Chapter 1: Flower

"All flowers seem perfect.  Their gentle colors to their perfect green leaves.  Their sweet smells drawing you in to smell them, but not all flowers are perfect.  There is always an imperfection, whether it’s a rotting petal or chewed leaves. Yet we humans think their perfect.  How can this be?  We see the imperfections and we still think their perfect."  My step dad recalled.

            "Oh really?" I asked, smiling as I packed my backpack for another day of senior high. My mother was in the kitchen brewing coffee as my step dad was reciting another one of his quotes that he liked to make up. My mother's short brown hair bobbed around, lightly brushing her shoulders.  She was not as tall as me, with a small body frame to go with that.

            My stepdad was much taller with a shiny, cueball head.  His hands were large, but strangely nimble.  Scars dotted his hands and a long one crept up his right arm, into his shirt. He told me a piece of glass had scratched him at work, but I didn't believe it. His skin was a mocha brown that made me feel warm and safe.

            "Of course! If you take a flower, it isn't perfect." He plucked a rose from the vase on the table. "Take this rose for example. You can see one of the petals has browned."

            "Yeah, that's one petal." I laughed as I stuffed my calculus book into the bag.  I zipped it up and slung it on my shoulder.

            "Yes, but the flower is not perfect, yet we seem to think it may be." I giggled.

            "Whatever you say Roy, I got to go." I called out and grabbed my keys off the rack.        

            "I'll drive you," Roy suggested. He smiled, but his eyes looked sad or worried.

            "You don't trust me driving?"

            "No, I just want to drive with my favorite daughter!" He cracked a grin and I shrugged. He grabbed his wallet and shoved it into his back pocket.

            "Just don't recite anymore quotes." I teased as we climbed into my 2005 Jeep Wrangler. "Don't change the radio stations either!"

            "You just can't trust me!" Roy joked as he put the car in reverse and drove me to school.

                       ***

            When we pulled into the parking lot, Roy asked me, "When does school get out?"

            "2:50." I replied.

            "I'll come pick you up at 3 then. You know how work is."

            "Alright," I leaned forward and kissed his shaven cheek and hopped out.

            "Have a good day at school," Roy called, his voice sounding quite sad like he was seeing me for the last time.

            Walking into my school, I swerved straight for the choir room hallway.  I was a music nerd and besides, I didn’t want to run into the girls that own the senior hall.  Those girls ruled the school and were not to be messed with.  They were all seductively slim and lured men into thinking awful things. I opened the door, and nearly ran into Jase.

            Jase was huge into the performing arts as I was. He had light brown hair, like dust, straight, white teeth and the talent of a professional actor.  He always got the lead roles, even as a freshman and did each part brilliantly.

            As he passed, I waved a gentle hello and he flashed a million dollar smile back.  I watched him walk away with the door half open.  After I stood in a trance, I entered and could hear the sounds of the men’s choir finishing up a song. Some other choir and band kids wandered the hall or sat down finishing last night’s homework.  I found a spot next to Emily and she greeted me warmly.

            “Morning Flora,” She greeted

            “Morning Emily,” I replied before I unzipped my laptop bag and stuffed my jacket into my backpack.

            “I heard we’re getting a new student today.” Emily informed.

            “Oh?” I sounded a little dazzled from thinking about Jase.

            Emily sighed, knowing what I was thinking, “Sweetie, you really need to get over Jase. You know he really isn’t interested in any of the girls here. Not even the cheerleaders.  For all we know, he’s probably gay.”

            I shot a glance at Emily, but then thought about it, “Jase has such a pretty face though.  It shouldn’t be kissed by a man.” Emily rubbed my back.  She had golden locks and was skinny as a toothpick. Her hair was pinned up today in a nice bun. I opened my laptop and began to finish my Spanish homework.

