Rising From the Ashes
By Romanian Bookworm
Hey everyone! This is actually a short story I wrote for my English class this year. I just changed the characters names to fit and edited a bit to include Chloe and Alek a bit more. If you all like it so much I might extend it even further.
"Now the Triangle Shirtwaist Fires occurred on March 25, 1911 in New York City. It became the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of New York City and..."
'Boring,' was the only way to describe my history class at the moment. It was the middle of March and vacation was about to start in less than five minutes. I loved college but I wanted out!
It's been five years since I United the Mai and almost an entire school year since I've seen Alek, Jasmine, Paul or Amy when we all separated to go to different colleges. Amy and Paul were in New York for fashion design and Criminal Justice. I was rather surprised but then again Paul was my best sidekick in high school. Jasmine is training with the Philadelphia pack to be the new leader of the San Francisco pack. Alek is surprisingly studying to be a lawyer in Texas. Alek studying to defend the bad guys, what irony. I'm the only one who stayed in San Francisco to attend University to be a history teacher. I guess my love for Mai history expanded to all kinds of history, which leads back to my boring history class and me wishing for it to be over. I'm supposed to meet up with the others over vacation and we were planning on being as lazy as possible together.
'No one cares,' I continued to think as my teacher, Ms. Robinson, dragged out her lecture about some fire that happened years ago. Next to me sat my friend Melissa and she looked just as bored, if not more. She quickly looked at Ms. Robinson to see if the coast was clear. When the teacher's back was turned, she quietly ripped a piece of paper out of her notebook and scribbled something on it before she passed it to me. I placed it in my lap where the teacher wouldn't see and read the note. I tried to stifle my laughter at what she wrote but I wasn't as quiet as I hoped to be.
"Miss King! Pay attention!" I quickly looked up from the note to see Ms. Robinson glaring at me from above her half-moon spectacles. She pursed her lips and pointed her gnarly finger at me. "Come here Miss King and bring that note with you!" she commanded. I gulped before sheepishly rising from my seat and walking from the back of the classroom to her desk, with the note clutched in my hand. As I approached, I could feel the stares burning into my back as if condemning me for getting caught. A boney hand reached out and snatched the note from my grip and I became nervous at what Ms. Robinson would do once she read the note.
"Chloe, with the way Ms. Robinson is droning on about this stupid fire, you would think she actually witnessed it! Then again she is old enough lol," Ms. Robinson read out loud. The whole class burst into laughter and I struggled to hold my smile in. Her lips pinched even more in disapproval, if that was even possible and I mentally prepared myself for the lecture I would surely get.
BRRIIIINNNGGG!
"Well will you look at that? There's the bell!" I exclaimed, excited to get out of trouble. "So I guess I'll be going, I'm really sorry about everything, I'll see you after vacation and Bye-Bye!" With that, I hurry to my desk, grab my bag and run for the door.
"Not so fast King." Ms. Robinson warns. I stop in my tracks. "We'll discuss this after vacation." I cringe before walking out.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Walking through the hall, I laugh with Melissa at the jocks trying to act cool and pick up girls for Spring Break. At my locker, Melissa turns to me with a smirk. "So Chlo, what are you doing this week?"
"I have no idea," I reply, shaking my head. "Probably sleep until noon, party until dawn with my friends. Just be lazy with them. The usual." I laugh.
Melissa laughs at me before pulling out an ornate looking necklace from her oversized shoulder bag. She holds it out for me to take before explaining. "I bought this yesterday at this quirky little shop on the outskirts of town. I thought it looked pretty cool. This one is for you and I have one for myself." She pulled out hers from inside her shirt. "The lady who sold them to me said that on the night of a lunar eclipse during a leap year, the charm turns into a time piece and can transfer the wearer to any time period they want to go to. Of course the chance of a leap year and a lunar eclipse of happening at the same time is like a bazillion to one….not that I believe in it anyway. But it's pretty cool to think about. You know, traveling through time and all."
"How does it work?" I asked. It all seemed like a bunch of mumbo jumbo but ever since I learned about the Mai and me being the Uniter and all, I've learned to never take these 'stories' lightly. I run my finger over the carvings lightly and notice a symbol that looked familiar to me.
"Apparently, on that 'special night', you just have to think of the time period you want to go to and voila! You're there." Melissa, interrupting my train of thought, laughs.
I laugh along with her and throw the necklace around my neck, pushing the symbol to the back of my mind.
"Unfortunately we'll most likely be dead the next time the 'special night' happens. Oh well. Then again if I get a chance to hang out with Jason over vaca…" Melissa turns her head to look at the head of the football team. He sees her looking and nods his head at her. She giggles before turning back to me, "…maybe I will have that special night after all." Melissa winks and starts walking backward towards the student parking lot. "I'll see you in a week. Don't forget! My family is coming down from Canada so we won't be able to hang out that much. Have fun doing…what ever you plan to do." Laughing, she turns around and walks out of the school.
Sighing, I slam my locker shut and make my way towards the bus. My car was in the shop getting a new transmission and oil change. I spent the next half-hour on the bus, fiddling with my new necklace, wondering what to do with my friends when they came home. Arriving at my San Francisco townhouse, I walk straight to my room and collapse on my bed, knowing the others wouldn't be home from school until tomorrow. I grab my history book and turn it to the pages containing information on the factory Ms. Robinson was talking about. Knowing Ms. Robinson she would be assigning an essay after vacation. I quickly grow bored and the words on the page start blurring together.
Sighing, I move so I am lying on my back, staring at the ceiling. I lift up my new necklace to look at it and rub my thumb across the intricate designs inlaid in the pendant.
'Where have I seen this symbol before?' It seemed so familiar to me but I couldn't put my finger on it.
Closing my eyes I think back to the Mai history Valentina told me three years ago. Opening my eyes I sit up. 'There is no way. Why would…?' I had suddenly realized where I had seen the symbol before.
Valentina had once told me about a pendant that when it came into contact with a Mai would cause that Mai to experience a sacrifice that a fellow Mai had experienced in the past. This sacrifice would supposedly affect the present Mai in the long run.
'Maybe I shouldn't be holding this right now.' I quickly toss the pendant away from me and it lands on the foot of my bed. I plop onto my back and wiggle around a bit before finding a comfortable position. I slowly drift off to sleep, dreaming of Alek and his strong arms wrapped around me in a warm hug.