Elements: The Gifted
Chapter 4: Orientation

After a couple hours ofshopping, I had me some black leather pants and some gear as we went straightto Hunter Academy. It wasn’t too difficult to replace. It was enormous and couldbe seen from a distance, probably like the statue of liberty in New York. Tome, it looked more like a huge church, with smaller buildings here and theresurrounding it. Farther away I could see the gymnasium. It was very welcoming aswe entered through the main doors. They were huge and looked like they wouldneed about six or seven people just to open and close it. Of course, beinghalf-Reaper and with strength that would put Hercules to shame, I don’t think Ihave anything to worry about. The floors were a polished marble and there weregrand stair cases leading to different parts of the academy with balconiesoverlooking the main floor. There were flowers everywhere in vases, making theplace smell like a garden. I inhaled deeply. I loved the smell of flowers. Itwas so beautiful that it reminded me more of what a grand palace would looklike inside.

I was jubilant when I finally found Jordan. He was with agroup of people, which I assumed was his family. My mother stared wide eyed atthem. I wonder if it was because of their silver hair.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.

“What was Jordan’s last name again?”

What an odd question. “Grey. Why?”

She continued to stare at them. “It’s nothing. I was justcurious.”

When it was time for the N’Sync ceremony I became verynervous. Not because I wasn’t sure that I wanted to do this – I did – it’s justI knew it would be crowded and the last thing I wanted was to be the center ofattention. And boy was I right. The room that they were doing the ceremony inwas completely packed. We had to elbow our way to the front just so we couldwait our turn. Gabrielle, Morgan, Jordan and I waited impatiently, witnessingthe show behind a small group of people.

It was being orchestrated by a huge, bald man,who looked like he wished he was elsewhere. He wasn’t very attractive with hisbig nose and lips – lips that looked like if he kissed somebody then he wouldsurely eat them by accident. The shape of his green eyes reminded me of a toad.And there was something about him I didn’t like. He seemed snobby, like hethought he was the best damn thing here.

“That’s Hank Westchester.” Gabrielle whispered to me. Wewatched the ceremony as he N’Sync two girls together by branding them with amark on one of their wrists. I flinched as I saw one of the girls grind herteeth together to keep from screaming. “He’s the mayor of Hallowville. He’salso one of the richest men in Eden. Nobody in this town likes him.”

“Then why did your town vote for him?” I asked, bemused.

“Vote?” she sounded perplexed.

“Jordan Grey and Spencer Mason.” The mayor barked outloudly. Jeesh – even his voice was annoying. If frogs could talk they wouldsound like that.

We walked forward and held hands as the ceremony began.Mom was – well, I guess dad – was right. It was almost as if we were gettingmarried. At one point the mayor had us repeating vows.

“Spencer Mason,” he said. I didn’t like the way he kepteyeing me shrewdly. “Will you protect and be there for Jordan as long as you shalllive. No matter if it means sacrificing your life in order for him to live?”

“I do.” I said.

“Will you promise to remain loyal, true, and be therewhen he may need you most?”

“I do.” I repeated.

He turned to Jordan; looking at him with piercing,hate-filled, eyes. Why would he look at Jordan like that? Did he just dislikehim for some reason? If I was Jordan I would have smacked him. “Jordan Grey.Will you protect and be there for Spencer as long as you shall live? No matterif it means sacrificing your life in order for her to live?”

“I do.” Jordan said, his voice ringing louder than mine.

“Will you promise to remain loyal, true, and to be therewhen she may need you most?”

“I do.” Jordan repeated. He smirked at me then, whichmade me giggle. The mayor glowered at us, but didn’t comment. He startedchanting in a weird language – I think it was Latin – and made us hold out ourright arms. He then branded our wrists, which was very painful. I bit back ascream that was beginning to rise in the back of my throat. When he was done, Iexamined the mark on my wrist. It was the shape of a half star. I saw Jordanwith the other half on his wrist. If we were to put our wrists together itwould complete the star, like two puzzle pieces. It kind of reminded me ofthose BFF charms that girls would give their friends.

