The Spirit Guardians Book 1: Enlightened

Chapter 10

"Three more laps, and you're good to go!" Miguel called in the distance. Cassie let out a groan and scowled at him as she ran around the familiar dirt path three more times. The sun was going down due to extended training day Miguel had suggested.

Marc had agreed to it, probably because she'd snapped at him the other day, though he hadn't spoken to her much since. Her heart sunk a little. Hadn't they just resolved one argument? She wondered why they struggled to cooperate so often.

July was upon them now, and though the forest breeze brought some relief to the heat, the temperature was only rising. Sweat clung to Cassie's body as she made her final lap.

"Faster!" Miguel called. "I saw you sprint to Cherie's that day."

She ran a bit slower, just to anger him. She knew she and Miguel were never going to get along , so she had her fun teasing him in the meantime.

"All right. We're done!" Marc announced as she finished.

She panted heavily, her breaths coming out in wheezes.

"You okay?" Marc asked.

"Fine," she grumbled, moving past him.

"Well, get washed up! It's game night tonight!" he shouted.

She ignored him and stepped inside. The bathroom was luckily empty, and she grabbed her things before locking herself inside. She peeled the sweaty clothes from her body and stepped into the shower. Even if a hot shower wasn't what she wanted right now, she wished the water could be at least close to lukewarm.

After she was clean, she dried her hair and put on some warm pajamas for the evening, not exactly caring about her appearance. The day was over, and she was sure another long day of training was to follow, as well as another day her parents would be in the Preservers' clutches.

She pressed a fist against the wall, wishing that the spirits would just appear so she could be led closer to her family.

As she stepped outside, she found the others sitting downstairs on the floor, laughing and chatting with each other. Was this the supposed 'game night' Marc had mentioned?

"Cassie, come join us!" Lillian exclaimed, motioning her forward.

"Oh, I was heading to bed," Cassie admitted.

"Nonsense! You've never experienced one of our game nights before. Come on down," Lillian urged.

At the risk of having anyone else upset with her, Cassie complied and took a seat between Lillian and Conny. Her position sat her right across from Marc. She did her best to avoid all eye contact with him.

"Chips?" Lillian asked, bringing a bag of tortilla chips forward.

She nodded and scooped a chip into a bowl of salsa as Miguel cried out over the card game they were playing.

"You can join next round, Cassie," Conny suggested.

"What are you playing?" she wondered as she munched on chips.

"B.S. Do you know how to play it?" Irene asked.

Cassie nodded and continued eating, watching as the others shouted and laughed at each other. She felt awkward and distant as they all chatted and played. A beep made her jump, and Lillian suddenly stood.

"Ooh, that's the appetizers!" she exclaimed. She returned with trays of food moments later, and Cassie began eating cheese and crackers and dipping tiny sausages into barbeque sauce.

"Okay, Miguel wins," Marc said as Miguel set his last card down.

"Ready, Cassie?" Lillian asked as she handed Cassie a pile of worn blue cards.