The Ally

5: Lessons Gone Wrong

We stood on a grassy spot at the edge of the Potomac River around dusk.

Lucy had agreed to help me after my classes, but it wasn't concerning anything academic. I actually couldn't put a finger on what we were doing. Or trying to do, at least.

"The key is to concentrate," Lucy explained, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. When she opened them back up, she pushed her hands out and chipped some bark off a tree with nothing but the power of her own mind.

Riveting.

I was beginning to become frustrated. We'd been trying this for at least an hour, and I still hadn't gotten the hang of it. I was hungry, I was tired, and I wanted to be in my dorm room cracking jokes with Danna right about now. The bugs were eating me alive from the river, and I was exceedingly uncomfortable, too uncomfortable to even enjoy the view.

The sight of the orange-tinged sky as the sun set had zero effect on me. The calming sounds of the crickets in the brush did not move my spirit. And the gently rushing water of that great river stirred nothing in my soul. In fact, Lucy telling me what to do for over an hour made me want to jump into its depths and drown.

"Are you even listening to me?" she demanded, and I was immediately thrown back to that fateful day in Mrs. Francis' office when she'd asked me the same question.

I turned to look at her, my face a picture of rage.

"What did you just say to me?" I asked.

Lucy stood her ground. She was wearing tight black skinny jeans and a Pulp Fiction graphic tee. Her hair was up in a bun on the top of her head for practical reasons I assumed. I wasn't gonna lie and say she didn't look good, but I wasn't gonna lie and say she wasn't getting on my nerves, either.

"Oh, so you weren't," Lucy replied, sounding mildly annoyed. She could save it. "Don't you think when someone takes time out of their day to help you, you should show them a little respect?"

"Well, it's not working, genius, and if you couldn't tell, I wanna go home," I complained. Lucy merely stood there, making me even more frustrated.

"Excuse me for not wanting you to hurt any more of my friends," she dropped, and the most painful silence ensued. All that could be heard were the crickets, the cicadas, and the occasional frog song.

"It wasn't my fault," I said despondently after a while. Lucy sighed.

"I know, but if we want to prevent it, you're going to have to practice at this. It's possible," she futilely attempted to reassure me. "I did it."

"Yeah, well, I'm not you," I muttered bitterly, "I can't get pedigrees right in one try, I can't play Wonder Woman, and I certainly can't pretend like I have even an ounce of self-control to do this. So why don't you find someone else to be your guinea pig? I'm out of here."

I began to storm away, but something was holding me in place. I looked up. Lucy had her arm outstretched towards me. The bitch was freezing me in my spot!

"Let go of me you psycho!" I protested, squirming and struggling to no avail.

"No. You're gonna learn, Lorelei Summers, if it's the last thing I do," Lucy said in a deadly tone of voice that wavered weakly at the end. It seemed to drain her, holding me back like this. I closed my eyes, clenched my fists before flexing them. I felt it flow through me. It was my own power, and it welled up inside me like water in a dam.

All of a sudden, knowing it would work this time, I raised my arm, and, with some effort, blasted Lucy back three feet, making her break her concentration.

How's that for a Pulp Fiction moment?

"You bastard," she coughed, spitting up some blood. I hoped I hadn't done any major damage, but she popped right back up and hit me with the same attack.

That answered my questions.

I landed on my back in the grass, feeling dazed. My stomach ached as if I'd been punched there. I lay there groaning, although I wasn't in much pain, just confused as to where I was. Lucy's face swam into my vision above me, and it all came flooding back.

We were having a showdown on the shore of the fucking Potomac.

I tried to stand, but Lucy was holding me down again. She had so much strength. She had to have been honing her abilities for years now.

I commenced my struggling once more, but Lucy only chuckled, saying,

"Are you sure that's what you wanna do?"

I yelled in rage, attempting to lift my arms to attack again. But that wasn't working. She was smarter this time.

"Okay, alright! I'll do your stupid training. Just let me up!" I protested. I hated the feeling of being completely under her control.

Or did I?

Fuck that. Of course I did. I couldn't let doubt rule me now.

"Fine," Lucy said, easing up before relinquishing. I hopped up and, not giving her time to restrain me again, pounced on her, tackling her to the ground. We wrestled there for what seemed like an eternity. We were so equally matched when it came down to the nitty gritty. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this one was like no other. I was fueled by a certain sort of passion I'd never once felt before, which made everything a bit more exhilarating, not gonna lie.

In the midst of this charged debacle, as we rolled around in the grass, one trying to top the other, I eventually had the upper hand. I held both of her wrists down so she couldn't hit me, and she couldn't even lift them enough to use her powers on me, which was good. I looked down at her angrily. Her lip was busted again from the initial attack, and her breath was coming in and out in short bursts, making her chest rise up and down rapidly. I noticed our proximity to each other; I was straddling her slim hips with mine, holding her down, but now I noticed the pressure I was applying to keep her there, and my own rapid breathing. Every feeling was magnified a thousand percent, and as I looked into her eyes I saw the maliciousness melt away when they met mine.

What did I look like for her anger to dissipate that quickly? Was I giving myself away? And why didn't I care how analytically she was studying me? Usually that sort of thing would've made me lose my shit.

But maybe I was, because I felt myself begin to lean in, and inch by inch, she leaned in after me.

I could taste a mixture of blood and lip gloss as our mouths collided hungrily, as if that was all we'd been seeking this whole time, to be close to one another. I let go of her hands and they immediately went to my hair, pushing and pulling like a tidal wave in a tumultuous ocean, making me moan for her. I wanted our bodies to become one. I longed to taste every last inch of her warm mouth. She let me try, at least, and I couldn't help sliding my tongue inside. This made her whine out loud, which caused a shiver to roll down my spine.

Eventually she tilted her head back. I left a trail of her own blood on her neck from my lips before biting down on a certain spot. Her hips bucked into mine as she gave her first moan. I wanted to cherish that sound. It was so angelic and pure, despite everything she was to me.

"Teach me a lesson," Lucy whispered, gripping my shoulders hard and bringing her lips to my ear. I shuddered. "Teach me how to behave."

"I . . ." I tapered off, not wanting to say it. I was too embarrassed.

"I don't care," Lucy said, kissing the spot below my earlobe, my jawline, my neck. I whimpered. "Do this one thing for me and I'll never ask again."

"I'd be disappointed if you never asked again," I growled before connecting our lips again.

I don't think I could ever get over the taste.