Ciara's POV
Kevin was putting me in a worse situation each time I spoke with him. Who would have known that he was secretly dealing with a lot? Kendall had tried to convince me not to interfere with his process of problem solving but I had stubbornly made him reveal what he was hiding under an oath we both made. Whatever was discussed with him that was not supposed to be revealed could not be revealed by me or else I would lose my magic.
Walking to my locker absent minded, I picked out the books I would be needing for the morning sessions. "Someone is distracted," I heard a familiar voice behind me startling me.
"Good morning, Sonia," I greeted the girl that Kevin had been suspecting to have come from Armensia. She stood before me smiling widely as usual. It wasn't as if my father hadn't trained me to handle different situations such as these as was my duty as the alpha of the artras, but the fact that she could somehow be caught up in all this was unnerving to say the least.
"So what happened to the problem child?" she asked.
"Huh, who is the problem child?" I asked her as we began walking on to class. I had decided today I would not be waiting for all of us to arrive like we usually did. I needed some time with Sonia to verify my suspicions.
"Kevin, silly, I went by his house yesterday to apologise for the tantrum I threw, but I didn't find him there," she said.
"How come you know where his house is?" I asked her casually.
"Wow, nothing gets past you. We are neighbours, we happen to have moved into the same neighbourhood he lives in," she explained.
"Speaking of the 'interrogation'," I said using my fingers to make air quotes, "what was he asking you?"
"Have you spoken to him?" she asked, "you said you would have a sharp talk with him."
"Yeah, I did and he promised he won't be bothering you about it, but he also said he hadn't asked you anything. I obviously didn't believe him, but I know that is the most I was getting out of him. So I decided to ask you," I explained.
"Oh, is that what he said? Well he was asking me about this ring that my father gave me," she said becoming quickly saddened by the revelation.
"Couldn't you just tell him that?" I asked.
"No, I don't like speaking about my father. He passed away and this ring is the last thing he gave me," she said.
"Oh, I am so sorry. I didn't know," I apologised before entering the math classroom. The teacher, Mr Bergstrom was already seated at his desk, the same teacher that was training Kevin during their lunch time sessions. I walked past him before turning back to listen to Sonia hoping she didn't notice the way the teacher's presence now bothered me now that I knew the reason he had come to teach at this school.
"No, don't worry about it. It was a long time ago," she said as we walked on to my seat.
"Why Armenville?" I asked her.
"I'm sorry."
"What made you guys choose Armenville as a town to move to?" I asked her.
"I could ask you the same. Jacob tells me that you were not in town before this school year just like I am," she said.
"Yeah, my father moves a lot, but I was born here just like most of the students here," I told her.
"Really, where have your dad's travels taken you?" she said quickly jumping off into a question that got her out of being questioned. I had no initial intention of doubting her like Kevin did, and hence had no reason to question her any further. I let the conversation drift off and soon we were talking about our favourite series like we normally did. The way she twisted conversations when they were aimed at finding out more about her was intriguing, but I also knew I had no right to interfere. The warning bell sounded, signalling us to all wind up and get seated for the lessons. I bid Sonia farewell as she didn't have the same lesson as me at this time and two minutes later, Kendall walked in with a worried expression on his face.
'What's wrong, Kendall?' I asked him telepathically.
'I can't find Kevin anywhere. I have even tried contacting him telepathically, but he doesn't answer,' he said.
'He's late again!' I replied surprised.
'Yeah, he is.'
'Let's wait out the first lesson before we look for him,' I told him.
'I just hope it's nothing serious,' he said.
The last bell rang and Kevin still wasn't anywhere in class. I decided I wouldn't overthink it. There had to be a perfectly good explanation. The telepathy probably doesn't go through because his void is still closed. The lesson went on for another thirty minutes before we heard footsteps outside in the hall. Mr Bergstrom abruptly stopped his discussion and rushed out to check it out. The usual murmuring when the class teacher was out immediately began as was the case with students who simply had too much to catch up on.
A few minutes later, Mr Bergstrom walked back in with Kevin in tow. Kevin looked even more absent minded than usual and I could tell by the very slight limp in his walk that he was straining just to stay standing. He walked over to his seat and looked straight out the window. I tried calling him telepathically, but just as I had guessed earlier, the message wouldn't go through. "I will need my homework after the lesson," Mr Bergstrom said to him before he continued his lesson. Kevin didn't even note down a single thing the whole lesson. He simply stayed zoned out the entire lesson paying no attention to the whole class.
"What's wrong with him?' Kendall's voice rang in my head.
"No idea, he's probably dealing with more than I had anticipated," I replied.
'Are we ever going to train with him again?' he asked.
'What makes you say that?' I asked him suspicious of how he came to such a conclusion.
'Well, it seems like he always has something going on that he doesn't even have the time to spend with us anymore. Its frustrating. Ciara, one of these days, I am going to confront him,' he said voicing out his concerns for his best friend. I decided I would talk to him when I next got the chance or at lunch time when his magic was back up. I would have helped him open his void the night before, but that would only cause suspicions with Bergstrom who clearly hadn't taught him that yet. Besides, Kevin was not the only one who had issues to deal with. The artras were required to report to Armensia today evening to have a meeting with the elder council. I would only bother Kevin if he wasn't in such bad shape right now. And so once again I decided he stay behind even though his opinion was not needed for me to make that call. He had the power to disobey my orders anyway, so this was a better way for me.
The lessons proceeded accordingly with the rest of the artras constantly reporting in telepathically with reports of the Siege's cloudy mood. I told everyone to give him space for the mean time. The bell for the start of lunch finally rang and in a flash the hallways were bustling with noisy students roaming all around looking for their friends so they could finally hang out and forget the reason they were all in school. I made my way to the cafeteria bumping into the last person I expected on the way, my new self-appointed bestie, Sonia Everglade.
"Hi, Sonia," I greeted her smiling but for the first time in a while she did not return the smile.
"What is wrong with Kevin? Did you tell him about the origins of my ring?" she asked me seriously as if it would have been a big crime.
"No, I didn't," I replied.
"Then why does he look so down?" she asked sounding exasperated.
"I don't know and if I were you I would give him some space to sort it all out for himself," I told her.
"What's wrong with you guys? He's your friend. Don't let him go through whatever he is going through on his own. You guys are supposed to be there for him at times like this," she said.
"Trust me, Sonia, if he hasn't told us anything about it, then it is a lot more complicated than that," I told her, "last time I told you to stand down you refused to and we let it slide, but this time, Sonia, listen to me. I will handle this if need be, but right now, leave Kevin alone."
"Fine, then," she replied before turning around and heading to the cafeteria with me.