I wake up the next morning, my back pressed up against a hard chest, completely spooned. I open my eyes and look around, my mind still in its groggy state and unable to process where I am and who is holding me. I turn my head around to see Adelram's peaceful face sleeping quietly next to me.

I watch as his closed eyes flutter almost unnoticeably, his full pink lips curved into a small, almost nonexistent smile. He looks so relaxed, so calm and peaceful, I can't help but watch as his head slightly moves back and forth as he breathes in and out.

Suddenly his eyes pop open, a look of confusion washes over him, but almost as soon as it appears it's gone, and is replaced with wide eyes and a look of horror "oh my god are you like... a rapist or something?" He asks in an overly nervous voice.

I feel myself blush from being caught staring at him. I furrowed my brows in confusion "w-what? No!" I exclaim, sitting up.

"You're lying, I totally just caught you undressing me with your eyes," he claims.

I roll my eyes trying to play it off cool even though I'm blushing a deep crimson "shut up, I was not" I retort.

"I feel so exposed!" Adelram blurts as he dramatically covers his private area.

I scoff "screw you" I joke.

"You wish you could" Adelram hints, winking at me.

I groan as my cheeks only heat up more. I quickly get out of bed, wanting to escape this awkward conversation I got myself in.

I exit his room and began to walk towards the bathroom at the end of the hall, when Everette walks out of there, his eyes immediately focusing in on my chest.

After what Adelram told me about Everette's abilities, I feel my cheeks flare even more than I thought possible. I instantly fold my arms over my breast "eyes up here bud" I remind him. Everette looks up, not a hint of embarrassment in his expression. He smirks at me "nice boobs" he comments again, winking at me before leaving down the hall.

What is with the Zayas boys and their smirks and winks? It seriously gets annoying.

I run into the bathroom and close the door before stripping my clothes and entering the shower. Letting the cool water rinse down my body.

At first, all I can do is replay moments from last night, a smile inching the corners of my lips skyward. Until all of a sudden a thought comes to mind, today is the last day for training. I have to leave first thing in the morning if I'm going to save Abigail before Slyder kills her, and just like that all of my previous joy, smile, and excitement drain out of me completely. I need to train the hardest I've ever trained today, I need to stay focused and in control, I have to be a strong warrior, I just have to, for Abi.

🔹🔹🔹

"Combat? As in hand to hand combat?" I question for the third time in a row.

"Yes, I'll be teaching you hand to hand combat," Mr. Komachi announces yet again.

"But... why? I thought you were supposed to be training me on my powers," I say dubiously.

"But I've already trained you on your powers, and while you still haven't reached your full potential, I don't believe you should focus solely on your powers. No one should depend only on their powers, you need to be able to fight hand to hand just to be sure," Mr. Komachi explains, though it still doesn't make much sense to me. Why can't I rely solely on my powers? Telekinesis, mind reading, and burning light thingy should be more than enough to save me, it's much more reliable than a punch here and there, but I don't argue after all, according to Adelram, Mr. Komachi knows best.

🔹🔹🔹

"Okay" I wheeze out as I rest my hands on my knees, putting all of my weight in it. "Break" I pant out in-between my wheezing in and out. My hair has fallen mostly out of my loose ponytail, my shirt and forehead are covered in sweat, and I cannot catch my breath for the life of me.

I let out a groan and fall forward on the soft cold ground, ignoring the itches that the grass running up against me is creating.

I'm not out of shape, I never have been. Being a dancer means I constantly have to keep a solid small enough weight and have plenty of flexibility and exercise, keeping me in good, maybe even great shape.

So don't go saying or thinking I need to exercise more.

After Mr. Komachi showed me the basic blocks, hand positions, finger position, and some simple moves, he began fighting me, without any warning in advance at all. At first I shrieked and started to run away, but then Adelram started making fun of me and laughing, so of course, I had to avoid doing that. I had to prove myself to that cocky bastard.

I tried fighting back, but my gosh, if he was taking it easy on me like he claims, then I don't know how I'll survive when he goes to hard mode. I tried blocking, but he ended up hitting me anyways. I tried punching, but he easily blocked with no hint of trouble at all. I tried kicking him, but he swiftly blocked that too.

We had been fighting nonstop for forty minutes and yet I hadn't made a single hit, I am now exhausted, frustrated, and my muscles are immensely sore.

Never a good combination.

"Come on Princess, don't be such a wuss" Adelram cheers from the front porch. I lift my head up just enough to scowl him before letting it fall back on the grass and flipping him off instead.

I turn my head over to look at Mr. Komachi and am intensely annoyed to see he's hardly broken a sweat at all. He looks as calm, and normal as ever, hardly any sweat moistening his forehead. I growl out in pure anger and frustration as I slam a fist down on the ground, biting my lip as it lands on a small pointy rock.

Once I finally get my breathing back to normal, I force myself to stand up "I don't think I learned a single thing throughout that entire forty-minute fight" I announce, a tone of annoyance ringing in my voice.

"You learned" Mr. Komachi states simply.

"Uh no actually, I'm pretty sure I know if I learned something. How could I have learned? All you did was use me as your own personal punching bag," I growl as I narrow my eyes at him.

He appears completely unfazed by this and simply shrugs "you learned" he states again.

It takes every restraint in me not to burst out in angry shouts, instead, I chose to be a kind, loving mannered young women and smile "of course I did, I learned that you're a mean, angry, horrible teacher who takes all of his anger out on a poor, unsuspecting teenager!" I scream. I know that I'm not acting properly and that I'm overreacting, but I'm frustrated and I'm tired. I have a deadline of tomorrow to learn everything I can so that I can save my best friend, and yet instead I'm here getting beaten up by some old fart.