When the mayor announced us as N’Sync’s, Jordan lunged atme and tried to kiss me, like I was his bride instead of his N’Sync. People inthe audience seemed to laugh, which made me blush. For some reason I panickedand accidentally shoved him roughly off the stage. I heard a loud thump and winced. I hadn’t meant to pushJordan that hard. We left after thatwith Morgan and Gabrielle, not really interested in the rest of the ceremony. Iwas relieved that I hadn’t hurt Jordan when I pushed him off the stage. Heseemed to have forgotten about it as soon as we left. We were intrigued by themark on our wrists, which bond us together. Like little kids, Jordan and I keptputting our wrists together, completing the star.

Eventually, after twenty minutes of looking around,Jordan started to complain about the pain. He would clutch his wrist as if itwas amputated and groan.

“Ithurts like hell.” He said as we walked through the school, trying to replace ourparents. It was completely crowded and it made me wonder how we’ll replace most ofour classes! Hopefully they’ll provide us with a map.

“Here,” I said as I touched his wrist. I summoned thepower within me and released it. It must have worked because Jordan sighed inrelieve.

“Oh, that feels good. The advantages of being an iceuser.”

“Yep,” I said, while feeling a bit smug. “I always usedthis technique if I ever burned myself or had a nasty infection.”

When we finally found our families it was time for thegroup sorting. I was a bit anxious as I waited for it to start. Mom, sensing myanxiety, rubbed my back reassuringly.

“It’sokay, baby.” She said soothingly.

I didn’t say anything, but I did feel a little betterwith her here.

Iexamined the room we were in. It looked like we were in the auditorium. It wasso huge that if they had a big white screen, I would have mistaken it for atheater. They did have a wide stage, with a podium where Death probably stoodwhen they had school events or when he had to make announcements. Maybe this isalso where Hunter Academy students graduated. It looked like it was big enoughto hold up at least three thousand people here. There seemed to be a smallobstacle course on the stage, probably for us to test our magic on. That mademe a bit nervous. Were we going to have to perform our powers in front of allthese people? I was just looking around, trying to get my bearings, when Ifirst saw him. My eyes seemed to widen as I stared at the boy across the room,leaning casually against the wall, looking uninterested at the events aroundhim. He was so beautiful I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He had messy blackhair that looked like it had never been brushed in its life, with stunningfeatures that were so symmetrically it was just unfair. And his eyes – oh, hiseyes – were a perfect blue, like sapphires. His body was lean, but muscularwith pale, flawless skin. I noticed his clothes looked tattered and worn. Theyeven looked as if they were a little dirty, but with his looks he seemed topull it off. He didn’t seem to notice me and that made me a little sad. Whywon’t he look at me? Then miraculously, as if God was answering my pray, heturned and looked straight at me. Well, glaring was more like it. I was justabout to smile when he turned away. I felt a pang of disappointment shootthrough me. Why did he look away? I knew the answer like it was a slap to theface. He didn’t replace me as interesting as I did him.

“Spencer,” said a familiar voice. I saw that it wasJordan. “We got to replace our assign seats. The sorting is about to begin.”

“Oh, right.” I said as I pushed my hurt feelings to the sideand sat where my name was taped to a chair. I looked around and saw unfamiliarfaces. Jordan and Morgan were close to the front since their last name wasGrey. I peeked behind me and saw Gabrielle sitting near the back. She smiledand waved. I repeated the gesture and was about to turn around when I saw thehandsome boy take a seat in the very back. He continued to glare as he staredforward. So maybe it wasn’t just me. I felt a little better as I turned aroundto face the front.

We all watched as an attractive woman, with light brownskin, and curly brown hair, walked up on the stage. I tried not to stare at thelittle black cat ears that were on top of her head or the long, black tail thatwas protruding from her tight, leather pants.

“Welcome,” she said broadly. “To first year’s orientationat Hunter Academy. We are so glad to see such talented students with us today.I believe we are going to have so much fun! My name is Tabby Crawford and Iwill be your Latin 1 teacher for this year. Now, before we begin, some of youare probably wondering why I have cat ears and a tail. Well, that’s because I’ma Were-Creature. My mother was a Wiccan, while my father was a hunter. Now, weWere-Creatures inherit beastly traits from our parents that are Wiccan orWarlock’s.

