The Igniters

Ramona

"Ramona! Let's go!" I take one last look in the mirror. My caramel skin looks smooth. My eyes are a light hazel brown. They have always been my best feature. My figure is small, and it widens at my waist and chest. My lips are blossomed, and my lips are drenched in a light peach gloss. My cheekbones are perfectly even. My nose is so small and fragile. I am your average height. I look at my outfit one last time. I am wearing a turquoise tank top, a white mini skirt, a small white jacket, that is half the length of my shirt, crystalline flats, and my lucky necklace. Today's a big day, so I'm going to need it. We're moving today. And by we I mean, Ryan and I. He's my older brother. He's older by a year, but he never lets me forget it. We are attending a new academy today. The Academy of KNOW, which stands for knowledge, nurture, optimism, and wonder. Stupid right? I got into this academy randomly. I didn't apply, and to be honest, I didn't know this school existed. But they knew who I was. And it's funny how they call it the Academy of KNOW when no one really knows about it. That's the great thing about the internet. With just a few taps of your keyboard, you can learn about almost anything. Funny thing was, in the long hours I have spent looking for this school, I have only found the school website, which is filled with pictures of the school and students who look way too happy to be there. The school looks fine but what shocks me is the reviews. There are none. That alone should be enough to creep anyone out, but my parents are way too happy at the fact that I can go to such a "motivational and inspirational school." Hard to know if the school is either, but who am I to argue with my parents. I grab the last of my luggage, kiss my lilac colored room goodbye, and close my door. I know I seem a bit dramatic, but if you were leaving for four years on your own, going to a school you know practically nothing about, leaving everyone you know and love behind, how would you feel. I rush down the stairs. I open the front door of our Colonial style home. I look at it one last time. The house is a cream colored, 2 story house, with the spacious back and front yard, and a rose-filled garden. The garden was a summer project done by me and my brother, but he doesn't want people to know because he believes they will call him "soft". I feel like that's just a cover up for the fact that he actually liked gardening because he is constantly tending and watering the roses. As if a response to my thoughts, my brother appears behind me.

"The roses will be fine," Ryan says as he comes up behind me. He is wearing a light blue t-shirt with a black leather jacket and dark blue jeans. He has almost the same features as me, except he is muscular, taller, and has a "manly face," as he likes to call it. He's has a triangle-shaped face, with a strong jaw and thin lips. I look up at him.

"It's not the roses I am worried about. We are leaving the only home we have ever known, to go to this school, which no one seems to have heard of, might I add, and we only know each other."

"Look," Ryan says, with a look of worry. "I get it. This is scary. But come on, the school can't be that bad. You saw the pictures."

"Yeah, and I also saw the nonexistent reviews. I mean come on, how can the school have five stars and no reviews. That impossible. And the pictures were so unreal. No one is that happy to go to school."

"Ramona, you have got to start looking on the bright side of things. This academy could be fun and exciting. We could have a chance to experience new places. I mean come on, have you ever been to California?"

"No, but-"

"No more buts. Be happy. You should be proud that we got into such a prestigious academy." I sigh. He's got a point.

"Fine, but if we get kidnapped or murdered, I will blame you."

"If we die, you won't be able to blame anyone."

"Shut up," I playfully push him, and he chuckles.

"Let's go," he says, taking my bag. No matter how hard I try to shake it, an uneasy feeling starts to turnover in my stomach.