The Elements | Book 1 | Under the Sea

More Strange Things

I ran to the front of the bus, despite the bus driver's grumbles. I tried to push the door open, and it almost worked, but it wouldn't go farther than a tiny creak. My arms flopped to my sides and the door slammed closed.

I rushed back to my seat. I was surprisingly determined to solve this problem. I looked around, wondering if anyone else was panicking. The kids weren't as panicked as me, but they did seem worried, and one girl started crying. She was probably that really emotional one that cries if she gets 5 minutes late or 89 % on a test that was in my history class. 

One girl, probably one of Kayla's friends said, "Why won't this thing move? I need to get ready for Kayla's party! Ugh!!" I rolled my eyes, but tensions still seemed to be rising. I looked closely outside of the bus. What was that dark gray stuff? "Um, you're leaning on me," Holly said. "Oh, sorry! But look." I pointed out the window. "Yeah, I see a neighborhood and some trees. And a road," Holly said, confused. "Closer," I told her, even though that didn't really make sense. 

Holly squinted. "Uh, what's that sparkly gray stuff?" Holly asked. "Exactly!" Holly looked at it, studying it. "Hmm, it looks like some kind of aura." "Wait, like those magic thingys?" I asked. "Yeah, I saw a picture of it in some kind of book of mythology. Or fantasy. Whatever." 

"Seriously? This can't be some kind of magic thing, right? It- it's not real.." 

Holly just replied with a "Mhmm." I sighed. "Maybe we could open the windows?" "I dunno if we can unlock them," Holly said. I fidgeted with the lock. "Excuse me? Bus driver! How do you unlock the windows?" I called. "Hmm?" the bus driver muttered, "Why do you wanna do that..?" "Um, we're clearly stuck, and if this thing won't get moving soon, we might have to get out," I said back.

Some of the other kids on the bus nodded and a few shouted "Yeah!" The bus driver sighed. "Honestly..I dunno.." he admitted. I groaned loudly. "Hey!" Phoenix shouted from across the aisle, "I think I broke the lock!" "What?" I said, surprised. 

I rushed over. "Look," the boy beside her said, pointing. The half of the lock remained, the other half on the floor. The lock looked a little orangey on the edges, so I touched it. "Ack! That's hot! Did you like, melt that thing with lava?" "I dunno, I just clenched it between my fingers, and-" Phoenix stopped. She muttered something very quietly. 

Later..

We arrived at our house. After the bus driver made sure we all got out of the bus safely, all of us walked home. It took me, Phoenix, Holly, and Carey (Carey was also on the bus) a little longer than it was supposed to, but whatever. At least it was a Friday.

We got home, and the four of us collapsed on the couch. What a stressful day, I thought. "What happened?" Dawn asked. "An issue on the school bus," Holly replied. 

Hazel winced. "See, this is why I don't take buses. Plus, they cause pollution," she said to us, not that any of us care about air pollution that much. 

And then five years later.. just kidding, one hour later..

I flopped on the bed after dinner. I thought about the weird things that have been happening lately. It first started with my weird connection to water, then we met Sarah and Al, after that was Sarah's talk with Rose, I had weird illusions, and there was also what happened on the bus, I thought. It seemed like I had a couple pieces of the puzzle here, but they couldn't fit exactly. I'd need the other ones, and the only way was interrogation.

"Lynn! Come down!" 

I sighed. But first I needed to help with Rose's 'Welcome Home' party. 

I arrived downstairs and entered the living room. "Ah, Lynn, you arrived just in time," Aunt Sarah said to me. I sat down on the couch next to Hazel. Hopefully she didn't have any environmental fun facts to tell us. Apparently, she didn't.

"Ok everyone, I really want Rose to feel appreciated when she comes back, and now we have some extra help! I'll assign you each a task to help out with this party," she announced. 

Me and Phoenix had gotten the task with making the food. I wasn't an expert at it, but was kinda average. Phoenix agreed to do 95 percent of it, and I could do the drinks and the last 5%. I wondered what to do for drinks. Fruit punch? Something fancy perhaps? 

Trying to get inspiration, I asked, "So, Phoenix, what are you planning to cook?" She looked at me, her eyes gleaming, as if she was excited with the possibilities she had. "Well, I don't want to make anything too big, but maybe spaghetti as the main course and a cake for dessert?" 

"Sure! That sounds like something Rose would like!" Meanwhile, I started to experiment with some juices to make my own version of a drink. Maybe orange juice mixed with pink lemonade, with a cherry or those little umbrellas?

I settled on an umbrella, then opened an overhead cabinet and grabbed a clear glass bowl. I first started with pouring the orange juice.

A few minutes later

I finished making the drink and decorating the cups, and I asked Phoenix if I could check on the others before I made the frosting for her cake. She said yes, and I left the kitchen. 

Dawn and Holly had the assignment of decorating, and Midnight and Hazel had to redecorate Rose's rooms and wrap gifts. Our maybe legal guardians observed us and cleaned the main rooms. 

I checked with everyone to see how they were doing and then came back to the kitchen just in time to finish the frosting and help with side dishes. After a long evening of work, we went to bed at 10:00 P.M.

Hey guys, it's the author! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, I hadn't felt like updated this yet and was just ignoring it, but I finally finished this chapter! I'm sorry if you guys had to wait a long time