ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀꜱ : ᴛʜᴇ ᴜᴘʀɪꜱɪɴɢ

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I hadn't seen her since Saturday's events, and I wasn't sure if she would go back to spending time with her friends or not.

She finally walked into the classroom with Alicia. From that, I concluded that everything was fine between them. She came to sit next to me, and I had to fight the urge to talk to her. It was best to ignore her, even if it confused her. As long as we didn't know much about her, we had to act with caution. I also had to stop looking at her; I bet she had noticed.

I knew she was struggling with math. I could have helped her before, but I didn't want to interfere. However, now I guessed a little help wouldn't hurt me and certainly wouldn't hurt her.

I gave her some paper, but she didn't see my little note on the back of it. That was probably a good thing, though. I didn't know if the others would approve; I didn't think I would tell them yet.

At home, we trained and did our usual business. I studied and did exercises to prepare for my math test tomorrow. I had to work because I hadn't been paying much attention in class these days.

I was definitely going to ace this test; it wasn't that complicated when you understood it. But she seemed to be struggling a lot. She had been biting her nails and tapping her fingers on the table repeatedly for the past hour.

I didn't know what was happening, but the entire table was trembling, and she wasn't even touching it. If I needed proof she was like us, I guess I had one. I needed to stop her before she did something worse.

I took her wrist, and she slowly calmed down. The table stopped moving. I didn't know if she even understood what she had been doing.

"Do you know that we are in a test? You can't speak," the annoying professor said, and I quickly let go of her wrist.

She handed me a ruler to give credibility to our excuse, and for a while, I forgot where we were. If what happened was real, she was going to be in trouble. I didn't want her involved, but I guessed the moment had come.

"So, what was that again?" Adrian and Aria asked as they came next to my locker while I put my things in it.

"I guess there's something we need to discuss." They both looked at me curiously, but they knew I would only explain myself at lunch when everyone was there.

———

"What was that thing you wanted us all to be here to talk about?" Aria put pressure on me as we all sat and ate in the cafeteria.

"Something happened with Willow during the test." Ethan smirked and winked at me while Avani slapped him lightly.

"Dude, you're gross. It's not funny. She's definitely like us." Ethan, who had been smirking like an idiot, now finally concentrated on what I was saying.

"How can you be so sure?" Maya asked, picking up a piece of bread stuck in Ethan's hair.

"I'm not really sure, but she was stressing during the test. The table started to move without her touching it; it was trembling, but she wasn't aware of it, too engrossed in her thoughts. If I hadn't taken her wrist, I don't know what would've happened." Nara seemed to ponder the situation just like the others.

"Maybe it's just a coincidence. You're too focused on the possibility she's one of us that everything she does seems, in your mind, to be related to power and all. Maybe it's simply—"

"Speak of the devil, she's coming to our table right now," Ember cut off Ramiel, and we all stopped talking, waiting to see what she wanted.

"I'm going to need your help." Of course, that didn't please Aria, who talked back harshly to her.