As Karis sat in the same chair that she sat in the day before in Mr. Carson's office she felt like she was in grade school again, going to the principal's office for something that was out of her control. Getting in trouble wasn't normal for Karis and she didn't like the feeling. She looked over at Titanium, who was standing in the corner with an ice pack on his lip. Kenny was squatted down beside Titanium looking at his stitches that ripped loose during the fight. He suddenly winced as Kenny pushed the incision together to see how many stitches he would need to close it.
"Ouch Kenny!!!! Can you be a little more aggressive, I love the burning sensation of my skin ripping apart?" Titanium teased through clenched teeth as he slapped Kenny's hand away from him. "Sahari can stitch it up later. You're just making it bleed worse."
"Fine, you winey ass. She will tell you the same thing I'm going to tell you."
"And what's that, smart ass!"
"That it's going to take three or four stitches to fix that incision, now sit down and shut it."
"Well, thanks for that little bit of information, but you could've left that last part out, you know."
"No. I kind of like the shut it part." Kaleb said as he leaned against the arm rest of his chair and looked at Titanium. "But only if it actually worked."
"Come on, guys, let's not start the name calling again. I've got too big of a headache." Karis said, rubbing her temples.
"Where the heck is Mr. Carson!" Jessica exclaimed, pacing the floor behind Karis and Kaleb. "He told us ten minutes and not to be late. Here it is, fifteen minutes and he's not even here. I'd think if we were in trouble he'd at least have the courtesy show up to his office on time to let us know what we're faced with!"
"Calm down Jessica, did ye forget to take yer ADHD medicine?" Dillon asked with his eyebrow raised.
Jessica shot him a look that made him cower down like a scared puppy. "This isn't a joke, Dillon. Mr. Carson was really mad. I just can't stand the procrastination of our punishment."
"We didn't do too much damage to the dining area. It could've been much worse." Titanium stated.
"Two tables and several chairs. Yah, not much damage. I bet Mr. Carson will think that too." Jessica said, throwing herself in a chair to sulk.
"You're right about that, Ms. Henderson." Mr. Carson said as he walked through his door and slammed it behind him. "I am not pleased with the way you all carried on in the dining room. You were all supposed to try not to draw attention to Karis and Kaleb, but instead you made them main targets.".
"It wasn't their fault, Mr. Carson. Ethereal has had it out for me since I showed up." Karis said, trying to put most of the blame on her.
"Well now we are going to have to separate you and Kaleb from the other students, at least until you both receive your powers." Mr. Carson shifted his gaze towards Titanium and Kenny. "Since you two can't seem to stay out of trouble, I am putting you guys in charge of their training and safety."
"That won't be a problem." Titanium said, cracking his knuckles.
Mr. Carson shook his head slowly. "Not that way. Everybody in this room will be in one class together. You will teach each other weapons training and what each of your powers can do. You will be put into an isolated classroom away from the other students and the training room will be available to you after regular classes are done. This is just a temporary fix for now. We will figure out what to do when Karis and Kaleb get their powers."
"What about Ethereal and Dalton? What if they come after us again?" Kaleb asked.
"I will personally make sure they leave both of you alone. Now, for your punishment for the dining room incident."
"Crap, I thought you might've forgotten about that." Jessica said, rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hands. "Can you just let us off with a warning this time?"
Mr. Carson looked sideways at Jessica. "I let you off with a warning last time and look what happened. No, I believe you all will have to face the consequences this time. Since there are seven of you it should not take you long to clean it up. Four of you can sweep the dining area and three of you can mop it; it must be done today! Instead of classes for the rest of the day, you all will be in the dining area cleaning and it must be finished at least an hour before the lunchroom is scheduled to open for supper."
"What about Ethereal and Dalton? They were the ones that started the brawl." Taren complained.
"I have a punishment set up for them too. It is in the best interest to keep you all separated at this time. We cannot afford any other damages to the school." Mr. Carson walked to his door and opened it. "Now, if you all will go to the janitor's closet, I believe you will find what you need for the dining room. I will check on you all periodically."
Titanium winced as he stood up, reminding him of the wound on his side. "Can I go to the healing room to get Sahari to patch me up before we get started on the dining room?"
Mr. Carson looked at his watch. "I will give you all thirty minutes to start on the cleanup in the dining room. I advise you all not to be late."
