The Key of Hearts by Mia Rodriguez
Chapter 4
An extreme intensity overcame Selena, similar to the first day she had met Xavier when his magnetism had threatened to knock her down. Although, this time, instead of depleting her, a surge of Xavier’s energy mixed with her own.
“Are you okay?” Xavier asked with concern, his hands still tightly around her.
“Yes,” Selena murmured, trying to find her balance not only because of Steve’s clumsiness but also the interconnection of energy she had experienced with Xavier.
“I’m sorry,” Steve uttered. “I almost knocked you down.”
“It’s okay,” Selena said, still shaky. Sebastian Crawley eyed her with such intensity that she wasn’t sure what was worse—her almost falling to the ground or Sebastian’s attention.
When Steve and Sebastian returned to their seats, Xavier turned to Selena. “Are you sure you’re okay?” His dark eyes swept over her with concern.
“Yes, but Steve sure can hit hard even when it’s an accident.”
“What do you expect?” Xavier asked. “He’s a football player.”
“Yes, he’s pretty tough,” Selena stated. “But I hear he’s a marshmallow with your cousin.”
“I can’t believe that he’s going out with Asher,” Xavier remarked. “He seems like such a nice guy.”
“He’s with the mega-uglies though,” stated Selena, a slight disgust in her voice.
“I guess that crowd is hard to resist.”
Selena shrugged her shoulders. “And he is Sebastian Crawley’s best friend,” she grumbled.”
“Sebastian is strange, right?”
“Yes, very,” Selena murmured, her head still whirling from when she almost fell down.
Xavier eyed her with concern. “Selena are you sure that you’re okay? You still look weird.”
“I’m fine it’s just that . . . Xavier, did you feel anything when you caught me?”
“You felt it too?” asked Xavier, surprised.
Selena nodded. “Yes.” It was all she could manage to say. She could still feel traces of Xavier’s electrical current inside of her.
“I thought I had been the only one who felt the surge,” he stated.
“No, I felt it too.”
“But you’re okay, right?” Xavier asked anxiously.
“Yeah, but why did it throw me off, and you look just fine?”
He grinned mischievously. “I’m just built stronger than you,” he teased.
“Or maybe your brain is already fried with so much electricity,” Selena teased back.
Xavier chuckled. “That’s probably true.”
“Seriously though, why didn’t that electrical connection throw you off like it did to me?”
“Don’t, Selena,” he stated gravely.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t assume the worse.”
“What am I assuming?” Selena asked, her eyebrows knit together.
“That you reacted more because you care about me more than I care about you,” he grumbled.
Selena stared at him, surprised. “How did you know what I was thinking?”
He frowned. “It wasn’t hard,” he retorted.
“My theory is true, isn’t it?” Selena asked lightly.
Xavier’s mouth twitched with frustration. “No, Selena. It’s not true.”
“Calm down, Xavier. Don’t get upset.”
“You need to stop getting stupid ideas in your head.”
“Okay, but calm down,” she pleaded.
“You forget that I’ve been at this electrical business a lot longer than you have.”
“Yes, Xavier, I understand.”
“I hope you do,” he mumbled, his dark eyes on her. “I really do.”
“I understand.”
Talking outside the glass walled library that was inside the main building, Selena and Xavier discussed their Science assignment before going inside during lunch period to do research. She wanted to create a project with magnets, and he quickly voiced his opinion.
“Attracting magnets—let’s do it,” he told her as his velvet eyes anchored themselves on hers and his lips upturned in a bright grin.
Hearing a loud noise, they turned to the direction of it. Books fell off a huge, shaking bookcase in the library. Moonflower, who was in front of it, stared in stupefying surprise as the books landed close to her feet. Then the enormous bookcase lurched frontward as it started coming down fast but before it could crush Moonflower, it froze as if it was being held by a strong wire instead of continuing to fall forward. It stayed like that for only a few seconds because almost immediately, the massive bookcase started jerking around until it finally fell to the side, barely missing Moonflower. She seemed so scared, she couldn’t make a sound or move. Selena rushed to her friend who started trembling and crying uncontrollably.
“Are you okay?” Selena asked, hugging her.
“I . . . I . . .” was all Moonflower could manage to say as tears burst out of her eyes.
“You’re fine, Moonflower. Everything’s okay,” Xavier said with a soothing voice and Selena turned to look at him, proud of the gentle caring prevalent in his tone. To her surprise, his face glistened with thick drops of perspiration. She wanted to ask him about it but decided it could wait. She needed to take care of her friend. Meanwhile, a crowd gathered around them, including Ms. Sigala, the librarian.
“I think she needs medical care,” announced Mrs. Sigala, still shell-shocked herself.
“What happened?” asked Saul, who had just stepped out of the restroom as he stared at the mess on the floor.
“The bookcase almost fell on top of Moonflower,” Selena stated, her voice shaking.
“What?” he exclaimed, noticing Moonflower and rushing to her. She clung to him as both her arms wrapped tightly around him.
“Saul, she needs to go to the nurse’s office,” insisted Ms. Sigala.
“How did this happen?” Saul asked.
“Never mind, you or Selena take her to the nurse’s office,” ordered Ms. Sigala.
“I’ll take her,” declared Saul as he moved her forward with her not lessening her grip on him.
As soon as they stepped out of the library, a buzz immediately started as if everyone had suddenly woken up from their shocked stupor.
“How did that heavy thing fall by itself?” students kept asking. Meanwhile Selena turned to Xavier whose dark eyes were completely closed off and his face formed a pensive mask.
“What just happened?” she questioned him solemnly as she searched for something in her purse.
“I don’t know,” he stated, still closed off.
She found the handkerchief and gave it to him. “Why are you all sweaty?” she asked with suspicion and concern.
“Please don’t ask me any questions now,” he said, taking the cloth and dabbing his face. “Not here, not in school. We’ll talk later at your house.”
By the time sixth period came around, the episode at the library had grown to exaggerated proportions. One story assured that all the bookshelves had come tumbling down and that Moonflower was in the hospital, fighting for her life in intensive care. The truth was that the nurse had suggested she go home to get over the trauma and Saul had immediately borrowed a car from a friend and had taken her to her house.
In Science class, the buzz was that the library had a ghost. How else would an object mysteriously move by itself? Several students assured they had seen the haunting with their own eyes and were explaining what had happened to Mr. Honeybee.
“The bookcase came down, then stayed in the air, and then fell to the side. It was so weird, wasn’t it, Sebastian?” the student asked Sebastian Crawley.
“Yeah, right.”
Selena turned around to Xavier who seemed completely inside himself. He looked at her with the silent eyes of someone deep in his own thoughts. She patted his hand gently before turning back around.
After the tedious and
Finally, she spoke. “What happened?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t know. I really don’t . . . I . . .”
“But—“
“Selena, please let me find a way of explaining.”
“Okay, take your time,” she said quietly.
After a few seconds of the harsh, noisy quiet, he spoke again. “The bookcase . . . I used my telekinesis."
“What?”
“I worked the bookcase,” he mumbled.
“It almost fell on top of Moonflower! That was you?!”
“Yes and no.”