🪐 ( 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑬 ) ୭̥*✧
building from the ground up. . . . .

LYRA WAS LEAVING HER ROOM, ABSORBED IN HER THOUGHTS WHEN WOLFIE APPEARED IN FRONT OF HER. She gave him a suspicious look, wondering if he was there to talk to or tease her. When he didn't say anything, she just rolled her eyes and started walking down the hallway.

"Lyra, wait," he called after her.

"I'm late for training, Wolfgang," she replied, not turning around.

He easily caught up to her, his expression unreadable. She finally glanced at him, her eyebrows raised. Lyra pursed her lips as she watched him grow steadily more uncomfortable by the minute. She turned away once more, thinking that she was just wasting her time.

He rubbed the back of his neck, as he said, "Sorry about Imara."

"Oh, you're sorry?" she asked. "Why even bother apologizing? You don't like me or my friends either. Maybe you should go back to your girlfriend. You don't want to be seen consorting with the enemy."

"She's not my girlfriend."

She rolled her eyes again. "Tell her that."

"I have." Wolfie narrowed his eyes. "And yeah, you and your friends are difficult to be in the same room with. However, you guys don't like us either. But here I am trying to be nice, which, in case you haven't noticed, is rare."

"Nothing about this is nice," she said. "You haven't apologized. You just said something for someone else. You have to say the words and mean them."

He scowled. "Can you just shut up for, like, five minutes? I can't even think about what I want to say because you keep talking. I want to apologize, but then you go and tell me off for not communicating fast enough. So just shut up and sit down. Let me have space to speak."

She flushed. "This," she whispered, "is something I can't control. Words come out and I can't filter them. So, sorry if it overwhelms you."

"I. . .didn't know."

🪐

ABBEY DENNISON HAD BEEN PAIRED UP JAY JAY FOR TRAINING. She was currently sitting on the ground, gazing into a shadow-filled corner. She had been secretly hoping to get him as her partner. She thought that his powers were intriguing, and she really wanted to get to know him.

"It says here on the instructions that we should try to spread your shadows to me," she said softly.

"Welcome to the dark side," he replied.

"I'm serious, Jay Jay. You actually have powers. I don't. We've been paired together because of somehow being compatible. Let's just try this, okay?"

He offered his hand, muttering, "Fine," under his breath.

Smiling to herself, she took his hand. She looked back at the instructions, hoping to find a way for Jay Jay to extend his powers to encompass her. However, she found absolutely nothing.

"What am I supposed to do?" Jay Jay demanded.

"I don't know! It doesn't say anything."

He snatched the paper from her. "It really doesn't say anything," he said.

"Try to feel the energy and pass it to me," she suggested.

"How, though?"

She stared at him. She was surprised that he was asking her for advise. She lightly squeezed his hand as she thought about their predicament. Maybe there was a book in the library that could them. They needed to find something on transferring magic.

"Let's go to the library," she suggested.

"And do what? Read?"

"Yes, you idiot."

🪐

"NICE SUIT," Nestor said with a sly smile.

"Oh, shut up," Artemis snapped.

"Do you always dress up for training?" the other boy wondered.

Artemis pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew well enough that Nestor Jones was just trying to push his buttons. And in the very short time of their acquaintance, the boy opposite him had become very good at it. Artemis hated antagonistic people, yet, he had immediately made an allowance for Nestor Jones. Which was stupid, due to the warm and fuzzy feeling he kept getting when they were together.

"Remind me again why I invited you to my humble abode," he said, indicating his dorm room.

Nestor snorted loudly. "You didn't so much as invite me as order me here."

"I don't remember that."

"Why would you?" Nestor shrugged eloquently. "You're too embarrassed to be seen in public with me. Which is hilarious because you get all red and can't string two words together. If you're trying to be cute, it's working."

"I am not cute," Artemis grumbled as he stamped his foot on the ground.

"Being cute isn't something you can control," Nestor replied, patting him on the head.

Artemis rolled his eyes. He was doing that a lot these days. Stupid Nestor had the audacity to call him cute. He made a show of straightening his tie. His suit was his armor, and no one, not even his potential. . .whatever Nestor was going to be to him, was going to ruin his image.

"Come on, Artie." Nestor skillfully undid his tie. "Relax a little."

His body went completely ridged. "I don't do relaxation," he muttered.

Nestor laughed softly. "Of course you don't," he replied as he watched Artemis.

"We're wasting valuable time."

"I seriously doubt that." Nestor ruffled Artemis's hair. "The entire training block is just a placeholder. Headmistress Thorpe has no plan. You clearly don't want to expend any energy on brainstorming today. And the majority of our team doesn't trust you to lead us."

"So, what are you saying?" he asked.

"Let's have some fun," Nestor answered.

"I'm allergic to fun."

🪐 (  𝑱𝑼𝑳𝑰𝑨𝑵 𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑨𝑲𝑺  ) ୭̥*✧
a little chapter background. . . . .

hey guys! i'm finally here to bring you a very long awaited update of RADIOFLASH. i'm so sorry that i haven't published anything in such a long time. i just haven't been motivated and i don't have a lot of time these days.

speaking of low motivation, this chapter is probably really bad. like, idk what the heck to do with the plot. idk how to get this thing rolling. so any suggestions are welcome & appreciated.

also, agh i'm so sorry if your character hasn't appeared yet. when i'm writing i go by feeling for who i want to write for. so some characters are just more comfortable for me, especially because i have zero motivation rn.

y'all better get used to having ARTEMIS & NESTOR appear in every chapter. idk why but they're so easy to create content for & i just love being in their headspaces.

anyway, thanks for reading and hopefully i can push out some new chapters for this book and some of my others. feel free to make suggestions for what yall want to see in the future. have a wonderful day!