CHAPTER 67: PETRIFIED

"I know he won fair and Square. But I can’t help but feel like I was tricked and betrayed. I suffered so much not to lose that medallion. Every second of it was nothing like I’d ever experienced. The obstacles and trials. And when he gets the chance, he takes the medallion from me,"

Yuan sat behind Aaliyah listening to her complaints, telling her all that had happened in the games. Yuan was helping Aaliyah dress all the injuries she had sustained, including the sprained ankle she had been carrying all this while without even knowing.

Aaliyah’s back was wrapped with a piece of white clothing after treatment, and so were her palms and feet. Every cut and bruise in the other places had also been taken care of.

"You must have felt like going crazy," Yuan said and hugged her from behind, feeling her best friend’s pain, "I’m sorry for all that happened to you. It’s my fault that Laura recognized me. I should have been more careful,"

"I was really looking forward to kicking her face all over Olympia." Aaliyah was shaking with desperation. She could already picture herself strangling the girl and telling her off, "But I’m also mad at you, Yuan," Aaliyah confessed.

Yuan pulled away as Liya faced her.

"Why didn’t you ever tell me you were being bullied at that school? Is she the only one that looks down on you? Are there more?"

"I was the one going to school and you were the one at home keeping everything in order. I didn’t want to bother you with my problems," Yuan replied, feeling guilty still.

"Oh, so that’s your excuse for not telling me? What happened to us having each other’s backs? What happened to us telling each other everything that happened to us? What happened to us being a family?"

"I’m sorry," Yuan murmured, "I should have told you,"

"You should have," Replied Aaliyah as she left for the bathroom.

Locked inside, she let the rage show in her eyes. Her eyes widened, slithering with the urge to pounce on something. What she felt was disastrous.

There was something about messing with her that shook her to the core, but messing with someone she loved was an entirely different story. Yuan not telling her about this added to the anguish burning through her soul.

"Are you okay?" Yuan inquired, standing behind the door, "I can hear you fuming. I’m... really sorry for not telling you. I wanted to handle myself...I guess I was selfish and should have thought it through. You deserve to know everything. I’m really sorry, Liya," Yuan wiped the tears from her eyes, a huge lump in her throat as her voice cracked.

"I’m not exactly mad at you. I just hate it when people look down on us or call us names because we are just ordinary, or because we are not from any powerful Family. I hate the discrimination,"

"Yeah," Yuan leaned on the door with a soft sigh, "There’s a lot like that going on in Olympia. You’ll find many other Laura’s there," Her tone was soft and sad.

"And here I was thinking all along Olympia was everyone’s dream school. It must be a nightmare,"

"I can’t even begin to tell you what goes on beyond the massive walls of that school,"

.

.

.

Two days went by quickly, and Yuan had begun buying her supplies since school would be resuming in a few days. They lived in what could be called a world that had begun advancing to Modern times.

There were still open markets and although Yuan and Aaliyah lived among humans, the Vampire and witches had a secret market that lay beyond the eyes of the ordinary and that was where Yuan had gone to.

Aaliyah was doing some chores and had just spread some clothes outside to dry when she remembered the teacher that had stood behind her. His voice, aura, and the strange but magnetic pull she felt between them had her cringing.

It was so odd and bizarre.

She hadn’t seen his face yet, but she could swear on her life that she didn’t know him. He was probably the same person with long black hair Yuan had warned her about, saying he was scary.

And then, there was the Chancellor himself. He had the most enigmatic eyes she’d ever seen, and there was this invisible calmness that was always rolling down his back graciously.

Are all the teachers at Olympia like that?

"I’m back," Yuan cried as she walked into the house, dropping e everything she bought.

"I’m outside here,"

Yuan came out and started to help with drying the laundry. Both of them remained quiet till they finished, with Aaliyah frequently glancing at her friend until she noticed her discomfort.

"Are you going to tell me what happened at The Square?" Aaliyah questioned softly.

Yuan didn’t say anything.

"Is it related to school? You ran into Laura?"

"I didn’t run into Laura. There’s just a few things going on,"

"So why haven’t you shared them with me?"

"It’s not that I don’t want to... but I can’t,"

"What do you mean you can’t?"

"The mailman is here!"

Aaliyah watched her friend fleeing from her questions and followed behind her, "Why can’t you tell me? I need you to explain it to me,"

Yuan received the mail and paused when she saw the Emblem of Olympia that had been used to seal the envelope. Aaliyah had also gone quiet, their eyes focused on the mail.

Turning it around, Yuan read out loud, " To Aaliyah Chester,"

"Huh?" Aaliyah took the mail from her, confused, "That doesn’t sound right. They have nothing to do with me anymore,"

But their curiosity only grew by the second and Aaliyah was reading the letter the next minute with the envelope lying on the ground.

Yuan’s mouth fell wider and wider as Aaliyah read more lines, hoping her ears were just deceiving her.

Even Aaliyah became petrified as the contents of the letter sunk into her head.

Wait...what?

################

#########################

Dear Readers

I would Like to take two minutes of your precious time and request something from you.

Go to the front page of this book and leave a General Review of the book...not just a Chapter review.

Support this novel by awarding it with Golden Tickets and GIFTS!

Thank you as you do so!