Chapter 32 Secret spilled
The Fifth Element 🔥🌊🌪️⛰️🌀
~Cassie's POV ~
“You know, if you’re going to make friends in this school, you should choose them wisely,” Sage said to me once Cara was gone.
“Okay, thanks for the heads up. I’ll keep that in mind,” I said sarcastically.
“What is your deal with her anyway? Why do you guys hate each other that much?” I asked Sage. I wanted to know genuinely.
“Aren’t you besties with Madeleine? I’m surprised she hasn’t spilled all the secrets of the school to you yet,” she replied. Deflected.
“Hey, I was asking you,” I said to her.
“I’m done talking now, new girl,” Sage said and increased her walking pace a bit. Ice wall back up.
I was already fed up with her cold attitude.
“Hey! Slow down!” I yelled at her.
And she suddenly started walking real slow. Like through syrup. Like someone hit pause on her legs.
“What the hell. What’s happening?” Sage said with panic in her voice. Real panic. She looked down. Legs moving frame by frame.
Oh no, I did it again.
“What do you mean?” I asked her innocently. Too high. Too fast.
“Why am I walking slow? I don’t want to walk slow, so why am I doing it anyway?”
“You should probably relax,” I said to her, not knowing exactly what to say. Heart in my throat.
No one else is supposed to know about my powers, right? Mr. Ken said no one. Even though I told Madeleine, I can't tell anyone else.
“Relax? Are you kidding me?” Sage said furiously. Tried to stomp. Failed. Moved like she was underwater.
I tried to get her to stop with my mind. I tried to make her walk normally again but it wasn’t working. I pictured it. Walk. Normal. Go. Nothing. Panic spiked.
“Damn it! It’s not working,” I said out loud. Hands fisting.
“What are you talking about? What’s not working?” Sage asked, still sounding furious. Eyes wild now.
“Um, nothing,” I said weirdly. Voice cracking.
She squinted her eyes at me as if she knew I was hiding something.
“Is there something that’s happening right now you think I should know about?” Sage asked me. Low. Mother’s interrogation tone.
“Nope. Nothing at all,” I tried to be calm. But I know my face is giving my discomfort away. Sweat. Guilt. All of it.
“Cassie? The truth. Right now!” Sage said in a commanding tone. The kind that makes people confess to crimes they didn’t commit.
“Okay....okay. I’m sorry, but I think I’m the one controlling your little slow-mo movement. But it’s… I didn’t do it intentionally,” I said to her, deciding to be truthful. Couldn’t lie. Not with her looking like that.
“Wait… you’re doing this?” she asked me. Stopped struggling. Just stared.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“So you have discovered your powers. Since when?” she asked me.
It felt like she was genuinely keen on knowing. No ice. Just… interest. Shock.
“A while,” I said and smiled. Weak one.
“Cool,” she said to me. Blinked. Once. Twice.
“Thanks.”
“Now, undo whatever this is. We still have a treasure to find,” she said while staring down at her legs. Still slow. Still trapped.
“Okay. I’ll try again,” I said and put all my focus on her.
I brought out my hand and faced it towards her. Purple haze. Thicker this time. Swirling. I wished for her to walk normally and she suddenly flinched a bit. Like static shock.
“Okay, that felt weird,” she said and took a few steps to check if it worked and thankfully it did. Normal speed. She almost fell from the change.
“I did it,” I smiled to myself. Proud.
I think I’m beginning to get a hang of this.
Sage chuckled. Short. “Come on magic girl. Let’s go find that last treasure.”
I followed her without any delay. For once, we were moving in the same direction.
“Hey, come check this out,” Sage called my attention.
I walked sluggishly to go see what she wanted me to see.
I was already tired of looking around. It’s been hours, yet no luck of any treasure. My feet hurt. My everything hurt.
“What?” I said when I got to where she was standing. Under a tree. Big one. Old.
She pointed with her head for me to look up.
I looked up at the tree right in front of us and I saw a golden compass hanging between the branches of the tree. Catching sun.
“Yes!! Finally,” I said with joy and relief. Almost cried.
I was getting hungry and most of all tired and needed to rest.
“I’ll go get it,” Sage said and quickly started climbing the tree before I could protest. Up she went. Like a cat. Like she’d done it before.
She really loves danger.
“Got it. Move aside, I’m gonna jump from here,” she said to me while positioning herself for the jump. Three branches up. Ten feet? More?
She must be crazy.
“You can’t do that,” I said to her and I was taken aback when she flew from up there to down here. No, not flew. Dropped. Controlled. The crazy thing is, she landed perfectly. Knees bent. No sound. Like water hitting water.
“Are you crazy?” I asked her, not sure whether to be happy she didn’t break her bones or angry she did something that dangerous.
“Yeah. Actually, I am,” Sage said while smoothing out her jacket. Like she jumped off curbs every day.
“Yeah, you are,” I agreed with her.
“Are we going to submit all these treasures or what?” she asked me, sounding annoyed. Back to ice.
“Fine. Let’s go. You lead the way,” I said to her and she smirked.
🌪️
We went back to the field and saw the teacher sitting there, with a fancy umbrella shielding her from the sun. She had a cooler filled with drinks beside her plus lots of snacks. Living her best life while we died.
“Sage and Cassie. I see you guys found all your treasure. Good job. I’m glad you both were able to work together. You can drop those over there,” the teacher said to us and we dropped all the treasure we were holding in a treasure box that was open wide. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
“You’ll be scored by tomorrow, according to your teamwork. And that’ll be all. You both can head back to your dorm,” the teacher said to us and I nodded.
Sage and I went to our dorm building. Silent. But not bad silent. Tired silent.
“So today was fun,” I said to her when we were both in front of our rooms.
“Yeah, look, what happened today doesn’t mean that we’re friends. I don’t know you, you don’t know me, and we should keep it that way,” Sage said to me and went inside her room. Door shut. Soft. Final.
“Fine,” I said to myself and went inside my own room and banged my door. Loud. Not final.
I can’t believe I shared my secret with her.
~