Prep School

Chapter 14

I wake up super early, before Riel wakes up.
Time to get you back.
I grab some Halloween green hair dye (temporary) from the side closet. I smirk.
Perfect, just enough left. Hopefully, Dad doesn't take a shower first.
I grab Riel's shampoo bottle and open it up. I pour some of the hair dye into it. Then, I spray the bathroom with some Febreeze, so it doesn't smell like  dye.
I put the hair dye back and grin.
I sneak back into my room and go back to bed.

"ARIA!!!".
I'm sitting at the dining table, trying hard not to grin.
Riel storms downstairs, wearing only an undershirt and some shorts.
"Explain this." He points to his hair, which is now a bright, leaf green (all thanks to yours truly).
"What? Why is your hair green?"
"Don't play innocent!"
I pout. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Riel growls at me as my mom walks in from the kitchen.
"What we you two scream- Riel, what did you do to your hair?!"
Riel points at me." It's her fault."
Mom turns to me. "Aria Sage Black. What. Did. You. Do."
Dad walks in from upstairs. He yawns,"What's going o-"
He takes one look at Riel's hair and his eyes widen and he chokes back a laugh.
My mom glares at him. "Mark, explain to your daughter what she has done wrong. I am going to go finish making breakfeast."
My dad turns to me. "You did this?"
"Hehehe..... Maybe?"
He holds up his hand for a high-five. I grin and slap his palm.
"Dad, you're taking her side?" Riel whines.
"Son, you gotta admit, this was genius. I'm disappointed that you didn't think of it. You are older after all."
Riel grumbles,"Yeah, yeah. Great job squirt." He tousles my hair, messing it up.
He sits down next to me and leans in.
"Wait until I get you back."
I grin. "Can't wait."

I shuffle into English, hardly focusing. The whole day breezes by, I'm barely paying attention.
I'm so bored. I'm actually looking forward to training.
As soon as the bell rings, I'm out the door.
"Hey, Aria!" Gianna calls after me.
"Yeah?"
"What's up? You've been out of it all day."
"Just tired, I guess." From all that summoning practice last night.
"Ok.... Just.... Text me later ok?"
"Yeah, sure."
I walk out of the school just as someone else calls after me.
"Aria!"
"Yeah?"
Zane runs up to where I am.
"Do you feel ok?"
Why is everyone so worried today?
"Yeah, fine."
"Are you sure? Cuz you haven't been rude to me all day," he cocks his head and leans in.  His blue eyes are bright as they meet mine.
"Hmmm.... Just as I thought."
"What?"
"Huh? Nothing. And since I'm gonna be your tutor, you're dad said it'd be ok if I drive you to the facility."
"You can drive?"
"Uhh... Yeah. I'm 16."
"Really? The way you act, one would think you were 12."
He just grins at me and leads me to his car, a black Prius.
I text my mom as I sit down.
On my way to training
Kay have fun, she texts back.
I sit back in the seat and take a deep breath. It smells nice in here. Like clove and spices.  I let myself close my eyes and smile.
"Like it?"
"Huh? Yeah."
Zane smiles and looks back at the road. His hands grip the steering wheel tightly, making the muscles in his arms tense.  We make it to the facility faster than I thought.
Time flies fast when you're distracted, I could hear Riel's voice in the back of my head.
I shake my head to get rid of his voice.

