Chapter 7

Hojoon’s words were on repeat in my head throughout the whole class. Once in a while, Hojoon would have to wave his hands in front of my face to make sure that I was paying attention. I simply smiled and nodded, although I could tell that he knew that something was wrong with me. With Hojoon…I couldn’t hide my negative side for some reason, so I gave up, frowned, and mouthed the words ‘talk later’ to him. When we both connected at the garden the other day, it felt like he would understand my situation.

We have to push ourselves to prove ourselves of our abilities.

Well, I never thought I would see the day that I would somewhat agree with P-Goon. Although…some abilities someone might possess doesn’t have to be pushed. It’s as if the person already knows what they know without having to push their selves to do it; as if they were born with it and the knowledge of what to do. While some abilities that one just learned or have to learn, that’s when the pushing will start to happen. With no push, there will be no ability. And no ability means no proving; making that person weak. I can see why P-Goon was a bit hard on Hojoon, considering his state of actually starting to show a sign of what Element he possesses. But…a part of me thought that it might be too early for him and this worried me. What were the consequences for pushing too hard? Could it damage the person of the ability? Or maybe it would hurt a person around them, if they can’t control it.

Part of me wanted to stay by Hojoon’s side when he had practice with P-Goon. But I already knew what a cup of tea P-Goon was to be with. Maybe Hojoon could convince him otherwise? I mentally shook my head at the thought. There was no way that P-Goon would listen to one suggestion, that’s not the kind of person he is.

“Trinity, are you ok?” Mr. Eves asked me getting me out of my mini reverie.

My head shot up and I could see our Element’s teacher looking at me with a concerned look. He gave me a quick look between Hojoon and I, thinking that maybe something happened to us. Boy, he sure does skip to conclusions fast, doesn’t he? I bit my lip and I just couldn’t stand it here that much longer. I had to get out of the room and get some fresh air.

“May…may I go to get some fresh air?” I asked him, although I probably would figure that he might say no due to the new rules, but I needed to let my mind get cleared. Mr. Eves sighed as he took a peek outside. The sun was hiding behind the grey clouds, creating a cold like atmosphere.

“Is there a reason to why?” he asked, knowing that the teachers probably had a few new rules taken upon themselves.

“I feel dizzy,” I started as I felt Hojoon’s eyes fall on me. “I was maybe wondering if a little fresh air would help me feel better. I think I might’ve used Air a little bit too fast yesterday.”

“Hm,” Mr. Eves said nodding his head a bit. “Ok, but you have five minutes.”

I stood up and didn’t waste a single minute of going outside. I wished that I could’ve said something to Hojoon and the boys, but I just had to get fresh air. It was true that I was dizzy, but it wasn’t because of my usage of the Air element yesterday. I hated to lie to get out of something, but in this case with the book and the thought that P-Goon is pushing Hojoon over his limit made my mind spin. The minute I hit outside, the cold wind felt like it was stinging against my hot skin. Catching my breath, I started to slowly walk side to side in the courtyard, breathing in the autumn air. And I slowly started to take in the scent of the air; wet grass, fresh soil, and a hint of lavender from the garden from behind the Academy. The combination made my mind at ease and the dizziness started to go away.

But even though my dizziness was starting to go away, I needed a plan for returning the book. I had to sneak it back in there without getting caught going in the restricted section. Who knows, maybe P-Goon told the teachers about my idea of having security cameras being around and had the teachers not tell the students. I can always just leave it by the door…

“How am I going to do this?” I whispered to myself.

“How are you going to do what, exactly?” An all too knowing voice sounded behind me. I jumped at the sudden voice and just when I saw P-Goon with his arms crossed against his chest and a questioning look formed on his face, my dizziness started to come back to me.

“Uh, my Element.” I stated.

P-Goon huffed a laugh and started to walk around me slowly, studying me. “Funny how you say that…Hojoon told me that you were excellent yesterday.”

“He…he told you about me?” I asked, blush starting to come onto my cheeks.

“Of course, I have to check in with you now.” P-Goon stopped, standing closer to me, towering over me, trying to scare me. “Since a book from the restricted section is missing, we all have to look on every student.”

“What are you? Big Brother?” I asked tilting my head. “Here’s a little note; we’re not in a world like 1984, so why don’t you just let everything go back to the way everything was? It’s just a book! I’m sure that someone will bring it back.”

“Just a book?!” His voice rose. “It contains important pieces of history of Star Academy in that book!”

“Then why don’t we all learn about it?!” I asked raising my arms. “Everything that I’m learning feels like it’s on repeat! I’m learning the same thing over and over again!”

