THE NEW GODS | developing

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

NOELLE sighed again for the umpteenth time as she stood before the full-length mirror.

She watched as the reflection of her deep wood brown eyes stared back at her, hints of displeasure glimmering in them like stars in the night sky.

The tips of her pointed fingers were engulfed in flames.

Again.

For the third time this week.

She couldn't help but notice the creases in her forehead and the tightening of her full lips.

Her powers were out of control again, she realised with a frown, turning to her roommate to see if she could somehow alleviate some of the blame onto Tara instead to ease her conscience.

Tara was the one with the flame powers, anyway.

Noelle's only sin was accidentally touching her without putting her gloves on first.

These were just some of the pitfalls of her mimicking abilities.

Sometimes they just worked too well and she was saddled with an  overwhelming amount of power she knew nothing about.

It was an ongoing battle.

"This is all your fault," She groaned, widening her eyes at her Tara, who was fixing her black school blazer onto her thin frame.

When she was done, she turned to Noelle, a knowing glint burning through her dark hooded eyes.

"You're the one who bumped into me." She sighed in response. "You should have been more careful," trotting towards the mirror.

She stood besides Noelle, brushing imaginary dust off of her shoulders and fixing a checkered black tie attached to her clean white shirt. "We have class in ten minutes, you should put that out."

Noelle sighed, flailing her arms languidly and with faux enthusiasm in the wind in an attempt to lessen the fire.

Only, it made it greater, and the flames began to touch the wrist of her blazer.

It only just reached her forearm when sounds of a fire extinguisher and echoed throughout the room, while both girls became engulfed in white foam, leaving both Noelle and Tara coughing and wheezing in discomfort.

With a swift turn, the two of them faced off against another girl stood in the most dramatic way possible, a pale faced, frizzy-haired Sasha, the last of the trio.

Unlike Noelle, who had darker skin, Sasha was ivory, the shade of the sculptures in the ancient greek museums she would occasionally frequent.

"What the ever-loving fuck is taking so long, ladies?" She groaned, pacing around the room like she owned the place.

Tara and Noelle watched as her wild hair fell over her face.

She sighed, blowing it away and tucking the ends behind her ears.

Noelle and Tara exchanged a knowing glance, pointing towards the jar filled to the brim with crumpled up five dollar bills sat at the windowsill, near the open window puffing in a gust of wind.

"Swear jar." They retorted simultaneously, earning a jarred sigh from Sasha, who had completely forgotten the pact they'd made at the beginning of the year to have her foul mouth monitored.

She pulled out a nifty five dollar bill, and with all the strength in the world, stuffed it into the jar.

"You know what? Just for that, you bitches can walk to homeroom." She said before disappearing from the room in the blink of an eye, leaving the two roommates to hurry to class on their own.

Usually she'd use her teleportion to get them all into class before the bell rang, but giving away that sweet, crisp five dollar bill had awakened in her a new level of anger. "That bitch." Noelle sighed, glancing down at her watch.

They only had thirty seconds to get to class.

Noelle shrugged on her trusty black leather gloves and took holf of Tara's hand, leading her out of Barden West, where the female dormitories were located and into the warm autumn breeze that was spreading on the outside.

There were a couple of other people trudging on to their select classrooms, making their way over to the stone staircase leading into Bluebird Academy, where all the learning was done.

Tara splayed her arms over her body in an attempt to shield herself from the turbulent winds. The thing about her pyrokinesis was that she was never meant to be cold, so once she felt even the slightest of cool breezes her body would set itself alight in an attempt to stay warm.

She both loathed and admired it.

Loathed the way it would set her entire body ablaze and her clothes would catch fire, and she'd have to write her parents again for the umpteenth time with pleas for money to buy a new uniform. It was a tedious routine, really. One she'd hoped she'd never have to take part in again. It was tougher in the winter, but she'd cross that bridge once she got there.

But she admired it, still. She loved the way that even in the coldest of winters, that no mater what storm was thrown her way, she'd always be warm. That if she didn't have anybody, at least she had herself, her own warmth, her own comfort. And she wouldn't trade that in for the world.

Catching fire was the last of Noelle's concern, instead her brain was running rampant with possible questions they could ask in her chemistry class, third period. She'd been the top achiever academically three years running, and she wasn't about to let some stupid quiz she'd fallen asleep amidst studying for ruin all of her hard work.

The effects of Tara's powers from earlier had finally worn off now, and she brushed her dark hair aside as the wind tried to sweep it away, cursing under her breath at the prospect of all her hard work this morning being ruined by just a little autumn wind.

"I don't think we're gonna make it in time–" but before she could finish her sentence, Noelle felt herself ram into something hard.

She ambled back a few steps and felt stars rise above her head in a silly way, like they did in cartoons. The room began to spin as she crashed into the ground.

The minimal crowd around her erupted into laughter as she attempted to steady herself.

She huffed under her breath, feeling her temper rise ever so slightly as she gazed up at the person responsible for her demise, and where the heck was Tara?

"Watch where you're going." The dulcet tones of a taut voice echoed throughout the hallways, effectively silencing all the laughter that once reverberated throughout them and turning them into cold, hard tension.

There was only one person in the entire school who could turn the mood from comical to strained in a matter of seconds...

Looking into his eyes felt like looking into a black hole, they were dark and devoid of emotion, so far detached from anything and everything she found herself wondering if he even felt anything at all.

He brushed his unkempt mass of curly brown hair aside as he frown at her, jaw clenching in annoyance.

It was Seth Grayson.