Page 47 of Oleander
“Your ear,” he repeats, his green eyes flaring bright.“You're human,”he says, like an accusation.
“Half-human and proud of it,” I correct with a bored shrug, and he charges like an angry bull. I sweep my leg out at the exact right moment, taking down his massive body in one fell swoop.
Banks doesn’t get up, staying down and groaning as Coach Slates counts to ten.
“Round one to Skyler!”
Banks staggers to his feet, apparently ready to start some shit. “But he’s human!” Banks shouts, spilling my secret as if it were his own.
The entire class gasps except for Oleander, but I’m not ashamed. After hiding who I am since I got here, I tuck my dark hair behind my ear, showing off the rounded tip and diamond stud.
“Half-human!” I shout to the class as if I need to defend my lineage or prove myself. I hold my hand up and let the electricity dance between my fingers.
My classmates erupt into excited murmurs, the new gossip spreading like wildfire.
“Settle down, settle down!” Coach Slate shouts, but I already see several cell phones out and nosey fingers flying across keyboards.
Whatever.
All of the teachers were informed of where I came from, so Coach Slate isn’t shocked and actually tries to smooth thesituation over. “We will carry on with our lesson plan. You can speak to your classmates outside of my time! Settle down! Nothing’s changed!”
My heart drops, nervous for the conversations I may have after this. I glance at the crowd and catch a flash of hurt on Gaia’s face. I quickly turn away, focusing on the fight. Now isn’t the time to get distracted, I can speak to her after.
“Round two. Ready. Set.Fight!” Coach Slate shouts.
The next round goes about the same, although Banks doesn’t even land a single blow or score a takedown. Instead, he’s in a chokehold and nearly crying after two minutes. Coach Slate calls it and declares me the winner.
Banks is fuming, his eyes alight with pure, undeniablehatred.
At least, those are the vibesI’mgetting.
“You got beat by a human!” his friends tease, adding fuel to the fire and offending me in the process.
“I’m out of here,” Banks sneers, storming toward the exit.
“Where are you going?! You can take your ass to the headmaster’s office if you walk out those doors, Banks!” Coach Slate shouts, but Banks ignores him, pushing through the gym exit as his friends quietly snicker behind his back. “Let that be a valuable lesson to you all. Poor sportsmanship is not a quality I tolerate, and I don’t like quitters. Skyler, great job,” he says with an affirming head nod, and confusion ripples through me.
Did he just compliment me?
I take my spot next to Ander, somewhat in shock that my human status was so abruptly and so accidentally outed. He subtly squeezes my hand with his glove-covered fingers. “You okay?” His lavender eyes pulse with concern.
“Yeah, fine.” I ignore my feelings, not wanting to stir up any unwanted magic; instead focusing on the next pairings. CoachSlate calls out the ground defense techniques being used as our classmates essentially beat the shit out of each other.
The Fae seem to be taught how to fight at an early age, and the girls are no exception. Gaia takes on Rose even though she was hiding out in the back, trying to avoid being seen. Their moves are equally as strong as the guys, although they never land any blows, instead flowing smoothly like a dance.
“Amazing technique, you two,” Coach Slate compliments after he announces Gaia as the winner. “That will be all for today. Anyone who didn’t have a chance to fight, don’t think you got out of it! You just get a weekend’s reprieve. Enjoy it!” he shouts before disappearing into the locker rooms.
Leo corners Ander and me before we can disappear out of the gym and avoid his questions. His chestnut brown mane is pulled into a massive top knot, and I’ll never understand how he has that much hair with the bottom half shaved off. Leo smiles innocently, like he’s not one of the three stooges, even if he is the nicest one.
“Nice fight, Skyler. So, you’re human?” he asks, stating the obvious with a big, goofy smile. “That’s pretty cool. May I see your ears?”
“Half-human,” I correct, feeling defensive, like I need to prove I belong here. I call on my magic and allow the currents to dance between my fingers once again. “And no, you can’t.”
“Sick, Sky! Check this out!” Arrow shouts from across the room, winking at me as electricity crawls along his skin.
We have the same type of elemental magic.
“Niiice! My dude!” I holler back. I’d definitely be interested in a conversation and maybe even some pointers since he’s been practicing for at least five years longer than me.
