Episode 7: Game Day
1461 Words
By the next morning, Heaven had made a decision.
She was going to ignore Sierra.
She was going to ignore the strange warning.
She was going to ignore the glowing symbol.
And most importantly, she was going to ignore Conrad.
It was a great plan.
Unfortunately, it lasted about five minutes.
“Heaven!”
She turned around.
Maya came running toward her with a huge smile.
“You’re finally here.”
“I’ve been here for ten minutes.”
“Exactly. I’ve been looking for you.”
“Why?”
Maya grabbed her arm.
“Because today is game day.”
Heaven stared at her.
“And?”
“And?”
Maya looked offended.
“Conrad is playing.”
Heaven rolled her eyes.
“So?”
Maya smiled.
“You’re going to watch.”
“I never said that.”
“You don’t have to.”
Maya pulled her toward the hallway.
“Everyone is talking about it.”
“Why?”
“Because Conrad’s team hasn’t lost a game this season.”
Heaven shrugged.
“That’s nice.”
Maya stopped walking.
“You’re pretending you don’t care.”
“I don’t.”
“You’re wearing the bracelet he gave you.”
Heaven immediately looked at her wrist.
She had completely forgotten about it.
“It doesn’t mean anything.”
Maya grinned.
“Sure.”
Before Heaven could respond, someone called her name.
“Heaven.”
She turned.
Conrad was standing behind them.
He had his sports bag over one shoulder.
His hair was slightly messy, and he was wearing the school basketball jersey.
He looked annoyingly good.
Heaven quickly looked away.
“Hi.”
Conrad smiled.
“That’s better than yesterday.”
Maya looked between them.
“I’m going to leave before I start feeling like I’m interrupting something.”
Heaven’s eyes widened.
“Maya!”
Maya laughed and walked away.
Conrad stepped closer.
“You’re coming to the game, right?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re coming.”
“You’re very confident.”
“I know you want to.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
He smiled.
Heaven tried not to smile back.
“So what happens if I don’t come?”
Conrad leaned closer.
“I’ll be disappointed.”
She looked at him.
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It is.”
She laughed.
For a moment, everything felt easy.
No magic.
No strange symbols.
No mysterious door.
Just them.
Then Conrad’s eyes dropped to her wrist.
The bracelet.
He smiled.
“You kept it.”
Heaven touched it.
“You gave it to me.”
“So?”
“So I didn’t throw it away.”
“I’ll take that as a win.”
She smiled.
“Go to class.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He walked away.
Heaven watched him leave.
Maya suddenly appeared beside her.
“You like him.”
Heaven jumped.
“Where did you come from?”
“That’s not an answer.”
Heaven sighed.
“Maybe.”
Maya’s eyes widened.
“Maybe?”
“Don’t make it a big deal.”
“I knew it!”
“Maya!”
Maya laughed.
“This is going to be fun.”
By afternoon, the entire school seemed to be outside.
The basketball court was packed.
Students were shouting.
Music played from speakers.
The cheerleaders were practicing their routine on the side of the court.
Heaven sat beside Maya.
She tried to look uninterested.
She failed.
Because Conrad had just walked onto the court.
The crowd erupted.
He smiled and waved toward the students.
Then his eyes found Heaven.
He pointed at her.
Maya gasped.
“He just pointed at you!”
“He was probably pointing at someone behind me.”
“There is nobody behind you.”
Heaven covered her face.
“Please stop.”
Maya laughed.
The game began.
Conrad moved quickly.
He was fast, confident and completely focused.
Every time he scored, the crowd screamed.
Heaven found herself cheering too.
When he made another shot, she stood up without thinking.
“Yes!”
Maya stared at her.
Heaven slowly sat back down.
“You saw nothing.”
“I saw everything.”
The game continued.
Conrad’s team was winning.
Then Sierra appeared.
She walked onto the court wearing the school’s cheer uniform.
Heaven’s smile disappeared.
Maya noticed.
