Burning blue eyes stared deeply intensely at her. Slowly it inched closer and closer, and the closer it got the more her flame pushed to come out.
When the blue burning eyes got close enough to touch Nicoleta's eyeballs with its own, flame engulfed it, and Nicoleta woke up abruptly, on the floor.
She groaned and fell back on her carpeted floors. This time her entire bed had been destroyed in the heat of her dream. It must have been the scarlet flame, because even her night wear had burned off, and usually only part of it would be seared.
Nicoleta stood up groggily and wobbled over to the phone on her wall. Like usual she dialed the resources department. The phone rang, then someone answered.
"Hello?" Nicoleta yawned, "my bed is burnt- well" she looked back and only saw her carpet and black ash. "It's gone"
The person on the other end, took some time before answering. After about a minute or so a female voice spoke on the other end.
"This call is coming from sector 2. This number is for the sector 8 resources department. You have dialed the wrong number" then she hung up and the line beeped.
Nicoleta groaned into her palmer, and placed the phone back. She didn't know the number of sector 2's resources department. She groaned even more on her hands when her watch beeped from her desk.
Her day had just begun, and she didn't know if she would be sleeping on a bed that night.
Nicoleta got ready for the day anyway, telling herself to ask the girls if they knew the number, or ask one of the many officers that patrolled the halls.
She left and locked her door, a privilege she still got giddy over whenever she did it.
The gym was relatively good, she only got five minutes of actual gym exercise and almost the entire thirty minutes of exercise was spent trying to get there.
She joined May for breakfast, and wasn't so surprised not to find Charlotte there, however curious, she asked, anyway. "Where is Charlotte?" May gave her the nastiest look she'd ever gotten, and shrugged, "don't know- don't. Care." she said in parentheses.
Nicoleta let it rest after. They went to school hand in hand, after Nicoleta said that interlocking elbows made it harder to navigate.
They met Charlotte in the school building. Where she snatched Nicoleta away and talked about so many things which Nicoleta too focused on learning couldn't hear or wouldn't listen to.
May took her away at their last class, and Nicoleta decided to ignore her too just so it's fair.
Lunch went as it did yesterday, Nicoleta didn't intervene this time around, she ate her food and left unnoticed once again, because of their non-stop bickering.
"I'll see you guys at dinner" she said, knowing well that they didn't hear her.
Jumping jacks looked easy when somebody else did it, and it felt easy when Nicoleta started jumping but then it began to become a struggle to keep up with the rest of the class, as they seemed to go on an endless jumping jacks warm-up.
She looked at everyone else, keeping a straight, concentrated face, and wondered if she was the problem for being so exhausted, for breathing so heavily that the entire training hall could only hear her exasperated gasps for air.
Nicoleta believed she was fit, and perhaps she was to a certain degree but the fitness needed for the class was not what she expected as their 'warm-ups' felt more like hard core exercises. At this rate she wouldn't have to go to the gym anymore.
They were told to do the splits by Mr. De-Luca, and so they all attempted it Nicoleta couldn't do the splits, and she was comforted to learn that some of the others also couldn't either.
However the red belts were determined to have everyone go lower and so they all positioned themselves behind the juniors and pushed their hips farther down to the floor.
It was painful the lower they went, and even more painful to get up and use their legs as if they weren't just severely abused to do the splits.
Nicoleta complained with two other kids. "Is this practical?" She asked Mr. De-Luca in painful gasps, he didn't hear her, or completely ignored her, Nicoleta assumed he ignored her.
Her legs felt like jelly, and stone all at once, when she stood up. She forced her flame back during the entire class, as it rushed and tugged at her to come out at all cost.
She didn't withhold her glare, and was a less friendly version of herself the entire class.
They practiced high blocks, or "Olgul Makki" as Mr. De-Luca said it. He showed them the movements, and had the class practice it over and over before moving on to the next.
Mr. De-Luca had them practice the high block from their left to right, then back and front, they repeated it for about fifteen minutes more.
