Extraordinary

Chapter 26: Christine's Explanation

"How do you know?" I whispered. 

Christine just laughs. "Well, did you think it was a coincidence that I named my children Flora and Fauna, while their names mean plants and animals?"

I nodded.

Christine chuckles. "Why don't you come in, Aurora? You're early, anyways." We walk inside the house and sit down at the kitchen table.

"I knew they had powers from a few days after their first birthday. First of all, whenever Flora was happy, you could tell, since the room would suddenly smell like roses, probably because she was making some grow outside. And when Fauna was happy, forget it! Birds, bees, butterflies, squirrels, rabbits, you name it, they would come to the window sill and just watch baby Fauna squirm with delight."

My eyes widen. "Wow." Is that what it's like to be born with your powers? If so, AWESOME!

Christine nods. "I know. But, after a while, I got really scared. What if the government saw Flora and Fauna and wanted to lock them away and study them for months at a time? So, from as soon as they  could control their powers, I taught them not to use them in public." Christine then takes a big breath and looks at me expectantly. 

Hmm. Never thought about the government. What if we're fighting crime, it's caught on camera, and then government agents come to our houses and want to study us? Or even... I shiver and shake the horrible thought of execution out of my head. I don't think they're allowed to do things like that. But when it comes to the right circumstances...

I shiver again, which grabs the attention of Christine. "Are you cold, Aurora? Do you want me to lower the air conditioning?" she asks, concerned. 

"No, I'm okay," I say hastily. "I wonder where the others are. They should be here by now," I add, changing the subject, and as if on cue, the doorbell rings a moment later.

Christine hurries over to the door and greets Tempest and Reece, who are also surprised at the same remark Christine gave me about knowing about Flora's and Fauna's powers, then explains the same thing to them. Tempest and Reece are wide-eyed after the end of the story. "Wow," they breath together. Is that what I looked like? If so, Christine must have been holding in some laughter. 

Then, the doorbell rings for the last time, and Flora, Fauna, and Isabella are greeted by Christine this time, only minus the explanation about our powers. Although, I was a bit puzzled when Isabella walked in unfazed by the fact that Christine knew about our powers. Was it because she already knew?

As soon as I get the chance, I go over to Isabella and say in a hushed tone, "You knew? About Christine and Flora and Fauna?"

Isabella grins and whispers back, "Yep. I'm their best friend, so you'd think best friends would tell each other things, right? Plus, I've been here loads of times, so I obviously figured out that Christine knew just by being around her so much. So, yep. I know."

I'm not surprised by her answer. After we are generously given (delicious) chocolate chip cookies by Christine, we all decide to head downstairs and start the practice. Once we get down to the basement, Tempest, Reece, and I gasp in delight. It was HUGE! There was also nothing in it to destroy, plus the walls were metal, since we get lots of floods here in Tremont, and the door looked strong and sound proof. 

I grin as I look around. "This is perfect, guys," I say. We drop our backpacks next to the door and walk to the middle of the room, but Flora stays behind, rooting in her backpack for something. 

"Flora? Are you coming?" I say, concerned that she might want to back out. 

"She's getting her drawing stuff," Fauna says immediately. We all stare at her. "What?" she says. Isabella again looks unfazed. "Oh. You guys aren't used to the mind reading of being twins yet, are you?" she says with a chuckle. "I can just tell she's getting her drawing stuff, since the look on her face is always different when she needs to draw something. Plus, we can tell when one another are nervous, happy, sad. Whatever feeling there is, you name it, we can sense it."

With that, Flora walks over to us, nodding, and holding her purple pencil case and her drawing notebook. 

"That's right," she says in her soft voice. "It gets kind of annoying, actually, when Fauna can tell exactly what I'm doing just by my face." Flora then looks darkly at Fauna, then giggles to show she was just joking. 

"Well, what are we going to do?" Fauna asks, although it sounds more like an announcement. 

Everyone looks expectantly at me. 

"Well...?" Reece says. 

"What do you mean?" I ask, puzzled. "Why do I decide?"

"Do you need us to specify? Would you like us to have a ceremony for it?" Fauna asks, then pretends she's holding a crown on a pillow, gets down on one knee, and says, "We officially declare you, Aurora, the leader of the Extraordinaires." In her attempt of an old English accent. She then pretends to take the invisible crown and "places" it onto my head. 

Tempest, Reece, Isabella, and Flora all laugh. I'm trying hard to suppress my giggles, too. 

"Very funny, Fauna," I say. "and nice accent," I add with a wink. Now it's Fauna's turn to suppress laughter. 

"All right, now I'm being serious," I say. "Am I really your leader?"

"Do you need me to specify again?" Fauna says, grinning. 

"No," I say, grinning back. "But why did you choose me?"

"Well, first of all, you kind of are the bond of all of us," Reece says. "You became friends with me, then Tempest. If I hadn't been your friend, then I probably wouldn't have been Tempest's friend, either." Tempest's reaction then makes her add, "Because I'm the outgoing one, and you're the quiet one... we wouldn't really mix, you know?" 

"And then, you met us three, and we all became friends," Fauna butts in. 

"So, you're obviously the leader." Isabella finishes.

Tempest and Flora, the most soft-spoken, both nod in agreement.

"Okay." I say, really, really, happy on the inside. I'd never been the leader of anything this important, unless you count our science study group. But the only reason I was the leader was because there were two boys who were too lazy to do anything in the group except talk about sports. Then, when Mr. Ross walked by, they would suddenly start helping me, as if they'd been paying attention the whole time. Mr. Ross and I would share a look and grin. He always knew. 

Okay. On task, Aurora. We have to practice. 

"So, what are we going to do, boss?" Fauna asks again.

"Okay, we're going to do the same thing me, Reece, and Tempest did in the old library," I say. "Flora and Fauna, do you have any flour sacks around?"