Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!
At exactly 7:30, the doorbell rang. Rachel was here to pick me up. Rachel Elizabeth Dare has been my best friend ever since my very first day at the Academy. We had instantly liked each
other, probably because we were the only ones in the school who weren't prim, proper, and snotty. Rachel has hair that's red like fire and freckles all over her face. She's a great artist, and
she's definitely not one of those people who likes to 'beat around the bush'; Rachel will give it to you straight forward. I ran to get the door, grabbing my backpack on the way.
"Hey!" she beamed when I opened the door. As soon as my uncle saw her, he gave an annoyed grunt. Rachel raised an eyebrow.
"Um, let's just go," I gently nudged her out the door, not trying to be rude but just trying to keep her from the wrath of my uncle. We bounded down the stairs in silence, and we were out the
ground floor's door when Rachel grabbed my arm.
"Happy Birthday, Luce!" She pulled out a small box with a green bow wrapped around it and handed it to me.
"Aw thanks Rach. But you didn't have to ge-" She cut me off with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"Oh, just hush and open it, will you?" she smiled encouragingly. I couldn't help but smile back; who doesn't love presents? I untied the bow and opened the box; inside was a tiny pair of gold
earrings. They were sunflowers, so detailed that they caught my breath. I gave her a big bear hug and thanked her.
"I thought you'd like them because they're flowers, and I know how you like plants and stuff." She seemed proud of herself for remembering. As I studied the earrings more closely, my eyes
became suspicious.
"Rachel... These aren't real gold, right?" She shifted her weight, and looked at the ground.
"It's no big deal, trust me." How could she give me REAL gold earrings? I tried to object but she cut me off again.
"Come on, we're gonna be late." I quickly put the studs in and allowed her to drag me to the end of the side walk. She waved for a cab, and we got in in a rush. I realized she was right as I
looked at the digital clock on the dash board; it was already 7:37. Our little birthday celebration had taken seven minutes. Rachel told the cabby to drive to Clarion Ladies Academy, and to step
on it. The ride to school was silent; I watched the office buildings, shops, and restaurants roll by out my window. We arrived at school in the nick of time; it was 7:56 and the late bell rings at
8:00. We paid the driver and ran to the front door. As I barreled towards the entrance, I barely payed attention to my surroundings: A green, perfectly trimmed lawn, big fancy marble
columns and steps, a flag pole, an oak tree to the side, and a large slab of brick wall with the Clarion Ladies Academy Pledge carved into it. I blindly flew through the doors and ran straight into
one of our Dean of Students. I vaguely remembered her name: Ms. McNall. She had stringy gray hair that she twisted into an unattractive bun everyday, and eyes about the size of golf balls,
glaring angrily at me through round glasses. I blurted out an apology, but that only made her more upset, because I had forgotten one of the rules; that you have to ask for permission to
speak.
"Ms. Wheeton, how dare you address me without asking! The nerve of you children these days! I will see to it that you receive a conduct referral and a detention with Mr. Plimmis. Maybe next
time you'll be careful to watch where you're going. Hmph!" She strutted off, no doubt feeling pleased with herself that she had been able to give a detention before school even started. I stared
after her in disbelief; getting a detention just from accidentally running into someone? Just my luck.
I was about to find out my luck could get much, much worse.
Rachel and I said our goodbyes as we got our books for first period. We both had biology, so we met back up when all the students were hurrying into the classroom. The bell rang just as we took
our seats, and Mr. Biffs called the class to attention.
"Today's lesson is on botany, the study of plants. We are going to visit the green house to observe the different kinds of greenery and you will take notes on their characteristics." I ignored the
rest of his announcement, for I was too worried about being around more plants, after what happened this morning. I shifted nervously in my seat. Maybe if I just didn't touch anything, I would
be fine.
We line up in single file and marched outside to the greenhouse. Every step closer to the plants made me feel stronger, and more awake. By the time we got inside, my heart felt like it was
vibrating. Mr. Biffs sent us off to go take notes, but, before I could go find Rachel, Melissa Rinnefal got in my face. See, Melissa is your typical queen bee; She strikes fear into all that are below
her, always has a crowd of wannabees following her around telling her how pretty and smart she is, and an ego about the size of an elephant.
