Five

Chapter I

I splashed cool water on my face. Looking in the mirror, I saw that my face was as red as a tomato. That last vision was not kind to me. But this time I actually paid attention to it.
     I leaned over the sink and panted. My mouth was really dry. Trying to quench my thirst, I turned on the water and stuck my head under the faucet. I gulped cool water and stayed there for about 5 minutes.
The water felt amazing running down my throat. I looked up again, seeing my reflection, once more, in the mirror. My white hair was in tangles and looked like a mess. It really complimented my stark, grey eyes. My hair used to be red. But one experiment with my powers later, it bleached to a shining white.
I kinda missed my red hair. It used to reach down past my waist but since then it now only reaches down to the middle of my back.
A loud ringing came from inside my bedroom and I ran in to find my alarm clock going crazy. It would have been time to get up if I hadn't gotten up earlier because of the head splitting pain that always comes before a vision.
Groaning, I hit the top of the clock, silencing it's piercing noise. I didn't want to go to school, but my mom would have my head on a stake if I didn't. I'd already skipped too many days. I trudged back into the bathroom and brushed my teeth and did my hair like I usually do: a ponytail at the top of my head.
     I slid the closet door open and pulled out my favorite sweater. It was a blue sweater that read "Not All Wizards Have Wands". It had soft inner lining and long sleeves. Next, I zipped on a pair of jeans and my favorite pair of high-top Converse, then rushed downstairs so I wasn't late for breakfast.
     When I got downstairs, my mom had already went to work and left some pancakes on a plate for me. I doused the pancakes with peanut butter and syrup. My favorite. I quickly ate and headed out the door.
     It was kinda cloudy out this morning and looked like it might rain later. Oh well. I liked the rain.
     The sidewalks were cracked and weeds were poking out of the concrete every which way. I looked down at my feet as I walked to the bus stop.
     The bus pulled up right as I reached the stop and I climbed the steps. A few rows from the back, I saw my friend, Luna, with her earbuds in, slightly bobbing her head to whatever song was on. I walked back and plopped down in the seat next to her.
     "Hey, Lu."
     She took one earbud out, "Hey, what's up? You don't look so good."
     "I had another episode this morning."
     "What? Did you take your medication?"
     "Yes. But that doesn't always prevent it from happening. It just prolongs the inevitable," I sighed and looked down at my shoes.
     "Did you tell your mom," she asked.
     "No. She had already left and besides, she's got enough on her plate without having to deal with her epileptic daughter."
     Luna looked at my neck in a funny way, "I see you're not wearing your medical necklace."
     "There's no point. Everyone already knows about it. Remember, they even made everyone take a class on how to "help" me if I do have an episode in front of them. Embarrassing."
     "Ok then."
     We bumped along the road until we reached the school and clambered out of the bus.
     Luna and I headed straight for homeroom. When we got there, there was a boy who I'd never seen talking to Mr. Bowman. I couldn't really see his face but I would see it soon enough.
     I took my seat with Luna behind me. She liked to sit behind me so she could keep an eye on me. Just in case. After a few minutes of talking, Mr. Bowman walked to the front of the classroom with the boy and introduced him, "Good morning everybody! We have a new student joining us today! Everyone, this is Ever Caronwell. He just transferred. Let's all give a nice big welcome to Ever!"
The classroom became filled with silence. No one spoke. So finally, I did, "Hello, Ever!"
Everyone stared at me. But with all the staring, this caused everyone else to speak up and there was some slight murmurs of greeting. Ever avoided eye contact with anyone and looked down at his feet.
"Well, Ever. You can take that empty seat right back there behind Luna," Mr. Bowman exclaimed. Ever started to shuffle to the back row. As he passed me I finally saw his face.
He had an angular face with pale skin. His eyes were a piercing green and he had jet black hair that was cut into neat waves. He was a cutie. The rest of him was hard to make out. His clothes consisted of a loose leather jacket and non form fitting jeans.
When he reached the empty desk, he silently slid into the chair and sank down, like he didn't want to draw attention to himself.
"Now that introductions have been made, I expect you all to make Ever feel welcome here," Mr. Bowman then continued on talking about the activities and announcements for the day. I tuned it all out. It was just the same stuff as the day before; sports practice, games, lunch, and class schedule for the day.
After he was finished, Mr. Bowman walked back and sat down at his desk. As soon as he did, the classroom exploded with chatter.
I turned back and looked at Luna, who then proceeded to look back at Ever, which then made me look at Ever. He spoke, "what are you looking at?"
Luna replied, "Just thought I might welcome you to Petrova's Elemental Institute," Ever stared at her, "Ok. Not very chatty are we? My name is Luna Valuma and this is my friend, Rhosanna. Where did you transfer from?"
