Fallen Elemental (Elemental Series Book 1), page 5
I turn infinitesimally so I can see Nadia’s reaction. A small, pleased smile forms at the sight. Her face is extremely pale, and her blue eyes are filled with fear. She nods quickly and I notice that the girls around her seem to be leaning away from her, as if they can somehow disappear if they aren't close to her.
Theodore doesn't say anything else, just turns back and takes his seat beside me. He picks up my free hand again and presses a soft kiss to the back of my palm, lifting his gaze to meet mine.
Then he settles our joined hands on top of my knees, his eyes shining with an intensity I've never seen before. It takes my breath away.
"If you ever have a problem with someone, just let me know. I don't hit women, but I will make sure they never look sideways at you again."
I don't respond, the feelings that are rising up within me too overwhelming to formulate words right now, so I just nod and turn my attention towards the coach's office, waiting for him to come out. He usually waits until we're all sitting before making his appearance and giving his instructions on what he expects us to be doing that day.
Finally, the rest of the students come out of the locker rooms, Dane and Mike being two of the last. They sit right behind me, directly in front of Nadia and her squad. While part of me would like to think that the move is protective, realistically, I know it's just because they want to sit close to their friends.
Once everyone is seated on the bleachers, Coach Callahan comes waltzing out of his office. Although you can see from the photos framed in his office that he was once a very attractive and athletic man, he no longer looks that way. Now he's a balding middle-aged man with a pudgy belly that protrudes over his belt. I found that odd when I first started going here. The previous school I went to had a very fit gym teacher because it was a requirement by the school board, but either Ashville doesn't have the funding for a more suitable teacher, or they just don't care.
Coach Callahan stops just before the bleachers, his gaze roaming over the class. Then he claps his hands together loudly, making me jump. “Okay, everyone. Today we’ll have soccer outside and basketball inside. Decide which you’d like to play and go either out to the field for soccer, or stay inside the gym for basketball.”
Then without another word, he turns his back to us and walks over to the doors that lead out to the soccer field. He throws them open and heads outside, and the doors slam shut behind him a moment later. There's a collective sigh from the bleachers and the majority of the students get up and make their way towards the doors leading outside.
I wait until pretty much the whole class has made their choices. Then I make my way over to the small gathering of students on the basketball court, leaving the four new guys behind on the bleachers to follow everyone else out to the soccer field.
It's not that I don't like soccer, because I do. It’s just that whenever I’m involved, it becomes more violent than soccer should be and my legs are still sore from the endless chores and beatings. At least I know basketball is less likely to result in me getting injured. Sure, my muscles are going to hurt tomorrow, but that’s a problem for then.
As I stand against the wall waiting for the few students who are playing basketball to sort themselves out, I notice the new guys have all followed me. I turn to them, my brows furrowed in confusion. “Um, you guys know soccer is out on the field, right? Basketball is inside.”
No way would these guys want to play basketball, right? I mean, they just seem like the type who would prefer athletic sports that involve running.
I sink to the floor, waiting for Coach Callahan to come back in to check on us, and for the boys to leave. But Theodore surprises me by taking a seat on the floor beside me, a knowing grin on his face. "Yeah, we know, but we want to stick around. We all want to stay near you," he murmurs, before booping me on the nose.
I smile softly and we both watch as his friends sink to the floor, sitting next to us.
"Besides," Kylan adds, drawing my gaze, "soccer sucks. I'd rather be in here shooting hoops than running around outside like a fool. I'd probably trip over my own damn feet out there."
I stifle a giggle at the image of Kylan slipping in the grass on the field, his arms flailing about before landing on the ground with a great big ‘oomph.’
Kylan nudges me with his shoulder like he can tell what I'm thinking and a giggle accidentally slips free. "You should laugh more often, sweetness. That is one hell of an adorable sound you make."
I flame in embarrassment and turn away from him, covering my cheeks with my hands in hopes of stopping the flush of color before it gets worse. My creamy skin turns red easily when I'm embarrassed, but it's been a while since I've felt the familiar burn in my cheeks.
Rather than speak and possibly make a fool of myself, I remain quiet, instead counting how many people chose to stay behind for basketball. There’s only five of them, other than us, but I know each of them, too well actually. After all, they haven't exactly made my life easy since I came here.
The first guy, the ringleader as I like to call him, is none other than Derrick. He's a typical jock with wavy brown hair and sparkly brown eyes that draw all girls to him. Not that Nadia would allow such a thing, seeing as he's her boyfriend. They are what many of the students here refer to as on again and off again. No one ever truly knows when they’re actually dating so most of us just treat them as a perma couple.
With Derrick are the four jocks who hang around him constantly, like a bunch of pathetic groupies: Dean, Timmy, Clint and Nev.
They all hang off Derrick's every word like he knows the answers to the universe. While I don't fault them for wanting to be friends with him, I do find it disgusting that they don’t seem to have any thoughts of their own.
Clint and I used to be friends, well as close as I could get to having friends given my situation. He was the one who helped guide me around the school when I first moved here. He even warned me that the guys here usually had some kind of bet in place regarding who could get a girl to date them.
