The Spirit Awakens

Chapter 2

---ADDI POV--- 

 ‘I cant believe I left so late, Amy is going to give me an ear full for sure' I thought to myself as I sprinted to school, luckily it is only 3 blocks away, perks of living in a small village.

 I could still feel the pressure on my lungs from this morning so my sprint took more out of me then I thought, by the time I reached the school I was sweaty and out of breath.

 Red hair filled my vision as I was nearly tackled to the ground. 

“I thought for a minute you werent coming and I would have to deal with a lame day of school without you" Amy cried into my shoulder as she nearly hugged me. 

“You’re the only reason I still come to school, Amy, we both know I already have all the credits I need to graduate.” I spoke softly with a smile as I returned the hug. 

I couldn’t imagine missing today, I know she is super nervous, today is her awakening.

 Amy released her hold on me and smiled slyly “So it's not just to take peeks at Jacob?”

 I playfully slapped her shoulder as she giggles. “No!” I could feel the blush heat my cheeks “I knew my bestfriend needed me today” 

Amy smiles gratefully at me and finally takes a step away from me.

 “Do I look ok today?” she asks me with a hopeful expression.

 I take a gaze at what outfit she picked today, the powder blue tank and blue skirt were definitely out of her normal compared to her black ripped jeans, black shirt, and hoodie. She had also curled her shoulder length cherry red hair and wore a small blue sapphire pin to help hold back her hair behind one ear. “You look cute" I say with a smile on my face “It's alittle different to see you wear colors, but its cute"

 Amy smiled brightly, making her golden eyes twinkle “Now we need to hurry before Mrs.G scolds us and embarrass you infront of Jacob" she quickly says as she grabs my hand and practically drags me inside. 

We barely make it to our seats before the final bell rings. 

Amy sighs with relief “Cant believe we were almost late today, remind me later to scold you for almost making us late" she whispers to me as their teacher stands up ready to start todays lesson. 

Mrs.G was a tall slender older lady, she had her hair in a tight professional bun, her hair was dark brown with her hair showing signs of greying at the roots, she wore thick rimmed glasses and always had a glare on her face as she spoke towards the class.

 “Now I know graduation is coming up soon, but that doesn’t mean I will tolerate any slacking in my class, I still expect 100% from all of you here. Some of you are having your awakenings soon, some have just recently have had theirs, but still no exceptions" Mrs.G’s emotionless voice spoke as she glared at the class, her gaze lingering on me for an extra moment. 

‘What did I do?’ I ask myself. 

-LUNCHTIME- 

As Amy and myself sat down at our favorite spot in the cafeteria with our food I sighed heavily.

 Amy looked at me curiously “Whats wrong?” 

I looked at her with a pained expression, I still havent told her about the dream I had this morning or how I had woken up with wounds from the dream, she is my best friend and we have never kept anything from each other. 

“I don’t know whats going on with me Amy, I don’t know if its because my awakening is coming next week or what.” I speak quietly making sure nobody can hear me, I lean closer to her and tell her everything that happened in a quiet whisper. 

Amy sat there frozen, not knowing how to respond, she was puzzled almost just as much as I was. “Did you ask your mom about this?” she asks me quietly 

“No, I don’t even know how to bring it up, how she will react, or anything… Im scared Amy" I could feel myself start to tear up, if I could get hurt while dreaming, does that mean I could die? What was wrong with me? 

Amy sat quietly for a few minutes thinking. “I think you should talk to her about it, if not then atleast visit the elder and ask them, they would know more" she finally said to me with a serious look on her face.

 “OH, at my awakening tonight why don’t you speak with an elder, since everyone is gonna be there I can set it up for you to have a few minutes?” she suddenly spoke I thought about it but shook my head “No I would rather not, tonight is your night, plus what if its something bad and Im forced to miss your awakening? I cant miss my best friends awakening because of a stupid dream" 

 Amy smiled at me but then looked seriously at me “fine, but promise me you will speak to at least someone soon about this, these dreams have to mean something" 

I nodded and held up my pinky finger in which Amy locked her pinky around mine with a smile on her face as I said “Pinky swear", we had never broken a pinky promise in all the years we have been friends. To us, it was a sacred oath that could never be broken. 

“Alright then, moving on, what time do you want me to meet you at the park before it starts?” I ask as I try to finish my food knowing lunchtime was almost over. 

“Well it starts at 7 so if you are ok with it maybe you can just stay by my side from the moment we leave school, I don’t know why but I cant seem to stay calm unless your around” she said as she stared down at her hands in her lap as if she was ashamed of herself.

 “No problem, anything for my best friend on her big day" I replied while placing my hand on her slender shoulder. 

Amy flashed a smile at me and yet again locked me into a big hug “Thank you so much Addi, I honesty don’t know what I would do without you, I am so glad my parents transferred to this village 15years ago, I cant imagine my life without you" she almost sobbed into my shoulder. 

