"Wow." My mouth fell open what I saw it all.
As I took it all in other students walked around me, entering in pairs or groups. Everyone wore suits and dresses, and they radiated sophistication. The group of psychics who had been thrown into fighting rings only hours before cleaned up good.
"Let's go get a table," Phylicia grabbed me by the elbow and guided me to a table. "So, are you moody man friends going to be joining us?" She asked once we sat.
I opened my mouth, then hesitated. "I don't know." I suddenly felt deflated and weak.
"Hm. I see," She said slowly. "Well, don't let it ruin your night. Seriously. The competition does weird things to people's heads." She paused. "This one might just be extra special, considering the history of all those involved."
I looked up from the centerpiece and nodded. "You're right. I'll just give them space." It killed me to say it, but it was probably the best thing I could do. It wouldn't be easy, not when I knew that Ryland was worked up into a frenzy and Luke wasn't even speaking to me.
More students were filling the room now. The music was still low enough that we could speak at a normal volume, but the chatter was growing louder. The students had still segregated themselves according to campus: blue bands on the north, white bands on the east, red bands on the south, and black bands on the west. It was a small marker that weighed heavy with meaning.
"Why aren't people trying to get to know each other?" I wondered out loud.
Phylicia gaped in surprise. "Can you blame them? The competition comes first, everything else is second." She shook her head. "It's just how things are. I know I'm graduating this year, which means I have to pour my soul into this and land a good gig after school."
That was the other thing I had a problem with. We were busting our asses for people we couldn't even see. Why? The whole event just didn't sit well with me. I had a strange feeling about it; it was probably nothing, but it still bothered me.
I had enough to worry about. Like the people back in Detroit that were going missing. Like the Rogues who were still after me and would most definitely kidnap my family if they found out their identities. I should have pulled out of the competition when I had the chance, but I didn't want to be the only one that looked weak. Almost everyone from all campuses attended, whether they were fit to graduate or not. I wouldn't be the one that stood out, I had done that enough. I'd get through this, one way or another.
"Speaking of boys," I said, happy to change the subject to get myself out of my increasingly depressing thoughts. "Do you think your little fire beau will show up?"
That got Phylicia's attention. She sat up straighter and took a quick glance around the ballroom. "I don't know. Maybe? Why? Do you think he will?"
I smiled to myself. I had never seen her this flustered. "I don't know, but if he does, promise me you'll make a move on him."
Phylicia fanned herself with her hand. "Oh gosh, I don't know. You know he spoke to me before our match? He said he wasn't going to go easy on me. He has the most amazing English accent." She gushed, a dreamy look in her eyes.
"What did you say?" I asked.
"I told him to give me his worst. I'm not afraid of a good fight." Phylicia grinned and let a spiral of flame flicker along her knuckles.
"The match was incredible." I couldn't recall a moment where she didn't have me on the edge of my seat. "You fought beautifully."
"And so did he," Phylicia sighed. "Girl, if I didn't know me better, I'd say it was love at first sight."
As if on cue, Julian walked in, flanked by two other guys from the east campus. He was dressed in a black suit with a red tie. The east campus white bracelet wasn't even enough to clash with his designer watch.
I nudged Phylicia. "Speak of the devil."
"And he shall appear." Her voice went quiet, and she looked away quickly. "Oh my god. Why is he so perfect?"
"Go for it." I nudged her again.
Phylicia tensed and shook her head. "No. I couldn't." She protested as Julian disappeared into the crowd of students on the dance floor.
"This might be your chance," I said in a sing-song voice and raised my eyebrows. "He could be your one true love." I fluttered my eyelashes.
She rolled her eyes and shoved my shoulder playfully. "Oh, screw off." She laughed. "You're the one with men falling at your feet, not me."
Is that how people saw it? I hoped not. I was trying to keep a low profile with this whole dating thing. Guess I wasn't doing as good of a job as I thought. I gnawed at my bottom lip. Anxiety swirled around in my stomach again. I just had to keep things under control until we got back.
