So I Tried to Write a Next Generation Story

Chapter 8: Callista

"So, you're done with detention?" Callista asked Zoe.

"Well, Torrin and I are. Jaye pulled some crazy prank and got some more," Zoe added. "He wouldn't be Jaye without detention." She made a face. "Larrina's done with detention too."

"She hasn't actually been causing that much trouble for me. A few insults here and there and that's it," Callista said. "She's been doing the same thing to Jaye. Thanks for going all T-Rex queen on her whenever she's mean to me and Jaye."

"T-Rex queen?" Zoe asked.

"You literally roar at her, and if anyone's a queen, it's you," Callista said.

"Thanks." Zoe picked at her food. "Does Jaye prank you?"

"He used to, but I set all his pranking supplies on fire. He learned his lesson." Callista twisted a strand of fire around her fingers.

"Careful," Torrin said, edging away. Callista didn't know if he was afraid of fire, exactly, but he was definitely cautious. He might be afraid, though. Callista wasn't always the best judge of people's fears.

"Am I freaking you out?" Callista summoned another swirl of flame, drifting above the table.

"Stop!" Torrin shouted, jumping back and nearly knocking his pastry-covered plate to the floor.

"Sorry." Callista extinguished the new fire, though she kept the one weaving through her fingers. She didn't want to scare Torrin, but it looked really cool (ha ha), after all and what was the point of being a Pyrokinetic if you couldn't fidget with the elements?

Torrin took a deep breath and grabbed a ripplefluff from his plate, squeezing it so hard that gooey cake oozed out of his fist.

"Don't mutilate the innocent dessert," Callista complained.

Torrin flung the gunk at her.

Callista scraped caramel out of her dark hair. "You're lucky I'm not my cousin. She'd literally throw soup at you."

"How do you throw soup at someone? I mean, you can dump it on them, but that's not really throwing it. Soup isn't very aerodynamic," Zoe said.

"It's easy if you're a Hydrokinetic. River'll just control the water parts and bring all the everything else along with it," Callista explained.

"Isn't River twenty? So she's a grown-up?" Torrin remembered.

"Even adults understand that Jaye deserves a good soup dunking. In case you're wondering, I'm speaking from experience," Callista said.

"But there's no soup on the table. And no River," Torrin said. "Therefore I can't be soup dunked."

"You never know," Callista said, clawing the last bits of ripplefluff out of her hair. "This poor ripplefluff expected to be used the way delicious desserts are supposed to be used, but you used it as a weapon, Torrin. You monster!"

"I have no regrets," Torrin said.

"You deserve to be banished for being so evil," Zoe agreed.

"No! I need to stay in the Lost Cities so I can throw more desserts at Callista!" Torrin shouted, grabbing for another ripplefluff.

"Don't you dare," Callista said. She stood up.

"What are you doing?" Torrin asked.

"I'm going to get some soup."