The Shadow Within Me

Chapter Twenty Four - Volcano

Crystal Raine Meadows

No matter how hard I try to explain things thoroughly to them, Jenny seems to be really furious at Calyx.

"What happened to you was his fault, if he just cleaned then that wouldn't have happened to you!" she fumed, so I bit my lower lip at her.

"J-Jenny, it wasn't his fault, I chose to clean because I wanted us to have more time to train," I explained once more, but she stubbornly shook her head at me.

"The next time I'll see him, he'll receive a piece of me," she threatened, so Rowen consoled her and calmed her down.

"Now, now, you heard that it wasn't his fault, at least give that guy a break, he did save her from them," Rowen explained. I'm glad someone rational appeared in Jenny's life.

She's strong-willed and sometimes her pride makes her mean, but she's still the best girlfriend that I have ever met.

"Tch, are you sure that the student council will do something about this?" she asked one more time, so I just nodded at her.

"Y-Yes, they told me that they'll handle everything," I reassured her, so she just sighed while scratching the back of her head.

"They better expel them, what they're about to do is way over the line, it's just so weird!" Jenny raised her voice before staring at the ground.

"You only showed them your weakness, why are they treating you like you've done something wrong about them?" she questioned, I couldn't help but agree with her.

"You're right, ever since they noticed her first performance at the fields, our classmates started bullying her and it's starting to irritate me, to be honest," Liam commented while looking at me intently.

"You're too nice to experience these kinds of things," he added, so I gave him a small smile. I'm not that nice though.

"Are you planning to tell this to Ate Kathy?" Jenny asked and she sounded hopeful, so I flinched while shaking my head. It would be a mess if they get involved.

"N-No, they would worry so much about me and I don't want that," I firmly said, so she just sighed.

"Alright, I'll also keep this, but you have to promise me that this won't happen again," she requested, so I shook my head.

"You should ask the people who hate me about that," I joked, but they didn't laugh as they just stared at me intently.

After a few discussions, they decided to check me out and we went to the main gates where I stopped because I saw Calyx standing in the middle with Flash on his side.

He's looking at me intently and oh boy, those pairs of red eyes really get to me as I felt that my heart was pounding so rapidly like it wants to get out of my chest.

Jenny immediately noticed him and approached him, it was too late to stop her because she grabbed the hem of his loose polo uniform.

"You! What are you doing here?! After all the mess you put her through and you have the nerve to show up like this?!" Jenny exclaimed, so I ran over there to stop her because she's causing a commotion.

"J-Jenny stop, it wasn't his fault, please, I told you he saved me right?" I explained once more, but she isn't listening to me.

"Crys wouldn't be there in the first place if you did your freaking job and didn't complain! She was too nice to get your job finished on her own so that you could teach her early!" Jenny huffed, so I really got worried that Calyx might feel bad about this.

Calyx didn't say anything as he looks like he's waiting for Jenny to let her go, "I'm sorry, but would you please let me go? I have to talk to her," Calyx did say something.

"What?! There's no way I'll--" Jenny's words were muffled when Rowen stepped in and cupped her mouth.

"Jen, stop and let them talk, they deserve to talk," Rowen firmly said, so I thanked him and faced Liam.

He's glaring at Calyx before standing beside me, "You better not do something funny, we'll get back at you if she cries or if you put her in danger once more," Liam threatened, but Calyx didn't mind him as he glanced at me.

"Can we talk, woman?" he coldly asked, so I just nodded and bid my friends goodbye. I also told them not to wait for me because Flash is my service either. Of course, Jenny complained, but she was dragged away by her mate.

It was silent when we're both left alone, I could even hear the small insects flying around the bushes around the University's main gates. Why are we standing here awkwardly with each other? It's making me so freaking nervous!

"Come with me," he invited while tapping on the saddle of Flash. I didn't hesitate and mounted Flash.

He then sat on my back after I settled myself. I got nervous when I felt that he was about to hug me but to my surprise, he just reached out towards the handle.

I could feel my cheeks heating up because he's this close to me and it feels like he's towering over my personal space. I didn't know that he was this tall and big enough for me to fit in between his chest.

"A-Are you not going to be sore there? We could change seats," I suggested, but he didn't look at me as he ordered Flash to fly.

"No, I'm fine here," he replied after we're both greeted with the harsh blowing winds against the vast pink salmon skies, it's almost sunset. I immediately closed my eyes because I was too preoccupied to notice we're so high up with him this close to me.

The whole ride was silent. After Flash landed on the flat, slightly muddy grounds, Calyx unmounted him and placed his things on the side of the tree. I roamed my eyes around our surroundings and noticed that we're inside the enchanted forest, the place where we were both trains together.

"You're already dressed up and you probably have warmed up a while ago, go ahead and do your workout routine," he ordered, so my eyes widened, sure I'm still in my training clothes but isn't it a bit late?

"U-Uh Calyx, I thought you wanted to talk?" I claimed, but he didn't mind me as he started changing his clothes.

I just sighed while scratching the back of my head. I actually wanted to go home and just stay in my bed to study some dragon languages to forget what happened a while ago, but I think this is nice too. To release the steam inside of my body.

I started doing some workout routines and after that, I did the new workout routine he gave to me after the first one.

