~Emma's Point of View~

I was startled awake as a pillow was thrust towards my head.

"Get up, Princess. Don't wanna be late on your first day," said Ava as she left the dorm room.

I shot out of bed like a ninja and checked the clock. Seven A.M. That means only one hour until first period starts!

Running to the shower, I took a quick one. Merick and Riley seemed to have forgotten to bring my shampoo and conditioner when they were stealing my stuff, so I used Trinity's. It smelled of ocean and cotton. I hustled to dry my hair and brush my teeth.

A feeling of excitement ran through me. I get to wear the uniform now, just like everyone else! Slipping it on, I was so glad it wasn't a hassle to figure out.

I admired myself in the mirror. It was so pretty! Should I wear any makeup? Yes. Scanning the room, I saw dark makeup scattered on Ava's desk. Too goth.

Trinity had some too. Light, soft colors. That will do. I only put on very light mascara, eye shadow and blush.

On my desk was two stacks of texts books. I remembered seeing Trinity carying a lot of them and Ava putting hers away before lunch. Ok, I'll only take the ones for the first four periods, which must have been the stack to the left. River had given me back my schedule, so I pulled it out of my pocket. I had no idea where all the classes were! Panic seeped through me.

Suddenly, I heard a soft knocking at my door. I went to open it.

A very sleepy looking River stood there. I haven't seen him in the school uniform, so he looked a little weird.

"Your taxi is here," he mumbled then yawned. I smiled at him. Grabbing my books, I ran to his side.

"Alright, so your first class is Elemental History. Now remember, that teacher is freaking crazy, so don't get on her bad side. Try to keep your mouth shut too. She hates kids with opinions," mentioned River.

I was shocked to see us stop at the classroom already. Man, that was fast! I looked at River with worried eyes.

"Relax and try to listen to her. I know it's all new material but don't worry, you'll get it soon enough. I'll be back here to take you to the next class. Good luck,"

River turned on his heels and jogged to his class. I sighed and carefully opened the door. I was one of the first kids there. I just stared like an idiot around the room. I was surprised though because all the kids had different appearances; different ethnicities of all around.

It was dark since the blinds were shut so no sun light came through. The room was also cold. I shivered.

"You can sit anywhere," mumbled a voice. I turned to a boy sitting in the back in the corner. He had light green eyes and curly brown hair.

"Thanks," I awkwardly mumbled back. I sat to his right, hoping he wouldn't mind. He kept looking at me with dull fascination.

The rest of the students poured into the classroom, chattering and laughing. I felt so awkwardly out of place. I tried to keep my head down.

Some of the kids stop to stare at me. They whispered to each other. My stomach started doing flips.

The classroom door swung open and the kids went almost completely silent. I was shocked how the room seemed to get even colder.

"Pull out your essays," demanded the teacher. Kids rushed to get them out. No one was chatting and laughing now.

The teacher's dark eyes scanned the room and settled on me. I trembled. She was medium height and slightly plump. Circular glasses sat on her pale face. Pursed thin lips, a bulged nose. Short brown hair. She wore a very long brown skirt and a black blouse. I could tell her sense of style was prude and bland.

'That's Miss. Helbourne. Trust me, the name suits her," whispered the boy. I nodded thoughtfully.

"We seem to have a new student today. Try not to make her feel like even more of an outsider," she said to the class while glaring at me. The students didn't seem shocked by her rude behavior, they seemed scared. My heart beat with hurt. Why does she already hate me?

She started walking around, snatching the essays from the desks, stopping to over look some then shaking her head with disapproval.

"Alright class. Due to Miss. Rose's arrival, we're going to do an introduction to the class today. For classroom credit, you will all answer questions I will ask," she explained. The kids seem to smile. It must be an easy day for them today.

"So, how long has the world known about Elements," she asked, pacing the room. About a third of the class's hands shot up.

"Miss Carson," pointed Miss. Helbourne.

"As long as humans have been here," she answered promptly, smiling sweetly. She was sitting in the middle of the front row. Turning to me, she smirked at me like a know it all. I rolled my eyes.

