Chapter 12

First period was hell. But what made up for it was that Mr. Edwards cancelled the presentations on the papers that were due with our desk partner, or otherwise known as Yano, for my partner at least. But that didn’t mean that the rest of the class went swimmingly. During the middle of it, Jenissi came into the room, practically embarrassing me by standing next to my desk for the rest of the class. I saw Hansol give him the finger secretly when we had to write another paragraph of what we learned in class. Today was about an Krug.

As I was writing my paragraph, I could feel Jenissi lean down over my shoulder and take a peek at what I was writing down.

“Do you mind?” I whispered, knowing that Mr. Edwards didn’t like noise at all in his classroom.

“Shouldn’t the question be the other way around?” A small smirk came on his face.

I rolled my eyes and put my pencil down, turning towards Jenissi. “Alright, if we are going to play that game, then yes. Yes, I do mind. How would you like it if someone was watching your every move?”

The bell rang and Mr. Edwards excused the class. Yano and A-Tom waited for Hansol at the door. Something was different…they weren’t even flirting with the girls that passed them. Instead they were watching me with worried looks. I tried to give them a sign that I was trying to handle it as best as I can, but they were still watching me. Hansol met them at the door, but before I could see his expression, Jenissi made me turn towards him again.

“Just so we’re clear,” Jenissi glared, “I had P-Goon watch my every move when he had to learn how to become leader. But did I have a say in it? No. You know why? Because it was my job to make sure that he was watching.”

“With his attitude, I bet that was a walk in the park,” I rolled my eyes as we entered the hallway. For the first time, I saw the girl’s bathroom and Hansol was near the door, talking to Yano and A-Tom. A sudden thought came to my mind. I turned towards Jenissi and started to hand him my books.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He asked raising an eyebrow.

“A girl has to go to the bathroom, if you don’t mind.” I nodded towards the books. Jenissi groaned, leaning against the corner of the hallway.

“Just be quick about it.” I nodded as I headed towards the door. Yano and A-Tom saw me, but I quickly shook my head, giving them a signal for them to ignore me. They weren’t the ones that I had to talk to right now. I entered the bathroom, Hansol was completely oblivious to the fact that I was even there. That couldn’t be right, because I had to be at least in his peripheral vision. Luckily the bathroom was empty, there was only one way to talk to Hansol one on one. I quickly opened the door, dragging Hansol in the girl’s bathroom.

“Trinity, what the he-” But I shushed him by putting my ear to the door; I didn’t hear any footsteps running towards us. He must’ve missed us, or A-Tom and Yano covered for us. I turned towards Hansol, who looked super embarrassed to be in the girl’s room. I had to cover my laugh at his expression. “Would you like to explain why you dragged me here?!”

“Would you keep your voice down?” I whispered. “Anyway, I’m actually surprised that you’re embarrassed to be in here…I would expect you to be…used to it?”

Hansol smirked as a light laugh escaped his lips. “You really think so?”

Well it wasn’t the first time that I thought he would come in the bathroom with his girlfriends in the past to do a little…communication. When I didn’t answer, his expression hardened. He came closer to me, almost casting a shadow over me.

“Alright, enough with the games.” This was the first time I ever saw him…well, not himself. “Why did you bring me in here?”

Funny…I didn’t think I’d get this far. I only have at least one minute before we have to leave and head off to the next class. My mind went blank trying to think of my original question. Hansol’s eyebrow went up in a questioning expression when I didn’t say anything. I’m not going to lie, with his eyes expressed in question and a little smirk appearing on his face, it made me lose my train of thought even more.

“You know…” Hansol started, making me look back up at him, “there’s not that much more time. You might want to hurry up with your statement…or question.”

Before he could come any closer to me, I pushed him slightly away from me, finally getting my question back. I could feel blush on me face when he was inches away from me.

“Your meetings…” I started.

“What?” Hansol almost laughed at what I just said.

“Your meetings…when are they?” Asking him again.

“What’s it to you?” He ignored my question. Ah, there’s the Hansol I knew! “Is this about that new rule that involves us and being able to see you?”

Oh, . I had to lie. I only nodded and shrugged my shoulders. “You caught me.”

“Yeah, right.” He laughed. “You really think I’m that gullible to tell you? You just want to know when they are just so you can try to meet up with Hojoon before then.”

