Tides of Fire

Chapter 8 - Carla POV

The air on Friday morning carried a strange buzz, like the sky knew something was coming. The first hour of class started with the professors announcing the news that had most of the school whispering before they even walked in. Dormitories.

From tonight on, Solstice Hall was opening its residential wings. We were to become not just students, but tenants, boarders under the same enchanted roof. The idea thrilled most. Independence, late-night spells, whispered secrets under enchanted ceilings. For me? It meant change. Again.

Keys would be handed out during the last class of the day, just before the two-week holiday. It felt symbolic, like a door opening right before another closed.

At lunch, we gathered near the fountain again—Caelum leaning against the stone edge with his usual effortless grace, Lysa cross-legged in the grass, and Eren tossing pebbles into the water, trying to make ripples with precision.

“Do you think they’ll put elementals together?” Eren asked with a sly grin. “Or do they want to cause chaos by mixing us up?”

Caelum smirked. “I wouldn’t mind sharing a room with someone quiet. Like one of those scholarly Earth kids who talk to moss.”

“I hope I don’t end up with someone who snores,” Lysa sighed dramatically.

“I hope I don’t end up with someone who steals my creams,” I added, laughing.

The four of us chuckled, the conversation flowing easily, warmly, like a soft current. I didn’t know how this group had become so important to me so quickly. Maybe we’d all been missing something and found it in each other.

Eventually, I stood, brushing the grass from my robes. “I’ll be right back, just heading to the WC.”

Lysa looked up. “Want me to come with?”

I shook my head, smiling. “I think I can handle a solo journey through the enchanted halls. If I don’t return, avenge me.”

Eren gave a mock salute. “Noted.”

As I wandered through the corridor alone, my thoughts wandered too. I still hadn’t figured out what to do about Jack. Ever since our training together, something between us had shifted. Not spoken aloud, not acknowledged, but there. A humming awareness. A friendship balancing on a blade.

The hallway was quiet, golden sunlight slanting through stained-glass windows. I was so distracted I didn’t see the person turning the corner until I collided with them. Hard.

“Oh—sorry!” I stumbled backward, nearly falling, but a hand caught my arm firmly, steadying me.

I blinked, and looked up. A boy. He's from Fire, clearly—his freckles were like scattered sparks across his cheeks. Auburn curls framed warm amber eyes, and his smile was... flirty.

“Didn’t mean to set you off balance,” he said, still holding my elbow.

I gave a small laugh, brushing my hair back. “It’s fine. Really.”

He didn’t let go. “Want to take a walk? Around the gardens? Bit nicer than school stone.”

I hesitated, not out of fear, just surprise. He was attractive. And I was allowed to enjoy attention, wasn’t I? The corners of my lips were just starting to lift when a voice snapped through the air.

“Get your hands off her.”

The boy and I both turned.

Jack.

His tone was cold .

“Why would I?” the boy asked, incredulous.

Jack didn’t flinch. “Leon, right? She will not be another one of your games.”

Leon raised a brow, stepping back from me but not looking guilty in the slightest. “Didn’t know she was taken.”

“She’s not,” Jack replied.

He grabbed Leon’s wrist and pushed it aside. “Go.”

Leon clucked his tongue. “Touchy,” he muttered before strolling away, hands in pockets.

I stood frozen. “What the hell, Jack?”

He turned to me, “You don’t even know him.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“He’s Leon. He flirts with girls for fun. He breaks hearts because he’s bored. You were about to go with him!”

“I wasn’t,” I snapped, though the truth was... I might have. “Why do you care, anyway?”

“Because—”

“I thought you didn’t care about the Water girls.”

That stopped him cold. “Who told you something like that?”

“You don’t remember?” I said, voice low. “The girl who gave you a letter, trembling in front of everyone? You read it, then threw it back in her face. You stepped on her feelings in front of everyone! And why? Because she was from Water? Are you kidding me?’”

Jack’s mouth opened slightly, then closed. Shame flickered across his face.

“Do you even know how cruel you were?” I continued. “ She ran off crying. You crushed her just because she was from Water!"

“Carla—”

But I was already walking away, the words burning in my chest. I didn’t want his apology.

___

To calm down and change my mind, I opted for a little walk in the garden of Solstice Hall.

