Destiny Rising

Chapter 13

I had called Michael while I was in the car, parked in the parking lot of the arena waiting. I didn’t want to talk too long or too much while on the phone. I just told him I had to meet him in person and told him where to meet me. As soon as I saw his car pull in and park beside mine, I stepped out and hefted my bag onto my shoulder.

“Hey. Are you okay? You sounded weird on the phone.” He said the moment he got out of his silver Volvo.

“Hey, we’ll talk as soon as we’re inside,” I answered and gave the area a quick scan, as we walked to the door that the keys were for. I let us in quickly and quietly, then locked the doors behind us. I have been to this rink so many times that I knew it like the back of my hand. Leaving the lights in the lobby off, I grabbed his hand and led him through the dark lobby and into the chilled rink. He dropped his hand to turn on the lights on the rink since it gets pitch dark in there without the lights on.

“So, what’s up?” He asked, following me as I made my way over to the bottom bleacher to pull my sandals off.

“I think I know who Earth and Fire are,” I replied, digging around in the bag for socks.

“Who?” He asked as he sat beside me.

Taking a deep breath, I braced myself for what I was about to say, “Jasmine and Kiara.”

“Jasmine and Kiara? That kind of makes sense, the elements are naturally drawn to each other. Each with its own personality. Earth is calm and friendly, unless provoked, of course, and connects with water perfectly. While fire is volatile, it is the most vulnerable to the call of darkness. Water and fire are complete opposites, they constantly fight for control. But they need to be in balance or chaos will rule.” He mussed

“Well, that explains why Kiara and I rarely get along…” I murmured while lacing up my skates.

“How did you and Kiara even meet?” He asked, shifting in his seat.

“Long story. Aren’t you going to skate?”

“I have time and I don’t have skates, or even know how to.”

“Well, one of these days, I’ll teach you.”

“Alright. Now back to the topic at hand, how did you and Kiara meet?”

I decided to stall for a time by pushing myself up and walking over to the low wall that separated the bleachers from the ice. “You want to know? I kinda thought you already knew, I mean you did say you had been watching me.” I said as I leaned down to remove my blade guards, and then stepped out onto the ice.

“I have, but for some reason, something was blocking my vision at the time you met her.” He said as I glided out on the ice. I did a loop of the perimeter, then came to a stop in front of where he was leaning over the wall watching me.

“Okay, so the summer before grade 10, my parents wanted to get rid of me. So, they packed me up and sent me to a 2-week summer camp at Pearce Williams Christian Centre. My mom, her sister, my Aunt Nina, and my older sister Jayde all went there, so my parents decided it would be a good idea. I, on the other hand, did not like the idea. They made me cancel my plans to go with Jasmine and her family to their cottage, for the camp. So, I arrived with a chip on my shoulder and resentment against my parents. It didn’t help when I got put in a cabin with a very obnoxious girl, Kiara, who seemed to hate me for who my parents were. She took to mocking me and calling me princess. We just did not get along at all and the other girls in the cabin had picked sides, since the cabin numbers were uneven, one more girl was at my side. So, Kiara accused me of paying her to side with me. That was when the war started. For 2 weeks it was all innocent fun and the counselors never found out. Until 3 days before we were supposed to go home. That’s when we finally got caught. We got paired up together for the camper drop-off the night before we were to go home. So, the two of us were blindfolded and dropped off in the middle of the woods for the night. Kiara was not happy about that and wanted to find her way back right away, but she would only get in more trouble if she got back to camp without me. So, we fought and pulled at each other, and then, as luck would have it, it started pouring. We were standing at the top of a hill and, the rain made it muddy, I slipped and, out of reflex, reached out for something. Instead of grabbing something to keep me from sliding down the hill, I ended up grabbing Kiara’s leg. We both slid down and landed hard at the bottom. I ended up dislocating my shoulder while she got a twisted ankle and a nasty gash down her side. We both managed to make it back to camp by the morning and got whisked off to St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, where they had to sedate me to pop my shoulder back in and Kiara had to get stitches. We apologized to each other and exchanged e-mails.” I took a deep breath and looked down at the ice and toed it with my toe pick “I didn’t see her again until vocals class at school on the first day. Turned out when she got home from camp and got accepted into the Scholarship program at Aliquid.” I finished and pushed away from the wall, glided across the ice, and executed a Waltz Jump before skating backward around the rink.