“Yep, that’s exactly why.” I nodded. Ok, not that much of a lie. “I’m not saying that this will be all the time…just…it’ll be helpful to know at least.” And it was the truth. The more that I’m ahead, the better I gain.

“You seem to be good on your own.” Hansol explained. Why was he being all serious? I…I kind of don’t like this side of him. “Besides, I’m sure that you can get into Hojoon’s pants by yourself without my help.”

The next thing I didn’t think of doing, it just happened on its own, my hand flew up and slapped him across his cheek, but it wasn’t as hard as I wanted it to be due to my hands still being in the process of healing from this morning, but it still made my hand sting. The sound of the slap echoed in the bathroom, somehow making time seem to stop.

Hansol didn’t look at me, as if he was a deer caught in headlights looking over in the walls. Realization came over me as I just put my back more against the door, waiting for his response.

“I…” I managed to get my voice out. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

He held up his right hand as his other hand went up to cool the red mark that was starting to appear on his cheek. I prepared for the worse as he started to move his right hand towards me. But instead of a slap to my face, I felt him grab my hand and it all of a sudden started to cool it down, it felt better than what I was feeling earlier.

“You’re lucky that I like you,” He said as he faced me, some of his hair covering his glare. “Just a little lesson.” Leaning down towards me, my cheeks started to flush and his scent of a rich billionaire, if there ever was a scent, filled my mind and I thought he would kiss me, but his mouth moved to my ear. “Don’t. Ever. Do. That. Again.”

With that Hansol let go of my hand and shoved me out of the way and exited the bathroom, leaving me clueless and regretful. His comment made me so mad, that I did things without acting. I said I was sorry, but I felt like if I said it a million times, it still wouldn’t be enough. As I left the bathroom and met Jenissi at the bottom of the staircase, he handed me back my school supplies as we went up to the next floor.

“You took forever.” Jenissi pointed out. “Trying to think of another way to get around the rules?”

I sneered at his comment, although it was true to the brim. “You know how we girls are in the bathroom. It takes time to look this good.”

Jenissi didn’t laugh at my comment. He was a tough cookie to break. Now I can see where P-Goon got his attitude from. We got to the splitting hallways as Jenissi started to head off to the right. “This is where I leave you, P-Goon will soon join your class.”

“Great.” I mutter underneath my breath as soon as I turned around, P-Goon appeared with a less excited facial expression.

“Great indeed.” He sighed as he took my books from my arms and headed towards Mr. Eves’ room. The students moved out of the way to let us through…well, to let P-Goon through. Their voices went into whispers, even when we entered the room their voices were down to a minimum. Hojoon and my eyes met when I first entered. A small smile appeared on my face, but then I saw Mr. Eves looking at me with such disappointment that it made me feel very unsettling.

I disappointed one of my favorite teachers.

Taking my seat in the back, P-Goon followed the same technique that Jenissi did back in History. Except, he decided to take the empty seat that was right next to me.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Well, it’s better than standing, right?”

I rolled my eyes and slumped on my elbow on the desk, eyes keep going back to Hojoon. He smiled and winked at me, sending a little wave of air my way. It was a cute gesture; I just wished that I could do the same back. If only it wasn’t for my hands to be still hurting like hell from earlier this morning and the slap that I gave to Hansol. Except that he cooled it down for me, but it felt like he wasn’t holding on for too long, as if he wants me to think of my action.

“What’s wrong?” P-Goon’s voice came into my train of thought.

“Nothing.” I lied as I looked at my hands, giving them a quick cover underneath my desk.

But that wasn’t enough to hide them, when P-Goon went and grabbed my hands and looked at the cloth. I looked down and saw that Hansol left a little mark of his own. On the fabric were little snowflakes that seemed to glow blue, but the color was almost transparent with the color of the cloth that it seemed to blend in. How long were they there? And how come they didn’t melt?

P-Goon suddenly moved his hand away from mine and shook his head at the cold feeling. Funny; I wasn’t feeling any of the coldness. P-Goon and Jenissi must’ve missed the snowflakes on my hands because their eyesight wasn’t as enhanced like mine were. “Why are your hands so damn cold?”

I had to lie. “I was in the bathroom earlier and there was no hot water.”

“Hmph,” He shook his head. “Maybe the pipes are freezing.”

