Fiona eyed her friend`s room door with a frown. It had been six days since she found out that Tristian, the boy she was beginning to crush on was now with another girl. And not just any other girl, he was with Jasmine. The Sorceress of Portals and one of their friends plus dorm mate.
The girls managed to keep Jia busy with studying and school work this whole week while Kyra instructed Mike to keep an eye on Roy so that he wouldn`t disturb her. She also heard on the grape vine that every afternoon Tristan comes to take Jasmine out for a ride on his bike and they manage to come back before curfew. However, that gossip was quick silenced whenever Jia was around. The poor girl had lost the usual shine in her hair and sparkle in her eyes.
She just looked like a zombie the entire time. Rose was of the opinion that a crush wouldn`t be that devastating unless something else had happened between them but Jia wasn`t saying anything. She was just eating, reading, crying, studying and sleeping.
Finally, on Friday, Fiona had had enough and stormed into her friend's room where she was lying on the bed with her head phones on. She reached forward and grabbed her feet, causing the girl to shriek as rose up and leaned on her elbows.
She pushed her head off and down to her neck with a grimace, "What is wrong with you? What are you doing?"
"Kidnapping you. Come on, I have a race this afternoon and you`re coming to watch me!" Fiona informed her as she turned and left the room.
Jia groaned and fell back in bed.
"Hurry up!" Fiona yelled.
The lightning sorceress quickly moved into a simple "Beckett Mechanics" shirt that Fiona had given her and jeans before throwing a cap over her braided hair. Her black gloves were then switched for a pair of grey wrist length gloves.
Once she was done, she and Fiona left for the race tracks with her flying low beside Fiona on her bike. The others would be rehearsing and Rose had been called back to her parents Office for work. Kyra couldn`t believe that their friend was going to work whilst still in her first year at Viola. Rose however took revenge by asking when Mike would take her out on her first date.
Kyra had blushed red and retreated from Rose who laughed out loud. The boys were gone as soon as they got back Jia`s planned trip because of the War Games and were gone for a while. By the time they came back, Kyra was busy with preparing for finals and handing her last papers for marking. There was no time for dates. Even Cole and Zoey were spending more at school studying as well.
Fiona was glad that she had handed in all her assessment pieces and was so far free for one last race thus leading her to drag Jia out with her. Jia, like her, had completed everything and was just moping but Fiona was adamant to change that.
When they arrived at the Race tracks, Fiona felt the familiar thrill of racing fill her bones as she got off her bike and pushed it through the crowd. Jia walked beside her, looking like a ghost who had just seen humans for the first time. Fiona chuckled as a few of the bikers greeted her kindly. Maybe this was a chance for Fiona to find a hot biker dude for her friend. All her plans flew out the door when she caught sight of three familiar Knights.
Fiona muttered a curse when she saw Tristan, Chase and Dylan at the starting point with their bikes. Jasmine was standing near Tristan and the boy had his arm around the portal sorceress waist, listening to her talk.
She turned and saw that Jia hadn`t spotted them instead had stopped to greeting Kyra`s big brothers. Ithan was messing with her hair and introducing her to some other bikers who were in his year.
Fiona was about to go and join her friend when felt someone tap her shoulder. She spun around to see Dylan glower at her with Chase behind him," What are you doing here? And with Jia?"
Fiona pushed him away from her and glared at him," I`m here for a race and I asked Jia to come here to cheer her up. She`s been cooped up in her room the whole week and honestly, it`s freaking us all out."
"Tristan is here!" Dylan hissed," This is his first outing with Jaz."
Fiona arched a brow at the Knight and folded her arms, "Oh? So now she`s Jaz to you all."
"Don`t give me attitude, Fiona. This isn`t a good time for you both to be here," Dylan growled.
"Dylan`s right Fiona, what were you thinking bringing her here?!" Chase asked with a grim expression.
The lava sorceress threw up her hands, "Well I`m sorry but I had no choice and besides, I can`t take her back now. She`ll know something`s up."
"And what will you do? Let her stand here while Tristan and Jaz make out with each other?"
Fiona glared at him, "Don`t start."
"Chase! Dylan!" Jia yelled a she flew over to them and jumped to hug Chase. He returned it heartily before she turned to Dylan. The Knight surprised them all by leaning down giving her a one arm hug and kissing her forehead. He then muttered against her head, "I didn`t know you were coming."
Jia leaned back with flushed cheeks," Neither did I. Fiona just dragged me here for entertainment."