“Which is another reason why I think you have the book!” He shouted. “You are the only one who is curious as to what else happened here! Newsflash, you’re not supposed to know until you are old enough to be in the senior class!”

“Here’s a newflash for you! Not everyone knows about this place when they first come here!” I shouted back.

“This is what this place is for!” He started to get closer to me. “People who are special like us come here! Didn’t it go through your thick head yet?!”

“I get it, but notice how everything when we first start here is tiny?! The textbooks, the lessons, the history?!” I crossed my arms.

“You slowly learn everything as you go through the grades! That’s how school works!” P-Goon’s face was red with anger. It looked like he could explode any moment. His hands were glowing blue and I could see his veins becoming bright blue. I gave him a wary look and once he realized what he was doing, he calmed down, his blue veins disappearing. He wouldn’t attack me, would he? Surely that was against the rules!

“So, what, does that mean I’m going to learn the same thing over and over again until I become a senior, and that’s when I’ll learn everything?!” I tried to understand his reasoning.

“I never said that!” He argued.

“That’s what it sounded like!” I sighed in disbelief.

“Why are you out here anyway?” He asked getting of the subject.

“What’s it to you? Besides, you are more concerned over a book right now, isn’t that more important than knowing why I’m out here?” I glared as I felt like my five minutes was up. “It’s my time to go. But if you are so worried, I got dizzy and needed fresh air to clear my mind. Mr. Eves excused me by his permission.”

With that, I left P-Goon standing out in the courtyard, a little glare on his face. I didn’t want that to bother me much, but something inside me felt like I did the right, yet wrong thing for standing up for my beliefs. I stopped at the doors, and before entering, I looked back at P-Goon. His hands were balled up into fists and it looked like he was about to explode.

“By the way…” I started, in which he looked up at me in return. “Why are you out here?”

His back straightened and his shoulders were more relaxed. “I do what I want.”

“Then why didn’t you use your element?” I asked him a good question.

P-Goon didn’t say anything, but he turned his back towards me and started to walk off to another building. Of course he can do what he wants and not get in trouble. But why didn’t he want to use his powers on me? I saw how angry he was getting with me, and I wouldn’t doubt it that he could’ve used his powers last night in my room if he wanted to, but with Sue there, I don’t think that would’ve been a good idea. I don’t know what I was thinking, getting him angry like that. Maybe I wanted to see him to admit that he was wrong. Maybe something in me was hoping that he was probably out here because of the same reason I was going through; stress. I was going to ask him about him pushing Hojoon and how much that pissed me off, but I decided to keep it to myself until he stops. Going back to class with a more relaxed look on my face made Hojoon relieved.

“Feeling better?” Mr. Eves asked as I went back into my seat. Hojoon started to rub my back for comfort.

“Yes,” I answered as I started to lean into Hojoon just a tad bit more.

“Good,” Mr. Eves said smiling, “we were just learning about the ways that you can protect yourself with Air. I’m sure that Hojoon could fill you in.” With that, he did a quick wink before going behind his desk, looking through papers from other classes.

“You ok?” Hojoon asked as he turned his seat towards me. “You just missed that we can protect ourselves with Air. We can make force fields to knock back another element and invisible shields. But I honestly didn’t hear what else we can do with it, because…well… I was concerned for you.”

I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but I just sighed with a big frown on my face. “I want to say that I am ok, but…” Hojoon’s hand didn’t stop rubbing my back as he scooted closer to me. Behind us we could hear A-Tom whistling and winking at the two of us. I want to say that it would make me blush, but that little moment with P-Goon just brought me down. “Can I talk to you in private during lunch?”

Hojoon smiled and nodded. “Of course.”

The bell rang and everyone piled out of the room, as Hojoon helped me out of my seat and headed towards the door. I looked down at his hands and noticed that he still had bandages on it. I tilted my head as we were heading out towards the cafeteria. Hojoon noticed my starring and rubbed his hands together.

“Don’t worry about it,” He gave me a reassuring smile. “I’m not the fastest healer.”

“It’s funny,” A-Tom said walking next to my side, “Because you healed fast yesterday.”

“That was different, A-Tom,” Hojoon started.

The cafeteria was bustling with students, most of them were already eating while the others were going in line, practically running to stand by others.

“Still, those bandages shouldn’t take this long!” He sighed as he sat down at a table where Hansol was sitting at. Hansol looked guilty from what he told me earlier today. As soon as we arrived at the table, he didn’t dare to look up. Instead he kept picking at the piece of salad that was on his plate. “Ah, Hansol, you still upset from earlier?”

