What a ride. I usually pass my stories on to friends and family for feedback, which worked because they'd rip me to shreds with comments and questions. I was concerned that because WIM pairs strangers, politeness would outweigh true thoughts. That was not the case, and I'm so glad for that! 
Thank you to my CPs, Steph Whitaker and dextermain. Your feedback, questions, comments, corrections were great! You've actually helped me flesh out this world and characters a little more. Still have a few things I could work on explaining. I'll see if I can adjust that in the rest of the time.
Samira didn?t have a solid plan for confronting the boy she?d almost killed, but a malleable plan was a plan, nonetheless. The summer heat beat down on her back and she resisted the urge to stir up a little wind to cool herself and her friend, Enya, who walked alongside her. If either of them even thought of ?interfering with the elements? off school grounds, the Ordinary Police Force would be on them faster than they could blink, which would only compound matters.
She?d managed to convince the delinquent to meet her in order to rectify the situation. After she?d nearly killed him two weeks ago in an abandoned building, he?d spent the last few weeks inundating her inbox with what looked like security camera stills of the incident. With no electricity in the building, it meant he?d had an accomplice. Thus, adding another person who she and Enya needed to keep quiet. If the images leaked, they would face either the Elemental or the Ordinary court, and Samira didn?t know which was worse. In one court, she would most likely be put on magical probation for four months (even on school grounds)―though if her parents got to her first, she?d be on the next redeye to a wilderness boarding school in the Caribbean. And in the other, guilty until proven innocent and punishment for merely existing was the standard for elemental offenders.
The brown-bricked library came into view, Ordinary students leaning lazily on the white stone columns that framed the front of the building. It was right across from the boy?s school, and students were sprawled all across the lawn, some of whom gave them curious looks as they made their way up the stone walkway. Samira tossed a few braids over her shoulder defiantly, mentally biting her tongue. Enya?s (ever on protective defense) idea to change out of their uniforms was paying off. Had they done it Samira?s way, they?d probably be stoned before even setting foot on the pavement. She inwardly cursed herself for agreeing to meet so far away from their own campus as they navigated through the weird looks and headed straight for the study rooms along a quiet corridor in the basement.
Enya fiddled with her bracelet as they searched for their host. They found him in the fifth room, sitting at a table with someone wearing a black hoodie. No doubt his accomplice.
Samira pushed open the door and strode in, while Enya entered behind her like a mouse, the door closing with a soft click. When Samira plopped down next to the accomplice, he stood up immediately and moved to a cushioned chair in the corner, jaw clenched as he glared at her.
?Welcome,? their host said, a bemused smile spread across his face, his dark eyes twinkling mischievously under his thick eyebrows.
Samira rolled her eyes. ?Spare me. Let?s get straight to it: stop trying to blackmail me, and I won?t tell your police what really happened.?
His brow furrowed and he took a sip of his bottled water. ?What really happened is you attacked me, so―?
?Let me remind you that we were in a Neelstem Academy building,? Samira retorted. ?Abandoned or not.?
?And now you?re in our building, so I?d cool it with the attitude,? his friend chimed in, glowering.
?Or what?? she challenged, raising an eyebrow. Adrenaline shot through her veins as her irritation built. Enya, standing behind her, rested a hand on her shoulder. ?And this is a public space, despite what you people feel.?
?You people? Rams, handle her before I do,? the accomplice seethed, balling his fists.
?Handle me??
?Okay, relax. Ash, we?re here for a deal. Chill out.? Rams said. He turned to Samira, leaning back in his chair and running a hand through is black hair. The shaved sides made him even more irritating to her. ?What?ve you got??
?I told you. Stop blackmailing me, and I won?t turn you in.?
His dark eyes narrowed. ?You tried to kill me, and you think I?m the one in the wrong??
?I wasn?t trying to kill you, I―?
?Oh, so murder just comes naturally??
?That?s all their people know how to do,? Ash cut in, his words searing through Sam like elemental flames. She stood and the chair clattered to the floor behind her. He rose from his corner seat and Rams scrambled to stand between them, begging his friend to calm down. The insults flew. Enya prodded her to leave, but Samira refused. Why should she be cowed by someone inferior? Ash pushed past Rams and lunged at her.
Samira had only seen Enya?s hand rise for a fraction of a second. A burst of flames erupted on the left side of Ash?s face. He staggered back, letting out an agonized bray as he clutched his face. Rams grabbed Enya?s arm and she dropped to the ground with a scream.
The boy?s skin bubbled sickeningly from the elemental heat. Samira?s brain clicked into action. Damage control. She stepped toward him; palms upturned. She breathed deeply and concentrated. Pulling on the air as hard as she could, she watched the flame flicker into nothingness as it lost its fuel, and his eyes drooped as his body, too, suffered a loss of oxygen. Once the last of the flames went out, she forced the energy back toward him, a cooling wind that saw a thick white curtain of smoke wisping between his fingers.
He whimpered. Rams stared at him wide-eyed. Enya lay on the ground, unconscious, a thin black bruise striped up her arm.
Samira dropped her hand at her side.
What had they done?
The silence that followed indicated that no one upstairs was aware of what had just happened. Yet the face of the boy standing across from her, which could barely qualify as such anymore, was a blatant sign of disaster. It was clearly an elemental injury.
They were outnumbered by Ordinaries, and they would have to leave.
And no one was on their side.
Topic: The Confrontation (Read 492 times)