Rebel

Chapter Sixteen

The hallways were still very confusing, but I managed to make it to my room and change into darker clothes. Ugine went ballistic when he saw me, and it was a very slobbery reunion. I honestly had no idea where the others were, and I still haven't run into anyone else during my wandering. Now where would they be at a time like this...? That's when I realized I had absolutely no idea what time it was. Or day. Or month for that matter.

I huffed and started walking down the hall when some movement caught my eye. I walked over to the window and saw the whole group outside hoverboarding.

Oh sweet! I thought to myself, beginning the walk to the mothic machine. If there's one thing I'd like to be doing right now, it's hoverboarding.

I made it to the machine and asked for my usual hoverboard and some bands. After grabbing them, I headed outside, hearing the laughter of the teens on the boards. As I grew closer I could make out the shapes of Dario, Aiden, Olwyn, and Alexsandra racing. Dario was in the lead by a lot and Alexsandra was tagging along behind them all. As I neared, Alexsandra spotted me and came zooming over.

"Sage!" she cried, hopping off her board and landing on top of me, her arms wrapped around my neck. I stumbled and nearly fell over, but she caught me by the shoulders and held me at arms length. "You're awake! I want to see your power right now!"

I laughed and held out my hand, forcing myself to keep a neutral face as I forced it to shift into iron.

"Woah. You can turn into metal?" Aiden asked, hovering over with the rest of the group.

"I can turn into more than just metal," I said, though I don't actually know how I knew that. I focused on the first thing that came to my mind which was wood, and focused my energy on my outstretched hand. The iron slowly faded to wood, and everyone's reaction was pleasing to me.

"Oooh..." They all cooed, Alexsandra the loudest of them all.

"You're a shapeshifter?" Jace asked, frowning slightly.

"Yeah," I replied, shifting my hand back to normal and returning it by my side.

"Oh my gosh, you have to race with us, it'll be so much fun!" Alexsandra squealed, grabbing my arm and practically jumping up and down. "And then I have to show you what I did with my room, you'll love it! Man, I've missed you so much!"

I laughed and we began to head back towards our usual boarding spot, "Hey," I said. "How long have I... you know... been unconscious?"

Alexsandra paused, "Nine days," she replied almost sadly, but then her excited energy returned and she began skipping again.

"Nine days!" I yelled. "I've been gone for nine days! Bailey's metamorphosis only took three days!"

"Yeah, and hers was kinda long too."

"Man." I said, "Well then I'm gonna have to race extra hard to make up for all the days I missed."
Alexsandra laughed, "Well, I'll probably lose, but you're on!"

I hopped on my board and raced full speed towards our usual starting spot, laughing my head off as I went.