Villains in Training

Chapter Nine: Riptide

Bella woke up with a start.

She looked around at the disheveled mess that was her room, though she was absolutely certain she'd never been this messy.  Her clothes were strewn across the floor where they should have been crumbled up in her laundry basket, clean but not put away.  All of her books were in different areas on the floor, her desk, chairs, and a few on her bed. One book had been separated from its cover and the pages were scattered about.  Her alarm clock... Well it was now a jumble of plastic and wires.  It definitely wouldn't work anymore.

Bella slowly got out of bed, making sure not to step on anything that might hurt her, like the broken glass from her now destroyed "Don't Even Look At Me" mug which she'd had tea in the night before.

She left her room, closed the door, and sunk to the floor. There was no doubt in her mind that she'd done that with her powers while she slept.  It certainly could have been worse, but still, she'd never had so little control of her powers that she lost control in her sleep.

Hades may have thought she had control and she may have agreed, but it clearly wasn't completely true.

"What's wrong?" Jade asked.

"Nothing," Bella responded. "I'm just... dealing with stuff."

"Me too," Jade said as she sat down next to Bella. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours?"

Bella looked at Jade, who'd clearly just woken up as well and was probably headed to the bathroom to get ready for class. "I already know what stuff you're dealing with," Bella said. "It's written all over your face."

"It is?" Jade asked as if she didn't know.

"Yeah. You're agonizing over the first time we met and that green paint trick, which was actually pretty mean and I kind of respect it. Besides, that was when we were kids. Everyone is like that as a kid."

"You weren't."

"I was a special case. Probably traumatized by the story my mom told me about how she killed my dad. Now that story makes me stronger. Everyone makes mistakes. Now can we go back to when you only thought about that every month instead of every week?"

"I'd prefer if it was once a year."

"Then let's do that."

Bella and Jade sat in silence for a few moments before Jade broke the silence once again with a question. "So, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing."

"Is it about you having to kill me?"

"Not technically."

"Which means indirectly. Well, I know when you want to be alone. I'll give you till tonight then your alone time is up. Friends who are also roommates don't get more than a day of alone time when it's something that is so obviously bothering them on a deep level."

"I'm beginning to get to be too readable," Bella sighed.

"No, I'm just getting better at reading people," Jade revealed as she stood up. "Besides, what am I supposed to think when you're sitting on the floor, leaning against your door and everything. That's not normal for you."