Reckless Magic (9 page)

The trash can exploded. Whatever was
in it scattered across the stage, along with shredded pieces of
tin. I felt much better and although I was sure the explosion was
loud, I was almost positive it couldn’t have been heard upstairs. I
brushed what pieces of debris remain on me and ran for the exit,
out the double doors of the theater, and towards the marble
staircase.

I didn’t make it far however, before I
noticed Kiran and Talbott entering the building. They were talking
quietly, but heatedly until they looked up and noticed me leaving
the dark theater. They instantly stopped talking and gave each
other a quick glance.

“
What were you doing in
there?” Kiran asked suspiciously, returning his gaze to
mine.

“
Nothing…. I got lost,” I
gave a sheepish grin and slowed down to a fast walk, hoping to make
it to the stairs before them. I felt much better after I had
discarded the electricity and felt an entirely new kind of energy,
a natural kind.

“
I don’t believe you,” Kiran
said bluntly, eyes squinted accusatorily.

“
Kiran, let’s just get to
class,” Talbott interrupted.

“
Good idea,” I agreed over
my shoulder, passing them while they still stood in the lobby. I
made it to the stairs, sprinting the remaining distance to class.
By the time I reached the door to English I was completely out of
breath.

“
Oh, Ms. Matthews, late
again I see,” Mr. Lambert acknowledged my entrance with disdain and
irritation. “At Kingsley we try to make promptness part of our
daily routine. I hope this will not be a regular occurrence.” He
gave me a snide smirk, but allowed me to take my seat in the back
without further commentary. Lilly looked back and rolled her
eyes.

A few minutes later Kiran and Talbott
arrived to class. They were both a little red in the face and had
clearly continued their argument after I left them. Mr. Lambert
gave them both a genuine smile and said nothing about their
tardiness as they took their seats. Now I was the one that was
irritated.

English seemed to drag on under Mr.
Lamberts lecture; I had a terrible time paying attention. He was
going on and on about Shakespeare, but my only thoughts were on the
evidence I left in the theater. At the time I had been dreading the
consequences of being late to class over the consequences of what
would happen to me if the school figured out who trashed the
theater…. literally. I groaned inwardly, as I realized I should
have cleaned up my mess and destroyed all evidence first and
worried about class second. “Pssst,” Kiran whispered in my
direction, when I refused to look at him he tried again, “Pssssst,”
I pulled my hair over my shoulders and blocked my view of
him.

“
Eden,” he tried a little
louder, causing several students around us to turn and glare.
“Eden.”

“
What?” I whispered back as
sharply as I could, peeking out from behind my wall of
hair.

“
Why were you late this
morning?” he smirked, proud that he was able to get my
attention.

“
Why were you?” I avoided
his question. The theater incident was just one of the many reasons
I was running late that morning.

“
I’m allowed to be late.
Didn’t you sleep well last night?” his grin widened into a smile
and his perfect, straight and white teethe glistened at
me.

I let my hair fall quickly back in
front of my face, and slouched a little lower. My cheeks burned
with the memory of my dream from the night before; being near
Kiran, my hand in his, his eyes piercing me, as if looking into my
soul. Thoughts of how inviting and seductive Kiran was in my dream
conflicted with my fears of him finding out how crazy I was and
more specifically about the trash can. I heard him snicker softly
and a surge of electricity made my blood feel hot beneath my skin.
He had my emotions completely confused…. I didn’t even know what I
was feeling.

The bell finally rang and I took my
time standing up out of my seat. I gathered my books slowly; all of
the time my dark hair masked my face. Eventually, the next class
started to file in and I looked up, relieved to be the last junior
left. I headed for the stairs, just as slowly, afraid of
Drama.

