Eterna

Chapter Four

I woke in a cold sweat, my brown curly hair pinned to my face. I remembered everything. I found the map and walked down some halls to the bathroom. As I wiped my sweaty face with a cloth I thought of my latest vision. I had a big sister. She froze me in time to protect me. Where was she now? Was she safe? Why did I age if she froze me in time? My head felt like jelly, so I headed back to my room and got dressed. Looking through the clothes in my chest of drawers, I realized that they were all too tight fitting, or way too big. I chose a tight shirt with a loose hoody and skinny jeans.

“Bailee, are you ready?” I grabbed some ballet flats and stumbled towards the door. Chris was standing on the other side, his blonde hair carefully curled back. He took one look at my clothes and threw a small bag at me.

“Get changed. You have two minutes.” I closed the door and pulled out a t-shirt and shorts. They were both a dark blue, and on the shirt was a logo: ‘Greenwards Academy for the Gifted.’ What a weird name. After I folded my old clothes and put them away, I stepped outside and followed Chris down many winding hallways until we stopped outside what looked like the door to hell. It had a skull on the doorknob and scratch marks near the top, as if some creature was trying to get in, or stay out. Chris saw me looking and smirked.

“It’s okay. The door is just a prank for newbies, no biggie. Welcome to gym.” And with one hard pull, Chris opened the door. Inside was a massive room with a wooden floor. Over in the far left there were ropes dangling from the ceiling and in the right was a massively complicated climbing wall. I looked closer and realized the wall moved! To my left were punching bags and to my right was an obstacle course! Some teenagers my age sat in the middle of the gym, talking in groups. They stopped and looked at me as I walked in.

“This is Bailee, she’ll be in our class for the rest of the year.” August walked past me and towards the group. He turned and smiled at me and I scowled back. How could he be so cheerful when he hardly knew me?

“Since we have a new student I thought today we could show each other our gifts, just to recap over what we learnt.” Everyone groaned but all headed towards the back of the gym and sat down. I hurriedly joined in. Someone waved at me. It was Angelina.

“I thought you were a nurse,” I questioned, confused.

“Only part time. I’m not that good.” She winked distinctly at me.

I sat down next to her and looked at August.

“I will call you up and you will state your name and age. You will then demonstrate your powers. If you need a volunteer just ask. Ok, let’s start with the twins Jayna and Laura.” Two girls with pigtails walked to the middle of the massive hall. One had pink hair, the other purple.

“We’re Jayna and Laura, we’re sixteen and we can shapeshift,” One announced.

“Our superhero names are The Wonder Twins,” The other one declared. Together they shapeshifted. The one I assumed was Jayna turned into a cat, and Laura into a dog. They then turned back and sat down to half-hearted applause.

“Next is Chris.” Chris stood and walked to the front. Looking around, I saw Jayna, Laura and some other girls giggling and staring at Chris happily. He was obviously a popular guy. His friends whooped and cheered as he stated his name, age (16) and superhero identity (shadow-traveller). He then stepped through the portal. He reappeared at the top of the gym, falling. I couldn’t look away. I could hear girls gasping in the distance but all I could see was him falling. Suddenly he fell through another portal and appeared right next to me. It was only then that I realized I was screaming.

“Bailee, I’m fine. Bailee?” I could see Angelina was giving me a look of pity. Many of the other girls were smirking at me but I didn’t care.

“Bailee, please be quiet.” I shut up.

“Thank you Chris. Next is Jordan.” August gave me a cold glare and I bowed my head, embarrassed. The next boy was quite good looking. As he got up he high fived Jayna, who blushed a deep scarlet.

“I’m Jordan, I’m fifteen and my superhero identity is Blaze, and that’s ‘cos I’m on fire!” He then opened his hand and a fire expanded out of it. He closed his fist and it extinguished.

Time passed quickly as people showed their gifts, and sat down. From what I could remember, there was Vanessa, also known as The Wraith, who could turn invisible, Aiden, also known as The Crusher, who was really strong, Celia (Cyclone) who could control the weather (we all got soaked), and Kyle (Bolt) who could run really fast. Angelina was next and she hypnotised August to act like a chicken. I laughed along with the others.

“Next is Cherry.” When she stood up, I instantly thought that she resembled Chris. She had long blonde golden hair, a pale face and giant dangly earrings.

“That’s Chris’ twin sister. She’s good at everything, and really stuck up. You DON’T want to get on her bad side.” Cherry caught Angelina’s eye and the both glared like evil witches at each other. After what seemed like an age of glaring, Cherry pursed her lips, turned, gave August a sickly sweet smile and rotated to face the class.

“As you all know I’m Cherry. I’m fifteen and my superhero name is Cherry Blossom. I am telekinetic, for you stupid people, I can move things with my mind.” She then walked over to her friends who handed her a gold bracelet. She threw it up and it stayed frozen in the air, as if it were trapped in an invisible ice cube. Angelina was an atom bomb about to explode. Luckily Cherry finished quickly and sashayed back to her group to a huge applause. She poked her tongue out maliciously at Angelina who mouthed the words ‘stuck-up show off. I could understand how Angelina could hate her so much, she was really patronizing. Only a few more people were left now, including me. And then August called out my name.