The Maze of Fire

Chapter 1

   “Fotiá! It’s time for school!” Mother called from downstairs. Luckly, I was
already dressed. I stood up and walked out of my room. I accidentally bumped
into my stepbrother, Neró. Neró means water in Greek. My name means fire in
Greek. I should mention I'm a phoenix. Anyway, Neró apologized and ran off,
leaving me in the hallway with the scent of salt water. I remembered mother
called me and went downstairs. My red hair was in a neat bun so I wouldn't
accidentally eat it with my food. Mother looked me up and down.
“What’s the reason you dressed like that?” She asked, looking at my short
skirt, orange dress and black leggings topped off with my black fancy shoes that
have some orange sparkles in flame shapes. I shrugged. “Don't really know. I just
felt pretty today.”
“Honey, you've always been pretty!” Mother smiled at me. I smiled back
and got myself a bagel. Neró walked in and sat at the table. “Could you get me a
bagel, sis?” He asked. I almost threw my bagel at him. I sighed, why couldn't he
get up and get it himself? No one knows! I threw my bagel at him, angrily. Neró
chuckled while he caught it. I grabbed another bagel and made my school bag
appear. I started packing.

~+~

My friend, Aliada, talks a lot. She told me that James was now dating Dina.
This confused me. Dina is rich, spoiled, and rude. She always has too much
makeup on. I sighed as I listened to Aliada ramble on about how ugly Dina is.
Suddenly, the bell rings, making me squeak and transform into an actual phoenix
for a few seconds before going back to the human(ish) form. My hair was now out
of the bun and curly. “Ugh! I wanted my hair in a bun for THE WHOLE DAY!” I
grumbled. Aliada giggled.
“We should get to class.” She said through giggles. I nodded and followed
her to Math. The only reason I like math is because we have a pretty tall elf for
our teacher. Mrs. K had a soft brown hair color yet she had freckles decorating her face. She also had glasses, like the ones Harry Potter has. Her skin was
slightly tan. Most newbies (What I call new students) think Mrs. K is a rude but
pretty elf. Pretty as in the type of elves in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings
pretty. But no. She is a cute, very kind, tall elf.
I snap out of my thoughts when a few pieces of paper land on my desk
with a slap noise. “Ninety-nine percent! Better than last time by fifty-nine
points!” Mrs. K smiled at me. My eyes widened, did I really pass the math test?
Sure enough, there on the paper was a big B+. I grinned and held in a happy
squeal. Mrs. K went around the room and gave everyone else their tests. When
she was done, she walked back to her desk. “Today, we’ll start a new unit.” Mrs.
K announced. She kept talking but my focus went out the window when the dude
that sat in the back of the class walked in. “Sorry I'm late..” He said, walking to
the back. He was wearing the same black hoodie he always wears and some
ripped jeans. I looked back at the teacher and listened.
After class, Aliada and I went to our lockers. “I wonder who that quiet boy
is..” Aliada mumbled. “He's probably the guy that's failing Math.” I laughed a bit.
Speak of the devil! The quiet boy bumped into Aliada. “Oh, Sorry.” He said before
walking off. Aliada giggled, “He's very clumsy sometimes.” I nodded in
agreement. I was half tempted to pull his hood down to see who he was. Luckly, I
didn’t. Dina walked up to us. “Oh hey girls! Just wanted to tell you that I invited
you to a slumber party! It’s scheduled on saturday. Tell me if you can’t come,
okay?” Dina said in her high pitch voice which annoyed me. I shrugged. “I have
to ask my parents.” I responded while Aliada nodded. “Same here.” She said,
sounding slightly annoyed like me. Dina smiled, it wasn't a nice smile. It was one
of those evil smiles. Dina then walked off with her purse filled with makeup,dollars, and her expensive phone. I heard the bell ring again and Aliada and I parted for our different
classes. I walked to English. My English teacher was human. He had long black
hair, blue eyes, and very pale skin. You’d think he was a vampire but he's not. Mr.
R was a bit short, me being almost as tall as him. Anyway, I sat at my desk and
saw that the quiet boy was in the back. Cool. I think he's in all my classes. I focus
on the teacher for a while. Then, I felt myself dozing off. I quickly wake back up
and hide a yawn. It's not like me to fall asleep in class. I looked outside. There
was a big, dark cloud over us. Great, A storm. I sighed and wondered how I would
get home if it started raining. “Fotiá? Are you listening?” Mr. R asked. I blinked
then nodded. This was going to be a long day.
After English, I didn't see Aliada anywhere. When her and Dina came out
of History, I knew exactly what happened. “Hey girls. What are you doing?” I
tried to ask politely. “Nothing really. We were about to go to PE. Wanna come?”
Aliada asked. I nodded and walked to PE with them. They were giggling about
something. I don't know what. Right as we got to the girls locker room, the bell rang.