They moved on to the sparring stance. One foot stayed behind with the foot facing left, whilst the other stayed planted forward with the foot facing front. As instructed they kept one arm by their chest to protect, and another arm to deflect any attacks.
"Bouncing back and forth will make a more experienced opponent find your weak spot easily. It's better to bounce straight whilst keeping your feet grounded- If you are going to bounce at all that is" he corrected Nicoleta's stance, and moved on to another student. "But don't bounce too much."
Bouncing was an obstacle because her legs ached from being forced to do the splits earlier, however Nicoleta did it anyway.
They learned how to punch. And how to coordinate their punches with their kicks. Class went as yesterday with only a few differences.
Evan made them practice on a dummy. Nicoleta learned that day that her class was filled with kids with the same icy powers, which lent them the ability to freeze whatever they wanted.
Kannika could be invisible, she didn't have telekinesis but her ability to manipulate minds made up for that.
After class Nicoleta stayed back to protest about what happened earlier, Mr. De-Luca almost ignored her again until she stopped him.
"What was that?" she hadn't realised how loud she was, but she didn't exactly tone herself down either. Mr. De-Luca raised his brows, seemingly confused.
"Whatever are you talking about?" he asked, "why didn't you tell them to stop?- they forced us to do the splits, my legs are still achy from all of that- " he held up a hand. "It's a requirement Ms. Ariti, you have to know how to do the splits, your art requires it"
Nicoleta blew out a gust of smoke. She stepped back a little surprised.
That had never happened before. "Was that all?" Evan said, with his head slightly tilted as he looked down at her. Nicoleta took offense to that.
"What do you mean 'is that all?' Couldn't we have learned how to do the splits gradually?" he shook his head. Evan began to advance to the other side of the training hall, where a table stood with teacups, and a tea pot on it.
"Ms. Ariti, if you want to improve in my class" he stopped and poured himself a cup of tea, warming it with his blue flame as he poured, "you must be prepared to get out of your comfort zone- " he took a sip of the tea, and sat down on the bench behind him.
"Are you ready to get out of your comfort zone?" Nicoleta didn't respond. She allowed herself to settle, before speaking. "That wasn't it, I could have gotten hurt"
He placed the cup down, "Ms. Ariti you could always sign out of doing Taekwondo, it's not mandatory for you to stay in my class" his words simply made her more angry. Opting out wasn't what she wanted, she just wanted a much more practical way of learning, not pain, maybe a little pain, but not one that could cause injuries.
She glared at him, her teeth gnashing, and making her jaw tight.
"I will not sign out" is all she muttered before storming out of the training hall.
He couldn't tell her to get out of her comfort zone as a way to condone bad behaviour, so what if she needed to know how to do the splits, at this rate she wouldn't be able to use her legs at all.
And she would definitely not be opting out. That would probably prove him right, he imagined her as a weak girl, who was incapable of handling herself, he saw her as being a quitter, and Nicoleta didn't want to prove him right.
Opting out would make him so happy wouldn't it, well she wouldn't.
Mr. And Mrs. Arnold's class's tryouts went well. Nicoleta didn't have to worry about signing up for a different class, she had been accepted. However Akari, her former duo, was nowhere to be found, and Nicoleta was sad to find out, but she had much more important matters to get to.
Like winning her spar. Because this time instead of a simulation where all of them were in groups, Mr. And Mrs, Arnold, had them spar with one another.
The class was lined up evenly, and Nicoleta fought with the boy James, who was in their group in their last class.
He had a blue flame as established from the day before, so it was a blue and yellow battle when the two sparred.
Nicoleta could barely move, probably because of her sore legs, but she let her arms do most of the work for her and tried to dodge as many blows as possible.
She knew nothing about sparring, that wasn't a thing in sector 8. It was just training, training, and more training.
They never once mentioned anything about the kids sparring, not even in a conversation.
