The Ultimate Sacrifice, Talia Jager [novels to read .TXT] 📗
- Author: Talia Jager
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Mr. Eaton was the headmaster of the school. We sat in the navy blue chairs in front of his desk. The office was a typical office, dark wood and not a lot of color in the room. An area rug was under the desk; the rest of the room was floored with dark wood. Dr. Frost sat on the couch on the side of the room and Mr. Eaton sat down at his desk.
“I hear there was an incident in town.” His brows came together and his forehead wrinkled.
“Yes, sir,” Mira answered.
“Care to enlighten us?”
“It was my fault, sir,” I spoke up. “I got mad.” I tried to take responsibility.
“What made you get so angry, Miss Lagos?”
“There was an accident,” I started and then quickly added, “It wasn’t our fault. He swerved into our lane and our cars crashed. He blamed it on us and started going off.” I looked over at Dr. Frost. “I tried not to get mad, I tried to keep my emotions under control, but eventually I couldn’t any more.” I looked down, ashamed.
“Did you hurt the man?”
“I…” I tried to remember.
“She didn’t get that far. I stopped her,” Mira chimed in.
“Good. What does the man think happened?” Mr. Eaton asked.
“He thinks he hit a tree.”
Mr. Eaton rubbed his temples. “Miss Lagos, you need to try harder to keep your emotions under control. I know you already see Dr. Frost five days a week. I can only ask you to work harder with her. I’m restricting you to school grounds until I see more improvement.”
I looked up, shocked. I had never been punished for using my power before. “That’s not fair!” I raised my voice.
“I understand you feel this way, Miss Lagos. But I must, for your safety as well others’.”
I mashed my lips together. Mr. Eaton looked surprised. “I know you will be able to control your emotions in here, right, Miss Lagos?”
“Yes, sir,” I said under my breath.
“Very good. Dr. Frost has agreed to talk with you now in her office. Please remember, I’m not restricting you to your room or classes, just the campus.” He nodded to Dr. Frost. “You are dismissed.” Mira and I stood up to leave. “Miss Trakas,” Mr. Eaton said to Mira, “I need to talk with you further.”
We looked at each other. I sure hoped she wouldn’t get in trouble for what happened. She sat back down and I followed Dr. Frost out of the room.
I was still fuming by the time we arrived at her office and could only pace around the room, trying to control my emotions.
“When you’re ready, we’ll start,” she said to me calmly.
I looked more closely at her. She was dressed casual today, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore no make-up. I noticed she kept her hand in her pocket. I scoffed. “You’ve got the drug right there, huh?”
“Yes. We can’t have you using your gift on one of us.”
“Do you think I could hurt you that quickly?”
“I know that is a possibility. However, I think I know the signs well enough. If I believe that’s the direction you are heading and there’s a chance you might hurt me, I won’t hesitate.”
I sat down, humbled. “I hate to think of anyone I like being afraid of me.”
“That’s why we need to work on controlling your anger.”
I sighed heavily. “How do I do that?”
Her hand came out of her pocket and she sat down. “We talk, we do exercises, and we’ll figure it out.”
Dr. Frost and I talked for a couple of hours. She gave me more relaxation exercises to do. I walked back to my room slowly, thinking about everything that had happened.
Near the entrance to my building, Daxton popped out in front of me. “Hey.”
I jumped, but relaxed when I saw it was him. “Oh, hey.”
“What’s up?”
I looked down at the ground and kicked at the grass. “I…uh…” Then I remembered the night before. “Wait a minute. Last night…I saw you.”
I saw a glint of recognition in his eyes. “I…Yeah.”
“Why were you there?”
“Just looking out the window. Same as you. Isn’t that what you were doing?”
“Of course, what else would I be doing?”
“Right.” He didn’t sound convinced. “Want to hang out tonight?”
Ironic. I get asked out on the day I get grounded. “As long as it’s on campus.”
He gave me a puzzled look. “Why?”
“Dad grounded me.” I laughed.
“Dad?”
“Yeah, the headmaster.”
“Is he really your dad?”
“NO!” I laughed. “Just joking around.”
“Is being grounded a joke too?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“What happened?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Okay. Maybe you can tell me over dinner in the dining hall?”
I giggled. “Sounds like a date.”
“See you then.”
I nodded and walked into my dorm. I went upstairs and to my room. The door was already open. Noe, Auralee, and Mira were sitting on the beds. “Hey.”
I plopped down next to Noe. She put her arm around me. “Grounded?”
“Yup.”
“It’ll be fine. We’ll find stuff to do here,” Mira said.
“I’m the one who’s stuck here, not you. You guys don’t have to stick around here for me.” I looked up. “Wait, he didn’t ground you too, did he?”
“No.” Mira shook her head.
“Well, what did he say?” I pried.
She rolled her eyes. “He just lectured me on letting you go as far as you did. But then he told me I did a good job.”
“That’s it?” I asked.
Her nose wrinkled a little. “Yeah.”
