The Fifth Element: Academy Of Elemental Arts

THE FIFTH ELEMENT 🌊🔥🌪️⛰️☯️

~Cassie's POV~

When we finally got to the cafeteria, Veronica led me to her favorite table after we grabbed trays from the lunch lady.

I spotted the blonde girl who'd tripped me in class. She was in the corner with her crew. The guy who asked me to lunch; Jamie, was at that table too.

"Hey. Stop staring before they notice," Veronica said under her breath. "Everyone at that table is bad news. The most popular crew in school. You should avoid them at all costs. Especially Lisa Freeman. The blonde one."

I scoffed. "What a cliché. The most popular group in school is full of jerks and bitches. Nothing I haven't seen before." I finally looked away.

We were halfway through eating when two other people dropped into the empty seats. A nerdy guy with thick rimmed glasses and a petite girl with huge ribbons in her hair.

What is she, five?

I kept that thought to myself.

"Hey, Veronica. Hi, Cassidy," Glasses said as he sat down.

"She prefers Cassie," Veronica corrected him.

"Hi," I managed, nodding at both of them.

"Oh, right. We had English Lit together. That's how I know your name, you introduced yourself. I'm Marvin, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Marvin. And you?" I asked Ribbons.

"I'm Abby," she said, barely above a whisper.

We've got a shy one.

"Nice to meet you, Abby." I smiled. She smiled back.

We were eating in peace when something cold and slimy splashed over my head.

"Ugh! What the hell!" I shot out of my seat, wiping liquid off my face.

Lisa Freeman stood right in front of me.

"Oh my god. Are you okay?" Her voice dripped fake concern. "Looks like it's not just my leg acting up today. My hands too."

"I think your whole brain's been acting up the longest," I shot back. "You should get that checked."

"What did you just say to me?" Her eyes went wide with disbelief. I smirked.

"Wow. Now your ears are acting up too. You're one sick girl." I copied her mocking tone exactly.

"Take that back, you bitch!"

Her palm cracked across my face.

For a second, everything went white. All I could feel was rage... hot, boiling in my blood. My ears rang.

I looked at her. She was with her friends now, all of them laughing, pointing at me. The whole cafeteria was staring.

I glanced at Veronica. Her mouth was open, shocked.

I turned back to Lisa. Something inside me rumbled.

I stared at her, letting every ounce of pent-up fury rise, and then....

Lisa stopped laughing. Her face went blank.

"Guys... what's happening?" She waved her hands in front of her face like she was swatting at smoke. "Oh my god, guys... guys! I can't see! I can't see anything! Somebody help me, I can't see!"

Her friends grabbed her. "Lisa, you're scaring us. Stop joking around. What do you mean you can't see?"

"I'm serious! I can't see anything! Oh my god, call my parents! Call the principal! I don't know what's happening to me!" She was crying now, panicking.

Her outburst snapped me out of it. The rage drained away instantly.

"Guys? I can see you. Oh my god... Jessica, I can see you. Mindy, I can see you. I can see, guys! I can see again!" Lisa touched her eyes, her friends, relief flooding her face.

Her friends didn't look relieved. They looked pissed.

"What kind of sick game was that, Lisa? You scared us," one of them said.

"You know what? Forget it. I'm out of here." The other one rolled her eyes and stormed out of the cafeteria.

Lisa looked at me. Just for a second. Her eyes narrowed, suspicious. Then she followed her friends out.

"That was intense," Veronica said as we sat back down.

"You mean hilarious," Marvin said, grinning. "People are never going to stop talking about this."

"That wasn't normal," Abby murmured. "What if something actually happened to her?"

I stayed quiet. Because I knew something had happened to Lisa.

It wouldn't be the first time.

Every time I got into a fight, a real one, where I was furious, something unexplained happened to the other person. Nosebleeds. Fainting. Once, a boy swore his legs went numb for ten minutes.

It couldn't be coincidence anymore.

Could I actually be doing this?

It wasn't supposed to be possible. But it kept happening.

~

After school, I waited for my mom to pick me up.

An hour passed. No show.

She forgot me. On my first day.

I sighed and walked to the bus stop.

The ride home was quiet. When I got to my stop, I saw them immediately , three black SUVs parked in front of our house. Neat. Identical. Expensive.

Who are these people? Mom doesn't have any friends.

I walked slowly to the front door and pressed my ear against it. Voices were echoing inside, but it was muffled. Too faint to make out words.

Giving up, I crept to the living room window and peeked through the gap in the curtains.

Two huge men stood just inside. Black leather, old-fashioned, almost medieval. Their shoulders blocked the rest of the room. From the way they stood, feet apart, hands clasped ,they were bodyguards or some security men.

Or something else like it.

I wonder who they could be?

~~~