Fangirl

Chapter 16 Martha

That night I lay awake on my bed and remembered the picture that unfolded before my eyes when I entered the classroom.

A once-perfect face was like a piece of battered meat. The soft, smooth skin had been erased beneath ridges of puffy swellings in every shade of scarlet, from soft coral to lush ruby. Graceful slits of his eyes were mantled with swellings, lashes glued together. Cuts splintered apart with sloppy edges; the firebender wore large rings. His hair was streaked with blood at the edge of his forehead, the bluish veins at his temples pale.

I touched his face. His body began to chill slowly.

A few hours later Phillip was beaming woth his most charming smile at me again, as if nothing happened. I smiled back and also imagined that nothing happened. While Phillip and I were having dinner.

When I got back to my room, I dropped into a chair and sat for a while looking out the window. It got dark outside, and the stars should have been shining by now. I couldn't see them. I couldn't see anything in front of me but that disfigured face.

Phillip's friends were holding up well. For the first week after the accident their eyes had been openly tense. But as they watched their unsuspecting friend smile blithely, the traces of tension slowly faded from their high foreheads and youthful lips.

After a month, they could all breathe more freely but that didn't mean they had forgotten. True to their word, they never left Phillip unattended, surrounding him with excessive care, like hens. Phillip noticed these oddities and was jokingly sarcastic about such attention.

They didn't talk to me. Not until Phillip announced that I had lost my mind and decided to go to the elemental contest. Everyone quickly realized the reason for my sudden interest and began to approach me separately, trying to get me back to my senses as long as I got obviously mad.

Their arguments were predictable: I'm a girl, I have average potential, I'm only in my fourth year. They explained that I would be torn apart in the first stage. In this, the guys' arguments didn't differ from Phillip's criticism.

But, unlike him, they knew exactly who I was going after, and so they tried to get me back to my mind, a naive fool who couldn't see the stupidity of idea. The probability of getting into a duel with Nikita is minimal, exhorted me Gregory. But even if I got, then what would I do? Kill myself in front of everyone to blame the firebender?

The chances of me getting to Nikita seemed more optimistic. At least in my own eyes. He was going to win that meant he would probably be able to hold out long enough. I wouldn't fail either. And then, sooner or later, we would definitely come together in battle. I sincerely wished Nikita to defeat all his opponents.

Kirill tried to force me to change my mind and come up with another plan of revenge, in which all of them would participate.

Noble, I thought, but I didn't even bother to discuss the proposal. Unlike the guys' unformed revenge plans, which must have been wandering in their heads in vague images, my mental eye saw everything crystal clear: I knew exactly what to do with Nikita.

Maxim was the most suspicious. He still didn't forget that story at lunch, when I'd shaken Nikita's hand. He even asked me directly if I was hiding how powerful my source was. I kept silent. He tried to explain that even if my source was strong, I still didn't have enough experience and stamina to beat senior students.

As Maxim continued to exhort me, calling on my voice of reason, I thought back to that lunch meeting he mentioned. I blamed myself. I thought that the oaf would be smarter or more sane, that he would see the balance of power not in his favor, and go away. What I hadn't considered was that the firebender was really off his head.