Elemental

Chapter One- Lyla

A/N: Hi everyone, Louise here. I'm writing all the odd numbered chapters from Lyla's point of view, and Kaela's writing all the even ones from Tyler's point of view.

I know this chapter is quite short, but I promise the rest will be longer. Please leave feedback, we'd love to hear from you!

Lou x

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I woke up screaming. The luxurious sheets I was lying on were hot and damp, and the gilded gold panel walls that surrounded me seemed unfamiliar, though I’d been there for three months already.

Chlair rushed in, swathed in her black silk dressing gown.

Pushing the messy hair out of her face, she came to sit on my bed, and I sat up. Embarrassed, I ducked my head.

“Chlair, did I wake you up again? I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be stupid, Lyla. I’m your best friend. I don’t mind coming to fight off the bad dreams,” she replied in a joking tone, but I could hear the concern in her voice. She punched me lightly on the shoulder, and I moved over so she could sit next to me. “So, what was it this time?”

I sighed. “The same as last night, and the night before, and the night before. Every night, the same dream. What’s happening to me?”

“Would it help to talk about it?” she offered kindly, although I’d already bored her with descriptions so many times before.

I closed my eyes and leaned my back against the wall.

Trying to visualise the dream, I began to describe it.

“I’m in a room, it’s dark and damp. Whoever decorated it should be shot because the design is so awful. 

"I’m sitting cross legged on the floor, with my hands out in front of me, and suddenly a ball of fire bursts to life. But it’s not in the room, it’s in my hands. I can control it. I throw it up and down, move it from hand to hand, then suddenly I’m scared. What am I doing with this ball of flame? I throw it at the wall, and it goes through. It goes through a solid wall. There’s a scorch mark, a big black round one, and through the hole in the wall I can see a polished white room. A woman in a lab coat is watching me from the other side.

" 'Interesting,' she says, tapping her pen against her chin. She splays a hand in front of my face, and everything goes black. And that’s when I wake up,” I finished, sighing

Chlair frowned. “Give me your hands.”

I looked at her quizzically but she just reached out.

I placed my hands on top of hers, palms down, and a look of shock crossed her face, but as soon as it was there it disappeared, replaced by her normal face, leaving me wondering if I ever saw it at all.

“I’m sure it’s just your excitement about going home. Um, I have to call someone.”

I shrugged. “Okay? Who?”

She blushed and stood up. “Oh, he’s no one.”

“A he?” I raised an eyebrow, smirking.

“Shut up!” She shoved me playfully then walked to the door, turning out the light. “Goodnight, Lyla. Sweet dreams.”

I thought I would stay awake for hours, tossing and turning as I usually did when I had that dream, but talking to Chlair had done me good. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I was woken the next morning with a sudden brightness in my room. I sat up sleepily to see Chlair at the window, parting the large velvet curtains. She was already dressed in her ‘personalised’ Meridan uniform, all five piercings in and kohl-rimmed eyes.

“Rise and shine! We’re going home today!” she said happily, skipping around in a totally un-Chlair-like way. 

I laughed. “Okay, okay, I’m getting up!” I grabbed my towel and my less personalized uniform and dashed into the shining en suite to get dressed.

The halls were crowded with excited girls, all up an hour earlier than usual. We followed the general throng through to the giant dining hall. The footman took our blazers at the door and we listened in to the other girls gossiping as we lined up for our eggs benedict.

“So, who was that boy you were calling last night?” I whisper to Chlair. She shrugged.

“No one, like I said. Just a… family friend.”

I didn’t quite believe her, but we spotted some first years trying to take our seats at the table we always sat at, so we rushed to shoo them away.

Over breakfast, we barely said anything. We were starving because we’d missed out on dinner last night. Chlair wanted to do some extra astrospace homework to make up for her not too good grades, so she dragged me up onto the roof without so much as an apple.

The butlers came to take our plates. Chlair nodded to them, but the rest of the girls at our table, including me, just ignored them. I was raised in a big castle-like manor, but Chlair wasn’t used to being waited on like this I guessed. I’d never really prodded her about her past.

“What exactly are you doing these holidays?” I asked as we went back upstairs to collect our bags.

“Stuff,” she replied bluntly, and disappeared into her room.

I shrugged to myself and checked my Ore. Three new messages, two from my grandmother and one from Liam.

I was just about to reply when Chlair barged in holding her new report card.

“What is this? We skipped foie gras for dinner so I could get extra credit in astrospace, and they fail me?” she cried disbelievingly. I rolled my eyes.

“Let me see that.” I took the card off her and laughed. “You got a C plus!”

“My parents are going to kill me!” she said overdramatically and flopped herself on my bed.

A little chiming bell sounded through the speakers, signaling that our cars were here. We both stood up and Chlair ran into her room again, emerging with five giant bags. I picked up my load, only marginally smaller than hers, and we struggled down the stairs. The butler held open the door for us, smiling, and we nodded to him as we walked through the doors of Meridan Elite Ladies’ Boarding School, not knowing it would be the last time we ever did.