Chapter 2 CHAPTER 002
Asher had stayed alone in his new room; none of his roommates had returned, while he stayed awake the whole night, staring at the ceiling, hoping it would have all the answers that he wanted. He got none; all he got was a restless night of tossing and turning, hoping the night would be over quickly.
And finally, morning came, and yet, his roommates, none of them, had returned. Asher was starting to wonder if he even had roommates or if they were invisible until Ms. Rina walked in with a big smile on her face, more cheerful than the last time he saw her.
She’d come in with his uniform: a dark and neat, fitted jacket over a grey shirt, with black trousers tucked into a pair of boots with a small emblem of his element, a flickering flame, stitched over his heart. The uniform is simple and makes him feel… different, like he belongs here, yet he stands out at the same time. Now, Asher, with Ms. Rina, stands before the school principal in her office.
Selene Granger, a stern woman with silver hair held up in a bun and blue eyes that drill a hole through his face. She sits behind a wide wooden desk, posture straight, staring at him like he is something she’s having difficulty figuring out, with a stoic face that makes Asher nervous, and then she breaks into a smile and rises to her feet to approach him, but when she reaches out to touch his shoulder, Asher finds himself moving away. Her hand pauses, but the smile on her face doesn’t fade.
“You don’t have to be scared; I am a fire elemental like you,” she says calmly. “You should know, you’re safe here.” She leans back on the table and crosses her arms over her chest, staring at him like he’s some hopeless, defenseless kitten they picked from under the rain. He hates the look of pity in her eyes.
“You’re not the first student to walk into this academy afraid of themselves, and you won’t be the last. Fire responds to emotion, and fear makes it wild.” She continues, then grabs a piece of paper from the desk and stretches it out towards him; he takes it hesitantly, finding his name written boldly at the top.
“That holds your class schedules, locker code, and everything you need. In the meantime, you will only attend basic classes on control and how to breathe properly without setting the building on fire. Your classes officially start tomorrow; for today, Ms. Rina will show you around the school and tell you our rules. Welcome to our Academy. Asher Lauigne, we hope you’ll find your stay here with us delightful,” she finishes with a smile and a glint in her eyes that sends a shiver down Asher’s spine, but he dismisses the feeling and nods instead, his eyes fixed on the paper in his hands.
His schedule is neatly organized, with each class labeled: control, meditation, elemental theory, and breathing techniques.
Breathing. He’s so used to holding his breath to control the fire in his veins that he doesn’t even know how to breathe properly. He needs that class badly.
“Come on, Asher.” Ms. Rina suddenly speaks. “Let’s get you acquainted with the academy. You’ll see, it’s… bigger than you think.”
With one last look at the principal, Asher follows Ms. Rina out of the office and into the hallway.
The hallway stretches long and wide, and unlike yesterday, it’s crowded with students in their various uniforms, each with their elemental symbols on the left side of the jacket. Asher slows his steps without meaning to, realizing there are too many people, too many voices, footsteps, laughs, and passing glances.
Fire, water, lightning, earth—he can tell without even trying. He stares in awe when he sees a girl moving her hands in a small circle, and just like that, a ball of fire appears, and beside her, he sees another student lift a hand and let a thin stream of water curl around his wrist like a ribbon, and yet no one panics or screams. They laugh, talk, and keep walking, like this is normal.
Asher gulps, realizing all of this is getting too much. He isn’t used to this.
These are people like him…people who understand what it means to carry power that can hurt if uncontrolled. He wants to be able to control his powers without being scared of them.
The thought causes him to clench the piece of paper in his hands because he can feel heat pushing at his fingertips, causing him to immediately hold his breath again.
“Mr. Lauigne,”
Asher immediately comes back to reality, finding Ms. Rina in front of him.
“Are you okay? You spaced out,” she asks worriedly, and immediately Asher nods and offers a small smile, which she returns. “I know all of this is too much at the moment, but trust me, you will get used to it eventually, so now I want you to keep up so I can show you around before lunchtime, got it?”
Again, Asher nods, and she resumes walking, and Asher follows after her without getting lost in his head.
~~~
It takes Ms. Rina more than three hours to show him around the whole school, his classes, and the academy is indeed larger than he expected and by the time they’re done, Asher is aching to lie down and once again process everything, but when he opened the door of his new room, the sight that welcomes him isn't what he expects.
His suitcase is wide open on his bed with two students ransacking through it as if they lost something; most of his clothes and items are on the floor, and resting against the window is another student who watches them as if he doesn’t want to be there at the moment.
Asher freezes at the doorway. For a second, he thinks he has walked into the wrong room, but then he sees his notebook wide open in one of the boys' hands, instantly, heat flares his spine.
“What are you doing?” he asks, and in an instant, all three of them whip their heads towards him, and immediately, the two boys on the bed bolt off, dropping his notebook on the floor.
They share glances at each other, none of them speaking until one of them breaks into a large smile and approaches him, throwing his hand over Asher’s shoulder.
“Didn’t mean to offend you. We just heard we’re getting a fourth roommate. Thought we’d see what kind of person you are.” He grins, green eyes twinkling as if Asher didn’t just see him ransacking through his things and reading his notebook.
Asher gives him a dead glare and removes his arm from his shoulder. “And tearing my things apart tells you that?” he says, walking over to pick up his notebook, and he holds it to his chest.
The boy shrugs, finding nothing wrong with what he did. “Depends.”
“I told them it’s a terrible idea!” The boy beside the window exclaims, and immediately, he starts picking up Asher’s clothes on the floor and shoves them in Asher’s bag before turning to him, adjusting his glasses cutely. “I’m so sorry about them; they just got curious.”
“Curiosity doesn’t give you the right to touch my things.” Asher barks; the heat in his eyes hasn’t died. He doesn’t think he likes his new roommates. He hates nosy people.
“I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to.” The one with glasses continues. “I am Ori, a water elemental, and he’s…” he points at the one who read his notebook. “He’s Rase, a fire elemental like you and…” he points at the other, who hasn’t said a single word. “He’s Kaelen, an earth elemental. We are your roommates, and we’re sorry again for going through your things,” he smiles, trying to lighten the mood, but Asher isn’t buying it.
His chest feels tight, and his fingers feel warm. He can feel his fire; it’s angry and restless. He hates this feeling because it makes him lose control, and nothing good happens when he loses control.
“Yeah, we’re sorry,” Rase says, still smiling big while Kaelen nods in agreement.
Asher doesn’t answer right away. He just stares at them, his jaw tight, his notebook pressed to his chest like a shield, but the heat under his skin hasn’t gone away, and he hates that they can’t see how close he is to losing it. They have no idea how hard it is to control his fire.
Instead of answering, he bends down, picks up the rest of his things, and places them back into his suitcase one by one in a slow, careful manner as if he’s afraid something might snap if he moves too fast.
“Just don’t do it again,” he says finally, his voice low. “Any of you.”
Ori nods quickly. “We won’t. I swear.”
“Yeah. Fair.” Rase says.
“I’ll… uh, we’ll give you space,” Ori says, and quickly, he grabs Kaelen’s hand and then Rase's before dragging them out of the room, leaving Asher to come to terms with the kinds of roommates he has because he doesn’t like them one bit.