Fire and Rain

Five

Wrong. I was dead wrong, and I found out a little too late. After first period with Mrs. Dunston—who was a Biology teacher and not an Elementals teacher—Maria, Fin and I went to the locker area.

Daniel, who looked the same as usual, swaggered his way towards me with a smug smile. “Hey, Dana,” he greeted, “I heard you’re going to the party later. Want me to pick you up?”

Remembering how my parents wanted Daniel to show up in the house, I was about to say “sure when Maria stepped in.

“No thanks, Daniel. She’s actually getting a ride with me and Fin,” she said with an obviously fake smile.

Daniel was taken aback, then looked at me to confirm. So, I shrugged and replied, “What she said, I guess.”

“Alright then, I guess I’ll see you later,” Daniel winked then walked away.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Fin leaned in and whispered, “The audacity of that guy.”

I frowned at him, confused at what exactly Daniel did wrong. I knew that Fin and Maria never really liked him, but they didn’t actually loathe him like how they were acting now. “What’s wrong?” I asked, watching as Daniel purposely tripped a student passing by then laughing.

They looked at me like I was insane. “Well duh, Dana,” Maria said, “he’s still trying to flirt with you even though Gareth is his teammate.”

“And?”

“And,” she sighed, “it’s against the rules to go after the girl that your teammate is seeing. That’s just a plain no-no.”

It took me a few seconds to fully digest the words that came out of her mouth. And when I realized what she meant, my eyes widened in shock. “Seeing? As in dating? Gareth? Me?” I exclaimed.

“Well,” Fin piped in, “not technically. But everyone knows you have a thing going on. It’s pretty much set in stone how you and Gareth are “the” item in school. It would be no surprise if you two win prom king and queen.”

“A what now?” What the hell even was a prom king and queen?

They might have mistaken my confusion with disbelief, because Maria proceeded to explain, “I mean, cheerleading captain and captain of the basketball team. That’s like, every high school prom royalty stereotype.”

But that explanation made no sense as well. I still hadn’t gotten over the fact that in this dream world, or whatever universe, Gareth—my sworn enemy, leader of the Stupid Pack, acting cool, “that" Gareth—was being paired up with me. That must’ve been why Baron, Louie and Jonathan were acting civil towards me.

I was starting to feel lightheaded. The confusion was just too much. These were my friends in front of me, and yet, they weren’t actually “my friends.” What in the hell was happening?

I let the two of them go on without me, and I went to the restroom—the one on the topmost floor, near the study rooms and library which I knew was rarely frequented. As soon as I got in, I checked the stalls to see if anyone was there. Then, I faced the sink.

Whatever reality I was in, I realized that there hadn’t been any mentions of Elements or Therians, so I had to check. I let the water run from the faucet, and tried to move the stream sideways. No response. I concentrated even harder. Using what I had learned from years of Elemental classes, I steadied my base, focused on every drop of the water flowing, and channeled my energy on my outstretched hand. Finally, the water swayed sideways for an inch. But that was it. Comparing it to my home world, the control of nature here was much weaker. And judging by state of things—the heavily polluted streets caused by cars and the smoke coming out of industrial buildings, the lack of care for plants or animals anywhere—I kind of understood why. The humankind here was not attuned to nature, and so nature didn’t share its gifts.

With an exasperated sigh, I turned off the faucet and left. The rest of the day went pretty much like how the morning did. Gareth never showed up for school, and Mr. Farden was temporarily replaced by another teacher, since he was out sick. Students occasionally greeted me as I passed by—which was similar to real life—except they often commented on my outfit. I didn’t know what they were expecting me to dress up like, but it certainly wasn’t a shirt with “re" on the front and “bel" at the back. The food in the cafeteria was also weird and unpalatable. They were serving mostly bland, processed food, and barely any vegetables and fruit. Classes were also boring. The topics they were covering for mathematics and science were the ones tackled in our grade school days. And during our history class, there was no mention at all of Carden. In fact, 70% of history seemed to have gone differently.

Considering everything, a thought came into mind. An alternate universe. The Anchorville Museum tour guide mentioned of a scroll wherein someone talked about traveling to an alternate world almost exactly like ours, except nature and animals were treated differently.

Could this be it?

No, no. That can’t be it. If I were in an a different universe without knowing how I got to it, then I wouldn’t know how to go back. So, no.

I’m just dreaming, and come morning, I’ll wake up.

“You saying something, Dana?” Fin asked, closing his locker. I must’ve said my thoughts out loud, because he added, “Are you daydreaming?”

I looked around, quickly orienting myself that I was, in fact, in the middle of the locker area. Classes had just ended, Maria’s ride came early, and Fin had to store his books into his locker. Right.

“No, I was just… pretty sleepy, I guess,” I lied.

Fin looked at me weirdly, and we started walking towards the exit. “You know,” he said with a worried expression, “you have been a bit, um, different the entire day. Are you sure you’re fine? Did you get into a fight with Gareth? Is that why he didn’t come to school today?”

I almost stumbled down the steps. “No!” I denied too much. “I mean, no, I didn’t fight with—with Gareth. I mean, I don’t know. I think I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed is all.” I nervously chuckled.

From a distance, a car honked and we saw Martin waving at me from his convertible.

“Will Martin be picking you up everyday?” Fin whispered to me. As we walked closer, Martin, in his sunglasses, smiled even wider.

“I’m not sure,” I answered. “Do you want me to tell him to stop?”

“No,” Fin said, sounding a bit panicked. He sheepishly fidgeted with his bag. “I mean, it’s fine with me if it is with you.”

Fin, I realized as I looked at him, was blushing. And not like when he gets red in the face after he is teased by the Stupid Pack. Does he like… Martin? I mean, he’s never had a girlfriend and Maria and I just assumed he just wasn’t interested in anyone at all. But Martin? My older brother? In my world, they had barely spoken to each other.

“Of course,” I assured him, giving him a tap on the shoulder which made him loosen a little bit. We reached the car and I walked to the passenger side.

“How was she today?” I heard Martin whisper to Fin, but I didn’t hear how Fin responded. When I had buckled myself in, Martin and I waved goodbye, and drove away.

After a minute of silence in traffic and Martin repeatedly stealing glances at me, he finally spoke. “How are you, kiddo?”

“I’m alright,” I answered. It made me feel a bit guilty lying to my brother, but then again, he wasn’t my real one to begin with. “School was… uneventful.”

“Cool, cool,” he muttered, and another awkward silence ensued. This time, I was the one who broke it. “Do you like Fin?” I blurted out.

I noticed his eyebrows shoot up for a second before he straightened his face. “Your friend? I mean, he and Maria are great kids. Even mom and dad like them.”

He obviously knew what I meant and didn’t want to answer it, so I let it go. “Okay, then,” I said. Then after a while, I frowned as I understood what he had just said. “Mom and dad like them?”

“Yeah. That’s why they let them stay over from time to time,” he said. Maria and Fin had never stayed over at our house. Well, if you don’t count that one time they sneaked into my room so we could have a sleepover. This reality, I realized, also had its pros.