The Elementals; Fire

Chapter 2

I hated waking up on a morning, it was torturous. I never managed to perfect the balance of my sleeping pattern, eight hours is too much, seven and a half hours is too little, I had no refreshing middle.  So waking up half an hour later than I was supposed to and rushing to get ready to make it to school on time was no different than any other day of my past seventeen years of life. I barely managed it, like always, and pulling into the school parking ground with five minutes to go was classed as me being early. I rushed through reception, only stopping once to look at my new timetable that had been emailed through to me.

My first period of the day was in a classroom at the other end of the school, which was typical luck of mine. Groaning, I started running, fully knowing I wasn't going to make it in time, but trying to anyway. Too focused on trying get to my first class, I didn't notice the petite figure I bumped into until it squeaked, followed by a big thump. I stopped still and took a deep breath to calm down the anger that sparked inside me at this person for getting in my way, most definitely making me late, and turned around. Looking down, I saw it was a girl, but what confused me the most was the faint green glaze that was all over her fallen form.  I quickly rubbed my eyes, and when I opened them again, the green was gone. Replaced by the glow was the look of awe and wonder that was on the girl, on the floors, face. I frowned at her staring. I hadn't seen her before, yet something about her seemed familiar, like I might have seen her around the town before.

"Are you alright?" The girl shook her head, like she was trying to bring herself back from her daze, but the wonder didn't leave her face. I also noticed that she grew uncomfortably excited.

"Yeah, I'm fine" She grabbed her fallen belongings and was up with a jump, startling me with how quick she was.

"I'm Talia" She stuck her hand out for me to shake, and I looked at it suspiciously, wondering why she was holding it out for me when no one in our generation shook hands anymore. Never the less, I gingerly took it and gave it a good, firm shake. I didn't want to seem weak.

"Well, it was certainly nice to meet you Talia, but I've got to go, I'm already late for my first class." I quickly turned to leave, only feeling a tiny bit guilty at the way I was abandoning this girl so quickly. My thoughts returned to the weird expression on her face when she looked at me in wonder and with over the top excitement, and I stood by my choice. That didn't stop her from trying to interact with me, though.

"Wait, I have no idea where I'm going, maybe you can help?" The spark of annoyance started to build up, but I managed to tame it. I had to remember that she was new and needed she needed help, I needed to calm down.

I turned around, mustering up the kindest smile that I could, whilst at the same time reaching out for her timetable.

"What've you got?" My hand brushed hers when I grabbed the piece of paper she was holding, and I noticed her flinch slightly, like something had shocked her. Choosing to ignore it, I quickly scanned her schedule, and was stuck between groaning and squealing in delight. It turns out Talia had the first same class at me. I wanted to groan because it meant I had to put up with her in my first period of every day, but I almost squealed because she was my excuse for being late today.

"You're in the same first class as me, come on, lets go" Her grin got wider, and I felt my own smile grow uncomfortable. Why was she looking at me like that? She swiftly put all the items in her bag, and waited for me to lead the way. Giving her one last look, I turned around and started striding in the right direction, completing my original course.

I heard a hum behind me, and it took everything I had not to turn around and give the person responsible a look to shut up. She was entitled to hum, it was a free country. I listened to the tune she was humming, and it was a sweet, low, gentle one. I realised I recognised it yet I  couldn't put my finger on what song it was, but whatever it was, it suddenly calmed me right down. She kept on humming until we met our destination, and I very almost didn't want to stop. This had been the most calm I'd been since these mood swings had started, and I wanted it to stay that way for a while longer. There was still a very thin line between this calmness and the fire that built up so quickly inside me, but it was better than feeling the rage all of the time.  Giving Talia another look, I gave her a small genuine smile, once again trying to ignore the wonder that was still on her face, before entering the classroom. As usual, all eyes were on us. Luckily, this wasn't a proper lesson, just registration, but that didn't mean we were off the hook. I searched the room for familiar faces, and was relieved when I saw my two best friends, Sally and Tamara. I began to sneak off to go sit with them, hoping I could take the consequences of being late at a later time, but of course things couldn't be that simple.

"Miss Fairs, do you really think you can sit down without an explanation on why you were late?" I groaned at the familiarity of the voice, before turning around.

"You know why I'm late, Mr Harrison" I looked him dead in the eyes, and he had the nerve to regard me with a smug look.

"Care to enlighten us then?" I very slowly looked between him and Talia, trying to judge on whether he was pulling my leg or not. He wasn't.

"Sir, the reason is right there. Standing, right there, in the doorframe." He only spared Talia a quick glance, before he  turned his attention back to me.

"That is that young ladies pass for being late, but that doesn't exclude you." The fire erupted inside me as soon as he finished his sentence, and I saw Talias gaze of wonder turn to worry. I didn't care, o just knew I had to get out of there before something drastic happened, like burning down the school. I gave Mr Harrison one last look before storming out, being mindful of not to touch the door handle. I didn't want my famous magic trick being shown to everybody in the classroom. I faintly heard the ring of the bell, an indication it was the end of registration, as soon as I stepped foot out the door, and it made me almost laugh. I hadn't even been registered in as being here, meaning my parents were going to get a call and informed. This only made my anger flare up more, and it made me realise I needed to get out of this public hallway.

Dodging through the now crowded hall, the other students didn't take it easy on me, they were all trying to scurry to their own first class of the year, not caring who they took down on their way. A couple of minutes later though, I'd made my way to the girls bathroom and shoved it open, not thinking of the consequences of if there were anybody behind it. Luckily, there wasn't. Stomping to each cubicle, I made sure no one was in them, before releasing a screech in favour of Mr Harrison. The screech didn't help, it just hurt my throat, which in turn made me even more angrier. Closing my eyes, I tried taking a deep breath, but the rage that had built up inside me didn't ease. I could feel my hands burning up and the anger quickly turned to fear, yet the change of emotion didn't stop the heat in my hands. The sound of the bathroom door opening made the panic set as high as it could go and that final surge was enough to make a small ball of fire erupt from each one of my fists, right at the wall that was besides the now open door.

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