"You look terrible," Chase muttered to her.
Jia turned to smile at the Chase when she finally noticed Tristan and Jasmine, making her smile drop," I didn't know that they were here."
Dylan moved to hide them from her view," We don`t need to see them. Let`s go…"
Jia side stepped him and strode over to the new couple. Chase muttered a curse as he and Dylan tore after the lightning sorceress. Fiona had to push her bike towards them at a slower pace while muttering how all boys should be sent to the Afterlife. When Jia finally stopped in front of the couple, Tristan seemed focused on hugging Jasmine more than greeting her. Jia gulped nervously. Why was a boy able to affect her this way?
"Hi Jaz," Jia said as she greeted the pretty sorceress who smiled and returned her greeting. Jia then faced Tristan," Can we talk?"
"I have a race, no time to talk," Tristan said as pulled away from Jasmine and stood to kiss her cheek. The other caught up with the three and stood behind Jia.
"It will only take a minute," Jia insisted.
"Not interested," Tristan snapped. He then motioned for Jasmine to step away as he straddled his bike and donned his helmet.
Behind Jia, Dylan moved toward his friend to throttle him when Chase put a hand out to stop him. He shook his head at the Knight and Dylan swallowed his anger. What was he doing?? This is how you treat the girl you like?
Jia nodded with a defeated expression. Chase came up to her murmured to her, telling her to go and stand with Jasmine at the side on the Finish Line as the race would start soon. Jia nodded listlessly and left with Jasmine, who began to ask her how the grenade project was going.
Fiona openly glared at Tristan before straddling her bike," He is going to die. Death by lava seems like an exciting trip to the Afterlife."
Chase who had heard her snapped his head towards her," He`s a Knight, which means we`ll deal with him."
Fiona snorted," And how`s that working for you?"
She then out on her helmet, effectively ending the conversation for now. Chase and Dylan made their way back to their bikes and got on them. Once the horn was blown, the racers zoomed down the track.
Jia stood next to Jasmine and watched the race with mixed emotions. Jasmine had managed to coax Jia into another conversation where she told her how she had met Tristan at the First Mixer and then again at the second mixer. How he would also say hi to her whenever he was on campus and how he helped her after the Christmas holidays. They had started to talk on the phone after that and then he finally asked her out last week.
"It was so suddenly you know? But intense," Jasmine revealed.
All through the conversation, Jia felt like dying and her being shattered in a million little pieces. By the time the race was over, Jia felt like an empty shell and a fool. She ran her fingers over her dragon necklace and tried to order her emotions to die down but who was she kidding? She was four seconds from having a meltdown. She didn`t even register that Fiona had won and was gliding over to stop beside her with a sack full of coins and crystals hanging on her bike handle bars.
"Hey, what happened?" Fiona asked as she stared up at her friend.
"I`ll just go and see Tristan," Jasmine said to Jia before nodding to Fiona," Great race, Fiona."
The lava sorceress nodded in reply before the brunette sorceress ran over to her boyfriend who was parked next to Dylan and Chase at a corner. Fiona and Jia watched as Jasmine consoled Tristan before he pulled her against him and kissed her. Jia sucked in a breath and looked away. It felt like someone was sinking a knife in her chest and twisting it.
"Jia?" Fiona muttered.
The white haired sorceress turned to Fiona," Is there an amateur track around here? You know, just for warm ups."
Fiona nodded and got off her bike before leading her away. Chase left his bike with Dylan and Tristan as he followed the girls. He caught up with Jia before throwing a casual arm around her shoulder. Jia leaned into him with a grateful smile. If only Chase wasn`t crushing on Rose, he would make a great boyfriend for her but for now, he was a great friend to her.
Fiona nodded at Chase who smiled at her as they both lead their friend away before they reached a familiar track.
"You trying to get a thrill or something?" Chase asked Fiona as he thought that the track was for her.
"Or something," Jia said as she detached herself from Chase and moved to take hold of Fiona`s bike.
"Whoa now, Jia, "Chase protested, "Do you know how to handle a hover bike?"
Jia nodded, "Yep."
Chase shot Fiona a pained expression as she stepped away from her bike and let Jia push it towards the starting line.
"This is a bad idea," Chase pointed out.
"Nothing cheers a girl right up then Race Wars," Jia muttered as she straddles Fiona`s bike before throttling away. The track was narrow and the only obstacles were the huge boulders that looked like Ice Crabs but she liked it that way. It was enough of a distraction.
That was until, she had a vision in the middle of racing.