The Aldean Chronicles: Hidden

It's been a month since the second half of first semester started. I have avoided Kat every chance I got. It's getting harder and harder to do that. Three weeks ago, she came to my training session with Tristan.

She tried to make me sound older and more experienced than I was, it backfired.

"You know Cass went to a party this break." She said. "A fun party, like the ones we have in the shed." That was also the day I found out about the shed.

Tristan's smile was light. "Oh, that party, how was it?"

"I got there and had a beer." Didn't drink it though. Tristan nods, urging me to go on. "That was it, I left early."

"Why did you do that, did you not like the party?" He seemed amused.

"I did, just didn't want to be there anymore," I was ready to drop the subject.

But Kat decided to step in. "She was savage, she wanted revenge on the girls and called the police on them before leaving." How she thought that would help, I still don't know.

Tristan looked alarmed. "You called the police on them as revenge? You got them in serious trouble because you were angry?"

"You don't know what they did." I defended. "Sophie made my life miserable in middle school. At the party, she said some stuff and I got angry and... At least I didn't burn the house down."

He nodded. "Thank goodness your tantrum didn't cause those innocent people their lives." He wasn't finding the story amusing anymore. "Let's just finish training for today."

Kat couldn't stop apologizing, the more she brought it up, the more I hated her.

She kept inviting me to Blue rose meetings and I couldn't tell her why I couldn't go without sounding suspicious. The society is preparing for its annual fundraiser, which takes place on the first Sunday of December.

I'm not a member yet so I don't have to do much. Just the little jobs nobody else wants. Jason and Derek are more than happy to do them, I'm more bothered with my exams.

They're the week after the event and I can't stop stressing about them. I'm seated in Fire 101 class the Monday before the Blue Rose event and I'm struggling to pay attention. I have too many things on my mind.

"And who would like to demonstrate what we just learned?" Professor Harding catches me staring into space and decides to be cruel. "Cassandra Flores, you've been paying such close attention, maybe you can show the class what we've been learning."

"Excuse me, oh, yes. The demonstration." I walk to the front of the class. I'm wearing some of the clothes Lena sent me, I haven't worn any before today. I felt like I shouldn't, I almost rejected the family, I shouldn't enjoy their money. The reason I'm wearing it is because Sara found the clothes under my bed and forced them on me. The outfit I'm wearing now is a white wool dress stopping just below my knees and is one of Lena's pieces.

I stare at the challenge and try to piece together what I'm supposed to do. I can't recall any of the instructions. "Okay, I'm supposed to just bend the fire around this?"

He doesn't respond and intentionally leaves his face blank. I try to implement the methods I can remember but fail. I need to pay more attention.

"I expected more." He says. "I ask that you get whatever is on your mind off it. Exams are starting soon. You wouldn't want to wander off in the middle of it."

I walk back to my seat feeling frustrated, I can't go on like this. During lunch, I sit at my usual table and wait for my friends. Axel is the first to arrive, we don't say anything to each other. Things have been awkward since we got back. It happened when we were alone.

"Cass." He called me. "The strangest thing happened this break."

"What," I asked.

"It was during dinner. My parents asked how school was, I don't know why. I doubt they cared." He laughed. "Then I told them about my friends and your name came up." It went downhill from there. "And they became so alert when they heard it, it was almost like they knew you. They didn't tell me why, they just said that under no circumstances should our friendship end. I wonder what that was about."

My smile dropped. "Axel, I'm sorry. I lied to you and I shouldn't have. It's just things are so crazy and this break was the worst and I had no right to lie but I did."

He exhaled. "I don't know what you're hiding and I'm not telling our friends, what's the point? But they will find out and it won't end well for you. You have your secrets and I respect that, but they don't deserve to be lied to."

"Axel please, you're making me feel like a bad person."

"Maybe you are, who knows." He sighed. "I'm just having a hard time trusting you right now."

