Chapter 18

I walk out of the office feeling a weight in my chest due to anxiety and I slowly walk while looking down, the ball of anxiety just kept building. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing or what was going on around me either and bumped into someone while walking up and that startled me.

I looked up and say Aiden standing directly in front of me, he immediately scowled at me but then stopped and looked concerned. His posse was behind him and he beckoned them to leave while I tried to walk around him.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asks me curious and I would be concerned if I wasn't feeling almost numb like. I try walking up again but he blocks my way.

"I asked you a question," He remarks with narrowed eyes and I sigh.

"I'm fine and why would you care? I need to go to class,"

He stands in front of me again and I glare, albeit half-heartedly, but still a glare.

"Aiden, move your annoying self out of my way, I have classes to attend unlike you and your clique who never do."

"That's more like you." He smiles at me and I look at him unsettled.

"Are you high?" I ask him genuinely curious now. He scowls at me and crosses his arms, his eyes immediately narrowing before answering my question in a snarky voice.

"I may be an ass sometimes but that doesn't mean I don't care when the resident dumbass looks more like the walking embodiment of depression."

"And that's more like you," I remark while putting emphasis on the 'that's'.

"What's going on with you today though, why are you all mushy? Well, your form of mushy, I guess." Aiden sighs and leans his left side against the railing before he starts talking.

"I know I'm not the best person to you but I know you'd be all concerned over me being down and all that, so of course the same goes to me about you. We used to be friends, Danielle, I still care, I guess?"

I was about to reply but then he interrupted me,

"I'm never saying this again so remember it, remember it all. Each and every word."

I laugh at this but then I start thinking. It never occurred to me to think about what I'd do in that situation but thinking about it now, he's right. I would always be there, even though we're pains to each other, and I really would be concerned, so I nod at him and then laugh.

"Just a few weeks ago I tried to stab you with an icicle, and now we're being all nice to each other."

He looks at me alarmed and with wide eyes he asks,

"You were going to what?"

With an alarmed look of my own I ask him if he didn't know to which he remarks and I quote,

"I know you're batshit crazy but stab me?!"

I look at him sheepishly and put my hands on top of my head while apologising, again half-heartedly but he doesn't need to know that.

"You wouldn't have gotten hurt anyway," I tell him while waving it off.

"Oh yeah, I get stabbed my an icicle and I wouldn't have gotten hurt? Even my dog can bullshit better than that." He deadpans.

"Okie, so a minor injury, I doubt it would have been life threatening." I wave it off again and he facepalms, actually facepalms.

"Technically you wouldn't have gotten hurt anyway if I did try stabbing you, you have 'Axel the great' to thank for that." I roll my eyes while thinking about the scene caused after my little fight with Aiden.

"Axel? So that's why he was all touchy with you," A look of realisation crosses his face and now that I think of it, Axel was in fact very touchy that day. I really need to pay more attention to these things...

"Do you like Axel? You know, like THAT?" He asks me with a curious look mixed with amusement and I know he's only asking to annoy me.

"And there you go ruining the moment. Anywho, don't you have a class to skip, Aiden?" He looks at me irritated before a sly smirk graces his annoying face.

"So we were having a moment, huh?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose and look at him before going behind him, holding his shoulders, and forcing him to walk down.

"Aw, come on, let's continue our moment," He laughs while looking back at me which causes him to almost slip and fall down the steps. I laugh at this and keep pushing him down till he's at the bottom and I'm on the last step. He tries to turn around but I keep him in place and sprinkle a few snowflakes on his hair, I smile at this and then turn him around.

"No," He remarks before shaking them out of his hair and I frown. I do the same thing again and he repeats his actions as well.

"Oh, come on. I'll stop being the walking embodiment of depression if you let me do it,"

He looks up at me irritated and I flash him a smile to which he doesn't reply to and I take that as a sign to continue. I add a few extra snowflakes because he didn't let them stay on before and pat his head, careful not to mess with the work of art.

"Perfect."

"Stupid."

We remark simultaneously and we glare at each other.

