Illuminae Heights

The Trouble-Maker Best Friend

I woke up in the infirmary and immediately felt the pain in my cheek. I touched it gently and winced slightly at the stinging sensation it gave me. Adara really did hit me hard. I sat up, and a nurse immediately walked up to me. I looked around and realized I wasn't the only one here. About 9 other students were sprawled on mattresses with bruises already covering their cheeks. I spotted Kira and Sam amongst the bodies and sighed. They were still knocked out, and I couldn't help but wonder if maybe Mrs. Lavins realized that her students were being taught to punch each other in the face. Then again, she probably didn't care. She probably cared more about the fact that she didn't know how to handle a bunch of 16 year olds with mutated abilities. The nurse was a short woman, with almost black hair and dark eyes to match. The contrast to her pale skin was jarring, but in a hauntingly beautiful kind of way. She was in a lab coat and I noticed she had attached a machine to me that was checking my vitals. "My name is Doctor Helen Trivon, but you can call me Helen."

"I'm Lila." I told her as she checked my bruise, her fingers gently prodding at the injury and making me flinch in pain. "You took quite a hit, Lila." She informed me with a small smirk and I nodded as she leaned back to check if I had a concussion, using a little light that blinded my eyes. "Follow the light." I did as she asked and she clicked her tongue in approval. "You seem fine. No concussion, but that bruise is going to hurt for a few days." I shrugged, not minding the pain. It just gave me a reason to hate that damn teacher even more. I thanked her and she just nodded before letting me know I could return to class and removing the machine attached to my arm. I had only been knocked out for 20 minutes, so Defense class still had 10 more minutes. I decided to head to the field again instead of getting ready for my next class, refusing to seem weaker by not going back. The sun hit me like a wave again, and I regretted not getting some water before coming back. From a distance, I noticed that Mr. Burkes was still in his heavy jacket.

My classmates turned to face me and I could see the guilt in their eyes when they noticed my bruise. They were practicing with the cubes again, and a stray cube from someone not paying attention came flying towards me. I just put my hand up, and it fell back onto the floor. The pain in my cheek had ignited my ability slightly, and I couldn't help being a little bit angry at Mr. Burkes. Elijah was probably full of rage by now, and I tried to calm down for his sake. His letter still worried me, but I had listened and come to the school. Now there was nothing I could do but wait for more news. Maybe I could send him a letter tonight, but I didn't know if we were allowed at Illuminae Heights. Hudson ran up to me first, cringing at my cheek. I probably looked a bit messed up, so I didn't blame him. "You okay?" He asked me as Mr. Burkes yelled at everyone to keep practicing, ignoring my return. I was 99% sure he disliked me by now, but the feeling was mutual so I didn't mind. "I'm fine, no concussion. Just a bruise." Hudson looked impressed. "You must have a hard head. You went down fast." He commented with a small smirk, trying to lighten the mood and I couldn't help the smile that spread across my lips. Before I could reply, Adara's arms were wrapped around me in a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around her too, not caring that Mr. Burkes was looking at us as if we were the worst students he had ever endured for an hour straight. "I'm fine, don't worry." I assured her as she pulled back and saw my cheek, already beginning to turn blue and red. Honestly, I wasn't angry at Adara at all. I meant it when I said she deserved to be here, and if she had been expelled for refusing to hit me I would've felt awful about it. She apologized to me, but I waved it off. I was ok compared to the others in the infirmary. My friends both walked back to where their partners were waiting, Kaden included, who gave me a quick hug before going back to practice with Hudson. Mr. Burkes walked up to me, his smirk a bit too confident for my taste. "Glad to see you have a hard head, Ms. Taylor." He informed me, and for some reason it sounded sincere. "Yes, well I wouldn't want to miss more of this riveting class." I told him, trying to hide my sarcastic tone. Of course, he realized I was being sarcastic and pursed his lips. "We're short 9 trainees. Come, you can practice with me for the remaining five minutes, considering you wasted five talking to your friends." He turned and started walking back, and I mumbled under my breath: "You wasted twenty by ordering my friend to punch me." I couldn't tell if he hadn't heard me, or simply didn't care. I was sweating like crazy because of the intolerable heat but he was still in that stupid jacket and it made me dislike him even more.