"Not a problem." Kenny answered as he grabbed the back of Titanium's shirt and pulled him out the door. Jessica, Dillon, and Taren followed them out the door debating on who was going to clean what in the dining room. Karis smiled at Mr. Carson as she was leaving his office but he didn't return the smile. She didn't know if he was upset about the dining room or if he had something troubling on his mind. The door shut behind her when she remembered that she wanted to ask Mr. Carson if he has heard anything else about their parents. Karis turned around to knock on the door, but ran straight into Kaleb.
"Oh, sorry Kaleb, I forgot you were behind me. I was just going to ask Mr. Carson if he has heard more about our parents."
"I'm always behind you Karis. Somebody has to catch you when you fall." Kaleb chuckled.
"Ha, ha. Very funny." Karis raised her hand to knock on the door, but Kaleb caught her hand before it made contact with the hard wood door.
"Wait, Mr. Carson looked like he had a lot on his mind right now. Why don't we get on his good side before we ask any questions, especially about our parents? I'm pretty sure if he heard something important he would've told us."
"Maybe you're right." Karis lowered her hand without letting go of Kaleb's hand. "I'm really glad you're here with me Kaleb. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Well, knowing you couldn't live without my winning personality; I believe you would probably run away and join a convent if I wasn't here. You'd be known as Sister Karis." Kaleb's blue eyes sparkled as he grinned down at her. "I know one thing for sure. You'd be one hot nun."
Karis laughed and playfully slapped Kaleb on his arm. "See there, you always know how to make me laugh when I'm down."
"And I always will." Kaleb whispered, pulling her into a hug.
They stood there in the hallway for several minutes until Kaleb pulled back and placed his forehead on Karis's forehead, his eyes still closed. They were so close that Karis could smell the spearmint gum he was chewing on. She looked at Kaleb's soft lips without moving her head, tempted to find out what they tasted like, but she pushed the thought out of her head as she looked up again. Kaleb slightly pulled away and gazed into her hazel eyes. He leaned in slowly to kiss her when someone behind them cleared her throat loudly, startling them both.
"Am I interrupting something here? We have less than thirty minutes to get to the dining room and you two are in a hallway smooching." Jessica teased.
"We weren't smooching, we were, um, seeing if Mr. Carson, um, heard anything about our parents, that's all." Karis stuttered.
Kaleb rolled his eyes irritably as he turned to look at Jessica. "Do you always sneak up on people and scare them?"
"Hey, this is a public hall. Anyway, you better be glad it was me instead of Titanium. He wanted to wait for y'all but I told him to go ahead to the healing room. Kenny had to drag him, kicking and screaming."
"Are you serious?" Karis exclaimed with wide eyes.
"No, but I did tell him we would meet up with them in the dining room. Come on you two we don't have all day. Taren and Dillon are already there."
Kaleb turned his attention back Karis. "We'll talk later, let's just go get this crap over with then we can figure out what we need to do from there."
After the group met up and cleaned the dining room spotless, Mr. Carson gave Titanium a key to one of the empty classrooms where the group can meet undisturbed by other students while they planned their training schedule. The classroom looked like a storage room compared to all the other classrooms Karis has been in. The walls were painted gray and there was one window half the size of the wall that looked out over the front lawn and angel fountain. Lockers lined around the other walls and a large round table with eight chairs was in the middle of the room. Everybody grabbed a chair and sat down at the table to plan out the week.
Titanium leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table. He laid his head back as if trying to work a cramp out of his neck. Taren and Dillon sat next to each other, arguing among themselves in their own conversation. Kenny had his lap top open typing away on the keyboard. Kaleb leaned on the table with his head resting on his arms like he wanted to go to sleep. Karis noticed that everybody was in their own little world, so she decided to start up a conversation.
"Well, here we are; sitting at a round table. Doesn't this kind of make you feel like the knights at the round table?" Karis chuckled, trying to break the awkward silence.
Kaleb lifted his head and looked at Karis with agitation in his eyes. "Please don't give anybody at this table any ideas that will benefit their ego."
Titanium slowly raised his head as he met Kaleb's gaze, hardening his features and refusing to react to his incriminating gesticulation. "I think we should focus on weapons training right now. That will give us a little time to at least show you both how to use different blades on different enemies. Even if you do get your powers before we get this package and go to the train station, you still won't have time to learn how to use them properly. Your powers will be so new to you that it'll be like a baby learning how to walk for the first time. Yep, weapons training it is."
"Who died and made you king? I know how to use a sword, my father taught me well and I can teach Karis." Kaleb said defensively.
