pieces of the earth

I meet the girl with red hair

-Klaus-

Boy, am I happy to be home!

The Academy (that's what students call our school since The Academy of Natural Forces is a bit long) is the best thing to happen to me since... well no, it's the best thing to happen to me. Ever.

Now I don't wanna start on some long sob backstory, but I haven't exactly had a fun life. I was born in South Carolina, on Edisto Island. My mom's family ran a fishing business, and when my parents got married, my dad got roped in. I grew up with my older brother, constantly at the beach, on a boat fishing, or biking around the island. What a life.

The island is mostly for tourists, so there are a lot of resorts and beach houses. That also means that it's pretty empty in the winter, and business was down. My dad hated it. He was always trying to get my mom to move to New York and get jobs there, but she refused to leave the family business.

Turns out, she didn't have to. My dad finally gave up and left us when I was 10. To be completely honest, this really didn't bother me or my brother that much. I think we all saw it coming. My mom tried to make the business work but ended up selling it a year later. I know it broke her heart, but she hid her pain and decided to move off the island.

To Texas.

Don't ask me why, because I couldn't tell you. But she seemed to think Dallas was the place to be. My brother got lucky and left for college a few months later. The 3 years in Texas were pretty brutal. My mom shuffled through boyfriends constantly, all of them being complete assholes. Almost all of them were rude to her, and when I stuck up for her, they were rude to me too. She never stuck up for me.

But it's cool. Eventually, I got the letter that invited me to the Academy and I got to leave Dallas, Texas for good. Well, except for the summers, but I'll take it. Do I still worry about my mom? Of course. But she won't listen to anything I say. So I will let her handle her messed-up love life herself.

Anyway, back to what I was saying. I tend to get a little off track when telling stories, I think it's because of my ADHD and also nobody can resist a backstory...

I'm doing it again. Ok, so the first day of my second year. Not second grade, it would technically be my sophomore year at a regular high school, but the Academy just counts the years as academy years only. I woke up in my dorm to the alarm I set on my phone for 8 in the morning. AKA- way too early. I hadn't woken up at 8 since the last day of my first year. Nevertheless, I was just happy to be back. I rolled out of my bed in a tangle of covers and slammed my knee into the floor.

"Ow," I mumbled. I untangled myself and threw the blanket back onto my bed.

I opened my closet to a vast collection of Hawaiian style button-ups. My love for them began during my island adolescence, but when I found out that I had water powers, it kinda just became my brand. I put on a blue one with tropical flowers, khaki shorts, and blue high-top converse. I check myself in the mirror. My light brown hair is messy, but I comb it back quickly and it looks good enough.

I walk out of my dorm and across the big lawn between the girl's and guy's dorms. The lawn had a fountain right in the middle that I would occasionally show off with. I can control pretty much any water that's near me, which is fun, but not very useful. Everyone says I have one of the most powerful abilities. I'll agree when I do something useful other than getting people water at football games.

When I get to the cafeteria, I wait in line for Clarisse, our lunch lady, to make everyone's food. Clarisse has the abilities of the spirit of food. Sometimes I wish I got that instead of water. Now, she can't actually produce food out of thin air, but if she has the right ingredients, she can make a meal in seconds.