"Shut up, Aiden. Go away now,"

"Aw but our moment?" He ask with a teasing tone and a pout.

I slap the side of his head and push him away.

"Your mean girls posse must be lost without you, they're probably running into walls at this point."

"We shall continue this later, madame." Placing emphasis on the dame, he turns back around and walks off.

I walk backwards hoping to reach the step at the top without falling but I bump into someone again and I groan. I look at the person behind me and see Alejandro looking at me curiously.

"What was that?"

"What was that?"

"That!" He remarks way too loud for someone standing right next to him.

"At this rate I'm gonna get stuck on these stairs," I mutter. "Now tell me exactly what you mean when you ask 'what was that?'"

"You were talking to Aiden," He states.

"I was? What? When? How?" I gasp while talking and fan my face like a dramatic fan girl and he catches my forearms before putting them back by my sides.

"Why were you talking to him?" I look up at him again and I realise I need to even the height because he's already taller than me. I step up onto the step he's on and move him down onto the step I was on and now I'm about a centimetre taller than him, stupid him.

"I'm not even going to ask what that was for. Now tell me what you were doing?"

"I was talking to Aiden," I state.

"Why?"

"Because we opened our mouths and words escaped them?"

"And why did words escape them?"

"Because we wanted to converse. Okay, I have a class to go to now, nice talking to you." I try to walk up but he's immediately in front of me

"Alejandro, I do not want to live on these stairs," I groan.

"Aiden is a bully. Why were you talking to him?"

"Simply because I wanted to and I can do what I want."

"He's not a good person, don't talk to him. I don't even know, and I don't want to ask anymore, why you even spoke to him in the first place." He scoffs at this but I get mad. He's such a hypocrite. Aiden's not a good person? What about Axel and him? Those two haven't talked to me for days and they got me in trouble as well, he's really one to talk.

"I don't know! Maybe it's cause the people I know treat me like crap and Aiden has been the only nice one to me? There is your answer." I remark emphasising the word, 'there.'

"I haven't treated you like crap, have I?"

"It doesn't matter, Alejandro. Aiden and I were talking and it's none of your business anyway so leave me alone,"

I pass Axel on the way up and ignore him while reaching the first floor and then walking up the next flight of steps. I hear Alejandro shouting about how I'm free in the morning today and I suddenly remember I actually am free.

"Shit," I mutter while walking back downstairs, not even sparing a glance at the two boys who are looking at me, and walk to the exit of the building so I can find Aiden.

It wasn't too hard to find him but his posse immediately started jeering at me and prodding at any topic they think would annoy me. I was surprised when Aiden shouted at them and told them to be quiet but trust me, I was not as surprised as them, they all quieted down and I sat down on this tall grey step.

After a while of awkward silence and Aiden trying to divide his time between talking to me and his friends I finally spoke up.

"So how are y'all?" Aiden was about to answer but I cut him off and gestured at the other guys who looked surprised I was asking.

"Guys, we used to be friends when we were kids. I won't kill y'all... Yet." I mutter the last part and some of them laugh and after that they reluctantly answer.

Eventually after all the awkwardness settled down we all started talking as if we've been friends for years. We have known each other for years, fine, but we haven't been friends for a while.

One of them, a new kid who got here about a year ago, was still very hostile towards me and any attempts I made to talk to him were in vain. I gave up after the third try because I'm not wasting my time on someone who doesn't like me. I think this dude has a sister... She isn't particularly fond of me either. Hmmm, I never got their names.

I laugh at a joke one of the guys made, his name is Rithu, I used to be pretty close to him as well, we literally hung out everyday after school.

We hear the first bell ring and we hardly pay attention to it and then I notice Snape and Axel looking at us from across the basketball court. Aiden sees this as well and he steps in their line of sight so I won't be visible to them and I nod at him as a gesture of gratefulness.

Suddenly the second bell rings as if it's been only five minutes and I smile and say goodbye to all of them. The kids who came downstairs for break looked at our interaction curiously and started whispering to each other, wondering why we were being all chummy with each other.

