LING'S HIGH SCHOOL (martial arts studio)

   Lily's body was covered with sweat as she punched, kicked, and dealt with the dummy vehemently. Anytime she was angry or piss off, she come to the martial arts studio and let out on the dummy.

   She punched harder as she remembered her father telling her to kill Hosea. She punched the hardest when she recalled seeing Hosea and Dela together. She hates the fact that she was his guardian. She hates the whole show. In fact, fuck them all!!..

  " Aargh!". She yelled as she punched the wall hard.

   " Lily". Dela called.

She turned to look at him and he gasped when he saw her hand. He ran and held her hand.

  " What are you doing, you're hurt". He said and looked at her.

  " What is wrong with you? Why will you hurt yourself in such a manner?". He scolded her.

She kept quiet and was just staring at him. Dela dragged her to the bench and made her sat down

  "Sit down I'm going for the first aid kit". He stood up and looked around him. Then he saw a first aid kit on the shelf and he took it. He returned to where she was and her hands as already healed.

  " Oh, I forgot that you're a vampire, and vampires heal fast". He said and lower his head then stood up to send the aid kit back, but she stopped him.

  " Do you trust Hosea"? She said with a straight face.

  " Hosea? I don't know ". He said and looked away.

" Do you like her so badly ?". She said.

" Why are you asking me this? I just met her yesterday and you expect me to trust and like her so easily? I'm not as naive as you think okay". He said in one breath.

   " I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that". She apologized.

  " Coming to think about it, how did you hurt yourself in such a manner? I know you healed faster than humans, but it still hurts". He said and looked at her.

She looked at him and smiled.

   " So you care about me this much?". She asked him and he looked away. He always looked away anytime he feels shy.

  " Is not what you are thinking, is just that we are friends and friends do care about each other". He said.

    " Yeah, you are right ". She said and realized that she had calm down without destroying anything or sucking blood. For any time she gets triggered, either she destroys or killed without thinking. After that, she will be mad at herself and will hide for days.

     Whenever she remembered killing her friend because of her anger, she become mad at herself. She never wished for something like that to happen in the first place. She told her friend to stay away from her but she didn't listen. 

    But now Dela has calmed her down without involving destruction and killing anyone. She looked at him and smiled.

  " Where is Hosea?". She asked after realizing that she wasn't with him.

  " I left her in the class. Why, do you feel her here?". He asked.

" No, she is not". Lily said.

  Dela took a long look around the room. He was sure he left her in the class, but why was he feeling her presence there? Why was he feeling that she was there sitting right beside him?  What is happening?

  " Are you alright"? Lily asked when she saw that he didn't seem alright.

  " Hosea is.. here...I..I..can feel her". He said. he didn't want to disturb her with Hosea so he was stumbling on his words.

" But there is no one here, I can't feel anyone". Lily said and looked around too.

  " Okay, maybe I'm overreacting". He said and took in a deep breath.

" Now, tell me why you hurt yourself. You didn't answer me". He asked.

   "Are you still asking about this?". She asked.

" Hmm..yes tell me". He looked at her.

      "Is what I do anytime I get pissed off"  

  " Then you have to stop doing that, for is scary and has no sense in it". He said and placed the aid kit on the bench.

" So why are you here?". She asked.

  " Are you asking me, I'm here for my training of course. Is over lunchtime ". He smiled.

" Okay that's cool, let's start then". She said and stood up then grabbed a weapon and told him to do the same.

  He look through them and finally picked a sword.

  " I think this will do". He said and laughed.

" Okay drop it ". She smirked

    " Why". He asked.

" You are not going to use it now ".

   " Okay ".

" I only wanted to see which one you will choose and as expected you choose the one greater than you". She smiled.

   " This can't be greater than me". He said.

" Okay, your majesty..now can we proceed ". She said with one eye raised.

  She started teaching him different techniques and other fighting skills. She thought him how to fight with the sword, then she told him to choose another sword and he did. They continue training And then Dela asked a question.

  " So among all this, you have mentioned and taught me, which one can I use for self-defense". He asked and Lily smiled.

  " You can use all martial arts for self-defense, but use the most practical tactics and concentrate less on ceremony and set-up scenarios". She explained.

   " That is great..so which one do you think will work better for me". He asked.

" That's, focusing on your personality. For an instant, you might not want to choose a martial art. If you like using your hand, you might not choose the one which involves kicking else it all comes back to you. You'll have to choose the one you are comfortable with ". She said.

  " Okay, I will think of what to choose and hope you will teach me". He said.

"Why not. I'm here for you". She said with a smile.

They continue with their training.

    Hosea watched everything closely to make sure he doesn't get hurt by mistake. She turned invisible just to keep an eye on him, so he wouldn't think that she was being clingy. Good thing he was the only one who could feel her.

