Sky Jump

by Anastasia Bolinder

  I considered asking him how on earth the SkyJump melody about climbing being hard had anything at all to do with fighting. But Keten was up faster than I realized and before I had even jumped up he took me down.

  My cheek hit the floor hard as my mind realized he had elbowed me in the face. Though the pain was less as if he had only slightly hit me and not fully gone after me. I turned to him and heard Mr. Sheplar about to call that I was out when I realized I needed to fight!

  Squirming under Keten as he pinned me down, I thrashed and he grabbed for my arms. I was truly trapped when a sudden idea came to mind. Not thinking, I swung forward and to the side with my arms throwing Keten who tumbled to the side of me and now I was over him!

  Pulling away from him as he was stunned, another sense echoed through me. I knew fighting was something as a SkyJump I could learn to feel as natural as SkyJumping, but my dreams were soon over as Keten let go of my hand and took a hold of my pony tail.

  My mind stopped seeing him as a friend and suddenly as I felt the back of my head being yanked though not violently I let my free arm pull back slightly and release like a trigger. Before I knew it, I jumped up, stumbling back with my hand throbbing I realized I had punched Keten!

  Looking to him, I realized he was out cold on the floor and for the first time in my life I wondered how on earth I could possibly have hit well enough to knock him out!

  Rushing over to him as the kids in Keten’s group looked on in shock, I slid to the ground beside him and fell near his face. My heart sunk the moment I saw blood dripping from his nose onto the smooth sparkling floor.

  “Keten!” I cried and put a hand to his face and forgot about the other students as I felt my crystal under my shirt warm and glow.

  His eyes did not flutter and I was about to turn and yell for the teachers to do something when a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me down and in one motion Keten was above me again and this time he had me from going anywhere.

  Looking up into his eyes I suddenly saw a smile cross his lips, though blood dripped from his nose as he nodded to me.

  “That was a fantastic blow,” he said softly as I realized I had hit him with a real punch while he was going easy on me.

  I opened my mouth to say I was sorry when Mr. Sheplar came over to us.

  “Finished.” He said and Keten let go of my arm and sat next to me taking a napkin from Delphine as even she glanced to me when Mr. Sheplar stole my attention,

  “Miss Deshion?” He asked, his tone commanding as ever.

  I nodded and looked to him as I felt my cheek slightly throb,

  “Yes?” I asked feeling I was in for a lecture.

  I was right.

  “You let your opponent draw you in and you felt sorry for him. Do not do so ever again.” He said and I felt my chest drop as he then nodded to Keten, “You also are the first and only beginning student to have landed a blow on your opponent, well done.” His words were slightly monotone but it felt real.

  Nodding to him, stunned, when glancing back at Keten I found he held out a hand to me while with the other he held a tissue to his nose that was turning crimson.

  I felt horrid as he helped me up, I looked him over before I was run out by the next opponent.

  “I’m so sorry.” I said to him putting my hand inches from his cheek when I stopped and my eyes widened as I pulled my hand back.

  His smile arced up the side of his mouth showing his dimple at my move when he put a hand to mine.

  “It’s alright. I’m sorry if I got you on the cheek.” He said sincerely and looked at me with a slight worry in his eyes.

  Standing there in that moment was wonderful... and then, it ended.

  “To the wall Deshion.” Mr. Sheplar called.

  Before I could say a word, with a smile, Keten nodded for me to go.

  Walking back as the next opponent passed, I came to stand next to Alissa as she looked to me with wide eyes.

  “That was fantastic!” She said and then nodded as I scowled at her, “For a first try.” She said and both of us grinned though my cheek felt annoyed at the movement.

  The rest of the hour as we watched Keten and the others fight I felt slightly alarmed at how close I had come to touching his cheek. By the time we were at lunch I felt severely stupid for enjoying watching Keten fight and knowing I was the only one in our whole class that had landed a blow on my opponent.

  “You really knocked Keten in the nose?” Zac asked with a grin.

  I rolled my eyes as we got our lunch of turkey sandwiches and were heading to the table that now was as close as you could get to being assigned for us with Zac’s bag taking the table top.

  “I punched him, but he still got the better of me.” I said as we came to the table.

  “That’s what she says.” The voice behind me caught me off guard and spinning around I was surprised to find Keten, his nose looked very red.

  Zac and Alissa nodded hello to him. He joined our table often but it was sporadic at times.

  “Back home girls don’t punch people. Where are you from, Quil?” Zac asked kindly but suddenly my lungs held and my mind panicked.

  They looked to me as I hesitated and my mind crowded to find a city name I remembered.

  “Calven, it’s some ways from here.” I said, and remembered the small farming community with red barns and fields that stretched out for miles. I still remembered hiding in a loft of a barn when my father thought he heard something.

  Alissa eyed me over.

  “I don’t see you as coming from such a small city.” She said and I stiffened at how calmly she had said those words.

  “You know of Calven?” I asked trying to keep cool as Keten sat next to me and the whole table felt riveted on what I had to say even if it was only in my imagination.

