The Crystal by Jones M (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

immediately planning to go listen to their new song when Emery was mad at them. But then, she was angry with them. That didn't mean I should have been angry with her famous ex-bullies, right?

"Okay," I agreed without a second thought.

Four minutes later, we had teleported to a building Justin had shown me. He always went there to come up with songs and to play those he liked.

"We have the instrumental version of the song ready," Logan informed me. "Do you have a speaker to plug this in?" he asked, motioning to his phone. I nodded, directing him to the devices he required.

"Okay, you ready for this?" Liam asked. I nodded my head, excited that I would be the first person to hear their song. Or among the first people. Eh, who cares? I was among the first!

Logan pressed play on his phone. The background music began to play. Then the boys began to sing the lyrics of their new song.

♫

[Liam:]
I've tried playing it cool
But when I'm looking at you
I can't ever be brave
'Cause you make my heart race

[Harry:]
Shot me out of the sky
You're my kryptonite
You keep making me weak
Yeah, frozen and can't breathe

[Zane:]
Something's gotta give now
'Cause I'm dying just to make you see
That I need you here with me now
'Cause you've got that one thing

[Chorus:]
So get out, get out, get out of my head
And fall into my arms instead
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing
And you've got that one thing

[Ethan:]
Now I'm climbing the walls
But you don't notice at all
That I'm going out of my mind
All day and all night

[Logan:]
Something's gotta give now
'Cause I'm dying just to know your name
And I need you here with me now
'Cause you've got that one thing

[Chorus:]
So get out, get out, get out of my head
And fall into my arms instead
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing

So get out, get out, get out of my mind
And come on, come into my life
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing
And you've got that one thing

Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh
Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh
Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh

[Harry:]
You've got that one thing

[Liam:]
Get out, get out, get out of my head
And fall into my arms instead

[Chorus:]
So get out, get out, get out of my head
And fall into my arms instead
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing

So get out, get out, get out of my mind
And come on, come into my life
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing
Yeah, you've got that one thing

♫

"Wow, guys! That was great," I commented as I applauded. The boys gave me happy grins as they bowed their heads.

"Really? It wasn't that bad?" Harry asked.

"No, trust me. It was great!"

CHAPTER 15

Emery’s P.O.V

Time passed, and it was afternoon. I was still mad at the guys for thinking I would commit suicide just because they thought I was still hung up on what they did to me. After we argued, I went to my room and locked myself there, consumed with anger for a total of two hours.

I had taken a peek through my window to admire the scenery of the mountains. However, I was shocked a few minutes later by what I soon witnessed. I spotted Selena with the boys, talking and laughing as they strolled around the castle garden.

When would they even leave? It seemed like the boys were getting fond of being around the castle. That meant I had to see them more often than usual, and I didn't like it one bit. 

I was soon on my laptop, browsing online for any news relating to the Ordinary Brothers. Apparently, they were supposed to be on a break from the tour they did in the United States. If they were on a break from work, then why were they even in Crystalia? 

I mean, after all the crap they had witnessed, I expected them to stay away from Crystalia.

I swear it seemed I could never get away from them.

A knock sounded on the door.

“Emery?” called out Justin. I heard the sounds of a door knob being moved. When he realized he couldn’t get in, he knocked again.

“Why is it locked?” he asked.

I sighed, getting up from my bed and heading towards the door. Once I opened it, I got a confused look from him.

The pop star had currently worn a navy blue shirt with white buttons and a pair of black khaki trousers. I squinted my eyebrows at him, seeing that it was not the kind of attire he usually wore.

“Hi, Justin,” I greeted him as I checked his outfit. “What is, this?” I asked, motioning a hand over his form, but not actually touching him. Justin rolled his eyes at me.

“My mother called every witch in the kingdom to make the announcement,” he said. I narrowed my eyebrows at him.

Why do people always assume I know what they are talking about?

“What announcement?” I asked.

“The one about you going to Eva’s castle. Also, they found some guards who volunteered to go with you.”

My face contorted into a look of surprise. It seemed like hours since I talked to the Queen about volunteers joining me in my search for the erboon incident perpetrator. I wondered what brought out volunteers that quickly.

“For a moment there, I thought I was going alone,” I stated. Justin gave me a small smile.

“My mother wouldn’t allow that to happen. Now come on. The announcement is about to begin,” he said while exiting the room. I walked out and closed the door behind me before following him.

Once we were in the conference room, I noticed many people scattered around the large area. They were talking amongst themselves while others just looked around, waiting for the Queen to get on with it. I went to walk towards the crowd only for Justin to stop me by grasping my arm.

“No, Emery,” he said. “You’ll be with the Queen for this announcement.” We walked towards a set of stairs, stopping on the indoor balcony where we were a floor above the many witches situated in the room.

Everyone suddenly hushed. They went silent, expecting something. Then I got nervous.

What if it was me who was to make the announcement?

