The next Monday, Maddie turned into the usual badass again. Miracle tried to have eye contact with him, but he avoided it. He made the students in his class stand on the tables when they failed to answer his questions correctly. It wasn't surprising to see many heads almost touching the ceiling. Some of them even had to crouch a little to save their lives from the fast-spinning fans. His questions were always out of the box—reincarnation was one of his favorites. When it was the Watsons' turn, they turned harder. The bias was obvious. He didn't like them. "You." He jerked his head in Lyn's direction. "It's Lyn." She rolled her eyes. He didn't give a damn about what she said. "If you have the right to choose, would you still choose to be a hu—" he paused, gaping for a brief second before forcing the -man to the hu-man down his throat, "… choose to be who you are if you are born again?" "Why not?" "Tell me why." "I see no reason in telling you." "Then I see no reason for you t
Silver fronds swayed, more when they sensed the dragon girl approaching. Veins at the midribs lengthened, transforming into fine little hairs along the edges of the pinnules. Detaching from the plant, they turned into layers of smoke and joined the rest lingering around the house. A silver puff leaped forward and caressed her forehead like it owned five fingers. When Miracle stroked the gray blades, she felt an instant replenishment of the elements in her body. "I didn't know you're interested in decorative flowers." "Hmm? Decorative flowers?" Glancing back, only then did she realize that these plants must've seemed dead in the eyes of a mortal. "Oh." She chuckled. "Yea. A… A little." Rubbing his palms against the three-quarter pants on him, he stammered, "Miracle, I..." When he failed to deliver the words, he went behind her and dropped a piece of black cloth over her eyes before she had a chance to say no. "I want to bring you to a place," he muttered, adjusting the blindfol
"But it's dangerous." Hayden sank his hand into the filthy liquid and swashed the residues into the sink strainer. "Don't do it." He pulled up its handle, dumping away the pieces of overcooked garlic. "I need to be on my move already." Her voice was slowly increasing. "We can't let them do whatever they want like we don't exist." "If you're gonna proceed with that method of yours, things could end up worse." He shook the water off his fingers. "Mr. Hayden, you don't get what I'm saying. I'm not going to go around and ask one by one if they have any marks. I… I just want to know what they look like," she breathed. "So that I can be alert." "I don't see the need for that, Miracle." A wave of pleasant smell wafted to her nose as he exited the doom-shaped wall with a cup of tea in his hand. "Please, Mr. Hayden." She walked over and grabbed it from him. The heat sizzled her skin. "Please," she repeated, trying her best to stay expressionless despite the burning pain. He snatched it b
'It's time to wake up, Melvin.' "Who are you?" 'You know I hate failures.' "WHO ARE YOU?!" 'I am you. You're me. We're...' "Melvin!" He jolted awake to Miracle's breaths brushing past his skin. He pulled back his arm, retreating from her whisper at once. Too close. 'A dream?' he thought. Glancing around, he realized that the lesson was still going on. And he, was still in class. Their literature teacher, Mr. Sam, didn't notice that one of his students had just woken up from a doze. He was so engrossed in copying the notes onto the whiteboard with his calligraphy handwriting. The extra curve he put on the letter "F" had turned it into a "P" in everybody's eyes except his own; the missing dot on the "i" made it seem like it was joined with the next letter "n", forming an "m". He claimed it was stylish when it was just a bunch of messy chains of alphabets grouped together to form words. Melvin dropped his eyes back on Miracle, the deskmate he requested to be with on his first
Melvin stumbled over the flower pot in the hallway as he was unknotting his tie. It toppled, hitting his bare foot. "Oops." He bent his body to put it back. But while he was doing so, his arms paused. His pupils shrank at the sight of the plant crawling onto his hand. It was emitting mysterious silver smoke. Cold sweat rolled down his cheeks, forming a patch of tinge on his white shirt. "This is just a decoration, Melvin," he mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. "It's not moving, nor is it breathing out smoke. Just a fake plant." "Melvin?" A tap on his tensed shoulder pulled him back to reality as if it was another dream he woke up to. "What's the matter?" Hayden asked. "N-Nothing." He glanced at the peculiar flower pot once more. Only when he made sure that it was still the decorative plant that he was told of did he look away and join the rest for lunch. Hayden took the scoop and began dishing up the seaweed soup for his children. Waiting for a bowl of th
'What?!' Miracle was shocked. The pink ribbon holding her thick bunch of hair loosened as Melvin gently tugged on it, letting the black, silky strands stroke his face. The fleece blanket drooping from the edge of the bed was kicked to the floor. Their kiss was deepening. She could feel his tongue reaching for the peak. For the first few minutes, Miracle wasn't doing anything to stop him. She stared right into his closed eyes, feeling her heat rising, listening to the soft moans he hissed through the tiny gaps between their locked lips. She knew this was wrong. It shouldn't be happening. Yet, she couldn't overcome the desire that wanted him to be with her. To stay with her. And it was making her weak. 'What is wrong with you, Miracle? Get away from him!' "M-Mmph… Let go!" she uttered at last, struggling to break free from his arms. His body raised slightly as she straightened her hands to push him away. But he pressed them down once again and tightened the hug. He ran his finger
"Stellaerio Annual Dinner! Oh, yes! I've been waiting for this," Jessamine shrieked in joy, kissing the invitation card. Jordan rolled his eyes. "What's so special? It happens every year." She drew in her body and placed her elbow across the division line, onto her deskmate's area. "Exactly! It only happens once a year and... Hey, hey!" Putting on a dreamy look, she asked, "Should I ask Melvin to be my partner?" "You can try…" he murmured, labeling the apparatus he had sketched on his chemistry lab report—the sodium hydroxide experiment where they used hydrochloric acid to neutralize the solution to get those little crystals. "Exactly!" Running her fingers through her straightened hair, she rummaged in the front pocket of her bag for her mini mirror. "I look pretty good, to be honest." "If you don't mind being the umpteenth rejection," Jordan said, pointing his chin to the line of girls crowding Melvin's seat, "go ahead." "Can't I be the lucky girl he is waiting for?" "Please.
Miracle sat in front of the mirror, staring at her divine mark. It wasn't pure anymore. What was more devastating was that she barely did a thing worth the stain. She traced the softness on her lips, replaying the kiss scene she hid at the back of her mind. It was a playback. But the lingering sensation was still so strong that she could hardly breathe despite being the one and only living soul in her room. "If this is how love feels like, then it's really evil," she muttered. "Why would you fall for a mortal, white dragon?" "Love is never once evil." At first, she wasn't jerked by the voice. 'Illusions,' she thought. But then it came again, and a presence was emerging next to her startled reflection. "It's beautiful, Xue Er..." "You again. Who are you exactly?" Miracle held the back of her chair from tumbling over as she stood up hastily. She was surprised to hear that her voice didn't crack like she thought it would. "And how did you know my real name?" "I came here to contin