Chapter 24 Big Mouth
THE FIFTH ELEMENT 🌊🔥🌪️⛰️☯️
~Cassie's POV~
After meeting with Sage and her mom, I continued my way to Madeline’s mom’s office. My stomach was still in knots from that slap.
When I got there, I knocked on her door and waited for a response. The wood was dark, polished. Smelled like lavender and old books.
After a few seconds, someone opened the door, and I looked up to see Madeline’s mom.
“Oh dear! Cassie! It’s so good to see you. Please, come on in,” she welcomed me, warm. Her smile actually reached her eyes. Unlike Bellweather.
“Thanks,” I say and went inside the office. Shelves of plants. Photos of Madeline everywhere. No cold.
“So what brings you here? I hope everything is going well with you? Are you settling in okay?” she asked me as she took a seat and motioned for me to sit down as well. The chair was soft. Green.
“Yeah, yeah, everything is going well so far. I’m just still trying to get used to all this. It’s not easy to take in everything about this place,” I say to her and she nodded and smiled understandably.
“I know it won’t be easy but I know you’ll be perfectly fine,” she said to me.
“Thanks. I was meaning to ask, is there anything like a book or something I could read that’s about this ‘fifth element’ power thing I’m supposed to have?” I asked her.
“I see you want to learn about your powers. That’s a good thing. I think I can find something for you, but it might not be as informative as you want,” she replied.
“That’d be great. As long as it says something about it, I can manage,” I said to her.
“And I have to ask as well, how are your lessons with Mr. Ken Griffey going? Any new developments?” she asked me.
I really wanted to tell her that we’ve already figured out what my power is but I didn’t want to break my word to Mr. Ken. He said no one. Not yet.
“No. There’s, eh, nothing yet. We’re still at it. Hopefully soon, we’ll all find out,” I say to her and smiled weirdly. Felt like my face was cracking.
I hope she doesn’t suspect anything.
“Hmm. It’s okay, I’m sure we’ll discover what it is soon.”
“Yeah,” I said to her and looked at the ceiling. Fake plants. No dust.
“So hope you and Madeline are becoming best of friends. Is she treating you good?” she asked me.
I was thankful that we’d changed topics. My palms were sweating.
“Yes. Of course, she’s great. She’s a great roommate and friend. Even her other friends are great too,” I said to her and smiled. Real this time.
“Hm. Good to hear that you both are becoming good friends,” she said to me.
“I even thought I would see her here, since she didn’t come back to class after the fight,” I said to her while looking around the office. No Madeline. No burned wrist. Just ferns.
“What fight?” her mom asked me, with her mood changing all of a sudden. Smile gone. Voice flat.
I instantly regretted saying that. I don’t think she knew about Madeline’s and Cara’s fight yet. Stupid, Cassie. Stupid. Big mouth Cassie.
“Um. I mean I was just looking for her. I didn’t see her after class,” I said, trying to change my narrative. Too late.
“You said she didn’t come back to class after the fight. What fight are you talking about? Who did she fight with?” her mom asked me sternly. No more Mrs. Nice.
“It wasn’t really a big fight or anything. Just a minor misunderstanding,” I said to her. My voice went small.
“Who did she fight with, Cassie?” she asked me again. Each word separate. Sharp.
“I… um… it was Cara. I don’t know if you know her,” I finally said. My mouth was dry.
“Cara. Of course I know her. She’s the daughter of a very powerful fire elemental,” she said to me.
“Oh. I didn’t know they were that powerful,” I said to her.
That means Jake must be pretty powerful too.
“Do you know where Madeline might be now?” her mom asked me and I shook my head indicating no.
“Okay. Thank you for telling me this,” she said to me.
“Yeah. Sure. But the fight wasn’t Madeline’s fault, just in case you wanted to know,” I said to her and she nodded slightly. No smile.
I was about leaving when the door opened. Madeline and the teacher that asked them out of class earlier came in.
Madeline looked somewhat surprised to see me there. Then her eyes narrowed. Her good hand was bandaged. White gauze. Spot of red.
“What are you doing here?” Madeline asked me.
I wanted to answer but was beat to it by her mom.
“Cassie, you can go now. Thank you for paying me a visit. Please do it more often,” her mom said sternly to me. Dismissed.
I looked over to Madeline and she was already frowning at me. Betrayal all over her face.
I bent my head and exited the office. Door shut soft behind me. Felt like a slam.
🌊🌊🌊
I went back to the school hall for my extra lesson with Mr. Ken.
“Okay Cassie, today we’d be doing something a little more advanced,” the teacher said to me. He looked excited. Rubbing his hands.
“Something like what?” I asked him.
He suddenly raised his voice to call out some people.
“You guys can come in!” he said loudly.
Two people wearing a uniform came in. This uniform looked different from the normal school uniform. Dark gray. Patches. Batons at their hips. This must be the security uniform. I’ve seen some people wearing it around this school a few times, always watching.
“Okay, so what exactly are we doing?” I said to the teacher.
“We’re going to use them as experiment for your powers,” the teacher said to me, like it was normal. Like we were in science class.
“Um, I thought no one was supposed to know I’ve discovered what my power is,” I said in an aggressive whisper.
The teacher chuckled at my failed discreetness.
“Don’t worry about that. If your power really is mind control, then you can easily take care of their memory
,” he said to me. Shrugged.
“Oh. I see,” I said, a little bit surprised. And terrified. I can do that?" I asked with uncertainty.
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