So all this was very new to Nicoleta, however she knew about fighting someone, she punched a dummy once or twice in sector 8, they just never fought back.
James blinded Nicoleta with a flash of blue fire, which knocked Nicoleta off of her balance causing her to fall back, she attempted to push herself up, but was stopped when he rushed more fire down at her.
It barely touched her skin, but the heat of it was somehow a mix of both hot and cold. And the cold was very cold, and the heat was very hot.
She moved back and hissed under her breath. Fire began to rise from her Palmers, and slowly traveled up her arm; she didn't stop it as it came and instead used it to counter James's non-stop attack.
His attack stopped momentarily and she took advantage of that, and decided to force her legs to move. Nicoleta used all her strength and attempted to kick him at least in the chest.
James caught her foot, twisted it painfully away from his person, and heaved her on the floor, her whole body twisting mid-air before she fell to the floor with a painful thud.
She groaned, and stayed down, unable to move her leg probably. Nicoleta grunted as she pushed herself into a sitting position. "You are out" said Mrs. Arnold as she passed by the two of them.
Nicoleta groaned, taking hold of her foot and trying to message it. "Good fight," James said. He extended a hand out to shake. Nicoleta brushed his hand away and forced herself to get up on her feet despite the ache and pain.
She couldn't continue sparring the whole class, so she watched everyone else fighting, paying attention, marking weak points, and taking notes in her head, or at least she tried to through all the pain.
Her mind was whirling too much to pay attention as much as she wanted to. So she watched and noted what she could, before giving up and letting her head fall back.
She woke up five minutes later. To someone holding onto her foot, it was Jamie, James stood right beside him.
She almost moved her foot away until she realised how nice her foot was feeling. It was a sensation similar to small little iron balls rolling themselves against every part that hurt on her foot, she felt it even inside her foot.
"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice strangely relaxed. Jamie smiled, "I'm healing you" Nicoleta tilted her head at him and raised a brow, "what?"
"I'm a healer too, I can heal injuries, not all of them, I'm still in practice- " he removed his hands from her foot, and it felt as if she had never gotten hurt. "I'm sorry about my brother"
The two offered to take her to dinner. Nicoleta thanked them but denied. She was sweaty, and exhausted, she needed to take a shower.
So that is exactly what she did, and as she walked to the elevator through the crowded halls, she couldn't stop thanking Jamie in her head. So sector two had healers. She remembered the girl from yesterday, saying she was a healer, but then she didn't think too much about it. What else did they have, people who could bring the dead to life?
She showered. And went down for dinner. Again unsurprisingly Charlotte and May were bickering. Nicoleta rolled her eyes at them so many times that they began to ache.
When she finished her meal, Nicoleta wanted to leave, but allowed her curiosity to lead her for a moment.
Charlotte and May had gotten a little physical during their bickering, and Nicoleta got a little concerned. "Why are you two fighting? What are you fighting about?" She spoke so loud her voice high above May and Charlotte's just so the both of them could hear her, but the noisy canteen would consider that normal chatter.
May crossed her arms, and glanced at Charlotte from the corner of her eye.
"I was your friend first" said May, she sounded almost like a child, their entire argument was childish. Nicoleta wanted to leave but seeing as this might become a daily thing, dissolving it was better than leaving it. "I don't see why we can't both be friends with her" The latter rolled her eyes, and Nicoleta was about ready to give up on settling their argument.
"I don't have a problem with her," Charlotte said. She wasn't lying, she never enciated an argument; it had always been May, though Charlotte added fuel to the fire she wasn't the one who started it to begin with.
Why was May acting as if one person couldn't have two friends at once? Didn't she have a friend, Xavier was it, surely he had other friends as well. What if Nicoleta began arguing with him every morning at the gym accusing him of trying to steal May away from her.
Her behaviour wasn't only unfair, but it was also strange.
"You both can be my friends" May shook her head, "you don't like her. She doesn't like you, she said so herself" When? Nicoleta thought, though she knew saying it out loud would be useless.
