Stellar

Chapter Nine: The Soul-Stealing Stellar

 After staying up late trying (and failing) to summon her powers during her first Stellar training session with Syrus, Lucine was in no condition to survive the school day. She didn't even have the strength to pretend chemistry was interesting; halfway through the class, she was drooling into her palm, eyes lulling shut.

And then the text came to jar her wide awake. A text from a familiar number--Astro's number. His stolen phone's number.

Come find me in the boys locker room if you want to live.

Lucine's heart transitioned from pounding to frozen solid, then drumming suddenly once again. It had to be the goth girl they saw at the Roller Space and Dine. She still hadn't seen the girl all week, despite having looked for her since coming back to school. After all this time, though, it turned out the girl found Lucine instead.

Sensing her abrupt alertness, Astro beside her cast her a curious stare. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she quickly said, and loudly.

Immediately, the teacher (a substitute to replace for Ms. Fisher, who had 'mysteriously gone missing' after the explosion incident) turned around and puckered her bright cherry lips at Lucine. "Well, aren't you a chatty little thing? Just because your daddy's a famous astronomer doesn't mean you have special privileges, Miss Callisto."

"Right. Of course." Although all the attention was already on her, Lucine raised her hand. The substitute's glare just hardened. Lucine took it as her cue to speak. "Um, can I go to the bathroom?"

After what felt like an eternity, the substitute sighed. "Fine. Don't hurry back."

Lucine grinned. She may not be friendly, but the substitute has her uses...

"I'll be back," she whispered to Astro. At least, I think I'll be back.

She scrambled over scattered backpacks, making chaos as she picked toward the exit. The substitute made it her job to escort Lucine the entire way with a laser glare, until finally Lucine slipped out the door. She swore she could still feel the burn of that witch's glare, though.

"Boys locker room," Lucine muttered to herself, tucking her phone in her back pocket. She took off down the hallway, heart thrumming. The text was burned into her head, its vague threat prompting a million dreadful possibilities to needle at her thoughts.

The school blurred around her as she ducked down twists and turns. Luckily, no one else was in the hallways to witness her running around like a basketcase. With no distractions and plenty of panic to drive her forward, she made it to the boys locker room door in thirty seconds flat.

Her fingers gripped the handle for a moment, not pulling the door open. Wasn't gym class in session right now? It was still only halfway through the period--she'd probably have twenty minutes before the boys came back to change out. And as long as nobody had come back to get something in the locker room, nobody was around to see a girl creep into a place labeled for the male species.

With one final cautious glance around to confirm no one was watching, Lucine held her breath and slipped into the boys locker room.

She immediately discovered all the stereotypes were true. The scent of body odor mixed with too-strong Axe body spray hit her nose like flurries of fists each time she breathed in. Random smelly socks and sweaty shirts adorned the room like Christmas ornaments on a tree. There was the obvious presence of a janitor previously in the locker room, judging by the discarded mop and vacuum in the corner. Any actual evidence that the locker room had been cleaned though was hidden under piles of dank clothes and complete teenage boyness.