Every witch was quiet. For a moment, they gave each other looks of confusion. Even I did not know what was going on. Then a thought led me to believe that I was meant to speak. I opened my mouth, ready to speak when—

“Good afternoon, fellow witches,” the Queen greeted in a loud voice as she walked towards Justin and me. The breath I did not know I was holding was released, bringing relief to my whole body. My cheeks blushed as I realized I almost made myself an object of embarrassment.

“…and I’m glad to report we haven’t had any attacks from erwiches in the past week. Emery, was there something you wanted to say?” the Queen asked, forcing my focus back to my surroundings. For a second, I was quiet as I tried to process her words.

My eyes widened in unexpectedness as I shook my head in denial. 

“Okay,” the Queen said. “Now, let me explain the main reason for calling this meeting. You all know the erboon attacks we had here and the one in the US. Most of you, I’m sure, are concerned about what this all meant. To answer your question, we don’t know.”

Everyone knew what the Queen had said, and many people huffed. 

“We have planned for our crystal, Emery, to go deal with the problem. A couple of our guards will join her. Today, they will make preparations for the journey ahead of them. So I would like us all to wish them safety and luck with dealing with the problem,” the Queen said.

“What?” someone asked in the room. There was a short moment of silence as people looked around for the individual who asked the question. They spotted no one.

“Anyway,” the Queen continued, “let’s wish for our crystal and those who will be going with her a safe journey and applaud them for taking on this task.”

People did what the Queen requested, some even whistling with smiles. My cheeks turned crimson red from the attention I was getting. They were happy for me.

Although, a part of me believed they were applauding for another reason. They were glad they weren’t involved in the mission.

Soon, everyone dispersed from the room. Erick soon approached the Queen, Justin and me. 

“Wow. Everyone adores your bravery, Emery,” Erick said while hugging me.

“Huh. Are you sure?” I asked as we retracted from the hug. “Maybe it’s because they’re glad they won’t be dealing with any erwich or erboon.”

Erick laughed at my statement. I narrowed my eyes at him, making him try to cover his laugh with a fake cough.

“Please tell me I heard something that was not true,” Zane said as he approached me with his friends. They had looks of confusion etched on their faces.

Oh no. They were still around?

“Do you have any plans for tonight, Erick?” I asked the Queen’s son, purposefully ignoring the boyband behind me. I was still mad at the comment they had made earlier in the morning.

“We’re sorry, Emery,” I heard Logan say, but I continued ignoring him and his friends. Erick squinted his eyebrows as he faced me.

“What’s going on? What did they do?”

“We did nothing wrong,” Liam lied, apparently trying to avoid bringing up the subject. I was confused for a moment. I turned to face them. They kept straight faces, but beneath the looks, I could sense fear.

A smirk formed on my face as I turned back to Erick.

“I was about to fly today…”

“Emery—“ Ethan started, but I cut him off.

“The blonde thought I was going to kill myself when I jumped off the roof.”

“I’m confused,” Erick said. “Why would you want to kill yourself? Why do they think you would want to kill yourself? Also, why are you mad at them? They are new to the concept of magic, so there is no reason to get angry.”

“New shmew,” I countered. “They were here for more than three weeks, and it's not even about that. I'm angry for a completely different reason.”

“We thought she was going to kill herself because of what we did to her in high school,” Logan answered for me. I heard patronizing mumblings given to him.

“What? He was going to find out anyway,” he continued.

“I could hardly understand why they thought you wanted to end your life so abruptly. I mean, you went through therapy and cut yourself, but—“

“Erick!” I chastised him, but it was too late. The cat was out of the bag. His eyes went wide as he realized what he had done. My eyes narrowed into slits as I glared at Erick. In return, he cringed.

I never told the boys about my self-harming. It was embarrassing since I let myself sink so low because of my ex-bullies. I did not want them to know about it because it felt like I was giving them power over me.

Also, they were trying to make up for what they had done to me by being around more. I was afraid that after they found out about my awful habit, they would try to be around me more than they currently were. And I did not like that at all.

“You cut yourself?” Harry shrieked in a loud voice, earning the attention of witches who were leaving the castle.

Kill. Me. Now.

I shushed him as I turned to face him.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

I gave him a look of disbelief.

“Hmm, I don’t know. Would you have liked it when I came to you and said ‘Hi! You ruined my teenage years. Did you know that as a result, I started cutting myself and having suicidal thoughts?’ ”

I wanted to dig myself into the earth the moment I said the last sentence.

“Suicidal thoughts?” Harry shrieked again. I rolled my eyes before I looked down at the floor.

Why? Just why?

“The last part wasn’t true by the way.”

“Are you sure?” Liam asked with a raised eyebrow. “Because cutting yourself is a sign of self-hate, and it always associates itself with suicidal thoughts.”

“Shut up, Liam!” I screamed at him, making him zip his lips. I hated that he was right about that. “You don’t get to be so smug about this, especially when you are one of the people who brought that onto me.”

“I wasn’t acting smug about it—“ he said with a hurt tone before I cut him off again.

“Yes. I cut myself and had suicidal thoughts. There. Are you happy?”

I said, turning abruptly to leave the room. A hand grasped my wrist, stopping me from making any more movements. Then I felt arms