Star-Crossed

Chapter 8

SELA'S POV:



A breath of relief escaped from my lips as our professor finally bid a goodbye and exited our class.

My eyes then instantly darted towards the girl sitting in front. She was fixing her things while Rans was standing, waiting for her to finish.

'Tomorrow, after our class....let's meet here'

I wonder if she still remember our supposed to be meeting today.

Since she entered the classroom this morning, she hasn't even spared me a glance.

I know there's a rule that we're not allowed to talk to the student council members inside the school building but... Isn't acting like we're complete strangers too much?

I really couldn't tell if she even remember her promise to train me.

Okay. She didn't promise. But still...

I just rolled my eyes when I saw Abby finally stood up from her seat and exited the classroom with Rans.

She didn't even bother looking back.

Tch!

Nevermind. I can practice by myself anyway.

"Hey, let's go."

Nodding at Sheki, I sling my bag on my shoulder before standing up and leaving the classroom with them.

We were busy chatting with each other while walking outside the school building when two girls suddenly appeared in front of us.

One of the girls, who I think is just about the same height as Sheki, was specifically looking at me.

"Hello Sela." she greeted me and I just flashed her an awkward smile in return before turning to my friends.

I can't decipher the look that they have on their faces right now but it seems to me like they were slightly nervous but just trying to appear brave.

"What is it, Brei?" Jem was the first one to speak up.

The girl named Brei then snapped her head towards Jem."I just want to talk to Sela. Are you girls in a rush? You can go first."

Me?

I frowned.

I don't even know her. What does she need?

"We're in a rush but there's no way we would leave Sela with you." Sheki answered, even stepping between me and Brei.

Okay.

What's going on?

Why are they suddenly acting so overprotective to me?

Brei doesn't seem to be that dangerous.

And so is Abby. But she turns out to be so powerful. So yes, maybe I should stop judging everyone based on their looks.

"What's with the attitude?" Brei asked, letting out an amused laugh.

"We know what you did to Coleen yesterday!"

With that, I quickly snapped my head towards Sheki and shoot her a questioning look.

What does she mean? What did they do to Coleen?

I turned my gaze at Coleen but she was just intensely looking at the other girl with Brei who's also staring back at her.

"We didn't do anything to her. We just trained her. Maybe you should ask Coleen yourself." the other girl spoke up, giving Coleen a wicked smile."Right, Coleen?"

Belle scoffed."Ha ha ha You're so funny for trying to lie right in front of my face, Lara."

"Oh yeah. I forgot you have this girl with some kind of a useless magic in your group"

Ecka was about to lash out at the girl but she was stopped by Belle.

"Why are you stopping her? Let her come at me."

"Stop it." Brei suddenly intervened, looking at the girl named Lara before turning back her gaze to us."We didn't come here to fight with you because we would all end up getting punished if we do." she paused, now looking at me."But I certainly do want to have a fight with Sela though."

My forehead creased at what she said.

"I'm inviting you to a Challenge Battlefield, Sela."

Challenge..... What?

Brei might have seen me frowning so she explained,"It is an activity made by the student council members which allow students to do a friendly battle using our magic powers."

Friendly battle between students?

"I'm sorry, Brei but Sela has to reject your invitation."

"And I'm sorry, Sheki but Sela does not have the right to reject my invitation now."

"What do you mean?"

Brei then suddenly handed a newspaper to Sheki. When Sheki took it, we all gathered to look at its content.

Hmmm... It seems to be a school newspaper.

'Challenge Battlefield is officially a requirement.' is what was written in bold letters. Below it is a small 'No one is allowed to reject an invitation now.'

I looked at my friends who suddenly turned silent. I don't really understand what is happening but so far, I couldn't see any problem with me accepting this Challenge Battlefield invitation.

This is just a friendly battle and it's something that the school probably thought of to improve every student's strength anyway.

So I wonder why they are acting as if this will get me killed.

"It's okay. Whether it's a requirement or not, I'm accepting your invitation...." I paused, lifting my arm for a handshake."Brei...?"

"Yes. It was nice finally meeting you, Sela." she smilingly answered, taking my hand."Let's do it tomorrow 10am"

"Noted."