    She has to admit, Lily was a good teacher but she teaches better. The thought of her teaching Dela made her smile. He was a good learner and a good listener too. So teaching him won't be difficult.  She smirked.

   " Hmm..I think we can stop here, for now, we will continue tomorrow". Lily said and they did a high five.

   " Thanks, you are a unique teacher ". He said with a smile.

  " I'm flattered". She winked and threw him a towel, which he used to clean his wet face.

" Alright, I will see you later, bye then". He said and waved to her then he headed to the boy's washroom.

Immediately after he left, Hosea became visible.

     " I must confess, that wasn't bad at all". She said while clapping.

  Lily turned her back and faced her.

" So you were here?". She asked.

   " how is it?  Hosea smirked.

" Dela was right. He did feel you here". Lily said.

    " My dear, is normal for him to feel . After all I'm part of him". She chuckled and turned invisible again. Lily turned but didn't see her.

  " Don't be afraid, lily. I'm leaving ". Hosea said and vanished.

   " Hmmip.. what did she mean by she is part of him?". Lily muttered to herself.

***

  Dela entered the washroom and wash his face down, then he took a long look at himself in the mirror. Getting satisfied with his look, he went out of the wash only to meet king.

  " Gosh! King, where have you been?". He asked out of shock.

  " I've been around anyway. I went to do some few things for my mum at home, that's why I wasn't in school yesterday ". King said with a smile.

   " Oh! I thought you were....you know avoiding me". Dela said while he lower his head.

  " Not at all, why will I avoid you when I'm your first friend in this school ". He said.

" I don't know but I thought you were afraid of me because of what happened the other day ". He said and looked at him.

" Forget about that Dela, Luca deserved whatever you did to him that day. I don't think he will ever do that again. Is just that I'm happy because I have gotten someone who defend me". King replied.

   " Are you sure? You aren't afraid of me?". He asked.

" Why would I be when you are my helper right now ". King said with a meaning attached to it, then he smirked. Dela was a little confused, he tried getting what he wanted to say but at the same time he let it go, he will ask that later.

" Thanks, let's go to class. We have 'Logs'!" Dela said.

  King groaned. " Boy, I hate maths". He whined.

" It's not like we have a choice". He smiled and they left.

   When they got to the class, King met a girl on his seat resting her head. He looked at Dela and Dela smiled.

" He is the new girl who resumed yesterday. She has been keeping me company since you were not here ". He said.

King frowned a little. " A new girl?". He asked.

" Yeah, she is called Hosea and a very cute girl". He answered.

   King smiled. He tapped on the desk and Hosea who was out of the human world came back that instant and she looked up. He almost exclaimed seeing who it was.

  " Gosh!"

Hosea looked at Dela

   " Yeah, he was the friend I was talking about. King, meet Hosea and Hosea meet king". Dela said smiling at them while introducing them to each other.

Hosea looked him and analyzed him from head to toe. She twisted her eyebrows and looked away for a while like she was trying to remember something then she stretchforward her hand to greet him. King was still dumbstruck at the beauty in front of him. Dela had to take his hand and placed it in Hosea's hand before he returned to his senses.

   " Nice to meet you, king". She said and smiled charmingly.

" Nice mee..ting..you..too Hosea, right?". He was never doubting himself about her name. But Dela told him just a second ago.

  He said and withdrew from the handshake.

" Okay since your friend is here, I think I need to find another seat". She said and stood up, then picked up her school bag.

   " Thanks for keeping me company". Dela smiled.

" You're welcome ". She smiled back and looked around to find an empty seat.

The student noticed that and they started calling her to come and sat beside them.

   " Come here dear, you will enjoy my company".

" Don't mind him come and sit here rather".

      " They are all mad, don't mind anyone just come and have your seat here". Another person shouted from behind, that was enough to annoy Dela.

   " All of you shut it! She has the right to decide where she wants to sit and you can't force her". He cut them off and they all turned to look at him.

" You heard him". Hosea said and used her eyes to search for an empty seat. Lucky for her, she found one at the center which was also on the same row as Dela's so she decided to sit there.

  When she sat down, the student started murmuring in dissatisfaction.

   " Why will she sit with Collins?".

" Hmm..he is such a lucky guy to have her sit with him".

    " What hate me is that he is such an introvert ".

Hosea sat down close to Collins, a cute and pale guy who wears medicated glasses. He doesn't interact with anyone or talks to anyone in the class or in the school. He was a reserved kind of person but very intelligent and smart. When Hosea sat down beside him, he didn't react as if someone was sitting beside him or had come to sit beside him. Hosea looked at him closely before looking away. Disturbing him won't look cool for now.

  Dela waved at Hosea and sat down with king. He as been standing there waiting for her to have her seat before he sat down.

  After school that day, Dela said goodbye to both Hosea and Lily before going home.