Elementals
Chapter 11

“So, in order to not overwhelm the students, we now have a schedule that runs on blocks instead of periods. There are four blocks in a day, each about an hour and a half long, and the four classes change out after each semester. This way, the students still have eight classes in a year, but are not thrown straight into all of them at once,” explained Ms. Burns, Rosalie’s new homeroom teacher, the night of orientation.

Rosalie wandered the halls of the school, looking for her classes. As her nose was in her class schedule, she felt herself run into someone. She tripped and fell on her butt. “Oh, I’m sorry, I-” she apologized, looking up and realizing she had walked into a wall. “Oh, I thought you were a person,” she laughed, getting to her feet. She noticed two girls with disapproving and slightly frightened looks on their faces, realizing she was still talking to a wall.

“That weirdo’s talking to a wall,” one of them whispered to the other. “What’s wrong with her?” the other asked. She gave them both a huge, warm smile. “Hi! I’m certifiably insane! Wanna be my friend?!” she yelled a little too loudly, smiling in a way that just made her look psychotic. Terrified, the two girls ran away as quickly as they could.

Rosalie started laughing, satisfied with herself. She soon heard another chuckle alongside her own laughter. “Nice. I like what you did there,” said a girl behind Rosalie. Rosalie turned to see who was talking, and though she looked a bit different than she had that day in the rain, she recognized the girl as Lillian Peters.

“Oh! Hey, Lillian. It’s… been a while,” Rosalie said awkwardly. “’A while?’ A while since when?” Lillian asked, smiling. “Oh, well, I… Umm…” Rosalie stuttered, remembering that day and trying not to be weird. “You mean since you deflected a large pane of glass with glowy powers just before I was struck by lightning?” Lillian asked bluntly.

Rosalie’s stomach dropped and she could feel her pulse in her throat. She either began breathing incredibly fast or stopped altogether. “W-What?!” she stuttered. Lillian snickered. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” she explained, “I do remember everything that happened, but your secret’s safe with me.”

Rosalie found the will to breathe again, relaxing a bit. “Thank you,” she sighed. “No problem,” Lillian said with a wink, “I’ve gotta replace my classes. Bye.” “Bye,” Rosalie replied, watching Lillian walk away as though that encounter was normal, which it was not, in any way. Rosalie then calmed down and continued her search for her classes.

“What?! You choose now to say this?!” Leo shouted. He was behind the school, near the football field, in the dark, with boyfriend, Tom. Tom had asked to speak with him away from everyone else, but then went on to tell him that he was leaving him for a cheerleader. Naturally, Leo was outraged.

“Listen, I just don’t think my parents would approve of you over a girl, let alone one on the cheerleading squad,” Tom explained casually, showing no emotions. He turned to walk away, but Leo grabbed his arm. “You can’t just do that! At least act like you’re just a little bothered! Stop acting like this is nothing! Don’t act like I’m nothing!” Leo ranted. “Get off me!” Tom yelled, shoving Leo away and knocking him to the ground. Leo sat there, staring in disbelief as Tom walked away, not even showing a hint of sadness.

Wow… I can’t wait to try out for the football team, especially if this is the field they play on, Tyler thought, walking around the football field. He heard a loud thud, then another, and another. They were coming from the metal bleachers. Tyler wondered what was happening, and went over to check it out. “Dang it! Dang it! Dang it!” Tyler heard as he got closer.

He followed the sound of the shouting. He turned around the corner of the bleachers, going behind them. The continuous thuds became more clear, and the shouting was nearby. He walked more towards the middle of the bleachers, and under them, repeatedly punching a metal pole that held them up, was Leo. When Tyler got closer, he saw that his face was red and tear streaked.

Surprised and slightly frightened, Tyler slowly approached. “Leo?” Tyler asked. He was just behind him now. Leo froze up, but didn’t answer. Tyler put a hand on his shoulder, gently guiding him to turn around and face him. “Leo, are you alright?” he asked with a calm and friendly voice.

Leo stayed silent. Slowly, he shook his head as more, quiet tears fell down his face. He tried to talk, but his voice didn’t want to work, letting out only a wheezing sound as his mouth shaped to form the word, “No.”

“What happened?” Tyler asked cautiously, trying not to do anything that would make the situation worse. Leo shook his head, his face twisting into a pained expression, trying desperately to hold back the buckets of tears that were currently on their way to his eyes. He wrapped his arms around Tyler, putting a bit more weight onto him than he meant to. Tyler softly lowered the both of them down, unable to support the weight, and sat on his knees.

Leo had his head on Tyler’s shoulder, sobbing quietly. Tyler didn’t know what to do. He really wanted to help Leo, make him feel better, but he didn’t know how. He also wanted to replace whoever was responsible and make them beg for mercy. A short image of Tyler slitting someone’s throat flashed through his head, and he quickly dismissed it, wondering why his mind had become so dark.

Tyler noticed the sound of sobbing was now silent. Leo’s grip on Tyler’s shoulders relaxed a bit. He sat up, his eyes red and puffy. “Th-thanks,” he mumbled, his voice a bit hoarse. Tyler smiled kindly, glad that Leo was acting somewhat normal. “It’s fine… So, what happened?” Leo bit his lip. “Don’t worry about it. It couldn’t be helped,” he said, forcing a smile.