“alright enough of that, don’t ruin your make up, we still have the rest of the day to get through" I slightly chuckled. 

Amy let go and gave me a big smile and nodded “Your right, now lets talk about when your finally gonna ask Jacob out" The loud bell rang loudly indicating lunch was over, I sighed in relief, seems I was saved by the bell.

 -AFTER SCHOOLS LAST BELL-

 “I am so glad that’s over with, I nearly fell asleep in Mr.A's lecture in biology, he really has a boring voice" Amy yawned as she stretched her arms as we made our way down the sidewalk towards her house. 

“Right?” I laughed out loud.

 Silence filled the air as we made our way to Amy's house, we had to get ready for her awakening and I already told her I would stick by her side today. I texted mom what was planned. 1 minute later my phone started buzzing, it was my mom. 

I answered quickly, “Whats up mom?” 

“You need to come home, I need to talk to you" 

“I cant mom, I already told Amy I was gonna stay by her side, she has been freaking out all day about tonight and I need to be there for her" I explained. 

My mom went silent for a few seconds like she was thinking, I waited patiently, normally I don’t ask for much but when it came to Amy she knew I wouldn’t let it go. “Fine, but we need to have a serious talk later, your father is also getting home tonight" 

I froze, “But dad had that meeting in france, he said it was important”

 “This is serious Addeline, we have to talk" she sounded worried and dead serious, she usually never said my full name, she only ever called me Addeline when something was going on, last time she used that name while saying she wanted to talk was when grandma was dying. I took a deep breath trying to calm myself and squeaked out an ok and then my mom hung up quickly. 

Amy looked at me confused as I put away my phone silently. “Whats wrong?” She asked with worry. 

“My mom says we are going to have a serious talk tonight, dads gonna be there and… s-she called me Addeline" I could barely speak. 

Amy's face looked petrified. Suddenly she stepped infront of me and snagged me into a hug and started rubbing my back. “Itll be ok Addi” she quietly said as she just held me. 

 I slowly returned the hug and then squeezed her as if her hug could take away the fear that had gripped my heart. We stood like that for probably a half hour before she finally released me. “Come on, lets go get ready, we can distract ourselves and pretend that phone call didn’t happen, worrying over it wont make it change, so lets just try to forget about it till later" Amy suggested with a comforting smile.

 I nodded and didn’t speak a word as we made our way into her house. 

“Hello Addi" Amy's mom, Lisa, greeted me from the kitchen, the house smelled liked freshly baked cupcakes and cookies, probably for the awakening tonight, Lisa was an amazing baker.

 “Hi Lisa” I greeted her as Amy and myself quickly made our way to her room to get ready.

 -6:30pm- 

I stood next to Amy at the park as everyone from our village was arriving, I could tell Amy was nervous since she kept fiddling with the hem of her shirt. I put my arm around her shoulders and leaned my head on her, “Itll be ok, I wont leave your side bestie" I whispered. 

She straightened her back as the main elder made his way over to greet Amy. “It is nice to see you again Amy, you have grown into a wonderful lady and I cant wait to see which spirit is blessed to you during your awakening" the 85 year old man spoke with a smile on his face as he shook her hand. He was the oldest and most respected elder in the village, he has witness a great many awakenings and has seen a lot of different spirits being blessed. To have this elder at your awakening was a big deal, there are a total of 9 elders, all the other elders are under 70, so having this elder choose your awakening was special.

 Amy smiled with pride and a bit nervousness “Thank you Elder Shen, It is MY honor to have you as my witness" 

 Elder Shen then turned his almost white eyes towards me and seemed to be thinking something with a look of curiosity, “Miss Addi, I have heard a lot about you, I am also honored to inform you that I will be at your awakening, I am very curious about which spirit you are blessed with.” 

I smile and nod in return “I still have another week before mine, let us enjoy Amy's awakening, she is the true star of the day" I say as I smile proudly at my bestie. 

Elder Shen nods and walks away to take his place.

 “Addi!” I hear my brother call my name and I roll my eyes. James comes sprinting over and smiles at me, his awakening isnt for another year. 

“H-Hi Amy" he smiles at Amy with a spark in his green eyes as he runs a hand through his shaggy black hair.

 “Hi James” Amy says with a blush.

 I roll my eyes again, “seriously James, go take your place, its going to start soon and we don’t need Amy getting distracted by you” He smiles sheepishly and waves goodbye to Amy as he dashes off again. 

“You know its gross that you guys are crushing on each other” I nudge Amy as she seemed to space out towards where James took off. 

“Shut up" Amy shoots back with her face nearly as red as her hair.

 I glance around, the park was small but so was the village but when everyone gathers like this it always feels overwhelming.

 I sigh and look back at the nervous Amy, “You ready bestie?”

 She looks back at me, takes a deep breath and nods, “yeah lets do this" And with that we make our way to the center of the park where the great statue of the first spirits to ever be blessed to our people a thousand years ago, the great dragon and phoenix, locked in battle inside the great sun.