Secrets ~A Marellinh Neverseen AU~

Chapter 5

After getting her tray of mush (this time with pink specks instead of hair) Marella scanned the Neverseen cafeteria for Linh. She hadn't expected the Neverseen to have a cafeteria, in some odd sense it almost reminded her of the one back at Foxfire, just a lot more gloomy and definitely quieter. Eventually she laid eyes on two figures at a table in the corner who appeared to be talking to each other. She spotted a glint of silver underneath one of their hoods.

That one was Tam she thought

Marella walked over to the twins table. When they saw her walking towards them they stopped whatever conversation they had been having. Linh turned towards her and waved

"Hi Marella!" Linh said in her usual cheery tone

"Um, Hi" Marella said "Is it okay if I sit here?"

"Of course!" Linh said

At the same time Tam said "no."

Marella couldn't see the look Linh gave her brother but she could imagine it clearly

"Tam, why don't you go sit with Glimmer or something"

Tam didn't look too happy, but he picked up his lunch tray and walked away.

"Come, sit" Linh gestured to the now empty seat next to her.Marella sat down and cupped her chin in her hands

"I dont think your brother likes me very much"

"Don't worry" Linh said in a reassuring tone "He'll warm

up to you eventually"

Marella poked at her food and looked up at Linh

"You don't have to wear your hood while you eat, you know," Marella said, gesturing to the large black thing covering Linh's face.

"Oh, thank goodness" Linh said, removing her hood "wearing these things all the time was starting to remind me of Exilliam."

Marella's body froze at the word,

"You've..." She cleared her throat in an attempt to hide her voice crack "been to Exilliam?" She finished.

Linh pursed her lips. "Tam and I were there for a few years before the Neverseen found us"

"Oh..." Marella wasn't quite sure what to say to that. They sat in silence for a while, eating, before the gong sounded, alerting them that lunch was over. Linh smiled at her and stood up,

"Well, got to go, see you later then" she said

"Ye-yeah" Marella stifled, "See you later!"

Linh smiled at her one last time before pulling her hood up and disappearing into the sea of cloaks.

Marella couldn't help but smile to herself. Maybe she and Linh weren't quite friends yet, maybe Tam didn't trust her, but she couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit accomplished.

***

As Linh and Marella continued to talk Tam stayed more or less at bay. Every once and awhile Marella would catch him glaring at her, or she would feel a cold shadow if he walked past her but mainly she was just happy to have Linh as a friend, though, she doubted Linh's claim that he would 'worm up to her' would ever happen.

She had also been considering telling Linh about, well, her treacherous villain origin story, but she had yet to come up with a way to tell her without making Linh most definitely hate her. If she ever got around to telling Linh should she tell Tam to? Would that make him trust her? Why did she care so much about what people thought of her?

Marella groaned and flopped onto her bed.

She used to not care about this stuff, she used to be so confident, not caring what other people said or thought about her, now look at her; sitting by herself for almost a full hour like she did everyday, while everyone else was at ability training, actually learning how to make themselves useful. Marella hadn't used her ability in months, she didn't even know if she would be able to use it any more, but that was probably just wishful thinking. She sat up and stared at her hands. Pyrokinesis was scary. With every flame she felt like it was going to take control of her, but at the same time... muting it felt... wrong. Like shutting down a part of her, though she'd been doing alot of that lately.

Marella clenched her fists then opened them again and willed the fire to come.

Just a small flame, she thought Little tiny flame, nothing to worry about

Just as she had commanded, a small flame popped up on her left hand, she flinched slightly at the sight of fire on her skin but remained in control.

It's okay, she told herself it won't hurt you

She glanced down at the flame, only about the size of her thumb, just a little bigger couldn't hurt, the flame rose a bit.

Marella didn't want to keep doing this, she didn't want to stay afraid of her ability forever. The flame rose higher and higher.

Then, the door swung open.

Marella clamped her fists shut, dowsing the flame.

Tam, Linh, and Glimmer were back.

"Hi Marella!" Linh called poking her head out from behind Tam

Before Marella had time to respond Glimmer stepped in the room and wrinkled her nose

"Does it smell like smoke to anyone else?"

Marella tensed. She hadn't even noticed the smoke. Then, something in her brain snapped. That was it. She wasn't going to keep living in secrecy. She didn't care if Tam hated her, or if Linh never talked to her again, she was done.

She looked at the other three, who were now looking as if she'd had her whole 'internal crisis' out loud, which maybe she had.

The words slipped out of her mouth before she had time to reconsider

"I have to tell you something"

And on THAT note: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I'm really excited to write the next one (let's just say it will be something a little different... *Evil Author laugh* )