the blocks. That’s probably why they didn’t feed you anything. They didn’t want you to regain your strength.
“As for the weather, I think it was the same thing. Magic. We thought that we would be able to find you based on the weather, but nothing happened out of the ordinary. We searched for three days before I got a feeling that we should stop looking. The boys,” Claire smiles and looks at me. “They didn’t like that. They argued with me for a whole day, before they listened. They would have continued searching forever probably, if I didn’t stop them. My intuition told me that you were going to be brought back to us soon.”
“Oh. I guess that makes sense. Do you think that there is any way to train me to use my powers more? I don’t really know what I am capable of yet.” If she doesn’t agree, I know that I will just practice on my own. However, Claire’s presence will make it easier. She knows more about this magical stuff than I do. I want to be able to protect those around me with my magic if I have to.
“Of course, I would love to.”
“Thank you, Claire.”
“There’s no need to thank me, darling. I want to help.” Smiling, I go back to chopping up the pineapple. I wonder if Claire knows that pineapple is my favorite fruit. She probably does. I can’t help but eat a couple of the pieces before putting into the larger fruit bowl. Hearing the sound of a chair scraping back, I turn around and see Tom standing up.
“I can’t listen to this anymore. Claire and her classical music.” He flips the radio station until finding a song he likes: “Out of my Head” by Theory of Deadman. I smile gratefully towards him and start bobbing to the music. Once the chorus comes along, I can’t contain it anymore. I put the knife down gently on the cutting board and turn to face Tom. Jumping in front of him, I start singing and dancing enthusiastically. He laughs at me for a couple of seconds, before standing up and dancing with me. He twirls me around the room a couple of times and dips me on the instrumental bridges. The dancing doesn’t go along with the song, but I don’t care. I am having fun.
The song stops and I jump up and give Tom a giant hug. “Thank you for the dance.” Hearing the sound of clapping behind me, I tense. Turning slowly, I see everyone standing in the doorway smiling widely at me. Even Claire has stopped what she was doing and is watching. Blushing, I ask, “How long have you guys been there?”
David laughs, “Long enough.”
“Oh gosh.” I cover my face. No one was supposed to see that.
“How come you never told us you could dance?” asks Emma. “I love dancing!”
“Don’t be embarrassed, Ryanne. It’s nice to see you smiling and having a good time again,” Logan says. “You’ve got some moves old man,” he tells Tom.
Ignoring the rest of their conversation, I go back over to the chopping board and finish cutting up the pineapple Claire had originally given me. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me the entire time.
“So, Claire, do you want to start now?”
Chapter Seventeen
Twenty minutes later, everyone is outside in the back yard. Claire has put another enchantment up to make sure no one can find us here. Logan, David, Colton, Liam, and Emma are all sitting on a fallen tree to the side and Tom and Claire are standing in front of me. I have to squint to see everyone because of the sun. I don’t really want to have an audience while I try to see what I am capable of. I don’t know what is going to happen and I don’t want to hurt anyone.
“Since you’re a little weak still, we won’t do too much today, Ryanne. I think that we should work with the weather first. We know the least about that ability. I want to see if you are able to change the weather without getting upset. Think about the weather before a storm. The dark clouds are rolling in. You can hear the thunder in the distance. Birds are flying away. The world gets quiet and dark. Think about the way the Earth smells before a storm comes. Concentrate.”
I close my eyes and think about everything she just said. I think about how I feel during those times. Storms are