The Elementals [Watty Awards 2012 Action Winner]

Chapter 1

I parked my car and grabbed my purse before I walked inside to find my dorm so I knew where I was going before I started to unload. The whole campus was buzzing with students moving in and I was surprised at how normal they all looked. I didn’t know what I expected exactly. It’s not like I thought people would be throwing balls of water or fire and shifting the ground but I guess the normality of everything surprised me.

I breathed in the fresh air as I walked to the administration. The chatter and laughter of the students around me made me feel more and more excited. The lady at the administration sorted through a list of dorms and stuck a small piece of paper in my hand and a set of keys. I quickly glanced at the white sheet of paper and found out my room was number 427.

My eyebrows quirked at the number scribbled down. How many rooms were there in this place exactly? I walked back to my car to grab some of my luggage. I had packed my whole life into several boxes and bags so I knew I would be making more than one trip to empty out my car.

I made my way to the elevators and pressed the fourth floor, I was struggling to carry my purse and three other bags slung over my shoulders as well as a huge box I could barely see over and I quickly realised my mistake of grabbing too much luggage. The elevator dinged and I walked out turning the corner only to bump against a wall.

I bounced back and the weight of my bags and the box were too much to balance and I ended up falling to the ground dropping everything on top of me with a muffled ‘oomph’.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” I hear a deep voice growl. I looked up and saw that the wall I bounced was, in fact, a gorgeous guy. He was easily the most handsome guy I’d come across, with his raven black hair and olive skin. What entranced me though were his golden eyes, almost like melted gold, with flecks of onyx in them. Even from sitting on the ground I could tell he was well over six foot and the aura that surrounded him screamed ‘mysterious’.

The only thing that ruined him was his attitude. I stood up brushing off non-existent dust from my legs and denim shorts before staring him straight in the eye.

“No, I think you should watch where you’re going. I was walking with a stack of bags and a box nearly half the size of me! As if you didn’t see me!” I growled back. I mean, he may be God’s gift to women but I hated being spoken down to as if he was king of the university.

However, by the time I finished talking he was already walking away and I was stuck gazing at the muscles rippling under his white t-shirt. “Hey, are you ok?” I hear another male voice ask.

I turned around and saw another handsome guy with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes looking at me with concern. Unlike the mysterious jerk, I immediately felt at ease around this guy.

“Yeah, I’m all good” I replied nonchalantly.

“Good” he smiled, “I saw you and Derrek bump into each other and him walk off.”

I rolled my eyes, great I didn’t think anyone saw that...

“Mmm... yeah.” I said. There really wasn’t much else to say to that.

“Need some help?” he asked, but didn’t wait for a reply from me before bending down to lift all my bags and the box while handing me my purse. “What room are you in?”

“Uhh, room 427” He nodded and continued walking down the corridor I was walking down. Well at least I was going the right way. “My name’s Valerie, but you can call Val” I said turning to offer him a grateful smile.

“Oh sorry, I always forget to introduce myself to new people. It’s nice to meet you Val, the name’s Max” he grinned. I laughed and we continued walking while dodging the other students who crowded the hallway. It was much easier for me squeeze through the crowds of moving students now that Max was bulldozing his way through them using my luggage to pry the crowd apart.

“So Max, you said earlier that I bumped into Derrek. How do you know him?” I asked curiously.

“Well he and I were on the same football team in high school and now we’re room-mates, speaking of which... this is my room so if you ever need anything, I’m your guy” Max told me nodding his head at room 420.

“Cool, thanks.” There was even less of a chance I’d go to his room now that I knew this Derrek character was sharing a room with him. Prick.

“Here we are, room 427. Got your key Val?” Max asked.

I took the key from my pocket and unlocked the door opening it wide enough for Max to walk through. I followed after him and my eyes widened at the dorm. It was much more than I expected, it was huge. It was all open planned and had a little lounge area with a couch, coffee table and TV, as well as a kitchen area that was separated by a counter. On the other side of the lounge there was a balcony and to my left was a closed door which I assumed was the bedroom.

What stood out from everything, however, were the many plants that inhabited the room. My eyes grazed over the different coloured flowers that seemed to grow almost everywhere and little green house plants that sat upon tables or shelves. There were also vines that crept up the frames of the doors that instantly softened the modern look of the room to a softer , more natural one. I stifled a laugh when I saw there was, what looked like, a real tree growing in the corner of the room.  

The tree’s thick trunk wedged its way up the corner and once it reached the ceiling the branches spread out dangling its beautiful green leaves from the ceiling. “Uh... please tell me your room is like this as well...” I asked Max just staring the tree.

“Um, nope sorry. Your room sure has... character?” he answered scratching his head in confusion.

Just then the bedroom door opened and a short girl appeared with a huge smile painted on her face.

“Hi! You must be Valerie, I’m Helena your new roommate” she greeted me in her warm voice before wrapping me in a hug. “Oh is this your boyfriend?” she asked looking at Max whose cheeks flushed red.

“Oh no, no, no we just met in the corridor. He’s helping me with my things.” I explained.

“Oh okay, well I’m all finished unpacking so if you have more things I can help you out too” she volunteered.

“Sure thanks!”

I immediately loved Helena. She seemed to have this personality that just sucked you in and automatically made you believe you’d been friends since before time began. She was very short and petite with long wavy brown hair with sun kissed blonde streaks. Her skin had a Mediterranean skin tone and had kind brown eyes.

As Max and Helena helped me bring all my boxes up from my car I asked Helena why our room was like a forest when the other rooms clearly weren’t.

“Oh don’t you just love it? I’m Earth-abled so I can influence the earth and all plant life.” She explained. Well, that totally explained everything! “What are you?” she asked cocking her head to the side with a smile.

“I’m Water –abled, so looks like we’ll get along just peachy” I grinned back at her. Her smile grew and agreed with me.

“Hey you’re Water-abled? So am I!” Max cried happily. I hi-fived him and we continued unpacking my belongings.

 I’m loving it here already!

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A/N

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Nix <3