"I never said that," she protested anyway.
"You indicated it" Nicoleta rubbed her face, "this is stupid." She muttered.
They all stared at each other, May at Nicoleta, She at Charlotte, who seemed more sad than upset.
"Okay, how about we talk about our days?" May beamed. "Well my day went wonderfully-
"You first Nico" May turned her head almost animatedly slow at Charlotte when she uttered those words, "Nico?" She questioned, the latter shrugged, "it's just a nickname"
May laughed, a manic laugh. "It makes it sound as if you're talking about a boy- NicoLeta " she said adding emphasis on Leta. "-Is a girl. Her nickname should be feminine- " she snapped her finger repeatedly in thought, "something like…. " the sequence continued for thirty seconds then she snapped her finger once and jumped in her seat. "Oleta!" She exclaimed, Charlotte scoffed.
"You think that's a better nickname than Nico?" she made a face that said, 'well isn't it' and Charlotte laughed even more.
"Oleta is Feminine and it is fitting- "
"It's ridiculous" May didn't let her finish. "for a girl. A good friend gives good nicknames" Charlotte rolled her eyes. Nicoleta sighed.
"Whatever" Nicoleta stood up and made her way out. But she quickly stopped herself and retreated to the girls.
"Do you guys know the resources number for sector 2?" The two girls glanced at each other then turned to Nicoleta and shook their heads.
May glared at Charlotte once more, "a real friend would know" she stated, Charlotte scoffed, "like you have her an answer, telepath" she rolled her eyes at May.
Nicoleta deflated, "why do you need it anyway?" Charlotte asked, as she stood up. Nicoleta sighed and rubbed her face, "it's my bed- i burned it" May and Charlotte held the same confused expressions on their faces.
When they walked out the canteen, Charlotte's eyes widened, "actually I know the number- it's 220" Charlotte whispered something along the words 'one point' and that was all Nicoleta heard because she was too busy rushing to her room to call the resources department.
The elevator ride was filled with May accusing Charlotte of something, and Charlotte boasting about how she was the one to help Nicoleta out.
By now Nicoleta had learned to tune them out.
When they stepped outside May interlocked their elbows together and hurried her steps so as to get away from Charlotte quicker.
Nicoleta unlocked her door and let the other two in, she went straight to the phone, the others sounded their surprise through gasps, Nicoleta looked at them and shrugged.
"How did this even happen?" May asked, Nicoleta passed the phone to Charlotte, "what did you say the number again?" May's eyes were fixed on her empty bedroom.
"220"
"It's not uncommon" was Nicoleta's answer to her question before telling the lady on the other end that she needed a new bed.
"Just the mattress?" The lady asked, "no I need a new instalment actually" the lady on the line became quiet for a moment.
"What do you mean uncommon?" May asked, "it used to happen in sector 8, it just wasn't this bad- " the line buffered and the lady's voice was heard once more.
"Yes Ms. Ariti, your bed will be installed in the morning, for now we can bring you a temporary floating mattress for the night"
"Thank you that would be great"
"We will be there in fifteen minutes" she placed the phone back, and turned to her friends. "Why?" Charlotte asked, "I mean what makes this happen?" Nicoleta made her way to the chair in front of her desk, wrapped her arms around herself and sat down turning to face May who had gotten to the door of her bedroom.
"I've been having these dreams- and they… provoke my powers, usually i can hold it back, and only have my mattress replaced but today it was… " she sighed, her brows knitting, with this topic even she was somewhat confused. "Different."
"How long have you had them?" was Charlotte's question before she settled down on the couch, May sat near Nicoleta on her desk instead.
Nicoleta only shrugged, "I don't know" a thick silence fell upon the room to that answer.
The three looked at each other awkwardly, waiting for something to even cough to get rid of the excruciating quiet.
Nicoleta shifted in her seat a little. She wasn't one to have people over for longer than five minutes, these girls had been in her room for too long.