Unfortunately, I didn’t need to wait
until class for the drama to begin because Kiran was casually
sitting on the black and white marble staircase, blocking my path.
He sat in the middle of the fifth step, looking like a model
waiting for the photo shoot to begin. His face wore the familiar
smirk I had grown accustomed to seeing as he watched me awkwardly
approach. I was not totally sure I understood his infatuation with
bothering me.

“
I was worried you would get
lost,” he said smugly as I walked closer.

“
Where’s Talbott?” I asked,
realizing his absence was strange.

“
He didn’t want to be late
for class,” Kiran stood to his feet, waiting for me to ascend the
steps.

“
Me either,” I breathed,
picking up my pace, but brushing shoulders with Kiran as I passed.
As soon as our bodies connected, the strong shocking sensation
seized my shoulder forcing me to grab it with my other hand for
support. I gasped for air and pulled my body away, but I still felt
the impression of his skin hot underneath my shirt.

“
Are you alright?” he asked,
his English accent sounding more like mockery than
concern.

“
I’m fine,” I steadied
myself and continued up the stairs as quickly as I could; although
I was still a little out of breath from what felt like tiny
lightning bolts in my blood. The shocking sensation grew to
encompass my entire circulatory system and I cursed underneath my
breath, determining that I would not faint today.

“
Eden, you are ridiculous!”
Kiran sounded exasperated as he caught up with me on the stairs and
grabbed my wrist with his hand.

The force of his touch was too much to
handle. The electricity surged through my body at an alarming rate
causing my heart to beat wildly. I forced myself to focus, but my
vision became blurry and a high pitched ringing sound pierced my
ears. I tried to say something but the world became dark around me.
I felt myself falling and wondered for a moment if fainting down a
flight of stairs would hurt.

----

“
Eden…. Eden…. wake up,
love….” a soft, foreign voice pulled me out of darkness.

I opened my eyes slowly, but shut them
swiftly when the light from the crystal chandelier was too much. My
blood was flowing at a rapid pace and charged with a strong current
of electricity. My heart was beating quickly, although somewhat in
control and I realized that I was lying in someone’s
arms.

“
Come on…. let me know you
are all right,” the voice turned stern and I obeyed, I opened my
eyes slower and let them adjust to the light around me.

I groaned audibly when I looked up to
find Kiran looking back at me. His expression read concerned and
when I was finally able to focus on him, I watched his facial
muscles relax. The piercing aqua color of his eyes gazed into mine
and I couldn’t remember what happened or how I ended up in his
arms.

“
Did I faint again?” I
mumbled as memories slowly started to come back.

“
Mmmm…. hmmm….” Kiran smiled
and I realized that we were positioned on the marble staircase
still. He must have caught me before I fell down the entire
flight.

“
Thank you,” my voice was a
little horse and I found that I was very comfortable lying in his
arms. Despite the temperature and activity of my blood, I was
hesitant to get up. I groaned again, milking it just a little
longer.

“
How can you really not know
what you are?” Kiran’s voice was soft and soothing and although I
didn’t understand his question, he seemed to find it amusing and
laughed a little.

“
Mr. Kendrick, Ms. Matthews
I believe you are supposed to be in class right now,” Principal
Saint hollered at us from the middle of the lobby. I wasn’t aware
there was anyone around and my cheeks flamed with
embarrassment.

I tried to sit up quickly as I heard
Principal Saints’ footsteps come closer, but Kiran held me down. I
looked at him with pleading eyes, mortified by the predicament
Principal Saint had found us in. Kiran laughed again, but slowly
helped me into a sitting position.

“
I apologize sir,” Kiran
addressed Principal Saint, almost disdainfully; “You see we were on
our way to class, when Ms. Matthews fainted and nearly took a
tumble down the stairs.” I could hear the amusement in his tone and
felt like punching him in the shoulder.

“
Is this true Ms. Matthews?”
Principal Saint stopped walking when he reached the bottom of the
stairs, and eyed me skeptically.