"Very good. Can anyone add to that?" asked Miss. Helbourne. "Mr. Dawson," she pointed to the boy who had first spoken to me.

"I mean, how do you think cavemen discovered fire?" he answered with a grin. The class smiled and laughed, including me.

'That is correct. Anyone care to add?"

More hands shot up. She kept calling on them. The class seemed to enjoy this discussion. I did too.

"How do you think the Wright Brothers discovered flight? Air users!" said a girl. The class kept chuckling.

"How do you think Electricity was discovered? Benjamin Frankling controled lightning, man!" cheered a boy.

"Do you really think that the best surfers in the world are normal people? No! Water Elementalists!"

The class was all riled up now with everyone raising their hands with wide grins.

"Alright, settle down, I think Miss. Rose gets the point," ordered Miss. Helbourne. The kids lowered their hands but they were still grinning.

"So you see, Elemental Power has been around for a very, very long time. Many famous people secretly had elements. Even the best athletes and doctors and other professional careers," she said.

"But our world is extremely secret. Most of the population is unaware of Elements. So we all must oath to ourselves to not go flitting about, shooting fire balls and ice shards at people." The class laughed mischeviously. I grinned, remembering Merick, Riley, and River's fight outside that one day.

Miss. Helbourne went into another discussion but my mind was elsewhere. To think that I was special, abnormal even. No one else in my small town had an element, as far as I know. What if my friends knew? They would be so amazed! I couldn't wait to show them my amazing fire ability!

A depressing, sinking feeling stopped my thoughts. If Merick and Riley went through so much trouble to bring me here, I don't think it would be easy to leave. Will I ever get to see my friends again? I mean, I had too! Schools can't keep students here all year! Can they?!

Suddenly, a bell rang. Was class seriously already over?

"Read Chapter 9, section 3 tonight. There will be a quiz over it!" Miss. Helbourne called out over the bell. The kids groaned and sped out of there.

'

As I got up to leave, Miss. Helbourne gestured me over to her desk.

"Tonight, I want your only homework to be a one page paper on Fire history. Who was the first fire elementalists, how it was first used, and so on. You may get help from classmates. Here, take this," she said, handing me a leather bound text book. It was dark red and said "Fire" at the top.

"Every student gets one according to their element. It will be your guide to any homework assignment and so on. Take this with you to every class,"

"Thankyou," I nodded to her and scurried out the door. It was the first day and I already felt overwhelmed with work.

River was leaning against the wall in the hallway. He got off and walked me to my next class.

"So, did she eat you yet?" he asked. I laughed but he gave me a serious look.

"No, but at first she was really mean. Now I guess she feels neutural about me," I answered. He nodded in slight confusion. I'm guessing she wasn't nice to him and the other boys when they were freshmen. Or maybe they were just really misbehaved. That was probably it.

"Ok so your next class is Creatures, which is everyone's favorite," stated River.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"The teachers really nice and you get to be with normal creatures but learn that they have Elemental Power too," he answered. My mouth hung open.

"Ok here we are. Have fun!" he said and rushed to his next class. I walked in cautiously. This time, everyone was already in the classroom.

In contrast to Miss. Helbourne's class, this class had it's windows open and lot's of light shown through. A warm spring breeze blew in, rustling peoples papers. The room just had a cheerful mood to it. I sat down in a random seat in the back.

In front, I could already see the teacher, sitting there with his head bent down in his work. My eyes grew wide.

The man looked to be around 20 years old. Dark brown short wavy hair and dark brown eyes. Thin and slightly tall with some slight facial hair. Attractive.

"Welcome! Take a seat anywhere. I'm Mr. Harkins," he smiled broadly at me.

"I'm Emma Rose. Please to meet you," I smiled back and turned away to sit down. I noticed that the desks were all set farther back, so there was a big space between them and his desk. I sat closer to the front this time.

Mr. Harkins stood up.

"We have a treat today. A new student. Everyone say Hi Emma!" he grinned. The class repeated him and laughed as my face turned reddish.