Titanium pulled out his boot knife and buried the blade to the hilt into the table in front of Kaleb. "There's more to weapons training than swinging a sword. There are certain metals that can cut certain Scrapers that will make their skin melt. There are certain edges of a blade that can tear and rip the skin or make precise incisions where you don't even know you're cut until it is too late. Some throwing knives can go straight through bone and some can hit its mark where the tip of the blade will explode into tiny little razors that'll make every organ it hits hemorrhage, leaving the person or thing to bleed out internally. Not to mention the different poisons you can put on the blade itself to make someone either go crazy or die a slow, miserable death. So, you see, there's much more to weapons training than knowing how to swing one around."
Kaleb sat up in his chair, glaring at Titanium as he grabbed the handle of the knife to try to pull it out of the table, but no matter how hard he pulled, the knife wouldn't budge. After the fifth attempt to yank it out of the table, Kaleb sat back down in his chair and blew out an agitated breath. "What kind of knife is this- Excalibur?"
Titanium smirked as he reached across the table, grabbed the knife's handle, and pulled it out of the table with one yank. He twirled it once with his fingers and placed it back in his boot sheath. "I guess that does make me king. Will one of you repair the wood on this table before Mr. Carson finds it?" Titanium added looking at Taren.
"Okay guys, we know that we need to work on our weapons training, but these people aren't going to wait long for us to bring this package to them. They know the package should get here a lot quicker than a week or two. If we wait, they'll know we are planning something and they might hurt our parents. We need to plan something now." Karis said forcefully. "I know y'all like to use knives and swords, but tell me again why we don't have guns?"
"It's too hard to get guns. Most of us are too young to buy them. Plus, these are Scrapers we are fighting, bullets don't kill them like they do humans, a sword or knife will just have to do in our situation."
"Aye, right ye are, Titanium, we need to concentrate on weapons training until this package comes, but right now we have at least an hour before classes are over and we can't use the training room, so...." Dillon stood up and started walking around the table with his hands braced behind him nervously. "I think we should spend the hour planning a birthday bash for Karis and Kaleb."
"Dillon!" Snapped Taren, frustration clear in her voice. "We need to focus on more important things than a party."
"I am just saying we need to have a little fun while we wait for this package. Ye only turn sixteen once, Karis and Kaleb should be able to celebrate their birthdays together." Dillon raised his right hand as if he was swearing on a bible. "Ye have me word I will only invite the kids in this room, matter of fact I can do all the planning and ye all can focus on weapons training."
Kenny looked up from his computer screen. "He does have a point. We could use a little R&R, especially since we don't know what we are up against in the near future."
Titanium made an impatient noise as he rubbed his tired eyes. "Fine, plan a party, but it better be small and low profile."
Dillon clapped his hands together in triumph. "Not a problem, how does this weekend sound?"
"That'll probably be best because I'm pretty sure this package is going to get here soon." Jessica said. "And that is when the fun really begins."
Titanium stood up to stretch his legs. "Oh and one more thing Dillon? If anybody else is at this party besides this group it won't be pretty."
"Trust me. It will only be our little group. I have some great ideas and ye will not be disappointed."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Titanium said as he walked towards the door. "Why don't we go to our dorm rooms until classes are done and then meet in the training room in about an hour or so?"
"What do we need to wear for training?" Karis asked, feeling slightly embarrassed as Titanium glanced up and down at her t-shirt and jeans.
"Preferably something snug against your body. You've got curves, show them off.".
"Hey, these are comfortable and they're snug enough. I'm a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl anyway, I can move better in this than some tight floozy outfit."
Titanium walked up and stood in front of her. In one swift move, he grabbed her t-shirt and pulled her into his chest forcefully. He looked down at her with a smirk. "If you're wearing a loose shirt, it gives your enemy the advantage to grab it and pull you into his blade."
Kaleb grabbed Titanium's arm. "Let her go, she doesn't need a demonstration."
"Calm down. I wasn't going to hurt her you idiot." Titanium said as he let go of Karis's shirt. "I was simply showing her how fast someone could kill her by wearing improper clothing."
"This is all I have. You see, I really didn't have time to pack a bag with Scrapers blowing up my house and all." Karis said sarcastically.
"You can borrow something of mine." Jessica said from across the room. "I have a couple of outfits that will probably fit you for training. You might have to roll up the bottoms but I have some training boots that you can tuck them in to."
"Good! Now that's settled, we'll meet in the training room in one hour. Anyone have any questions?" Titanium walked back to the door and opened it.
"I do, since I only have the sight power and ye have plenty of people to teach weapons training, is it ok if I sit this one out? I have some planning to do." Dillon asked, winking at Karis.