No answer.

I frowned as he took a look up at me and violently stood up from the table, making it shake. The sound made everyone in the room quiet. Hansol’s eyes connected to mine and it seemed to tell me to not tell anyone what he told me from our little fight earlier. Did he know about P-Goon’s and I little meet from outside? He didn’t seem to say anything as he walked past Hojoon and I on the way out of the cafeteria. Girls who were watching him looked after him, some even followed him outside.

“What was that all about?” Hojoon asked.

I bit my lip knowing that I really couldn’t tell him what happened.

“Ah, it’s Hansol,” A-Tom shrugged as he took his salad plate and brought it in front of him. “He can have his days. Ew, tomato!”

“Trinity?” Hojoon whispered to me, reminding me that I wanted to talk to him in private.

“Oh, right,” I nodded as we turned around to go outside once more.

“HEY!” We heard A-Tom yell at us. “You’re just going to leave me here alone?! Someone has to look after me!”

Hojoon stopped at the door and sighed, throwing his head back in a bit of frustration. Before we knew it, A-Tom was walking with us back towards the garden that Hojoon and I were at the other day. A-Tom seemed to be like the guard.

“You know if Seogoong finds us, we in deep sh-” A-Tom yelled at us from the entrance of the garden.

“We’ll be quick!” Hojoon yelled back at him.

“Hurry up! Because I’m hungry!” A-Tom patted his belly and leaned against the iron gate.

“What’s wrong, Trinity?” Hojoon tilted his head. Finally I can tell him what was on my mind in private, not including the feelings that I have for the book.

“It’s P-Goon…” I sighed knowing that he’s probably tired of me complaining about him. “He’s pushing you, isn’t he?”

Hojoon bit his bottom lip and looked away from me. “Hojoon! I want to know! It’s been bothering me since this morning!”

“You’re worried about me?” He whispered, his face still facing away.

“Yes…” I said as I brought my hand to his chin and turned his face towards me. And then, I could see for the first time the same exact dark circles underneath his eyes…just like P-Goon’s. “Hojoon…how much did he push you?”

“He…he just wanted to know how much I could do.” He started.

“Yes, but you just did what you did yesterday, right?” I asked again.

Hojoon was silent, looking down at the ground. “Trinity…what I showed him today…it was more than what I just did yesterday…P-Goon told me to not tell anyone else.”

“And when he said that, he meant me, right?” I sighed putting my back against the bench. “Typical.”

“You got to understand…he’s just trying to protect me.” Hojoon turned more towards me.

“So you’ll follow his orders?” I asked. “You don’t trust me enough?”

“I never said that,” Hojoon’s voice started to rise, with a little worry hidden behind his steady voice. “He just wants it to be between us two. With the exception of some of the other members. He made that statement very clear.”

“Hojoon…” I started. “I’m truly worried about you. Don’t think that I can’t see the dark circles that are starting to appear under your eyes.”

Hojoon put his hand up to underneath his eyes and looked shocked. “What dark circles?”

“You mean you don’t see it?” I asked furrowing my eyebrows.

“No…” He sighed.

This didn’t make any sense to me as he did control a bit of Air… But I decided to put that thought aside. Maybe that ability hasn’t come to him yet…

“Hojoon, you are pushing yourself…P-Goon is making you push yourself.” I tried to explain to him.

“But P-Goon’s words…” he started, but I just shook my head, standing up not wanting to hear it. Imagining Hojoon in pain was just too hard for me to handle.

“Forget P-Goon’s words.” I raised my voice. “Although I see how he might be right, you shouldn’t have to push yourself! Let it come naturally!”

“Shh! Seogoong might be around. It is Friday; he usually does his daily routine on Friday’s.” A-Tom warned us.

Hojoon bit his lip and started to rub his hands together in a nervous matter. I leaned against the gazebo and closed my eyes trying to contain myself.

“I…I have to.” He finally spoke up.

“What?” I asked.

“I have-” but Hojoon was cut off by a voice coming from the entrance of the garden.

“And why are you here?” a white haired boy, who I remember was Seogoong, was pulling A-Tom by the ear, lightly, our way.

“Seogoong, I can explain.” Hojoon said as he stood up.

“I’m sure you can.” Seogoong let go of A-Tom’s ear.

“Ouch! Geez, for a green thumb, you aren’t gentle on humans!” A-Tom said while he was rubbing his ear.