            Once I was done, class was about to start so I packed up and headed off the American lit.  I arrived to the class and nearly ran into the kid that Emily was talking about.  She had dark brown hair with long lashes.  She wore a white tee shirt with some sort of blue design that was hard to tell from a first glance.  Blue shorts that were way too short for dress code were buttoned around her waist.  Dangling from her ears were hoops, but with butterfly wings in them.  A butterfly necklace and ring sat around her neck and finger.  White sandals added the summer flare to the outfit and on her nails, butterfly decals floated across the colors.  

            “Sorry,” I muttered and ducked my head down.

            “It’s ok!” She outstretched her hand, “I’m Betty. I’m supposed to shadow a girl named Flora today.”  My heart took a fall. I had a shadow now.

            “I’m Flora.” I entered the classroom with her trailing behind me.  We sped through most of my classes without any trouble.  The last class of the day was Science.  I wasn’t the biggest fan of the class, but Betty seemed intrigued.  I walked into the room and took my spot which was right next to Jase.  He smiled as I walked into the room.  He didn’t seem gay. I took my notebook out and Betty looked at me like I was doing something amazing.

            “Um, what’s up?” I asked her. I had ignored her all day.

            “Who are your parents?” Betty questioned. That was personal.

            “Um…Why do you want to know?”

            “Just curious," She fingered one of the hoop earrings. The teacher walked in and prepared the smart board with today’s notes.  I wasn’t fond of taking notes on my laptop, especially for science.  Digging through my laptop case for a pencil, I saw Betty still watching me intently. I found one, my only one in fact. I flipped the pencil to find that it was blunt to write with.  I was too nervous to ask Jase for a pencil sharpener so I just stood up to go to the one in the corner of the room.

            That’s when it hit me; the nausea and dizziness.  My head suddenly pounded, my stomach churned crazily like a wild hurricane.  Betty and I both look at each other.

            “Are you ok?” She asked nervously, but I could tell behind her eyes that there was excitement. Who was this lunatic?

            “No-” I choked out.  My back hunched against my will and I felt like I was going to throw up.  The class began to stare and I thought I saw a blink of light from a camera or a phone.  Jase looked at me in horror. My body took over, falling to my hands and knees. I could barely hear, but Betty was saying something to make my other classmates clear the area.  I felt two hands around my waist and Betty pulled me back to my feet.  She pulled me out of the classroom and that’s when my stomach gave in.

            I puked flowers all down the hallway to the bathroom; purple ones, red ones and pink ones galore.  Vines sprouted from my fingertips and twirled around my body.  By the time we reached the nearest girls bathroom and had shoved me into the biggest stall, I had thrown up a train of flowers and vines.  When the flowers stopped coming up, I slumped over in exhaustion.  I didn’t understand what was going on with me.

            I turned to Betty, “What’s wrong with me?”

            “You’re a shape shifter.” Betty whispered.  “But you’re a different kind of shape shifter.  You don’t change into something, you control something.  I’ve never seen it before. I've just read about it in books.” She stopped and examined my face.  “Are you feeling better?”

            I nodded, but what she told me didn’t make any sense.  How could I be a shape shifter? Why am I puking flowers?  It seems so strange, so out of this world.  I looked up to her and said, “How do you know about me and why did you come?”

            Betty smiled, “Lucky guess.” She pulled a card out of her pocket, "We need to get you to the academy right now."  

            “The Academy?” I stammered.

            “Yes! The Academy of Shape Shifters. It’s a real fine place. Good food, nice quarters, helpful professors. You’ll love it!”

            “But this is my home. My friends are here. What about my parents? They would freak out if they found out about this!”

            “You won’t have any friends after your incident.” She stopped to see my expression. “Besides, your parents are aware, or so I’ve been told, so I was told to escort you out of the building and get you to Academy safely and without running into demons.”

            “Demons?” I gulped.

            “Yeah, demons.  They are the opposite of us.  They shape shift, but don’t use their powers for good.  They like to feed on humans and turn us into dust. It’s a long story. Someone else can explain it better than I can.” My eyes grew a little bit wider. I wanted to change the subject.