They bid goodbye and I just watched them fade away from our sight.

"You're so cool accepting her challenge but it's probably because you don't know who Brei is." Sheki suddenly spoke, slightly glaring at me.

"Yes. So can you guys please enlighten me who is she?".

"If you exclude the student council members because they're out of our league anyway, Brei is like the strongest student here in our school."

Doesn't that make the battle more exciting then?

Imagine I would be having a friendly battle with a powerful student.

"Okay. So the one I'm having a battle with tomorrow is super strong." I repeated, nodding my head which probably annoyed them because they all rolled their eyes on me."Next and an important question... What did they do to Coleen?"

I looked at Coleen but it seems like she doesn't have a plan of telling it to me so I just turned my gaze to Sheki and nudged her.

"Brei's group cornered her yesterday. They were just looking for you but somehow they ended up into a heated argument maybe because Coleen is naturally foulmouthed so it's not really your fault."

"If you think that it's not really my fault then why didn't you tell this to me?"

"It's not really that big of a deal, Sela." Ecka was the one who answered this time."And she was saved by Gabb before they could do something really bad to her anyway."

"It's not like Gabb saved me though." Coleen quickly countered, eyebrows knitting into a thin line."If anything, she just interfered. I can manage even without her help."

Belle took Coleen by her neck and playfully ruffled the girl's hair."Why do you hate Gabb so much?"

"I don't hate her. I just....don't care about her. So can you please stop mentioning her already?"

I just looked at them as they continue teasing Coleen.

Before, I remember wishing to have at least one friend who I can depend to. But now, I still couldn't believe that I didn't just get one but five trustworthy friends.




--



ABBY'S POV:



Sitting under the shade of a tree, I tiredly leaned my back on its stem.

I'm already at our somewhat training area and just waiting for Sela to show up. It's not like I was expecting her to be here the moment I arrived because I used teleportation to get here anyway.

I closed my eyes as I let the wind struck my senses.

Three Black Shadows.

There are three black shadows who are lurking in this area right now. One Class A and Two Class B.

I let out a deep breath before opening my eyes.

By the looks of it, it seems like they're not planning to attack me but just rather watch my every movements.

Whatever. Maybe I can use them for Sela's training later.

Speaking of Sela...

Am I really sure of what I'm doing?

If the Principal knows about this....or even Rans...I don't know what will happen to me.

I feel like the principal could sense that I'm talking to his daughter because he hasn't called me again ever since. He's only been calling Rans these past few days.

Rans is starting to get suspicious of me as well.

She kept on asking what I have been doing lately that I feel like one of these days, she will start following me.

It's just a good thing that I've been with Rans for almost all of my life that I can sense her aura even if she's miles away from me.

But then again... I don't even know why I'm doing this. I already vowed to extinguish the Black Shadows all by myself.

I've been continuously training. And I'm confident that I can do it.

I don't want to drag Sela into this anyway so I might as well make this our last meeting.

I'll definitely stop associating myself with her after this.

"Oh wow, you're here."

I couldn't help but be surprised when I heard someone suddenly spoke. I followed the source of the voice only to see Sela walking towards me. She stopped when she's finally under the shade of the tree I'm resting.

It still amaze me how I couldn't really sense this girl's aura.

Maybe I still really need to enhance my skills.

"I thought you already forgot about this training that you scheduled all by yourself."

My eyebrow raised at that.

Why does she seem mad?

"What do you mean? Why would I forgot?"

"I don't know? Maybe because you didn't even try sparing me a glance so I could at least know that you're aware someone like me exist and that you made a promise to someone like me--I mean, not really a promise but it's--" she instantly stopped from blabbering when I chuckled. She then shoot me glare before asking,"Why are you laughing?"

"I just find you amusing. That's all. So...can you please continue what you were saying? I'm interested."

"I probably look like a joke to you, aren't I?"

I laughed, wondering when did we ever get comfortable to the point that she can now show this kind of attitude to me.

I then stood up from my sitting position and took a step forward, leaving just a little space between us. I put my hands on both of her shoulders and realized that she's a bit taller than me.