“
Yes, it is true.” I
defended, terrified of the consequences I was about to face.
“Luckily, Kiran, um, Mr. Kendrick was here to catch me,” I stood
up, shakily and looked as grateful as I thought I felt; although I
realized it was all his fault to begin with.

“
Hmmm…. I suppose it was
lucky,” Principal Saint did not look completely convinced and eyed
Kiran with more suspicion. “Ms. Matthews are you alright to
continue on to class?” I nodded silently. “Alright then go on, I
will inform Ms. Woodsen of the incident. Mr. Kendrick please come
with me, I have an errand for you to run.”

Principal Saint turned on his heel
without waiting for a reply from either of us and headed for the
doors that exit the building. Kiran gave me a roguish look and a
familiar smirk before following behind Principal Saint. I stared
after them more confused than ever, before turning in the opposite
direction finally on my way to Drama. Electricity was still rushing
through my veins, leaving me overwhelmingly weak and
shaky.

----

By the time I arrived at lunch I was
exhausted. My nerves were completely fried and my hands could not
stop shaking from the violent current in my bloodstream. Every
small physical contact with another student sent more electricity
running through my body, and my head was fuzzy from trying to
function through it all.

When I finally took a seat next to
Lilly at a table in the corner of the lunchroom, I was physically
ill from the trauma taking place inside of my body. I knew that I
looked like a terrible mess. I could feel the sweat beads dripping
down my temples and the back of my neck. My hands were shaking so
violently I had to clasp them together tightly to keep from making
a scene.

“
Are you ok?” Lilly looked
at me, concerned.

“
Um, I think I might be
coming down with something,” I lied, but knew there was no better
explanation; I was pretty sure this was unexplainable and I’d
rather not let Lilly in on how crazy I was. I tried to think of a
way to sneak back into the theater after lunch, I needed to blow
something up, before I blew up instead.

“
You’re lying,” Kiran’s
severe voice was suddenly beside me and I nearly jumped out of my
seat. He sat down next to me and our bodies were almost touching.
Electricity pulsed through me in waves now and I realized I could
be sick at any moment. The close proximity to Kiran had sweat
pouring down my face and I could literally feel my blood
boiling.

“
About what?” I deflected; I
could feel my shoulders begin to shake more violently. It was hard
to believe, I was still trying to play this off. My hand reached up
instinctively to wipe my forehead, but I quickly brought it down
again when I saw how badly it was shaking.

“
I saw what you did in the
theater,” he had quieted his voice and leaned in to whisper in my
ear. “And we both know what happened on the stairs. Now look at
you; you are clearly about to go into some type of shock.” I should
have been grateful for his discretion, but his nearness was causing
my vision to blur from the intensity of energy. His warm breath
tickled my ear but a cold shiver ran down the back of my
neck.

“
I don’t know what you
mean,” I tried to deflect again, but now I realized Kiran and
Talbott weren’t late to English because they had continued their
argument; they had gone to investigate the theater after I passed
them. It was stupid of me to rush up the stairs so quickly, and it
was stupid of me to linger on the stairs with Kiran. Why was he so
damn nosey?

“
Yes, you do,” Kiran leaned
in closer to my neck, his lips nearly touching my ear. His voice
was silky and soft, it had lost its edge and I could feel his lips
brush my hair. “What’s wrong with you?” He sat back
quickly.

I had begun to convulse, and wondered
to myself if this was a seizure. Surely I was too coherent for a
seizure, but my body was shaking so violently, I could barely stay
seated. A small part of me wondered if I should bite down on a
spoon, but before I could react I felt myself falling backwards;
slightly aware I was causing a scene.

I fully expected to hit the floor, but
instead, I felt strong arms reach out and catch me. I looked up
assuming to see Kiran, but instead I was shocked to see Principal
Saint looking down at me. His eyes were full of concern and I could
see his mouth was moving, but the ringing in my ears drowned out
the sound. That was the last thing I saw before I lost
consciousness for the second time that day.