“Mr. Kim,” Mr. Eves interrupted our little talk. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but class is about to start.”

P-Goon nodded at Mr. Eves to proceed into today’s lecture. All the while, I kept my eyes on Hojoon during class, trying to not make it obvious to P-Goon. I wanted to make sure that he was ok. We had to talk about when he will tell P-Goon about his…extra activities. Or maybe it would be better to wait to tell him. P-Goon is under a lot of stress as it is.

He has 12 other kids to look after.

I pictured the thought of P-Goon nursing all of the other members as if they were babies and he was taking care of all of them. I tried not to laugh at it, but when I saw as the image in my mind expand, I saw all the stress that he was going under and how hard it was keeping track, then the laughing ceased.

The dark bags.

I did a quick glance at P-Goon and his bags were starting to get deeper. And I have to admit. I was to blame. I nudged P-Goon in the arm as Mr. Eves was in the middle of talking about how to use Air in battles.

“Don’t try to hide them.” I whispered.

P-Goon’s muscles tensed. “What are you talking about?”

I knew he was going to take that route. Leaders don’t want to show their weakness in any shape or form. They had to show an example of how to lead and how to take control without panic.

“Don’t pretend that you don’t know.” I said, but not in a threatening manner. “I’ve seen your dark bags underneath your eyes get deeper. You have to fix it. Hasn’t Jenissi ever taught you to try to keep things under control and not to let things get to you?”

He was about to flip. The paper that was resting underneath his hand was starting to crumble in his fist. I knew that I was getting on his nerves, but in all reality, I was testing him. It should be the other way around, since I was the one who got in trouble. His muscles tightened more and more as his whole body was starting to shake.

“Mr. Kim,” our teacher looked our way, making everyone turn in their seats. All except Hojoon. A-Tom and Yano looked wide eyed at their leader, who was almost having a break down in the middle of class.

“I need a minute.” P-Goon’s voice came out calm and collected as he got up, but not having the chance of me being alone, he dragged me up by the arm as we left the room.

“But-” I started to say as we headed down the staircase, which the two men who were watching over the students earlier were gone. P-Goon’s grip on my arm didn’t leave as I was worried about what Yano and A-Tom thought of what was going to happen…what Hojoon thought was going to happen. But what broke my heart even more is that he didn’t even turn around to see what was going on…nor did he look to see us leave.

We exited the Academy and headed towards my dorm building. When P-Goon let go of my arm, I can almost feel the imprint from his grip starting to form. His back was towards mine as he put his hands through his hair in frustration.

“How long?” His voice came out as a whisper.

I didn’t even have to ask what he meant. “A few days. I started to notice them when you found out that the diary was gone.”

“Dammit!” he kicked a big rock out of his way.

“Was that a bad thing?” I asked, really curious if he saw that as a bad sign.

P-Goon’s muscles went from tensed to relaxing in less than a second. He turned around facing me, his head down towards the ground. A sigh escaped his lips. “Out of all the students who have heightened eyesight, they haven’t taken notice of them. Not even A-Tom, Yano, or Xero noticed. When you mentioned that you could see them…I kind of panicked.”

“And I thought you were like water…keeping your cool and going with the flow.” I made a not so comforting comment.

“Did you not hear what I just said?” Ah, there’s the P-Goon I knew. “I thought that I was safe from anyone knowing.”

“Ah, so you didn’t know that you wanted people to know?” I crossed my arms.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want people to know. They will start to think things…”

“That you were a bad leader.” I finished his sentence after thinking about why he tried to hide them for the students. When he didn’t answer, I knew that’s where I got him. I looked over near the dorm building and saw that there was a bench near the entrance and a lamp post. It was the first time that I saw it. “There, sit down, I think I have something to teach you that Jenissi missed.”

I gave P-Goon a stern look as I pointed to the bench. “And why would I follow your orders?”

“Because what I’m about to tell you will help you.”

“How can I trust you?” He raised an eyebrow.

I bit my lip, overlooking the whole trust thing with me. “Please? Just forget that I did something bad and-”

“Did Ovan do the same with Marikan?”