"Okay. We're not allowed to talk with each other around the school hall but I promise I'll at least try acknowledging your presence. Is that fine?"

"T-that's not what I mean." she said, looking away to hide her red cheeks.

Cute.

I bit my lips to stop myself from smiling.

What's with me?

When did I ever start admiring cute things?

"Then what do you mean?" I asked, removing my hands on her shoulders.

I don't even know why I put it there in the first place.

"What I mean is that when you ask me to meet up or something, you should at least show some signs that you remember it."

"Okay. I'll make sure to do that next time." I assured her which she just responded with a small nod before looking away again.

Too bad there won't be next time anymore.

Suddenly, I feel the Class A Black Shadow on the top of a certain tree moved.

I then tried furtively looking at his direction from the corner of my eyes.

What?

Is he planning to attack?

Grabbing Sela's arm, I pulled her near me which earned a surprise yelp from the girl.

"What are you doing?" she hissed at me.

"Sssshhh.. Don't you feel anything?"

She looks beyond confused."Feel what?"

I sighed. She really needs a lot of training

"There's a Black Shadow on top of the tallest tree on your left." I told her and when she was about to tilt her head to look at her left side, I quickly added,"Don't look."

"W-What should I do?"

"You're here to train, right? Why don't you start your training by reducing our enemies?"

I thought she would falter so I was surprised when I received an eager nod as a response.

I smiled.

She really wants to learn, huh?

I just watched her as she closed her eyes and kept quiet.

What is this?

Is she meditating?

Is this really needed?

Then she suddenly let out a deep breath. She opened her eyes and looked at the direction of the Class A Black Shadow that I told her. She lifted her hand and in an instant, there was a loud explosion and the tree where the Black Shadow is staying fell down.

I sighed, shaking my head as I look at the mess she made.

The tree might have fell down but the Class A Black Shadow had successfully managed to escape together with the two other Class B Black Shadows lingering on different trees.

"Did I get him?" she happily asked and I tried so hard not to roll my eyes at her.

It was my fault for letting her deal with a Class A Black Shadow already anyway.

"No, he escaped."

"What? How?"

"Remember this. When you're dealing with someone, you can't just directly look at them and then proceed on hitting them. By the look that you gave to the direction of the Black Shadow earlier, he already knew you were going to attack him so he fled away even before you could hit." I paused to look at her and she looks so greatly affected by the mistake she made, so I went to pat her shoulder."It's fine. There are no Black Shadows lingering here anymore. So come on. Let's officially start your training now."





--





We've just finished our training and I'm happy that she seems to have finally taken a grip of her power now.

While watching her showcasing her power, I realized that basically, she just couldn't suppress her emotions that's why she always ends up making a disaster every time she uses her power.

I told her to calm and it surprisingly went well. But maybe not really well because she still sometimes go overboard though I think it is partly because she's naturally strong anyway.

But all is well, I guess. As long as she trains a lot more, she will eventually get the gist of her power.

"Thank you so much, Abby."

"It's nothing."

"I have a Challenge Battlefield with Brei tomorrow at 10am" she suddenly told me and I just raised an eyebrow at her so she continued,"I was just telling."

I chuckled."And you're telling me this because you want me to watch?"

"I-It's not that!"

There she is being cute again.

"Student council members have never watch any challenge battlefields before but it's not like we're prohibited on doing it. So yeah...." I paused, smiling at her."I'll see if I can watch."

"I'm not really inviting you to watch though!" she huffed."I-I just want to know what Brei is like."

"Oh? Funny because I'm like 90% sure your friends have already informed you about Brei."

"They did not!"

I don't have the truth or lie magic but I could tell she was lying.

"Okay then. Brei is strong. I think she will be a good opponent who could bring out the best in you. Just always remember not to make your actions so obvious.
She must find your every moves unpredictable. You must not give her a hint on what you're about to do."

She just nodded and I smiled at her.

"Goodluck! I'm rooting for you."




---


A/N:



Happy SeBy Day everyone! Sorry if there were some errors. I was trying to finish this chapter fast so I could post this before SeBy day ends.

Next chapter will be PikaBabe and the battle between Brei and Sela.

Again, Thank you so much for everyone's interest in this story!