The Power of the Elemental Crystals

Chapter 3 - Colorful Hair and New Powers

Sally locked the door behind us, after we rushed to the bathroom.

Both of us faced the mirror and examined our hair. It wouldn't do us any good to panic, so we tried to stay calm while checking it out. Sally only had a small strip of neon green hair, but the tips of my hair were electric blue, and it stood out against the rest of my dark hair.

"What do you think happened?" Sally questioned. "This isn't possible. I didn't do anything to it."

"Me neither. It just happened right now." 

"Wait. Your hair is blue, and mine is green. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" We turned to the side to look at each other.

"The crystals. They match the colors of our hair perfectly." 

"That is so cool! So the crystals are magical after all. I wonder what else it can do. We need to wait and see what happens next." She said excitedly.

"Sally! That's a bad idea. We need to get rid of them." I was about to throw mine in the trash when she grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"Come on Ellie. It's not harming us or anything. Not all magic is used for evil, you know."

"Are you sure we should keep them?" I was still unconvinced that the crystals will do us any good.

"Yeah. I'll make you a deal. If anything bad happens, we can throw them away. But for now we should keep them." She tried to reason with me.

"Okay, I guess." 

"How are we supposed to explain this to our parents?" Sally inquired. "Though I don't mind the change in color. Suits me pretty well actually."

"I don't know, we just decided to dye our hair? It's not like I can really hide it. Unless I trim my hair." I thought about cutting my hair, but then decided against it, as I have been trying to grow it out for years. "Never mind. I like my hair the way it is. I think it looks pretty."

"Oh well. Either we try to dye it back or just go with it." She twirled her hair around her finger. "I want to keep it."

"Me too. Well, let's go. Your mom will be arriving to pick you up soon."

"Oh, right." We walked out of the bathroom and returned to our tables.

"What happened to your hair?" Aria stopped eating her cake and was staring at us with a weird expression. "Did you just dye it right now? If you did, that was kind of quick..."

"Aria, can you keep a secret?" I asked her. There was no point in trying to hide it from her. Sally and I were gone for less than 5 minutes and she wouldn't believe it if we told her that we dyed it just now. Knowing her, she would probably bug us until we told her the truth. Even if the truth wasn't believable either. 

"Yeah, I can." She replied.

"You have to promise, Aria. This is serious." 

"I promise."

"Okay, so Sally and I think that the crystals changed our hair color." 

"Really?" Her eyes widened. "But that's not possible."

"There's no other explanation for it. And our hair is the exact same shade as the crystal's color." Sally informed her.

"That is awesome! You guys are rocking the look, by the way." Aria exclaimed. "I believe in magic. I knew it always existed. This is my first time witnessing it and it's so cool!"

"Yeah, it is pretty interesting. Hopefully nothing bad happens. And also, you're the only person we've told this to. I'm going to tell mom that I dyed my hair if she notices, okay? I don't want to get anyone else involved." I said.

"Alright. Keep me informed if anything else happens. Excuse me, I'm going to get some water." Aria got up and headed towards the counter.

"Hey girls!" Mom came back to check on us. Her expression got serious when she saw my hair. "Ellie, did you dye your hair?"

"Yeah. I just decided that it was time for a change. I wanted to try out new colors." I lied, hoping she would believe it.

"Oh. Well, it looks good. Just wish you would've told me before you did it." She responded. "And Sally, you also dyed yours?"

"Yeah, I saw Ellie grab some hair dye at the store while we were walking here and I decided I wanted to do it too." She said without hesitation. Being a troublemaker, she was skilled in lying her way out of things.

"Oh alright. You look great as well!" 

"Thank you!" Sally smiled at her. 

"Got to go take more orders." Mom glanced at the line of people waiting to buy desserts. "Make sure to clean up after yourselves after you're done." 

"'Kay." I replied, just as Aria returned with a glass of water.

"Hey, guys, what did I miss while I was -- Ah!" As she tried to set down her cup, it slipped from her grip and went straight for the floor.

I saw it before anyone else did, and reached out to grab the glass. It was about to collide with the ground and shatter, but something happened. 

Something I can't explain.

The glass broke into shards, but the water was floating in the air.

Sally and Aria froze and looked at me. I flinched and withdrew my hand, causing the water to fall immediately. This proved that I was controlling it. 

Aria looked around to make sure that no one saw what just happened. "Could that have been from the crystal too?" She whispered to me.

"I think so." I responded, not taking my eyes off the puddle of water that was spreading on the floor now.

"Wait, if you have powers, then maybe I do too." Sally commented. "Your crystal is blue, which represents water. What could green mean?"

Just then, a voice called out to Sally. "Sally, come on, it's time to go." It was her mom, who was waiting by the entrance.

"Coming, Mom!" She grabbed her backpack and swung it over her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, maybe we can find out more about this." She said before hurrying to the door. 

"Bye Sally!" Aria and I said at the same time. 

"Now I really wish I had a crystal. Your powers are so cool!" Aria grinned at me. 

"I know right! I wonder what Sally's powers are..."