HOMEPAGE LIBRARY

I inspect the door thing. There’s a fire symbol on it.

Coincidence? 

I think not!

I feel like this has something to do with me. I started a small flame on my hand and felt around the circle. 

My hand moved to the center of the emblem.

That must have been a pressure point or something, because when my hand touched it, I heard some clicking and whirring, and suddenly the door opened. (Maybe not the greatest idea to sit on it while activating the switch.)

I fell down the hole, not knowing when or even if it ended. And when I did, would I go splat? I pushed that thought out of my head and tried my free-falling thing again.

I finally see the bottom. I put my feet down and land, not perfectly, but I didn’t kill myself. That’s a plus.

I look up to see how far the surface is. Instead, I see my crush, Alex. He’s not nearly as graceful as me, though. Emphasis on graceful.

Then I realize what’s happening. He lands on top of me and it's really awkward.

“Um… hi.” he says. He gets off of me.

“Hi.” I say.

“Oh, lookie. We have visitors.” says a female voice. I look around. I see a girl with short blue and pink dyed hair. She doesn’t look like the happiest person. Or one you’d want on your bad side. Whoever she was, she looked way cooler than us. (Sad and unfashionable)

“We do?!” said another female voice. Another girl, probably younger than the other, bounced down the hall. “Goodie!” she saw us.

She shook my hand violently.

“Hi! I’m Beverly. Welcome to the Fire Clan. What’s your name?” she said fastly. 

“Um, I’m Chloe.”

“I’m Alex.”

“Great, nice to meet you! And you’ve already met Edith-”

“Actually, we haven't really.” I said.

“Oh!” said Beverly. “Well… this is Edith!”

“Oh, okay.” I say. “Hello Edith, hello Beverly, so you said ‘Welcome to Fire Clan’. What exactly is the Fire Clan?”

“It’s a group where all the people with fire powers can be themselves.” said Edith.

“Wait, so I have powers?” I asked. 

“Yep! They're a bit hard to control at first though… said Beverly.

“I just burned my own house down by accident!” I said, feeling really selfish in retrospect. “And Alex, how did you find this place?”

“We’re neighbors! I saw you running, and I wanted to see where.” he said. 

“Oh.” I said. “So does he have powers?”

“Possibly.” said Beverly. “Alex! Think angry or hot thoughts!”

Alex tensed up. He looked like he was going to puke. Then his hand lit up. Just barely, but it definitely did.

“Look at that!” said Edith. “We don’t have to kick you out.”

“Um, let’s get you two new outfits!” said Beverly.
“Weaponry in 10,” said Edith. Beverly seemed to know what that meant and nodded. Then she took us down a hallway and opened a door. It was like a walk-in closet but much bigger.

Half of the room was Pink, the other blue. Probably girl clothes and boy clothes.Beverly looked at me.

“You. Describe yourself.”

“Um, shy, awkward-”

“Girly, rogue, casual, or preppy?”

“Um…” 

“Nevermind.” said Beverly. She picked out a few things and handed them to me. “This would look great on you, bathroom’s second door on the left.” 

“Now, you!” she began Alex’s makeover.

7 MIN. L8R

Now I had a cape, a handy backpack, cool steel wristbands, and some eyeshadow I randomly found. (I hope it’s not Edith’s.) Also black gloves. Fashionable and useful, especially in the winter.

Alex looked like this:

Nothing much on the outside, but there are a bunch of little pockets on his hoodie, and there are metal plates on his arms and legs for protection like Beverly’s. (I like mine better.)

Later Beverly took us to the weaponry. There was every weapon imaginable. Maces, snipers, bows, dagger; you name it, it was there. You could even customize your own.

I sometimes played softball, and I was pretty good at it, so I chose throwing knives for my weapon. Alex chose a normal looking sword that opened up and shot bullets at the tip. His whole memo seemed to be something like ‘simple on the outside, unstoppable on the inside’ or something. I dunno.

Edith came and gave us a bit more info.

“Curfew at nine, it’s eight thirty right now. You can fix up your weapons tomorrow, then we’ll start training for battle. I’ll explain then. Do you two mind sharing a room?” she said in an all-business voice. I shrugged.

“Fine with me.” Alex nodded in agreement.

“Alright. Breakfast hours are nine to ten. Get there quick or STARVE.” Edith let a playful smile slip; then left.