He's just watching me from behind and I couldn't help, but get anxious about it. After doing the new workout routine, I thought I was going to be tired but it feels like my body just wanted to warm up more.

I paced towards the tree where he tied the rope and started trying to reach for it. I feel like he's still staring at me and I'm still not getting used to it.

Why are we training right now despite what happened? I just shook my head and didn't notice that I jumped in the wrong way and was about to fall into a dangerous position. I almost screamed and tried to balance myself when I felt that someone catched me and firmly held my waist.

"Why won't you try and stay away from danger?" he sighed while lowering his head in my presence. I could feel his breathing warming up some parts of my suddenly sensitive body.

"Why are you always falling in my presence? Why are you always in danger whenever I'm not around or even looking?" He sounded like he's talking to himself, so I got worried for a moment.

Plus why is he talking like this? We're in a weird position, he's carrying me like a princess and his grip was getting even tighter.

"C-Calyx, um, I think you should let me go--" my eyes widened because of what he did, he hugged me intently and I don't know what came over him and did that.

My heart was pounding so rapidly as he continued pulling me closer to his body, his breathing was calm and my cheeks were heating up because of what was happening. He's too freaking close! My heart is panicking!

"I'm sorry," he whispered, so my eyes remained widened towards what's happening right now. I'm too surprised to even react properly.

"I'm sorry, that wouldn't happen to you if I did it when they told me, your friend was right, what happened back there was entirely my fault," he claimed, so I just shook my head and broke our hugs against each other.

I squatted down with him so that I could level his red glinting eyes that were full of different emotions. I didn't know that he had sides like this and also didn't know that he could apologize. Did he bring me here just to apologize and not to train? I just shook my head, I'm assuming things again.

"Hey, what happened back there wasn't your fault, I'm sure you heard what I said, right?" I claimed, but he just averted his eyes on me.

"You're just saying that so I wouldn't feel bad, nice people like you lie to make someone feel better, you really remind me of someone," he claimed, so I furrowed my eyebrows at him.

How can he claim something like that? This guy is so freaking weird, "I meant what I said, the ones who were at fault were the people who harassed me, that wouldn't happen in the first place if they just leave me be, though an off-limits sign would be helpful too," I admitted, but he didn't look at me. 

He's still thinking I'm lying huh? Why can't he distinguish that? Shaking my head I reached out to his arms.

His eyes peered at where I was touching him before looking at me intently, "Look in my eyes and tell me that I'm lying," I requested, he hesitated for a moment before looking at me intently.

Our eyes met each other's and it felt like time had stopped as the only thing that I could see and hear was his blinking eyes and surprisingly his not normal breathing.

My heart raced because of what's happening. I don't understand, from the moment I first met him, why am I getting these strange feelings from him?

A strange movement from the ground interrupted us both, I almost lost my balance as he helped me up.

"The grounds are shaking, what's going on? Is there an earthquake?" I worriedly asked, but he didn't mind me.

He continued staring around our surroundings, "Something dangerous is about to come," Calyx claimed as he ran to get his things and whispered something to Flash.

"Go home with him, I'm going to ask my sister what's going on," he informed me, so I nodded before mounting Flash's saddle.

"Are you going to be alright? What's happening? Is it dangerous?" I curiously asked, but he didn't answer me.

"Go home to where it's safe," he firmly said, so I just sighed before scratching the back of my head.

"Fine, j-just be careful okay?" After I said those words, Flash suddenly flew and took me home. I closed my eyes and tightly gripped on Flash's saddle.

Heights still scare me a lot, an orange light was visible among the closed lids of my eyes, so I curiously peeked to see what it was and my eyes widened after seeing lava flowing to half of the Diamond District.

"T-The Volcano erupted? Shouldn't it sound the signal when a natural disaster is coming?" I shook my head and waited until Flash took me home.

Flash slowly landed on the ground and I saw Ate Kathy pacing back and forth on the outside like she's worried about something. She's too deep in thoughts to hear Flash's wings.

She finally heard Flash's wings and immediately looked up, she looked relieved seeing me from there as she waited for me to get down.

"What took you so long? I was worried about you, a volcano erupted and its lava is overflowing the Diamond District!" she informed me, so I just nodded.

"I-I'm sorry, something came up and yes I saw it above the sky," I explained, so she just sighed and allowed me to enter our house. I furrowed my eyebrows for a moment after seeing Kuya Draven was dressed up.

I glanced at Ate Kathy and noticed that she's also dressed up. What the? I didn't notice that a while ago.

"A-Are you guys leaving because of the natural disaster that occurred?" I worriedly asked so they both nodded at me.

"Yes, we're going to help evacuate people, please take care of little Trevy for us," Ate Kathy pleaded, so I just smiled before nodding my head.

"Of course, you don't have to ask," I beamed before pacing towards little Trevy who's busy playing with his toys, "I'll take care of this cinnamon bun," I pinched Trevy's cheeks, so he just giggled.

"Thank you, Crystal, lock the doors, don't let anybody in unless you know them, alright?" Ate Kathy reminded me, so I eagerly nodded at her.

Kuya Draven went out first before Ate Kathy looked at us, "Be safe here okay?" she sounded worried, so I just nodded at her.

"You two must be the one who should be careful, we'll see you later," I smiled, so Ate Kathy kissed Trevy's cheeks before leaving.

To be continued…