-Bolt available. Tears streamed down her face, and Becky wasn't a soft crier. She looked comical, and I couldn't hold my laughter back anymore.
“Elena,” Sammy sang.
“I’m sorry.” I snorted as the tears ran down my cheeks too. Sammy and Becky joined me after a while, and it felt good to laugh, especially in lieu of what had happened tonight.
Our laughter stopped abruptly. A minute or so of silence followed.
“Can we please just talk about something else?” Becky asked quietly.
“How was the kiss, Elena?” Sammy interjected. It worked.
Becky got all excited as I explained to them how perfect his lips felt against mine. It was nice to relive it and all of us felt better when I finished my detailed review.
“I told you he was crazy about you,” Becky chirped.
“Excuse me, I told her he liked her,” Sammy snapped, and we fell back into laughter.
As I let the events of the night wash over me, I tried to process everything that had happened. I went to bed wondering how Sammy felt now knowing her best friend wasn't a Fire Wielder.
* * *
We woke up the next morning and found Becky combing out her hair ferociously. Sparks flew onto her brush as she tried to get her hair to lay flat. She didn't really succeed.
I started to laugh as her hair just kept jumping up again. Frustrated, she threw her brush at me, but missed. At least she was a good sport.
When we entered the cafeteria, everyone stopped eating, turned, and stared at Becky.
“Hell, news travels fast,” Sammy said as loud as she could, and some faces ducked behind their friends and others quickly turned away.
We soon discovered that there were other Moon-Bolts at the school, because every one of them threatened her to stay away. She was instantly relieved and glad she had more options.
I was glad to see Lucian smiling at me from his table. He looked better than he had last night. When we reached him, he stood up, cupped my face in his hands, and kissed me. It was scary how nothing else mattered, that all my worries and concerns just seemed to disappear whenever his lips touched mine. A lot of guys mocked Lucian for being so openly affectionate. I only wished that I could brush it off as easily as he did. Becky came back from the buffet line and seeing some of her hair standing up forced me to suppress my laughter again.
“You gave us a heart attack last night,” Lucian said, as Becky sat down next to us.
I burst out laughing again.
“Elena, stop it.” Sammy bumped me hard in my ribs while trying desperately to suppress her laughter too. Becky rolled her eyes and looked irritated.
Lucian just stared at me. “Am I missing something here?”
I snorted again and shook my head, indicating that I would explain everything to him later.
“Oh c'mon, Lucian. Don't tell me my hair standing in every direction is not one bit funny.”
He smiled, knowing she was right.
“I’ve had to listen to their jokes since last night.”
“That’s so mean.” He was trying to make us feel bad.
I took a deep breath. “Sorry, Becky, I’ll try harder to control it.”
“Whatever, Elena. If it was you I would have broken myself in two.”
“Umm, you did already,” I reminded her of my first Art of War lesson, and she finally giggled.
“Becky,” A third-year boy had just walked up to our table sounding serious. He saw her hair and his lips drew in a thin line.
“It's fine, you can laugh,” she said.
He smiled. “Master Longwei wants to see you in his office, pronto.”
“Why?”
Our jokes suddenly became less funny.
“I don't know. He just asked me to fetch you,” he said and walked away.
“You want us to come with you?” Sammy asked.
“No, you guys already took a beating last night. I guess it’s my turn,” she said and got up.
“I hope that it’s nothing bad,” I said, resolved.
“I guess we just have to wait and see,” Lucian said, stroking my back softly. We left the cafeteria hand in hand when the bell rang.
He said goodbye with another soft kiss as we reached my class and ran off to his down the hall. I let out a satisfied sigh, feeling like some sort of fairytale character that had just found her prince. I had, literally.
I became worried during Enchantments when Becky hadn’t returned from her meeting with Master Longwei. It was right before lunchtime, and I struggled hard to concentrate, not that I understood one word of it anyway. As I made my way to the cafeteria I found Lucian and Sammy speaking to her at a table outside.