The school bus was the least fancy piece of Evans Academy property. It was big, ugly, and a horrible shade of yellow that reminded Armina of cheap bananas mixed with mustard. The seats were sticky and cramped. The windows rattled and slid open randomly. But the second worst part was being sat at the front where everyone could see her. The worst was Jayce across the aisle.
He sat next to Lewis, silent and staring at Armina from time to time as if she were an explosive device seconds from going off. She made him nervous, and although most people would feel a rush from power, scaring everyone had grown annoying.
Behind the boys sat Wendy with a scrawny redhead about her age. She became attached to Jayce, respecting him like an older brother. Wendy was an only child whose parents were raging gamblers and needed someone to look up to. Armina only wished it hadn't been someone as mysterious as Jayce.
Armina sighed and looked to Louisa driving the bus. Instead of her usual dress and high heels, she wore a turquoise blouse, faded jeans, and heeled black boots. She looked out of place driving a bus. Louisa, if belonging in any vehicle, belonged in the driver's seat of a pink convertible like Barbie's. Armina snickered, earning a glare from her adopted mother in the mirror.
"You've never played chess?" Lewis asked Jayce, stunned. "Have you even lived?"
Jayce rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry to say, Lewis, but that's not exactly my definition of living."
"Then what is?"
"Traveling the world," Armina butted in. She'd always wanted to leave her small town. Escape Thornton and actually see what's out there, but it was always too dangerous. She was always too dangerous.
"Very reasonable," commented Lewis. "You know I've never left North America?"
Wendy stood up, her nose resting on the back of the boys' seat. Her big eyes peeked over at them. "I went all the way to Vegas!"
Lewis, Armina, and Jayce looked at each other for a moment, lips pursed and holding back a laugh, then it slipped and they erupted into giggles and tears.
Wendy plopped down into her seat. "Hmph!" She had no idea why the big kids laughed all the time.
"What about you, Bird-Man?"
Jayce's smile wavered. His fear around Armina broke down every once in a while, just enough for him to give a genuine answer. He stared into the distance, just past Armina's eyes. "I went to Ontario once to meet my dad's family. I don't remember it that well though. I was young. Three or four." He cleared his throat and blinked. His eyes focused again. "You know, I think I should go sit at the back, introduce myself to some other people."
He left Lewis and Armina to a silent conversation held only by eye rolling, brow wiggling, and lip-reading.
"You like him, don't you? Love at first sight sorta thing."
Lewis bit his lip. His blond hair shimmered under the morning sun pouring in through dirty bus windows. "I don't know yet. He's hiding something."
"But you'll look past that. You always do." Her tone was bitter and genuine at the same time. She adored Lewis' forgiving nature but didn't ignore how naive that made him.
"Armina, do you ever think either of us will ever find our place out there?" He set his head against the seat and stared at the roof. Lewis crossed his arms, waiting for Armina to respond, but for once she was speechless.
She had no idea if she'd have a life outside of waiting for the prophecy to come true. She didn't exactly want love or wealth or family. Sure, Armina had felt something special between her and Elliot, but connecting with people was difficult, not worth the time if she was going to put in more effort than the other person. Armina never thought about moving out to live on her own. She didn't assume she would live at the Academy forever, but she hadn't considered going to college or earning a living to buy her own crappy little apartment.
Lewis kept the conversation going. He tilted his head to face Armina, wavy blond hair falling into his kind eyes. "If I weren't eternally damned to the body of a fourteen-year-old, I think I'd travel the world. Maybe write."
"Yeah? Just you?" Armina poked Lewis in the shoulder with a gloved hand. "Or you and Jayce?" She sang his name.
He bumped her shoulder and sighed, his eyes narrowed and lips in a permanent grin.
Armina looked back at Jayce who seemed to be failing at flirting with Charlene. She glanced between Jayce and her friends nervously. Armina could only imagine what he'd said to the so-called "second coolest girl in school." Charlene was thin, short, and had stunning grey eyes paired with chestnut hair tied tightly in a bun at the side. She looked perfect for Jayce, but their personalities clashed. She was headstrong. Jayce was anxious. Charlene was snarky. Jayce was sarcastic. Charlene was a spoiled brat who let her power get to her head. Jayce was sweet and treated his power as a gift.
Armina only hoped Jayce LeBlanc wasn't a liar.
The bus parked outside the East Thornton Mall, hogging a row of spots. While other kids hung back for attendance, Lewis dragged Armina and Jayce off to the nearest clothing shop. He demanded they let him style them up, as Jayce was clueless with clothes and Armina had tried to go punk rock.
They carried their jackets - Jayce's blue, Armina's red, and Lewis' yellow.
Passing people didn't take the time to look at them, at how mismatched a group they were. A scrawny blond kid, an anxious brunet, and an overconfident rocker chick with bad hair and an attitude.
Armina almost laughed when they stopped outside a shop of brightly-coloured clothes. "You think I'd look good as a hippie?"