But she couldn't just ask them to leave, that would be rude.
"How about a movie?" May said bouncing off of her desk, she went to the TV desk and grabbed the remote, "I could go for a movie sure"
Nicoleta unwillingly agreed, and in return they squeezed her in their middle, and began watching a movie of May's choice.
They eventually left when curfew caused their individual watches to beep, but by the time they left, Nicoleta wasn't sure whether she enjoyed their absence or presence more.
It's dreadful how awful Nicoleta was in class, even worse when she saw how effortlessly the red belts did it. As if it was easy to balance yourself on one leg, as if it was easy to be able to blend your powers beautifully with a roundhouse kick.
She wasn't attempting that skill of course, she along with her class of newbies would injure themselves in the air, and fall down to their demise. Right now they were practising the same thing they learned yesterday except they were putting it into effect more seriously than yesterday.
Now they had to blend their power if possible with each kick, or punch. Evan showed them an example and moved on to his other groups.
With Laurens supervising for him, the T-group as they were calling themselves, aligned themselves in front of their respective mannequin and began practising the moves Evan had demonstrated.
Whilst the seniors were doing advanced moves, they were stuck struggling to not fall whenever they kicked the mannequins in their heads.
Though Esmeralda the girl with earthy brown hair seemed to be improving faster than the rest of her peers.
Nicoleta fought to not get jealous as she watched her kick the mannequin once, twice, jump spin then kick it to the ground, Evan hadn't even taught them that one.
She focused on her own plastic opponent. Nicoleta grounded her feet, refusing to bounce, but instead choosing to focus more on reaching for her scarlet flame.
If it was able to come out during her sleep then surely it would be able to to be contacted when she was awake. She inhaled a deep breath and tried to call it forward like she had done so many times with the yellow one.
She felt a different heat, different to the heat of the yellow flame, coursing through her veins, it traveled up her neck, and began to bubble in her throat, she shoved the flame down, and tried to push it through her hands.
The heat intensified, but when the flame came out, it wasn't even a tint of red. It was the same old yellow flame. Nicoleta didn't allow her disappointment to stop her from punching the mannequin with her flaming fists, she let the fire appear at her feet and kicked the mannequin, the power in her kick knocked her back but she balanced herself and tried again.
She wanted to believe that she had improved during that class, but the truth was opposite, and slowly she was starting to consider signing out.
One month in the class should have shown some signs of improvement, but the only thing Nicoleta had gotten good at was endurance.
When she tried to call the scarlet flame again, it was woefully unsuccessful. In that moment she locked eyes with her instructor, who merely raised a brow at her slumped stance, that would render her pretty much dead in an actual fight.
After class Evan stopped her from leaving. "Is there something you aren't telling me, Miss. Ariti?" Nicoleta roamed through her mind for anything she might have forgotten to tell him, and found nothing.
She swung her bag over one shoulder and shook her head, "no why?"
Evan smiled a little, "you can tell me anything Ms. Ariti, please sit down and get comfortable if need be- " she cut him off. "I have other classes to get to"
"I know. But I won't let you leave unless you tell me" he moved to his table and poured a cup of tea, "care for any?" Nicoleta stood there, slightly confused. She wasn't sure what he wanted to hear from her.
"if you're talking about earlier- I mean it's nothing you don't already know" he sat down, took a sip of his tea, and placed it down. "And what do you think I know?"
She laughed a little under her breath, Nicoleta's gaze fell on the glass doors, all her classmates were gone now.
"That i struggle to call my scarlet flame- it's why I got transferred here" he nodded. "You may go, Ms. Ariti. I will see you tomorrow"
But as Nicolet walked out of the training hall, she realised that she'd never told him about her struggle to call the scarlet flame, in fact he didn't even know she had a second flame, he knew only of her yellow flame, and telekinesis.
