The Give Away

Chapter 10

I went to class the next day, I didn't say much if I could help it. I was scared I was going to burst into tears if I did. I sat beside Robert, he was reading a book. I sat there with my eyes closed, twisting the ring on my neck until I couldn't bare the heat anymore. I sat back in my chair. 'I'm sorry' he said. 'You don't have to be sorry.' I replied. I felt my face start to burn. 'Ms Wood? Can I go get a drink please?' I asked. She smiled softly and nodded. I walked out of the classroom but as soon as I was at the top of the stairs, out of sight, I ran as fast as I could to the girls bathroom. I closed the door to the cubicle at the very end and slid down the wall. Tears burning as they streaked down my face. I wrapped my arms around my knees and sobbed. Everything seemed like it was falling apart but coming together at the same time. I stood up slowly. Thats what my Aunt meant, she was trying to tell me to accept what was happening. Not let it bother me. It was almost like she was 2 people in the same body. The crazy person who tried to kill or severely hurt everyone I cared about and the caring Aunt I had never known. I wiped my eyes and walked back to class. I sat on a table in class and listened to Ms Wood give us a lecture on how using the wrong colour pen for an exam affects our grades. As soon as the bell went I ran to my dormitory, I hugged my pillow tight and looked at a picture of Mark, Maria and my baby brother and sisters. There was a knock at the door, I opened it to find Robert. 'Hey, can I come in?' He asked. 'Sure' I replied. I closed the door, he stood behind me. 'I know you were upset, you cried last night,' He said. I looked at him confusedly 'but, I am here to make you feel better. And besides, it said maybe. It depends how I go in my exams' he pulled me into a hug from behind me. He picked me up and sat me on the bed. He laid beside me and put his arm around me. I kissed his forehead 'how are you so perfect?' I whispered. 'I am not perfect, trust me' he replied as he hugged me tight. 'Well you are in my eyes' I smiled. 'I'm not in mine' 'Maybe you should try looking through my eyes some time' I said as I leant over and kissed him. I pulled away and looked at the ring, it was glowing brightly. I looked back at Robert, he put his hand on the side of my face. I put my hand over his and tilted my head towards it, leaning my cheek against his palm. I kissed his cheek and we went to class without saying another word. We didn't need to. As we walked I touched my lips with two fingers like I always did after we had kissed, I don't even think he knows I do it. One thing I did know was I was blushing like crazy. I went in the door and sat at a desk, ready for the boredom of lectures before exams started next week.

