My Enemies' Love

What’s worse than a high school ball with a dance? How about one where you’re forced to dance with your crush, because the universe spit your name out with his, from a ballet box, of all places.

My jaw dropped when the science teacher Vernon, called out my name ‘Cassie’ and then picked out another name and said ‘Luther’.

I wasn’t even standing anywhere near him.

I was standing with my two friends, Kirk and Ada.

And you want to know what Luther was?

Last time I checked, he was a literal Prince from the Elemental League.

Absolutely someone I wanted to avoid.

Why?

We were unspoken enemies.

Nope, we’d never interacted that much before now. And yes, I’d like to keep it that way. But when I turn to find my friends, they’ve snuck off, leaving me standing on my own, a prime target for Luther to corner.

He was in a fine suit like all the rest, well groomed, nice, very nice. Me? Little ole me was dressed in a second-hand gold dress wearing long white gloves – which, um, didn’t really match the dress.

“You can dance now,” Vernon had called out enough names to fill the courtyard under the hanging lanterns. It was shadowed by the gothic school up the steep ridge, which overlooked this courtyard and the football field, which was all next to Horizon, our quaint city.

I could see students moving about and one particular tall participant moving my way. Thank goodness his friends don’t come to gloat.

Luther approaches me on his own, “Don’t need to look so disappointed, it’s only one dance,” Luther speaks over me.

I haven’t even made eye contact with him yet. I’ve just been staring into nothing, silently panicking, trying to look calm. I decide to be a bit of a douche myself, and bring up a small interaction we had a few months back.

“Last time we spoke, Luther, sorry, you spoke, at me,” I stare at his hands, which had gold rings set with different rubies and sapphires, “You said I was looking cute by the lockers and made all your friends laugh at me.”

“I meant the cute part,” Luther speaks while I chew on the inside of my cheek, “...you’re very elusive, Cassie,” well that was subtle.

“Um, no?” I shake my head, furrowing my brows.

“It’s alright,” Luther sounds like he’s holding back amusement, “...the League doesn’t target anything worth less than the fire power of a missile…” Luther offers his hand, “Let’s go.”

I put my gloved hand in his, groaning internally as he pulls me to the floor and I walk, expecting humored glances from his douchebag friends. I’m surprised to see they’re not taunting me for once. They seem busy by the punch bowl.

I’m glad for the long gloves, as Luther can’t touch my skin.

Which would have been a major problem.

If Luther could get skin contact, he’d know I was a Kinetic Elusive.

Luther puts his hands on my waist and picks up one gloved hand, walking me around unenthusiastically. He moves slow, looking at me, a little concerned by my lack of eye contact. It’s not that I wasn’t brave, I was just careful with my power. I better make small talk or this is going to be a long and awkward dance.

“Heard you’re moving into the business of farming power,” I decide to engage him in light conversation, why not. I speak to his pocket and the handkerchief folded neatly away.

“Runs in the family.”

“Controversial family,” I look a tiny bit higher, now my eyes focus on the curve of his shoulders, I always liked his wide shoulders… “Not liked by many, Luther.”

“True. No one likes power like ours,” Luther responds cooly, “It’s unconventional. But we can’t help being Propulsive, it’s natural to us, we’re just born that way,” which basically meant directing magic out of the holder, and into the air. It was cool – like being an energy vampire. They made the whole thing into an empire, supplying the military with the power of magic.

“Pretty sure that’s stealing... and morally, ethically grey,” I finally take a short look at his face.

I almost instantly blush. Dude is just handsome, wish that wouldn’t matter so much. But fuck it, he’s sharply defined but he’s also got that deep voice. And the eyes show that he’s a Propulsive. They all had black eyes with a silver ring around the pupil. That silver ring showed how their souls were open to others. Able to connect.

I always wondered how that worked. Wondered what it would feel like if one ever touched me. All they needed was skin contact, I had heard. Although maybe it wasn’t so simple. For souls to connect, their had to be some kind of romance first, I was sure.

“Stealing? We pay our clients, Cassie,” Luther corrects me, and he seems bored by the topic of his Propulsive League, I’m sure he spent enough time thinking about his future in it, one day to inherit the whole thing, “Have you got plans after you graduate?”

“Avoid you,” I tease, somehow finding myself laughing. Luther almost smiles, intrigued by my attempt to be sassy. But the smile doesn’t last, he probably thinks I’m so uncool. How lame can this chick get?

“Scared we’ll hunt you down for your lick of flame?” Luther flirts back, “You’re pretty enough for a dance, though.”

“I guess I should say thank you, for your… civility… during this dance, Luther, can’t say I’ll miss you, or your idiot friends,” I respond with as much annoyance as I can manage. No matter how much I had a whole crush on this popular prince throughout high school, I could never try.

“Seems we both have a mutual understanding, I can’t stand your friends either, all they do is interrupt class when they’re late, they think it’s cool… it’s not,” Luther dramatizes our enemy-ship. I feel protective of my friends though. They might be oblivious to their surroundings sometimes, but they weren’t obnoxious dickheads like his lot.

“I can’t help that Ada and Kirk have been in a honeymoon stage for over a year, they love each other,” I stand up for my friends. The dance comes to an end when I slip my hand from his and take a step back near the edge of the dance floor, “If you’ll excuse me…”

Luther seems to want to say something else but instead he just looks at me backing away, and then he turns and walks back to his friends while fixing his cuffs, pretending to fiddle.

