When I saw you

*Leana*

'Oh, Leana. Didn't expect to see you here', at the sound of that voice, I regretted coming. Immediately I turned around.

Standing there was the girl I hate the most and her two friends who always followed her wherever she went. It seems like they didn't have their own life. They were like shadows. The three of them even had the same dark hair.

'Well, if you don't want to see me, then don't talk to me, Kesha', I tried to pronounce her name as derogative as she did with mine. But over the years I still didn't manage to do so.

'I mean, you have to admit that you don't like events like this one', Kesha continued, ignoring what I've said 'you're only here because of your friend. Aren't you?'

Damm, she was right. She knows me well. I mean who doesn't when my mouth spills out everything before I can realize what I am saying? Nothing was safe with me. No secret, not my own thoughts.

'Nim isn't here', Ops, that's what I meant. I shouldn't have told her. She really didn't need to know.

'So she let you come alone? You have good friends'

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to imagine a reply that would have satisfied me. Instead, I was thinking that she was right. In that case, Nim wasn't a good friend. And I silently promised that I would teach her a lesson for letting me down the next time I saw her. The other thing was, Nim and I weren't close. I actually don't even know where she lives. How can you call that a friend? Anyway, to me, she was the closest thing I had to a friend.

'Watch your mouth', I shouted at Kesha, not sounding as cold as I intended, and continued my way to the stadium.

Today were the final battles of the Supreme-Cup. The biggest event of Amena. Only the best fairy-groups were allowed to participate. Many humans from all over the continent came to watch. Those who didn't come are probably sitting in front of their television to wait for the live broadcast.

I proudly consider myself as part of the one percent of humans who don't give a damn about all this. The others who belong to this percentage are either ill or too young to think. In other words, I am the only one who seemed not to care.

And yet I was here. It wasn't for all this if Nim hadn't bagged me. She said her mom gave her two tickets and she would have no one else to go with. After she had annoyed me for almost an hour and because I didn't have to work this Saturday afternoon, I gave in.

But suddenly her boyfriend became more important than seeing the nine most popular fairies on this continent. When I was waiting for Nim to come to my car, she called and said she wouldn't come. Since I was already mentally prepared for this event and because the tickets were very expensive, I still decided to go. The Lizius-Stadium was only half an hour away anyway.

I passed the stands selling food along the wall of the majestic stone building. Out of frustration, and less because I was hungry, I ended up with a large bag of popcorn. Then I walked up the stairs of the oval stadium and sat down somewhere in the middle. It was already quite full, and constantly more people came.

Even though I wasn't interested in the topic, I knew the members of the two groups that would participate in the final battle. It was impossible not to know them. There was the boygroup 'N-All' and the mixed gender group 'Blackforce'. No other group could compare to them. It was clear from the start that these two rivals would end up in the finales.

Loud mumbles surrounded me when the fairies flew into the stadium. Elegantly they landed on the bright sand. Besides the tender wings on their back, fairies looked just like us humans at first sight. It was maybe their good-looking appearance and their gentle movements that made them look exalted. And of course their skills.

The crowd was shouting the fairies' names. Many brought signs and are now holding them up in the air. I kind of felt displaced. So I started to stuff the popcorn in my mouth more eagerly.

'Elan! Wynn! Elan! Wynn!', some girls behind me giggled.

'Make sure to take enough photos'

Oh, not them again.

Kesha and her two shadows came in my direction. The next moment they sat down next to me. The next time I should better find a seat with occupied places around.

'What are you doing here?', I asked annoyed.

'Isn't it obvious?'

'Oh sorry, I forgot. Of course, you are here to get on my nerves'

'Not everything is about you, Leana. We just want to watch the battles'

'If that's so. Why do you have to sit next to me?'

Kesha starts smiling and it makes me want to punch her immediately.

'How can this show be fun without seeing your angry face?'

What the hell did I do in my past life to deserve this? I always swore that I would be a good girl if I never had to see her again. But no one heard my request. That girl kept crossing my way almost every day. Well, I guessed that meant I didn't have to be a good girl.

Therefore... I pretended to stumble forward while pushing Kesha and her friends against the people in front of them. It was so full of people here that it was easier than expected. For a transient moment, Kesha and her friends were occupied with the person's anger. Using the opportunity, I sneaked away.

