Element-ary

Chosen

You're all gonna hate meh >:)

...Is what Jax wished he had said. But no. "And finally...Arin Night. Thank you all for coming. Please let your families know they can come back in now." Jax sighed, heart sinking. He shook his head as he limped to the door. 'Like he'd ever choose someone like me. As if!" Behind him, he heard faintly,"I'm sixteen, an Earth shifter, and Arin daughter of Simon Night of the famous Night Industries." 

"Wait a moment!" Maestro Higuel boomed. Everyone froze.
  "There has been a mistake. Tradition states that each pair must consist of one girl and one boy, not two girls. Arin, I'm afraid you're not eligible. In your place will be...Jax Aimswood." He gasped, turning as the older girl dashed off the stage. "Jax Aimswood, please come up here." The boy slowly started to hobble up the steep steps, flinching as everyone stared at him. Maestro Higuel smiled gently. "Please state your age, element, and legacy, son." "U-Ummm...I'm th-thirteen, an Earth shifter, and...a-and..." He gulped, trembling. "Calm down. Just take a deep breath and state your legacy." "I-I'm Jaxon Aimswood, s-s-son of n-none."
    There was a pause, and then the crowd erupted in chatter. Jax stumbled back, slipping and hitting the ground hard. He curled up, hands over his ears and eyes squeezed shut. Suddenly, someone placed a hand on his back. "Shh, it's ok. Shh." He gasped at the sudden contact, choking as tears streamed from his eyes.
      The stranger helped him sit up, murmuring comforting words. Once his tears had slowed down, they said,"It's ok. Can you open your eyes for me, sweetheart?" He did. In front of him was one of the female members of the Eight, the Air Controller. She smiled kindly, brushing away stray tears. (I ship. XD)
   "There now, it's ok. No one's gonna hurt you." She gently, but firmly,pried his shaking hands away from his ears and pulled him up. "My name's Kalani. Follow me. The others are in the back."
  Jax allowed her to tug him away, but not before someone yelled,"Who wants the freak here anyway?" He bowed his head as she led him to a private room in the back. (I swear if I see any of THOSE kinds of comments...😵) 
  The rest of the Eight and Maestro Higuel were all seated on plush, velvet chairs. They all looked up as the two walked in. Almost immediately, the water bender girl jumped up and ran toward them. She pounced on Jax, taking him to the floor. "It's so nice to meet you! I'm Nixie though you probably already know that cuz of the whole thing back there. You have really pretty eyes, oh and I've never seen white hair before! Are you sure you're thirteen? You're really little. It's cute though, so don't be mad at me!" The white-haired boy looked almost catatonic. "M-Miss K-Kalani!" She sighed and pulled the energetic teen off him.          "Chill, Nix. You're crushing him with words!" "Oopsie. I, um, I do that a lot...sorry, Jax." He stood up, looking at the ground. "It's f-fine, Miss Nixie." They looked at him, confused, but shook it off. The oldest boy stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Ember. It's nice to meet you." Jax slowly took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you too, sir." And so it went, them introducing themselves and him answering them with "miss" or "sir".     Once the introductions were over, Maestro Higuel gestured to the seats. "Please, sit." Seven of them did, but Jax stood still, looking at each of them in turn. "Is something wrong, Jax?" Cove asked.
  He hesitated, then said, "Actually, Mister C-Cove, I was wondering...who do I serve?" They stared at him. "My boy, whatever do you mean?" Maestro Higuel said lowly. "Th-That's why you called me, right? T-To serve at the Byrie?" The Master shook his head. "No, Jax. I chose you to train at the Byrie, not to serve. You don't have to serve anyone. Now, sit wherever you please." He hesitated. "I-I, umm..."
  Ember sighed and stood up, scooping the younger boy into the air. He turned and sat, plunking Jax down between him and Kalani. Suddenly, he paused and stood back up, lifting Jax once again. "Wow. My cousin's right, you are really little." "P-Please put me down."
  Ember chuckled and lowered the boy to the floor. He raised his hand, and Jax flinched hard. "I-I'm sorry, sir. I meant no disrespect, honest! Y-you can pick me up again if you want to, o-or anything, but p-please don't hit me!" Everyone looked shocked. Ember frowned and knelt down in front of him. "Jax, why would I hit you? Because you asked me to set you down? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset. Nobody's gonna force you to do something you feel uncomfortable doing."
  He sniffled, rubbing at his eyes. (Of course, he didn't know that the females in the room found the act adorable.)
   "Really?" Kalani grinned. "Really really. Now come here, you can sit by me." Jax smiled shyly and hobbled over to sit by her. As the others talked, she felt something hit her shoulder with a thunk. She looked down and gasped softly.

Heyo! This chapter is dedicated to the amazing RETRO-INDIGO, who made the cover. Go check out their awesome cover shop. Like now, people!!! I'm publishing this a couple days early cuz I won't have time to this weekend. Anyway, what do you think happened there at the end? What hit her?
My answer: Not telling. 🤐
By the way, I've been looking into getting a beta but I don't know how or who. Any advice?