If Charlie had been hoping for an uneventful return to school he was disapointed. It all started with the new girl. He went on the school bus as usual, but this time it seemed different. He puzzled over the feeling for a few seconds, as he walked over to an empty seat, when he saw her. She had bright orange hair that was obviously not died, and eyes to match. He sat in his seat and gawked at her ntil she turned to look at him. She gave him a mischevious smirk, and he looked away blushing.

The rest of the ride seemed to pass by fairly quickly. Fidelio sat by him, and then in almost no time at all, they were at Bloor's. Oh joy. As they got off charlie watched the new girl sling a guitar case over her shouler, and pick up a flute case. He looked at Fidelio. "Reckon the new girl's endowed?" Fidelio looked over at him, and raised his eyesbrows. "With eyes like those i'd be surprised if she wasn't."

He saw Oivia bounce over to them, and smile. "Hey guys! Wassup?"

Fidelio smiled. "Not much, you seen the new girl?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Of 'd have a hard time missing her."

It was true. Throughout the day Charlie heard whispers of the new girl, though no one knew her name. Apparently she wasn't very talkative, and if she heard any of the whispers about her she didn't show it. He saw fleeting glimpses of her in the hallway, and in the classrooms, but he never got much of a chance to speak with her. It wasn't even until he had to go to the King's room that he even heard her talk.

Manfred hadn't bothered to introduce her, so everyone was silently doing their homework. The new girl started to whistle softly.

"Blaize! Be quiet."

Charlie had expeced her to listen, but intead she just laughed.

Manfred's face went red. "Do you find something funny, Nicole?"

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Obviously if I'm laughing."

"Then please inform us what it is." Manfred said, glaring at her.

Nicole put on an innocent expression. "It's only that I don't think you could stop me if I felt like whistling."

In hushed whispers some student bet how long it would take before Manfred blew.

"Would you like detention Miss Blaize?" Manfred asked, standing up with flames dancing around his clothes.

Nicole laughed once again. "Only if you would like to spend another whole day with me, dear cousin." She stood up as she said this her orange eyes blazing. Her hair seemed to come to life, sizzling like a fire. Gasps could be heard around the room. Cousin? Obviously their endowments were almost exactly alike (With bets on Nicole's being stronger), but coisins? All of a sudden Charlie was glad he had the Yewbeams as relatives, unlike Nicole who was stuck with the Bloors. She didn't seem bad after all, especially if she was willing to stand up to Manfred.

Nicole smiled as Manfred went quiet for a few seconds. Everyone held their breathe.

"Everyone is dismissed!" Manfred shouted at them, turning away from Nicole. As she left manfred told her in a low voice, "I'll get you back, just you wait."

Nicole only smiled, and walked out the door.

Once they got out of the King's room, there were whispered cheers for Nicole. Charlie could see her in animated conversation with Emma as he walked out. He went over to them, and smiled at Nicole.

"Nice one."

She smiled back at him. "Manfred's such a wuss. Afraid to fight a girl." She giggled a little, and Emma joined her. Charlie could see that she would be easy to get along with, even if she intimidated him a little.

"So, you're in music?" Charlie asked, tilting his head a little.

Nicole nodded. "Yeah, I play guitar and flute. I'm better at guitar though."

It was quiet for a few seconds as they started to walk off when Emma asked, "So your endowment is fire? When did you find out?"

Nicole nodded. "I found out when I was about four. I had always known I was special. I mean, what normal kid has orange eyes? I was sitting in the living room, staring at a candle while my mother cooked dinner. I had always loved fire, ever since I first saw it, but as I stared at the candle I felt something different. It was if I was connected to it somehow, and then.." She paused for a few seconds and then said "Boom!" Emma jumped, and Nicole laughed a little. "So the candle had exploded, and the table had started on fire. My mother screamed, and my faher put it out. They both stared at me, and asked in sweet tones if I had anything to do with it. I said I did, and they told me to promise not to tell anyone."

Charlie looked at her confused. "So how did you come here?"

Nicole sighed. "Well it was when one of my relatives set fire to my house. I later found out it was because my parents had 'broken the rules' though I never found out what they did. I ran out of the house after seeing my parents consumed by the flames. When I was outside I just kind of stood, staring at it, and the flames started to die down when I started to cry. Unfourtunatley Uncle Harold, or Dr. Bloor as he's called here, saw me." She gave him a grim smile. "So off I was whisked to Bloor's, luckily I have an aunt on my mom's side who I can go to on the weekends"

Charlie, and Emma stared at Nicole with open mouths, while she shrugged. In truth she had moved beyond the point of crying in public over her parents deaths'. She only mourned for her parents at certain times.

Charlie broke the silence. "So...what's it like having Manfred as a cousin?" He internally winced at the thought.

Nicole shrugged. "I didn't see him a lot. My parents visited the Bloors around holidays just to be polite, but I didn't talk to him a lot. We never got along." She frowned a little. "I was forced to talk to old Zekey though. You, see he didn't know that I had already discovered my powers, but he knew I was endowed. So of course he was intrerested in me." She paused for a few seconds, and then continued with another piece of information. " My legal name should be Bloor, but my parents decided to share my mother's last name instead." She smiled. "Thank God."

The rest of the day went by peacefully with no more Manfred-Nicole fights, although some of the kids were hoping for it. When Nicole returned to the dorms she was smiling. However when she went to bed she had the strange feeling that something bad was going to happen.