“A-Tom! What have I told you about-” Seogoong shook his head and sighed, looking at Hojoon and I. “Hojoon, you know the rules. She’s not Earth element, and neither are you.”

“How do you know-” but I already knew the answer; P-Goon. Anger was building up inside of me as I knew that they were now discussing about me behind my back.

“We weren’t touching the plants.” Hojoon backed us up.

“Then why was A-Tom guarding the gate?” Seogoong asked pointing towards A-Tom.

“Guys, come on, let’s go back to the cafeteria.” A-Tom mentioned for us to follow him. “I’m hungry and we don’t have that much time to eat.”

“I’ll explain at tonight’s meeting.” Hojoon nodded towards Seogoong.

“Don’t worry; we didn’t do anything to the flowers.” I put my hands up and started to walk out of the garden. Seogoong’s face relaxed a bit more, a little smile on his face.

“As a result, I won’t tell P-Goon.” Seogoong nodded.

A-Tom smiled and clapped his hands together as he dragged Hojoon and I back towards the cafeteria. “Glad that you got us out of that situation!”

I could feel Hojoon’s hand rubbing my back for support, knowing that I was worried.

“Please don’t worry about it, Trin.” Hojoon whispered as we entered the cafeteria, which was more settled down now since it was more into lunch time. We went back towards the table that we were at previously, the salad that A-Tom was starting to eat from earlier was in the same spot, nothing touched. He dived right into the salad, making satisfying noises as he kept eating.

“How can I not be worried?” I wanted to ask out loud, but I could already hear his answer. P-Goon probably knew what he was doing, although I didn’t like it.

“Want anything? I’ll buy,” Hojoon got up and asked me, a small smile on his face.

I had to not show any negative emotions. When I showed it to Hojoon, he looked kind of hurt. Not because it was of my negative thoughts about P-Goon, but the fact that I was actually frustrated. It was because of the fact that I wasn’t happy. I could tell just by reading his facial expressions. I smiled and nodded my head.

“Sure, a drink will be fine. Thank you.” Hojoon nodded and went to go get us drinks.

“You know…” A-Tom started as he was finished with his food. “It’s funny. Although Seogoong was most likely to find us, he doesn’t usually go out to the garden until after our lunch is over. Someone must’ve told him. And it wasn’t me.”

“What?” I asked in confusion as Hojoon came back with vitamin water and a granola bar. It was too late to eat whatever lunch was prepared for us, and it looked like he didn’t make lunch for himself today.

“Thank you,” I smiled to Hojoon as I took a sip of the vitamin water.

“What do you mean someone told him?” Hojoon asked getting into the conversation.

“Seogoong doesn’t go out to the garden until after lunch.” A-Tom repeated. “But since he excused us thanks to Trinity, our asses got saved.”

“That could only mean…” I started.

“Hansol. Makes sense.” Hojoon sighed as he laced his fingers through his hair in frustration. I noticed that the bandage was still around his hands as I took one of his hands and started to take the fabric off. But before I could even get to the palm of his hand, he shyly moved his hand away from me. Hojoon didn’t want me to see the damage that happened to his hands. Before I could say something about it, Hojoon said something about the Seogoong situation. “He seemed pretty angry about something when we first came here.”

“I wonder what that was about…” A-Tom said as he took a bite of Hansol’s salad.

I decided to not say anything in fear that they might ask if I knew anything about it, and I didn’t want to lie to them.

“Do you think it could’ve been about the meeting last night? He and B-Joo were at it again,” Hojoon asked A-Tom.

A-Tom shrugged. “You really think I pay attention to those two? P-Goon is getting sick and tired of their whenever they fight.”

“And he’s not tired of what you and Yano do?” I asked tilting my head.

“You would be surprised,” Hojoon said sipping on his drink.

The bell rang indicating that lunch was officially over. Everyone got up from their seats and headed out, along with Hojoon, A-Tom, and I. Hojoon stuck close to me on the way back towards the Academy. We haven’t said a word to each other, considering the fact that what happened at lunch was a bit of a fight. And I kind of blame myself for that. With my opinion about P-Goon, I could see the hurt in his eyes. It was like I was putting down the only person who took in Hojoon and accepted him; who was just like me. But I think what the difference was, was that P-Goon was interested in Hojoon, but he isn’t for me. At least not anymore, and that happened in less than a day. I looked over at him and he gave me his reassuring smile.

“I’ll see you in Element practice?” I asked.

Hojoon’s smile went into a frown as he bit his bottom lip. He averted his eyes from me and I already knew the answer.

“It’s ok…you don’t have to say it.” I sighed as I shook my head. “Just…promise me that you won’t strain yourself?”