And that was the last conversation we had. My friendships are a ticking time bomb, if I screw things up here, it's over. I was mean to Jason and now he's mad at me. Sara, Michelle and Paisley have noticed a change in my behavior and are giving me space.

They all come to the table and are talking about what happened at combatant practice that day. "Cass, are you listening?" Michelle asks.

"What," I'm using my fork to pick apart my salad. "What did you say?"

They look pissed. "What is going on with you, your mind has been everywhere lately," Sara says.

"I'm just tired," I tell them. "Don't worry about it, you were saying. Your story."

After class, I have Blue rose meeting. I'm supposed to confirm our cake order with Mika. I'm offered different plans at the last minute.

"Do you want to come check out the venue with me?" Tristan asks.

"I can't leave school, citizenship ID," I reply drily.

He waves his hand. "Lilian will understand. Besides I can't go on my own."

"You can." Dimitri interrupts. "And you should have by now."

"Thank you for that reminder, Dimitri." Tristan smiles. "Cass and I will be going now."

Dimitri looks between the two of us before shaking his head and leaving to check on the decorations committee.

"Cool, let's go." He says to me. "It's not too far from here."

"Why do you want to go with me?" I ask him. "I thought you've been trying to see as little of me as possible lately."

"Yeah, but you look like you need a break. I know you're going through a lot." He takes my hand. "Come on, we need to get going."

I let him pull me out the room, the building and to Lilian's office. "We need passes, Cyan." He tells her assistant.

She turns to me. "I'm sorry Miss Flores, it's a very serious issue and we haven't been able to sort it out yet."

"It's alright Cy, he knows." I stop her. "Just please tell Lilian that if I don't leave this school, I'll burn it down. Also, tell her that I'm leaving with Tristan and we'll come back soon."

Cyan looks between me and Tristan before sighing and standing up from her seat. "Fine, wait here." She goes to Lilian's office.

"So you really don't leave school," Tristan asks. "That's..."

"Depressing, distressing, disheartening." I help him out.

"That." He chuckles. Cyan comes out of the office with a straight face. She goes to the cabinet and pulls out a card.

"She said yes." She has a small smile on her freckled face. "You can go, just be back before dinner. And don't leave Tristan's side."

I shut my eyes briefly. "Thanks, Cyan, I really appreciate this." I collect the card.

She shooshes us away. We go to the car park and Tristan stops in front of his car. It's a two-seater with the same strange logo as Grey's. "Cute car," I open the passenger door and get in.

"Thanks." He gets in the driver's seat. "Got it last year, hardly use it though." He starts the car and we drive to the gate. He shows the security guard our slips and zooms down the road. "Tell me, how does it feel to be out of school?"

I smile at him. "It feels good, thanks for bringing me. I needed this." I point at the window. "Can I?"

He responds by pressing a button to take the window down. I let the wind whip my hair and face. We drive for fifteen minutes through relatively unbusy streets before stopping in front of a big hotel.

"And we are here." He says. We get down from the car and enter the building. A man dressed in a blue suit is waiting in the reception, he smiles when he sees us.

"Tristan Oisin." He asks. "Welcome to the Deltona hotel." He shakes Tristan's hands then mine.

"Cassandra Flores." I introduce myself. "This hotel is so beautiful."

"Well Blue Rose only uses the best, I'm Mr. Simmons. Manager of this branch." He says. "Do you want any refreshments while you view our ballroom?"

Tristan turns to me and I shake my head. "No thank you, sir, we're in a hurry, we just need to check a few things and we'll be on our way."

"Of course, please follow me." He leads us to a ginormous empty room without even the tiniest decoration. "As Princess Katya instructed, the room has been stripped of everything but the walls and lights."

Tristan nods. "That's good, what about the exits, the security locations? A lot of high profile people will be coming here on Sunday."

Mr. Simmons is barely able to contain his excitement. "Yes, if you'll just follow me, you'll see emergency exits are stationed around the building and there are posts for security. Provisions have also been made for the royal guards being brought in. Security is of the utmost importance."

