Embers & Spells

8 - Party and Punch

I was dragged at iShop Mall by Agatha and her friends. She seemed excited about the Welcome Party for the freshmen, saying she needed to buy a new dress for the event. She had been crowned as the queen of IT Girls, always looking sophisticated at school. A lot different from the broken Agatha who showed up to my door because of the abuse she was suffering in silence.

She sure knew how to mask herself. Just like me, as I put on my friendly face as I hangout with them. They would give me smile and occasionally asked my opinion about the dresses they would wear.

When they all had one, we settled at Pasta Shack and they all ordered a vegetable salad.

“Aren’t you going to buy one?” a girl asked, turning to me. She had short hair and small eyes, her lips pouty.

“No, I’m good,” I answered.

Though I already had access to the money my mother left for me the moment I turned 18, I didn’t want to spend too much on dresses. Besides, fancy dressed wasn’t the top of my list. I was more into shoes and nail polishes.

“Aren’t you going to dress up for Inigo?” she asked, tone teasing.

Agatha turned her head to us, awaiting my answer.

“Why would I dress up for him?” I muttered.

“I saw you with him at Hamburger Company.” She smiled crookedly.

“Yes.” I shrugged my shoulder. “Doesn’t mean I have to doll up myself for him. I’m not even going.”

Claire turned her head toward us. She had one eyebrow raised. “Oh, you’re going. But not for Inigo. Remember we have things to do.”

Shit. I almost forgot that we would administer the registration of the freshmen and checked in with the live band performance to include to the September school paper.

“Should we go to your house after party?” one of the girls said. “I heard Rio and his team will perform as well. Should we invite them over?”

Claire spoke, “Oh, we should! I’d love to see Agatha and Rio find their second spark again. What are the odds?”

I heard Agatha snorted. “He could kneel first then I’ll think about it.”

I smiled. The rest of the girls giggled, hyping her up.

****

“You want a punch?”

“Excuse me?” I looked up, seeing Inigo with a little smile on his lips. His familiar perfume lingered, his white sweater hugged his body perfectly.

“I mean, fruit punch,” he said, slightly shaking his hand, motioning for the drink.

I had my long black hair up in a tight bun, pegging like a ballerina. I kinda regretted wearing my yellow dress, making it easy for me to be spotted under the blinking dance lights in the Michaelson Convention Center. Add that my boots made it hard for me to run here and there, doing Claire’s job for her.

“Thanks,” I said, glad to see a friendly face. “But I’ll have it later, sorry. Just busy with… All these,” I added, gesturing my hand to the long table of registration.

“Need a hand?” he asked, turning to see the thick crowd of freshmen, chattering at the lobby. “Don’t they need to fall into line?”

“They do,” I answered. But Claire seemed to forget she was supposed to be here not on the stage, dancing her ass off. “And we’d been telling them since- “

Inigo lifted his hand, as if he already got the situation under control. Turning to the noisy crowd, he clapped his hands, using his manly voice to call their attention. “Attention, everyone! Freshmen!”

As if he used a magic, the noise died down, all turning to him.

“Form five lines, register your names, and off you go inside to enjoy your night,” he announced, his voice laced with authority.

My phone vibrated in my hands. I know who it was. “Hello?”

“COMMS office,” he said over the line, the signal breaking.

“Now?” I asked, seeing the freshmen already forming a line, giving heart eyes at Inigo, as he talked to the other student assistants for the instruction.

“Thirty minutes ago.” Arawn sighed.

I wanted to roll my eyes.

“Jayne, can you tell Inigo I have to go?” I asked, watching him easily interacting with the freshmen.

She nodded. “Where will you go?”

“Arawn.”

She rolled her eyes. “Good luck with that, Tana.”

I just snickered. Jayne was also a student assistant, recruited by another office to assist to this event. She was friendly and nice and I appreciated her more than she knew.

When I entered COMMS office, the only light turned on was from the tiny room of the student’s assistants, to where the computers were. Arawn was sitting on the couch, a camera on his hand. Even under a small light from the fluorescence, he seemed to glow up, his skin pale.

“Where the hell is Claire?” he asked without even looking at me.

“Already drunk and wasted,” I answered, finding annoyance in my voice. “Do you need anything?”

Arawn turned his eyes on me, his gaze sharp, like the usual. “Just that you’re not going to end up like Claire, that would be great.”

Now I had to roll my eyes. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, you’re hard to miss, seeing you in bright yellow.”

“I don’t have a spare patience with me today for your remarks. Keep it in your head, will you?”

“Sure, Tana Axle.” Arawn stood up, walking toward the door. “Come on,” he said as he passed by me, shoving an envelope to my hand. “We’ll have to check on the band.”

I followed his trail, noting his brown boots and black pants, with holes on the knees as the design. His white and grey striped shirt gave emphasis on his broad shoulder, his physique looked more like a man than a boy. Guys seemed to grow more when they hit puberty.

We went at MCC, heading toward the back, to where the local band were staying before their performance.

Arawn Rhys casually talked with them while the organizer and I exchanged greetings. I gave the envelope, letting her know the program lineup.