I make my way up to my class making sure to take the other staircase so I don't get caught to Snape or Axel and get my books from my class before going to the lab. I take my usual seat, right at the back, and zone out as soon as the teacher starts talking.

Five year old Aiden and I run around the big sandy rectangle we have in school and I start blasting his feet with snow, in order to make him slow down and eventually ends in me winning the race.

"Not fair!" He pouts at me and I laugh.

"It's okay, Aiden. You'll win the next one." I tell him with a smile and his pout deepens.

"You always use your powers! I have no powers! That's unfair,"

"You don't need to have powers, Aiden. You have way too many interesting things about you, if there was one more the world would not be balanced." He smiles at me and I smile back before we start running back to the starting point.

"Ready, swet, go!" Aiden had a problem with his S's back then so every time he said something with the letter S in it, well almost every time, it sounded more like there was a W at the end.

We ran as fast as we could, without me cheating this time, and Aiden got to the finish line before me.

"I win! I win!" I laughed at this and started jumping around with him and soon enough it started snowing and I looked up at the clouds with a frown.

"I'll never be able to control my powers!" I plop myself on the ground and cross my arms getting mad at the snow and snowflakes landing on the sand.

"Hey, it's okay, Danielle. You'll learn swoon," He sits down next to me and pats my shoulder.

I stand up and pace before stopping my foot, hearing the crunch from the snow underneath my slippers.

"No! I want to learn now!"

"Learning takes time, that's what Mr Swape told you and me,"

I plop myself back down on the now snow covered sand and sigh while running my fingers through the soft and fluffy substance.

"Axel learnt fast," I point out and he sits down beside me again.

"Axel is bigger than you, he got more time to learn."

"Fine," I pout at this and then hear Snape calling me. Aiden and I both look back and see a mini Axel, only 6 years old and sporting a frustrated expression on his face.

"Danielle, come here." I get up and so does Aiden but suddenly Snape puts his hand up and gestures for us to stop. Not us, not me, just Aiden.

"Aiden, stay please. Danielle will only be a minute."

Aiden and I look at each other puzzled and confused, every time we're together we don't leave each others side so this is surprising and scary. For five year olds, of course.

"Danielle, come along," I tell Aiden that I'll be back and reluctantly turn away from him and run to Snape who catches me and carries me on his hip.

"Comfortable?" He asks and I nod.

"Where are we going?" I ask while waving bye to Aiden before he disappears around the corner.

"Be quiet, Danielle. Professor said that we would find out," Axel crossed his arms even tighter than they were before and Snape taps him on the head.

"Don't be mean, Axel, she's only asking."

"Yeah, Axwell, I'm only asking." Just like Aiden had trouble with his S's, I had trouble with some words and names, especially Axels.

"It's Axel. Axe-El. It's not that hard, dummy."

Snape taps him on the head again and gives him a disapproving look.

"No name calling."

By the time we finished our conversation we were just outside Snape's office.

"When we go inside, I need y'all to be nice. There are three kids, just a bit younger than you two and they have the same capabilities as both of you. Do you two understand?"

"What does capahbilitease mean?" I ask him and Axel tugs on my ankle.

"It's capabiliteens, dummy." I glare at Axel and kick his arm that was close to my foot.

"It's not what either of you just said. Capabilities are what a certain person can or can't do, in basic terms. If a person can't do something or doesn't have the attributes to achieve that they can say they are incapable. Whereas if someone is capable they will say that I am capable of performing whatever feat it is."

"What does abilitease mean?" Axel and I ask at the same time and Snape sighs before saying it doesn't matter and he places me back down on the floor.

"Okay, remember to be nice." He holds our hand and walks us in but Axel stops at the entrance.

"I don't want to go in." I walk next to Axel curious as to why he refuses to enter the room and tug him in. He stumbles and bumps into the back of Snape's legs and he looks at me like he's about to kill me.

"Dani-" He got cut short by Snape who started making introductions of the three new kids in front of us.

"Danielle, Axel, say hi to Talia, Callum, and Quintenadra also know as Quinn. They are the other elementals," I look up at Snape and immediately start pulling on his arm.

