Elementary

Chapter six

Suddenly, my ears begin to burn, my face feels flushed, and I start getting hot flashes. I have absolutely no interest in fire. Fire? My eyes are drying up, and I suddenly feel fatigued, like I need to sit down, and calm my stomach so that I don't throw up. I start to get homesick for the first time since being here. I could go home, lay down on a mattress that doesn't smell like sweat, have clean clothes, and brush my teeth with toothpaste. Mom's probably wondering where I am right now. She could have called the police, and they're searching for me right now. But here? I don't belong here. No one belongs in a place where they aren't appreciated for who they are. I am a water elementeer, if anything.  Water.

I stare at the woman, motionless. I wait for her to say "Just kidding! I'm messing with you." But she doesn't. Instead, she just gives me an insincere, proper smile.

"Dear, you can sit down now." She says, nudging me back, but I step back to where I was standing before.

"I want to go home." 

She stares at me, her smile unmoved.

"Take me home." I exclaim.

"Go ahead and sit down, dear. We have to end our class with the verse." She tilts her head slightly, smiling larger than before. I look at Meliza, making a face as though she's going to laugh at me, and then I look at the bowl of water, still projecting the image of flames. Underneath it, it says "99% match" in rippling letters. I look at the woman in the eyes, turn around, and then sprint outside. I run down the hill in search of Calmante. Every time I breathe in, my lungs push the air out before I can relax. My chest is hard, and I feel moisture develop in my eyes, blurring my vision. Then I realize: Why am I so sad? I didn't get what I wanted. So what?

I stop running for a moment at the bottom of the hill, at the line between grass and dirt. My heart pounding, I imagine the face of dad. His goofy smile, his brown, sandy hair, his green eyes, always glistening when we were at the beach. I feel lightness in my stomach when I think about it, and a lump rising in my throat. Then it hits me.

Dad loved the beach, and swimming...

Before I can keep thinking about it, a hand pulls me around, and I see Hunter. 

"Hey, are you okay?" He asks. Wiping my eyes as fast as I can, I panic.

"Sorry, the wind made me teary when I was running." There's no wind. He looks suspicious.

"Oh. I hate it when that happens."

"Yeah." I instantly answer.

"Hey, Meliza was supposed to help you out with controlling your Potentia, but I can tell you might not want it to be her, so I came instead."

"Thank you." I respond way too loud. And the Oscar goes to... wait a second. Potentia? Isn't that the word he used for-

"Yup, Meliza can come off a bit condescending sometimes, but I promise you, she means w-"

"I have powers?" I blurt out.

"Yup. I can show you how to use them." Suddenly, this place doesn't seem so bad.

"Go for it." I say.

"We should go somewhere away from people... "

"Like on the hill?" I point east from the school building- the same hill, just the part of it that's empty.

"That works. I was just worried about how fire is kind of dangerous." He says. I breath in.

"Is it possible to change your element?" I ask.

"Sorry, London. Your body wouldn't be able to sustain the wrong Potentia. Let's go." We start walking up the hill again, and this time, go past the school building. I should have known that school is the worst thing for me. I should have known that something bad would happen there. 

Soon enough, we're at the other end of the hill. 

"Okay. So, what works for me, is I imagine my passion for the Earth, and then I aim it at what I want to do."

"So I imagine my lack of passion for fire?" I say, a little bit sarcastic. I regret it immediately after, because he stares in another direction. I see the concern on his face. 

But he doesn't understand. He loves earth. It's easy for him. But me? I have showed no interest in fire my entire life. I have no passion for what I am. Hunter jumbles over some words before he starts talking.

"Do you have any good experiences with fire?" He asks.

"No, not really." I answer.

We end up going back down right before the sun sets, and I go back into my tent and hesitantly lay down, trying not to breathe in through my nose. I try to get my mind off of it by thinking of something else interesting that happened recently. The school did have a soccer game that I went to. I remember that Jane Lee kicked the ball into the goal when she was on the ground.  After I saw it, I looked to my right to share "awe" looks with my friends, but when I looked they were gone. I eventually saw them sitting around the basketball court from far away, laughing. I went over, and asked what they were doing casually, and they said that Isabelle had an emergency with her family, so they had to comfort her when she was on the call. I remembered seeing that Isabelle was the one laughing the most, and she had left her phone at home. I texted Mom and left early, and she came right away. I cried on her shoulder, and she didn't say anything. We just sat there for half an hour, her putting her hand through my hair, until we went home, and she made me tea, and we watched a movie. 

Mom is the only person who loves me.