            “So, if I’m a shape shifter, then you must be a shape shifter. What do you do?”

            Betty smiled, “I’ll show you.” She stood back and relaxed her body.  Her arms changed to wings and her body shrunk. She became a butterfly. It made sense with all the butterfly jewelry.  Her wings were white and blue.

            “Oh. That makes sense.” Betty transformed back into herself.

            “Oh good! Now come on, we have to get your packed!” She took my hand and we barged out of the stall and into the hallway.  People were talking loudly, looking at my flowers.  Most of them had been cleaned up, but a few still remained and the hallway smelled of spring. 

            “Avoid eye contact.” Betty whispered. She ducked my head and I used my hair as a shield against student’s stares.

            “Flora!” a familiar voice shouted. I had to look up.  Emily darted down the hallway, her eyes filled with concern and confusion.

            “Everybody is telling me that you puked flowers down the hallway.  Is it true?”

            I was about to answer, but Betty intervened. “Flora isn’t feeling good and doesn’t want to talk right now.  The person that everyone else is talking about is…” Betty scanned the hallway until she spotted a short girl with black curls, rummaging around in her locker. “Her, over there, She was the one who puked flowers!” Emily turned and ran off, not even saying goodbye and I was rushed down the hallway to my locker.

            “Grab anything you want from here, otherwise it will not be transferred.” I grabbed my backpack and stuffed it with as much stuff from my locker as I could. When I was done, I slung the heavy pack over my shoulder and we walked out. As I took one last look at the senior hallway, I saw a flock of people throwing questions at the girl with the black hair about what happened, and her eyes piercing into mine as I walked away.

                                   ***

            We plunged out of the building and headed down the street. 

            “Where are we going?” I demanded, but kindly since Betty had been nice to me. 

            “Well, if I were by myself, I would just change and fly there, but since I have you now, I need to call Rico.” She whipped out her cellphone and dialed a few numbers.  The next minute, a car pulled up. It was black and simple, with a glint on the car from the hot sun.

            “Climb in.” Betty told me. She began to climb into the car.

            “Where are we going?” I asked, still outside, waiting for an answer.

            "I told you! To the academy! All your stuff from our house will be transferred into your dorm room. It will be there by the time we reach there."

            “Dorm room?”

            “Yes! It’s always really fun!” Betty grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside the car. I took my seat and buckled in.  Rico was not a man, but a girl. Apparently, from hearing Betty jabber on, she was her sister.  Rico was not a shape shifter because they were only half-sisters due to the fact that Rico’s father had died.  Rico was very tan with cute jean shorts and a white tank top.  Big sunglasses covered her eyes and her blond hair was balled up in a messy bun. 

            Rico drove us to an abandoned runway with one small airplane with The Academy scrawled on the side. The car slowed down and Rico hopped out. 

            “This plane will take us to the Academy grounds.  It’s actually a nice place.  You can learn how to control your flower power.” She babbled on.  Rico returned and called for us to get out which I gladly did.  We walked to the steps of the aircraft and climbed up. 

            The plane was very simple, with a few rows of seats with a gracious amount of space for you to sit.  I chose a seat and Betty chose the one across my row.  Her sister sat in the front row, tipped the chair back and slept.

            “Rachel! We haven’t taken off yet! You can’t lean back.”

            “I’ll do what I want and its Rico” She huffed before she returned to her nap.  I just sat there, looking out the window, wondering if the Academy would be an ok place.

 

Author's Note

ignore grammar

Reviews

[bacon frenzied fiend]

It's well written for your age, but it's hard for me to judge such a young author...I'm impressed you have found the time to write! When I was in school I was lucky to get a few poems done, let alone a few books! I think you have the gift, and it only gets better with age :) With that said, I'm sure you are the envy of every other kid in school (even if they might just misunderstand you) and you have your whole future ahead of you. Never back down from your dream, but most importantly: never stop writing. I wish you all the luck in the world in your future endeavors.