  Zac nodded for her,

  “My mother and her boyfriend live there, I go every summer.” He said and tilted his head, “I wonder if you know them?” He asked with a smile as Alissa nodded.

  I gulped down a lump in my throat and for once I could come back with a reply.

  “I mean I grew up there but we have been moving a lot for my father’s work.” I said trying to leave the subject as fast as I could, taking a long glance at my sandwich.

  Zac nodded with an, “oh,” and a silence took the table until Keten spoke up.

  “You know, Zac’s right though. Not many girls would think to punch. Even my sister, who grew up being taught by my father in the art of fighting, never punched when she was first taught.” He said, I glanced over to him and tilted my head.

  “Why did your dad teach you how to fight?” I asked pleasantly though my warning system my father had ingrained in me made me feel on the verge of panic from why his father wanted his siblings to learn to fight.

  Keten shrugged after taking a bite of food,

  “He was like Mr. Sheplar. He believed some things of the old ways should be taught and learned in case anything ever happened.” Keten said smoothly.

  Glancing to him I wanted desperately to not be scared of what he was saying but could he be an Earthen Brethren? NO!

  My mind drew back to the painting of the SkyJump, the look in his eyes. It was true and honest, no Earthen Brethren could hide hate even within their eyes at such a painting.

  Lunch came back to its normal pleasant way. Alissa had glared at Zac for a rude comment about the boy she liked all the while I asked Keten if he would help me study for my test in Mr. Deplen’s class. I found out he helped a lot more than he let on with Mr. Sheplar’s class and was only free at the end of the week so I decided waiting would be worth it to spend time with Keten. And study of course.

  Before I knew it, half the week had gone by. Every day we learned a new fighting skill. How to get out of a strong hold or finding how to take our opponent down if they came at us. It was fun and crazy and I got to see Keten more than I did the past month with the fact we both had school and that he helped out a lot around La’ket.

  My
father’s letters just seemed to be coming later and later. Today after my classes, I walked to the office with my head in the clouds. I had not thought about running as a SkyJump for days but knowing I was coming close to knowing if my grades were good made my spirits soar. I also had the idea that to celebrate when, not if, I got in to the atrium I would first run as a Skyjump if it was safe. The next thing I was already set on doing was taking my guitar and playing it in the confines of that fantastic place.

  Yet the soft lingering fear of the thing or person in the picture that had chased me made me promise only to go when the sun was out. I was not ready by any measure to face a, well… whatever was watching me.

  Shivering, I slowed before I reached the office door, realizing Jean and someone were speaking.

  “…Yes but this is so strange, an unposted marked letter? I just don’t understand how it got here unless...” Jeans voice trailed off and about a minute went by I realized I needed to walk in even though I now had an odd lump collecting in my gut at the way she spoke those words.

  Walking into the room I found Jean and the principal standing and looking at a letter in her hands.

  “Hey.” I said trying to act casual as If I had not just heard something going on.

  I had been a good enough student not to have to see principal Septum often, and the same with Jean, who I only met when she gave me mail or when I came for mail.

  Jean looked up with a slight fright and the principal in his fancy suit looked slightly beset but could hide it under his calm as they greeted me.

  “Hello, Miss Deshion.” The principal and Jean said.

  I nodded and before Jean could speak he smiled at me,

  “How have the past few months in La’ket been going?” He asked kindly.

  I tried to act as if I had not been listening in on them and I seemed to becoming better at hiding my suspicions though I was much better with people I knew a little more about.

  “It’s good. Just hoping I can get good enough grades to get to see the inside of the atrium.” I said and the moment the words left my lips I realized they sounded slightly stupid. I could talk to Keten now and seem causal yet I failed utterly with speaking to everyday people.

  The principal nodded and eyed me over slightly.

  “Very good. You sound to be doing well in all your classes.” He said and then a soft grin caught his cheeks, “Though I hear math is not a strong suit?” He asked with a chuckle.

  I gulped down a lump in my throat and nodded slightly.

  “Yeah, math has never been what I’m good at.” I stopped myself from saying ‘but if you gave me a wall to climb I could go up it before you could blink,’ though my fear of heights might impair me, my instincts were keen.

  “Stopped by for mail?” Jean asked pleasantly as she put the letter she had been fingering absent mindedly on her desk.

  I nodded and stepped closer as she looked around on her desk. I glimpsed just the marking on the letter that she had been holding. There was a mountain that looked to be smoking as if a volcano readying to explode. The emblem felt familiar, but before I could continue looking Jean looked up and I had to try and act casual.

  “I thought I had a letter from him but it seems not this week.” She said shrugging with a kind apology in her eyes.

  I nodded to them both,

  “It’s alright, thanks for checking.” I said and glanced to the principal, “Nice talking with you.” I said as I left, wishing I could change my words.

  Walking down the hall I shifted my bag at my side, the emblem came back to mind and again it felt annoyingly easy to remember yet I could not grasp where I had seen it.

  The rest of the evening I felt perplexed by the emblem and even though I tried to deter my mind as I worked on math problems, that were even more vexing, I just kept looking to the window and then my guitar.

  Outside was my one escape and it was gone. Music was my second escape and it was banned until I could go to the atrium and play until my fingers bled.

