Power Revealed (The Elementers) (3 page)

Justin began walking to the door hoping to end the conversation without being rude. “Houston.”

“Houston? Bellingham must be quite a change,” Lewis said.

Justin sighed. “Yeah.”

As they entered the hallway, Justin was about to make his getaway when a skinny blond with pink and purple streaks in her hair stopped in front of them. Her clothes were even more colorful than her hair. “Hey, Lewis. Are you going to introduce us?”

Lewis turned to his new classmate. “What’s your name?”

“Justin.”

The girl twirled a strand of pink-streaked hair around her finger. “I’m Amanda. Want to have lunch with us? The weather’s nice, so we’ll be eating outside.” Justin hesitated, trying to think up a good excuse, but Amanda didn’t give him any time. “Good. I’ll introduce you to the group.” She casually placed her hand on the crook of his elbow and led him down the hall. Justin looked back at Lewis, who just shrugged his shoulders as if he understood the difficulty of saying “no” to Amanda. Justin tried to sneak in a few words between Amanda’s energetic tour of the school and overview of social life at Sehome High School, but after a while, he gave up trying to get away. He could contact Anya right after school, instead.

Justin’s desire to socialize had evaporated since Grandpa’s death. For the past week-and-a-half since the accident, Justin had pretty much closed up, simply going through the motions of the funeral, packing up, and saying his goodbyes. But Amanda seemed to do all the work in the conversation, making it easy for Justin to just walk and listen. It kind of felt good to be around someone who didn’t know they should be saying they were sorry for his loss.

After buying lunch, Lewis and Amanda led Justin outside past other groups trying to enjoy the rare spring warmth. They sat down at a partially-filled table and introduced Justin to their friends. He listened while the group enjoyed giving him a quick tutorial about social survival in Bellingham. They asked him questions about Houston, which he answered in as few words as possible, but their friendly banter back-and-forth between each other began to ease some of the tightness in his chest that had been there since news of the accident.

Near the end of the lunch break, Justin walked back toward the school with the group. A gathering of pine trees at the edge of the field caught his eye and he wondered how late he’d be for his next class if he hurried over and tried to contact Anya. But, suddenly, he bumped into a wall that he hadn’t noticed being there.

“Watch it, loser!” boomed a voice.

Justin turned around and looked up. He hadn’t walked into a wall. He had bumped into a beast. The guy was well over six feet tall and half as wide, and the mass seemed to be all muscle. The guy shoved Justin with enough force to send him falling back into Amanda. Thankfully, Lewis grabbed both their arms to keep them from falling. Justin had dealt with enough bullies in the past to recognize one on sight. Once his blankouts had started happening in fifth grade, he had become something of a target for bullies. He stood up to the jerks, often just making things worse, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to be a pushover. Besides, the blankouts weren’t his fault. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop some kids from making fun of him and most of his teachers from accusing him of not paying attention.

A ball of anger burst inside of Justin. “Back off. It was an accident.”

“You’re telling me to back off?”

The huge, football lineman narrowed his eyes and took a step toward Justin, but someone nearby quickly grabbed the guy’s arm. “Hank, forget about him. You could be suspended from the team if you’re caught fighting again.”

Hank’s feet stood still, but he leaned forward and glared much like a bull preparing to run at the bull fighter. “Do that again, and it’s your funeral.”

Wrong expression. The word ‘funeral’ caused something to snap inside of Justin. The memory of standing in front of a closed casket flashed in Justin’s mind. The casket had to be closed because of the car explosion. Grandpa had always been so full of life, and suddenly, he was gone with only his remains locked away in a long, brown box. All the pain Justin had been feeling for the past ten days yearned to erupt. It felt like a tornado of fury swirling inside of him with nowhere to go.

Amanda must have noticed the change because she gently grabbed Justin’s arm and pulled him toward the school doors. “Come on, Justin.” He allowed Amanda to lead him away, but he could feel the storm of energy ricochet inside of him, struggling to burst free.

Crack! A loud ripping sound caused everyone to turn to see a large tree split in half down its trunk and smash into a nearby empty patio table sending pieces of the tree and the table flying in all directions. Amanda gasped, while numerous more enthusiastic exclamations erupted from students nearby. A blast of nausea rushed through Justin and he staggered back. The splintered tree looked like it had exploded from the inside. A disturbing thought entered his mind, suggesting that his pent up energy had gone into that tree. But that was absurd.

He stared at the tree until Amanda pulled on his arm again. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before Hank decides to show off. He’s a hothead. Just ignore him and stay away from him.”

“I’m not very good at ignoring stupidity,” Justin said.

“But your face won’t look nearly as cute as it does currently if Hank covers it with bruises.” Amanda smiled playfully and let go of his arm.

Justin was much better at coming up with insults for jerks than at responding to compliments from girls. Thankfully, as they neared the school doors, Lewis started talking to Amanda about a movie he saw last night. Justin walked beside them wondering silently to himself what had caused that tree to fall.

Chapter 5

“We’re going to begin working on a research project,” Mr. Hamilton announced to his science class later that afternoon. “You’ll be working on the assignment in pairs.” Whispers and movement rippled across the room as the students quickly tried to claim a partner.

Mr. Hamilton spoke over the noise. “I’ll be choosing the groups for the project.” Silence cut in for a moment and then moans and complaints arose. “As I was saying, I have selected the partners, so listen carefully as I read out the names. Raise your hand when I call out your name.”