"Alright, today I brought in some birds to demonstrate wind," he announced and walked around behind his desk. He pulled out a cage and set it on his desk. I was surprised to see a beautiful brown hawk with black streaks in it. He slowly opened the door to the cage and put his arm out. The hawk hopped onto it.

He murmured something to it, making it spread its wings. The class leaned back in their chairs.

"Right now, their is no air currents due to the door and windows being closed," he explained. The bird took off and flew around him slowly, taking swoops and turns.

"But watch his wings and speed once I add a current," Mr. Harkins said as he raised his left hand. I could feel a breeze now across the room. I watched carefully as the hawk sped up.

"You may think that it's the current doing all the work, but you're wrong. I have realeased my control on the breeze. He is controlling and sustaining it," he said. The students gasped.

"This is how birds fly so fast and graceful. They control the air surrounding their bodies."

The bird landed back on his arm. He let it back in its cage. He walked behind his desk again. The class let out loud gasps of fear. He set a cage with a small alligator on his desk.

"Do not worry class, this little guy will not hurt you. Ok, I need two volunteers. A earth user and a water user," he said, scanning the class.

Two boys raised their hands and got up.

"Good now, I want you to make a large puddle over their and I want you to make a mound of dirt over there," he pointed. The boys looked at each other then at the open window. They raised their hands in unison. Water and earth came rushing up from the school grounds into the room. The water boy must have used the fountain and the earth boy must have used the fields dirt. My eyes widened in amazement.

The boys did as they were told and made two separate piles. They then sat down.

Mr. Harkins nodded and released the alligator on the floor.

"Now this guy is uncomfortable. He's not in his usual surroundings. Everyone, turn away and close your eyes," he said. We did what he was told slowly with caution.

Thirty seconds passed. "Now look back." As the class turned towards the alligator, they let out shocked gasps. The two piles had formed togeather and the alligator was laying in it.

"He was the one who formed this for comfort. He saw that you guys weren't looking so he used his Elemental Power," Mr. Harkins explained, smiling.

The class started murming amongst themselves. I was completely stunned. I never knew animals could control Elements too!

The rest of the class, Mr. Harkins kept bringing out animals and explaining their abilities. I was really enjoying it but then the stupid bell had to ring.

"Ok, for tonight I want you to write a paragraph about another animal that was not used today and explain it's ability. Make it good guys," he said.

I smiled because I knew I could actually do this assignment and not fail. River was leaning against the wall outside the classroom again.

"That was cool," I said to him. He smiled and with a nod, said "It gets even cooler."

I pulled out my scedule I kept in my Fire text book. It said I had Health and Healing next.

"I sooo wish I could take this class with you," sighed River.

"Why?"

"The teachers, Miss. Alter is really hot," he answered. I rolled my eyes. He winked at me as I entered the classroom.

I sat down in the middle of the room. I was starting to feel a little more comfortable. Five minutes passed.

"Sorry I'm late class," said a voice entering the room. Her arms were overflowing with books and papers. She set them down with a sigh of relief and a smile. Bright wavy blonde hair, and dark brown eyes. She wore a pink tank top and a white skirt that went to her knees with black heels. Glowing flawless skin.

"Ok. Today we're going to learn how to properly treat burn marks, whether they are caused by you or your idiot partner in Control class," she grinned. The class laughed. She opened a white briefcase with first aid stuff in it and passed around bandages and other things.

"So everyone, pour a little bit of the brown bottle onto the bandage" she began. Her lesson today was pretty easy. I learned what things help sooth the burning and how much you wrap it. Her class went by really fast. By the end, I was an expert on burns. The types and severity of them and how long it takes for them to heal. She also showed us some pictures of them. Some of them were really nasty.

"Take these supplies with you in case you have issues. No homework" she said as the bell rang. The class cheered at her words.

"How did it go?" asked River.

"Good, I liked it," I smiled. I honestly did, Miss. Alter was really nice!

"You know, she kind of looks like you......" said River.

"Pshh, maybe if I was older and gorgeous," I replied. I didn't really see any similarities, except we kind of had the same skin color and her eyes were the same color as mine.