“Wow, now that explains your attitude towards each other and why she’s always touching her side when you argue.” He said as I came to a stop in the center of the rink, and he moved towards the entrance to the ice.

“Huh,” I replied, c*****g my head to one side. “I never really noticed that before. But now that you’ve mentioned it, she does do that.”

“So, what about you and Jasmine?” He asked.

“Jasmine just came up to me on the first day of grade 9 and introduced herself. I will admit that her perky cheerfulness irritated me at first, but I learned to deal with it.” I answered and pushed myself into motion again. Gliding along the ice, I launched into a Camel Spin, while Michael watched from the side.

“When did you start skating?” He asked after 10 minutes of silence while I skated, and he observed me.

“I started lessons when I was 6 and discovered I was a natural,” I replied.

“You’re a wonderful skater and person. Anyone would be lucky to know you.” He said sincerely

Sighing, I skated over towards him. “No, they’re not, my family hates me. That’s why I’m back already. I’m staying here until they come back, then I guess I’ll just go stay at the Port Stanley house.”

“I’m sure there is another reason you’re avoiding them now,” he replied.

“Okay,” I said with a slight giggle “So I don’t want this darkness to hurt them cause of me.”

“You are a very caring and loving person.” He said before taking a deep breath. “And there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Uh-oh, this doesn’t sound good,” I murmured as I came to a stop in front of him.

“No, no, it’s not anything bad, I promise. It’s just that I have to obey certain rules, and one of them is to never fall in love with a mortal. But I did, I fell in love with you.” He said, staring straight into my eyes.

“You love me,” I whispered.

“Deeply.” He replied, reaching out and placing his hands on my waist and pulling me towards him. I went willingly and stretched up onto my toe picks as he leaned down and kissed my lips lightly. I had placed my hands on his upper arms to steady myself. The kiss was short and sweet and when he pulled away, I was left completely fazed and breathless. Then, when he let go of my waist, I lost my balance and fell on the ice.

“Okay, ow,” I said when I landed right on my butt.

“Sapphire, are you okay?” Michael asked as he came to my side to help me up.

“I’m fine, my ego though, not so much.” I winced as he pulled me up and helped me off the ice and to the bleachers.

“Haven’t you fallen before?” He asked, amused.

“Plenty of times when I was learning jumps and breaking in new skates. But never in front of anyone but my coaches.” I replied as I leaned over and put my blade guards back on “You know what, I should probably get going anyway. Lots to do and all…”

“Sapphire, are you sure you’re alright?” He asked, placing a hand on mine to stop my fingers from yanking my laces off.

“I’m fine, it’s just…” I replied, taking a calming breath “It’s not every day that I find out I’m a guardian of the element Water, and that this dark force is after me. Plus add in all the usual teen drama and there you go; my life is a mess.”

“It’s not, and don’t worry. I’m here to help you. Everything is going to be fine.” He replied, placing an arm around my shoulder. “You just go home and relax, everything is going to be just fine, I promise.”

“You're right, I need to stop worrying so much,” I said as he removed his hand and I resumed removing my skates and socks before putting my sandals back on. We sat in silence while I re-packed my duffle, then got up and left the arena together. He waited beside me while I locked back up, then walked with me to my car.

“Be careful.” He said before kissing me lightly on the lips.

“I promise, I will,” I replied and hugged him before sliding into the car and starting the engine. Turning in my seat, I gave him a slight smile and waved before driving away. Glancing in the rearview mirror, I saw him still standing there until I turned a corner, and he was out of sight. When I got home, I put my car in the garage and turned on the alarm after locking all the doors. I went up to my room and locked myself in, then for good measure, just to prove that I was being paranoid, I yanked my black-out curtains closed. Then I burrowed down in my bed under all my blankets. Still fully dressed, I fell into a fitful sleep.