Mr. And Mrs. Arnold started regular lessons again after selections were over, the only difference being that they switched partners after losing or winning. And with each switch they switched their sparring plan. So one student would bounce from thinking strategically to attacking first, then defending, and from hiding their attacks, to trying to spot their opponents weak points.
Their lessons weren't separated for one specific topic, they taught them as they sparred, used every loss as a teaching moment to the shame of the loser, and made winners believe they had lost by marking every move that could have been better.
Nicoleta of course lost all of her spars, and drawed with another newbie boy. Jamie and James offered to heal any injuries but she declined saying that, "I feel great today" sweaty and stinking, she quickly made her way to her floor.
At her doorstep May was standing with bags of food, a wide smile on her face as she waved it around Nicoleta's face.
"What's this?" Oleta asked, May shrugged, "Charlotte is slowly becoming a thorn in our friendship- so we are having dinner without her" Nicoleta laughed on the way to the bathroom, and didn't stop laughing until she stepped out of her shower wearing her Pj's and drying her hair with a towel that was equally as damp.
May had set up the food nicely on her coffee table, and sat on the floor waiting for Nicoleta. She joined her and they began to eat silently. Then May stopped for a moment, pointed a plastic fork at Oleta and asked. "What's your favourite colour?"
Oleta smiled, the question was random, but she answered regardless, "Purple" May nodded, "purple is a nice colour- my mom told when I was little that it represents royalty" that was another way to view the colour purple, though Nicoleta's like for it stemmed from orchids that had that vibrant purple sort lilac shade, there wasn't much she could do with purple when it came to painting, but as a child, she almost always tried to sneak it into her paintings in some way.
It was kind of her signature.
"That's nice," she responded. In another silence, they ate. May spoke again. "What do you parents do?" Nicoleta was taken aback. "Umm… my dad is an architect" May listened intently and ohh at the end of Oleta's sentence, "so how many buildings has he you know made- ?"
"Constructed?" Nicoleta corrected, May nodded, "yeah that- " she asked him that the last time they spoke and he couldn't give a clear answer himself; when she was little it was well over ten, but it could be more now, it had been nine years after all, not only that he was doing a new project as well, so that on top of many, she couldn't be able to name an exact number for May.
If they were still living together she would know, if her schedule didn't render her so tired when she was free, she would call him every day, then she would know. Six year old Nicoleta would know. But the only response she managed to give her friend was a shrug.
"What does your mom do?" Oleta asked, May drank some water, "she's a nurse, my dad is a Lawyer" Nicoleta nodded, "and your mom? Is she an architect too?"
"My dad remarried. Valerie is a fashion designer" May's nod was somewhat stiff, her expression shifted for a moment. Seemingly understanding what Oleta was getting at.
"Any siblings?" Oleta shook her head, then she retracted, "I have Liam" May's smile returned to her, "I have six siblings I'm the seventh- I'm the youngest"
"You have a big family" May nodded, "yeah my dad has always loved kids, he grew up an only child, it was kind of lonely for him, didn't want the same for us" she stabbed some shrimp and dipped it into a deep brown coloured sauce.
"Being an only child isn't lonely at all," Nicoleta said. May looked at her weird. For the short period Nicoleta got to be with her father and only him, she was the happiest girl on earth. He would help her paint, or draw and sometimes sketch, after he married Valerie it seemed their quiet times at home became loud parties of glamour.
Even being at home was loud and disturbing, and sometimes even distracting.
She could feel him drifting away each day, and couldn't take it, even now when she spoke with him, there was a clear distance between, when she was five, things were different. It was her and her father and it was all she ever wanted. She had her art, and nature to assist her; she was never lonely.
"You have your brother Liam so you wouldn't know" May caught herself then, realising in that moment that Liam wasn't her biological brother.
She frowned, and placed her fork down. May sighed. "I really like to dance- " Oleta nodded, with a mouthful she said, "could you show me?"
May blushed and hid her face behind her palmers, she smiled at Oleta, "i- " Nicoleta laughed heartily.
