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.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGE5vTS8i88
“Whoa,” I say. “It looks like a hurricane hit here.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxaXMFDEhk
Savannah laughs, a sweet melody. “It often does. She says it’s a ‘system’.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MBNH4Sb6H
“An effective system, if I do say so myself. And I do.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQwvapBP8f
I pick my way through the mess, carefully shifting the lighter and sitting at the foot of Ember’s bed.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwrba642qY
“So? What are we talking about?” I ask.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbxGDBcHw8
“You’re very eager to hear this, huh?” Ember says.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdEzqgPXIV
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.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRr3wwSw3zc
“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.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYX56iuErIR
Savannah smiles. “She’s very expressive.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecVq7BxnK7
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…251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RCy919RxO
“Do you know what time this happened? The tree and the, um, eggs?” I ask.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Jjdc4V0JK
“Around eight thirty,” Savannah and Ember chorus.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGv0srS2b2f
“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.” 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxcv27Xvyjx
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.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UkGheym5B
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.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgra2HChOk
“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!”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZwnyomfi5Y
Savannah’s cheeks turn red as she says, “Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfwTdOvn7n
“Ugh,” Ember says, scrunching her nose.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsH8iur2Qz6
“So, Em. Ready to admit I’m right, hermanita?”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNcCUElVhr
I’m no Spanish expert, but it makes sense that this boy is Ember’s brother. Older, though? We’ll see, I suppose.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRdtMLfaPz
“Never, hermano mio.” She turns away from the boy.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjL9ERRUFvQ
The boy nods at me. “Quién es ella?”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLV2lEm5k0
“Um, me llamo Cordelia?” I try.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1i51fEatoR
The boy laughs. “I like her. Me llamo Liam.”
“So, what is all this about?” I ask, slipping comfortably back to English.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaN12BTgsb0
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.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqxF0PQ8Ut
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.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0hd0namYl
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.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa4TP265j2n
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.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0TfaUyy0aM
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?”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3pFOuKdrNI
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’.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUmKRfb10bZ
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.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFNHAmoNCT
All three of them stare at me, mouths hanging open. Finally, Ember speaks. “Ay, ay, ay, who knew she was such a dipshit?”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUVcE5ffmXJ
“Emmy!” Savannah snaps.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jRSR2DSRR
“What?”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0tnj6InPJ
“This is real, Cordelia,” Liam says, leaning against Ember’s desk.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUJG9OvxwR
I scoff. “Yeah, okay,” I say, standing. “Call me when you decide you want to be serious.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjA1IjUSA14
When I get to the door, Liam calls after me, “Call me when you decide you want to listen.”251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NsVqMReay
And I walk out the door, feeling like I’ve made a big mistake.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡomcMMsfVMk
