Page 25 of Facade

Mitchel Pierce had declared war upon her. Someone had been pulling vicious pranks on her, that were elemental in nature, involving water. Clarke had no proof, but it had to be him.

The elemental students had no reason to attack her. One of the boys in her class was a water elemental. But he was a sweet kid who lacked the control and training to pull these stunts.

Russell, an air elemental, had confirmed her suspicions without telling her how he gained that knowledge. Russell was offended on her behalf.

He was of the same mindset as Professor Halston. The assistant librarian believed that Mitch was blaming her unjustly for his own failings. Sabotaging her was petty, and stupid. It wouldn’t improve anyone’s opinion of the elemental monitor.

Jace seemed to suspect that Mitch was expressing his grievances against her with more than verbal insults. Clarke hadn’t admitted to that, and evaded discussing it, because he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Jace would be furious, and could lose his temper.

Clarke didn’t like hiding anything from Jace, and felt guilty about it. It seemed like the wisest course of action, though. If Jace attacked Mitch, the results might be catastrophic.

He could be reprimanded, lose the respect of his peers and students, possibly putting a spotlight on their relationship. Clarke didn’t feel that it was worth the risk.

Her own temper was being tested. She’d been scalded in the shower twice when the cold water suddenly cut out. The toilet had become a geyser, shooting water everywhere and flooding the bathroom, three times. The kitchen faucet turned on and off randomly.

So far, Mitch hadn’t done anything that affected her students, which was where Clarke drew the line. But, he was getting on her last nerve.

Russell suggested documenting maintenance requests for each incident. The logged requests should constitute proof of the attacks when workers discovered nothing wrong with the plumbing. She decided to take his advice.

As Jace had warned her, her own students played pranks, but those were harmless. Once, the door to her apartment had been sealed shut from the outside with multiple layers of packing tape. A student with the power to manipulate metal transformed the doorknob to her office into a rose. Industrial-strength, two-sided tape had been placed at the entrance to her office, causing Clarke’s shoes to be stuck to the floor.

These stunts were more amusing than anything else. Clarke hadn’t bothered trying to discover the identity of the culprits. Provided the pranks remained harmless, Clarke was content to let them have their fun.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the notification of a text. Jace wanted to meet her in the tunnel between the caster and elemental dorms. Clarke replied that she would be there in approximately ten minutes.

Being away from prying eyes gave her the freedom to be herself. Even with the potion and charm, Clarke had to watch what she said and how she acted. Sometimes, she felt like she was losing her sense of identity.

Impersonating a man was tiresome. Clarke wanted to have her nails done, shave her legs and armpits, wear feminine clothes, and just feel like herself. The hope of finding her dad was worth all of this effort, but it was taxing. Even looking and sounding like a man, with Jace she didn’t have to pretend.

Clarke slipped on a pair of shoes, left her unit, and headed for the staircase. She had made her rounds of the dorms a few times that day already. The underage students had been well-behaved, not attempting to leave campus.

Jace was waiting for her when she arrived. He wrapped his arms around her, lifted her off her feet, and swung her around in sheer excitement. Happiness bubbled inside her, causing Clarke to laugh.

“That was a pleasant surprise. Do you have good news?” Clarke asked when he set her on her feet.

His strength impressed her. She wasn’t a small woman. But he had to have close to a hundred pounds on her.

“I wish I did, but no,” he replied. “I’m just reveling in being able to touch you. Can we cuddle for a bit, or do you have to get back right away?”

“That sounds awesome,” Clarke said. “I don’t have anything going on right now.”

Jace took her hand, and led her to one of the storage areas. He sat down on a crate, pulling Clarke into his lap. They both sighed with contentment, and simply held each other for several minutes.

“My wolverine is more settled, just having physical contact with you,” he said. “I’m more grateful than I was last night that you had a vision of this tunnel.”

“Me too. I have been restless and scatterbrained, but it’s better now. That had to have been worse for you.”

Jace shrugged before commenting, “It’s been difficult, but we’ll do what we need to do to find Charlie. This was good timing, though. The first home football game is next weekend. That will limit our free time. Do you have any students on the team?”

“No one under eighteen, but I’ll be at the game,” she said. “I posted a signup sheet in the common room. All three of my high school seniors want to go.”

“Same, most of my shifters have team spirit, and the kangaroo freshman, who turns eighteen in November, made the team.”

“So, how does this work with Mars and Venus?” Clarke asked. “I know the sports arena is shared, and the teams must have cheer squads. But I haven’t seen any announcements for pep rallies.”

“We’ll have rallies later in the season in the auditorium, with students from both colleges,” Jace answered. “The cheerleaders are mostly female. They have shared practices after school. You’ll see a lot of students and staff from Venus at the game.”

They talked for a bit more, but mostly reveled in the contentment of snuggling. Eventually, Jace and Clarke pulled away from each other reluctantly, and stood. He hugged her one more time, and kissed her on the forehead before they returned to their dorms.