Elements: The Powers Within (Book 5)

Asked Out (Chapter 9)

"What are you doing Barnes? Hustle!" His football coach yells at him as he jogs after the player with the ball.

Owen increases his speed to try and catch up. Can he not call me Barnes? The player is almost reaching the end of his run and Owen jumps. I'm a Khan!

He slams right into the player and they both fall onto the ground. Owen quickly gets up and offers the player a hand.

"Sorry bro," Owen apologizes as he lifts the fellow male up with him.

"No prob, nice tackle by the way," the player pats his back before they jog over to the coach. The coach says their closing remarks before they're all released to go home.

Owen sits down on the bench right in front of his locker, gulping down water from his bottle. Soccer and football...exhausting. He grabs his gym and school bag before heading out.

He spots Brenton jogging over to him, his face red. Brenton wipes his sweat off with his drenched shirt.

"Where's everyone else?" Brenton questions.

"I don't know," Owen shrugs. Brenton swings his bags over his shoulders before looking around.

"Well, Alex is done, I see him coming here," Brenton waves over to the blond male, who upon seeing them, runs towards him.

"Hey!" Alex jumps in front of them, his golden-looking field hockey stick in hand. "Where's everyone else?" Both boys shrug in response.

"Right here!" Ava waves as she walks alongside Urana.

"Also, we've gotta hurry, Sasha was asked to meet someone by the bleachers of the football field," Urana announces.

"I can't believe we're spying on her," Owen grumbles as they all jog back to where Owen came from. He rolls his eyes when he gets ushered behind the bleachers to watch Sasha.

"So, you wanted to say something?" Sasha starts, looking sweaty from her own practice session.

"Yeah um, I know playing the same sport might make it awkward but," their fellow classmate, a brown-skinned, brown-eyed and long brown haired teenage girl looks Sasha straight in the eye. "I like you. Do you wanna go out with me?"

"No way! Cari is asking out Sasha!" Brenton looks surprised.

"Dude, I'm pretty sure half the school figured it out if they bothered to look at the details," Urana points out.

"Well, Cari has been dropping a lot of hints but I guess there was no time to notice," Owen shrugs.

"Do you even think that this'll work out?" Ava questions. "I mean like...we're busy and Sasha can't tell Cari anything..."

"Well, Sasha'll know what to do," Alex turns his gaze back to Sasha and Cari.

Sasha presses her lips together in thought. On one hand, she would be lying all the time and this would only hurt both of them in the end. But on the other hand, why not? It's just high school.

"Yeah," Sasha nods and Cari blinks multiple times, her face heating up. "Where do you wanna go and when?"

"Oh, um," Cari looks completely taken aback, not expecting Sasha to agree at all. "How about Lucy's this Sunday for lunch?"

"Sounds good, I'll let you know if I can't make it," Sasha smiles before walking towards the bleachers. "See you Sunday!"

"Yeah! See you Sunday!" Cari waves as Sasha leaves.

She goes under the bleachers to see Brenton popping out with his long list on interrogation questions.

"Woah woah woah, I told you not to," Sasha holds back Brenton.

"What? I'm going to do it. Cari is one of the popular kids and honestly," Brenton raises an eyebrow. "I'm just trying to make sure she doesn't hurt you."

"The only one who's gonna hurt someone is me," Sasha rolls her eyes. "I'm the one lying and knows that this is probably never gonna work out."

"Then why did you say yes?" Urana questions, arms crossed.

"Because...well, I kinda wanted to know what all the hype was about for dating," Sasha shrugs. "Curiosity, I guess."

"Just be careful with that," Ava warns.

"Cari herself may be a decent person but the people she hangs around aren't. Trust me, it's best to not really get involved with them," Brenton adds on.

"But do whatever makes you happy," Alex points out.

"And make sure you watch your back. You don't want a target on your back," Owen adds in. "And knowing you...we've got your back."

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate the concern but I've got this," Sasha looks confident in herself. "I'm the flirt remember? I can take care of myself."

"You don't always have to be strong," Brenton brings up. "It's okay to rely on us you know."

"I know you guys got my back, it's why I'm not worried," Sasha smiles. "But um, a little tutoring on how dating works would be nice."

"Got you," Ava grins. "I've never been in one but I will totally give the best crash course ever!"

"Ava and dating?" Urana raises an eyebrow. "Interesting combination."

"What do you mean you've never been in one-" Alex gasps in pain as Ava nudges him in the gut.

"No one needs to know," Ava whispers with a smile on her face. "Anyway, I've got you sis."

"And I'll be there to make any corrections," Urana adds. "Let's go sisters."

The three of them link arms with each other then walk out together. The boys all look at each other, shrug, then follow the girls out.

Still have one more practice to do before the day is over.

--

Amy yawns as she steps through the treehouse into Ku's Magic Space. She spots the teens already practicing down below with Ku down there with them. She stands at the control panel and waves down at Ku, who waves back.

Her phone rings and she quickly pulls it out. Amy sees a message from Scott in the family group chat for the hero they're supposed to meet with on Saturday. They had questioned why they weren't meeting a fellow hero with masks to protect their identities.

Scott had answered with that they needed to meet without masks because he might join the Siblings of Magic. Amy didn't know if she wanted to add some random mage into their sibling group, especially since Rohan wasn't present.

"What's the point in this new mage anyway?" Amy watches the teens sparring with each other.