”Wiccansand warlocks are the children of demons. When a demon mates with a human or aReaper – they have children with magical powers. Wiccan’s and warlocks cannothave children with each other, but they can with anything that is human. It’s abit confusing, I know, but that’s how it’s always been. Were-Creatures don’tspecialize in the five elements until later on. We specialize in the rareelement: the unique. Now every hunter will specialize in that element later on,giving hunters a new ability that will be useful to them in times of need. Notall of them are going to be as cool as others, but every one of them will be unique in its own way.” She winked.

Wow. Another element. I started to wonder since I wasgifted if I had already specialized in the unique element. Then again, Ihaven’t noticed me doing anything different or unique so probably not. Ifrowned at the thought. Well, maybe it should be any day now…

“Now before we begin sorting you into you’re elementalgroups – headmaster Death would like to say a few words.” She moved aside asDeath took her position behind the podium, looking at all of us as his eyeswondered down row by row. I could have sworn his eyes lingered on me longerthan the others, but maybe it was just my imagination.

“Welcome firstyears,” he said, his voice low, but clear as it rang in the auditorium. “ToHunter Academy.” We all clapped and whooped as Death waited patiently for us toquiet down. “My name is Grim Reaper, or as others calls me ‘Death.’ I’ve beenheadmaster here for about thirty years now and I couldn’t imagine a betterschool. It just makes me happy to know that most hunters that have attendedhere are usually the best and I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true. As most ofyou know, my father was the creator of this notorious race of hunters. Hispowers were given to him by God himself to help rid the world of the verminthat we call demons and for that it has been our duty to cleanse the world oftheir evil.”

I was completely mesmerized by Death that I couldn’t takemy eyes off him. There was a reason why he was headmaster here. Some of thegirls that were around me were whispering amongst themselves, swooning over howhot he was. Even I had to admit he looked sexy as he stood up there, lookingall tall, dark, and handsome, with his black hair pulled back in a ponytail, hisred eyes scanning the crowd as if daring them to say something. They wouldn’thave time to say anything though, because by the time they opened their mouths,they would probably drop dead.

“I am a hunter just like every one of you here. Iattended this school when my father was headmaster. I can do all the elementsas well as my unique, which is basically controlling whether I think you shouldlive or die. Yes, my unique ability is death. And your unique abilities will besomething of a surprise as well as mine was. I guess it just depends on yourpersonality, I suppose.”

No one said anything to this as we all stared up at Deathin fascination. I kept noticing a boy close to the front looking back here. I’mnot sure, but it looked like he kept looking in my direction. He had a prettyface, with blonde, wavy hair, and crystal blue eyes. His features were perfect,especially his smile, which was dazzling. I did a double at take at that. Washe smiling at me or somebody behind me? He turned back around to face thefront, which had me sighing in relieve. I don’t like it when people stare atme.

When Death was done with his speech, Ms. Tabby took backher place behind the podium, her friendly smile bright and excited. Deathwalked off the stage and leaned against the wall that was shrouded in darkness,looking like a sinister badass.

“Now it’s time for the sorting ceremony. When I call yourname you will walk up on the stage, tell me your element, and then show us on theobstacle course. Okay?”

I felt my eyes widen fear. This could not be happening tome.

“Spencer,” I recognized the voice as Death’s. I looked inhis direction again and saw him gesturing for me to come here. I did as he saidand felt as Death grabbed me by the arm, pulling me deeper into the shadows.

“What is it?” I asked.

“When Tabby calls your name and you go up there, you tellher that you’re gifted, but that your strongest element is ice. Then I want toyou to perform all the elements. Got it?”

He wants me to perform all the elements! Jeesh. And justwhen I thought things couldn’t get any worse.

“Got it.” I said. My voice shook as I thought of all thepeople staring at me. This is going to be so embarrassing. No doubt I’ll get soflustered that I’ll end up falling flat on my face.

Death seemed to sense my anxiety. He smiled gently. “Justshow them what you showed me, okay.”

I felt involuntary smile spread across my face. Who knewDeath had a soft side? “Okay.” Maybe this won’t be so bad.

He ushered me back to my seat, and as I headed back to mychair, I could see some students down my row staring at me in bewilderment. Itried to ignore them as best as I could.

