Chapter 4
Chapter 4
“Remember what we’ve told you. You must behave yourself; many eyes will be on you today.” My mother warns me.
We’d been on a two-week break, and now it was back to school. I didn’t want to attend after knowing that everyone knew exactly what went down between Bryan and me. It didn’t help that he and Aria were the more popular ones; everyone here would side with them. Just like always, I’ll be an outcast that people gossiped about.
I nod, ” yes, mother, ” I say as I exit the limousine.
I keep my head low when I walk through the front entrance; I know that eyes are on me without looking up; I can feel it. The noisy corridor grows quiet, and now all that’s left are hushed whispers, gossips about me; I knew that much.
When entering the classroom, Aria and Bryan are already there, and they’re seated to the front. Aria looks up at me, and there isn’t the slightest bit of remorse on her face. The lack of empathy only adds to my pain and fuels my anger.
How could she be okay with this? How is it that I considered both of them so much when they barely cared for me?
I take a seat next to one of the quiet girls in the class; she barely ever said anything, even when the teachers called on her. That was the best option for me; anyone else would ask too many questions or make fun of me.
“Okay, class, today we will be discussing more on the flaming whisperer.”
The flaming whisperer. I’ve been hearing about her my entire life. She was supposedly born amongst us fire whisperers and could be any one of us. I know for a fact that she couldn’t be me; I was the only one of my kind that still couldn’t create fire.
No matter how hard I tried and no matter how many extra classes I went to, there still was no hope for me. I’ve never given up trying, but it did get tiring at times.
Sometimes I thought that the flaming whisperer was nothing but a myth, just like stories about the dark whisperers being the doom of us all. Adam and his family never did anything to harm anyone as far as I knew; they were just a bit intimidating, and because of that, people feared them.
Not everyone feared them, though; the girls at my school went crazy over them. Even more so than they did for Bryan.
“As you know, one of our greatest legends is that of our great flaming whisperer. She’s prophesied to save us all from darkness like no other. Every year we host the fairy fire ritual in hopes of finding her. This year’s ritual will take place this Sunday, and every single one of you must attend.” Miss Phillis informs us.
Did she mean all of us? I knew all of the teachers wouldn’t see the point of me being there.
My eyes go to Bryan and Aria, who are suddenly big on public display of their feelings for one another.
Aria is playing with his hair, and I’m surprised that Miss Phillis is doing nothing to stop them. We were still in class, after all.
“Ignore them.”
I glimpse to the side of me, surprised that the girl next to me had spoken. I believe her name was Abigail.
“What they did to you is unforgivable. They will receive their karma; you continue doing you and ignore them.”
I open my mouth to speak but am suddenly distracted.
The door flies open, and all of the women in the class sigh contentedly. I follow their gazes and am not surprised to see Adam there.
Adam.
Adam.
Adam.
I wince at the haunting whispers in my head. I’ve had them ever since the day I’d turn eighteen. Whenever Adam was in the same room as me, the whispers start and suddenly disappear out of nowhere.
I can’t explain what it is, and I don’t dare tell anyone about it, either. They would think that something was wrong with me, and everyone around me already had the worst things to say about me; I didn’t need anything else to add to it.
His eyes somehow cross the room to me, and just like that, I can no longer breathe. I can no longer hear what the teacher is saying, and everyone around me disappears. There is this fire flowing around me, and Adam is the center of its attention. It wants to rush to him, and I can’t tell if it’s to embrace or harm him.
His eyes are blazing but not with fire, with dangerous darkness that makes my body shiver.
“Amiera!”
I blink twice and realize that I’m back in the classroom, and all eyes are on me. Adam has already reached his seat, and unlike everyone else, he is not looking at me but staring hard at the board.
The teacher is looking at me, and I know that I’m screwed. How long was she calling my name for, and how long did I zone out?
“What is your answer?”
I frown, “can you please repeat the question?” I ask her.
She shakes her head in disappointment, “please pay more attention in class; you already know that you need all the help that you can get. You’re the only one in class that’s behind. Work harder, and you might be able to dig within yourself and bring out that fire. I don’t want to have another meeting with your parents over this.” Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
There are giggles throughout the room, and I can’t help but feel so alone. Usually, I will have Bryan or Aria next to me, but today, they have also joined the others that didn’t like me or rather liked to make fun of me.
The room grows quiet when Ashton walks in next; everyone knows there is no bad blood between him and Bryan.
I couldn’t understand why Aria would choose to ruin what she had with him over Bryan, who was already dating me, her best friend.
Ashton was beloved by many of the women in school, even more so than Bryan. And as far as I knew, Aria loved every bit of attention, so why did she settle for Bryan?
Ashton takes a seat next to his brother at the very back of the classroom. I try not to roll my eyes as some of the girls move their seats so that they could get closer to both of them.
Abigail sighs, “I just want this class to be over with.”
I nod, “I agree with you.”
I’m still surprised that she’s speaking to me, but I am grateful to have someone here that doesn’t seem to dislike me.