Book 1: Awakening (The VIth Element Series)

Chapter 24: Alex

That evening, whilst we had dinner, I was finally able to solve the mystery disappearance of Jasmine earlier on in the day.

"So...where did you go at lunchtime?" I asked her, frowning in worry as we sat at our usual place in the dining hall. "Raphael and I were concerned about you."

After I had finished, Jasmine clenched her fork a little too tightly, causing the veins in her hand to show significantly. She also flicked her hair over her shoulder furiously, a trait of hers that highlighted her negative state of mind.

"It was that dishonest, two-faced snake's fault," she snarled, now wrathfully stabbing at a roast potato on her plate, as if it were Vanessa's face. "If she hadn't blatantly lied earlier on about not being responsible for hurting you with that netball and using her powers, then we might have avoided detention." Jasmine paused briefly to control her growing temper, before she continued her verbal rant. "Still, because she and I had such a big row, which continued well after Miss Beast had left the gym with you and got me this nail slash on my cheek (she pointed at the long, jagged line down the side of her face) Miss Beast gave us both a lunchtime detention in her office." Jasmine then wrinkled her nose, trying not to gag at the horrible remembrance. "I had to go through a disgustingly smelly pile of gym clothes, which reeked of stale sweat and looked like they hadn't been washed in several years, fearing that I might catch a disease."

As soon as she had finished, I threw her a supportive glance at the sound of this torture. Jasmine acknowledged my look with a grateful smile, before she turned to Raphael and me.

"But enough of my moaning," she eventually sighed. "How was your last lesson?"

Raphael groaned.

"I had Maths for two hours straight," he complained, grumbling. "God, it was awful. Plus, we were looking at algebra – the bane of my life. Seriously, if I see another algebraic equation, I'll knock out my Maths teacher with my mind powers."

Jasmine and I cringed at this news. Neither of us really liked algebra, or Maths for that matter.

"Well...that doesn't sound like fun," Jasmine replied and I nodded in agreement. "I had History, which wasn't too bad I suppose. The most interesting part was learning about our history. Some of the people that came and studied at this academy were very surprising. You know Shakespeare – the genius of a playwright?" Jasmine said, now grinning at the two of us. "He was one of the most famous people to walk these hallways!"

Raphael and I gaped at her in both amazement and disbelief.

"No," I finally retorted, my mouth more or less on the floor. "No way, that's crazy."

Jasmine shook her head.

"It's true," she laughed, giggling at our stunned reactions. "He had the power of telepathy. That's how he ended up writing so many incredible works. He read people's minds and invented ideas for his plays and poems from what people were thinking at the time."

At hearing her explanation, I paled considerably. I had always loved and respected Shakespeare ever since I had studded 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in Year Seven.

"But that would make him a thief, not a genius," I replied. "He basically stole other people's ideas."

Jasmine roared with laughter at this comment, which was nice to hear after her previous annoyance.

"Yeah," she grinned. "I never thought about it that way, but I suppose he did. Still," she continued, "he became the only richest, revered and undiscovered "thief" ever to make a successful living, so you can't really complain. He was practically a celebrity! Also," she added in a cynical tone, "you can't argue against the fact that there're still people today who take ideas from other people and spin them into their own work."