“I promise,” Hojoon nodded, a small smile forming on his face.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “And don’t worry, I’ll watch over the boys for you.”

“I guess I’ll see you later?” He asked.

I shrugged while letting out a small sigh. “I hope.”

With that Hojoon left to get to his next class without another word. I bit my bottom lip as I made my way towards Astronomy knowing that I would have to deal with P-Goon again. Seriously, I didn’t want to deal with him at the moment. The little fight that I had with Hojoon was clouding my mind. And then another thing that crossed my mind was Hansol… What in the world was wrong with him at lunch? I entered the Astronomy room, greeted kindly by Mr. Maz.

“Good afternoon, Trinity,” He nodded.

I smiled and made my way towards my seat and as I noticed around the room, the students were talking normally, unlike how they were yesterday. And that’s when I noticed one thing; P-Goon wasn’t here.

“Alright students, I would start on your project right away,” Mr. Maz nodded his head towards the laptops that were sitting in front of the students.

“Well, I guess that I’m going to do this on my own.” I sighed signing onto the laptop.

“Ah, Trinity,” Mr. Maz said as he appeared in front of my desk. In his hand was a hard drive. “Mr. Park asked me to give this to you today. He won’t be in class today, but he wants you to add whatever you have learned about Libra onto the powerpoint.”

I grabbed the hard drive and immediately plugged it in. “Thank you.”

The teacher nodded and went around the room checking on other students. Entering the project that he saved on the hard drive, I opened it up and saw that he had several slides with Libra pictures. All I had to do was add information coordinating the appropriate slide. It wasn’t that hard, considering I got the entire thing done within ten minutes into class. Mr. Maz noticed my laptop closed with the hard drive laying next to it.

“Ah, I see that you are done?” he asked while taking the laptop away.

“Yes, sir.” I nodded as I handed him back the hard drive; I figured that he would be the one to keep it with him until he saw P-Goon next.

“Well, that was pretty fast,” He said as he went over to the desk and placed the hard drive inside a drawer, “do you have any questions?”

“I actually do,” I started.

From my little confession, I could see Mr. Maz stir in his seat, as if he was unsettled by what I was going to ask.

“If it’s something that doesn’t relate to what you’re being taught, you know that I can’t answer.” He informed me again from this morning’s meeting.

“It’s not a topic,” I raised my hands to calm him down. “I’m just wondering where P-Goon went? You know, leaving his partner here alone to work on the project that we were supposed to work together on?”

Mr. Maz pierced his lips together and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Trinity, but that is not on the topic in the class.”

“But I said it wasn’t a-” my voice started to rise.

“You’re lucky that I’m dismissing you on this.” He pointed a finger at me in which I immediately put my back against the chair. “Asking where students are has nothing to do with Astronomy. I’m sorry Trinity if you didn’t know that, but it’s true. If you truly wanted to know where Mr. Park was, I would ask one of the members in his group. That is all I can say.”

I slumped in my seat knowing that nothing is going to work, but I had a feeling of where he was…and anger boiled in my blood. Knowing what was going on shouldn’t get to me so easily, but… Hojoon is fragile. Just from that one move yesterday and he was beat. It scared me to think how P-Goon was treating him. And I couldn’t know any of this because P-Goon was trying to protect him? Was P-Goon scared that I might get involved between them? Although that’s exactly what I want to do, and there’s no doubt that I already starting to.

I had to get my mind off of that subject otherwise I might just burst. Looking around the room, students were still working on their projects as I noticed that I was the first one done. My eyes focused on the constellations that were drawn, or in maybe even painted, on the ceiling. The white stars connected to one another like a ‘connect the dots’ book was brighter than those of the random stars around them. The names were in cursive next to the image, along with a short meaning of each one. Between Scorpio and Sagittarius was a space; it was significantly bigger than the other spaces between the signs. And that’s when it hit me. Mr. Maz told us that there was a zodiac sign that came into play between those two. But what was it? What was its purpose? Was it a new sign? Or was it just another sign that just got in the way? He told us that it messed everything up for a while. The diary…there has to be something about it in the diary! Mr. Maz noticed me looking at the ceiling and sighed.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” He asked. “You know, after the Original 12 moved on, they painted this ceiling themselves. Each member did their corresponding sign.”

I looked at him and a laugh got caught into my throat. “You know that we aren’t supposed to talk about stuff that is off topic, right?”

He looked at me and the fun Mr. Maz that was teaching yesterday’s class seemed to have disappeared as he gave me a stern look. Looks like I just fought fire with fire.