It looked like Tabby had waited while Death pulled me tothe side, and as I finally sat back down, she began with the first person onthe list, saying their name in a loud, clear voice.

“JenniferAllen.”

It was one of the girls that had spoken to me yesterday.She looked nervous as she walked on stage.

“What’s your element, sweetie?” Tabby asked, kindly.

“Air.” she answered, her voice shaking in places.

Tabby smiled, looking pleased. “Proceed.”

Jennifer seemed to take a deep breath as she summoned thepower within herself, spinning her index finger around and around until alittle tornado appeared. She held the little tornado in the palm of her hand,and as it continued to spin around and around, she suddenly clapped her hands,causing it to make a loud booming soundand filling the auditorium with a strong wind, causing everybody to shiver asit blew past us. Everyone cheered as Tabby announced her in the air group,making her stand to the left said of the stage. Jennifer seemed proud ofherself as she stood there.

Next was a boy named Devon Apple, who ended up being an earthuser. Then Henry Backster, a Were-Creature, who had some features of a cheetah,with a long tail and ears sprouting from his dark curls. He walked up on thestage with confidence and determination. As Tabby predicted, none of theWere-Creatures could do any of the elemental magic, but the one: unique. Mymouth popped open as Henry disappeared and then in a blink of an eye, returnedon the stage, looking like he never left in the first place. He handed Ms.Tabby a rose, looking rather smug.

“Super speed.” Tabby said, impressed. She held out herhand for a high five. They slapped hands as we clapped. He took his spot wherethe unique’s and the Were-Creatures would stand, which were right next to theair group.

On and on it went as we went through all the studentsthat were in alphabetical order. Jamie Black, an obnoxious looking boy, was afire user. He seemed to stand up there with his nose in the air, smirking thewhole time. I felt my hands curl into fists. I really had this urge to walk upthere and knock him out. The next person was another fire user: ScarlettBlackthorn. That girl was completely badass as she shot fire balls in the air,while “accidentally” aiming them at Jamie’s head. He seemed to glare at her asshe took her spot next to him, smiling hugely the whole time.

Then there was Henry Carlton, a water user. TaylorClarkson, an air user. Vaughn Cooper, another water user. And Christopher Crow,an air user. Two girls that were twins because they practically lookedidentical were unique users because they too were Were-Creatures. They both hadsome features that reminded me of horses. Hannah Cudmore had a long, black manefor hair, and a long, black tail that constantly seemed to swing back and forthas she walked. Her powers, apparently involved reading people’s minds, whichmade me, and few others, uneasy. I don’t really like the idea of somebody beingin my head. Her sister, Hayley, had the same long, black hair and the swishingtail, but her powers were a lot cooler. She could move things with her mind,lifting them in the air. Telekinesis, I think it was called. It was prettyawesome to witness and we applauded as she stood next to her sister amongst theunique’s.

Kimberly Davis was next as she walked up the stage. I wasexcited to hear that she was an ice user. I watched in complete amazement asshe used her powers, making it snow in the auditorium. I clapped with the restof the audience as our first ice user stood into place.

When we got to the g’s I was excited. That meant Jordanand Morgan would be going up there next. A small, pretty girl, named Mia Good,went up before Jordan. She was a water user and a good one too. She seemed tohave fun up there then most of the others students, and as she stood with theother water users, I saw Scarlett give her a two-thumbs up. Huh. I found it oddthat a water and fire user were friends. And I knew they were from the way theykept trying to whisper to each other from across the stage. Tabby glowered atthem. They both went silent, but continued to look at each other and smile, asif they were enjoying some private joke.

I sat on the edge of my seat as Jordan went up next. Iwas excited as he demonstrated his air abilities. Everyone clapped loudly as hejoined the other air users. I felt a swell of pride for my friend. Go Jordan!When Morgan went up next, I heard from farther behind me, Gabrielle cheeringMorgan on. When he was done and joined his brother, along with the other airusers, Gabrielle whooped with joy, causing some of the students in a nearbyradius to turn and look at her in annoyance.