The truth is, I don't really think it's the frustration of not getting it, but more the fear of not getting it. Fear of not being able to learn, fear of not being able to find Abigail in time, fear of losing my best friend.

"You'll save your best friend" Mr. Komachi assures me, but I can hear the hint of doubt in his voice. I know that he's only saying this to comfort me.

"Did you just read my mind? I thought I was blocking everyone out," I question, my brows pinched together.

Mr. Komachi lets out a short chuckle "I'm the one who taught the Zayas to do that, you can't block me out, though I'm sure Adelram here is very upset about his inability to do so," he explains with a small laugh.

"Yeah princess, I enjoyed hearing you go on and on about how much cooler I am than you," Adelram brags with a smirk playing on his lips.

I tilt my head to the side and smile sweetly at him. "If you're cooler than me, does that mean I'm hotter?" I ask, forming a similar smirk on my lips as I watch his falter.

He scowls at me as he mumbles something under his breath. The feeling of victory, there's nothing quite like it.

"You ready to begin again?" Mr. Komachi asks me.

I spin around to face him and fold my arms. "How about instead of you using me as a personal punching bag, you actually teach me to fight back, and how to block," I suggest, fighting to keep all annoyance and sass out of my voice.

"Very well" Mr. Komachi agrees.

🔹🔹🔹

"You should seriously get some rest princess," Adelram advises, suddenly behind me, making me release a short shriek as I jump back in surprise.

After training both combat and all of my powers for five more hours (with breaks thankfully), Mr. Komachi said that I had practiced enough and should try to get some sleep so that I'm fully recharged by tomorrow.

I had begged him to train me longer, but he insisted that we had done enough, so Adelram and I left coming back to his place.

Adelram went off to bed after talking with his dad some, and I had gone to the guest room I was sleeping in. I laid in bed for over two hours, tossing and turning continuously. Every so often checking the time noticing the minute hands seemed to be stuck in time barely moving between each glance. I tried warming some milk, I tried rocking myself, I tried singing quietly to myself, I tried rubbing between my eyebrows like I heard helps, but no matter what I did, no matter what I tried, I just couldn't get that sick-to-my-stomach feeling out of my stomach. I couldn't get rid of that undeniable fear coursing through my entire body, I couldn't get rid of all the what-if scenarios burning in my mind, I couldn't fall asleep.

So about an hour ago I snuck out here and began practicing everything Mr. Komachi had taught me as quietly as possible, trying to make sure none of the Zayas family woke up, but it appears I failed.

"What are you doing up?" Adelram said coming up behind me making me jump losing all concentration.

"You scared me half to death!" I exclaim, putting my hand to my heart.

Adelram simply smirks and walks forward "funny, I was just about to say the same thing about your face," he retorts.

I roll my eyes "ha-ha" I reply dryly.

"Seriously though, what are you doing up?" Adelram questions.

I sigh deeply "I can't fall asleep. I just can't shake the feeling that something's going to go terribly wrong tomorrow," I admit as I look to the ground beneath me, a knot forming in my throat.

I feel a finger press beneath my chin, gently forcing it up so that I look into Adelram's piercing blue eyes. "Hey" Adelram's voice gently soothes "it's going to be alright Princess, I'm here for you, I'll protect you" he assures me, instantly making my heart melt. "Always," he adds in a quiet voice. His eyes are watching mine carefully with an intensity I can't quite explain. It's as though he can see straight through all the walls I've tried to build, as though he can see right through every layer of protection I've made for myself and as if he was seeing directly into my soul, into all of my secrets, yet he doesn't look away.

My heart is on hyper-drive as it pounds frenetically against my rib cage. My heart is screaming at me to lean forward that small distance forward and connect our lips in the magical way I had felt before, but then my brain, my stupid conscious brain, is reminding me over and over again to ignore my heart for the sake of my friendship.

I feel like I'm barely holding back like my wants and desires are pushing full force and only a small thread is stopping me.

No, stop it Kamaria, think about Abigail. My brain alarms. With that thought, I force myself to clear my throat and take a step back, sabotaging the moment completely.

Adelram's face flashes with a look I can't read, but it's gone almost as soon as it's there, replaced with a calm, easy smile. "Well, if you really can't sleep, I'll help you train, but not here, I'd rather not wake up mom when she's sleeping." Adelram offers "trust me, you never want to wake mom up when she's sleeping" he advises, shivering slightly at the thought.

I laugh, Melina? Scary? "Thanks, Adelram" I thank offering a small smile that didn't quite reach my eyes, the best I can give when feeling so somber.

Adelram smiles at me, holding his hand out for, waiting for me to grab it with a look of expectancy.

I stare at his hand, gulping noticeably. It's such a simple action, grabbing his hand, yet my heart doesn't seem to agree as it slams spastically against my ribs.

I should grab it, it's not like it means anything, I could hold his hand in a totally Platonic way. Yet my brain won't let me make nothing out of it. It's alarming me that if I accept his hand, then we're touching, and if we're touching, then I won't be able to control myself, so despite the patient expectancy on his face, despite the silly want I have to accept the gesture, I bury my hands into my hoodie pocket and walk next to him.

For a moment he just watches me, but I can't bring myself to look up at the hurt expression I know I would find if I look, instead I stare blankly at the dark ground below me.

Fortunately, Adelram says nothing as he begins walking forward, me following silently beside him.

We get inside Cayden's car, the silence between us thick and awkward. I mentally facepalm my forehead while kicking myself angrily. Stupid Kamaria, we were doing so good and you had to ruin everything.

I had to remind myself that this was for the best.

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