“Last time I checked, we were in Astronomy, not History class.” I thought, but I decided to keep it in my head. It looked like it was better not to say it out loud.

The rest of the class went by so slow, that I actually started to re-read the Libra section in the textbook, that way I could save the learning for the other zodiac signs for tomorrow. Part of me liked P-Goon not being in the class, it was a bit of weight being off my shoulders, but at the same time, I hoped that he was here tomorrow for the project. Isn’t part of a group project to actually have all of the people in it to present it?

“Alright, class, you are dismissed,” Mr. Maz told everyone as the bell rang. I know that Hojoon wouldn’t be in Element practice, but maybe if I got my way around it, I could have time to go back to my room and see try to read the diary. That’ll give me enough time to get back to the library before it closes!

“In a hurry, I see?” a voice said behind me.

I turned around to see Hansol with a smirk on his face.

“Don’t want to be late.” I answered as I quickly tried to return to the stairs, but Hansol grabbed my hand, turning me around to make me face him. The students made our way around us as he was making a scene for the both of us.

“Look, you and I need to talk.” He said seriously.

“Is this about what happened earlier?” I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

“No,” He shook his head.

“Then is it about what happened-” I was going to say what happened between P-Goon and I outside, but I didn’t want him to know about it. I brought my hand up to his and made him let go of me. “Look, whatever you need to tell me, I’m pretty sure it can wait.”

“But-” Hansol started, but I brought up my hand to shush him.

“Hansol,” I gave him all knowing eyes. “It can wait.”

Leaving Hansol there, I found my feet to be moving me quicker than normal as I made my way back towards Mr. Eve’s room, and surprisingly we were staying inside today. Maybe that was because it was very cloudy outside; making it look like it was going to rain soon.

“Trinity!” A-Tom waved over to his and Yano’s seat.

I waved back, but I had to get to the book immediately. I had to know what was said in it about that odd sign that Mr. Maz told us about the other day. The sooner I get out of this class, the better. I went up to Mr. Eves who was talking to several other students. And by their clothes, I knew that it was from P-Goon’s group.

“Just be careful on them, some of them are new,” Mr. Eves was talking to them.

“You’re lucky that Hansol isn’t here,” the periwinkle boy said, who I remember was B-Joo. He and Hansol didn’t get along from what I remember.

“We know, B-Joo,” A taller boy with short brown hair said as he rolled his eyes. “God, you don’t need to remind us everyday.”

“Nakta,” A boy with feathery black hair said, “do we need to separate you and B-Joo, now? P-Goon doesn’t want us to go to him, again.”

I cleared my throat and they all looked behind Mr. Eves to see me.

“Ah, the new girl.” B-Joo nodded.

“Trinity, how are you feeling?” Mr. Eves asked a small smile on his face. Thankfully he remembered that I didn’t feel well from Element class. I shook my head and frowned.

“Not really,” I put my hand on my stomach and played off my best voice I could. “I had lunch, but I think it didn’t play well with my stomach.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Mr. Eves frowned. “Well,” He looked over at the other members, “I dismiss Trinity from today’s class. She’s not feeling well, so I will let her not attend today’s class.”

“You’re missing an important part of your ability,” Nakta crossed his arms, “are you sure you want to miss it?”

“Nakta, let the girl alone. If she’s not feeling well, she’s not feeling well. We don’t want to have her throw up during the middle of the class.” The black haired one said.

“Thank you…” I smiled at him, waiting for his name.

“Sangdo.” He nodded.

“Thank you, Sangdo,” I nodded. “I think I’m going to go and rest.”

“Good idea, take some medicine, I’m sure that the nurse has some, or even your dorm leader.” Mr. Eves said.

“Thank you,” I repeated as I turned around and made my way towards the door before I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Trin? Are you not participating in class today?” A-Tom frowned. I can see Yano in the back looking at me worriedly.

“No, I’m not feeling well,” I frowned knowing that I was lying to A-Tom.

“Oh, well, I hope you feel better.” He sighed. “And don’t worry about us, Sangdo, Nakta, and B-Joo are here to watch us.”

“A-Tom!” Nakta’s voice boomed.

A-Tom sighed and rolled his eyes as he ran back towards his seat. I mouthed a sorry before leaving the Academy and headed towards the dorm building. There, I met Sue who was writing down something on paper.

“Oh, Trinity,” she looked up and had a worried look on her face. “It’s not the end of the day, what are you doing here?”

I looked around to make sure that no one was around. “I have to read more.”

