STATIC; JR [2]

4.5

I soon lost Sam to Mia when she'd approached, angry and asking him to talk to her alone. He was dragged away, the apologetic look on his face directed at me as his feet carried him away.

It kind of worked out well, because then I found my brother strolling through one of the many corridors of the school. He was chatting to one of his friends excitedly before having laid eyes on me, then proceeding to mumble a goodbye to the boy and jogging slightly to catch up to me.

"How's your day?" He asked me, sandy hair bouncing as he bobbed to a stop. His expression turned into one of deep worry and concern as he ducked his head down to whisper to me. "I heard about that guy coming to search your locker. Sorry I couldn't be there to tell him to piss off." He said, only serious.

I smiled but it was a little bit forced. "It's okay, Blake. I didn't have anything in there that shouldn't have been in there." I assured him, trying to downplay my anxiety that never really disappeared.

"I know that you really do think it's okay, but it's my job to protect you from idiots like that police-guy." He pronounced, his eyebrows furrowed in what appeared to be regret. "I was at practice."

I had to interrupt him then, not wanting him to punish himself further for something he couldn't have controlled, or even really helped me with. "Blake, it really is okay. I'm fine." I promised, giving a sure nod up at him. From behind my brother's back, I spotted Sam walking past the window. I noticed the depression on his face and felt a sympathetic frown take over my face.

He'd just come from speaking with Mia; I could only imagine what had happened.

I shot Blake a small smile, beginning to walk off down the hall and to the already open door. "I'll see you at home, okay?" He nodded and waved at me as I passed through the opening.

I jogged up to my friend, placing a gentle hand onto his shoulder. He turned his head and saw it was me, tears filling his brown eyes. He grabbed me around the waist and pulled my body into his, nuzzling his face into the crook of my neck and sobbing into it.

I was about to ask him what had happened with Mia, but from the salty water falling onto my exposed skin, my guess was not only educated but also confirmed.

Mia had broken up with him.

I ran my hand across his back soothingly, trying to make his awkward positioning more comfortable as he cried on me.

Among the group of students that passed by with uninterested eyes, Jake was there. There was this intensity to his gaze when he looked over at me, starting to storm up to us with clenched fists. When he got closer, his mouth fell open, but I silenced him with only the raise of my hand. He stopped instantly, grey eyes narrowed and confused as to why I was holding our friend so intimately. He didn't speak, but I knew I'd hear about it later.

Sam hadn't even noticed Jake's presence when he rose from our hug, using the sleeve of his jacket to wipe away the tears that clung to my neck, gently caressing the skin with his bundled up fist.

Jake looked appalled, but this was innocent and I had nothing to be ashamed of.

"What are you two doing?" Jake asked, the animosity dripping from his tongue as Felix entered the scene.

Sam turned around to face them both, eyes still watery and heart still broken. "Mia broke up with me." He told them, not wanting to meet their gazes as he looked to the ground.

Felix's eyebrows rose in understanding, but then fell in conjecture. "I think we all saw that coming." He deadpanned.

My mouth opened in shock at the Goth's words, disbelief coating my features. "Felix!" I hissed at him, to which he shrugged and then mumbled an apology.

Sam shook his head, dismissing the boy's initial comment. "I see the search for our new water element was a waste of time." He grumbled, kicking the ground with the tip of his shoe.

In the next second, a screaming voice suddenly startled us all. We turned our heads to see Bates yelling at Trent and Dylan, ordering them into the principal's office. Unfortunately, our teacher had been a moment too late, as a yellow water balloon coursed through the air and headed straight for us. I shrunk behind Sam and Felix who would have shielded me perfectly from the incoming splash, but I found it never came.

Already flinching, I peeked through the slits of my fingers to see what had happened and was momentarily stunned at what I had seen.

It was the new girl, and she stood to the left of us with her arm projected outwards, her fingers curling as if she was holding something but her palm was empty. Then I looked up, seeing the water balloon still in mid-air. She was controlling it.

"How are you doing that?" Jake asked her, his body finally reacting with his joints unlocking.

He stepped forward as she stuttered over her words. "I don't know. I tried to catch it." She said, quickly pulling her arm into her chest and letting the balloon fall to the concrete right in front of Sam's shoes.

Sam, Felix, and myself each shared a glance of deep distress, knowing that she was the one with the powers we had been pursuing.

Jake then began to grin at the girl, too busy celebrating her magical potential to notice our disturbed expressions. "It's okay." He told her, holding his hand out to her carefully. "We can help you. We know what you are; you're the one we're looking for."

Why did it have to be her?