“Oh.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Sierra joined the other cheerleaders.
She looked confident.
Too confident.
When Conrad scored again, Sierra ran toward him during the break and hugged him.
The crowd cheered.
Heaven froze.
Conrad gently pulled away.
But it didn’t matter.
The damage was done.
Maya looked at Heaven.
“Don’t.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re squeezing your water bottle.”
Heaven looked down.
The bottle was nearly crushed in her hand.
She released it.
“I’m fine.”
Maya didn’t believe her.
Across the court, Sierra looked toward Heaven.
Their eyes met.
Sierra smiled.
It wasn’t a friendly smile.
Heaven looked away.
The second half began.
Conrad played harder.
His team was only a few points ahead.
The crowd became louder.
Then something strange happened.
The lights around the court flickered.
Heaven looked up.
Not again.
She felt the familiar tingling in her fingers.
Her heart started beating faster.
She looked toward Conrad.
He had stopped moving.
His hand was gripping his wrist.
The mark.
It was glowing.
Brightly.
Heaven stood.
“Conrad.”
He looked toward her.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Then the basketball suddenly flew across the court without anyone touching it.
It slammed into the wall.
The entire crowd went silent.
“What was that?” someone shouted.
Conrad stared at the ball.
Heaven stared at her hands.
Nobody had seen what she had seen.
Nobody except Sierra.
Sierra was staring directly at Heaven.
Then she looked at Conrad.
Her expression changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
Conrad walked toward the ball.
His teammates started talking.
“Did someone throw that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe it slipped.”
Conrad didn’t answer.
He looked at Heaven again.
She shook her head slightly.
Not here.
Not now.
The lights flickered again.
This time, every light around the court went out.
Students screamed.
The entire place went dark.
Then a golden flash appeared in the middle of the court.
Heaven gasped.
She knew that light.
Her magic.
But she wasn’t using it.
The lights suddenly came back.
Everyone looked around.
Nothing appeared to have changed.
Except Conrad.
He was on one knee.
Holding his wrist.
Heaven ran toward him.
“Conrad!”
He looked up.
“I’m okay.”
“Your wrist.”
He quickly covered it.
“I said I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.”
He stood.
“Not here.”
He took her hand and pulled her away from the crowd.
Maya watched them disappear.
Sierra watched too.
The game was forgotten for a moment.
Behind the gym, Conrad finally stopped.
He turned toward Heaven.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“You felt it.”
“Yes.”
He looked at her hand.
“So did you.”
Heaven nodded.
“Your mark was glowing.”
“So were your hands.”
They stared at each other.
Then Conrad smiled.
“You know, we’re really bad at keeping this secret.”
Heaven laughed despite herself.
“This isn’t funny.”
“I know.”
He stepped closer.
“But you’re okay?”
She nodded.
“Are you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Promise?”
He looked at her.
“Promise.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then voices came from around the corner.
“There they are!”
Heaven jumped.
Maya appeared with Dylan behind her.
Maya looked between them.
Then she grinned.
“Oh.”
Heaven immediately stepped away from Conrad.
“We were just talking.”
Dylan laughed.
“Sure.”
Maya looked at Conrad.
“You two disappear together every time something happens.”
Conrad shrugged.
“Maybe we’re just lucky.”
Maya smiled.
“Or maybe there’s something going on.”
Heaven’s face heated.
“No.”
Conrad smiled.
“Not yet.”
Everyone laughed.
Heaven covered her face.
“You’re impossible.”
Conrad leaned toward her.
“And you’re cute when you’re embarrassed.”
Maya screamed.
“I knew it!”
Heaven groaned.
The teasing had officially begun.
But while everyone laughed, Sierra stood several feet away.
She wasn’t laughing.
She was staring at the glowing mark on Conrad’s wrist.
Then she looked at Heaven.
Her expression was serious.
Because Sierra knew something they didn’t.
The magic had just taken its first public step.
And whatever was coming next would be much harder to hide.
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