I ended up at the very end of the stadium. When I reached the seat, the host had already opened the event. There were three battles today. First, each group had to fight fire-elves separately. Their performance will be ranked by a jury. The groups can earn up to 30 points. They are calculated by the number of defeated elves, their strategy, and their teamwork. In the end, they would compete together. In this battle, they also earn points based on their performance.

First, it was Blackforce's turn. While N-All was sitting on seats at the edge, the Members of Blackforce spread over the court. There were five of them. Two girls. Fee and Nira. And three boys. Kay, Morro, and Alan. They looked very sinister. With their tattoos, the piercings, and the grimy and determined faces they all could be qualified to be members of a biker club. Except that fairies don't use bikes. They have wings.

Alan was the only one I wouldn't be afraid of if he was standing in front of me. Different than the others, he looked fragile and had a soft face. He was also very young, maybe fourteen. But I heard that he was very quick and clever in battles.

I barely focused on the progress. I just ate my popcorn and thought about the way I would face Nim. When the fight was almost over, my fingers reached the bottom of the popcorn bag. I wasn't good at thinking without something to chew on, so I stopped imagining things and turned my attention to the field.

The timer placed above the court showed one more minute. Dozens of fire-elves were dead on the ground. The flames that normally ignite on the tiny and chubby bodies were extinct. Now the brittle skin was visible. I almost feel sorry for them. But then I remembered that they were the reason why Amena hadn't been a safe place for the last five years. If It hadn't been for the fairies and the mermaids to protect us, they probably would have set the whole continent on flames already.

For humans, it was difficult to fight a fire-elf. Actually, it was impossible. There was no human book, no technology, and no human weapon that was able to help against the curse of the fire-elves. Even though scientists eagerly worked on ways to defeat them, and the government had advertised high prices for the person who found one, it seems like humans weren't meant to defeat these little troublemakers.

At least the fairies could benefit from this disgrace. Because they could defend us from the fire-elves, they let themselves be celebrated like some gods. They took full advantage of the status humans gave them. Events like this one are the best examples of that. The amount of money they earned just today must be insane.

Fairies got something humans didn't have. And this wasn't for their wings. It was the special relationship they had with plants and herbs. With their alchemical capabilities, fairies could do the most magical things. They produced all sorts of elixirs, talismans, and other magical objects. And most importantly: magical weapons (which -on purpose or not- only fairies were able to use). They looked just like normal swords, daggers, spears, or shields. The difference was that these weapons could harm the fire-elves while others would inflame, burst, or just cause a little scratch.

'Ohhhh', the stadium went loud.

Fee, who had just jumped-flew over a few elves, was injured in her back. In pain, she landed on the ground. Kai and Alan immediately came to finish the elves before they could reach her. Fee's wings must be alright because she flew a bit in the air to get out of danger. According to her facial expression, which was shown on the giant screens in the stadium, she wasn't able to fight for now. The fight was almost over anyway. No more fire-elves came into the stadium and the few left were quickly vanquished.

After a few minutes of tense curiosity, the jury, consisting of several humans and fairies, announced the score.

• defeated elves: 84 -> score: 8,4/10

• strategy: 10/10

•teamwork: 9/10

-> Total: 27,4/30

The stadium burst into applause. Blackforce gave a good template. It would be difficult for N-All to do better.

The boygroup was good but when you sum it up, Blackforce won more fights in the past. Nevertheless, they would win in a popularity contest. The crowd was screaming now when Sean, Wynn, Ren, and Elan entered the court.

From what I could tell, they fought very well. The four of them did impressive stunts and I began to understand why humans are fascinated by fairies. I wondered why N-All only consisted of four members. That was very uncommon since most of the groups consisted of five. Wasn't that a disadvantage in the battle?

'Tttttt', the fight was over. Applause started and the combatants left the court to take a break. To be exact, only three of them left. Elan was still standing there. His eyes scanned the audience. He must search for something near me because he only scanned the audience in my area.

And then his eyes meet me.

There were thousands of people in this stadium. Thousands of bodies squeezed into this small tribune. And yet he was staring at me. Me directly.

How was that possible? Him staring at me like that? With an expression on his face that was difficult to interpret. It was something between 'I could kill you right now' and complete confusion. His stare made me nervous. It wasn't a brief glance like the ones you give a person you spot in the street and immediately forget after passing.

It was like he was staring directly into my soul.

I blinked. Blinked again.

Looked around. Maybe he was looking at someone else.

But when I turned back at him his eyes were still fixed on me.