Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

“Are you alright?”

I continue focusing on the fascinating grass beneath me. I rub my feet, still aching after what happened last night. If I don’t make eye contact, maybe nothing will happen.

Amelia sighs, “Rose… you can’t keep staring at the ground like you’re madly in love with it suddenly.”

I pause, looking up a bit.

“Amelia?”

“Mhm?” she says, her voice hopeful.

“Did you ever feel like…” I bite my lip, “...like your power may be… wrong? Like you should hide it?”

She looks at me, surprised, “Well, I’m pretty sure everyone feels that way, mate. No matter if you have powers or not, everyone doubts themself at some point in life.”

I look into her eyes, finally, “So… you have?”

She smiles, “Well… Yeah… I did for quite a while, actually,” her smile weakens a bit, and she sighs before continuing, “I did tell you about my brother and how I was homeschooled for a while… But I kinda left out a few details. For one, I learned I had powers when I was only 6 years old�" right after my brother was found to have died. It was hard enough dealing with my little brother dying… but to find out I had powers, too? Gosh, it was a nightmare,” she pauses briefly, “And don’t get me wrong, I had pretty amazing parents. They taught me gently and gave me a childhood that I can’t imagine for many people. But…” she bites her lip, “If I’m going to be honest, I just wanted to be normal for a while. I’d see kids running and laughing, not having to worry about training. They got to make friends and interact with each other. It made me really lonely.”

She sniffs, “When I moved out, I immediately just stopped practicing. I wanted to be normal, to finally experience life. I got a job as a clerk and started anew. I was waiting for myself to be happy with my newfound opportunity… But it felt strange. I felt like I was hiding something, but all I wanted was to simply forget it all,” she smiles, “Of course, that’s impossible. Sometimes I would see a pigeon at my doorstep, ready to gossip… But I tried to ignore it. Tried to normalize myself,” a bright look comes on her face, “Then I learned about the Rebellion. I knew about the War, of course, but since I was practically on the other side of the world, I didn’t think it applied to me much. But I had turned on my electric screen once, and it had horrible footage of all the damage the War had caused. At the end of the footage, there was an ad to join the Rebellion. I brushed it off, tried to forget it like everything else in my life, but it really stuck with me. Eventually, I signed up. I traveled thousands of kilometers away from my home… and ended up here.”

She smiles brightly, “It’s been 2 years… and I’ve enjoyed every bit of it.”

I bite my lip, looking back down silently.

“You don’t have to listen to me,” Amelia says sadly, “but if you learn anything from this… You shouldn’t hide what you’re meant to do.”

I smile sadly, muttering, “Okay.”

She lifts my chin, “Thatagirl. Now,” she says, brushing her hands together, “are we going to focus on training or continue to pout?”

I purse my lips as she starts coaching me, my thoughts lingering on what she said. I really can’t hide it… can I? People will find out eventually… and when they do, I don’t want them to be terrified of me.

Shame fills me. I wasn’t even thinking about what they thought, only how the outcome would be for me. Just like I always do, like how I’ve done my entire life. Always jumping to the fastest solution, not considering the possibilities.

“Now try imagining the water…” I hear Amelia say faintly as more guilt rises.

I could get it over with… I could tell her right now what happened. Why am I so terrified? She would get it… right? I play out how the conversation would go in my head:

Amelia… I got something to tell ya… I can make ice.

Her face morphs to disbelief, her face frozen like a statue. She tries to say something, but I see her mouth shaking…

I sigh, it would never work. I try to pay attention again, but I can’t shake it.

Involuntarily, I feel my mouth form the words, “Amelia… I actually do have something to tell you…”

Immediate regret hits me, almost making me gasp for air from the push in my chest. Why in the world would I say that? Now I have to tell her! I melt inside, becoming water and disappearing into the ground.

She smiles, looking relieved, “Yeah? What is it?”

I try to think of something else to tell her. Something about how… she’s doing a great job? No, she’d suspect something was still up. I fight for words in my head. But inwardly… a little voice whispers to me:

Tell her.

I take a deep breath, attempting to calm my nerves. 

“It’s about my powers. Something I found out…”

The words keep pouring out; I’m unable to control them. Every part of me is screaming to stop, but still that little voice stays calm during the chaos, telling me this is right.

A shaky breath escapes me as I let out, “I can make ice.”

She’s immediately shocked, and I wince as I remember my daydream.

I avoid eye contact, “I… found out when I was taking a shower last night… I don’t know why I didn’t want to tell you. I just…” I shudder, confessing, “I’m scared, Amelia.”

I look back, my heart pounding as I await her answer.

She takes her hands in mine, her face beaming and her hands warm, “Rose, that’s amazing! You did it all by yourself? Just made ice with no training?”

I pull back slightly, uncomfortable, “Well, yeah, but�"”

Amelia brushes back her hair, staring off to the side in amazement, “Wow, I guess we've got a whole thing coming for the War, huh? We'd better train up on this too�"”

I open my mouth in confusion, “Training? No, no, no�"”

“Just think how powerful this would make us,” she keeps rambling, “how it would protect everyone�"”

“I don’t want to train it,” I say firmly, “I won’t.”

She looks to me, finally, the brightness in her eyes fading. 

She scrunches her eyebrows together, “What?”

I take a deep breath, “I’m not training my ice powers. I’m not using them ever again.”

She looks at me incredulously, “Why? This is an amazing power! Why would you tell me if you didn’t want to use it?”

I pause, then whisper, looking down at my feet, “I’m not using it. It… could hurt everyone really easily. I barely thought and�"” I sniff.

Worry replaces Amelia’s face, “Rose… what happened? In the shower?”

I silently lean down toward my shoes, tenderly taking one of them off. I wince as the sores touch the top of it, but grimace and place the shoe aside. I roll down the sock, revealing the bloody, hasty bandages underneath.

Amelia gingerly gets closer, her face horrified, “How did this happen? What could have�" Why didn’t you go see the medic?!”

I shrug, trying to look unbothered while rolling my sock back up, “I don’t know…”

Amelia sighs, pinching her nose and muttering to herself, “What am I going to do with this child?” she turns back to me, grasping my shoulders, “Rose, I know it’s painful (and right after I tell you this, we’re going straight to the medic), but you can’t push stuff like this down, mate. Yes, it has the potential to hurt the ones you love. But it also has the potential to fight the enemy,” she shakes her head before returning her attention to me, “You need to train this, Rose.”

I stand up, shaking away her hands, “I’m not. Training. My ice powers.”

I run off, tugging my shoe back on as I go.

“Rose! Wait!” I hear Amelia cry from behind me.

I run fast through the halls, unsure where I’m going. I can’t escape her, I know that, so how would this help?

Author's Note

NOT FINISHED!! Very much just out bc i luv yall and how much ya love this story <3