The school stadium was filled with students, eagerly waiting for the first match of the season to begin. Everyone roared in excitement, chanting happily for the team they supported. Back in the boys' locker room, everyone was frantically getting ready for the big game."Our first match," Leo said, putting on his gear."I'm a little anxious," Jason admitted."You should be. The whole school is watching," Chris added.Only then did they notice he had been standing there the entire time."Wow, great pep talk," Leo remarked, sarcasm evident in his tone."Relax... I've seen you two play. You're both exceptional at it," Chris said with a bright smile on his face.Leo and Jason looked at each other and shrugged proudly."We're practically gifted," Jason said."It's all in the wrist, you know," Leo said, clearly talking about his excellent throwing skills.Chris shook his head and scoffed, his smile still evident."Gather round, team..." he exclaimed, catching the attention of everyone in the

Jason took out the notes he had made on the symbols, with Anaya’s guidance, of course. After placing them on the study table in the library, they gave each other meaningful glances before Jason said, “Alright… let’s get to work.” They took their time, looking for and collecting every book on languages they could find. Before long, their table was filled with all sorts of textbooks from linguistics professors all over Ivandale. Once it looked like they had enough books, they quickly got into studying, trying to find anything that was even remotely similar to the sketches Jason had made. Luckily, they didn’t have any other classes after first period, so they were free to study until break was over.Leo cried inwardly after opening his seventh book—he still hadn’t seen anything and was beginning to lose the resolve he had to find this language when they first started. He stood on his feet to get more books and gasped when he heard a noise. “I’ve searched every language book on this table

Anaya kept increasing her pace with each step, not bothering to spare the young lad who struggled to keep up with her. Unable to take it anymore, he quickly overtook her. "Have you been avoiding me?" Chris asked, staring at her with furrowed brows after finally catching his breath. Anaya simply glared at him, arms folded. "And why would I do something like that?" she replied plainly. Chris blinked twice at her question, clearly lost for words. "I don’t know. You tell me," he stuttered, slowly folding his arms as well. Anaya rolled her eyes. "You’re not someone I find worth avoiding," she said with a sarcastic smile. As she opened the door in front of her, she added, "I hope that answers all your questions." "You don’t—" "Girls' bathroom," Anaya interrupted, pointing at the black lady symbol above the door. She casually shrugged and closed the door behind her. Chris hung his head low and chuckled heartily. "Well played, Princess." Hearing his words from the other side of the do

"Whoa," Leo muttered under his breath when he saw strands of his hair that had fallen to the ground. Jason rolled his eyes and lazily sat on the cold ground, leaning his back against a shelf before he said, "It's called a restricted area for a reason. It's off-limits to every student at Scarlet High. The school board even made sure to put an enchantment on this place so no one could get in. We need to be careful. Any misstep can be fatal." Leo and Anaya looked at him with slight frowns. "Didn't think to lead with the fatal part," Leo remarked. "You didn’t let me finish," Jason said casually, even adding a little shrug. Anaya looked back at where the arrow had hit. The arrow slowly faded away, leaving behind a huge dent. But, not much to her surprise, the dent closed up, looking almost as good as new. She had seen the same thing happen when she scratched a table in the library with her pen out of anger. She looked at it again, and it simply vanished—almost as if it had never happe

The day was bright and sunny. Smiles and laughter could be heard all day long, yet Leo, Jason, and Anaya wore agitated expressions on their faces, their arms crossed, and they could barely touch their lunch. Sylvia walked up to them with a bright smile on her lips. The way she swayed made it clear that she was still a little giddy from the excitement of her last lesson, earth manipulation. She placed the pretty pink box in her hand on the table. Sylvia quickly noticed the look on their faces and furrowed her brows, asking curiously, "Why the long faces...?" They didn't respond and just sighed simultaneously. Sylvia smiled and shook her head before opening the box she had brought and saying, "Cookies make everything better." The sweet aroma quickly enveloped them, indicating that the cookies were indeed freshly baked. The cookies broke easily, had a soft kind of crunch, and melted effortlessly in their mouths. "It's amazing," Jason said after taking his first bite. "Sent from the h