The Nation Charmer-Book 1

Chapter 1

This is the start of The Elemental Chronicles! :D I hope you guys like it! :D This book won second place in the Watty Awards 2012. Please vote and comment for it! :D Picture of Dahlia McLean on the side. ;) 

Chapter 1

                Dahlia McLean pushed hard against the oncoming crowd. The heat of all the people going in the opposite direction was pressing down on her. The heat of all the people was almost as bad as Egypt had been; she had gone with her father there last summer. The entire school was going to Camp Forrest for the last field trip of the entire year.

                She slammed sideways into the wall as someone jostled her bulging backpack from behind. Turning to scowl at the person, she realized that she would need a miracle to even catch a glimpse of the guilty person. Annoyed, she turned back and trudged to the packed staircase.

                She pushed her way through the heavy crowd. Her fellow school mates shoved hard to go in the opposite direction. Every single pupil who learned at Towerhall Academy was going on the field trip to Camp Forrest. The grounds of the camping ground were large enough to accommodate more than three schools at one time.

                Dahlia swung her tote bag off her shoulder. Massaging her aching shoulder and collar bone, she lugged her bag down the stairs. Bump! Bump! She lost her balance as another girl pushed roughly past her, her arms filled with notebook paper that was flying in every direction.

                Dahlia gripped the banister tightly with one hand as she struggled to regain her balance. Someone shoved her roughly from behind and she lost her balance completely. In order for her to save herself from falling down the staircase, she dropped her tote bag. It fell with a heavy thump on her science teacher’s toe. Dr. Fang glowered at her.

               “Watch where you’re going, young lady!” he bellowed.

               Dahlia flinched away from his angry glare. She and her three friends Troy, Helen and Olive all got on Dr. Fang’s nerves more than the rest of the pupils in the entire school put together. Dahlia swallowed hard. She always apologized to Dr. Fang whereas Troy would retort and earn himself a detention for being unbearably rude and impolite.

               “I’m sorry,” Dahlia tried to apologize but Dr. Fang had already scooped up her bag, thrust it at her and disappeared up the winding staircase.

               Dahlia struggled to clasp her fingers around the cloth handle of her bag. It weighed simply too much and she didn’t think that she could survive much longer. She managed to heave the enormous bulging tote bag back onto her shoulder before she was able to continue down the staircase.

               Some of the kids had sniggered when Dahlia had gotten scolded by Dr. Fang but most of them had let the matter drop. Finally, Dahlia reached the ground level of the school building and she glanced around. Most students were struggling in or out of the giant oak doors, laden down with tote bags, suitcases and backpacks. The gigantic school buses were waiting outside while teachers did their best to shove luggage into the compartments beneath the buses.