Gifted

Chapter Seven Cecelia

Lunch was so epic! We sat with some really cool guys named Zayne, Taj and Aaron. They're really funny, and all in different towers,unlike us. I had a Cesar salad and a lemon bar, Hazel had a cob salad and apple cider, Julia had some pork and cheese sticks, and Rachel had a burger and fries. We talked about our old school's, and homes, we exchanged dorm numbers, and puzzled over the mystery of no electronics. By the time we finish lunch, we still have a good 40 minutes to kill, so we hang out in the common room. They have this truth or dare generator thing that dares us and asks us questions. It's really cool, and funny, because it comes up with the randomest dares. After playing Truth or Dare for about 30 minutes, a loudspeaker comes on and says:
" Everyone please report back to your dorms so you can be taken to your classes."
So we say bye to Taj, Zayne and Aaron and walk back to our rooms. Rachel helps me redo my lipstick and I help fix her hair. Then we head out, grabbing our maps and schedule's. Abigail is waiting for us. Apparently, we are the last people out; so the entire group was waiting for us. Abigail gives us a piercing stare and then starts moving. She says:
" Everyone please take out your schedules. As you can see on them, you have four classes now. Exceptionally today, you will be introduced to all of your classes. You will also stay in one room, and the teachers will come to you. They will each present the classes they teach. Some teachers teach two classes, so you may have two presentations by the same person. In total, you will have 20 presentations to watch."
20 presentations! In 2 hours! They've got to be pretty short, or we'll be in that one classroom for much longer then 2 hours ! Abigail starts talking again, and tells us our classroom numbers.
" So you guys will be separated into three classrooms. Classroom number 578, or classroom number 12, or classroom number 276 .Classroom 12 is really close to us, so when we get there I'll call out who will be going into that classroom."
" I hope we're all together!"
Hazel says.
" Me too!"
I say. I don't know if that's true though. I kind of miss Emily sometimes. Just then, Abigail stops in front of a gray door. It has a number above it, 12. She starts calling out names.
" Okay , so here there are gonna be about half of you. The rest of you will be put into two separate classrooms. So here we have:
Justice, Cleo, Frannie, Ella, Amelia, Ariana, Belle, Estella, and Cerise."
Everyone who's name was called walks into the room. As the door closes, I sneak a glance of the inside. The room is huge, with ceilings as high as in our main hallway, floors that are as black as ink, and bleacher like seats. At the front of the classroom is a huge chalkboard and a big wooden desk. A chalkboard? Seriously? Not even a whiteboard? Oh well, I guess we aren't allowed technology, so that must include "modern technologies" The door slams shut, and then we keep moving.
" Did you see inside the classroom?"
I ask Julia. She shakes her head, and I say
" I did! It's like 5 times the size if the common room!"
" Wow! The common room is pretty big, so that must be huge!"
" Yeah!"
We are interrupted when Abigail starts talking again.
She says:
" Ok, we're heading over to room 578. The people who will be in there are:
Rachel, Julia, Hazel, Victoria, Cecelia and Samantha. "
We all say:
" Yes!"
At the same time, all though there isn't much "oomph" in mine. We are dropped off at room 578 a few minutes later. Julia opens the door and we all walk in. The room is just like the other one I saw. Apparently, we are the first ones here besides a teacher. She is tall and thin, and looks relatively nice. When we come in, she looks up and says in a voice that sounds like the tinkling of chimes:
" Hello girls! You all seem to be the first ones here! Take a seat anywhere! The presentation will begin when everyone else arrives."
" Thanks!"
I say.
We all walk up the stairs to about the middle of the bleacher-like seats and sit down next to each other. I am sitting between Hazel and Julia. Her hair has come undone, so I braid it into a fishtail the way Hazel taught me this morning. Then I tie it up into a bun.
"What do you guys think?"I ask Hazel and Rachel.
" It's a good look for Julia."Rachel says.
" You learn fast" Hazel adds on.
"Thanks!" I reply.
" Guess what I brought just in case we get bored?" Asks Rachel.
" Um, let me guess, Nail Polish?" Asks Julia.
" Yes!"
"None of us did designs on our nails this morning, so I figured we could finish now!"
" That's a great idea!" I say. I love doing my nails. It was my pass-time back "home"
Rachel pulls out a mini white bag from underneath her chair.
"Where did you get that?"I ask.