“Will there be fireworks?” one of the band members asked me, dropping his arm on my shoulder, pulling me closer to him.

I tensed, whispering a spell, Almsha. He clutched his chest, instantly feeling the heartburn. It was more of an unconscious spell, as if my body itself repelled the man. The moment he freed me from his arm, I cut the magic casted on him.

Arawn smirked, briefly glancing toward the man. “We can’t have fireworks. You’ll be performing inside. Fireworks might catch fire. And not everyone’s a fireproof, man.”

The guy continued to clutch his chest, confusion in his eyes. “Yeah, just hoping.”

“You’ll be up in fifteen minutes,” Arawn muttered, tone more friendly.

The band clapped hands with him, muttering their goodbye while I headed outside, inhaling fresh air.

“You okay?”

“I will be when this end,” I replied. My cell phone vibrated again, this time, Agatha’s name showed on the screen. “Hey,” I answered, feeling the tension in my legs.

“I need you here, Tana, something happened.” Her tone sounded petrified, almost breaking.

My steps faltered. “What happened? Where are you?”

“At the back parking lot,” she whispered. I heard people murmuring near her and a wailing and crying echoed after a beat.

“What’s going on?” I asked, getting a bad feeling. I turned around, my feet desperate to reach her. I heard Arawn yelled after me, asking where I would go but I didn’t stop and just made my way at the back parking area.

There was already a crowd when I arrived, the scene looked gloomy while the blazing music continued from inside the party venue. There were teachers on the area, security guards, trying to hold the students back.

I easily found Agatha. “What happened?”

She clung to me, hooking her arm on mine, as if I was enough to cast out her terror. “Claire’s been attacked. We don’t know who did this. I swear, Tana.”

My head snapped to where the others kept their attention to, tiptoeing to get a glimpse of the situation. And there was Claire lying on the asphalt, her arm bent in an awkward position, blood oozing from the side of her head. I had never seen such pool of blood before, that I felt my stomach churn, dizziness taking over.

“How did this happen?” I asked, more to myself.

“She said she wanted to go home and we agreed to meet in her car after the band’s performance, so we can all go together. And since I feel a little drunk, I followed her to wait in the car as well, and I already found her like that.”

Rio, her 6-foot ex-boyfriend, made his way toward us, easily parting the crowd. He was a popular guy as well, the captain of the basketball team. Trailing behind him was Inigo, who mirrored the same concerned expression.

“Agatha? Oh God,” Rio called out, reaching for her.

She didn’t budge on my side, as if moving would make her fall.

“You okay, babe? I heard what happened. And I was worried! Damn! Whoever did this-“ He looked furious. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Rio,” she answered.

“The principal wanted to see you,” Inigo said, motioning his hand over his shoulder. Behind him were a couple of teachers and the principal, Mr. Jim. “Just a quick statement, Agatha.”

“Yeah, babe,” Rio chimed in. “We’ll be with you, don’t worry.”

“Call me after,” I muttered, wanting to give her assurance that I would wait for her.

Agatha nodded and followed them. Inigo lingered for a moment. He looked anxious, just like everybody. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Yeah, okay,” I said, not really wanted to send out negative thoughts. We were all shaken, after all. He tapped my shoulder, as if I needed comfort as well before walking away.

I felt an air beside me.

“Told you not to end up like Claire.”

I glared up at Arawn, his eyes pierced to where Claire was, as the rest waited for an ambulance. Suddenly, confusion and fright and rage swelled up inside my chest, my fist curling into fist. “Are you for real? What do you even mean by that?”

“It means ‘do not be reckless’,” he stated, emphasizing his words.

“You can just go to hell, Arawn Rhys!” I hissed, not wanting to draw attention to the little asshole beside me. The situation was bad enough to go hysterical to this guy’s nonsense.

He just stared me down, his gray eyes seemed to darken, so intense that I momentarily held my breath. With the anger and threat he put on me, I held his eyes, once again whispering a spell.

Yuraq sha! Burn. He should feel the pain of burning.

Just then, my chest constricted, the air quickly escaped my lungs as I felt the fire inside me. My body shivered in pain, my knees wobbled, and for a moment, my scream was trapped in my throat. For a second, I felt like being transported back in the underworld, and how the melting of flesh hit me, the smell of sulfur and ashes suffocated me.

The burn stopped the moment I blinked, looking away from him, realizing what I cast bounced back at me. I lost my balance at the pain that surged through me, my body shook, my muscle so tensed that I felt hypnotized.

Arawn quickly caught my arm, sliding his other hand on my waist to keep my footing. “You okay?”

When I caught my second wind, letting the night breeze cooled my skin, I stepped away from him. “Fine,” I mumbled.

“Sorry, didn’t catch your whisper,” he muttered, eyeing me, leaning down at me. “You okay? Or do you need to- “

“I said I’m fine,” I replied, my voice more stable.

He just looked at me as he straightened his composure. The emotion in his eyes seemed to change quickly. “I’ll go talk to the organizer and the band. You’re free to go.”

I stared at his retreating back. What the hell just happened?