Disclaimer: Everything here belongs to the author Jenny Nimmo. Well, except the unfamiliar characters like Kristy, Michelle, etc. If you don't like my fanfic, don't have anything against her. She didn't do anything wrong. I did!
It was a beautiful autumn day. The sun was shining, the sky was bright blue, the grass green, and there was a breeze about, rustling the colorful leaves. Fluffy cumulus clouds dotted the sky, and birds chirped merrily, informing the world of a new, bright day. It was perfect. Couldn't have been any better.
But not for Kristy Twirl. Kristy was an average girl with straight auburn hair and brilliant pine-green eyes. She had pale, creamy skin with freckles sprinkled on her cheeks. She was a cheerful girl of thirteen, always smiling and laughing and making other people feel good.
So what was wrong?
This was the problem. Kristy Twirl was going to Bloor's Academy for the Gifted and Talented. She was a wonderful musician, but that wasn't the only reason she was going there.
Kristy was special. In other words, endowed. Oh, yes. She could do anything with plants. She had found out about two weeks ago. As soon as her parents had been informed, they had quickly called Dr. Bloor and with proud, smiling faces, had told her she would be going to the academy.
Kristy could see the blue bus coming. Sighing and forcing a smile, she grabbed her bookbag and tugged on her deep cerulean cape.
"Bye, Kristy. Have a nice time at Bloor's. See you over the weekend," her parents said with proud smiles, and hugged her goodbye.
"Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. See you soon," Kristy said, faking a cheery tone. "I'll be going." With that, she walked out the door, a fake smile still plastered to her face. 'I wonder if I'm going to make any friends at the Academy,' she thought. 'Probably not. They'll all think I'm this weird girl with stupid powers that nobody really cares about.' With every sad step she took, the beautiful green grass withered.
Finally, she got onto the bright blue bus. There were no empty seats left, except the spot next to a pale, thin boy with mousy brown hair.
"Is it all right if I sit here?" she asked politely. Her parents had reminded her to be polite to everyone.
"Sure," the boy said with a nod. "I'm Gabriel Silk. You must be the new girl."
Kristy nodded. "Kristy Twirl. Pleasure meeting you." She sat down and laid her flute case on her lap.
Just as they arrived at Filbert Street, a tall boy about ten or eleven stepped on. A boy with bright brown hair and eyes almost the same color skipped up to him to say hi.
"Charlie! Fidelio! Over here!" Gabriel beckoned the two boys to the seats in front of them. Kristy waved shyly. Fidelio gave Gabriel a curious look as Charlie looked into Kristy's bright green eyes, as if he were trying to read her mind. "This is Kristy Twirl. She's new at Bloor's. Endowed."
"Hey, Kristy. I'm Fidelio Gunn and my friend here is Charlie Bone," the boy with the bright brown hair said.
"It's nice to meet you both," Kristy said with a smile and a sparkle of her green eyes.
"So, you're endowed? That makes thirteen of us, if you count Bindi and Dorcas," Charlie said with a grin. "What's your, you know, talent?"
Before Kristy could answer, the bus skidded to a stop. The four could see a large gray stone building five stories high. The windows were dark rectangles of reflecting glass, and you couldn't see what was inside. Charlie shuddered as he saw the place, as did Gabriel and Fidelio.
"C'mon, guys. It can't be that bad, can it?" Kristy asked them jokingly, but fear etched in her voice.
"No, I guess you're right. Come on, Kristy. I'm your guide, remember?" Gabriel said with a forced smile.
"Oh yeah!" she said, smacking herself on the head. "I should have listened to Mom when she said you were going to be my guide around the academy," she mumbled. Fidelio chuckled.
"We'll see you guys at the assembly!" Charlie said to Gabriel and Kristy as the two walked away. Gabriel nodded and Kristy smiled. Charlie noticed that every step Kristy took on the brownish, dead grass, it became young and green again. "Strange," he muttered to himself.
"What's strange?" Fidelio asked, a puzzled look on his face. Before Charlie could say anything, a purple-haired girl with purple high-heels and a purple cape attacked them.
"Olivia!" Charlie and Fidelio cried.
"Hey, Chazz. Hey, Fido," Olivia Vertigo greeted them brightly.
"What's with the Chazz?" Charlie asked her, a grin forming on his lips.
"Ya know, like Fido. Charlie's a big mouthful and Chazz is cool!" Olivia said with a cheeky grin as Fidelio and Charlie burst out in laughter.
"Charles Bone! Fidelio Gunn! Olivia Vertigo! You'd better hurry up or I'll give you detention!" a tall boy with ginger red hair threatened them.
"All right, Asa. We were just about to go, anyway," Fidelio said to Asa Pike with a sneer. Asa just laughed coldly.
The three went into the cold stone walls of the academy and through the paved courtyard. They went up the flight of steps and found the familiar massive bronze-studded doors wide open for them. Olivia waved merrily and disappeared through a door under two masks, as the children with the green capes went through the door under the crossing pencil and paintbrush to the art department. Quickly, Charlie and Fidelio followed the students with the bright sapphire capes through the door under the two trumpets. They first went to the blue coatroom, then to the assembly room.
"Hi, Charlie! Hey, Fidelio!" Kristy greeted them. She was holding a shining silver flute and standing right next to Gabriel.