Prick. Didn’t even say bye.

I had ended the dance early, but I still felt like he dismissed me.

Just the way he was brought up, I bet. Riches and such.

The only reason I got into Colonel High was a scholarship. School ended next month. All our exams were coming up, I didn’t have plans on passing with super high grades. My passion lay elsewhere. I wanted to be a youth worker. Get into the community, vs into the corporate world.

I look for Ada and Kirk. They’re making out on a bench near the bushes in the dark. I’m happy for them, just slightly awkward to be left alone on the side of the dance floor.

“Hey, I can’t imagine what that was like, oh, I would have puked on him, probably,” Beatrix appears out of nowhere, she’s very short but sweet, and she leads the other chicks who fan-girl over Luther, “What did he say? He never talks to us,” she blushes just thinking about the prospect.

“Dude is just relaxed and nice enough,” I’ve barely got the words out and Beatrix’s eyes are popping out of her head.

“Do you think you could convince him to talk to us?”

“Um, you could just approach him and try…”

“We’ve tried many times to get his attention. He’s not interested in horticulture. We heard he likes fire, you can use fire, right? We’ve seen you light Bunsen burners with your finger.”

“Beatrix, I can’t help –”

“He talked to you though, we’ll never see him again when we all graduate.”

“You’ll meet plenty of hot guys in college,” I try to divert from Luther, “He’s really not that worth it, he’s clearly not into attachments anyway. He’s literally never had a girlfriend for more than 24 hours.”

“Just please help us. He’s never even talked to us,” Beatrix begs me. I don’t know why she’s trying so hard until she stands on her tip toes to whisper something in my ear, “You’re a Kinetic Elusive. Please.”

I jerk away from her, “Why do you say that?” I blurt, shocked. How does she know that?

“You look surprised,” Beatrix settles back down, “Cassie – results came in from the elemental survey. Didn’t you check your results?”

“I didn’t participate, I was sick that day,” I mention.

“For absent students they used blood test results from last year’s universal health exam, they probably measured the Kinetic in your blood,” Beatrix knows way too much, way too nosey. I never cared, until I have her giving me my life story.

“How many people read those survey results from yesterday morning?” I ask her.

“I had to dig for them on the government site, to see everyone else. But it’s public information. I’m guessing whoever had interest, went looking. I thought Luther would have mentioned it to you.”

“Why would he mention it?” I ask a dumb question. I should know. It would make me a prime choice for Propulsion.

“I saw him talk to Vernon about the ballet box – obviously he was asking to make sure he danced with you,” Beatrix has become a little helper, out of nowhere.

Shit.

Did Luther actually do that? Did he actually know?

He didn’t mention... well... he did call me... elusive... shit, maybe he was hinting at what he found out. This information is so crazy, I’m still in denial, I just stand there with a dumb look on my face.

Beatrix drinks her punch, her friends wait expectantly. I’m guessing they want even the smallest interaction with the prince, and by being around me, they’ve amplified their chances. I look over my shoulder to see if Luther is acting suspicious.

He’s with his friends but he is actually looking over at me, as he sits around a large green stone table. Luther looks like he wants to come over again, but Beatrix and her group are scaring him off.

I turn back to Beatrix.

“Want to hang?” I ask her.

“With Luther?” Beatrix blushes.

“With me,” I suggest, “Let’s get out early and go to the mall for takeout.”

“But the afterparty is at Luther’s,” Beatrix is going to make my hair fall out if she says his name one more time. But she fishes into her bag and she shows me the paper she ripped off the community wall in our school cafeteria. Luther’s Afterparty. All invited. Starts… in half an hour.

“Who’s going to that?” I whisper.

“Like, everyone,” Beatrix shakes her head at me, “Come with us? Looks like Ada and Kirk are… busy for the night,” she smiles awkwardly in their direction where they’re still making out.

“I’m honestly feeling like I should just go home,” I try to get out of it, but Beatrix and her friends start to walk around me, smiling as they put their hands on my back and usher me toward the exit.

“We have a limousine waiting to take us, Cassie – you’re officially invited, let’s hang out when we get there,” Beatrix puts her hands on her hips as she leads the way, grinning to herself.

I am almost certain I am being taken hostage right now. I look left and right and the squad has blocked me in, ushering me to the path that led to the street.

“It’s the last chance to get their attention before we graduate,” Josaline speaks to my right, “We just want to have fun while we can. Don’t you want to have fun, Cassie?”

I nod.

“Of course,” I blurt out.

Of course, I want to have fun...

And part of me, is morbidly curious.

What Luther knows, what Luther wants – and what’s going to happen next when we end up at his place.

Part of me is excited. I’m thinking maybe this could be fun. Just for one night. We could cause some mayhem, get some good laughs and memories in.

It wasn’t like anything could go incredibly wrong – it was just a party?

What came after school, came after.

School wasn’t over yet.

I had time to work out what to do regarding the prince... so I may as well get to know him a bit better first. What better way than to rock up to his mansion with Beatrix and her squad as my Lutherian forcefield. I had protection.

Well, here I go, straight into the den of propulsive royalty.

The exact place a Kinetic Elusive should fucking avoid.