cascade | kotlc

3. Biana, Marella, Deck, and Physical Education

 "How was your first session?" Dex asked as he handed her a tray and made room for her and June in the lunch line.

"Oh, fine -- except I was almost electrocuted." She could still vividly imagine the lightning strike. Her sister massaged her shoulders, which made her feel a little bit better.

"That's elementalism," Dex said, shaking his head. "Tornadoes are not easy to catch."

"Honestly, I find them quite simple," June said, smiling at him. "Though I think that's just me. But yes, you'll have to learn to bottle all sorts of things, even rainbows. You'll need it to get into the nobility."

They'd reached the front of the lunch line. Multicolored stalls lined her sides, displaying foods that shined the colors of the rainbow. Sophie hoped they tasted as good as they looked. "Hey, Dex, don't you have detention?"

"I still have to eat," he grumbled, filling his tray with green-colored balls.

"Don't get those," June whispered to Sophie. "They taste really sour."

Sophie ended up picking random foods and hoping they'd work together as a meal.

"I have to go to detention. June, can you take Sophie to your table?" Dex asked, looking slightly annoyed.

June sighed. "Really, I don't know what you have against him, but forget it. I'll bring her there, if she lets me." Sophie scanned the faces hoping to find Fitz, but all she saw were strangers. She hoped June had a good table.

"Come on," her sister whispered to her. "You know Fitz?" Sophie's heart fluttered excitedly, and she tried to squash it down. They walked up to a pair of teal eyes Sophie finally noticed. Unfortunately, they were set into Biana's perfect face.

Biana and June had a staring contest. Biana shook her head at June. "Not with her," her face said. "You can come, but not with her."

June's eyes seemed to explode.

She stormed off, taking Sophie with her. "We're going to Marella's table," June told her. "Marella's quite nice. Just don't use a nickname."

June led her to an empty table except for a petite blond girl with hundreds of tiny braids in her hair. She had huge, ice blue eyes that seemed to stare into her soul.

"Hi, June," she said. "You're the new girl. Sophie?"

She nodded.

"I'm Marella. Not Mare, not Ella, no nicknames. Most people here aren't worth my time. But the people that dare stand up to Stina, like June, well, those are my kinds of girls. Unlike Princess Prettypants over there." She glanced at Biana.

"Do you usually sit by yourself?" Sophie asked.

Marella shrugged. "Most people are annoying, but mostly girls. Your sister's cool, though. But gosh, I hate Princess Prettypants so much. Stuck up, arrogant, sophisticated. Her brother's cute, though."

June blushed. Sophie had to control herself to not agree. She took a bite of the red bands that kind of looked like licorice. She spat them out entirely.

June's eyes widened. "You took one of those?"

Marella smiled. "You usually only see the boys take them. Did you copy somebody else?"

"Yeah, Dex," she said, trying but failing to lose the taste. They were incredibly spicy. It felt like her tongue was dipped in a vat of hot sauce and was now burning off.

"Dex... strawberry blond curly hair and dimples? He's cute. His family's strange, but it's not his fault. They have triplets! That's four children in total!" Marella commented.