I tried not to show my anger. Does he really think that I’ll be like him? “Fine, whatever. Don’t listen to me. Just keep thinking that you’re weak and can’t handle it. If you think that you can’t handle being the leader of the other 12, then go ahead and believe it. But in all reality, you are showing that you do a lot of work, and that you actually care for your members. It’s not making you weak; it’s making you stronger. It’s just your conscious is making you think that you’re weak. You might see those bags under your eyes as sign of a failing leader.” I shook my head, showing that he was wrong. His expression was still hard as a rock, but I could see it in his eyes that he was actually listening to my words, and that he appreciated them. “You’re strong, P-Goon. Jenissi didn’t teach you all that he knew to make you think that you are weak.”

As much as I hated to give into him, I had to tell him something that won’t make him falter. Something in me told me that I had to help the leader. For some reason it reminded me when I found out how Clara was to Ovan. Except I didn’t feel any romantic feelings towards P-Goon. I just wanted to help him in any way that I can. I turned around making my way back towards the Academy, hoping that I put something through his head. At this rate, I didn’t care if hated me or not, I just wanted him to listen to me for once.

“You really think that your words will get to me?!” I heard him yell at me.

I stopped in my tracks. He had to listen to what I said. I saw it in his eyes that he liked what I told him. I turned towards him, arms crossed, and I was starting to get pissed. “Don’t act all tough and pretend that you didn’t at least appreciate what I said. I saw it in your eyes.”

P-Goon shook his head. “You just want me to forgive you easily.”

“I’m not asking for forgiveness.” I said, although it was a partial lie. “I’m simply asking for you to listen to me. Not just to me, but to stop interrupting and start to listen to those around you. Yes, you are the leader, but you should listen to others opinions. It’s only fair to them if you listened and appreciated what they said.” That sentence I was really pointing towards Hojoon at the meetings. I bit my lip, hoping that I didn’t say too much and that P-Goon would find out that I’ve been seeing other members behind his back. But it must’ve gone through one ear and out the other because P-Goon just laughed it off.

“You really are a Libra.”

“Well, congratulations!” I rolled my eyes. “Everyone says that I am, but I really don’t know if I am or not. So, if I am a Libra, then yes, yes I am. Did you not hear what I just said?”

“Yes I did,” P-Goon answered confidently. “And that actually answered a question I’ve been asking myself since this morning.”

“Now I’m the one to not believe you,” I raised an eyebrow.

The bell for the next class to begin rang. I seriously didn’t want to spend an entire class with P-Goon, but I had no choice.

“Well, great, we’re both late for class,” I sighed, heading back to the Academy’s doors.

“Not exactly, you’re with me.” P-Goon smiled. “And I’m never late.”

I rolled my eyes as the hallways were empty, except for Jenissi, who was by the staircase leaning against the bottom railing. His arms were folded across his chest and a sneer came across his face as he noticed me.

“Hello, th-”

“Don’t even start.” I told him, holding up a hand.

“Well aren’t we rude.” Jenissi commented.

“Says the one calling me a thief.”

“Because you are one!” His voice rose.

P-Goon interfered between us. “Ok, that’s enough you two. Jenissi, is there a reason why you’re here?”

Jenissi nodded, communicating through his eyes. I tried to see what he was trying to say to P-Goon, but it was hard to decipher what was actually being said.

“I see,” P-Goon nodded. “I’ll meet you there. Trinity, go to your dorm room.”

“My…my dorm room? But I have two other classes to attend to.” And a certain someone that I needed to see, badly. This really baffled me. “What are you, my mom?”

“I give you permission to take the rest of the day off. Besides, you aren’t ready for Element Practice, not since your hand is still badly worn from this morning. Your mom isn’t that far off, so basically I’m saving her some words.” P-Goon said.

“Yeah, yeah, I know that my mom isn’t actually here, but she is in a way.” I rolled my eyes already knowing that saying.

“She’s here more than you think she is.” P-Goon whispered.

“What do you mean?”

“P-Goon, that’s enough.” Jenissi’s voice was stern, and I could only imagine that’s the same tone that he used when he was training him to become the leader. “She’ll learn on her own. Now, let’s go.”

I cleared my throat, remembering the rule of one of them taking me to the dorm building. P-Goon realized and nodded off towards Jenissi. Damn, and I really wanted P-Goon to take me back. Surprise there.

The walk back to the dorm building was awkward. Jenissi wouldn’t say a word to me, even though I attempted to make a conversation. When we got to the lobby, Sue wasn’t anywhere to be seen. But on top of the counter was a manila folder with some white papers hanging out. A paper clip held them to the folder and an odd symbol was printed on top of it in red. I bit my lip as I tried to control my curiosity.