"Hi, Kristy!" the two of them said. "Hey, Gabriel." Gabriel grinned at them as Billy Raven entered the room.
"Move over, Bone. I said MOVE OVER, Gunn," he said irritably. Kristy gave him an unpleasant look. "So you're the new girl, huh?" Billy said to her rudely.
"If you haven't noticed," Kristy said. "Kristy Twirl. Who're you?"
"Billy Raven. A piece of advice: Stay away from Bone and Gunn. They're always making trouble," Billy said, motioning to Charlie and Fidelio.
"It's not your business who I make friends with, Billy Raven," she said coolly. "So shove off and get a life." Billy frowned and went back to facing Dr. Saltweather.
"He's a spy," Gabriel whispered to Kristy. "He used to be nice, but somebody's making him be cruel to people and pry into their businesses. Especially Charlie's." Kristy nodded as she stuck her tongue out at Billy. Fidelio snickered.
"Shut up," Billy said to Fidelio clearly.
"No," Fidelio answered with a wide grin. "I don't think so."
Before Billy could answer, Dr. Saltweather started conducting. They quickly started playing. It didn't last a long time, thank goodness, for the clarinets had been squeaky and creaky. It hadn't been a pretty sound. When assembly was over, Fidelio hurried off to Miss Chrystal (Strings), Gabriel to Mr. Pilgrim (Piano), and Charlie and Kristy sluggishly walked to Mr. Paltry (Winds).
"Mr. Paltry doesn't like endowed children much," Charlie whispered to Kristy when the teacher was out of earshot. "He thinks our talents are useless and no one needs them."
"Well, I'm beginning to think he's right," Kristy muttered. "I'm useless, pathetic, and no one needs me, just like my endowment."
"No you're not. By the way, you never told me what your endowment was. I can listen to pictures. How about you, Kristy?" Charlie asked her quietly.
"I can do anything with plants. But sometimes, even when I don't mean to do anything, like, for instance, when I'm depressed, all the grass and trees around me start to wither and die. It's very strange, and I don't like it at all. All the poor things die just because I'm feeling sad," Kristy said miserably. Charlie nodded.
Soon the amazingly unproductive class ended and the two rushed to the coatroom to meet Gabriel and Fidelio.
"There you two are!" Fidelio said. "It's probably because Miss Chrystal and Miss Dance let us out early, but you guys are five minutes late! What took you?"
"You know old Mr. Paltry," Charlie grumbled. "He's always complaining about us useless endowed ones and wasting our precious time away."
Fidelio nodded. "Well, c'mon! Let's go to the garden! We always have a run after our first lesson," he explained to Kristy.
They walked down the steps to the bare, dead place that was called the garden. A deep wood surrounded the field and they could see a red wall disappearing into the trees.
"I don't like this place," Kristy said with a shudder. "It's too bare...too plain. I can't go, Charlie."
"Why ever not?" Fidelio asked. "C'mon. It'll be fine." He tugged her arm.
"Fidelio, she can't---"Charlie started to say, but it was too late. Green grass started growing everywhere. Flowers bloomed here and there, and clumps of blueberry bushes grew near the stone walls. The students were in awe. This was what they really called a garden. However, Kristy was moaning in despair.
"Now I've used my endowment," she howled. "The Bloors are going to be after me." Her pine-green eyes were now more bright then ever, fear being the source of this light.
"But you didn't mean to, Kristy," Fidelio said. "I'm sure they'll let you off."
Charlie shook his head. "You don't know the Bloors like the Endowed do, Fidelio. They don't just gulp in excuses like normal people do. They---"
"Charlie, they're coming," Gabriel said. "Kristy---"
"Kristina Alexandra Stephanie Twirl!" a cold, eerie voice shouted.
"It's Manfred," Fidelio said with a gulp. "Kristy..."
"Fidelio Gunn! Gabriel Silk! Charles Bone! Move out of the way!" Asa's voice called. Fidelio, Charlie, and Gabriel had no choice but to do as they were told.
"What did we tell you about using your endowment?" Manfred scolded her as they came near. He made a lunge for Kristy, but vines suddenly appeared from the ground and wrapped themselves around the Head Boy. "LET ME GO! TWIRL!" he screamed, but Kristy shook her head. Charlie and Fidelio laughed. Gabriel tried to make it appear that he was coughing, and not laughing.
"AARRRGGHHHH!" Asa roared, and ran full speed toward the thirteen-year-old girl. A batch of buttercups appeared from nowhere in front of the redheaded boy. He started sneezing and coughing. His eyes turned red and puffy. Obviously, he had allergies.
"Way to go, Kris!" Fidelio said with a grin. Kristy smiled back as she turned around, so she didn't see a furious Dr. Bloor emerge from the building.
"Kristy, watch out!" Gabriel yelled, but the large man had already grabbed ahold of her.
"That teaches you to use your endowment freely, Miss Twirl," Dr. Bloor said nastily. "The rest of you, back inside the building. Mr. Gunn, Mr. Silk, and Mr. Bone, you will go with Manfred and Asa to the Head Boy's room and receive punishment. The boys gulped at the two angry faces of Manfred and Asa. Manfred had gotten down with his father's help, and Asa had ripped the buttercups to shreds.
"Oh, no," Fidelio said miserably.
"Oh, yes," Manfred and Asa said with identical evil grins.