The pretty boy that I noticed earlier, looking at me, wasCameron Johnson. The girls seemed to swoon as he walked gracefully up on thestage to perform his ability, which, of course was fire. He took his rightfulplace with the fire users and did some complicated handshake with Jamie, theboy with the obnoxious attitude and annoying grin. I continued to watch them asthey laughed easily with each other. I sighed quietly and sat back in my chair.I can already see a gang forming. I recognized the next girl that went up.Alicia Lawrence, whom I also met yesterday, was an air user just like herN’Sync, Jennifer. They seemed to giggle with each other as they stood side-by-side.For some inexplicable reason I glanced at Jordan and saw him eyeballing Alicia.I felt my lips form into a half smile. When Jordan finally tore his gaze fromher, he glanced my way. He looked completely awestruck, as if he had just seenthe sun for the first time. I made a little kissy face at him and laughed. Heflipped me off playfully and looked away.

After a girl named Marie Lopez was done demonstrating herpowers, which was air, and stood with the other air users, I could feel my pulsepicking up as Tabby finally called my name.

“Spencer Mason.”

I took a deep breath and got shakily to my feet as Iwalked down the aisle of empty seats. I took the steps one at a time as I mademy way towards Tabby. I couldn’t help but look at the remaining audience. I sawGabrielle, who was smiling encouragingly at me. She seemed to mouth something,but I couldn’t tell what it was. I looked farther back and saw that boy fromearlier. He continued to glare off into space.

“What’s your element?” Tabby asked gently.

“Um,” I said my voice shaking. How embarrassing. “I’mg-gifted, but my strongest is ice.”

Tabby’s eyes seemed to widen a fraction before noddingfor me to continue. “Proceed.”

I took the center of the stage and stared at the crowd.Somewhere out there my mother was watching. Maybe even my father. I took deep,steadying breath and summoned all my powers, feeling it as it spread through myveins and into my hands. First I started off with ice, my strongest element,and then I went from fire, to water, air, and then, at last, earth. When I wasdone, the entire auditorium went quiet, staring at me with looks of disbeliefand shock. Even that beautiful boy looked impressed, staring at me with wide,blue eyes. I held my breath until the entire auditorium stood up and startedclapping. Some even whooped and hollered, saying, “You go girl!” and “That wasawesome!” I felt my face flush in embarrassment. In the shadows I could seeDeath smiling smugly as he clapped along with the rest of the audience.

I took my place with the ice group, some clapping me onthe back, while others just shook my hand.

“That was amazing.” said a boy with wicked blue hair. Ithink his name was Christian Masterson.

“Yeah,” Kimberly agreed. “Completely badass. We’re solucky to have you in our group.”

I couldn’t help but grin at that last part.

We went through a couple more students, includingGabrielle, who took her place in the earth group with such pride; it was practicallyvisible on her face. I talked to some of the other ice users. I was relievedthat they seem to like me as much as I liked them. I was just glad they treatedme like a person and didn’t act like I wasn’t there.

“Alexander Torchwood.” Torchwood. Why does that last namesound so familiar? The entire auditorium went quiet, except for maybe a fewmumbles here and there. I looked to see which student was Alexander and sawthat it was the dark haired boy. He didn’t seem to like the attention as heslowly walked down the aisle and up the steps. He continued to look straightforward, trying to avoid everyone’s gazes as they stared at him shrewdly. Everybody seemed tense as he came on stage andwalked towards Ms. Tabby, who to my surprise looked a bit wary.

“W-what’s your e-element?” Ms. Tabby stammered. Sheforced herself to smile.

He smiled back wickedly, and said in low, velvet likevoice, “Fire.”

She didn’t reply. It was odd, but it looked like she was scared of him.

Everyone watched in uncomfortable silence as Alexandertook the center of the stage. I looked at everyone around me. Why did everybodylook so scared? It looked like they were waiting for some great catastrophe tohappen or something. When Alexander started using his fire magic, everybody ina nearby radius flinched as if they could feel the heat of the fire. Somewatched him with weary expressions. Even Death – who I could see in the shadows– stared at him with unease. After that I couldn’t take it anymore – mycuriosity was killing me. I turned to Kimberly and tapped her on the shoulder.She jumped, looking startled. Her face was completely white, like a ghost.

“Sorry, but I was just wondering who that is? I know hisname, but his last name sounds so familiar.”