Time went by in a blur. After dinner, we danced for hours and I finally let go of my worries. Every time I remembered that Ryland and Luke weren't there, I pushed the thought away and focused on all the delicious man-candy from the other campuses. It wasn't against the rules to look, after all.
The clock was approaching midnight when I nudged Phylicia again. Julian was standing by the refreshment tables alone. "Now's your chance!" I squealed in her ear.
Phylicia didn't need any extra encouragement. She was off in a flash, weaving through the dancing bodies towards Julian.
I watched for a moment. There was definitely a spark between the two of them, no pun intended. Once I was sure that Phylicia was deep in conversation, I struggled out of the crowd to get some air. Being less than average height had its disadvantages when surrounded by people.
I stepped out into the hall, letting the cool air wash over me. Every square foot of this place was air-conditioned to the extreme, not that I was complaining. I took the moment to catch my breath, my body still buzzing from the energy in the ballroom.
I was plunged into my thoughts as the silence settled down around me. Luke. Ryland. It would have been so much better if they had come with me. Competition or not, it was good to let loose and have some fun. Goodness knows I hadn't been letting myself relax much lately, unless you counted my "physical therapy" sessions with Ryland.
Footsteps echoed down the hall. Whoever it was, they were running fast.
I looked up and didn't believe my eyes. Luke? "Luke!" I shouted.
Luke stopped mid-step. He wore a white dress shirt and black trousers, as if he had planned on going to the gala and then changed his mind halfway through buttoning up his shirt. "Bianca!" He sounded out of breath.
I had never seen Luke out of breath before. Come to think of it, I hadn't ever seen him run like that before either. Teleporters didn't need to run when they could just pop in and out of wherever they pleased.
"I've been looking for Ryland everywhere. Have you seen him?"
"Ryland?" I repeated. "No, I figured he was in the dorms sulking." There was more edge to my tone than I intended. "Why? What's wrong?"
Luke slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. "Damn! I knew he'd run off and do something stupid."
My eyes widened in realization. "You mean. Kevin Spooner?" I asked. "Kevin challenged him yesterday after you left. Do you really think he'd go along with it. He's on thin ice as it is."
Luke and I both knew that Ryland wouldn't back down from a challenge.
"Of course, he would. He blames that kid for everything." Luke growled and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Where were they supposed to meet?"
"The arena." I had barely finished uttering the word when Luke grabbed my hand and transported us there in a blink.
The air rushed around me as we materialized at the ground level. I stumbled, but caught my footing.
The arena was dark and quiet. It was almost unrecognizable in this state. I shivered and hugged my arms against myself. Goosebumps spread down my arms. "I don't like this, Luke." I whispered.
Luke was alert and ready for a fight. His muscles were coiled tight and his eyes flicked back and forth.
"There's no one here." I whispered.
Luke shushed me, focusing on the silence. "No, someone was here. They teleported not long ago."
"How can y
ou tell?"
"Teleporting takes a lot of psychic energy. More than almost any other talent. We're bending physics for fucksakes. So when someone does, it leaves behind an energy signature. Like a pulse." Luke explained. He held his breath, reaching out with his hands and trying to pinpoint where the energy signature was strongest.
I closed my eyes, trying to get a grasp of whatever he was feeling, but failed. Everything was cold and eerie. There was no psychic energy besides our own.
"There." Luke said, pointing at the center of the 6th square where he and Kevin had fought. "It's there." He led the way through the darkness.
I was barely able to make out the shadowy walls around us. "We should probably get a teacher," I said, clinging to his hand and doing my best to ignore my sweaty palms.
"No way, want to get him expelled again?" Luke said. "We need to do this ourselves."
"You really do care about him, don't you?" I mused.
"No," Luke said, irked. "I just want to preserve the name of our campus is all." He didn't sound convinced.
