2
Jennifer Balisk walked through the halls of her sister's middle school. It was her job to pick up her sister from yet another detention. Great, she thought. Any more detentions and she might get expelled.
Jen finally made it to room 314. She walked inside and saw her sister, Julia Balisk, sitting in a desk in the front row. Jen's sister looked at her and smiled sheepishly.
"Let's go," Jen said crossing her arms.
"Fine."
Juls stood up and walked to her sister. Just then, Mr. Clay walked in.
"Miss Balisk," he said,"are you here to get your sister?"
"Yes, sir," Jen said. "We'll be leaving now."
The teacher nodded and sat at his desk. Jen and Juls walked out of the classroom and headed towards the nearest doors that lead outside. Jen punched her sister lightly on the shoulder.
"What were you thinking?" Jen asked.
Juls rubbed her shoulder. "What? It was a harmless prank!"
"Yeah, right. Filling the principal's car with water wasn't such a good idea was it?"
Juls sighed and stared at her feet. "You're right."
Jen laughed and patted her sister's head. "But it was pretty funny."
The girls laughed as they exited the building. The sisters were about to walk away when Jen stopped and looked down. Something had caught her eye. Looking down, she saw something glittering in the sunlight. She bent down and picked up the object. She looked at it closer and realized that it was a flower. A hops to be exact. She noticed that it wasn't soft, but as hard as a rock. The color was unusual too. It was covered in swirling pinks, greens, and blues. "Whoa," Juls said over her sister's shoulder. "What is that?"
"It's a flower," Jen said. "But it's crystalized."
"Totally cool! Can I have it?"
"No way!" Jen pulled the gem away from her sister. "I found it. Finders keepers, losers weepers."
"Hmmph." Juls pouted as they began to walk home. She was sooo jealous of her sister now. She wanted a very pretty flower like that.
"I'm gonna put it on a bracelet," Jen said while holding the flower to the light. The pinks, greens, and blues shined as the sun reflected off the flower. Jen's sky blue eyes sparkled. She absolutely adored this flower, even if it looked closed.
"Good idea," Juls said. "I hope I find a flower like that."
"It seems so unique though. Let's just keep hoping."
Juls stared at her sister's new flower as they continued walking home.
Hey Shelby, guess wat?
What?
I found a very pwetty flower today! ill show it 2 u 2morrow at skool Whats so special about a flower?
Its really REALLY special. Ull see!
Uhm... Okay then.
Jen sent text message after text message to her best friend Shelby Anberlin. She babbled on and on about the pretty stone flower she found. She just couldn't believe that she found something so beautiful. She absolutely couldn't wait to show it off at school tomorrow. Jen jumped off her bed and walked over to her dresser. She opened a drawer and pulled out a silver bracelet. She carefully weaved the flower onto the bracelet, making sure to secure it tightly, then placed the accessory on her left wrist. The jewel was stunning. She couldn't believe all the colors that were shining off of it. Wait. Are stones supposed to shine that brightly? She stretched her arm out and examined the jewel. Must be too much light, she thought. She took off the bracelet and placed it on the nightstand next to her bed. She turned off the lights and lied down in bed. After a few minutes, she noticed that the flower was still glowing.
"What the heck?" she mumbled. She looked at flower and sighed. "I guess I should just leave it."
Pinks, greens, and blues danced on the flower, makin the room shine with light softly. Jen stared at the ceiling as the colors moved gracefully. How pretty, she thought before drifting off to sleep.
The next day, Jen and her sister walked towards their schools.
"So," Juls started,"you're wearing that flower stone thingy to school today?"
"Yep." Jen held up her wrist so that her sister could see. "Jealous?"
"Yeah!" Juls whined. "I want a pretty stone like that! Can I borrow it sometime?"
"Maybe. I'll think about it."
"That's already a 'no!'"
"You'll get a turn! Don't worry."
The sisters seperated at Davies Avenue and headed in different directions. Jen walked happily to the high school. She couldn't wait to show her friends her new jewelry. She walked into the school and headed up to her first class of the day. She sat down in her normal seat and waited for Shelby to walk in. After a moment, Shelby, along with her other friends Angie and Breanna, walked into the classroom. Shelby sat next to Jen as Angie sat in front of her, Breanna on the other side.
"What's up?" Angie asked turning around.
"Nothing much," Jen replied. "Check it out girls."
The red head held up her wrist and showed her friends her flower. They all gasped. Even Shelby, who usually didn't gasp. "What is that?" Angie asked.
"A crystalized flower?" Shelby added.
"Doesn't look like it," Breanna said.
"I found it on the ground outside of Stonehill Junior High," Jen said.
"Then somebody must've dropped it," Shelby said. "What a shame. It's so beautiful."
"I know right?"
The group marveled at the stone flower until the bell rang. Mrs. Muratomi walked into the room and sat at her desk as usual, waiting for the pledge to start.
Jen couldn't stop staring at her jewel. The beautiful colors from last night still lingered on it. What now? she wondered.
