The Magic Between Us

Red

I slammed my hands down on the table as I stood. Micah looked up from his pile of books across from me with a quizzical expression. I had just spent the last hour trying and failing to conjure a healing crystal and was thankful to be in a private study room in the library. Micah had managed to at least create a colorless one. Mine were completely nonexistent.

"I get the magic, but I'm just not getting the magic," I said as I tossed my head back in frustration. Micah had the audacity to laugh, which further infuriated me. "It's not funny!"

"It is pretty funny, actually. The perfect Gemma St. Clair can't do magic. You're royalty at this school." He said, jokingly. I knew he was making jokes to take the pressure off, but it wasn't helping.

"If you were a good friend, you would help me instead of standing there poking fun."

"How dare you imply that I'm not a good friend." He feigned a look of shock then crossed his arms as he gave me a coy smile, "I'm a great friend."

I watched the way his dark curls bounced from one side of his head to the other. Suddenly, I wondered what it would be like to run my hands up the sides he kept shaved close. I shook the thought from my head and stomped over to the window.

"You're right, how unreasonable of me." I rolled my eyes, a lot of skills came easily to me, I didn't like that magic was different. "Something is wrong with me. I'm crying over homework!" I shouted as a threw my hands up in frustration.

"Here, try doing something more simple." Micah walked to the window to stand beside me. "How about some color magic?" He asked as he leaned against the wall casually, one leg propped up against it.

"Color magic? That's for kids!" I crossed my arms in refusal. I knew I was acting like a brat, but in reality, I didn't want to admit that no one had ever bothered to teach me color magic. It was already embarrassing enough to be struggling this with magic.

"And? It's a good way to practice calling your magic. There's a reason they teach it to kids, Gemma. If you had practiced more, you wouldn't be struggling."

"I'll have you know I graduated top of my class!"

"Everyone here graduated top of their class, even me." He smiled then, and I got the feeling there was some hidden message in his words that I didn't understand. I bet Tate would know what he meant.

"That's not the point." I huffed.

"You don't know how to, do you?" He moved towards me and before I could wipe the shock of his accusation from my face, he had both of my hands in his, cupped together, palms facing the ceiling. His hands were soft, which took me by surprise. I was even more shocked by the jolt that I felt run through my body at his touch.

"No." I breathed, exhausted by the charade. He let out a small chuckle.

"Here, it's simple. Close your eyes, and think of an emotion." He removed his hands from mine and took a step back. I did as he instructed and tried to think about a single emotion. "I'm waiting..."

"Nothing's happening?" I could feel the tickle of the magic lying just below the surface of my palms. I opened an eye to peek. Nothing. "Ugh!" I groaned, dropping my hands. Micah stepped back to me and put his hands around mine again.

"What emotion were you thinking?"

"Sadness."

"You're clearly not sad enough. Find something stronger." This time, he didn't let go of my hands. I closed my eyes and concentrated, once again trying to call the magic I knew had to be there. I focused on the jolt I had felt when Micah had touched me for the first time. This time, I could feel the magic rush to fill the space between my hands and when I looked down, a small ball of red light floated there.

"See, I knew you could do it. Try again." Micah said as I closed my eyes. I could feel the magic flow through me, but I was afraid that if I opened my eyes, I would lose control. Micah started saying the colors aloud.

"Blue. Dark Gray. Red." We repeated this strange dance a few times until I was confident enough to open my eyes. Micah finally dropped his hands, and I longed for his touch again.

"I'm actually doing it!" I said excitedly with a small bounce. Without thinking, I threw my arms around Micah's neck. He wrapped his arms around my waist gingerly, like he was trying to figure out if this was real or not. Before either of us realized what was happening, our lips met. Tender at first and then hungrier still. When both of us were breathless, we pulled apart. I took a step back, not bothering to let go of his hand.

"No one hears about this," I stated. The coy smile he shared in response was almost irresistible.

"About the magic or the amazing kiss?"

"The magic." I held up my pinky finger, and he wrapped his around mine. "And the kiss."

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Note from the Author:

I loved writing this scene between Gemma and Micah. It's also so much fun getting to bounce around in the timeline of all of these friendships and relationships. Micah will make an appearance in next week's story too!