"Sure, go do what you need to do and I'll see the rest of you in an hour." Titanium said as he turned and walked out the door without saying another word.
"Wow, he seemed like he was in a hurry. I wonder what he has up his sleeve." Kaleb said.
"I don't know, but it did seem like he had some place to be. Maybe he just needs some rest. Dalton did work him over good." Karis said, pretending to hit her jaw with her fist.
"Don't let him hear you say that, he'd just go find Dalton to pick a fight with to prove you wrong." Jessica warned.
"Aye, and we do not need that, I am done with cleaning up after someone else's fight." Taren said.
Kaleb walked over to Karis and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Why don't you get Jessica to help you find something to wear for training? Afterwards, meet me at the training room early. I really need to talk to you. ALONE."
Karis felt her heart skip a beat as Kaleb kissed her on the cheek. She opened her mouth to say something, but there was nothing to say. So many thoughts hit her mind all at once; Kaleb trying to say what he feels... Titanium kissing her... Jessica telling her to make up her mind who she really wants... Her parents' faces... She couldn't think of anything to say at that moment, she just stood there frozen, staring at Kaleb's pleading blue eyes until Jessica broke the silence between them.
"Hey Karis, are you ready to go try on some training clothes?" Jessica asked with excitement in her voice, walking towards them from the other side of the room.
"Um, Sure!" Karis called back to Jessica. Karis turned her attention back to Kaleb, speaking in barely a whisper. "Okay, I'll meet you at the training room in twenty minutes, if I'm a little late it's because I have to figure out how to keep Jessica from coming with me, but don't worry, I'll be there."
Kaleb's grin made his dimple show deeply. Karis noticed that his eyes turn a brighter blue when he was happy. She hoped that she could keep them that color then wondered at where that thought came from.
"Great! I'll be waiting for you there. Oh and Karis?" Kaleb paused before he said anything else and looked down at the floor.
"Yeah, Kaleb?"
Kaleb glanced at her and shook his head. "Um, never mind, just try not to be too late. You know how I worry about you."
"I know. I'll be there in twenty minutes, give or take a few."
Kaleb narrowed his eyes at her playfully. "Woman, you are going to be the death of me." And with that he turned and walked out of the room. Karis could have sworn she saw a little skip in his step as he shut the door behind him.
"He seems like he is in a good mood. Are you playing both sides of the field, Karis?" Jessica said in a cooing voice.
"Absolutely not! Kaleb and I are just friends and we're fighting for our parents. We need each other to lean on right now, that's all. We've been friends for a long time."
"Come on, Karis. I've seen this multiple times. Two guys like one girl; one girl likes both guys; it never ends well if you keep playing that game. You're going to have to pick a side or you will lose the game totally."
"This is not a game!" Karis snapped.
"I understand that, but you are playing them like it is, even if you know it or not. Titanium is use to these types of games, Kaleb is not. Who do you think is going to be the most hurt?" Jessica put a comforting hand on Karis's shoulder. "Look, I'm not trying to tell you who to pick, but you really need to search your heart to figure out which one it's beating for. Your mind can play tricks on you; make you feel something that might not really be there. But your heart on the other hand, never lies. Keep that in mind when you are trying to figure out who you really want."
"You're right, Jessica. Thank you for being such a good friend."
"Hey, that's what I'm here for and besides, I've been around just a little longer. Now, get over yourself and let's go try on some clothes." Jessica bounced out of the room, waving bye to Taren and Dillon, who were still sitting at the round table talking and writing stuff down on a piece of paper. They barely looked up to wave at Karis as she followed Jessica out of the room. Karis had to jog to catch up with Jessica.
"What time do you have to meet Kaleb in the training room?" Jessica asked as she quickly walked towards the dorm building.
"How do you know about.....?"
"I know everything. Remember I have ADHD, my brain works on several different levels. I hear everything." Jessica chimed in before Karis could finish her sentence. "So, how long?"
"Twenty minutes."
"Then we better step it up and find you something for training as well as make you beautiful."
"What! I don't need anything to make me beautiful. We're just going to sweat it off anyway."
Jessica grinned at Karis, looking sideways through her eyelashes as she started walking faster. "Trust me!"
YOU ARE READING
Wishful Deviltry
ParanormalEach person inherits an ancient genetic code from their biological parents. Unfortunately, not all humans are created equal. For some humans like Karis Kenzie the lottery of genes give some people exceptional powers. Karis and her best friend, Kaleb...