"Why are they here?" Axel nods at my question and looks up for answers.

"Don't be rude you two. They are here so y'all can get to know each other, you guys have more in common than you think."

Their parents stood behind them a bit hunched over so they can hold their shoulders and smiling as if their mouths are stuck like that.

"All of you can go play outside, Danielle, Axel, show them the sand pit," Snape dismisses us with a wave of his hand and Axel and I run out. The others walk out a minute later and crowd together as if they're Tuna hiding from prey.

I wave my hand up as a gesture to follow me and I take off running back to the sand pit and my best friend.

"Aiden, Aiden, I'm back," I shout as I get there and I see him sitting in the same area we were before. He was sulking and when he heard me, he twisted around from his position on the ground then beamed at me with his tiny, five year old, teeth.

"Who are they?" He whispered to me and I whispered what Snape told us to him. He nodded in understanding and smiled at them. The only person who didn't return it was Quinn and I frowned at her.

"Wanna play a game?" Callum asks and we all nod our heads.

"I say run and catchers!" We nod again and immediately pick Axel as catcher, he groans but we all start running and he immediately runs after us. He chases Aiden and I first before switching to Talia because she was one of the slowest and because I kept throwing snow balls at his face.

We tired down eventually and since Quinn complained about being catcher we stopped the game altogether. Callum sat in the sand and started building a sand castle and we all followed suit, when we got bored of doing that for no reason we made it a competition.

We tore out 6 squares of paper and wrote the numbers one, two, and three on them so whoever drew the same numbers were on a team together.

"So Callum and Danielle, Axel and Talia, and then Quinn and me," Aiden told us. Axel tried to say something to us but we had already split up and started making our castles.

Callum and I were starting to shape the castle into what we wanted and just as Callum was showing me how his powers work Axel lifted me off the ground by my hand and proceed to drag me away from my sand castle partner. He looks back at Callum with his eyebrows furrowed and a frown then looks forward again and keeps walking.

"We're building together, Talia is teaming with Callum." I look down at his hand that's holding mine and frown. I start to freeze his hand but it suddenly gets warmer and I know he's using his powers to stop me.

"Axwell, let go. I need to go finish my castle!" I look back at Callum who gently smiles and nods at me and I nod back at him slowly, immediately feeling bad.

He plops himself down on the sand and continues his castle and I reluctantly sit as well before crossing my arms.

"If you want to win, you'll have to help me," He gives me a pointed look and I sigh before helping with the castle.

By the time the adults call us everyone has finished their castles and we decide that we all win because there was something different and unique about each of them. Quinn wasn't too happy and Aiden didn't look too good so just before we left I walked by him with Axel only a few feet behind us and asked him what's wrong.

"I'm okay, I'm just tired,"

"Are you sure? I know you, Aiden, this is not you tired." I was honestly concerned and didn't like the look on his face.

"I'm fwine!" He shouts at me and runs off to his parents but I could swear I saw a tear slip from his eye and I'm sure I saw Quinn grin.

I tried to stop him but Axel catches my arm before that and points at Snape who beckons us over and I look back at Aiden who was still running to the gate where his parents stood then sighed before walking to Snape with Axel.

That was the day Aiden and I started separating, he and I hardly hung out anymore, and when did it would be so awkward and weird. No one would actually talk, we'd just be there. I still don't know why or how it happened exactly but there was not much I could do about it. Axel and I had to learn to control our powers so that took up a tonne of our time and we had to leave for a little so we could try them out in flat-lands and other safe environments. After I got back from that we just didn't talk much and neither of us made a move to associate with each other so we just left it, I guess.

I snapped out of my day dream because the bell rang and I shook my head before dragging my hands down my face. I get off the stool and make my way to the door but the teacher calls me back and lectures me about exams and about me not listening in class. When she's done I just groan when I leave the class and make my way to my classroom

I spoke to Cole for a while after class and I ignored Axel each time I saw him. Aiden and I spoke every time we saw each other and who knows? Maybe we'll start talking again? Maybe it'll get better cause in the end I miss what we had when I was small, I miss that.