Ember swings the door to her room open. I shudder as I stare inside her room. Piles of clothes lie in a crumpled heap on the floor. The bed is unmade, and on it is the biggest fire hazard I have ever seen: a lighter, and a box of matches. Her desk is littered with wool, thread, needles, and unfinished clothes and patterns. The board hanging on the wall is scattered with notes and clothing designs. A pile of mannequin parts lie around, untouched. In short, her room is a complete and total mess.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5aYa69axz
“Whoa,” I say. “It looks like a hurricane hit here.”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgZ83ZhrYg
Savannah laughs, a sweet melody. “It often does. She says it’s a ‘system’.”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPeNRzzbuUx
“An effective system, if I do say so myself. And I do.”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx75qpDndch
I pick my way through the mess, carefully shifting the lighter and sitting at the foot of Ember’s bed.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPu4UtxEGMu
“So? What are we talking about?” I ask.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8qEvzLYAb
“You’re very eager to hear this, huh?” Ember says.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDshFxgaThK
Savannah facepalms. “What did I tell you about beating around the bush? We want to talk about what happened this morning. You said your day was a disaster, you were thinking about it, and then it started to rain. Right?” I nod. “Well, this morning, I woke up in a really good mood, right? And then a tree appeared out of nowhere. As in, it grew from my bedposts in a matter of seconds.”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8vXWIbIEKf
“And this morning, there was an incident with my eggs,” Ember says sadly. “I was just trying to have breakfast. Liam was his usual annoying self, and I got angry. The next thing I know - whoosh! Fire!” She mimes a mini explosion of sorts and makes a fist with one hand. “Then my eggs were gone. Poof.” She releases the fist.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOSeRDuWtD
Savannah smiles. “She’s very expressive.”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkewEnDB08v
From what I know, it’s Savannah and Ember’s sixteenth birthday, and it also happens to be mine. This morning, we each had different incidents. I was in a bad mood, and it rained. Savannah was in a good mood, and a tree sprouted and grew from her bedposts within seconds. And Ember was miffed, then her eggs… Um. Whoosh. Fire. Poof. I wonder…267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxsk5OfFYa
“Do you know what time this happened? The tree and the, um, eggs?” I ask.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqau8moeAR
“Around eight thirty,” Savannah and Ember chorus.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN2bVWImYaV
“So the rain, the tree, the eggs. They all happened at the exact same time, on the exact same day,” I murmur. “Well, even so, it doesn’t mean we have anything to do with each other. Rain, no matter when it falls, is just rain. Maybe a seed fell near your bedposts.” I turn to Ember. “And maybe the fire was too… fiery.” 267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOlGSNMcdu
Ember snorts as I say this, but Savannah just shakes her head. “It’s like I always say. Once is chance. Twice is a coincidence. And three times?” She looks at Ember and I. “That’s a pattern. There’s something going on here, something supernatural. For whatever reason, the three of us are involved. It’s our job to get to the bottom of this.”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxaOX7XnjD
Someone starts to clap. At first, I think it’s Ember, but I turn to the door, where it’s coming from. A boy leans against the door, with the same fiery aura as Ember. His hair, though as flaming as Ember’s, is a duller red, almost brown, but not quite. His eyes, unlike Ember’s, are like pools of molten gold, priceless and coveted by all. His shirt is orange, coupled with a black hoodie, and he’s wearing fingerless gloves, making him seem edgy. Orange headphones hand around his neck, and his humming suggests he used them recently.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2fCq1eBPI
“Now that, Van,” he says, walking towards us. “Is why I always call you a poet. No, a bard.” He raises his hand dramatically and continues in a dramatic voice. “Nay, the greatest bard of them all, worthy of the best lyre money and adoration can buy!”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7QQByM9k5
Savannah’s cheeks turn red as she says, “Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush.”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5lN8rgHms
“Ugh,” Ember says, scrunching her nose.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoCC6ZkDEb
“So, Em. Ready to admit I’m right, hermanita?”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFgoXVWaHco
I’m no Spanish expert, but it makes sense that this boy is Ember’s brother. Older, though? We’ll see, I suppose.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcypB8USjqB
“Never, hermano mio.” She turns away from the boy.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZL87oLMoO
The boy nods at me. “Quién es ella?”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqSoy1XTQs
“Um, me llamo Cordelia?” I try.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5PvLrROmC
The boy laughs. “I like her. Me llamo Liam.”
“So, what is all this about?” I ask, slipping comfortably back to English.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34aczFleFf
Liam recites, “Three forces elemental thou must seek,
The first the one from the creek.
Her powers still asleep,
She must return to the deep,
There great challenges she must defeat,
Then her powers shall be complete.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOJPth5D6E
The second force is one with the earth,
She must also prove her worth.
Sniff out the traitor in her midst,
And she and earth will coexist.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPpkJrpMr6
The third and last is of the fire,
The situation is becoming dire.
The traitor’s claims she must dismiss,
Or risk everything tumbling into the abyss.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OtfNU215c
The fate of the realms elementals is at stake,
The balance must not break.
The final battle can be won,
If the girls’ challenges are overcome.”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtihK0BUTB2
Ember rolls her eyes, and Savannah scoffs. They’ve clearly heard this many times before. I, on the other hand, am just confused. “Sorry, what?”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRcdIPJT1T
Liam doesn’t answer, his stare blank. Ember starts to mutter in Spanish as she walks over to him and snaps her fingers under his nose. He jolts back to the present. “Huh? Oh, prophecy. Duh. Em here is ‘of the fire’, Van is ‘one with the earth’, which makes you, Cordelia, ‘the one from the creek’.”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAIW8nDBXV
This is all so ridiculous. Elemental forces? Really? This is based off of three coincidences that probably have nothing to do with each other. I clap slowly. “Wow. Wow. That was great. But… you called me over to show me your play? You could have just told me so.”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1zR2yBCHi
All three of them stare at me, mouths hanging open. Finally, Ember speaks. “Ay, ay, ay, who knew she was such a dipshit?”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89E4tzDhnA
“Emmy!” Savannah snaps.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA596O6Vnk0
“What?”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj55KA1pqa7
“This is real, Cordelia,” Liam says, leaning against Ember’s desk.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bBmUjI5WU
I scoff. “Yeah, okay,” I say, standing. “Call me when you decide you want to be serious.”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZcJUkETpp
When I get to the door, Liam calls after me, “Call me when you decide you want to listen.”267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOoj4swZoC
And I walk out the door, feeling like I’ve made a big mistake.267Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZuTHNNa1Pt
