Death wasn’t an easy topic for me.
Between the death of both my parents and my older sister, Mary, death and I didn’t really get along that well. After they had died, they sent my younger twin brother and sister away to the elementary campus, making them practically dead to me because I never saw them. That’s why when someone asks me about the details of how my parents and sister died, I get a little out of hand; I don’t usually handle the matter with grace and poise.
“Screw it. I’m not telling you.” Cursing or even using language like hell or damn was rare to me, and even in an instant like this, I refused to use those kinds of words.
“Mia,” Calvin pleaded. He was one of the academy’s newspaper reporters and writers. He was nerdy, and the large glasses and freckles didn’t help him gain any other status than geek or nerd. “We could make a real story with your parents’ and sister’s deaths. Just think of how much publicity this whole thing could get!” Little did he know that that was the last thing I wanted out of the death of everyone I loved.
I hardened my face as best as I could. I wasn’t a super serious person unless I needed to be. “Okay, Calvin,” I said with a sigh. His face brightened like he thought I was finally going to tell him the story. His hopes would soon be crushed. “Imagine both your parents and your older brother died.” His face fell. “Just pretend. How would you feel if practically every day someone asked you over and over to tell the story of how they died? Would you really want to relive that day again in your mind each time, even if you didn’t tell them?”
He hung his head shamefully. “No, I really wouldn’t,” he replied. “I’m sorry I wasted your time, Mia. I’m also sorry that I never realized how sensitive a topic this was.” His large brown eyes were filled with regret and guilt. I felt bad, even though it was his own fault.
I punched his playfully on the arm. “Come on, don’t beat yourself up about it,” I said. “You didn’t know.”
“Thanks, Mia,” he said, his smile returning. “I’ll see you later.”
“Later.”
He picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder before he started walking back toward his dorm or wherever he was going. Probably science club or something.
The thing about the academy we went to was it wasn’t a normal boarding school you would send your kid to. It was a school designed for magical beings like Calvin and I. We weren’t vampires or witches, but we were still something that you would only think would be in a child’s imagination.
We were fairies.
Of course, the guys didn’t like that term a whole lot, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. A lot of people called themselves pixies, but really, what’s the difference? Each of us kind of “specialized” in one of the four elements. It was when the power of one element raised high above the others and became a lot stronger. We could keep control of all the elements, but our specialized element―like I said―was a lot stronger.
We weren’t the fairies you pictured in fairy tales either. We only had wings when you converted yourself―technically shape shifted into the form of a typical looking fairy. Only those who had mastered all elements could convert themselves though.
As I stood up, I looked down at the charm bracelet that had been given to me when I specialized in air. Each charm was a little smaller than a quarter. There was a blue-grey tornado charm that symbolized my specialization in air. If one worked really, really hard with another element and trained it to be as powerful as their main element, they would earn a charm representing the other element. When you were still in school, it was considered an honor and also amazing to master two elements. My best friend, Lily, had specialized in water but also mastered earth.