He and I would study together, and we’d help each other with any assignments we got stuck on. He never once asked me to come to my home, seeming to sense that I would deny his request, so instead we would meet at the library after school.
Everything was great, at least until Derrick set his sights on me. To be fair, Clint tried to stay friends with me after that, but it quickly became a me or him situation. Derrick wanted me all to himself, but thought I was in love with Clint and that's why I wouldn't give him the time of day. The truth was, I couldn’t bring myself to form any close attachments. Even if Derrick had ever been nice to me, it would never have worked out, because I would have painted a target on my back for Nadia. It was bad enough she had already singled me out from day one, making it clear that being close to Clint meant I was also too close to Derrick.
After that, Clint started to withdraw, a little more each day, eventually becoming more like the other Derrick groupies and less like the Clint I had known and become to care for. To make matters even worse, I heard Nadia gloating in the locker rooms one day, saying that Clint had won a bet, a bet featuring me.
I was in tears when I confronted him after school that day. Rather than deny it, like I expected him to, he said the words that made me hate them all. 'Why would I ever care about someone as pathetic as you? You were just a means to an end and because of you, I won. I was able to make you care when you ignored everyone else.'
His cruel words were made all the worse when I found out Derrick had filmed my entire emotional breakdown and then shared it with the entire student population. That day, I vowed to never let myself get close to another guy again.
But that’s part of the reason these four new guys intrigue me. They have yet to be affected by Derrick's influence.
I don't get a chance to think more on the subject, because just then, the double doors leading out to the soccer field slam open. Coach Callahan comes in, wearing a scowl on his face and grumbling under his breath about stupid teenagers.
He stops in front of our small group, sighing in mild annoyance. "Right, today most of the class has chosen to participate in soccer, so I will be outside monitoring the two games going on. The ten of you can remain in here unsupervised, but know this." He levels us all with a stern glare. "If I have to come back in here because you act up or can't get along, then you will all be stuck in detention until the day you graduate."
Coach Callahan turns to me, his gaze softening slightly. "I'm trusting you to keep the boys in line, Evelyn. If any of them get out of hand, come find me."
He waits for me to give him a nod of acknowledgement before turning to leave. I glance over and see that all four of the new guys are watching me with curious expressions. I don't say anything, because there really isn't much to say. Coach Callahan may be a hard ass, but he and I have a bit of an understanding and he trusts me to keep an eye on things. Plus, he knows what my home life is like, having seen firsthand the effects of a beating the following day.
About six months ago, I had flat out refused to get changed into my gym uniform, not wanting anyone to see the bruises. He ended up keeping me after class, saying I wouldn’t pass if I didn't complete the obstacle course. When I tried to do it in my normal clothes, he again got prissy. Since it was only him, I finally decided there couldn’t be much harm in changing into my uniform. But as I had feared, when I left the locker room, the bruises didn't go unnoticed.
He demanded answers, refusing to let me complete the obstacle course until I explained everything. It wasn't until he threatened to call the police and inform the principal that I broke down, begging him not to say anything, because it would be so much worse the next time if he did.
Finally he let the matter drop, and let me complete the obstacle course at my insistence, but he was a lot more watchful of me after that. I would find him and other teachers keeping an eye on me, and one time, we even had child services make a surprise visit to my home. I knew better then to tell the social workers anything.
Coach Callahan didn’t give up, though. Even after that visit, he would make sure to ask me at least once or twice a week if I was okay, and whether I had changed my mind about talking to the authorities. Eventually he realized I would never change my mind and just left me be, but he's still kinder towards me then he is to any of the other students, at least as far as I've seen.
As soon as the doors close behind Coach Callahan, Derrick turns to me, sneering like the ass that he is.
"Well, Evelyn, looks like you get the new guys on your team. Even with how much you cheat, I doubt you'll win with that bunch of losers," he mocks, before turning away and grabbing a basketball from the small metal cart by Coach's door.
I get to my feet, trying not to let my anger control me. I’ll show him who the damn cheater is by the time this game is over. The guys beside me are quick to stand too.
Dane's shoulder brushes against mine as we make our way to the middle of the court. "Why does he think you cheat?"
I sigh heavily and stop, facing him and the other three that have followed after us. "Because I'm good, and in his mind, it's impossible for a girl to be good at sports. Especially with how skilled I actually am. I don't lose. Okay, that's not entirely true, but at least when I'm at my best, I don't."
"Interesting," Dane murmurs as Derrick waltzes up to us.
"We're playing three on three. Pick two of your guys to sit out and I'll do the same with two of mine."
“That’s fine, Derrick. Are you sure about that, though? I can ask all of the guys on my team to sit out if you’d like, just to make it fair on your team.” I give a cocky smirk, putting a hand on my hip. It's been a while since I antagonized him and gosh, the thrill I get from it is addictive. Sure, he'll taunt me for it later and try to make my life a living hell. But what he doesn't know is that no matter what shit he slings my way, it’s nowhere near what I've been forced to endure.
