Polarized

Handshakes and Humiliation

"Hyacinth, help me!" Skye called out. "My feet are stuck!" 

"Unstick your feet then!" Hyacinth yelled back. 

Skye groaned. Not so long ago, she thought that learning magic would be the coolest experience of her life. But here she was, humiliating herself in front of a crowd of eighteen people while trying to use her so-called gift. Somebody shoot me, Skye thought, staring down at her frost-coated shoes so she wouldn't have to stare at her audience. I can't do this anymore—

If you want, I can shoot you! An obnoxious voice echoed inside Skye's brain. Skye, not knowing whether she should be grateful or freaked out, would've jumped if her feet weren't trapped in a mound of ice. She scanned her eyes over the crowd to see if she could locate the voice's source, and moments later encountered a disturbing sight:

It was a pigtailed girl with pink and black hair and brightly-colored eyes. She was staring at Skye in a terrifying manner, a menacing grin on her face. At that moment, Skye could only think one thing: I'm fucked. I'm totally fucked. 

Again, that same voice popped into Skye's head. Just kidding! Wanna be friends? 

I guess? Skye mentally replied, not turning the girl down out of fear for her own life and sanity. Though it would be nice if you stopped staring at me like that. You're freaking me out. 

Fine by me! The voice responded. The girl looked away, and the voice inside Skye's head silenced. 

"Sky-ye!" Hyacinth shouted, bringing Skye back into her surroundings. "Are you still there?!" 

"Yes, yes I am!" Skye quavered. "I'm sorry, what happened?" 

"You were standing completely still, with a blank stare on your face, not registering a single word I've said!" Hyacinth retorted. "Why won't you try pulling your feet out of that ice mound so we can continue?" 

Skye nodded. One by one, she yanked her knees up violently, freeing her feet from their icy trap but leaving her boots behind. Skye's socks, now wet, had slid off her heels and scrunched at the soles of her feet, so she pulled them up and started her next mission: regaining her footwear. After a while, Skye managed to break both of her boots free from the mound, going back and forth between pulling on her boots and stomping on the ice until it shattered. With a shudder, Skye pulled both of her soggy boots on, her feet wet and numb from the cold. "Does this happen to other cryokinetics, or is it just me?" Skye asked. "Whenever I use my aura, the ice always sticks to my hands or feet." 

"I haven't seen something like this before, but I'm sure it can be fixed," Hyacinth commented. "And by the way, we're running out of time. We can only do one more skill together, so I'm letting you choose it."

"Okay!" Skye replied, suddenly remembering an aura-related ability that she had read about and learned when she was ten. To this day it was her best skill, the one she was most proud of, but she wasn't able to show it to anyone because of Cloudgate's rules against magic. Now after all these years, this was her chance to finally reveal it. "Hailstorm!" 

"Hailstorm?" Hyacinth remarked. Skye raised her arms, trying to make the shards of ice fall from the air, but nothing happened. She groaned. 

"Hello-o! I said hailstorm!" Skye repeated. One thing was clear: her magic was rusty. The last time Skye tried to intentionally create ice was when she was thirteen, attempting to cool herself off in the middle of a heat wave. For that, she got caught by her parents and given a stern talking-to, so she hadn't attempted to use her aura since then. 

Skye was wondering where her ice storm went until a moment later it hit her. "Skye!" Hyacinth yelled worriedly. Instead of raining down in smaller pellets, the hailstorm Skye summoned fell as one large block, dropping from the air and landing on her head. Skye gasped and staggered forward, rubbing her head through her beanie. "Oh my gosh! Do you have a concussion?" Hyacinth panicked. Skye shook her head.