Blood Bender

Chapter 16 - The Beach

The rest of the week carried on like normal, as did the next week. I was glad to finally be done with detention, I'm sure we all were. We still trained on weekends, Kai now being a part of that. He settled into the group rather quickly and everyone seemed to like him, so I tried to ignore that feeling that something just wasn't right about him. The thing that confused me the most was he was clearly powerful, I could sense he was on par with Phoenix but anytime we trained or in class, it was like he was holding back, pretending he was strong but not that strong. I wanted to know why he was lying about his strength but I really didn't care enough to ask.

We were currently sat in the cafeteria, enjoying our lunch break before our last lesson of the week which was our abilities class. I noticed over the weeks, the more the thirteen of us hung out the closer we became and soon enough, it was easy to forget the hostility between Tyson and Phoenix's group at the start. I could sense the tension between Maiah and Tyson with Phoenix still and I noticed Phoenix didn't really talk to Tyson's friends as much as his but other than that it was normal.

We became rather rowdy being such a large group. Especially as Maiah, Rain and I were the only girls in the group. I couldn't help but feel slightly outnumbered. Phoenix and I became a lot closer over the last few weeks as did Maiah and Tyson. Maiah and Tyson were now 'official'. I had no idea what that meant. I didn't really see a lot of Maiah these days even though we were roommates. Either she was out with Tyson or I was out with Phoenix. I missed her but there was still a weird vibe between us. I might ask if she wants to come shopping with me tomorrow. Maybe invite Rain and make it a girl's trip.

"Hey Maiah, you doing anything tomorrow?" I asked from across the table.

"I don't think so, why?" She asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Want to get the bus into town? Do some shopping?" Maiah looked shocked for a few seconds before stuttering out a yes. "Rain, you want to join? Have a nice girl's day?"

"Yeah, I'm down." She smiled at the two of us.

"If we go mid-morning we can grab some lunch too if you like?" I suggested.

"Works for me." Maiah smiled at us and Rain nodded. The bell rang signalling the end of lunch so we all got up to go to our lesson.

"I'll see you later Splash." Phoenix said, bending down to kiss me.

"Bye Match Stick." I kissed him one last time then walked away with Rain and Kai as we went to water abilities.

"So, today class, we'll be going to the beach so the lesson might run a little over. If you'd like to leave your stuff here, we'll take the minibuses down to the beach. Should only be a ten minute drive." Mrs Darya explained. We all got up and made our way to the front of the school to get in the minibuses. I was the first one on the bus so I took a seat at the back in the corner. I rolled my eyes when Kai sat in the seat next to me and Rain and Jenna sat in front of us.

"Alright Splash." Kai smirked at me. I shot him a harsh glare.

"Phoenix is the only one that calls me that, so don't you start." I growled.

"Why? Is it a cute nickname he calls you?"

"I guess." I shrugged my shoulders. I really had no idea about our nicknames for each other. I started calling him Match Stick because I was making fun of him. Now, well I guess it was now a term of endearment.

"I'm guessing you two are quite serious then?" Kai asked, nudging me. I sighed deeply.

"Okay, let's get a few things straight." I turned to face him a bit more. "I like Phoenix, he likes me, I have no interest in anyone else and I know that's the same for him as well. I also don't like people asking personal questions that I'm not personal with, so please restrain yourself from asking something that may be deemed personal. Kapeesh?" Kai held his hands up in defence.