The Search for Artemis - By P. D. Griffith Page 0,49

was taken away. The water was icy, but invigorating in the best kind of way. Somehow the constriction of his muscles loosened the tensions in his mind.

When he came up for air, he looked around and saw that Celia was about ten yards away. He swam over to her, a smile stretched across his face.

Once close enough, he stopped and began treading water. Celia was giggling beside him but had a maniacal grin. He then realized she was looking up and when he did the same, he watched as a ball of water she had lifted into the air plummeted toward him and engulfed his head. He was laughing out loud when he resurfaced and started to splash her in retaliation, pushing his hands forward with all his might.

The splashing went on for minutes, but when Landon turned his head to avoid getting water in his face, he noticed the water of the lake looked really agitated, like the ocean in the middle of a thunderstorm. He continued to push water toward Celia, but soon realized that with every shove of his arm, the water all around him formed into waves and crashed in Celia’s direction.

“Landon Wicker and Celia Jackson!”

The voice came from the shore and was barely audible through the sound of the splashing water, but Landon and Celia both froze in place. When they looked over, Dr. Brighton stood on the beach with a book in his hand and a disapproving scowl on his face. They both kept their eyes down as they returned to shore, not daring look Dr. Brighton in the face. The water quickly subdued and returned to its usual ebb and flow.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working on your Tactometry exercise right now?” Dr. Brighton asked as the two attempted to pull their clothes onto their soaked bodies.

“Yes, sir,” they replied in unison.

“So what were you doing out there?” he asked.

“Well, we found nineteen of the twenty items on our list and we were looking for our last when we discovered it was actually hidden on the lake bottom,” Celia replied.

Landon looked at her, confused. Was she making this up?

“Then why did you not just lift this item off the lake bottom and draw it to you with your abilities?” Dr. Brighton asked. “If you sensed it, you could easily lift it, correct?”

“Of course, sir,” Celia continued. “But our Tactometry training would be over for the day, as we were only tasked with discovering the twenty items in our designated area. It was the last item on our list, and since it is such a beautiful day, we thought it more engaging to swim and retrieve it rather than simply pluck it from the depths with our gifts.”

Landon never said a word; he just stood there, looking at Celia as she wordsmithed their way out of danger. She is amazing at this, Landon thought.

“Look, sir, if you don’t believe me, here’s the ring.” She held out her hand and resting in her palm was the steel ring, shining in the late morning sun. She then pointed to the place in the sand where Landon had dropped all the rest of their objects. “The other nineteen are right there in that pile.”

Dr. Brighton looked down at the pile of items strewn about on the lakeshore for a minute before turning back to Celia and Landon.

“Very well. I’m not against having fun, just please make sure to check in with your professor before deciding to go for a swim. I guess I’ll see you both tomorrow morning, and Landon, I hope you’re ready for Saturday. After what I just witnessed, I think I have an idea.”

Dr. Brighton headed back up to the Gymnasium. Celia and Landon finished getting dressed, collected their items, and hurried across the lawn to check in with Professor Tzu.

As they walked, Celia broke their silence by bursting out with uncontrollable laughter. Landon looked at her for a split second and then joined. He couldn’t figure out what was even that funny, but he couldn’t help himself. Something inside had snapped and he now couldn’t control himself. They were laughing so hard their stomachs started to hurt, and they continued to laugh as they presented their twenty items to Professor Tzu. He nodded with approval.

“Students,” Professor Tzu interjected.

Landon and Celia both attempted to hold back their laughter and listen to their teacher. Landon found it nearly impossible; he hadn’t laughed this hard in months and his chest convulsed incessantly as he forced himself