"You know, you two can be rivals and friends. It's not mutually exclusive." I continued.
"Hold that thought." Luke said and touched the floor. "Here! This is where they teleported out of the arena."
I stared at the spot as if I were expecting it to glow or give me any sort of sign that Luke wasn't screwing with me. I focused where his hand was and finally felt the smallest pulse. The psychic signature. "Whoa," I whispered.
Luke stood up. "You should stay here."
What? No way!" I protested. "You're not going to drag me out here and then tell me to stay put. If you're going to save Ryland, then I'm going with you."
Luke opened his mouth and then closed it. "Fine." He knew better than to argue with me at this point.
I smiled and grabbed his hand. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get him." I closed my eyes and cleared my mind.
Luke knelt down and touched the energy signature.
I opened my eyes. I had no idea where we were. It was dark. We were outside in the middle of the desert. I shivered and hugged myself. "Holy shit, I forgot how cold deserts were at night."
Luke laughed. "Didn't you learn anything from the Magic School Bus?"
I rolled my eyes. "You're so funny."
A flash of light blinded me. I looked away, blinking and muttering. "What the heck was that?"
Shouts echoed in the distance and the light flashed further away.
Luke grabbed me and pushed me into the sound. Held a finger to his lips, and we listened.
One of the voices sounded like Ryland. "Bring us back, Kevin."
"No way!" The other voice shouted. It was Kevin, no doubt. "Let's see how much you like being left out in the middle of nowhere!"
"Fuck off, I never meant for you to get stuck in limbo. Let it go, asshole!" Ryland shouted back.
Luke and I inched forward through the rocks and sand, catching a glimpse of the fighting pair. They were both battered and bloody, dressed in clothes that belonged in the gala, not in the middle of the desert.
"What are we going to do, Luke?" I whispered.
Luke watched them exchanging blows. "I guess Kevin's plan was to kick his ass and dump him here."
"Where's here?"
"The Mojave desert, I'd guess."
I shivered. "That's just cruel. What the hell is wrong with this guy?"
"I will have my revenge, Ryland!" Kevin screamed. "You know what I went through after you screwed me up? They wouldn't let me teleport for months. No one trusted me with my powers and it was all because of you."
"I still wouldn't trust you with your powers." Ryland spat. His lip had split and he was sporting a black eye. His white shirt was stained with dirt and blood.
Kevin didn't look any better. He wiped the blood from his nose. He shook his head and laughed hysterically.
"We need to stop them," I whispered.
Luke shook his head. "Let them duke it out," He said. "If we interfere now, we'll only make it worse. As soon as Kevin teleports back, we'll grab Ryland."
"You're being serious?" I hissed. "No way. I don't want him getting hurt."
"Ryland won't forgive us if we stop him."
"I don't care. I'm not going to just lay here in the sand and watch them kick the shit out of each other."
"Then what do you propose?" Luke asked.
I flexed my fingers and grabbed hold of a large rock with my psychic connection. Ever since the test yesterday morning, I was ultra aware of the feeling of different objects when I held them. It was different than a physical touch, something that corresponded to the material itself, the most basic molecular make up. I focused my energy on Kevin and psychically threw the rock at him.
The fist-sized rock hit him in the side of the head. Kevin stumbled and hit the ground hard.
"What the!" Ryland exclaimed. He looked in our direction and his eyes grew wide.
I scrambled to my feet, nearly tripping on the hem of my dress. "Ryland, are you ok?"
Ryland stood motionless with his hands dangling at his sides. He looked at me and then at Kevin. "How the hell did you do that? How are you here?"
I closed the distance between us and hugged him tight. "Luke and I were worried, so we followed you."
Ryland didn't return the embrace. He stood their cold and stiff. "I see."
Luke jogged over and nudged Kevin's foot. "He's unconscious, hopefully that rock didn't do any damage."
I released Ryland and looked him in the eye. "Are you ok?" I asked again.