"Hey Wheeton," she sneered. I tried not to let her bother me; it wasn't worth it. I started to walk away, but she grabbed my arm. If she was that eager to start something, she had to be on her
period.
"Where's your dad, sweetheart?" she asked with false sympathy, already knowing the answer. "Oh, that's right... He's dead." Her little group of friends snickered.
Okay, that was crossing the line.
My blood boiled in my veins. Anger clouded my vision. Tears of fury stung in my eyes. My whole body was vibrating. Rachel pushed through them to try and comfort me, but it was too late;
I felt a tug in my arm.
The ground trembled, the glass windows shattered, and plants started moving. One pumpkin vine that had grown three times its original size whipped toward Melissa. It took me a second to
realize that I was the one controlling it with hand motions. I squeezed my fist together and the vine grabbed Melissa, swinging her around. Terrified screams echoed around me. Everyone was
running for their lives except for Rachel and I; Rachel stood frozen in place, staring at me. I pulled my arms high above my head, and all the plants shot upwards, straight through the roof.
Suddenly, I heard a woman's voice in my head that I didn't recognize.
"That's enough, dear," the voice said, but it sounded quite pleased. My surprise calmed me down a little, and the plants shrunk a bit. I dropped my arms, and the plants copied my actions;
they fell right to the ground. I probably should've let my arms down gently, because the plant holding Melissa didn't show any mercy; it fell lifelessly to the ground, just like the rest of them.
Melissa was definitely unconscious, but when I went to check on her, she was still breathing. I pulled her away from the wreckage, hoping that she had hit her head hard enough not to
remember any of the recent events. Reluctantly, I turned to face Rachel.
To my absolute and utter surprise, she had a big grin on her face.
"OH MY GODS! How in the world did you just do that? It was SO incredible! I have to get you to Chiron!" I just gaped at her.
"Chi- who?" was all I could say. I was worn out from what I just did, and I felt unbelievably drained.
"I'll explain everything later," she glanced anxiously down the hill at the approaching teachers and cringed when she heard a siren in the distance, "but I have to get you out of here!" Looking
at the teachers reminded me of the consequences I would have; only one glance at the expressions on their faces told me I was expelled.
Rachel dragged me across the grass and had to help me up the brick wall because I was so tired. She pulled me along through a neighborhood with mansions and manicured lawns, and
stopped when she found a dark little space between two trash cans and a fence. Rachel pulled me down into the little area, and flipped out a cell phone.
"Who are you calling?" I mumbled sleepily.
"Annabeth," she said matter-of-factly, as if I knew who she was talking about. I was going to ask more but decided not to when she started punching in the numbers. While the phone was
calling, I laid my head against the fence. So much had happened today; it just didn't make sense. Normal people weren't supposed to be able to control plants. Someone on the other line
picked up, but I could only tell the voice belonged to a girl; I couldn't hear what she said.
"Annabeth! I need a ride. It's an emergency... I'll explain when I get there. Yeah, just send us a- okay, great, thanks!" Rachel abruptly snapped the phone shut and turned to me.
"Okay Lucy, I know you're confused, and probably exhausted from what you just did, but I need you to bear with me. We'll explain everything when we get to camp."
"We?" I asked, my eyebrows scrunching together.
"Come on," was all she replied. So much for being 'straight forward'.
We ran through peoples' yards and not on the sidewalk, because Rachel said it was too open. I had no idea where we were going until we got there: Burberry Park. I had only been there a
couple of times, because it was such a long walk from my home, and it's not like Uncle Harry was about to drive me anywhere. By the looks of it it was pretty empty. Rachel lead me into the
woods next to the park, and we walked until we reached a small meadow-like opening in the trees.
There, its white feathers glinting in the sunlight, was a winged horse.
"Time to leave," Rachel murmured.