Elements

Chapter 9

The bell rang to dismiss Anita and I from our last class of the day, Monsters and Mayhem. This was my favorite class other than gym. I loved to hear about the strafe creatures and how to track them, as well as strategies used by past villains. At the same time though, I was glad classes were over for the day.

"So what do you want to do first? I was thinking we could check out the art room." Anita said as we left the room. I smiled remembering the smudge of paint on her cheek the day before. Had that really been only yesterday? My thoughts were interrupted when I suddenly went sprawling on to the ground.

"Maybe you need a class on how to walk like a normal person, freak." Said a sneering May.

"Yeah! People walk with their feet these days!" Her minion Harper jeered. Stone faced, I stood up and walked away. Once May and Harper were out of ear shot, I explained where I was supposed to go for the first two hours of free time. We agreed to meet outside the music room after I was done; Anita would use the art room while I was gone.

I arrived at the fenced off area and unlocked the gate with the key from gym. I walked through the tall fences and into a large building, barely hidden by the fences. Standing in the doorway was Coach Clair and...

Ms. Wren. Why was she here?

I stopped in front of them, waiting for instructions, when Coach said, "Ella, this is Ms. Wren. I believe you two have met. She will be training you here every day but on weekends, so you can have a little break,"

"I'm sorry, but I was under the impression that you would be training me." I said to Coach Clair.

She shook her head saying, "Sorry Ella, but I have to watch the sweat buckets practicing in the gym. In fact I should be there now. Ms. Wren, can you take her from here?" This was met by a curt nod from said Vice Principal. Coach Clair took this as her cue to leave the room.

"Alright Ella. By any chance did Clair explain my plan for training the individual elements? No? All right then. Each day we will focus the two hour period on a single element. Each day, we will practice with a new element, excluding life, until we've gone through them all. Then the cycle repeats. Got it?" I nodded. She turned to lead me further in to the building. "So Ella, what element shall we begin with, hmm?"

I paused to think for a moment, then said, "Ice,". She smiled at this as if remembering something. A memory of me?

"Very well then. Build me a snow man. Wow me.". So I did. I cupped my hands together and used my powers to make a snowball. Then, slowly, I brought my hands apart so that it became bigger and bigger. When I thought it was a good size. I flung it across the room, where it held its shape.

From there I repeated the process two more times, with progressively smaller snowballs. Once I had stacked the three together, I turned back to Ms. Wren.

"That's it? No face, no hat, nothing? I thought you were better than that Ella!" I saw in her eyes a glimmer of the girl I had been before I lost my memory: creative and somewhat rebellious. So I tried to do why the old me would have done, and made it five times bigger, so that the head brushed the roof. Then I added a carrot nose and coal buttons and eyes. Then I had an idea. Could I do that with my powers?

I channeled the life element in me and slowly I felt flickers of life like a candle flame in the snowman. He turned to look at me, then Ms. Wren. Then His coal mouth formed a smile.

"Much better. Now I notice that you point your hands to direct your powers. I want to help you be able to use your powers throughout your entire body. So now, you will build this snowman a friend- using your feet." The lesson continued on that way, me performing tasks using the Ice element, first with my hands, then whatever body part she decided to have me use next.

Time flew and I was surprised when she said,"Alright Ella. I will see you tomorrow," and turned to the door.

"Ms. Wren!" I called after her. She turned to hear me say,"Thank Mr. Estel for looking out for me." She laughed at this, a cold, humorless laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Mr. Estel was ready to ignore your need for a tutor. He did, in fact. You're lucky I overheard your conversation with him. He is a man who only cares about his income, not his students." Her voice was sharp. She then turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Thank you, then" I whispered to the empty room.