We walk into the training room and Zane heads upstairs.
"See ya in a bit," he says to me.
"See ya."
I walk into the training room where Elliyot is leaning against the wall, her scythe (for grim reaping. Obviously.) resting next to her. Her scythe's tip reaches her shoulder. Its polished steel gleams in the lights. The handle with its amethyst gems sparkle.
Elliyot stands up when she sees me and nods in greeting.
I go into the back room and change into a tank top and some sweat pants. I pull my hair back into a bun.
I walk outside where Elliyot is waiting.
She simply gives me a once-over and says," Summon your scythe."
I take a deep breath, breathing in the leathery scent of the room, and letting it fill my lungs. I close my eyes.
I concentrate. I concentrate on the air, my heat, my heart pumping blood throughout my body. My hands hums with energy. The air surrounding me hums with energy . Cold steel kisses my open palm. I open my eyes, looking at my scythe. About my height, and inlaid with onyx, my solid steel scythe with its titanium tip shimmers.
I position myself into a fighting stance and stretch my body. I grip my scythe and twirl it around in my hand. I roll it over my knuckles and over my palm, relaxing my muscles.
Then, Elliyot charges. I twirl my scythe around, blocking her attack and sending sparks into the air. She turns and comes in to hit my side. I jump and twist in mid-air and bring my scythe down. It's safety-blunted end bounces off Elliyot's back. She twists and ducks. She jumps up and hooks her ankle around my foot, kicking up. I flip over and pivot over, swinging my scythe for momentum. I swing forward and my scythe hits hers. Sparks fly and the metal screeches.
We both freeze and face each other.
"Good job," Elliyot breathes heavily.
"Thanks," I huff.
"Go ahead to control."
I gather up my things and put my scythe back where I got it from (basically I "unsummon" it). As I'm putting on a shirt, my phone buzzes. Zane.
Room 224
I trudge up the stairs and go to the room.
I push the door open and look around. The room's dark and smells musty, like sweat.
Why's it so dark? And where's Zane?
I move around, feeling my way through.
As I look around, I hear scuttling behind me. Something hisses.
I summon my scythe almost automatically. I feel better now that I have a weapon.
I swing my scythe towards where the sound came from.
"Who's there? To afraid to fight?," I call out.
"On the contrary, I think it's you who's afraid to to fight," a voice booms from somewhere in the room.
"Why don't you come and find out?," I yell.
A figure slinks away from a corner of the room.
My body goes on autopilot, already swinging my scythe before I've even thought about it.
I charge forward, swinging my scythe in an upward slice.
The figure dodges and swings its own scythe. A midnight blue handle inlaid with aquamarine. Its steel tip sparkles as it swings toward me. I block it and swing my scythe and hack at the figure. It dodges and brings its own scythe up and hooks into mine, pulling it away from me. It flies away from me and the figure swings at my legs. I jump up and summon my scythe back, concentrating on the spot where it fell. I grip it and turn around to swing.
Suddenly, the lights flick on, blinding me. I swing my scythe again, to try and hit the figure.
"So impatient," a familiar voice says.
"Zane?"
The figure pulls the hood off, revealing Zane's head.
He looks at me, his blue eyes serious.
"You failed."
"What?"
"You failed your first test."
"What? I didn't even know it was a test!," I argue.
"But you knew I was stationed in this room."
"Yeah....."
"Then, you should've assumed that this was a test. I am your teacher, you know. Besides, even if you didn't know, you shouldn't have immediately started hacking at everything you see. You almost cut my hair," he mock pouted.
I glare at him.
"Look Aria. For this to work, you have to listen to my advice. Bring a notebook  take notes. Write down my wisdom. Publish it so others can benefit from my sheer awesomeness."
I roll my eyes, but pull out my phone to take notes on.
"Okay then. Rule number one: stay calm. Keep your head cold, don't get angry or in this case proud too quickly. That'll just cloud your judgement and affect how you fight. And you'll tire out quickly. Next class, I expect you to be able to deal with a similar situation and still be able to get your point across in an argument."
Who knew Zane knew these many words?
"You know, you actually sound like a teacher."
Zane wrinkled his nose. "I'm not sure how to take that." He turns around and picks up his scythe and puts it away.
"Ok, well, our session is done. Let's go home. I'll drop you off."
Zane walked out of the door and I followed. Then I turned back and looked at the room.
You can do this. You can control your own emotions.
"Aria, you coming?" Zane's head pops in the doorway.
"Yeah."