"Well I really like to paint" May's blush disappeared in an instant, "ohh… so you're an artist- are you gonna be an architect just like your dad?" Nicoleta shrugged.
"Could you show me?" May asked, Oleta raised her brows, "show you what?"
"your art?" Nicoleta's smile slipped away, she deflated, and placed her spoon hopelessly down on the table.
"I haven't painted in nine years" May's smile wanted to disappear, but she seemed to fight it, and though it stayed it no longer reached her eyes.
She stood up on her feet, and turned around. May took a step forward, then moved her left foot back, swinging her hips from left to right.
A smile crept on Oleta's face, and as May continued to dance, Nicoleta's smile became a laugh.
"What's that- the dance?" May looked down at her with a wide grin. "Salsa"
She made Nicoleta get on her feet, and made her dance, though Oleta's movements were sloppy, and she had no idea what she was doing. It was the most fun she had had in a long time.
When the two settled down to finish their meals, Nicoleta was taken back to sector 8, suddenly May looked like Victoria, and in that instant she realised, that even Victoria whom she had known for five years, didn't know so much about her, and May in a single night, knew about her father's remarry, her love for art, and the fact that she fancied purple as a favourite colour; She didn't even know what Victoria's favourite colour was.
"Victoria" she muttered under her breath, slightly breathless from the dance before. "What?" May asked, she drank some water before reaching for some of Nicoleta's chicken.
"Victoria- I- I used to know a girl in sector 8. Is there any way I can contact her from here, do you think Charlotte would know?" May's expression dropped, "I don't know" she said briskly, her tone switching from giddy to the kind she saved only for Charlotte.
Nicoleta leaned back to her couch. She told herself to enquire about that when she could, Nicoleta told herself that she would find a way to contact Victoria, yet the moment she stepped foot in sector 2 all memories of her became lost.
"Anyway- you should pick up art again. I want to be your muse" May posed for Nicoleta but she wasn't listening anymore.
"Oleta?"
"Are you sure you don't know anyway I can contact her- " May slammed her hands on the table, causing some of the food to fall on the floor.
"I said I don't know, okay!! I highly doubt that inter-sector interaction would even consider giving you a line just to talk to Victoria" Victoria's name could have been poison with how she said it. But what made Nicoleta stunned wasn't her way of saying Victoria's name, it was her strange outburst.
"Let's just eat" and from there they ate in silence with no more interruptions.
Nicoleta cleaned the food that had spilled, and as she was seeing May out, she stopped her.
"What?" her tone sounded as nasty as whenever she spoke to Charlotte. For a moment Nicoleta thought Charlotte was behind her. Even glancing to check before she responded. "Do you know where Charlotte stays?"
May looked at her for a second and slammed the door in her face. Nicoleta stepped back stunned.
And to think a moment ago they were dancing to no music and laughing.
That night Nicoleta didn't get the chance to sleep comfortably on her new bed, instead those blue eyes tormented her, provoking the flame, making it fight against Nicoleta, the flame burned angrily, wanting to lash out at those burning blue eyes.
She fought it, allowing the flame to go towards it, just to see if it would flinch, or even run away, perhaps disappear and never come back, when the scarlet flame touched those eyes Nicoleta was attacked by white hot flame.
She had never been burnt before, not after she discovered her powers, but in that moment she burned so much Nicoleta was convinced that death awaited surely on the other side.
When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find the bed fine, what made her even more shocked was that not a single sweat was found on her skin.
She tried to fall asleep, again, but the crippling fear of being burned in her dream made her wake up so frequently that it would have been better if she'd stayed up.
The second time she saw those blue eyes, Nicoleta decided not to let the flame lash out toward it, instead she leaned in closer, and inside she saw a reflection of herself, when she inched closer pushing her fire back, she saw herself, except she looked older, and her hair wasn't the same colour, but it was undoubtedly her, just a more matured version.
In the morning she woke up on the floor.