Elementals

Chapter 39-Hug It Out

Chapter 39

•Zielo's P.O.V•

I sat in the cafeteria with the rest of my team, setting my tray down on the table. As always, it was full of hungry, chatty elementals, almost everyone was having happy conversations with each other, some were whispering about something, others are alone in silence. The usual. But as I looked around our table, it seemed everyone else was feeling the same thing I was.

Empty.

Alex told us that Nurse Evergreen told him to stay in the dorms to recover from what happened a few days ago. I don't blame her, but it didn't feel the same without him with us. Alex was always the one to start up fun conversations and share stories and gossip at the table during lunch. Sure, Zack and Cameron were the class clowns, but neither of them make a single joke or funny face all day, and Celest hadn't heard a bit of drama at all. It just wasn't as fun without Alex around to laugh with us. And knowing what he went through didn't make the feeling any better.

After about two minutes of awkward silence, Damian said something.

"So...how's everyone's day going so far?" He asked, taking a sip of his cranberry juice.

"Boring." Zack said, no energy in his voice.

"Mundane." Aarya said, resting her head on her hands.

"Uneventful." Aaron said, playing around with one of his feathers in his hand.

"Y'know what I realized about our group?" Cameron chimed.

"What?" Keith asked, seemingly uninterested. Cameron continued.

"It's like our group is the Burnsburrow Burrito." He started.

"Okay...?" I said, clearly confused.

"Think about it. Keith's the ground meat, Cameron's the salt, Natalie is the lettuce, Zielo's the black pepper, the rest of us are toppings, and Alex is the hot sauce. The burrito is best known for its spice, without it, it's just a regular burrito. Just like how without Alex, our team just no flavour." Cameron explained, making tiny figures out of ice. We all stared at him in surprise.

"What?" He asked.

"How did you come up with that?" Natalie asked.

"I dunno." He shrugged. "I'm just craving a burrito right now, and missing Alex..."

"Good to know I'm not the only one missing Alex." Damian said, letting out a long sad sigh.

"I wonder how he's doing?" Keith said, looking at the floor. I started to flash back to this morning when I found Alex laying in his bed. His face was stained with tears.

'Hey, Al, are you okay?'

'Yeah. I just...I can't go to school today...'

I remember seeing him turn to me with a fake smile and tired eyes. I remember how my heart sank seeing him like that.

'I'll be here when you come back from class. Try and have a good day today, okay?'

I stared down at my food, my expression one of no emotion at all. "I wish I could go see him now..."

"Yeah, same here." Celest agreed. I let out a sigh, before an idea struck. I stood up and packed my food into my bag before making my way to the cafeteria entrance.

"Whoa, Zee, where are you going?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, we still have half an hour before lunch is over." Damian said.