The Fifth Element

Chapter 1

I had always known I was a little bit different from the others. Sure, I was and still am your seemingly-average, slightly clumsy, witty, and sarcastic girl, yet a month before I turned seventeen (which just so happened to be the day before my senior year started...oh joy...), I began a new life. Yeah, yeah, I know that sounds cheesy and all, but trust me, once you start scanning your eyes over these pages, you will be a part of my story, the story that starts when I, a blonde, violet eyed, five foot four, pale, seventeen year old girl will take my first few steps into an ordinary high school. And by ordinary, I mean completely unordinary of course.

My name is Sky. Skylar Rhodes. I can't quite understand why my name reminds me of a flying cinnamon roll, but it just does. I guess I didn't mention that I'm one of the randomest girls you'll ever meet. My best friend, Lex, is about as spontaneous as I am, but the fairy of hyperness must have waved her magic wand over Lex when she was born, because she always seems to be bouncing off the walls, whereas I'm pretty calm for the most part...emphasis on 'most'.

Anyway, I've always been 'the girl with the Elizabeth Taylor eyes' or 'the girl who could pick up the hottest jock in a heartbeat' (psh, as if!) at my old schools. I always blended in, but I knew that I wasn't like the other kids who joined environmental clubs or choir or sports teams or whatever after school activity strikes your fancy. The one dead give away? Let's just say I blew Jimmy Hastings away when he first saw me last year...literally. He walked up to me and I, being the ultimate charmer, tripped on a completely flat (not even newly waxed) floor. When poor, 'hot' football player Jimmy reached out to catch me, I stuck my arms out to balance myself and lo and behold, a wind suddenly sent him hurtling down the hallway and I had managed to regain my balance. A few students stared at me as if I was wearing a ski mask and wielding a chainsaw. Yep, you guessed it...they were horrified.

"Must be this hurricane weather," my best friend Lex came to my aid. "Someone left the double doors open." Sure, that sounded legit. But I didn't care, as long as it meant I wasn't the cause of this mess. I helped Jimmy up, introduced myself, went out with him for a month to let the drama die down, and everyone, even Lex, forgot about 'the incident'. Everyone but me. So here I am, at Lancaster Academy, trying to start a new life, far away from Jimmy and Lex and the beautiful state of Texas where I first learned to say ya'll and rode my horse to school and greeted all my neighbors with an enthusiastic 'howdy!'. I hope you realize I'm kidding about those last parts. No one does stuff like that in Texas.

So as I sauntered down the hallway today, feeling comfy and at ease in my plaid thermal shirt (sleeves rolled up), Levi's and Converse, you can imagine my surprise as I spotted none other than...

"Lex?" I inquired with doubt. But I didn't get a chance to speak another word because the tiny, barely five foot tall Alexandria Morales clamped a hand over my mouth and dragged me toward the girls' bathroom.

"How did you even get here?!" Lex demanded, not in her usual happy, upbeat tone.

"Lex, what the..." I began.

"Explain! Now!" she interrupted.

"My parents enrolled me in Lancaster Academy because Dad had to leave for an out of state job," I answered. "What's your deal? Besides, I should be asking you the same question. I thought you were still at Luther High."

Lex softened and let go of my arm, which now had red finger marks on it. You know, to complete the emo look. "I guess you really are who I thought you were."

"Huh?" I gaped.

Lex sighed. "Nevermind, you'll figure it out soon." Ugh, I hated that line. My best friend suddenly jumped into hyper mode. "C'mon, Sky, I'll go show you around! I brought mint chocolate Oreos."

I brightened. "As long as we don't have to eat them in the bathroom," I joked as she led me out of the restroom. Lex was curvy and short, no where near fat though at a mere 98 pounds. She always managed to drag me around everywhere as I was slender and airy, though not weak at all. What can I say? Best friends disobey the laws of physics all the time.

As I was led down th hallway, I accidentally bumped into a half-Asian boy with emerald eyes and silky black hair that hung over his eyes and just past the nape of his neck. What was that flicker of light in his hand? Was he a smoker?

"Uh, sorry," I apologized before catching up with Lex.

"He's hot!" Lex whispered a bit too loudly. I punched her arm and she stuck her tongue out at me. I returned the favor. After we quit the childish games, we finally reached first period, room 206, math.

"It's too early for math," I groaned. "I can barely figure out the numbers on my alarm clock in the morning."

"Me neither," Lex groaned.

"That's because you need contacts to see," I reminded her with a giggle. The two of us slid into the room in the middle row, and who would happen to be sitting in front of me? None other than Mr. Pyromaniac. I reached for my notebook that was stashed in my backpack and as I turned to face the front I noticed that the boy wasn't holding a lighter. There was a flame in his hand...actual fire.

"What kind of school is this?" I whispered to myself.