“That’s because Torchwood was his last name. He’s his son!”she said, through tight, white lips. My eyes widened at that. I looked back atAlexander and saw that he was finished. He was being ushered towards the otherfire users, every one of them looking deathly pale as he came to stand besidethem. As he took his place, a lot of them moved a couple inches away. Torchwood.That would explain why I recognized the last name. I remember Death mentioningAzazel having a son, but only once while he was telling me the story aboutAzazel and my father.

Myfather.

I noticed that Alexander was standing closeenough for me to touch. He seemed a couple inches taller than me, maybe about5’7. The fire and ice groups stood by each other, making it kind of uncomfortable.Everyone knows fire and ice don’t mix. My father saved Alexander when he wasprobably really little. And only because his father tried to kill him. I couldn’thelp but feel some sympathy towards Alexander. Nobody deserves to have a fatherlike that. But why were these people so afraid of him? He wasn’t Azazel. Didthey think he was the next coming of his father? I looked at Jordan, Morgan,and Gabrielle as they too eyed him with fear and hatred. Yes, hatred. Why wasAlexander being punished because of something his father did? I might have totalk to Death later and ask.

“Abigail Westchester.” Tabby said, interrupting mythoughts. Tabby seemed a lot more relaxed once Alexander was situated with theother fire users. She was smiling hugely as she waited for the next person. Itwas a pretty, curly blonde girl, with dimples and a megawatt smile, as shewalked up the stage and told Tabby her specialized element. I wasn’t surprisedthat it was fire. She looked like the type that would set people on fire forthe heck of it. In a way she kind of reminded me of Katie from back home. Idisliked her instantly. I ignored all the commotion and somehow got lost in mythoughts again.

I willget to the bottom of this. I will make it my goal to become friends withAlexander. No matter what it takes and no matter the cost, I vowed withmyself. Yeah right, my subconscioussaid snidely. You can barely talk topeople. What makes you think you can talk to a cute guy like him? You’ll justget tongue tied. I frowned at that, knowing she had point. But God, she canbe a real ass sometimes.

We had approximately 60people in our class, with eleven fire, air, and unique users, ten ice and earthusers, and 7 water users. We all went back to our seats and listened as Tabbytold us a little bit about Hunter Academy. Of course, I didn’t hear a singleword she said because I was too lost in my own thoughts. I just couldn’t getover how everyone treated that Alexander kid. I wonder if he was used to it. Hedidn’t seem like he cared, but maybe that was a facade to hide his truefeelings. And the sad part was that I could completely relate to him. I knewwhat it felt like to be shunned – to not feel wanted or seen. I knew how muchit hurt. It must be an act on his part, because surely he can’t feel that way. Surelyhe must be lonely.

When we were dismissed from the auditorium, I caught onemore glimpse that was Alexander Torchwood as he pushed through the crowds offamilies and teenagers to get out of here. People seemed to glare at hisretreating figure. Well, maybe people would like him more if he didn’t try toantagonize everyone.

“Hey, Spencer,” said unfamiliar male voice. I turnedaround instantly and saw that pretty blonde boy, Cameron, walk my way. My defense shot up as he came towards me. Helooked friendly enough, but that didn’t mean anything.

“Hi.” I said uncertainly.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Cameron said. I raisedan eyebrow questioningly. He seemed to notice. “I’ve wanted to talk to yousince the beginning of the sorting ceremony, but by the time I got the nerve weall had to take our seats.”

“Uh-huh.” I said. I don’t know why he’s talking to me,but I’m not interested. “Look you seem like a nice guy, but I really have to—“

“There you are Spencer,” Jordan said, his voice tight ashe wrapped an arm around my shoulder. Gabrielle and Morgan hovered behind him,eyeing Cameron sternly. “If you don’t mind, Cameron, Spencer has somewhere tobe.” Not giving Cameron the chance to reply, Jordan then grabbed my arm andhauled me away. Gabrielle and Morgan were only a few feet behind us as we madeour way towards the exit. I glanced behind me at Cameron. He was glaring as weretreated into the halls. I sighed in relieve.

“Thanks,” I said, feeling truly grateful towards Jordanand the others. “I don’t know what that was about.”