After her first class was over, Jen walked with Shelby to their next class. They sat down in their seats and talked.
"That was a really weird class," Shelby said.
"It was interesting though," Jen added.
"Yes. Interesting and weird."
The girls laughed. Life couldn't get any better than this, Jen thought.
Suddenly, long arms wrapped around Jen's neck. She gasped then laughed, knowing exactly who was hugging her.
"Hello, Roland," she said kindly, her checks flushing.
"Hey there," the boy said.
Roland let go of Jen and stood up straight. She turned and smiled at the boy. Roland was hugging her from behind ever since the beginning of the year. She guessed he was getting that I-like-you vibe from her. Shelby and Jen both thought that Roland had a crush on the red head. "How's your day so far?" he asked Jen.
"Fine, and yours?" "Fine," he said smiling. Jen smiled back and Roland walked away. She sighed and turned towards Shelby.
"You can tell that he likes you," she said pushing up her glasses.
"Nah, he doesn't," Jen said, even though she knew it was true.
"Yeah he does."
"Who does what?"
Livy Azenneth sat down behind Shelby and smiled, messing with the piercings on her lips. "Who likes who?"
"Liv," Shelby said turning,"do you think Roland likes Jen?"
Liv nodded. "Of course. He shows off all the signs. He's even looking at you now."
"He is?" Jen turned and looked at Roland. She saw him look away from her, blushing. "Oh, my god!" the red head whispered to her friends.
Shelby and Liv laughed as Mr. Cozy entered the class. "We'll talk about this later," Liv said opening her notebook.
Jen and Shelby nodded, then they turned their attention to the teacher.
"I couldn't believe that!" Kara shouted as the mages sat together at lunch.
"You can't believe what?" Emily asked Kara.
"Did you see how Roland was all over that red head? That should've been me!"
"Aren't you in love with Lorren, Princess?" Adriane laughed.
Kara blushed. "Well, no, of course! Lorren and I are just friends!"
"Yeah, okay."
Kara crossed her arms and looked away from Adriane, focusing on Emily.
"So, Em, how's math coming?" "I'm doing good so far." "At least someone is doing some school work. Unlike some people."
Kara shot Adriane a glance. "Hey! I'm getting good grades!" Adriane said.
"Sure you are."
Emily laughed as her friends argued.
That's when the healer noticed the red head from yesterday walk into the cafeteria. She was the same girl that Roland was hugging, Emily realized. She wondered what she would be like.
At lunch, Jen sat with her friends Shelby, Liv, and Angie. Shelby's friend Hailey and Liv's friend Mike was there too. Jen didn't really know why.
"So, what're we doing in Cozy's?" Hailey asked Shelby. While Shelby explained the assignment, Angie and Mike argued. "There's no way lasanga can grow on the moon," Angie said.
"Yeah it can!" Mike shouted. "You just gotta know how to grow it."
As they argued, Jen showed Liv her stone flower.
"Very pretty," Liv said. "And you just found it on the ground?"
"Yup," Jen said showing it off. "Lucky, huh?"
"Very."
Something tapped Jen's shoulder. She turned and saw Roland standing behind her. "Hi."
"Hey," he said smiling. "Want to walk with me?" Jen said standing up with her tray of food.
"Sure."
They started to walk away. Out of no where, a tray flew up and slammed into Jen's chest. Spagetti noddles and sauce splattered all over her clean shirt. The guy in front of her smiled evily. She immediately recongized him as Jason, her ex-boyfriend. "Oops," he said. "My bad."
Everyone in the cafeteria started laughing, except Roland and the group of friends at her table. Across the cafeteria, Emily, Adriane, and Kara watched as the red head stared at the blond boy who spilled his spagetti lunch all over her shirt.
"Oh, geez," Emily said.
"He did that on purpose," Kara nearly shouted.
"How can you tell?" Adriane asked.
"'Cause I can."
Jen's cheeks flushed. This is so embarassing, she thought. And this stain is never gonna come out! She was gonna kill Jason for doing this!
Anger boiled up inside her. She clenched her fists. She stared at her ex with murder in her eyes, tears threatening to fall. The stone flower on Jen's wrist glowed brightly. Pinks, greens, and blues flashing wildly. She was about to punch Jason in the face when-
Pop! Pop! Pop! Keeeeeeeshh!
-the lights from the ceiling exploded. People started screaming and ducking under the tables for cover, including the mages. The teachers ran around the cafeteria, trying to calm the teens down. Roland stared at the floor as the glass fell from the ceiling, covering his head. Jen sheilded her eyes as more lights exploded. Suddenly, the cafeteria fell silent.
"Jen," Shelby nearly whispered,"look down."
"What?" Jen asked. Then she saw it.
Her stone was shining brightly. The natural pinks, greens, and blues danced acrossed the whole cafeteria together. The lights were brighter than usual. A lot more vibrant.
Everyone, even Jason, stared at the magnificent colors.
"Whoa," Roland gasped. Suddenly, the bright lights dimmed and finally disappeared. The cafeteria grew dark, the only light shining through the windows.