"You haven't started with the stage," Tristan says.

"The design was just sent today, the contractor will be here tomorrow to install it. It should be finished before Wednesday." The manager says. "It will be set up in the front and will be made of only the best materials in the shop."

"We will be using the hotel's catering services, how will you bring in the food?"

"From that door, and all the food will be brought before the event starts. There are facilities in place to keep it hot till it's time to serve." Mr. Simmons came prepared. "And also, I have a photo book filled with some of our past events, maybe Princess Katya can find some inspiration for her decorations." Before we can respond, he rushes out yelling, "I'll go get it for you."

I laugh. "I doubt Kat will appreciate the gesture, she's already envisioned the night and nothing is deterring her from her plans."

Tristan smiles and looks around the room. "She insists on creating a space for a dance floor." He walks to the middle of the empty room. "She wants it at the center."

"A dance floor, really?" I walk up to him.

"You hate the idea?" I nod. "Why, you haven't even tried it. Picture it, the night is young, the lights are bright, and you're dancing to the slow and gentle hum of the music."

I shake my head. "Still sounds bad. Dances make me uncomfortable."

"Maybe you're just not imagining it well." He decides. "Come, let's dance. After that, you can make your decision."

I look everywhere but at him. "We can't dance, there's no music. It'll be stupid."

"Again, judging before you try it." He offers me his right hand. "One dance, nothing special, just a waltz."

I smile. "You have those here?"

"We invented it, if anything you stole it from us."

I laugh and take his hand, he draws me closer to his chest. He places his left hand on my back and I place mine on his shoulder. I hope my beating heart isn't loud enough for him to hear.

We intertwine our free hands and sway gently to the non-existent music. "You were right," Tristan says in a small voice. "This is creepy."

I don't reply, I close my eyes and place my head on his chest. He sighs but doesn't shrug me off. I feel my heart start to swell. "Why are you avoiding me?" My throat is thick and I can barely breathe.

"I'm sorry." His voice is soft. "I thought it was for the best, I didn't want to lead you on."

I sniff. "You're still my friend, and you were avoiding me when I needed you. You're the only one I ctalk to about what's going on. I can't talk to my friends and I can't talk to my family. I needed you and you weren't there."

He's silent for a long time, I continue. "Please stop avoiding me, I'm scared." I sniff again. "My aunt told me I need to choose whether I want to be part of the family or not. I don't know what to do, I can't go back home and I can't stay here. Everything is falling apart and I'm just holding it all in and it's hard and I can't breathe and it's all my fault. I'm weird and nobody likes me and I screw everything up."

He's still silent. I'm about to give up when he says. "Cassandra I'm sorry for avoiding you, I was a bad friend and I promise not to do it again. I get that you're scared and you have insecurities." He uses his thumb to rub small circles on my back. "I'm not strong enough to carry on my family's legacy, I'm not smart and might fail out of school. And I'm not charming or nice like Jamie."

"What are you doing?" I ask him.

"I'm listing my insecurities." He responds. "Those little things that make me feel bad about myself."

"You're the strongest fire elemental I've ever met. And you are nice, and smart." I argue.

He takes a deep breath, I'm so close, I can feel him exhale. "The way you feel about me is the way I feel about you. You're not weird and you don't screw things up. You're strong and smart and beautiful, I've known all this since the first day I met you."

I steady my racing heart. "Do you really think that, why is it so hard to believe?"

I feel him shrug. "We just need to be reminded sometimes. I get that you're scared and don't know what to do. Everybody feels like that, I can't tell you what to do but I can promise you this. I'm not going to shut you out again, if you need anything or someone to talk to, you can come to me."

"Thanks, Tristan, you're a good friend."

"And Cass. You should talk to them." He says. "Kat and Grey, they may seem good on the outside but they're not alright. You three need each other a lot more than you know."

I bury my face deeper in his chest and don't say anything for the rest of the dance.