“Hmmm.” Her nose gave away her lie. There was definitely more to the story. But I wasn’t going to push now. Maybe it was something she couldn’t say in front of Noe and Auralee.
“So, what are you going to wear on your date tonight?” Noe asked. Everyone looked over at me.
I should have figured she’d know about that. “Jeans.”
“And?”
“Wait a minute! What date? Aren’t you grounded?!” Mira shrieked.
“Restricted to the campus,” I corrected her. “I ran into Daxton outside. He wants to have dinner…here.”
“I don’t get it.” Mira shook her head. “You get in trouble and still manage to land a date for the night.” She flopped back on her bed and groaned.
The rest of us laughed. “What top are you going to wear?” Before I could open my mouth, Noe said, “And don’t say purple because it matches.”
“Don’t you already know what I’m going to wear?” I asked, grinning.
“Yes.” She handed me a green shirt from my closet. “Green.”
“Then green it is.”
Chapter Five
I met Daxton in the courtyard an hour later. He smiled when he noticed me walking toward him. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks.”
“Shall we go to dinner?”
I giggled. “Sure! Where to?”
He looked up at the sky. “Hmmm… I hear there’s a great place serving Italian food tonight,” he said before throwing me a wink.
“Perfect,” I said, and we headed to the dining hall.
The strong smell of tomatoes was in the air. It was definitely an Italian night. We got in line and I picked out a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. Realizing I forgot the rolls, I reached back over Daxton’s arm and grabbed two. Our arms touched briefly and that intense, almost electrifying feeling flew through me. I jumped and pulled my arm away, wondering if he noticed it as well. If he did, he didn’t say anything.
He carried both our trays back to the table. “Am I allowed to sit with you at your table?” he asked very seriously.
I laughed. “You are officially invited to sit with us from now on.”
We sat down and ate our food. It was pretty good for cafeteria food. The chefs knew what they were doing. The sauce tasted authentic and the food tasted better than one would expect for school food.
“What’s her name is staring again,” I informed him.
He laughed. “Ignore her.”
“She annoys me.”
“Try not to let it bother you.” He wiped his mouth.
I studied his face. His skin tone was a few shades darker than mine. He had a few freckles on his cheeks and he had that one dimple. I wondered what his gift was. It wasn’t polite to ask. Usually if the person wanted you to know, they’d let you know. Or you could guess by the tattoo on their wrist, since all people with the same talent had the same tattoo.
My tattoo resembled the sign for infinity, and it went all the way around my wrist. Mira’s tattoo was more like a long string of knots. Daxton’s looked like a string of different-sized stars. I wasn’t sure what that meant. I tried to remember if anyone else I knew had a star-like tattoo but came up blank.
After dinner, we walked around campus. “Tell me more about you,” I said curiously.
“What would you like to know?”
“Anything you want to tell me.” I tried to leave it open.
“Aren’t all our stories mostly the same? Son or daughter of a gifted person. Not quite human, not quite superhuman. Thrown into a special school to learn about the world and here we are.”
I laughed. “Yeah, guess they all do sound about the same. What about your family? Do you see them?”
“No. My parents were killed a few years ago.”
“Oh.” I looked down. “I’m sorry.”
“I have an older brother who lives a normal life. He chooses not to use his gift. I haven’t seen him in a while.” He shrugged like it didn’t bother him, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes that said otherwise.
“I haven’t seen my parents in a long time. Years now. I don’t know why. I don’t even know if they’re alive.”
“That sucks. Do you have brothers or sisters?”
“None that I know of.”
We sat on a bench in the courtyard. We were close to each other, but not touching. It seemed like he was purposely trying not to touch me.
“Did you have a girlfriend at your old school?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. Have you had a lot of boyfriends here?”
I laughed. “Other than Finn? No, definitely not.”
He looked surprised. “Why not?”
“They’re all scared of me.”
“Scared of you? Why would they be scared of you?” He paused. “Oh…because of your gift?”
I nodded. “I assume people have told you.”
“Yeah, I heard it around.” He stuck out his legs and leaned back. “I’m not afraid.”
“You’re not?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t plan on making you mad.”
I laughed. “Good, that’s good.”
“You really can’t control it?”
“Not very well,” I admitted. “I’m working on that.”
It was getting darker. The moon had risen in the sky and stars were beginning to appear. He looked over at me. “Kassia?”
I met his gaze. “Yeah?”
“Why were you really at the window?”
With our eyes locked, it was hard to think. The passion was rising again. “I have nightmares.”
His face softened. “I could take your nightmares away. I could take you to places you’ve only dreamed of.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
He leaned close to me; our lips were only inches apart. He hesitated, looking from my eyes to my lips and back again. Everything in me was screaming yes, but I stayed silent, trying to control my emotions. Then quickly, but gently, he touched his lips to mine. I closed my eyes and leaned into the kiss and my world changed. I was no longer sitting on a bench on campus. I was on a beach with the sun setting behind us. A warm breeze played with my hair
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