Crossroads-Book 1

•Chapter 13•

[Trevor]

I'm grateful right now because I'm at the only place, doing the only thing that makes me relax.
I've been playing basketball at the yard for about half an hour now and thankfully, so far, my hands haven't sizzled, warmed up or turned brick red in colour.

For the twentieth time, I run down the court and dunk the ball in the net. While I played, I thought about the stuff that's been happening.

I find it hard to believe yet, it's getting more difficult to not believe.
After seeing everything-the stuff with my hands, Mr Xi Chang teleporting, glowing with colours, hypnotising us, Prince Bruno's speech- I dunno if I should believe it or ignore it and act like it never happened.

I just want to play basketball and have a normal life. I don't want to be a 'Spirit of Reina', whatever that was.

I walked over to a bench with a ball in my hand and sat down.
I thought about Maddie, that girl I met some days ago.
I thought of the incident at Davie's and I felt my face heat up.

The first thing I thought when I saw her was, wow.
She was pretty, with very light blue eyes.
Her voice was soothing and calm like a lullaby but with no tune.
I love her sense of humour and her reasoning.

She was easygoing and innocent.
I've not met many girls like her.
Most girls I've met are cocky and too much and they expect a lot from you because apparently they take a lot of time and effort to impress you.

I sighed, immediately easing myself of the tight knot in my chest.

I got into the school's team on my first try. That was great.
We're supposed to practice every Wednesday and Friday.
I was looking forward to practice Friday morning even amidst the whole craziness.

But then, next thing I disappear and reappear in a forest and find myself next in 'Horei'?
I just didn't get it. There were millions of people out there that literally wish this kind of stuff was real. Not that I'm saying it isn't real but, whether it was real or not, I don't want to be apart of it.

I'd rather be the guy who didn't know the world was supposed to end and then go on with my normal life while some 'superheroes' saved the world. Not the guy saddled with the responsibility of saving not even the whole 'mortal world' according to Bru and Chang, but all the other 'kingdoms'.

I wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility.

I didn't notice the smoke rising in front of me until I heard a pop sound beneath me.
The basketball I was holding started to let out air rapidly.
I stood up from the bench and I dropped the ball instantly on the ground, waving my hands vigorously.

My hands felt burnt but when I brought it up to my face they weren't.
They were now that familiar shade of red.

Before I recovered from shock, in front of me something weird was going on.

Something small and dark hovered in the air, then it grew bigger until it made the shape of an oval the size of a standing mirror.

To my surprise, Xi Chang stepped through the dark hovering oval shape.

I stared at him and the oval shape in shock.

"Hello, Trevor."

"How do you know my name?" I asked, still in shock.
"Well, once you inhabit a spirit, everything about you is known by every diviner and relative of the royals in all the kingdoms."

"Well, that's disturbing." I reached out to rub my hand at the nape of my neck but I withdrew it instantly. My hands were hot.

Chang smiled approvingly at me.
"I see you're discovering your powers." He shifted his gaze from me to the burst ball on the ground beside the bench.
The amused look on his face gave me the idea that he probably understood what happened there.