Ever stared at her for an uncomfortable period of time before speaking, "I transferred from Sakova's. Not really happy about it."
     "Yeah. We can tell," I scoffed.
     Ever just rolled his eyes. Luna quickly jumped in to save the tension between us, "So... Who do you have next?"
     "Pattman. For Elemental History."
     Luna beamed, "Me too! I'll show you the way. Rho has free period next, lucky her."
     "Thanks for telling my life story," I exclaimed.
     "Why do you get free period and we don't," Ever asked.
     Luna cut in, "Because she's epileptic and needs daily medication."
     "Luna! Oh my gosh! Might as well tell the whole world!"
     "Sorry! I just thought he might need to know! You're not wearing your necklace after all."
     "He's not the only person in this school!"
     Ever spoke up, "Um. Do I need to make an exit here? I'm totally cool with that."
     Just then the bell rang and Luna jumped out of her seat, "This is the perfect time to make an exit. Come on. I'll show you to our next class," She took Ever by the arm and led him out.
     I slowly rose from my chair and headed to the nurse's station. I had a free hour everyday to take medication. It always made me nauseous so I took it and then slept for the rest of the hour. I was usually fine afterwards.
     The nurse was waiting for me when I got to the room. I took the small blue pill from her hand and a glass of water. I swallowed the pill and took my usual place on the cot across the room. The nurse and I were good friends. I did see her everyday. She was going through a divorce with her husband and her kid's sixth birthday was coming up.
     I laid my head down on the pillow and stared at the ceiling. After about five minutes, I started to feel drowsy. I allowed myself to fall into a deep sleep and for the world to disappear. If only for a little while.
* * *
The nurse woke me up about five minutes before the bell rang to go to third hour. I stood up from the cot and walked over to a mirror that was hanging on a wall nearby. I had some wisps of hair but overall it looked fine. My eyes were a little red though. I gathered up my bag and waited at the door.
The nurse spoke to me and asked the usual questions, "How do you feel?"
"Fine," I replied.
"Did you sleep okay?"
"Yeah. Better than last night."
She looked concerned, "Nightmare again?"
"Yeah," I stared down at my shoes. I waited for the bell to ring. It felt like ages before the bell finally did ring and quickly found Luna with Ever walking down the hallway. I caught up with them and continued walking with them.
     Luna spoke up, "Ever has the next class with us too! He only has one class without us! Well, two without you."
     "Great," I muttered under my breath.
                            *     *     *
     The rest of the day was normal. After school ended I hopped on the bus with Luna and headed back home. I was thinking about what makes Luna so likeable. Maybe her looks?
     Luna's full name was Luna Marie Valuma. I called her Lu. Luna had short black hair cut into a bob. She was fairly tan and she had big, green eyes. We were both the same age, 16, and Juniors. Luna was  shorter than me though. She just barely reached five foot this last year. I was five foot three. Not tall but not short.
     I had just decided that it was Luna's personality that people liked when the bus pulled in front of my stop, "See you tomorrow, Lu."
     "See you."
     I clambered down the steps of the bus and walked back to my house. When I got there, I saw a car parked in front of my house along with my mother's car. I started walking a little faster, curious to see who it was. I reached the door and threw it open. Standing in the living room, I saw the smiling face that was my father.
     I ran up and jumped in his arms, "Daddy!"
     "Hey there."
     All of a sudden, I started bawling into his military uniform. My father joined the military when I was almost three and he would be gone for long periods of time but this was the longest. I hadn't seen him in four years. I missed him so much. Through my sobs I managed to choke out some words, "I missed you so much, Daddy! You are not allowed to leave ever again.".
     My father broke the embrace and looked at me, running his thumb over my cheek. He stared at me for a little while before speaking, "You're so grown up. Sit down. Let's catch up."
     We both took seats on the sofa and I started to recap the last four years for him.
     We talked for hours before he finally sent me to bed. When I got to my room, I picked my phone and texted Luna immediately.
OMG GUESS WHAT!!!!
     What?
     MY DADS HOME!!!!
     WHAT!?!? NO WAY!!!!
     I came home and he was just standing in the living room.
     That's amazing! Did you guys catch up at all?
     Yea. I just came to my bedroom...I'm so excited!!!!!! AAAH!!!!
     IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!
     He told me to go to bed so I'll ttyl
     Ok night!
     Night!
     I turned off my phone and set it on the side table. I laid down and stared at the ceiling with a big grin on my face. After a while, I felt sleepy and I fell asleep with happy thoughts and the biggest smile on my face.