The Eleventh Gifted (The Gifted Fanfiction)

Chapter 32

Ohm unwrapped another chocolate bar and handed it to Aria, laying on her bed, head resting on her headboard. The two of them had been in her dorm room for quite a few minutes then. Aria had to rest and regain herself.

Preventing herself from fainting almost took her life energy. She was on the verge of giving in, but she must not.

Ever since they entered the room, they had both been silent. Ohm quickly rushed to her kitchen to give her any sweets after laying Aria on her bed. That made her realise that she couldn't function without any of her friends.

The silence ended when Aria grunted, making Ohm look at her, holding the temple of her head.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, panicking and readying himself to be of help.

"I can't find Wave," she answered, panting a little.

Ohm slumped his shoulders, giving his friend a lecturing look despite her not seeing it. "Stop," he firmly ordered. "Don't use your potential for now. After you recover, let's pick up Namtarm."

"You can leave me now. Go and rescue her," Aria said in a convincing tone; her voice was much more stable. But Ohm wasn't buying any of that.

"No. I won't leave you alone. What if Wave finds another way to hurt you?"

Aria had never seen her friend act that way. Too serious and mature than his usual playful demeanour. And the thought of Wave hurting her made her smile bitterly.

For months, weeks, she believed him. She believed in Wave. That he was a kind guy and people just failed to see what she could see. But all that came crumbling the moment he admitted that he was the one behind the recent horrible events at the school.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, looking down at her fidgeting fingers.

Ohm sighed, hearing her say that again for the second time that day. "You're sorry again. For what?" As far as he knew, Aria had done nothing wrong. So what was there to apologise for?

"For not believing in you... about Wave." She kept her gaze low; eyes stinging with the forming tears she didn't bother to blink away.

A curve of a genuine smile crawled up on his face. "I understand. If Pang was in Wave's place and I'm in yours, I would do the same."

Finally, Aria looked up, a bitter smile plastering on her face. Her eyes were still glistening with tears, but they were not falling down. "Thank you for understanding."

Ohm, without any hesitation, rose from his seat and hugged Aria. She returned it as soon as his arms were wrapping around her. "Of course, I'm your friend," he said as if implying that being by your side was what friends would do. As if he was implying that Wave didn't see her as his friend.

"Ohm," Aria called, to which he responded with a hum. "I'm fine now."

They broke the hug as he looked down at her.

"Are you sure? You still look pale."

Indeed, she did. Her lips might have a tinge of pink, but it was still lighter than her usual lip colour.

"If we won't go now, who knows what Wave could do? I feel better. I can handle myself now."

Yes, Aria had turned her back on Wave. She had accepted that what he was doing was awful. Had she lost all her hope in him? Aria didn't know. And she didn't want to think about that just yet. That could wait. What couldn't be was the chaos happening around them.

"Okay, we will go. But you need to promise me not to use your potential."

Aria nodded. Arguing with Ohm would do no good; it would only delay them. They have to find Namtarn before anything bad could happen to her. Besides, if she used her potential too much, she might completely faint next time. She'd look for Wave a bit later.