Derrick looks like he’d love nothing more than to throw a basketball at my face right now, but I see the hesitation in his eyes as his gaze flickers over to the new guys. If it was just his groupies, I’m sure he’d do it in a heartbeat, but he knows he needs to exercise control over the new guys before he can get away with that kind of shit.
"Whatever, Evelyn. Just pick out your team."
Then he turns his back on me, and I have to hold back my shiver of disgust. I hate the way he says my name, his tongue rolling over it it’s like a dirty word. But then again, the last time he called me Evie, I punched him in the face.
“Give us five minutes to plan our play, then it’s game on,” I call out, before turning to face the four guys, who are all watching me with brows raised in surprise. I guess I can understand, since I usually come off a bit withdrawn to most people. But when sports are involved, then all bets are off and I become a whole new person.
“Sorry, guys, but I'm competitive and love to win. So now we just need to decide which of the two of you will be starting the game with me. I don’t know what sports you've played, so speak up if you’ve never played basketball.” All the guys remain silent, still watching me intently. I think there’s a chance I may have frightened them with my competitive and assertive side.
Michael clears his throat, a smile spreading across his face. “Evie, we all know how to play basketball and have played before. Dane would probably be our weakest link, only because he hasn’t played in the last six months or so, but I doubt even that would stop him from beating the other team.”
I look to Dane for confirmation and am surprised by the feral gleam in his eyes. I decide not to question it, though, assuming it's nothing more than that competitive nature I too tend to get. I don’t know if it’s the same for him, but for me it’s like a switch is flipped and I become a completely different person until the adrenaline wears off.
"Alright then, who wants to play first?" I ask, waiting for one of them to volunteer, but they all look to be having one of their silent discussions, throwing glances around at one another.
Finally the strange looks stop and Kylan and Mike take a step closer to me while Dane and Theodore move back a little.
"Mike and I will play with you now, then Dane and Theodore can be our alternates," Kylan offers with a smile. His tone is questioning and I know if I had any objections, he would be happy to have me change things up.
"Alright then, sounds like a plan." I turn to walk away but then a thought comes to mind and I pause, looking back over my shoulder. "Be careful, guys. Derrick likes to play rough and won’t hesitate to take you out any way possible. He has no problem hurting someone if it means him winning. And the more of a lead we have, the more agitated he will get," I explain, trying to hide my concern.
It’s not me I’m worried about. I can handle anything. Last time we played soccer, Derrick kept purposely kicking my legs out from under me. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to go on that field again.
That day when I came home with bruises on my legs and back from my repeated falls to the ground, my father was furious and decided to add to them.
But the guys need to know exactly what Derrick is capable of. My bet is he won't do anything to them, probably just to me like usual. I just hope the new guys can hold their own in this game, because I really want to kick Derrick’s ass.
Seven
Kylan
I take deep breaths as one of her memories assaults me. My Fire rages within me, urging me to destroy any who would dare harm my bonded.
One minute Evie was warning us about the douche canoe who likes to play dirty, and the next, I am thrust into this memory from hell.
Evelyn is lying prone on the floor while a man who looks nothing like her hovers over her, screaming down at her. "You think it's okay to let another mark you? I’ll just have to cover them with my own then!" He continues to yell at her, striking her repeatedly as she curls up into the fetal position.
Each strike makes my heart feel like it’s going to shatter into a million pieces, agonized by the sight of her having to endure such pain.
I can feel through my bond that the others are seeing this too, but none of us know quite how to make the situation better. How can we to stop this from happening to the girl that is supposed to be ours? It shouldn't be like this. We should have found her before any of our elements ever activated, but instead she had to suffer through all of this alone.
What kind of Elemental would abandon their daughter to this fate? But unfortunately, it isn’t all that uncommon. That’s actually part of the reason Theodore has been trying to set up a secret group of Elementals that could live among the humans and infiltrate the foster care system. We have found so many lost Elementals hidden among humans, simply because their birth parents have left them with no knowledge of what they are. Most of the time, it’s women who have had relations with a male Elemental. They will often abandon the child out of fear after it shows an affinity for its element. However, we have also found abandoned children and teens, ones who were given to the humans simply because the Elemental parents didn’t want a child they considered to be weak. Power is everything in our society, but still, it’s a horrible practice. But more than that, it is dangerous for them to just abandon Elemental children.
We have tried to change the way our kind thinks, but we still continue to find Elementals hidden among humans, far more than we should. It has the potential to create a very big problem, especially if they end up in an abusive situation like Evie. Our powers are linked to our emotions and before they release, they can be extremely volatile.
How this sweet girl didn’t kill everyone in the whole city when this happened to her is beyond me. She must have buried her element deep for it not to react to such violence.
It should have protected her from such pain. Even though an Elemental’s full power doesn't come until they reach the age of eighteen, she still should have some kind of built-in defense mechanism in place. The fact she didn't makes Ted’s desire for someone to infiltrate the foster systems all the more compelling. Maybe if that had happened years ago, our bonded would have been found before any of these atrocities ever occurred. As it is, I have to wonder if she will ever truly trust us after being so betrayed by those who were supposed to love her.
