The Power of the Elemental Crystals

Chapter 1 - Food Fight

"Food fight!" Sally yelled, throwing a half-eaten apple at me. 

It hit me on the side of my head and I stood up, preparing to counter the attack.

"Ow! You'll regret that!" I laughed, tossing a piece of sandwich on her wavy light-brown hair. Her hair was in a ponytail today, since she has swimming.

It was the first day of school at Starside High and my partner-in-crime and I were already causing trouble. Sally and I have been best friends since first grade, and we have been by each other's side ever since then. 

It didn't take long for everyone to start joining in on the fight. Everyone's lunch went flying all over the place in seconds, littering the ground and landing on backpacks. Someone's strawberry jam landed on my shirt as I threw my orange across the room. 

"Sally, look what you caused!" I told my best friend.

"Hey, don't ruin the moment, Ellie. There is finally some action in this boring place." She replied, poking me with a pretzel stick. 

I rolled my eyes at her and smeared chocolate on her face. "Well, you're going to have to face the consequences then."

As if right on cue, Mr. Davis, my math teacher, walked into the cafeteria. "What in the world is going on here?! There are children starving in Africa, you know! Who started this?"

The room got deadly quiet and everyone froze. Mr. Davis repeated his question, and everyone in my table quickly pointed to Sally.

"You guys are no fun!" Sally whined, as Mr. Davis walked towards her. 

"Sally Carver. I knew you were going to be a troublemaker the moment I saw you in my class. You didn't even complete the summer homework." He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of her seat. "Come with me, you're going to have to see the principal." 

"Wait! If you're going to take me, you're going to have to bring Ellie along too. She was the one who told me to initiate a food fight." Sally pleaded. She innocently looked at Mr. Davis and then at me. Of course she had to do that. She was lying through her teeth, but I couldn't get out of this now. I sighed, standing up and waiting for Mr. Davis to say something. 

"Eleanor Grace. I should've known. You're just as bad as she is. You broke my pencil sharpener today." He said, yanking my hoodie and dragging me along with Sally. 

That pencil sharpener incident was not my fault. I was just using it when my classmate Noah  accidentally bumped into me, causing me to drop the sharpener. Who knew it was so fragile? Anyway, I ended up having to clean up the mess and got lectured by Mr. Davis on how students are supposed to respect school property. 

I glared at Noah, who was sitting a few tables away. He knew very well that he caused that incident to happen, so it wasn't that surprising when he blushed in embarrassment. His dark hair was covering his aqua eyes as he looked away. 

I turned back to Sally and Mr. Davis. 

"Really, Sally?" I whispered to her. She was my best friend, and I love her, but being friends with her meant that I would not be able to avoid trouble, as she is the type of person to look for any chance to start drama. 

"Sorry, not sorry. Come on, it'll be fun. We're going to face this together." She giggled. 

I smiled. Though I may seem annoyed, I actually kind of enjoy the adventures with her. She makes life a lot more interesting, and in the end, I'm really glad I met her.

The three of us turned a corner, and I spotted the principal's office up ahead. 

I took a deep breath as Mr. Davis lead us inside. I looked around the room. There were awards displayed on the wall and the place smelled like it were recently painted. The floors were made of wood and there was a desk in the middle of the room. 

Principal Corral was sitting in her swivel chair on the other side of the desk. Sally and I took a seat at the chairs placed in front of the table. 

"So, what brings you two here?" She asked us. Her straight blonde hair grazed her shoulders and her hazel eyes were intimidating. 

"These little troublemakers started a food fight today, in the cafeteria. The entire place is a mess, all thanks to them." Mr. Davis told her.

"I see." She replied. "Thank you, Mr. Davis, you may go now." After Mr. Davis walked out the the office, she turned back to us. "It's only the first day of school, a little early to start annoying the staff, don't you think?" She asked us. 

"We apologize for what happened today." I told her. "My friend here, Sally, decided that it would be a good idea to have a little fun by throwing an apple at me."

"Well. One minor action can lead to a major problem. However, this cannot go without consequences, so both of you will have to stay after school to help clean up the lunch room."

"Sounds good. Thank you, Principal Corral." Sally responded, smiling at her.

"Thank you, Principal Corral." I agreed with Sally.

She smiled back at us. "And one more thing, please do not let this happen again. Students may find it fun, but it is really frustrating to the staff when things like this happen. Understood?"

"Understood." Sally and I said in unison.

"Alright, please return to your classes now."

After we left the principal's office, we headed to our next class, which was swimming. 

"Well, that went better than I expected." I told Sally as we walked down the hallway.

"Yeah, I expected something a lot worse. All we need to do is help clean up after school."

"Yeah. Anyway, it's time for swimming, my favorite sport! Race you to the pool!" I laughed and ran past her.

"Oh no, you are not beating me there, Missy!" She chuckled, running after me.