  Sitting up, I suddenly realized the clock read seven thirty and I was going to be late meeting Keten in the library!

  With my eyes wide, I rushed to my bag, threw it over my shoulder and ran out the door. With nothing holding my hair back I was nearly slipping down the smooth glowing floors to get to the library in record time.

  Flinging the door open I was panting as I looked into the room but beyond one girl leaving through a farther off door Keten was nowhere to be found.

  Tilting my head, I started into the room letting the door close when a slight scuff caught behind me. I froze and looked to the floor as I realized a shadow traced mine, out of everything I thought if Lucy or Jack was here I was ready to throw a few of my new punches their way.

  Setting my jaw, I took a breath and spun around only… no one stood behind me and the door was drifting close.

  My mind reeling, I turned back…

  “Boo.” Keten stood before me and I jumped back from him with a fright.

  He started to chuckle as I looked to him with a glare.

  “How did you…” I could not even speak and he smiled, though it now seemed slightly apologetic which looked very nice on his face.

  Quil, get ahold of your mind you are here to study!

  “I’m sorry, I just learned how to teleport,” he said nodding.

  I titled my head and suddenly felt less angry with him and more interested in what in the world he meant.

  “You what?” I asked.

  “I teleported,” he said with a smile that flashed his dimple.

  “Really?” I asked, excited at the idea he was proposing.

  “No,” he said and my mind jumped, maybe I could tele-

  “Wait, what?” I asked him and he started laughing again, it was kind and I loved the sound.

  Putting a hand to my arm again he motioned down the stairs,

  “I’m sorry let’s go sit and I’ll explain.”

  Moving to a row farther down on the ground than I would normally have gone, we sat.

  “So?” I asked and he seemed caught up looking at something but nodded as he sat down.

  “I wanted to see if I could camouflage. We learned how today in class and I felt it would be fun to try it out,” he glanced at me and smiled deviously, “and it worked too,” he said as I smiled pushing at his shoulder.

  “Keten!” I said and it echoed off the walls which only made him smile more.

  After a minute of bantering we got started on studying as books came from the ceiling floating down like leaves from a tree. I would never tell him I had gotten some books down on my own a few times during the year so far. Though making sure they came down to you was the hardest part for me. More than one book had fallen to the ground in my endeavors, one had knocked me on the head.

  Keten glanced to me as we looked through books and he smiled and took the book from my lap.

  “Hey!” I called after him with a grin.

  He sauntered down two rows and stood at the bottom podium and smiled as he held the book.

  “We need to do this right,” he said with a nod.

  I could only imagine what he could possibly mean as suddenly he started reading.

  “The tree frog is indigenous to what continent?” he asked in the best Mr. Deplen voice I had ever heard though even he could not go as whiny.

  Moving my hand to my lips I tried to cover a giggle as he stood on the bottom level.

  “So, Miss Deshion?” He asked again in the whiny voice adding to the effect with a tap of his foot.

  Controlling my giggles and losing my fear of someone seeing him like this I nodded.

  “The rain forest.” I said and he tried to contain a smile.

  Coming in close I felt my cheeks burn when he finally spoke.

  “It’s not a continent, but I won’t down grade you because your cute.” He breathed stepping back as my face reddened with embarrassment when I realized what his last words had been.

  Looking up to him I mi
ssed whatever the real answer was trying desperately not to giggle knowing he thought I was cute as he flipped the page with flare as he pretended to push up glasses on his nose.

  “Got that? Good. Next we’re on to…”

  For the next hour we went through places, phylum, class and habits of animals. By the time Keten slowed, I smiled at him. He looked through the book for more to read though I could tell we were both becoming tired after a long week.

  “Keten, tell me more about you.” I said in an airy way, my mind caught the words in the air and then my brain realized the thought had left my lips!

  I gulped a lump in my throat when I saw the way Keten smiled up at me as he closed the book and seemed to watch me.

  “I like chips and pizza,” he said with a smile as he walked up to me.

  I smiled and rolled my eyes.

  “Okay, anything else?” I asked shaking my head and making my hair go into an almost crazed flurry.

  He smiled wider and the look on his face was almost wistful as he sat down.

  “I like your hair down much better than when you wear it up,” he said sweetly as he looked to me.

  My cheeks broke into a burning red and I felt my necklace start to glow as I put a hand to my chest and told it to stop as well as my heart to quiet.

  Keten chuckled softly and put his hand to my hand and I looked up to him without realizing it.

  “Sorry to make you dare fainting, I just...” he smiled and looked down as I tilted my head.

  “You what?” I asked with a smile that made my cheeks nearly hurt.

  Keten looked up and a thought suddenly seemed to dawn on him as he brightly looked up into my face.

  “Equila, would you go with me to the end of term formal?” He asked hopefully.

  My mouth seemed to refuse to work, my mind scuffed around every thought it met and my lips felt dry.

  “Yeah.” I said with a fervent nod, “I’ve got nothing better to do.”

  Keten smiled and my mind caught onto what he said and with a smile and a squeeze of his hand I grinned.