Ryland sighed and avoided my eyes. "Yeah, I'll be fine." The blood on his face was drying.
"What happened?" Luke asked.
"I agreed to spar with him in the arena. He grabbed me and teleported us here." Ryland gestured around vaguely. "I had it handled, you didn't need to save me."
Luke shot me a "I told you so" look.
"Ryland, he was going to abandon you here. We don't even know where here is!" I shouted. That was it. I had enough of his loner bad-boy attitude. He needed to start realizing that he couldn't do everything on his own. "What if he would have left? What would you have done then? In the middle of the desert with no water and no way to find civilization!"
"I would have been fine." Ryland shrugged me off and walked away, running his fingers through his blond hair.
I watched him pacing.
Luke put a hand on my shoulder. "Just leave him be," He said. "He's embarrassed and frustrated, that's all. He'll come around."
The tension left my body. I fought off tears as I spoke. "I just wanted to help."
"I know," Luke said and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in this world that don't want help." He paused. "Let me take you back and I'll come back for Ryland."
I blinked in surprise. "You're going to leave him here?"
"Just for a second," Luke promised. "I'll pop you back in the dorms and come right back. I think maybe he just needs to be alone."
I let out a shuddering sigh and wiped my eyes. I stared at the back of Ryland's head. He was tense, not speaking and not acknowledging us at all. "I guess that's fine," I said and grabbed Luke's hand. "Please take me back."
Luke nodded and in a flash we were back in my dorm room.
Phylicia had not returned, things must have been going well with her pyro crush.
I collapsed backwards onto my bed and let out a frustrated growl. Sand fell out of the creases in my dress.
"Let it go," Luke said. "Ryland will come around."
"Why does he have such a problem with people caring about him?"
"I don't know," Luke said with a shrug. "Try to get some sleep. I'll do my best to reason with him. Don't waste your energy, you'll need it for your sparring match tomorrow."
My heart skipped a beat. I completely forgot about that. "Great." I sighed and rubbed my eyes, probably smearing my makeup, but I didn't care.
Luke gave me one last look and then teleporte
d out.
I let the silence settle around me. I was so done with this stupid competition. Nothing was turning out like it was supposed to. My chest ached with disappointment and exhaustion. I just wanted to go home.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"Ladies and gentlemen, please focus your attention on square five!"
The announcer's voice rattled my body. Everything was so loud in this plexiglass box. I felt like a fish in an aquarium. My heart was going a mile a minute. My hands were sweating. My mouth was dry. I stared across the square at the other telekinetic girl.
Wendy Tanaka from west campus. The crowd wasn't cheering for me; they were cheering for her.
I didn't let it get to me. I'd just get through this match as best as I could and survive to fight another day. That was my new plan. I braced myself when the buzzer rang, dug my heels into the mat and raised my fists.
I had one thing to my advantage: everyone underestimated me. No one, not even the students of my own campus, knew what I had been through with the Rogues. No one knew that I had real fighting experience outside of the ring. No one knew that I had to literally fight for my life only a month ago. They thought I was weak, and that's where they were wrong.
Wendy smirked at me, tossing her black hair over her shoulder. "Ready?" She taunted as she levitated off the ground.
Her powers were telekinesis and levitation. Great. Nothing I couldn't handle.
"You asked for it." I said through gritted teeth, letting my energy flow down my spine and to my hands. In a blink, I had her in my grasp, squeezing and throwing her to the ground.
Wendy screamed as I let go. Her eyes blazed with embarrassment. "Fine, you get that one. But I'm done playing nice." She reached out, attempting to get a hold of me, but I fought back against her energy.
"Listen, Wendy," I grunted. "I don't even want to be here, so let's make this quick." I threw myself back, breaking out of her psychic hold.
The announcer was saying something. The crowd was screaming. I ignored it all to focus on the task in front of me. "Come on Wendy, get up."
Psychic Lies: An Urban Fantasy Academy Romance (Psychic Academy Book 2) Page 11