Elemental War

Chapter One - The Joys Of A Bucket Of Water (JASON)

[So, this is the first chapter in my first ever Wattpad book! So excited! This is written from an American perspective, so if you think there's a 'more American' phrase for something, don't hesitate to comment it!]

I wake up to the sound of a wave crashing about my ears and the feel of it soaking me through.

"Oh, no! Little Jason seems to have wet himself! Good luck cleaning up your room, loser."

My brother's snide, falsely sympathetic voice slaps me harder than the water did. By the time I've heaved my head up and opened my eyes, he's gone. I can taste salt in my mouth and with upsetting certainty I think that that wet, sticky feeling on my back is seaweed. Standing up, I pull my shirt away from myself with a look of disgust on my face.

Deciding it was too wet to bother, I took the shirt off and squeezed it (which did pretty much nothing) before haphazardly folding it and groping around for my backpack from the tiny space under the bed.

Giving up, I glance around the room, blinking to get my eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room.

The clock shows that it's eight minutes past five. In the morning. Great. The dusty, squat 'wardrobe' sits in the corner. It does better warding me off than bugs. The first day, I looked inside, but after seeing the dead spiders, flies, bluebottles and all manner of disgusting insects, I haven't since. My clothes are in my waterproof rucksack under the bed. You can understand why it's waterproof. Pouring water on me is not a new trick. The 'wall clock' is by my bed, which is less comfy than the rotting, wooden floor. The room is small, cramped and smells like something other than insects has died in here. Damp is splattered across the walls and moss dots the ceiling. It's better than outside though. Probably. Maybe not. It's not the time to be thinking about it, anyway.

I can already hear Terry's snoring. I wish I could get to sleep that easily. It's probably because he doesn't have to worry about his brothers planning another ordeal for next morning. Unlike me. All I can think is thank God Max isn't awake. He would've convinced Terry to put some crabs in that bucket, too. He has Terry wrapped round his little finger, does Max. And mom and dad.

I never got any special treatment. Quite the contrary, in fact. I was the 'different' child in my family. Where all the rest of them had strawberry blonde hair, I was brunette; where they were fair skinned and freckled, I tanned easily; where they were slight and skinny, I was broad, and built like a swimmer. It was like being born on opposite day.

I grab my pack, shoving the wet shirt into an empty pocket. I rummage through it, bringing out another and pull it over my head. After another moment of sifting through, my fingers close around the slightly beaten up surface of an apple. I sling the bag over my left shoulder and creep down the creaking stairs. If you want to be quiet, the trick is to stick to the wall and stay as far away from the center as possible. I reach the back door and give it a shove from just above the handle. Anywhere else and it stays jammed. After a couple of good, solid shoves, it opens. Fresh air billows in, coupled with the smell of ocean, shrubbery and not a whiff of corruption. I shut the door behind me with a satisfying crunch, biting into the apple and smiling to myself as I feel the juice run down my chin.

I wipe it off with the back of my hand with a sigh and wander up the beach. I flop down at the water's edge, feeling the clear turquoise liquid lap at my feet. I lie back on my elbows, my pack a little to my left.

The day is calm and peaceful, no hustle and bustle or him of people, just me on the edge of paradise, away from my family and their jeers and disgusted looks.

Feeling at peace for once in a long while, I close my eyes under the glare of the sun and lie back on my hands.

I get that familiar sensation that I'm being watched, analysed, but I ignore it for once - who could possibly be here, on this remote part of the beach that my family rented with specific instructions of being away from other people, those horrible foreign folk, as they put it on the phone?

It seems ridiculous and I just feel so content and lulled by the peace of a blue, cloudless sky and the gentle splash of the waves on the shore, that I don't see her until she's right behind me.

{End of chapter (or EOC for short)}

Yay! That was my first chapter, so, yeah! Vote, comment, share and add to your library if you enjoyed. BTW, this is a GUY talking, okay? My friend thought it was a girl! I wouldn't usually associate 'broad' with girls, especially in a clichéd book. I have a really weird friend...