Elementia

Chapter 6

    "The cafeteria?" I replied, in shock. I never thought they would be ready so soon, I thought to myself.

    "Most of us have agreed that we're finally ready to show everyone our protest," Celeste smiled.

    "Oh," I hesitated. "If everyone's agreed then I guess I am too."

    "Great!" A toothy grin plastered on Aqua's face. "We were thinking of doing it next Monday."

    "Ok," I breathed. "That works for me."

"So, weI'm glad to see we all agree," Skye nodded. "And I'm happy to see that we finally get some action!"

"Yeah," Aqua agreed. "It was time for us to do something."

It was overwhelming how quick plans were being made and settled on. I almost felt as if I had no time to agree with the plan.

    *~

    Compared to the exciting conversation at the lunch table, the rest of the day seemed dull. Replaying the conversation seemed to be the only ray of hope in an irritatingly monotonous class. I couldn't seem to get my mind off how suddenly the club members seemed excited to do the very thing they shuddered away from only weeks ago. What changed? I thought. What makes them think they're ready?

    Eating in the cafeteria with different Element Categories was strictly forbidden due to the Virus everyone was so afraid of. The point of our little club and its protest was to prove that a person of each Element could sit together for lunch without contracting the Virus. Of course, we would all adhere to the enforced rule that no Elements could touch each other– and for good reason. Touching different Elements is how one contracts the fatal Virus.

    While I was processing my thoughts, I caught sight of Caspian, likely going to use the restroom. Seeing him so randomly caught me off guard. Suddenly my heart doubled its beats. My breath caught and my cheeks felt unusually warm. Caspian turned around and saw me.

    Then he smiled– not smirked, smiled.

    I waved my hand over to him. The corners of my lips tugged upwards and a sigh escaped. I'm so happy that he and I are friends, I thought.

    The screeching bell caught me by surprise, the second thing to surprise me that day. Did the end of the day already come? I thought, whilst looking at my watch. The end of the school day was upon me and I had hardly noticed. I reveled in the fact that I had the weekend to relax before the club members would act out on their protest. A thought flashed through my head. I should visit Agni.

    I started heading in the direction of his house, the route burned into my memory.

    *~

    I walked on the sidewalk, admiring the coral color of the bushes that decorated the houses in Agni's neighborhood. All of the houses were painted shades of red, orange, and yellow. Some of Agni's neighbors were amazing artists, who liked to paint giant murals on their houses. Some murals were of the sun, others were of fire or lightning. Needless to say, the neighborhood was brightly colored; looking even better at night.

    I sent Agni a quick text, stating that I was going to visit him. I finally found Agni's house, sitting contentedly in the corner. His house was painted an orange color, a mural of a sunset decorating the front of the house. The lack of creativity being a genetic trait in Agni's family, they hired a local painter to illustrate a mural for their house. I stood in front of the painting, in awe. To say the artist put their heart and soul into the illustration would have been an understatement.

    I unlocked the front door with the spare key I had and walked into the upstairs kitchen. I took a snack from the counter before taking a seat on a stool. Taking my homework from my bag, I started to miss Agni's bean bag chair.