Floating and Falling

Chapter 1

"SHUT UP!" I shout, grabbing my alarm clock and flinging it across the room to hear it hit to opposite wall with a satisfying crunch! Then, like any other sensible 13-year-old, I close my eyes and go right back to sleep. 

"Kaila, honey, it's time for school," my mom, Sophie, shakes my shoulder gently. When I ignore her, she sighs and claps her hands twice to open the blinds. I growl as light floods my eyelids and roll over to glare at her. 

"Can't I just skip today?" I beg desperately. But she just shakes her head and gets up to leave the room. 

"You know you can't. And don't you dare think about ditching anyways!" she calls over her shoulder as she walks down the hall. Yup, our house, Moonshine, is big enough to have a hallway. I'm pretty sure it's bigger than Everglen, but waaaay less glamourous. As in, we don't have massive golden gates that absorb light.

I sit up with a groan and trudge towards the walk-in closet to pull on my level 3 Foxfire uniform - amber half-cape, jerkin and trousers. You're probably wondering why I'm wearing the boy uniform. Well, I refuse to wear any skirts/dresses and the boy uniform is so much more comfortable and warm so... yeah, I'm a tomboy and I'm proud of it. 

I specifically hate this uniform because it draws so much attention to my eyes. I'm the only other elf with brown eyes in the entire lost cities. Other than my mom, of course, because she's soooooooo special. Cue the eye rolls and puking. 

I trudge down the stairs and plop down at the table next to my brother, Emrick. He's only 10, so he's not going to Foxfire yet. What a lucky boy. My older sister, Jobina, lives in the Silver tower. My parents are so proud of her, so of course they want me to follow in her footsteps. Not to mention, she gets TWO special abilites - Telepathy and Conjuring. 

"Morning, Kai," My dad, the golden boy, Fitz Vacker, ruffles my dark brown hair that I inherited from him. 

"Ugh, dad, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Kai?" I grumble. My annoying parents just look at each other with barely repressed smirks. "It makes me sound so much like a boy." 

"I thought you wanted to be a boy," Emrick says innocently. He acts all ignorant and cute, but in truth, he's 10. And I know for sure that he means every single damn word that comes out of his mouth. 

I choke on my orange gloop and glare at him. "What?"

"You heard me the first time," he responds cheerfully with mischief glimmering in his eyes. 

"Now, don't tease her, Em. Just because Kaila doesn't want to wear dresses and skirts doesn't mean she wants to be a boy," my mom chimes in. "I can relate." 

"Yeah, but you'd look beautiful in anything," Dad winks at her and she blushes. Emrick and I roll our eyes. 

"Gotta go. I'll see you later," I push away from the table and stand up, grabbing my bag and taking the vortinator (that's what it's called, right?) up to the 100th floor to the Leapmaster 2000. 

______

"Can we ditch today?" I whisper to my best and only friend, Emmett Heks, when I arrive at in the Atrium. Yup, you heard me right. His mom is Stina Heks, who my parents hated, but he's actually really nice. And tall. 

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Orientation hasn't even started yet, and you already want to ditch?" 

"Yeah. Can we?" I ask, ignoring the stares from all the other students. It's been 3 years and they still stare at me like I'm some sort of alien. I guess I should tell you why. 

Well, as my parents were both "naturally brilliant" and were both at the top of their levels, they expect the same as me. And they saved the Lost Cities from the Neverseen. And both finished the elite levels. And are basically the perfect couple (Go Sophitz :p). Talk about a lot of pressure.

And then there's me. Weird, tomboy, Talentless, stupid Kaila Vacker, who's nothing like her parents. Oh, except for the fact that I inherited my mom's brown eyes. But you get the idea. Midterms and coming up, and I'm pretty sure my average for all classes is 47-58%. So yeah, I kind of gave up on studying. 

So you get why I want to ditch, right? I don't even have my mom's photographic memory. That went to Jobina, who is everything I'm not. Special, perfect, and... ugh. Nevermind. I don't even want to talk about it. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister, I just get a tiny bit jealous sometimes.

"Not today," Emmett answers, fixing me with his navy blue eyes. "Gotta study for midterms, I might actually pass!"

"Lucky you. I, on the other hand, am 99.99% going to fail. I haven't even got my stupid nexus off yet!" I glare at the blue meter with stubbornly stays at 78%. 

"You'll get it off soon."

"Ha. Ha ha." I roll my eyes. Then the screen lights up with Magnate Leto's face and overly gelled hair. 

"Good morning, prodigies! I hope you all had a good night sleep, but I have to remind you that the midterm tests are coming up. 3 weeks, to be precise. And if you need any extra help, come to my office after school ends." He pauses to survey the students. "I'm talking about you, Kaila Vacker." 

Great. Just great. Even the principal has to call me out in front of THE ENTIRE SCHOOL. My cheeks burn with embarrassment. I wish I was a Vorciferator so I could make everyone shut up and stop whispering and laughing at me. I have to grit my teeth to prevent myself from spewing profanity at the top of my lungs at everyone. I. Hate. My. Stupid. Freaking. Life. 

So... first (technically second?) chapter done! Yay! 

Sorry for being off Wattpad for so long. It's summer now, so I should be writing more. No promises, though :\

Anyway, I'm asking a small favour of you awesome readers: do you guys mind typing "Sophitz" into the comments if this story was good, and "Foster-Keefe" if it was bad? And you type "Foster-Keefe", could you please tell me why? Thanks! (I can already see this idea backfiring... but it'll be worth it)

Love you guys! Bye!