“Watch out when Cameron’s around,” Jordan said grimly.“He’s a huge womanizer and I wouldn’t put it past him to go after you, seeingas your gifted.”

“Oh, well you don’t have to worry.” I told them. “I’m notinterested in guys like him.” Suddenly Alexander flitted through my mind. “He’snot my type.” I was absentminded as I twirled my hair around my index finger,thinking of Alex and his pretty blue eyes.

“Well, that’s good.” Morgan said, piqued. “Because he’s acreep.”

We all ended up looking for our parents again,searching high and low until we finally found them. I was just about to greetmy mother when I saw a man that looked similar to Jordan and Morgan, talking toher. His silver hair was long enough that it kept getting in his eyes, causinghim to constantly pull his hair back. He was very tall and lean, but muscularwith light, tan skin. He was sexy, which meant he had to be related to Jordanand Morgan.

“Is that your brother?” I asked Jordan, pointing to theman I saw with my mother.

Jordan looked sick. “No. That’s my uncle Ash. He’s one ofthe instructors here. He’s going to be our Demonology teacher.”

“Why is he talking to my mom?”

“He’sprobably flirting with her.” Morgan said, cutting off whatever Jordan was aboutto say. He seemed to scowl at him, which Morgan didn’t notice. “It wouldn’t bethe first time.”

I looked back at their uncle and my mom together. Hedidn’t look like he was flirting. It looked more like they were having a heatedconversation. What it was about, I didn’t know, but I couldn’t understand whythey would be fighting in the first place. They didn’t know each other. Didthey?

I was just about to ask Jordan when Gabrielle popped outof nowhere, handing us all a sheet of paper with a list of books that we had topurchase.

“Oh, crapola,” I exclaimed as I scanned the prices of thesebooks. “My mother is going to kill me!”

“There not that bad,” Gabrielle said dryly.

“They are when you have a single parent only getting paidminimum wage.” I stared at her in disbelief as I held the sheet of paper upclose to her face. “Are you telling me that your parents can afford all thesebooks?”

She didn’t hesitant. “Yes.”

“My mother is going to kill me!” I repeated.

“Your mother doesn’t seem that bad.” Jordan said. He waseyeing my mother from across the room. I didn’t like the way he looked at her.It kind of reminded me of how he stared at Alicia in the auditorium earlier. Ismacked him. “Ouch. Jeesh. What was that for?” he asked, rubbing the back ofhis head.

“That was for looking at my mother with goo goo eyes.”

It turned out we had otherpapers to fill out. I lost track of time until my mom told me it was time togo. I turned in all the paper work and left with my mother, waving goodbye toJordan and the others. I promised Gabrielle that I would see her Saturday.Turns out my mom was leaving tomorrow night to get back to Hot Springs so shecould go back to work. Gabrielle’s parents were gracious enough to let me stayuntil school started. I wanted to stay with Jordan, but my mom wouldn’t haveit.

“No staying at boy’s houses,” she said adamantly. “And nogoing in boys rooms when you stay at the Academy. The last thing I need is tohave a daughter pregnant at thirteen.”

I didn’t see Alexander again that evening to my dismay,but I brightened up at the thought that I would be starting school soon so Iwould most likely see him then.

Mom promised before she left that she would take meshopping so I could go ahead and purchase my books. That was basically all Ineeded for school. Everything else they provided. We weren’t starting schooltill Monday and today was Friday so I had time to go home for a day and pack therest of my clothes. Sunday we would be moving into the academy. One of theteaching staff would help us get situated and ready for the following morning.I was very excited, but I wasn’t too keen on the whole roommate situation. If we had roommates, which I’m hoping wedon’t.

Gabrielle’s parents were a trip. They were so cool andlaid back that Gabrielle and I pretty much got away with anything. They didn’tpry and they didn’t ask a lot questions. They were very welcoming and triedeverything to make me comfortable as I stayed there. I liked them a lot. Jordanand Morgan did come over for a little a while that day. We played board gamesand watched a little bit of TV. None of us could stop talking about ourexcitement for Sunday and it intensified as the day came to an end. When Morganand Jordan left around eight that night, Gabrielle and I decided to go to bedearly. Of course, neither of us could sleep. We were too excited for the comingmorning. Tomorrow – we would be official Hunter Academy students.