Change [Book 1 of The Elemental Marks]

Chapter 13

Demonhunting. Reading books. Spending more time than usual in the music room. No longer avoiding group meals. Hanging out with Dex, Makayla, Jordan, Cianni, Lamar and Elijah. Avoiding thinking about Lina too much.

These are the ways Tommie passed the month after the Kelpie incident. Some were easy to do. Others required a total break from his usual routine. And the latter...

Tommie really only had time to focus on Lina when it was quiet. That usually meant he wasn't with Dex or in a crowded part of the Institute. Partially, Lina was why he jumped so headfirst into those things.

Those times that he did think of Lina usually went as follows: What did he care if Lina had left him in total silence since she moved out? She was probably totally fine. She was strong, and independent, and an awesome Shadowhunter. But if something had happened... Well, no one had bothered to keep Tommie informed. But, hey, that's life for a Shadowhunter, right?

Lina hadn't made an attempt to see how he was, either. Bad things could have happened at the Philadelphia Institute. He could die of a demon related accident because, now, Tommie had to go out with someone he hadn't trained with since he was twelve. Lina would never know.

"Hey! Tommie, right?" Lost in thought, Tommie didn't notice the young Shadowhunter until Dex dug an elbow into his side. Tommie wasn't used to knowing many people while grabbing breakfast at the Institute, and especially not this girl, who was right in front of the tray of muffins he was reaching for.

"Uh, yeah." He hesitated, putting off his muffin conquests for a moment, then added, "Have we met?"

The girl looked like she could've been familiar, fresh faced and lacking the runes of a truly experienced Shadowhunter, but nothing really stood out except the streaks of blue hidden in her auburn hair.

She didn't look hurt by Tommie's confusion, which he took as a good sign. "You took my group out demonhunting with Vic a few weeks back. I just wanted to introduce myself," she explained. "I'm Cid."

"Oh, cool. This is Dex," Tommie motioned behind him.

Dex stuck out a hand to shake. "I think we've had a few tutoring classes together." He would know everyone, Tommie thought, unable to be truly bitter about that.

"I've been meaning to ask Vic: we never found out what happened to your friend that night," Cid said. "You were going to fight that Kelpie for her, and then it left, and Vic took her back here."

"Oh." Tommie did not need a recount of that night. He replayed it enough times without this brief explanation.

"You were going to fight a Kelpie?" Dex chimed in, sounding impressed.

"Well, theoretically I would have," Tommie corrected before turning back to Cid. "Uh, nothing happened to Lina. The Kelpie just gave her a scare. Nothing else out of the ordinary. Just another day for a Shadowhunter."

She had to know he wasn't being totally honest, but instead of prying, Cid nodded, grabbed herself a muffin and retreated out of the hall with a simple goodbye.

As Tommie grabbed a muffin for himself, he knew Dex was watching him. He could only remain silent for a moment. "Weren't you and Lina really close?" Dex asked. "I haven't seen you two together since we met."

Tommie was tempted to blow it off again, but he decided he had a right to be honest with Dex, if only because Lina's absence made getting close to Dex happen. "No, you haven't. She hasn't been around since the night Cid was talking about, actually."

"Did you two break up or something?"

"Break up? Like we were dating? No, not at all." Dex's expression wouldn't have been described at relief exactly, just clarity. Which made Tommie feel the need to be even more clear. "Well, technically we did break up. But that was months ago. We're still best friends," Tommie started, knowing he was rambling. "But she left the Institute."