"Just wait a couple years," winked River and I smiled.

"Ok, Riley," I said. He laughed and said "That was the most cruel thing I have ever been called." We were laughing the rest of the way.

"So here we are at Control class. Try not to kill anyone," said River. I nodded with confusion and I walked in. The room was bigger in size compared to the rest and desks were arranged in pairs. I sat down at one. The rest of the class came in and everyone sat down boy girl, boy girl. We must have partners. I gulped.

I turned towards the desk next to me and saw the boy from before sat down. I had sat next to him in Elemental History.

"Mr. Benson said we would be partners. I'm Blake," he said. I smiled and said "I'm Emma."

"Oh I know who you are. Everyone here does," he grinned. My stomach did nervous flops. The teacher then came in.

Black straight hair and deep blue eyes. He had fair skin and was medium built. He wore a white collared shirt with a blue tie and black slacks. A tired expression on his face.

"Ok class, today we are going to work on passing," Mr. Benson said. The class seemed to groan. I had no idea what he meant.

"Ugh, passing is WAY too easy. Mr. Benson thinks we're going to kill ourselves with anything more advaned," Blake said to me.

"Get with your partner. You may sit anywhere in the room," he said to the class. The sound of desks being moved around could be heard. I saw Blake sit down in the back corner of the room. I joined him. We sat crossed legged about five feet from each other.

Suddenly, Blake made a ball of swirling air. He passed it to me but it knocked me over.

"Oh, sorry! I forgot how new you were!" he said, helping me sit back up. I was slightly mortified.

"Ok, so the ball is coming at you and you're going to stop it with a small wall of fire. Then make the wall a ball that coverse my air. Then pass the flame to me and we repeat. This helps with control and aim," explained Blake, embarrased that he knocked me over.

"Alright, just please go slow," I smiled. He chuckled and made another ball. It traveled slowly to me.

I raised my right hand and concentrated deeply. I made a ball of fire infront of me. Now I just need to flatten it out. I started to sweat from all the focus. My body seemed to be heating up. The ball finally flattened into a small wall. The air hit it, causing me to lean back from the impact. I molded the wall around the ball of air. After a minute of struggling, the ball was crushed beneth my fire.

"Nice," he complimented. I smiled with a slight blush and sent the fire towards him slowly. He did the same as me but much faster, with more air put in.

This went on and on the whole class. Around me, I could see groups going super fast with huge balls of Elements. Some were even standing and moving around the room I felt embarrased that mine was so slow and small and I was holding Blake back. He seemed to notice what I was thinking.

"Don't worry, its no problem at all helping you," he assured me. I nodded but I still felt a little guilty. The bell rang.

"No homework tonight but please practise your passing. I'll be observing and grading everyone tomorrow," said Mr. Benson.

I froze. He was probably going to fail me. I was terrible at this compared to the others. I walked out of the class sullenly. Blake followed me to walk me to lunch but stopped when he saw River. Blake walked away quickly and kept shooting worried glances back at me and him. River stared at him rushing away.

"....Do you know each other?" I asked quietly.

"He's... roommates with that.... guy we don't like so... we don't reallly trust him," River said, searching for the right words. I kept quiet after that.

"I'll meet you in the Dining Hall. Go put your books away," said River. I nodded and headed for my dorm. I was proud that I knew how to get there now.

As I was coming down the big winding stair case, I saw Him at the bottom with his friends. They seemed to be waiting around for something. I suddenly got very nervous.

He noticed me and gestured his friends away. He waited for me and the end of the stairs. I walked slower. I really didn't want to approach him. At the bottom, I looked down, avoiding his gaze and walking past him. He moved and stood in my way.

"So, you're Emma Rose, right?" he grinned.

"Y-Yes," I stuttered. I really didn't want to look at his face. It was... malicious.

"I'm Damien Harren. Please to meet you," he said then reached for my hand and kissed it. I blushed awkwardly.

"Emma!" I heard a voice said. It was Riley. He quickly came towards me and put his arm around me, leading me away. I heard Damien laughing behind us.