Jayce sneered, "Better than you do as a goth."
Armina nudged Jayce with her elbow, then headed into the store with Lewis.
It wasn't long before Armina and Jayce were outside of the changing rooms, showing off their new clothes. Armina gave Lewis an unimpressed look as she sported a long-sleeved crop top with a pair of ripped jeans and her infamous gloves.
Jayce stood to the side, staring at himself in the mirror. Armina could see the hurt in his face, as if no one had ever taken the time to take him shopping. His brows were furrowed and his bottom lip stuck out.
Jayce wore a black and blue three-quarter sleeved shirt with a pair of faded black jeans and purple high tops. He looked like a regular teenager, much unlike the skittish kid pretending to be a man he had shown up to the school as. The clothes spoke to his personality of a teen just looking for some friends and a good life, but Armina could see in his sad green eyes that he hadn't gotten a taste of the good life yet.
"You look good," commented Lewis. "The look suits you."
"Yeah," Armina agreed. She hated to think Jayce was growing on her, but he was. "Okay." She clapped her hands together. "Let's get our asses to the food court before Jayce's little tag along finds us."
Jayce chuckled. "Which one?"
Armina tilted her head like a puppy and sneered, "Which one do you think I like less?"
Mari. She would prefer anyone over that magically persuasive witch.
"Wait!" Lewis shouted, almost falling out of his cheeto-orange half-cylinder chair. "You promised Louisa you'd get that hair fixed. She'll be pissed if you come back still black and blue."
Armina rolled her eyes. "Fine. You guys meet me at the food court in twenty minutes. Save me a seat or I will sit on one of you."
Jayce whistled when he saw Armina walking toward them outside the Gyro Plaza with close-cropped almost black hair. Her pale face stuck out against the darkness of her hair. The cut embellished every detail of her face from her piercing dark eyes to her thin jaw. She felt beautiful, but wouldn't dare admit to Louisa that her former haircut was inferior. She strutted over to the boys and took a seat next to Lewis, holding eye contact with Jayce.
"Food?" Lewis asked.
Armina nodded.
Jayce's stomach growled.
They stood in unison, but while Lewis and Jayce headed for the Famous Wok, Armina made a beeline for the Gyro Plaza. It had months since the last semi-annual trip to the mall for the permanent Evans Academy students, and no one made gyros like Mr. Angelos, a geek immigrant who sought to build a restaurant chain in America. She respected his journey in achieving his American dream, and wished her ability posed some way of helping support the business while Mr. Angelos supported his family.
Standing in line behind an old lady, Armina decided what to have. She made a habit of choosing something different every time as it always satisfied her taste buds.
Before she could finish making a choice, the old lady whipped around and grasped Armina's arm. Armina yelped out of surprise and pain under the women's shockingly strong hold. She tried to yank her wrist away, but it was no use. She searched for someone to help her, but the few people in the food court for a late lunch were too busy with their own lives and Mr. Angelos was in the back, cooking.
"Back off, you senile bag of flesh and bones!" she whisper-shouted.
"You're the spawn of the devil himself! I see it in those dark, muddy eyes! You'll kill us all!"
Armina's eyes grew wide. She prayed someone would save her, then Lewis jumped into the scene like a homosexual knight, just without the horse, sword, and a lot of armour. He grabbed the old woman''s sagging, dry hand and tore it away from Armina. She hissed, but was distracted by Mr. Angelos' call for her order. Before she could pounce again, Lewis and Armina shuffled back to the table.
Jayce returned with a bowl of noodles and veggies accompanied by a side of three egg rolls. He offered Lewis and Armina an egg roll, and they graciously accepted. Armina ate it slowly, sulking about her interaction with the crazed woman. Lewis blew on it to cool it off, then devoured it in a few bites.
What's with her? Jayce mouthed to Lewis.
"I can read your lips."
Jayce bit his lip and glanced to the side.
Armina sighed. "There's a prophecy. I'm meant to destroy the world unless someone can stop me, and I just got a grim reminder of it." She wasn't sure why she opened up to Jayce, but the way he had been with Wendy and the way he had acted in the clothing shop made her feel comfortable around him. His eyes were kind as well as his heart, even if something occupied his thoughts, something she couldn't figure out.
"Oh," he said.
"You still have six weeks, Armina. There's still time to figure it out."
She shot up, throwing Lewis' arm off her shoulder. "I can't do this. I'll be at the bus until it's time to leave." She took off, pushing through the crowded halls of the mall, her thing body fitting between any gaps she could find.
Maybe she didn't mind her parents being dead because she had never met them, but she minded that they had left her with a prophecy hanging over her head for the last sixteen years. If she was going to destroy the world, then she hoped someone stopped her before it was too late. If Armina had to, she would die to save the few people on Earth she cared about, which might someday include Jayce. For now, she denied what stood right around the corner.