Marked [postponed]

Chapter Fifteen

"Come on, you have to do it!" Petra giggled, as we stood on top of a cliff. It was what seemed to be a thousand feet off the ground, and at the bottom was a pool of lava.
"Petra, I don't know..."
"You're such a baby." She snorted.
"Hey! I'm no baby!"
"Sure." She said with sarcasm. "If you're not a baby, then jump."
"I'm going to, I'm going to." I groaned.

I stared at the pool of lava, afraid to jump. One of my greatest fears is heights. I wasn't afraid when Abbie took me in the sky: at least I knew I was protected. But now I was facing my fear head on. Well, I didn't have much of a choice, for she pushed me off the cliff, making me scream as I plummeted towards the lava pool.

"Fuuucccckkk!" I screamed. I started to hyperventilate during my fall, as I could feel my stomach drop like when you're on a rollercoaster. I started to calm down, nearing my destination, as I breached the pool of lava. The lava felt warm, but it didn't burn my flesh. In fact, it wasn't hot at all. It was like a hot tub in a way.

"Enjoy your fall?" Petra yelled down to me, as I swam to the surface of the lava. I put my middle finger up at her, and I could hear her laughter from the top of the cliff.

I watched her get ready to jump, and decided to swim to the side of the lava pool.
"Watch the master at work, Sage."
"Suure." I sneered with sarcasm. "I'll believe it when I see it."
I could see her smile all the way up there. She turned around, her back facing me. She then jumped backwards at an angle, doing numerous backflips in a row. Her body spun and twisted, her movements flowing so perfectly that I was in pure awe. After a long fall, she dived head first into the lava. It was one of the most majestic things I had ever witnessed.

"Damn." Was all that came out when her head poked out of the lava.
"All it takes is a little practice. I'll have to show you how to do it sometime." She grinned.
"That'd be cool." I smiled back. "Say, this is actually pretty cool."
"I told you." She cheered. "I'm always right."
"Oh really?" I sneered. "What about the time you said I couldn't land a hit on you in sword fighting?"
"Uh... I let myself be wrong."
"Sure." I laughed with sarcasm.

"Just because you landed a hit on my doesn't mean you're good or anything."
"Well, I've heard a lot about you not being too easy."
"True. In a lot of ways." She smirked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"N-nothing!" She replied worriedly.
"Calm down." I laughed. "It was just a question."
"Well it was a stupid question." She muttered.

We floated it the lava in silence for a moment, me not knowing what to say. All of a sudden, she got a sad look on her face, as if something was troubling her.
"Are you ok?" I asked.
She didn't answer for a moment, which worried me. I wasn't too good at cheering people up, so I was afraid to upset her. So I remained silent, not knowing what to say.

"I... I dated Elliot." She muttered to me.
"You did?" I asked out of pure shock. "Why would you-"
"He was... Different when we were first dating on the mortal world."
"So you knew him back on Earth?" I asked, still surprised by the information.
"Y-yes." She answered.

We both were silent for a moment, for I just wanted her to feel better by venting to me. I was really good at that, because my grandma would tell me about the mean ladies at bingo.

"He was actually nice once. Charming, handsome, funny, romantic. He... I loved him. A lot." She started to look saddened, looking as though she was fighting back tears.
"I believe you." Was all I could say, and it seemed to be enough. She smiled the tiniest bit, and continued.
"But... All of a sudden, he just... Changed." She frowned.
"That sucks." I touched her arm, and she winced for a moment, and pulled back.

"Sage... I have a hard time trusting people. Whenever I see myself finally open up to people, I either push it away, or it ends in disaster." She sniffled. "It may seem like I have a lot of friends, but I don't feel like I do. I can't trust the majority of the people I know."
"D-do you trust me?" I asked, afraid of the answer. I had only known her for a short time, but she's my best friend. I've never had a best friend before. Not even a friend, for that matter. So the fact that people like Petra, Zora, and Matt just instantaneously want to help me... It's the best feeling I have ever had.

Petra looked down, appearing as though she was ashamed.
"Sage, to be honest, I don't know. I don't know what to think of you. But all I know is that you're... different."
"Different?" I gave her a slight chuckle to lighten the mood, but for some reason, when she said "I don't know", it kinda stung. I don't know why it hurt, but it did. I was hoping she could trust me.

"Sage, all I'll say is that you're definitely someone I want to get to know."
I smiled, feeling flattered that she wants to get to know me.

At that moment, we could hear the bell ring from the school in the distance.
"Sweet! Lunchtime!" She cheered.
"Yup."
"Uh... Hey Sage. We have a problem." She told me, her cheeks turning a light pink. "I don't have wings."
"You don't?"
"No. And there's no way to get up to the cliff without flying."
"I mean, I could carry you up." I offered.
"Th-that'd be great." She grinned. I swept her off of her feet, as she shrieked the tiniest bit out of surprise. We both laughed, as I flew up, carrying Petra in my arms.