Sue sighed and ducked underneath the desk and came back up with the handbag. She walked me to the elevator and went up to my floor with me. “You know, just in case P-Goon is here.”

“Thank you,” I nodded as we made it to my floor. “You know…how did you get into my room last night?”

I made sure that my voice was to a whisper as we walked to my room; didn’t want anyone else who was in their rooms to hear. Yet again, it wasn’t the end of the day; students are probably not in their dorm rooms.

“Well,” Sue started. “I happen to have an extra key.”

“Did Clara give it to you?” I asked tilting my head.

“Well, you can say it in a sense.” We stopped at my door as she handed me the handbag along with the book inside. It seemed that it was heavier than last night. Was it because everything that happened today wasn’t good at all?

“You have a copy?” I asked again.

“Trinity,” Sue said urgently. This took me by surprise as it was the same tone of voice she used when she found out that I had the book and didn’t want me to get in trouble. “The more you talk, the less time you have to get it back before the library closes.”

“But-”

“No buts, Trinity,” Sue said as she took my necklace off and looked at the clock that was hanging behind the key. Her hands slowly traced the outside of it and she was studying it carefully. Sue’s eyes were showing so many emotions that it was hard to keep track of what she was really feeling.

“Sue!” I woke her out of her trance.

She shook her head as she unlocked my door and handed me back my necklace. “Please be quick, Trinity.” With that she went back towards the elevator and went back down to the main floor. I locked the door the second I went inside my room and brought out the book on my vanity. The book was just screaming out to me to read what else waited inside the pages as my hands were itching to flip through the pages. Immediately I started to flip through the pages, looking through the words that Ovan wrote on them, hoping that I found something about another sign. It wasn’t until I got towards the middle of the book that I saw a word when I skimmed the page. Ophiuchus, it read. I stopped skimming the words and went to the beginning of the page. The writing seemed to be a little shaky, as if Ovan was having a hard time to write this particular information down, but it was still readable.

Marikan just came to me with the most outrageous information that I have ever heard in all my life. He told me of a myth of another Zodiac sign. Its name is Ophiuchus, and from what he told me, those born under that sign are very rare, but their abilities are unlike any other. Marikan didn’t tell me exactly where he heard about it. He told me that they can heal things that are broken, control the weather, control more than two elements at a time, which can be really good when they are in any sort of danger, they even bring things back to life; it’s like taking all of the elements and twisting them into using them in another light. A thirteenth sign just means that everything will get messed around. Nothing will be on track, considering it’s an odd number. But it’s just a myth…right? Oh, it has to be, but Marikan was so sure that it was true. He encouraged me to go looking for students who might be born under that sign, and he wants to come along with me. Seems like a crazy idea, considering that it’s only a myth, but I’m not going to lie when I say that it interests me; more than what I can imagine.

But should I tell the others about the myth? No, at least not yet. Most of them would easily believe, Kaalud would, while others, it would take time to actually know if the words I will speak to them are real; an Krug. And about Clara…I honestly don’t know how she would think. Speaking of her, she’s been acting odd lately. She would be in such a rush whenever we would see each other, like she’s scared of something. I try to talk to her about whatever is bothering her, but she doesn’t want me to worry about it. And whenever Marikan would be around, it would seem she would get tense and leave. I’m truly worried about her. Maybe Marikan and her had a fight? Yeah, that could be it. Well, I have to talk to Vandenis about when to go to and search. Marikan even wants to come with us, but I would have to think about it more.

Ophiuchus… Is that what Mr. Maz was talking about? And where did Marikan hear about the myth? Ovan said that he didn’t know where he heard it, so that remains a mystery. It might sound crazy, but…maybe he made it up? But if he made it up, how come Mr. Maz said that there was another sign that got in the way between the other two? If it was another sign, wouldn’t he already say what Zodiac sign it was instead of hiding it? It had to be true, it just had to be! And to be honest, from what Ovan wrote about what they can do, it sounds amazing to be born under that sign. Then another thought hit me… How come there are no students here that are born under that sign? Well, Marikan did tell him that they are rare.

Still something didn’t make sense. What was so bad about this sign, other than when it supposedly showed up it messed the timing?

Just came back from a mission and this time I brought along Marikan. He seemed very frustrated with the fact that we didn’t find anyone born under the Ophiuchus sign. Vandenis warned me not to make anymore missions concerning the sign, but I’m concerned that if we don’t find anyone, Marikan might lose it. He’s just pushing me to find at least one. Marikan’s just as determined to find one as I am.

