Spotlight

Chapter 14

It's uncomfortable being on this side of the room.

Like last year, the pledges all stand on the stage and listen to the head talk about the hard and perilous journey ahead.

That isn't what makes me scared. It's all the people looking me over. I feel like they're judging us, and placing bets on who will make it and who won't.

"In your hands is your scroll. The last few people to pass the first phase will be eliminated." Colette is walking up and down the stage. Her blonde hair is in curls today. "You can go now. You begin tomorrow." She stops at the podium. "Get out."

The other initiates rush off. I try not to scowl and am the last to leave.

"Wasn't that interesting?" Sara says as soon as I exit through the door behind the stage.

"Yeah." We walk back to our room.

"Can I see your scroll?" I hand it to her and she compares it to hers. "It's the same. What do you think it means?"

I shrug. "Maybe it's a map, or a treasure hunt, or a maze. Who knows what's going on in Colette's twisted, little mind."

Sara rolls her eyes. "I bet it's amazing. Colette is really smart. Whatever she came up with will be amazing as well."

I say nothing for the rest of the walk.

I skip dinner that evening to hang out with Tristan on the fire training field.

We lay on the clean-cut grass and stare at the orange sky.

"What did you think?" He asks.

"Like I'm probably not getting in."

He smiles. "Everyone feels like that."

"Not everyone is like me."

"Not smart, powerful, and possessing the dragon's flame?" He asks. "Yeah, you are surely at a disadvantage."

"Tristan." I sit up and stare at him. "I have to show you something."

He sits up as well. "What's wrong?"

"It's my magic." I stare at my hands. "It's been different since the pledge."

"It's supposed to be. That's the point of the pledge."

"It's not better. It's..." I try to summon a fireball. As expected, it flickers before dying out.

He frowns. "What did Seb say?"

I look away. "I haven't told him. I haven't told anyone. And you can't either."

"Cass, you need help. This has been going on for three months. I don't think it'll get better on its own."

"Forget it." I hide my hands in my Jumper's pockets.

"I'm serious. You need to get it looked at."

"Drop it."

"Cass, you can't fix it by yourself."

"Don't you think I know that?" I yell.

He stares at my face, then at my stomach. "Cass?" He points at my Jumper.

I groan when I see that it's ruined. I burned the pockets and now a huge chunk of the middle is gone.

"I can't tell them," I whisper.

"They can help you." He whispers back.

"I don't want them to know," I admit. "I don't want them to think there's something wrong with me. For a long time, I was always the odd one out. Back home, at school, with my family. But I'm finally starting to fit in. Things are finally looking good for me. I don't want to go back to being the weird one."