You’ve got to kidding me. Did she just say Brenda? As in Brenda the shiny coin perky blonde beeatch that extracted me last year? Of course she’d be related to the Barbie twins.
“Remember when you said the Council would be willing to do whatever it took to make my adjustment as easy as possible? I’m already having such a hard time being back here after everything that’s happened.” Her voice trembled as she whispered, “I don’t think I can do this.”
Were those real tears streaming down her pretty cheeks, sending a hefty amount of mascara drifting in the current? She sniffled and released a shaky breath. “Everything I see reminds me of my sister.” She choked on the last word. “And then…” Sharp intake of breath. Sob. Sniff. “They put the one responsible for it all in the same room as me!” She broke down, sobbing hard.
I rolled my eyes and sighed. I hadn’t been the dark elemental hell-bent on being the supreme ruler of our world. I hadn’t been the one who lured her twin to the dark side. I wasn’t the reason she was now a solo act.
“She’s the reason I couldn’t use my powers for months. Months!”
Okay, yeah. That one was totally me.
Jess nailed me with a warped, malicious look as her lips twisted into a bitch grin. Gone were the tears. Her breathing was suddenly, miraculously back to normal. “I knew I could count on you, Auntie Brenda.” She ended the call and let out a long, satisfied sigh.
Damn, she was good. I applauded her slowly. “Impressive. Looks like acting runs in your family.”
“I wouldn’t start unpacking just yet, quint.” She flipped her blonde mane as she spun on her high heels and bounced out of the room in her too-cute-to-be-allowed little pink outfit. God, how I hated that color.
She called me quint like it was a bad thing. I had the power to call five elements. That was way cooler than being stuck as a single like her. An air single, at that. Air was the easiest element to control, so being a single air elemental wasn’t all that impressive.
I shook my head and had just started unpacking when Lulu, the eccentric mother hen at Clearwater, teleported into the room, scaring the bejebus out of me. Good thing I wasn’t naked. Or worse, was naked and had company. Her frizzy scarlet hair seemed a little brighter, her makeup a little heavier, and she now had a beauty mark I didn’t remember her having last year. Today she had on layers of colorful robes, one for each house at the academy, and a little hat with the same four colors on flags wobbling on the ends of springs. Her choice in outfits usually had me scratching my head, but this time it actually made sense, considering orientation started in less than an hour.
“Welcome back, Katy!” She hugged me tight, smothering me in both her perfume and the robes. “It is so good to see you.”
“Hello, Lulu,” I replied in a muffled voice, wishing she would have knocked so I could have ignored it. “What brings you by?”
“Just making sure you get settled in.” She opened the large wardrobe and inspected the contents, nodding and sending the little flags bobbing. “Looks like everything is in order. Hurry up and change, dear. He’s waiting.”
“Who?”
“Why, Spencer Dalton, of course.”
Of course. “I don’t even get one day back before I have to partner up with this guy?”
“He insisted we present you the instant you arrived.”
“Present me?” I laughed incredulously and shook my head. “I’m not the presentable type. Does he expect me to curtsy too?”
She tilted her head, clearly confused.
“Never mind. Tell him I’ll meet up with him later. I want to get the rest of my stuff put away.”
With a wave of her hand, Lulu sent my clothes into the air, had the element fold them perfectly, and then used air to open the drawers and put everything away.
That had to be the coolest thing I’d ever seen.
“I never thought of using an element to do housework.” And now I’d never not think of doing that.
“Once you change into your house colors, we’ll be on our way.”
Gross. I hated the school’s outfits. The short short skirts, knee-high socks, and cute little buckle shoes were every creeper dude’s schoolgirl fantasy. “I have to wear a uniform to orientation?”
“As does every student. It’s a school function. Besides, it shows off your house. Now, do you need any help?”
I brought up my hand to stop her. “I can manage.”
After changing into the gray pleated skirt, stark white shirt and socks, and slipping on the shoes, I eyed the line of yellow blazers brighter than the sun. Yellow on redheads made us look like we had jaundice. The sweater vests weren’t so bright, so I opted for the lesser of the evils and pulled one from the wardrobe, quickly slipping it on. I’d pay for it with sweat stains, considering it was the end of August and I tended to sweat when it was eighty degrees, even without the sweater. Still, I’d take that over a blazer that could be seen from space.
“Lead the way.” I fully expected Lulu to teleport us to the office, as was her preferred mode of travel, so when she walked out of the room instead of popping, I furrowed my brow as I followed. “We aren’t going to teleport?”
“I thought we could have a little chat, you know, spend some girl time together on our walk.” She made it sound like the trip from the dorms to the main campus was a weeklong journey.
“Okay, but I draw the line at hair braiding.”
“Oh, you.” She smiled warmly and seemed genuinely excited for our little girl-time chat. Wish I could say the same.
“So,” I started when we’d been walking in silence for too long—like two seconds. “What did you want to talk about?”
“How are you?”
“Uh,
