Izzy Stewart: The Sword of Water

Chapter 1

So far, ninth grade hadn't been too bad for Izzy Eleanor Stewart---or at least, not yet.

"Iz!" Briella, one of Izzy's best friends whispered. "Iz!"

"Yeah?" Izzy asked, turning around. Chatter came from behind her in the line in the gym. There was supposed to be something important going on, although their P.E. teacher, Ms. Glass, thought that doing twenty push-ups was fun.

"There's something really weird going on," Trix, Izzy's other best friend said. Izzy rolled her eyes. Her two besties could really be a lot sometimes. Like, if they asked their crush to a dance and they got rejected. Then they would be crying on the bathroom floor, and Izzy would have to comfort them. Sure, they were great friends, but they could be a little dramatic sometimes.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me! Look in front of you! They're rolling in a bunch of freaking swords that are stuck in stones! Doesn't that bother you at all?"

Izzy turned around. There, just like Trix had said, there were actually swords in stones that were being rolled into the gymnasium. And . . . her friends weren't overexaggerating like they usually did. It was actually kind of weird.

"Gosh," Izzy muttered. "I guess instead of push-ups, it's jumping over deadly swords." She turned back to her friends. "But, uh, they're probably fake. And if they're real, it's not like we're going to be forced to sword fight, or anything."

Briella and Trix didn't look so sure about that. Honestly, it was school! Since when did schools give sword fighting lessons, anyway?

Ms. Glass clapped and got everyone's attention. "Everyone! This is a test required to be given to all the schools by the state. It's new, and I think it's quite silly, really. But, since it's required, today's class will be spent testing whether any of you can pull out these swords in the stone.

Hmm. That did seem silly. Freshman students of High School would surely not be expected to pull a sword out of a stone and become King Arthur of Camelot, or something.

Students lined up in single-file order to get through with the stupid test. Of course, Izzy's best friends wanted to go last.

"Izzy, please go in front of me," Trix complained. "I'm really scared!"

"Scared of what?" Izzy asked her. "Isaiah, who's the strongest guy in the class couldn't even get it. Nobody can, see?" Izzy motioned to the increasingly long line of students who failed. Then, she pointed to the line of the people who were able to pull the sword, and the only people in that line was no one.

Soon, it became Carly's turn. She was pretty and smart, but not very athletic. She took a few steps forward to the sword with a bored look. She probably wanted to get the test over with, and Izzy couldn't blame her.

Once Carly, like everyone else in the class, failed, it was Briella's turn.

"Um . . . Trix? Izzy? Come on, please. You know this is embarrassing! I'm never going to get this! Please go in front of me." Briella begged for her two best friends to go before her. But Trix was busy hiding behind Izzy and Izzy was raising an eyebrow and motioning for her to move. Then, Izzy put Trix in front of Briella.

"Cowards get nowhere," she scolded them.

"Cowards?" Trix asked. "You seriously think I'm a cowar---fine. I'll do it." Finally, Trix marched over to the sword and put both of her hands on the hilt.

She was looking at Izzy with her eyebrows raised as if to say, see, I'm not a coward. But just then, she tugged on the sword a little bit, and then her eyes widened and her head whipped in front of her. She didn't move for several seconds, and then she raised the sword, slowly but surely, looking like it was easy.

Izzy was shocked. Had Trix really just pulled the sword out of the stone, and without even trying? How was that possible? Even Ms. Glass, who played college basketball couldn't do it. How could Trix? Izzy's best friend was just kind of . . . average.

Trix pulled the sword all the way out of the stone and everyone stood there watching, shocked. After a moment, though, Ms. Glass started clapping.

Some other people rolled in another stone with a sword in it while Ms. Glass talked.

"Um, congrats, Beatrix. You can form a line over there. Now, Briella." Briella stepped forward and placed her fingers on the hilt of the sword.

For the first time in forever, Izzy felt like she wanted to be last. To hide behind her friends. At first, she'd thought that the sword test was just a fluke. But now . . . She couldn't leave Trix. Trix was so alone and vulnerable. No. No way. Izzy had to pass the test.

Briella was shaking. Izzy wanted to shout to her that it didn't matter, and that nobody had gotten it, but someone had. And that was one of their best friends, Trix.

Briella didn't look enthusiastic about the test. She did the same thing as Trix and tugged on the hilt. Suddenly, the sword came out of the stone a bit.

Unbelievable! Had both of Izzy's friends passed? At least they had each other, but . . .

Izzy knew what she needed to do. She needed to pull out the sword from that stone and be with her friends. Gosh, it would be so embarrassing if all of her best friends passed and she failed.

Izzy tried to see this test as an actual one. If she failed, she would get an F. If she passed, she'd get an A---and she had to get an A.

Briella pulled the sword completely out of the stone and rushed over to Trix, sword in hand. She mouthed to Izzy the words help me. Izzy looked away.

Another stone with a sword inside came rolling in. Izzy took about as much time as a sloth would coming up to it. She tried her best to copy what her friends had done, although that probably wasn't what had made them passed. It was for good luck to Izzy, she supposed.

She put her fingers on the sword and tugged. Nothing happened. It was stuck. This time, Izzy got a grip on it. She pulled. She pulled and pulled with everything she had until her face turned red.

"Gosh, is she actually trying that hard?"

"Kind of annoying."

"Can she just get it over with already? It's not even a big deal."

Izzy heard the whispers behind her back. Maybe they didn't think this was a big deal, but she did. Her friends were important to her, and she felt like she needed to prove herself.

She grunted. Then, miraculously, the sword budged. Not wanting to lose her progress, Izzy kept on pulling. Sweat was running down her face and her whole body, but she kept on going. Very, very slowly, but surely, the sword came out. When the tip of it was finally free from the stone, the class cheered.

"YEAH!"

"WOW, IZZY, DID YOU REALLY DO THAT BY FORCE?"

"WOO, HOO!"

Izzy wanted to just slump down on the floor and sleep, but she went over to her besties and hugged them.

They were gaping at her. "Girl, how did you do that?" Trix asked?

"Yeah! I can't believe you forced your way through!" Briella added. Izzy just smiled.

But that's when the giant lizard came in.