listen closely

1

{???}

"Is she ready?"
"We don't have a choice, we can't wait."
"We can suppress her power."
"That's never a good idea."
"So what do we do?" We all look at one another slowly, no one daring to say a word. Finally, someone speaks up.
"We let her come," Everyone releases their breath, "We let her come and we train her to reach her full potential."

{Shelby}

The most peaceful time of night is when everyone is asleep and the wind is still. The moon and stars are shining and the air is clean from the cold air. There's no movement, no sound, nothing is happening.

Every sound you make at midnight is louder than it would be during the day, it's a fact. Everything seems louder recently, it feels like the sound is bouncing off of the walls and coming back to me twice as loud, that might be the lack of sleep though.
My phone rings, the tone echoes through the house.
"Hey." I yawn.
"Hey, can you send me a copy of the english stuff?" Em asks
"Yeah, sure." I say, "Is that-"
"No," She says, "Uh..." She sighs, "Never mind."
"Are you sure?"
"Yup." I nod silently.
"Ok... see you tomorrow?" She mumbles something and hangs up.
"Shelby." I look around and sigh. I send Em the english papers and grab another cup of coffee.
"Someone's in trouble." I look around again nervously.
"I'm too tired for this..." My head pounds and my stomach twist. I lean against the wall and close my eyes for a second.
"Open your eyes, you're missing the magic." I open my eyes quickly, everything blurs together. Someone knocks on the door. I stand up and pass out.

"Hey, where were you yesterday?" Em hands me a coffee.
"Oh, I wasn't feeling well." I take the coffee and take a sip, "Thanks."
"Feeling better?" She asks, "You're a little pale."
"I'm a little better," I say, "I have a giant headache."
"Want an Advil?" She offers me a while pill with blue specks.
"I have a test today." I say
"Sorry, wrong thing." She hands me an Advil.
"What was that?" I ask
"Just something to keep me awake." She pops it in her mouth.
"Em-"
"It is nothing bad," She says, "It's prescribed so stop giving me that look."
"Fine," I yawn, "Where's Liam and Will?"
"Will's skipping and I think Liam might've gone with him." She says
"They're skipping?" She nods.
"It's been a long week and nothing's happening today," She says, "It's Friday, loosen up a bit." I groan and lean back, my head pounds.
"You ok?" She asks
"Yeah..." I sigh, "Just dizzy." I close my eyes for a minute and lay back.

I walk down the hall quickly into the bathroom.
"You have to make the right decision Shelby."
"People are dying Shelby."
"You need to choose our side."
"Don't listen to them Shelby!"
"Shelby listen to us!" The lights start flickering. I run into the stall and throw up.
"Please stop..." I groan.
"Please Shelby."
"You have to help us." I throw up again.
"Shelby, are you ok?" Em asks
"No." I groan, "No, something is wrong." I look at Em and sigh. Her eyes flicker. "Em, what's happening to me?" She hesitates for a minute.
"I don't know." She says, "You aren't pregnant, are you?"
"No, of course not." I look at her, "Please tell me you know what's happening to me." A girl with pink hair walks in.
"Hey, Mrs. Kayer needs everyone back in class." Em looks at her.
"Yeah, we'll be back in a minute." She says
"She needs us all back now." She looks at me, her eyes spark.
"Yeah, tell her I don't feel well." I say
"Oh... is everything ok?" She looks at Em.
"Yeah, everything's fine," She says, "Tell her that we'll be back in a minute."

Em sits down next to me.
"Hey, what did I miss?" She whispers.
"Not much, just boring stuff." I say quietly.
"Your head still hurting?"
"A little." I say, "It's fine."
"I-"
"Shelby, Emily," Mr Thomson says, "Am I interrupting you?"
"No, sorry." His eyes flash and the lights flicker.
"Please see me after class." He says
"Sorry." He gives me a look telling me to shut up. I sink down in my seat and sigh.

"Shelby, Emily," Mr. Thomson walks towards us, Em tenses up, "You two were talking in my class and you were late."
"I'm really sorry Mr. Thomson," Em says, "It won't happen again-"
"Oh... I'm sure it won't."