While the names were read out, a mixture of cheers and groans were heard. Finally, Justin’s name was called. But to his surprise he was paired with Raven, the girl who accused him of talking to the tree. He couldn’t believe his bad luck. He had planned on staying away from her, hoping that she would simply forget about the tree event yesterday. So much for trying to avoid her.

Mr. Hamilton gave the instructions for the research project and dismissed them to go outside to the neighboring park to gather the items they would need to begin phase one of their project. Raven walked over to Justin’s desk. “Come on. I’ll show you the way.”

Justin reluctantly followed her down the hallway, out the door, and toward the park across the street. He didn’t want to start talking to her and have her accuse him of talking to a tree again. So he walked behind her, letting her chatter with another classmate about the upcoming basketball game. Once they reached the park, Raven led him away from the rest of the students.

“Why don’t you start clearing out a spot on the ground while I go get some tools from Mr. Hamilton?” Raven suggested, promptly walking away before he could argue.

Justin was stuck with her, so he’d deal with it, but there was no way he would let her catch him talking to, or through, a tree again. He made a point to keep space between him and any plant life larger than a bush. He bent down and began brushing away various rocks, leaves, and pine needles to clear a two-foot circle of ground for their project. Just as he finished clearing the circle, energy rushed from the ground into his hands and throughout his body. He froze in place. He wasn’t touching any trees. What was going on?

“Hello,” a voice called to him.

Once again, he spun around to find the source of the voice. And again, no one was in sight. Justin groaned. This couldn’t be happening to him! And if it was, why did it need to happen right now? His science partner would return any moment, and he couldn’t let her catch him talking to the ground this time.

“Justin. Are you there?” the voice spoke up again.

Justin’s eyes darted around making sure no one was near. He whispered, “Yes, I’m here. Is that you Anya?”

“I knew you were an Earth Elementer!” the voice exclaimed.

“I’m a Tree Elementer, not a—” Justin’s forehead furrowed and he shook his head. “What did you call me? An Earth Elementer?”

“Of course. You have to be an Earth Elementer. You’re Earth Talking with me right now.”

“Wait,” Justin paused and looked around again. “You’re not Anya. Who is this?”

“Come on. You haven’t guessed yet?”

“How should I know? You haven’t told me. And how do you know my name?” Justin’s forehead furrowed from the headache caused by the million questions pressing against his brain.

“It doesn’t take much detective work when I find you talking through a tree.”

Justin snapped up his head and looked around for his research partner. “Raven?!”

Raven came walking from behind a tree toward Justin. Her arms were folded across her chest and she had a satisfied smile on her face. “I knew you were the Earth Elementer I sensed the other night.”

Justin’s mind reeled. “Uhh. No, I’m not. I’m a Tree Elementer.” Oops. He didn’t mean to say that.

“If you can Earth Talk, you shouldn’t be able to Tree Talk.”

Justin had enough of all this craziness. He wanted answers. Standing up he took a step toward Raven. “Then how did I talk to Anya last night?”

Raven stopped walking forward and bit her lip. “You know Anya?” She hesitated and her eyes grew wide upon realization. “That’s why I sensed you last night but couldn’t Talk to you. It’s because you were Tree Talking. How can you Tree Talk and Earth Talk?”

“What’s Earth Talking?” Justin asked.

“Talking is simply using the elements to communicate with other Elementers. Don’t you know anything about Elementers?”

“Excuse me, but the first time any of this freaky stuff started happening to me was when you interrupted me yesterday. What’s wrong with this place?”

Raven’s back straightened. “There’s nothing wrong with Bellingham. It has nothing to do with where we are. Earth, Tree, Wind, and Water Elementers have existed for millennia all over the world. But Elementers aren’t supposed to cross boundaries.”

“Oh, so now you’re going to tell me I’m not only a freak, but a freak who isn’t following the rules. You sound just like my dad.”

Raven shook her head. “It’s not about breaking any rules. No one has had the power of two elements in a very long time.” Raven paused. “Wait. So yesterday was the first time you ever Earth or Tree Talked?”

“Yes.”

“Wow. So are you completely freaked out?” Raven said.

“No,” Justin looked at the ground and dug his hands into his pockets. “Maybe a little.” Justin looked up at Raven trying to decide how to respond to all she’d said. Finally, his curiosity won out over his desire to not embarrass himself in front of her. “So, if you know so much, I have some questions.”

“I’m sure you do. What do you want to know?”

“What’s happening to me?” Justin asked.

“You’re beginning to Earth Talk—and Tree Talk.”

“I figured that much. Why am I Earth and Tree Talking?”

“Some people are just born with the gift.”

“A gift? To talk through trees? If I want a gift, I’ll ask for a trip back home to see a Houston Texans football game. And if I need to talk to someone, I’ll use my phone. I can carry that with me. A tree isn’t very portable. Besides, if I was born with this ability, why couldn’t I use it until yesterday?”

“The ability can’t be controlled until you’re a teenager,” Raven said.

“How long have you been doing this?”

“About a year.”

“How old are you?”

“Fifteen,” Raven said.

“So am I. Why have you been doing it longer?” Justin asked.

Raven smirked. “Haven’t you heard? Girls mature faster than boys.”

Justin chose to ignore her comment. “So does everyone know you can Earth Talk?”

“Are you kidding? I can just imagine what Eric would think if he knew I was a walking metal detector and could predict earthquakes.”

“Who’s Eric?”

The color in Raven’s cheeks suddenly became a much deeper red. “Come on. We need to talk to Mr. Hamilton.”

Chapter 6