The Power of the Elemental Crystals

Chapter 9 - Out of the Shadows, Into the Light

The three of us stood awkwardly out in the field; everyone was chattering incessantly.

Somewhere on the other side of the crowd, I spotted Noah. He caught my glance and we made eye contact for a split second. His expression was unreadable, like it has been for the past few days.

I turned back to face my best friends. They seemed just as apprehensive as I was; there was no telling of what was going to happen now. We'll just have to wait and see.

"Listen up, everyone! It was a false alarm!" Mr. Davis's head poked out from the crowd as he made the announcement.

Everybody either sighed in relief or just rolled their eyes, having already predicted that it was another dumb move from a student.

We all scurried into a single file line and trudged back to our classroom, bracing ourselves to endure the rest of the lesson.

As I took my seat, I couldn't help but take a look at Noah every once in a while.

The math lesson passed by slower than I could ever imagine, and my mind started drifting off into some other world.

A feeling of fear erupted inside of me when I realized that the plan might not have worked. I couldn't see any change in Noah's hair color, but is there really anything I could do?

His hair color has to change, he doesn't have to stone anymore. Unless... his natural hair color is black.

I nearly facepalmed myself in the middle of class, but thankfully I didn't. How could I have been so stupid?

Mr. Davis's words slowly faded away and the other students started chatting again. We were supposed to be working on our workbook, but, as always, the sharing of gossip and trivial things didn't ever cease to exist.

"Did you get rid of the stone?"

I nearly jumped out of my seat when I heard someone speak behind me. Abruptly turning around, I saw Noah standing just inches away from my chair. Matt and Sally rose in defense, just in case he tried to do anything.

"Whoa, don't give yourself whiplash now, Ellie." He half joked, still waiting for his answer.

"Uh, well, Matt has it." I replied tentatively.

"Okay, well the thing is that I need you guys to destroy it." He said, fidgeting with the sleeves of his sweater. "I can't risk getting near that again."

"What are you talking about?" Sally inquired, looking puzzled.

"All the terrible things I said to you guys, I didn't mean it. I couldn't do anything about it." He lowered his voice, making sure that nobody around us could hear. "These stones are the special things about this school. There are bad elements, just like there are good ones. I can't thank you guys enough for taking my stone away from me, but now I need you to destroy it. You guys already have your own powers, so the dark force won't affect you, but it will affect me if it returns to me."

"That explains a lot." Matt stated, still looking slightly bewildered from Noah's ranting.

"Yeah." Noah shifted uncomfortably, still waiting for our response.

"We'll throw it into the ocean, will that do?" Matt asked after a few seconds of thinking. "It's not like we can explode it or anything."

"Yeah, that's good enough. That's more than good enough." Noah smiled softly, looking relieved.

"Okay, so today will be the last day of this mess. Ready to end this once and for all, guys?" Sally joined in.

"Yeah." We all sighed and came together in one big group hug. I don't know how long we stayed there, but it felt comforting, to all be best friends again.

"We can meet up after school, by the docks near the ocean." Matt lifted his head to speak.

"Mmhmm." Noah muttered, his face buried on the top of my head, since he was taller than me.

"Sounds good." I said, just as the bell rung. We all reluctantly pulled away from the group hug and grabbed our bags.

"Hold up." Noah caught up with me as I was walking out the door. Before I could reply, he pressed his lips to mine. I leaned into the kiss, and he smiled, still closing his eyes.

"Once again, thank you. I'll see you after school." He said, before we parted ways. I was holding back a smile the entire time as I walked to my next class. I've always imagined how my first kiss would be like, and now I finally know. It was spectacular.

The rest of the day rushed by, and soon it was dismissal. Nothing could bring me down from my good mood.

I made my way to the harbor, confirming the location with the others through text.

We all met up at the docks, and Matt reached into his bag for the obsidian stone. Sally and Matt stood to my right, but Noah shifted over to my left to keep as much distance as he could between himself and the gem.

I reached for Noah's hand, and he took it without hesitation. We stood here, with our fingers laced together as Matt hurled the stone with all his strength. We all watched as it headed toward the horizon and splashed in the water.

Noah rested his head on my shoulder. He looked tired, but happy. "It's finally over." He smiled softly.

Sally and Matt took a seat by the edge of the dock and watched the sunset in silence. I noticed that they were holding hands as well.

"You want to sit down?" I asked Noah.

He nodded, and I lead him over to where Sally and Matt were sitting. We settled down, and Noah rested his head on my lap.

And that's how we spent the rest of the evening, up until late at night. The sun sunk blow the horizon, and the stars appeared. The night sky was absolutely beautiful, and I was mesmerized by it.

Noah started drifting off to sleep sometime while we were watching the sky, so I lightly played with his hair, tousling the loose strands.

He looked content and peaceful, and that was good enough for me.

Sally and Matt looked just as happy. Matt was pointing out the different planets and star names in the distance, and Sally was smiling.

I put my earbuds on, and I lie back on the wooden platform that made up the docks. I pulled Noah closer to me and continued running my hands through his soft hair.

If there was such thing as a perfect photograph, this scene would capture it exactly.