"Oh, you don't know? There's a small box next to your bed, on the wall. If you write want you want on a piece of paper and put it in, it'll be delivered to your room. How do you think we got all this polish?"
" That's so cool!"
I say. I'll have to try that when I get back.Rachel then opens up her bag, and grabs what she wants, and passes it to Hazel. She grabs what she wants, and then hands it to me. Inside, there are nail design tools, and I grab one of each. I choose a light pink bottle and pastel green bottle. Then I pass the bag to Julia, and get started.  I paint three flowers on each thumb, and one small pink flower on every other finger. Then I see that Julia has some pink sparkles, so I ask her if I can borrow them. After the ok sign, I sprinkle some over every finger. By this time, a few more people have come in. I look up and see Zayne and Taj and a few other air guys sitting towards the back of the seats. I point it out to Hazel, who has also finished her nails. But we are stopped from saying hi by the door opening. A flood of people walk in, dressed in all colors, except white. I think I see Emily, who is standing next to a girl with brown hair and gray eyes. She kind of looks like a girl Sherman, but with brown hair. When they all enter, the teacher stands up and yells:
" Can everyone please take a seat?"
Everyone slowly walk over to their preferred seats. I see Emily and that girl walk up to our row. They sit as close to us as possible. She waves at me,and I wave back.
"Who's that?"
Asks Julia.
"She one of my friends from back home."
"She's pretty,"
Says Julia.
"Do you wanna invite her to sit with us during dinner, whenever that is?"
"Sure!"
I say. I am about to start walking over when the teacher starts talking:
"Hello all, and welcome. I am Mrs. Paden, your Elementals teacher. Now today I will be giving you a short presentation on my class. I will begin once everyone has settled down."
I quickly go sit back down, and she continues.
"Now as you know, each of you can control an element. Those of you in white can control the air, those of you in blue can control the water, those of you in green can control Mother Nature, and those of you in orange can control fire. Now I can control all elements, which is very rare, and that's also why I am your teacher. In a bit, I will give you a demonstration of each one. First, I would like to explain what you will learn this year. You will learn how to raise a shield, how to throw balls or chunks of your element, how to attack your opposite element, and all the other ones., etc..Before you ask what your opposite element is, I will tell you; fire is the opposite of water, and air us the opposite of earth. To show you guys this, I will do a demonstration."
She raises her hands and a ball of water appears. She removes her right hand from underneath it and creates a fire ball with her other hand. She suddenly squashes them together and they both vanish with a breath of steam. Then she raises her hands and creates dirt. She makes this dirt float down to the ground, and then creates a mini tornado. She allows it to go all over the dirt, and the dirt fly's away. She calls back the tornado and the dirt disappears. We all clap enthusiastically and then we watch as she raise her hands while saying:
" Now I will do an individual demonstration of each element."
First she creates a fire version of herself, and then walks around the room. It follows her, somehow not lighting the floor in fire. We all gasp in astonishment, and then she snaps her fingers and it disappears. Next she creates a mini cloud and jumps on it. She rides it up to the ceiling, and zips around the room, standing on the cloud. All of a sudden she snaps her fingers and the cloud disappears and she starts falling. We all gasp, our attention glued to her. Just before she hits the ground, the cloud reappears, catches her, and zooms her back over to the front of the classroom. There is whistling and cheering. She bows and then raises her hands. Water comes from each of her fingertips and forms into a water horse. It gallops around the front of the classroom,and then right up to the front row, to a kid in blue. She reaches her hand out in awe, and the horse whinnies softly and then disappears. The next thing she does is clap her hands together. The ground shakes, and a giant tree rises from the ground, with her on top. She suddenly jumps off the top, a sure suicide act, but is caught by a giant VenusMcFlytrap plant and the she is spit out into a water lily. The lily closes, we all lean forward in our seats. When it opens again, Mrs. Paden has a crown of flowers in her hair and a bouquet of flowers, which she  throws. They all transform into butterflies and fly over everyone. We all gasp, and then she is lowered back into the ground by the lily. Then she claps again and everything disappears.
"Thank you!"
She says. Everyone cheers and whistles as she exits the room.
All the other presentations pass like that, my favorite (after this one) being the transformation demo. This teacher can transform into four different animals. The one I enjoyed the least was history and study period, both taught by the same person. It was really boring and the teacher droned on for 20 minutes! After all the demonstrations, we are given a ten minute break in which we all discuss our favorite presentations. But where's Emily? I need to talk to her. I find her at the other end of the hallway...