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.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2dP1DUMyD
“Whoa,” I say. “It looks like a hurricane hit here.”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg9sKBuBxOd
Savannah laughs, a sweet melody. “It often does. She says it’s a ‘system’.”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwChJCsOJbQ
“An effective system, if I do say so myself. And I do.”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSA7n0tVPw3
I pick my way through the mess, carefully shifting the lighter and sitting at the foot of Ember’s bed.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2jrw6JBRO
“So? What are we talking about?” I ask.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzrPI5NDAm
“You’re very eager to hear this, huh?” Ember says.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfT1nDHxvns
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.”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLywNYN0P6
“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.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZ5elHad52
Savannah smiles. “She’s very expressive.”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89oyVbYhyK
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…232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFIBMwiLU5I
“Do you know what time this happened? The tree and the, um, eggs?” I ask.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZt0Dub76k
“Around eight thirty,” Savannah and Ember chorus.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNF5Io3CoWc
“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.” 232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrubeACWhO
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.”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyxoJoAEw4
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.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRqjLgLYvB
“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!”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVu0DzR2oQJ
Savannah’s cheeks turn red as she says, “Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush.”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1R3igNatd
“Ugh,” Ember says, scrunching her nose.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5HSmaNjjp
“So, Em. Ready to admit I’m right, hermanita?”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpcYannTeB
I’m no Spanish expert, but it makes sense that this boy is Ember’s brother. Older, though? We’ll see, I suppose.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWHkabqx7R
“Never, hermano mio.” She turns away from the boy.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRSxAujBRE
The boy nods at me. “Quién es ella?”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdwpik9Ons
“Um, me llamo Cordelia?” I try.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtcnL0rudA8
The boy laughs. “I like her. Me llamo Liam.”
“So, what is all this about?” I ask, slipping comfortably back to English.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW94meoLAUn
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.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvOsE2I4NZM
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.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jmeruYRG8
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.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXEiHpg6og
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.”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ80uDCQSlRe
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?”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9b2BB85vp
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’.”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE4GnXxXFeR
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.”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7bL1G2T5Ta
All three of them stare at me, mouths hanging open. Finally, Ember speaks. “Ay, ay, ay, who knew she was such a dipshit?”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIYDNL34Ru
“Emmy!” Savannah snaps.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcImjZ8nKT
“What?”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOY2KXeVMWu
“This is real, Cordelia,” Liam says, leaning against Ember’s desk.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiOo7UrTf3
I scoff. “Yeah, okay,” I say, standing. “Call me when you decide you want to be serious.”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFF4cEvodv
When I get to the door, Liam calls after me, “Call me when you decide you want to listen.”232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXH6Cj20id0
And I walk out the door, feeling like I’ve made a big mistake.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8vhrJmlZ2o
