STATIC; JR [2]

4.3

Felix's feet were fast as he searched for Lachlan, our hopeful water element. Just as he lifted an arm to suggest he saw him, he was cut off by Roland skulking around the corner of the corridor. He walked with purpose, and he walked right towards us.

My stomach dropped as he approached, all my organs seeming to fall down inside me.

Bates was with him, and he offered us all a gentle smile when the police agent began to talk. "We were just about to hunt you down." He gloated, waving a rolled up piece of paper in our faces.

"Hunt us down?" Felix squeaked, the fear evident in his voice although I could tell he was trying to hold firm.

"Yes, to search your lockers." Roland replied. Felix stood his ground, but Jake and Sam's faces faltered as I moved slightly to hide behind Felix. I knew I had nothing in my locker that would cause any of us to get into trouble, but it was always alarming when we were cornered by the police. Almost as if reading my thoughts, Roland continued. "Don't worry, if you have nothing to hide then there's nothing to worry about."

He stalked toward Sam's locker, taking the boy away with him as Bates addressed me. "Edith, come on." He motioned, stepping out of the way as I unlocked the small door with ease. My teacher moved some of my things around in there, seeming relatively disinterested as I stood beside him and transferred my weight onto my left foot. I noted the little smile on the man's face as he began to shut my locker. "Nothing suspicious." He said, turning to face me and give my key back. "You keep it very tidy, Edith. You're a model student."

Sam and I loitered around in the corridor as the two men searched through Jake and Felix's locker. I tried to keep my gaze locked on Sam in an attempt for us to seem like regular students who had nothing to hide. I was a little taken aback when he made conversation with me.

"Alright?" He asked, the concern clear in his features.

I nodded at him, tipping my head toward my locker. "Got nothing but school books in there, my friend. I don't make it personal." I told him, and when he smiled at me it was hesitant.

For some reason, it made me wonder if he was asking me about something else.

When they finished up, Sam and I remained against the wall to watch the rest of their interaction. Roland honestly seemed a little disappointed to have not caught us out on anything, especially with Felix, and that was horrifying. I felt a wave of relief wash over me when Roland mumbled some words to our teacher and turned to walk away, not ordering anyone to go down to the police station or to the school office.

Bates gestured for the lingering school students to get on with their day, and I was mildly shocked to see how large a group had congregated at the end of the hall. They all quickly dispersed once they were told that the show was over.

Sam and I scurried over to Felix's side while Jake was left to pick up what had fallen out of his locker. I debated going over to help him, but when I saw the new girl rush over, I knew I was right to stay where I was.

This wasn't about me defending my honor, it was about seeing if Jake would defend it for me.

First, he saw her shoes. Then his eyes drifted up her legs and fell onto her round face. I was appalled to have seen him blush as he hurried to shove his dirty clothes back into his locker, mumbling both excuses and apologies to the girl like it really mattered.

Like he was trying to impress her, once again.

"I don't like to wash my socks after we win a game." He told her, awkwardly leaning up against the shelf of his locker. "You know, for luck."

The girl's shoulders perked up, and she rose onto her toes excitedly. "Does it work?"

Jake's face flushed again, and I felt the static bubble to the surface of my fingertips. "Well, I'm the best kicker on the team." He said, pursing his lips into a satisfied smirk.

Beside me, Felix mumbled my name. It was short and sharp and he moved to grab a gentle hold of my wrist when I didn't respond. From the way I was standing, he had accidentally brushed his fingers against my own, and upon touching my heated skin, he jumped back.

His face, contorted into a harsh cringe, stared down at me in awe.

I turned my head to meet his gaze, feeling the worry in the pit of my stomach as the bubbling continued. He ducked down, Sam at his side. "You're okay, Edith." Felix muttered, his voice soft and calming. I did what I could to block out the vision and sound of Jake openly flirting with the new girl, but when Sam moved to stand in front of directly in front of me he did the job for me.

"Felix, what's happening?" Sam questioned him, anger and uncertainty mixing in his wide eyes.

"I don't know. I think her powers are acting up because of Jake." Felix suggested, his hair swaying as he flicked his gaze from me to Sam. "She's mad. We need to calm her down before she really starts to lose control."

"Felix..." I cried, his name barely a whisper along my tongue.

He nodded at me. "I know, I know. Don't worry, I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He told me, looking to the other boy for support. He did everything he could to help me, but that proved to be difficult when he wasn't able to touch me. "Sam and I are right here, we'll keep you safe."

I finally relaxed when the burn subsided completely, but as Jake approached us it threatened to start up again; my skin flaring with an unexpected heat beneath my nails; coated in blue.

"What's wrong?" Jake asked, the two boys still crowded around me. I had to notice that the girl was gone; I couldn't help it.

Felix didn't even make an effort to look at the blond boy, sporting the same scowl that was on Sam's tanned face. "Nothing." The Goth uttered beneath his breath, finally free to touch me now. He circled his fingers around the flimsy bone of my wrist before turning around and facing Jake. "We need to track down those boys, if we don't have a water element then we have nothing to get Andy back." I saw Jake's eyes flicker down to Felix's protective hold on me, and I felt as though I shouldn't have liked the way it made his eyebrow twitch.

After the show he just put on, he had no right to say anything about me and my two friends.

Sam finally piped up, seemingly eager to get out of the stuffy atmosphere that had taken over the hallway. "It'll be quicker if we split up."

"Yeah, take one each." Felix let me go then, speaking in a hushed tone. He mumbled something about following Dylan and watching him while Jake tried to hang out with Mike, leaving Sam and I to track down Lachlan, much to Sam's dismay.

I didn't really know what Felix saw in Dylan, but I had to trust his judgement.

"Okay, let's see what we can find and then meet up later." He finalised, offering Sam a warm pat on the back.

Jake smiled down at me as he took a step closer, and it took everything inside me to not back away. I couldn't make a big deal out of this when nothing had really happened; I had to keep my cool, for Andy's sake if not for anyone else's.

"You want to come with me?" He asked, sweet and tender.

I glowered up at him through hooded eyes, already twisting on my heels to face the two brunet boys. "I want to go with Sam." I mumbled, shocking him slightly.

His grey eyes widened and then narrowed, but before he could say anything in response Felix began speaking again. "Yeah, that'll work out better. I don't trust Sam to be nice to Lachlan."

Sam scoffed. "Who said we had to talk to him?"

Felix waved him off as he started off down the hall. "Just get the answers!"

Sam shot a nice smile at me, but it was small. I didn't turn around to look back at Jake as we took a corner, leaving him all alone in the empty corridor.