LOST SHADOWS - A Broken Lie

Chapter 6

Milly's round had gone over smoothly. Hell. Dawn would say that it went better than expected! Milly was beaming with pride, and Elaina seemed to have relaxed compared to when they first arrived. The scary part is on how tension wasn't even noticed till it was gone. Dawn pushed the thought away, he knew Elaina was a book he couldn't judge by her cover. It was now time for the fighting matches, and that was the part Elaina seemed a bit hesitant about. Looking over, he saw her fidgeting with her hoodie's draw-string as she glanced around. She didn't seem to like any of the higher class 'talents'... is that why she hasn't used or said anything about HER 'talent' yet? Does she even have one? Was he saved by a 'talentless'? He shook his head and smiled softly. No. She's just nervous about being around people. Hell! He was always nervous about using his 'talent'.
As Milly walked into the area, Dawn soon realized that  smooth sailing was done. Dawn felt the eyes of the other competitors as she entered the wood smelling sitting area, causing his temperature to rise. He was never great in front of crowds, and this one was looking expectantly at them, causing him to panic, and forgetting his worry about Elaina's earlier comments. He felt as though he was going to pass out. Calm down, they're just checking out the competition, deep breaths. He noticed, however, that they weren't looking at him, or even Milly, who evidently had left for the bathroom after Elaina hugged her for a full five minutes. He glanced over at Elaina, and sure enough, she had noticed it too, judging by the unimpressed and slightly nervous look on her face. They were looking at her. They must not have noticed her when she first walked in, and thought they probably haven't realized that she wasn't on the board.

Elaina leaned over to him. "Was it the hug? Is that not ok anymore?" She seemed unfazed by the sarcastic tone of voice she was using. For whatever reason, Elaina seemed to not care about whether or not she was supposed to be there or not. Dawn was just happy that the Sean guy had left to get ready for his fight. "I don't think that's the issue." He weakly offered, wearing a worried smile.  She let out a huff and shook her head. "You wanna know a secret?" Dawn shot his eyes towards her in a panic. Her tone was low. "I'm fairly good at fighting, and I was very impressed by your sister's fight earlier, but you two had me worried when we first met. And I..." She didn't get to finish. Someone interrupted her.

"They can't possibly be serious? Letting Street-trash with a face like that even apply to be tested to be a Protector." The comment came from a business looking woman near the entrance of the room. She had the 'may I see your manager' haircut, a resting angry face, and was wearing a black pant-suit. "She'd make anyone run away screaming from the smell alone, not to mention that hideous scare... probably from a gang fight or something." Her face held disgust. The outburst caused muttering started across the room. 

Dawn was about to snap at the woman. What the Hell?!? 'STREET-TRASH'?! Who does she think she is!? But before he got a word in, Elaina started laughing.

The room went silent.

Dawn smelt smoke.