Leo hugged Tyler again. “I wish more people were kind and accepting like you,” he mumbled. Tyler’s face flushed. “Oh, um...Thanks,” he stammered, not sure how to respond to that situation. Leo laughed a bit and sat up. He sniffled and wiped his face dry. I wonder if he realizes he has the power to send the water away from his face instead of making the tips of his sleeves all wet, Tyler though. Leo got to his feet, then helped Tyler up.

Leo was smiling again, but his eyes still showed pain. Tyler stood there, still and quiet, taken off guard by what happened. Leo’s usual goofy, crazy, wild self was sad and vulnerable. Leo saw the confusion, and his smile turned into a bit of an awkward smirk.

“Surprised?” Leo asked. Tyler jumped a bit. “Oh, uh, no! No, it’s just… You’re, um…” Tyler’s voice trailed off, unable to replace words that didn’t have the possibility of being offensive. “I get it,” Leo cut in, “I’m usually all silly and weird, but now I’m actually acting human.” Tyler nodded. “I’ve gone through a lot of hard times, so I try to be amusing in order to make people smile and laugh,” he explained, “Though, I do sometimes come off looking insane.”

Tyler snickered, then full out laughed. “What’s so funny?” Leo asked. “You really are insane!” Tyler blurted. Leo’s smile faded. “Oh,” he said flatly, somewhat offended. “No, what I mean is, you’re crazy and fun! You’re the most wild and awesome person I know! Most people don’t have the guts to act like that,” Tyler laughed, “You’re unpredictable, and it makes you fun!”

Leo smiled again, his face going a bit pink. He looked closely at Tyler happy, affectionate face. He doesn’t think I’m some sort of freak, Leo thought. Tyler eventually stopped laughing and looked up at Leo, his face red and happy. Leo bit his lip, genuinely happy, which wasn’t a very common emotion for him.

“So, what do you-” Tyler started, but he was cut off when Leo grabbed his shirt collar and jerked him forward. Tyler’s eyes went wide and his heart pounded in his chest, as he felt lips against his own. Once he had realized what was happening, Tyler closed his eyes. The world melted away.

“Are you okay? You got quiet all of the sudden,” Tyler said softly, concerned. Leo pulled himself out of his fantasy, quickly scolding himself for thinking that way about his friend. Don’t make things awkward. It’ll only end badly. Besides, he’s a year younger.

“Yeah,” he said as he sniffled once more and forcefully spread a smile over his face, “I’m alright. Thanks.”

“No problem. I care about you. I want to make sure you’re okay,” Tyler bashfully explained, letting his eyes trail around, landing everywhere except for Leo’s.

Leo smiled, then looked down at the ground. There was a small, brown, leather book amongst the grass and loose gravel. “Oh?” Leo picked it up. Tyler’s eyes widened when he saw it. “That’s mine! It must have fallen out of my coat,”

Tyler said. Leo handed Tyler the small book. “What is it? It’s pretty heavy,” Leo inquired. Tyler sighed. “I… I don’t know,” he answered, “All I know is that the way the metal is threaded through every page is far too small and intricate to have been done by a human, or even machines. I think it was done by someone with magic. I’ve been removing the metal bit by bit with my powers, but I’m really scared of tearing the pages, so it’s been taking a while.”

Leo nodded. “That’s pretty cool,” he smiled. Tyler agreed. “So, what now?”

Lillian Peters was walking away from the school, passing some woods nearby. She had been wearing a beanie all day. She took the hat off and ran her fingers through her long, black hair, after wearing the hat in school to hide the neon green streak. I’m glad the rule about not having artificially colored hair got changed,” she thought, twirling the twig of hair with the green streak on it around in her fingers. It’s not like even dye can make this thing go away.

“Hello, there,” said a male voice. Startled, Lillian turned around on a dime, a spark of electric green flashing through her eyes. Standing with his back to a tree was a young man in a black hoodie. The hood was up, concealing his face.

“Who are you?” Lillian asked sternly. The guy chuckled. “Call me Dan,” he said, turning to face her and pulling the hood off his head, revealing pitch black hair and golden eyes, “I know you’re Lillian, correct? You were struck by lightning after a bully’s prank back in April, and ever since have had the ability to create and control electricity. It was cool at first, but changed when you were walking down the trail near a park you like when without any warning, your hair and eyes changed, looking how they do now. After this, you killed the bully who zip tied you to a tree by electrocuting her to death. Am I right?”

Lillian’s heart began to race. Who is this guy?! He knows about me… what I did… she thought. Dan chuckled again. “That look on your face tells me I’m spot on,” he laughed. “How do you know all that?!” Lillian asked, slightly scared and considering just running.

Dan smirked. “I’ve been keeping an eye on you,” he answered casually. “Why?” Lillian asked. “Because,” he said, walking a bit closer to her, “I have a proposition for you.”

Lillian’s eyes narrowed. “What are your proposing?” she asked cautiously. “The school you go to and the people in it, they have ignored the hurt and the bullied, paying no mind to the victims, for far too long. I know you want revenge. You especially want that bully’s little posse to go through exactly what she did. I can help you.”

Lillian relaxed a bit. “How exactly do you plan to help?” she asked, hand on hip and full of attitude. “All I need is a distraction,” Dan answered cooly. Lillian shrugged. “Why?” “Because there is a little group of people who are destined to get in my way. You have your targets, and I have mine. If we work together, we’ll be able to get rid of all our enemies in one night. So, what do you say?”

Dan extended his hand to Lillian. She looked at it, then at her own. All I need to do is get rid of the other Elementals first. She’s useful. I’ll kill her last, Dan thought. Lillian took a deep breath, then shook his hand.