Reaching Venus

lies and heartbreak

Venus

I made sure Fern and I were the first ones to the auditorium the next morning. Headmaster William had left a message for all upper level elemental students and any elemental adults living in the faery ring to meet here first thing in the morning. A few seconds after Fern and I walked in Maverick followed. A minute or two later Amber joined us.

She looked like she hadn't slept much. When she joined us where we were sitting in the front row, waiting for the headmaster and the other elementals, she wrapped her arms around herself tightly.

I moved over to the chair next to her and whispered," Hey Amber...what's wrong? It wasn't one of your brothers was it?"

"Oh no no. My family is fine thankfully". She said attempting a small smile.

"That's great. So what's going on with you?" I asked.

Amber sunk lower in her seat as she said, "It's silly considering what is going on....but Ian broke up with me last night."

"What?!" I said a little too loud, earning side glances from Fern and Maverick.

"Apparently, last night at that karaoke thong Ian heard his human. He said it felt wrong to string me along when he knows he isn't in love with me"

As we had been talking the seats around us were filling in with other students and elementals. Before I could respond the headmaster walked up on stage to make his announcement. But what he said was not what I was expecting. Headmaster William painted it like this was an exciting opportunity for us to practice our magic in the real world. He didn't mention a single thing about a faery being dead or the potential risk to us.

Fern scowled as he was talking. Earth elementals valued truth about all else so she was reasonably upset. My head was spinning. I hadn't dealt with the fact that Ian had pulled a jack a*s move breaking up with Amber right after she thought one of her family members could've died and now I was sitting here, holding the truth, while our headmaster lied to us all.

The headmaster had us all split up into our own elements. Before my friends could go anywhere I pulled them aside to discuss the situation. We all agreed that it was wrong to expect kids to go out when there could be some sort of magical killer out there. Fern made the observation that between the 4 of us who knew the truth we covered all the elements. We weren't going to let anyone leave here without knowing what they were risking.

I made my way over to the wind elementals. They were all chattering, excited to get to try something new. Knowing them they would be over it in a few days. I started telling groups of people what I knew, careful not to be over heard. As I finished explaining to a small group of senior girls one of them rolled her eyes. I crossed my arms over my chest and shot her a challenging look.

"Oh no, not you hun. I just saw my boyfriend...well ex boyfriend" She said.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Ian standing in the doorway. He smiled at me and raised a hand in greeting. I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes too.

"So you must be Wendy. We talked on the phone once. I guess I should've realized then what a jerk Ian is."

Wendy looked confused for a moment but then her eyes lit up in recognition.

"Oh damn. I'd say you escaped just in time. I mean breaking up with 3 girls in one night just because you found your human? I thought meeting their person was supposed to make faeries nicer." Wendy whispered to me like we had been best friends forever.

When she spoke next it was louder and to the entire group, " Still...can't have all the faeries dying on us. I'll do what I can to help"

Not everyone in the auditorium shared Wendy's sentiment. About a fourth refused to leave the faery ring until the council figured out what was going on. Another fourth wanted to get as far from the faery ring as possible. A handful thought this was a scam to get us doing the faeries work. When all was said and done there were about 80 elementals left. It wasn't ideal but it would have to do.

We decided to all sign up for time slots throughout the next few days. That way hopefully when a faery got a calling there would be someone to help as soon as possible. After everyone was done I filled my name in for several time slots. I also wrote my number at the bottom of each sign up sheet with a note to call if an extra elemental was needed or if one couldn't make their shift.

While we worked out the logistics of things Ian remained in the corner. He barely moved until everyone else had left. Slowly he made his way over to me. I almost turned my back on him and walked out. Instead I just glared at him, daring him to speak.

"Man, I'm glad I taught you to control you fire because otherwise I'd be in trouble right now" he laughed softly and held his hands up.

"What the f**k Ian? You were supposed to walk Amber home not break her heart!" I yelled at him.

Ian's eyes went big and he didn't say anything for a second. I couldn't imagine anything that he could say that could convince me he wasn't a jerk.

He finally said, " Last night I heard my person, Venus. It was the most amazing thing..."

"Yeah and I thought that was supposed to make faeries nicer. But maybe that just proves that deep down you're a jerk. " I repeated some of what Wendy had said to me.

Ian looked like I had just slapped him in the face. Maybe it's because he had hurt one of my friends or maybe I was just scared about what was happening but I didn't care that my words hurt him. With a huff I turned on my heel a stormed out of the auditorium like a freaking toddler.