Later I went to my dormitory during lunch, I saw something shine on the doorknob. I picked it up, it was another charm from the bracelet. It was the crescent moon. It was almost as if it meant something, like whoever had my bracelet now was trying to tell me something. I ran inside my room and put the 2nd charm on my necklace. I locked the door and laid on my bed. A few minutes later I heard a knock at the door, I opened the door. No one was there. 'Seriously guys, it is not funny!' I screamed down the hallway. 'Idiots, when will they get it through their thick heads that knock knocking is stupid?!' I thought to myself as I heard my voice echo through the stairwell. I turned back around and locked the door. 'Hello Hope' I heard someone's voice from behind me say creepily. I turned to see Ayra smiling a devilish, creepy, evil smile. I turned to run but I couldn't move. I heard my Aunts mocking laugh echo through my room as if she wasn't here at all. But she was, she was standing right in front of me now, laughing her messed up head off with Ayra. They stopped laughing, but all they said was 'accept the truth' before vanishing into thin air. 'She can control blood, manipulate it' Roberts voice echoed in my head. 'Of course! How didn't I think of this until now?!' I thought to myself as I ran out my door, making sure it was locked before I left. I ran across the courtyard, past the office, past the basketball court and past the staff room before I got to the library. I opened the door and slid inside. I speed walked to one of the aisles. I took book after book off the shelf and put them on the desk behind me. I turned and sat in the chair before opening the book on top of the pile. I skimmed through the whole thing. Nothing. I did the same thing with the next 6 books until I opened the 7th. The first page I read had the answer on it. "For any person that has powers, it can be hard to control them. But, learning how to defend yourself against others and their powers?! Seems impossible doesn't it? But it isn't. Using the table below, find your power then the power you are defending against and number they lead to is the page you need to turn to" it read. I traced my fingers from my power to my aunts, finding the tile they lead to. 715. I turned the pages until I found it. "Element benders can manipulate the basic elements; water, earth, fire, metal and air. Blood controllers can manipulate or control a persons blood flow and just blood in general. If you are the element bender defending against the blood controller, you must know that you are not powerless. In a way, you have more power than they do. They may be able to control your blood, but did you know that you can control theirs? It's true, if you are an element bender you can control a blood controllers blood the same way you control the elements. See your blood had a certain level of water and air in their blood cells. An element bender can control both the water and the air, therefore can control the blood controller they same way they can control you." I read. I couldn't believe what I was reading. How didn't I work that out? We were learning about blood and the body in health and science. I borrowed the book and ran outside 'Robert!' I cried 'Hope? What's wrong?' He asked. 'Nothing! That's the thing, meet me in my dormitory?' I asked. 'Course, be there in a second' he laughed. I smiled, I was clutching the book to my chest as I ran. I got up to my dormitory and closed the door, I collapsed on my bed and burst out laughing. I was breathing heavily, my hear was racing, my head spinning, but I didn't care. Robert flew through the door and jumped onto the bed beside me. He was laughing 'hey' I smiled. 'Hey' he replied. I hugged him tight, my arms wrapped around his neck, my head resting on his shoulder and my eyes shut. I pulled away, 'so what happened?' He asked. I grinned proudly 'this' I said handing him the open book. I watched him as he read it. His face lit up as he read the last sentence, he looked up at me with a huge grin across his face. I beamed proudly, 'how did you..?' He asked with a smile. 'You, you helped me.' I smiled. I kissed his cheek. 'Me? What did I do?' He asked confusedly. 'This' I said as I kissed him. My hand around the back of his neck. I pulled away blushing. I turned so I was facing away from him and held 2 fingers to my lips like I always did after we finished kissing. I was always left happy whenever he kissed or hugged me, whenever I thought about it later it put a smile on my face. I turned back around and smiled at Robert. He smiled back and pulled me into a hug. He picked me up off the bed and spun me around, he kissed my cheek and sat me down on the floor so that I was standing close to him. He smiled and took my hand, the book in the other, he pulled me through the wall and down the stairs. I held out my hand to push open the door but we just went right through it. I had expected the familiar chill as my hand hit the glass, it never came. Neither did the familiar feeling that normally happened when I went through something with him. I tripped, Robert held me up and we kept on running. We ran all the way to the far side of the oval where Jane was watching Kieran play football with the guys. I sat next to her on the bench. 'We.....we did it..Jane.....we did it' I heaved as I tried to catch my breath. 'What?' She asked with a confused laugh. 'A way to put our monster of an Aunt in her place' I said seriously. 'Well what are you waiting for?! Show me!' She said excitedly. She pulled me off the bench and up the hill to the tree we spent so long beneath on our first day. She took a deep breath and raised her arms, her eyes shut and her head tilted up to the sky. 'What are you doing?' I laughed. She opened one eye and looked at me 'I'm ready for whatever you are going to do to me' she said. She shut her other eye again, I took a deep breath and thrust my hand forward. I could feel the water in her, the air she was breathing in and out. I controlled the water inside her, she couldn't move. I let go, I was panting. I didn't realise how much energy that took. She looked at me with a look of shock, terror and pride. 'What...?' Jane asked. 'I found it in a book'. I shrugged. 'How the hell did you find that book?!' She laughed. 'Well you know me and books' I shrugged as I laughed. She hugged me 'we have a chance, an actual fighting chance' she whispered excitedly.