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Forty-Four: Finding a Solution

"Hey Owens? Are you even listening?" Charlotte glanced up distractedly, her cheeks flushing as she realised her entire team was watching her. They were all gathered in the largest training hall on the lower fourth floor. Ethan had fought for days to try and reserve it, as the rains had returned to the island, water-logging the pitches, and making training outdoors almost impossible. The other teams were all clamouring to use the halls too, and everybody wanted the largest of the halls, everybody wanted space.

"Sorry," she muttered in a rush, smiling apologetically. "I zoned out for a moment. What were you saying?" She tried to hide her embarrassment with an expression of tense concentration, as Ethan Jansen ruffled his long blonde hair and sighed.

It had been three days since the banquet and yet she found her mind once again wandering to Matthew Desmarais. She had seen another side to him, a side that he had carefully concealed since arriving at Kingston in the early autumn. She had seen a strange vulnerability, she hadn't expected from the founder's son, and she had felt an unsettling comfort when with him. Part of her didn't trust him for what he was, one of them, but another part of her wanted him to be different, wanted to find something within him that she could trust. She felt her cheeks burning at the thought, impulsively feeling guilty to even allow herself to nurse such a desire.

"I was saying," Ethan said shaking his head with a dismissive smile, "that we have five days until the game against James' team. We need to get our game plan organised because as it stands we won't stand a chance".

"We're trying our best," Daiki groaned, mussing his black hair. Sweat clung to his sallow skin as he watched them exhausted. They were all tired and hungry. It had been an afternoon of pointless attempts and half-hearted ideas. Daiki had spent much of the time, floating about the ceiling, while Freya was distractedly shapeshifting, resembling one student then the next. Ebiere was a constant distraction as she kept humming to herself, distracting half the group with her entrancing voice. Carrick and Eli cracked one of the bleachers, a deep split appearing in the stone, when they had started to wrestle in jest, bored waiting for Charlotte or Ethan to suggest something constructive. Mary and Maria had seemed even less interested in the training session, gossiping and giggling at every moment, while Jun Lin had sat quietly waiting to be called upon. The most progress they had made was their last team run, which was too basic to ever stand a chance. It had been a complete waste of a day, if Charlotte was being perfectly honest.

"It's Alexander! As long as he is fighting, it will be impossible for us to win," Freya complained.

"You're giving him too much credit," Ethan sighed, trying to calm the obvious tensions appearing in the team. Charlotte bit her lip. She knew exactly what James was capable of. She was almost certain she was the only person who knew fully how far his powers could stretch. He had even managed to manipulate her own body to take him out in the captain's game. If they even underestimated him for a second they would have no chance. She wasn't going to tell her team that. She needed them to believe they could win.

"Ethan's right," Charlotte sighed. "I mean I defeated him single-handedly twice this year already," she lied, knowing that if it hadn't been for his own hesitation and need to protect her she would never have been able to beat him. "Alexander is just one of us. He is no more of a threat than any of the others".

"We need a plan, though," Eli Miller sighed, towering over them all, save for Carrick who watched them all in his usual silence. "We can't just..."

"We know," Ethan interrupted. "We have a plan – it's just taking a little time to sort out". Charlotte tried to hide her doubt, but she obviously wasn't quick enough, because Maria Rodriguez eyed her warily, too ready to call her bluff.