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.118Please respect copyright.PENANABmnRtrTmep
“Whoa,” I say. “It looks like a hurricane hit here.”118Please respect copyright.PENANALuBU3QbPs8
Savannah laughs, a sweet melody. “It often does. She says it’s a ‘system’.”118Please respect copyright.PENANAMWFjkyJ1f0
“An effective system, if I do say so myself. And I do.”118Please respect copyright.PENANAHR0IoQPZU6
I pick my way through the mess, carefully shifting the lighter and sitting at the foot of Ember’s bed.118Please respect copyright.PENANARyPPWXn2fz
“So? What are we talking about?” I ask.118Please respect copyright.PENANAA0bGMXZwfH
“You’re very eager to hear this, huh?” Ember says.118Please respect copyright.PENANAc1v8LPSniC
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.”118Please respect copyright.PENANAUhR85fP1vy
“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.118Please respect copyright.PENANAPuhV30wcj3
Savannah smiles. “She’s very expressive.”118Please respect copyright.PENANAxOiCYb4wsR
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…118Please respect copyright.PENANAHERVwMZtd2
“Do you know what time this happened? The tree and the, um, eggs?” I ask.118Please respect copyright.PENANAlS62nPRBB8
“Around eight thirty,” Savannah and Ember chorus.118Please respect copyright.PENANAfijc8Oy25Z
“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.” 118Please respect copyright.PENANAFwFwaKGhMl
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.”118Please respect copyright.PENANAtq9PjaNhMn
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.118Please respect copyright.PENANANHb0RP0B25
“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!”118Please respect copyright.PENANAW5a8nE8qKT
Savannah’s cheeks turn red as she says, “Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush.”118Please respect copyright.PENANAX14RGsuX4n
“Ugh,” Ember says, scrunching her nose.118Please respect copyright.PENANA2lVkANxEtk
“So, Em. Ready to admit I’m right, hermanita?”118Please respect copyright.PENANABh2PwTqAja
I’m no Spanish expert, but it makes sense that this boy is Ember’s brother. Older, though? We’ll see, I suppose.118Please respect copyright.PENANAUCZ0cqo8BY
“Never, hermano mio.” She turns away from the boy.118Please respect copyright.PENANAAWAvmgcjCQ
The boy nods at me. “Quién es ella?”118Please respect copyright.PENANAx9FxzXp3uu
“Um, me llamo Cordelia?” I try.118Please respect copyright.PENANAYlvscpcCOt
The boy laughs. “I like her. Me llamo Liam.”
“So, what is all this about?” I ask, slipping comfortably back to English.118Please respect copyright.PENANAJNp7LHG9x7
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.118Please respect copyright.PENANADdPEaeTlaA
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.118Please respect copyright.PENANA3eddJOTtio
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.118Please respect copyright.PENANAPYLepFfQ2g
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.”118Please respect copyright.PENANA1oXzE4n66R
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?”118Please respect copyright.PENANAzHuqY7Ik8i
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’.”118Please respect copyright.PENANAQvdXkLN8in
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.”118Please respect copyright.PENANAM2XuPFhPuz
All three of them stare at me, mouths hanging open. Finally, Ember speaks. “Ay, ay, ay, who knew she was such a dipshit?”118Please respect copyright.PENANAfSnyQCn3ox
“Emmy!” Savannah snaps.118Please respect copyright.PENANAO8DPbnfFN8
“What?”118Please respect copyright.PENANAnOIA7BAQHn
“This is real, Cordelia,” Liam says, leaning against Ember’s desk.118Please respect copyright.PENANAkFuNidV9v0
I scoff. “Yeah, okay,” I say, standing. “Call me when you decide you want to be serious.”118Please respect copyright.PENANAx4sRhgVwzr
When I get to the door, Liam calls after me, “Call me when you decide you want to listen.”118Please respect copyright.PENANAW8NoVnQs5t
And I walk out the door, feeling like I’ve made a big mistake.118Please respect copyright.PENANAtDgbR5Jvwt