I stayed in the garden long after the bell rang, pacing slowly along the stone path lined with fragrant blooming lilies. The scent helped, somehow. I needed this—time, space, anything that wasn’t Jack’s voice ringing in my head. The way he had grabbed Leon’s wrist. The way he looked at me, like I was his to protect.

Who did he think he was?

Still, the breeze was soft, the garden quiet but not silent, and gradually the tightness in my chest began to loosen. After a while, I took a deep breath, wiped my face quickly, and decided to head back toward the fountain.

When I reached the edge of the courtyard, my friends were all sitting in the same spot, right where I’d left them. Caelum was gesturing wildly with both hands, mid-story, and Eren was laughing so hard he was practically wheezing.

Lysa noticed me first. She smirked. “Well then, did you get lost on the way?”

I raised an eyebrow at her and sat down beside them. “I took the scenic route.”

They all chuckled, and I let myself be pulled back into their rhythm. It helped. Even if I didn’t say anything about what had just happened.

The last class of the day woukd soon begin, and we shuffled off to it, slower than usual—no one was eager to sit through a final lecture right before two weeks of freedom. I ended up a few seats away from Jack. Close enough to feel if he looked at me.

And he did.

More than once, I felt the weight of his eyes on me. I didn’t turn. I didn’t flinch. I told myself I didn’t care.

When the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the last class , the halls buzzed with excitement. But instead of being dismissed, we were led through the winding corridors of Solstice Hall toward a large, circular chamber I had never entered before.

The Atrium of Binding.

Named, apparently, for the way it once housed ancient oaths of elemental pacts. Now, it looked more like a regal amphitheater, with high stained-glass windows and a central platform shaped like a compass rose. All the students gathered, murmuring amongst themselves, eager and anxious in equal measure.

Professor Ilyra stepped onto the platform, her robes trailing like mist behind her. “Students of Solstice Hall,” she said, her voice clear and calming, “from this evening onward, your dormitories will be made available to you. These rooms will be your second home. Choose to treat them, and your roommates, with respect.”

She lifted a long scroll and began reading names, calling them up one by one to collect their keys from a shimmering silver box beside her.

Caelum was among the first, assigned to share a room with two other boys from Air—a perfect fit, he joked later, since he’d always wanted to live in a wind tunnel.

The Earthstone twins, of course, were paired together. Eren grinned proudly when their names were called, throwing an arm around Lysa as they received their shared key.

I held my breath as more and more names were called.

Then: “Jack Ember.”

My eyes lifted, unbidden. He moved with that careless grace of his, strolling up to the platform.

“Room 14,” Professor Ilyra said. “With Leon Darrin and Lionel Reeve.”

I stared. Leon?

Perfect.

Jack’s jaw tensed, just for a second. He gave a clipped nod, took his key, and returned to his seat.

And then: “Carla Aquallis.”

Last.

I walked up, the eyes of half the room prickling on my back.

“Room 15,” Ilyra announced. “With Elena Marceau.”

She handed me the key with a small smile. “You’ll be pleased to know the dormitory has a garden view.”

I mumbled my thanks and returned to my friends.

Professor Ilyra continued, “You will have access to the dormitory during the holiday period. A fully equipped cafeteria will also be available nearby. Students are expected to move in over the weekend. Classes will resume two Mondays from now.”

The room emptied slowly. I didn’t linger.

I went home that evening. Or at least, to the place I still had to call home.

The Aquallis estate was as cold as ever—too much marble, not enough warmth. Blue crystal sconces lined the corridors, casting a faint glow, but even their soft shimmer couldn’t hide the cracks that ran deeper than stone. My parents weren’t home. Of course they weren’t. Only Mira waited for me in the entrance hall, her arms already outstretched.

“You’re really moving in?” she asked softly.

I nodded. “Dorms open this weekend. I’m going tonight.”

She hugged me tightly. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Me too.” I squeezed her back. “But I’ll visit when I can.”

There was no one else to say goodbye to. No one who’d notice I was gone.

I packed my things quickly—books, robes, a few pictures, my shell pendant from childhood—and left.

As the dormitory doors of Solstice Hall closed behind me that night, I told myself that this—this strange in-between space between fire and water, family and friends, expectation and freedom—might finally give me room to breathe.

And maybe, just maybe, space enough to figure out who I really was.