Jenissi didn’t notice anything as he left without a word, leaving me alone in the dorm building. As I walked towards the folder, I took a closer look at the symbol. Taking up nearly a quarter of the folder, the red symbol was smack dab in the middle. The sides extended in a circular pattern, looking like a bird spreading its feathers. In the middle between the two feathers was a line, which reminded me of a fencing sword, and a little bit above the bottom, attached to the line was a star.

“What in the world could this symbol mean?” I asked out loud.

“Trinity? What are you doing here?” I heard Sue’s voice come from the elevator.

Her voice startled me so much that I jumped away from the files. Well, good thing, too, because she immediately went towards them and snatched them away, packing them away behind the counter. “I-I didn’t know that you were going to be back this early.”

I decided to let the files go…for now. For a second, I thought I saw my name on the little flap, but that could’ve been a mistake. Is that what Sue was talking to P-Goon about that one morning?

“Yeah,” I scratched the back of my head, embarrassed. “P-Goon sent me back to my dorm. He said that I’m not eligible for Element Practice. As for Astronomy, he dismissed me for that, too.”

Sue’s eyes widened as she saw my hands still wrapped in the healing fabric. I sort of forgot that they were still there. At least the pain has died down just a little bit now.

“I can see why, what happened to your hands?!” She beckoned me to show her my hands. I slowly handed them to her as she slowly unwrapped the cloth. What I saw underneath was something that I didn’t think I would ever see happen on my skin. Dark red patches that looked like brush burns covered my entire palm, but if you looked close enough, which was easy for me, little snowflakes stuck to the marks like glue. I guess Hansol left a mark on me. That’s why the pain dyed down.

“During practice…I uh…” I was too scared to tell her, but I couldn’t just leave her hanging. “I did something with my Element that was obviously way too early to use since I’m a beginner.”

Sue went over to a cabinet on the far left. Inside the cabinet were medicines and ointments galore, along with the healing fabric. “Well healing fabric won’t cut it. You’ll need something stronger.” Picking out a yellow ointment in a square-like box, she came over to me putting some of the slimy gel on. It stung a bit, but it began to feel better after it was rubbed into the wounds. “So, what did you do?”

“You won’t believe me if I told you.”

Sue smiled and leaned on the counter after she was done with the ointment and began to wrap up my hands again. “Try me.”

“Ok,” I started, taking in a deep breath. “You know how Air can manipulate other Elements?”

“But Trinity…that takes months…years, even, depending on the person!” Her eyes widened.

I didn’t answer as I gave her a guilty face.

“You didn’t…”

“Oh, I did.” Nodding, I moved my hands again trying to get the feel back into them. The stinging went away and I couldn’t have been happier. “It hurt…”

“You forced yourself didn’t you?” She questioned, eyebrow raised. The look on her face looks like she was about to scold her child for failing a test.

“No!” I defended myself. “I just concentrated and the rest was all up here.” I pointed to my head.

“It…it doesn’t make sense…” Sue trailed off. “But at the same time, it does.”

“What does it mean?” I asked, hoping that my question will get answered.

“You didn’t use your powers at all, am I right?” I nodded. “It doesn’t make sense that you are able to do that within a short amount of time since you started using your powers. What does make sense is how powerful your Element is right now. It means your birthday is soon. Whenever our birthdays get closer, the stronger our Element will become during that time. And on our birthday, our Element is the strongest. If you are born on a cusp, both Elements that you possess will be equally powerful. A week in advance is usually when our powers start to get stronger.” She explained.

“So…what month is it?” I asked, making sure that I understand.

“The end of September. This Wednesday is the beginning of October. Why?” Sue tilted her head in questioning.

“Something that P-Goon told me had me thinking about something…” I answered. “Thank you for that, but…I think I have somewhere to be right now.”

“I understand, just...don’t get in trouble. Besides, I would follow P-Goon’s orders from now on.” She sighed. “But knowing you, you will have something up your sleeve to bend the rules.”

A small smile appeared on my lips, it was funny how she said that when she didn’t know anything about my little spy mission that I was about to go on. “You know me too well.”

Sue smiled back. “I know more than you know.”