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.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2QzBSW5Xn
“Whoa,” I say. “It looks like a hurricane hit here.”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnOhFSpcXW
Savannah laughs, a sweet melody. “It often does. She says it’s a ‘system’.”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgBeKle0hy
“An effective system, if I do say so myself. And I do.”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJ5PhaXwFj
I pick my way through the mess, carefully shifting the lighter and sitting at the foot of Ember’s bed.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrxRuF244R
“So? What are we talking about?” I ask.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJdW2Lfvul
“You’re very eager to hear this, huh?” Ember says.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30JH43HM38
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.”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAX1UjDXRq2
“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.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zW6WRbgsG
Savannah smiles. “She’s very expressive.”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWaYiuz1XI
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…263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYn40NNmN5j
“Do you know what time this happened? The tree and the, um, eggs?” I ask.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6kMoTNbZu
“Around eight thirty,” Savannah and Ember chorus.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9ktV9T030
“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.” 263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLc6Gvm8bMx
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.”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7GEckJ5wx
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.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4tk7m2j49
“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!”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLN6W4r7ZY
Savannah’s cheeks turn red as she says, “Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush.”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKA1i5egbUd
“Ugh,” Ember says, scrunching her nose.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffMi4Cgzn2
“So, Em. Ready to admit I’m right, hermanita?”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOocG2K0QZ4
I’m no Spanish expert, but it makes sense that this boy is Ember’s brother. Older, though? We’ll see, I suppose.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrKAGhqpkE
“Never, hermano mio.” She turns away from the boy.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDkgzi4Gkm
The boy nods at me. “Quién es ella?”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxwvIiWexp
“Um, me llamo Cordelia?” I try.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbAuAtswqb
The boy laughs. “I like her. Me llamo Liam.”
“So, what is all this about?” I ask, slipping comfortably back to English.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGP3sf8Nx3
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.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKIGTtlPbW
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.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUQYRtmdAH
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.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAezwV329IP
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.”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONmNmUlvhB
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?”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4n04wo09l
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’.”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZ5pxY84b7
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.”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5udjhgTwtk
All three of them stare at me, mouths hanging open. Finally, Ember speaks. “Ay, ay, ay, who knew she was such a dipshit?”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jUrpIRyTs
“Emmy!” Savannah snaps.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3fzjDfKYvP
“What?”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVWodSyUPA
“This is real, Cordelia,” Liam says, leaning against Ember’s desk.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7lAT3ER7E
I scoff. “Yeah, okay,” I say, standing. “Call me when you decide you want to be serious.”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fohDP4WpK
When I get to the door, Liam calls after me, “Call me when you decide you want to listen.”263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeS2w9EjeC
And I walk out the door, feeling like I’ve made a big mistake.263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhduP7GdEhE
and then Add to home screen.