Vandenis keeps saying that I should let it go, that it’s nothing but a myth. I will find out if this is a myth or not. It feels like it is my duty to find out this truth. The others seemed to be frustrated as well, but they were in different feelings than those of Marikan. They were only frustrated because they felt like they wasted time. This time, I’m not taking Marikan with us. He will have to wait just like the others.

I bit my lip and found myself to be at the edge of my seat. Now this is what I wanted to learn about. Before I could continue any further, I heard a drip of water. It made me snap back to reality and I found out that the ice rose that Hansol gave me was…melting. I quickly got up and saw that underneath was a little puddle of water. How is it melting if it was fine the past day? Why is it melting? I picked it up and noticed that the temperature didn’t change, but the flower was melting anyway. I headed towards the bathroom and saw that there was a candle glass holder near the tub. Putting the flower in, I brought it back out and put it back up on the dresser. The glass was starting to fill up with water slowly, and this boggled my mind. I didn’t understand why it was melting…maybe the powers only last a certain time? The flower reminded me that I had another flower to check up on. Running over towards the balcony, the sun was hidden completely behind grey clouds and thunder could be heard off in the distance.

“Well, at least you got some su-” I stopped as I picked up the flower pot and noticed that the daisy was starting to hang down. “Ah, well, here, I’ll get you some water.”

I got some water from the sink in the bathroom and slowly poured some over the flower. I placed it on my vanity next to the book. Deciding whether or not to continue reading, I sat down and looked over the words that I was anticipating to read. Well, it was better late than never. I turned several pages over and saw that Ovan’s writing was getting sloppier and sloppier. I noticed the last thing that I read yesterday was here.

Marikan’s right…the Ophiucus is real. Sad to say…it was him. He’s the Zodiac sign, making him the first one to create a new sign on his own. Marikan took what he learned and bended it to his will without telling us. The more that he learned in classes, the stronger his powers got. He’s still locked up after he attacked us. He wants to take over; he wants to create a new. This will not happen. The others and I have a plan for him. Clara even decided to join in, which took me by surprise. She finally told me why she was the way she was; she saw Marikan use his new powers, but he threatened her not to tell anyone. Well, not threaten directly, but he caught her and everytime that she saw him, he would give her a look and she would know. I apologized to her for trying to push her into telling me. I understand that she was just protecting everyone, but some of them got hurt…even her. I would have to talk to her about how he attacked her and what powers he used on them. It’ll be hard for them to talk about it, but the sooner we know, the better.

I skipped about knowing what powers they were. At first, I was pulled into knowing what kind of powers he actually used. But the thought of him using them for the worst made me stop to know. I will know what they are. But today will not be the day.

We did it. It was hard…but he’s gone. No more Marikan, no more Ophiucus…no more 13th sign. Everything will be on track from now on.

I felt my heart rate go up dramatically. This is what we can’t know until we’re old enough…they don’t want us to know because they don’t want us to try what Marikan did. My mind went back to P-Goon and then it hit me. I now know why they are the way they are. Their clothes, the way that they want to be perfect in their sign, how they get treated better than anyone else! It all makes sense. P-Goon and the rest, excluding Hojoon, are descendants of the Original 12! But they want to hide it from the younger students, just like they want us to wait to know this kind of information until we are old enough to understand. The only thing I hoped was that Hojoon’s life isn’t going to be like Marikan’s. But he already showed a good sign of being an Air sign. There is no way… And then another thing hit me…maybe it would be me. I could be part of the 13th sign. I closed the book immediately, not wanting to know anymore words that were written down, and put it into the handbag. All of the information that I gathered was just a little bit too much at the moment. So, Mrs. Port was talking about Marikan that first day. He messed up everything, alright. But what was his purpose of wanting to take over? Did he think that everything would be better? And when he meant take over, did he mean the Academy? Or was it for something bigger? As soon as I put it over my shoulder, the door opened up, making me jump and hide the handbag away. But it was only Sue, and she looked out of breath.

“Sue?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I had to warn you, but…” She started catching her breath. “The library is closed now. They did an early check today.”

“But-” I started as I gripped the strap.

“You better wait until tomorrow, or you could be a brave soul and try to return it without getting caught.” Sue warned. “Either way, you have a high chance of getting caught.”

I came over to her and gave her a hug. “I’ll be careful. And if I get caught…I know exactly what to say to them.” I told her.

“What’s that?” She wanted to know.

“Sometimes you have to push ourselves to prove ourselves of our abilities.” I smiled. “And this will be one of my abilities. I want to show P-Goon that I’m not afraid of his ways.”