William trey, Water Elemental

  Something felt off at Selena's place, so I picked up my speed. It felt rough and suffocating in a way I'd never experienced before. It reminded me of rockslides and earthquakes and sand. It was grainy and hard to me, and it tickled me in all the wrong ways, like a baseball bat to the funny bone. It felt so wrong to my liquid sense, as I had begun to call it. The air around her home feels hard, stable, unmoving, but in a way I couldn't describe through words. I reached the door and rang the doorbell. Then I froze. I knew what I felt inside the building. An elemental… I can sense it. I can sense elementals? Wow, that has horrible implications. Not just that there's one with Selena.

  My mind rushes to a million different conclusions before I eventually just take a deep breath to calm myself. The door opens and I smile when I see Selena, washing most my worry away and hiding the rest. She seems to see a little bit of it but ignores it.

  “Hey, Will. The transfer's here.” She says, offering a smile. I smile back.

  “Excited to meet her.” I say, stepping inside with her. My eyes lock with a girl with brown hair, brown eyes and lightly tanned skin. She knows too, or at least she has an inkling, judging by the genuine shock on her face. She wiped the expression away as quick as it arrives, though, smiling to me instead. It's then that I realize something else. There's no liquid in her body. Her body is a void to my senses.

  “Hi, I'm Lillian.” She says. “Nice to meet you.”

  She sits up as I walk down the stares and shake her hand. The feeling is far more intense with physical contact, and we cut the handshake short far quicker than normal. I just shake my head, pushing the feeling aside. I'm suspicious of the woman. Of course I am. But there's nothing to do at the moment. She's shown no signs of hostility yet, so I won't show her any yet either.

  She seems to come to the same conclusion as me.

  “I'm William, though everyone calls me will.” I say. “Say, can I call you Lily?” She snorts at my question.

  “Selena said the same thing when I met her, though she didn't wait for an answer.” She says, smiling.

  “Yeah, that sounds like her.” I say, sitting down on the couch. Selena stares between us, eyes narrowing in suspicion. She sits down right between me and her, giving Lily a suspicious look for some reason. I don't put too much stock in it though, she gets like that sometimes.

  “So.” She says, leaning back in her chair. “Wanna watch a show before we do some studying?”

  “Sure.” Me and Lily say at the same time, then share a glance. I chuckle, turning to the tv.

  “What were you watching before I got here?” I ask.

  “I clicked a random video about cats and we just watched whatever played next until you got here. It ended on a video about how garage doors work and their history.” Selena explains. I pause, then shrug.

  “Sounds… interesting.” I say, then take the remote. “Mind if I put some more techy videos on?”

  “Sure.” Selena ways, then glances over to Lily. “You ok with that?”

  “Thats ok with me, yeah.” She nods. “Though after could we watch something about gardening?”

  “Gardening, huh? You have a passion for it?” I ask curiously.

  “Yeah, I do.” She smiles. “I used to work for a nice old rich family, tending to their gardens and mowing their lawn. They paid a lot more than I should have been for such a job, but I didn't complain about extra cash to spend on trinkets and things.” She smiles. “I was a lifeguard on the side too. I didn't see much in the way of gardening here, so I thought maybe I'd do that until I head back.”“Im a lifeguard too.” I smile, changing to my channel. I have a video in mind already.

  “I don't have a job.” Selena admits shamelessly. “Mom's letting me freeload, at least until I graduate. If I stay after graduating, I gotta pay rent.”

  “Unemployed bumpkin.” I say with a grin.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Shut up.” She swats me with a hand and I catch it, chuckling. I find the video I want and put it on. Both girls perk up at it. It's a video of a guy making a mechanical solution for their little garden of flowers dying in the winter, designing a heating system and a glass cage that will come out of the wall when they want it to and will disappear during summer. They also design a system to water it periodically.

  “They need new soil for those poor things.” Lily comments, squinting. “It's so dull, it probably lacks nutrients. That's probably the biggest reason they're wilting.”

  “How can you tell?” Selena asks and I pause the video on an image of the little garden.

  “Look at how light the color is.” She says, leaning forward and pointing to the soil. “There's no darkness to it. It looks too thick too. Fertile soil is darker and crumbly, with life like earthworms in it.”

  “Thats cool.” I agree, not really knowing what to say. I'm 90 percent sure she's the earth elemental. Or maybe life? I'm guessing earth.

  As we watch and our conversation divulges, though I keep stealing glances at her. She seems comfortable. Her shoulders are slumped and she's flat against the back of the couch, chatting with Selena. She slightly flinches every time I move or speak. There's a little twitch to her hand too, and a glance she gets from time to time. Nervousness, maybe?

  Lily doesn’t notice me staring, but I think Selena does, because after a while when it's time to do some studying she takes me to her room alone.

  “Why are you staring at her so much?” Selena asks, frowning. “Do you like her or something?”

  “She seems decent enough on the surface.” I say quietly, glancing around the room for dirt or the like. If I can extend my senses through water, then I might be able to do the same with earth. “But I think shes an elemental.”

  “What?” Selena freezes, then gives me a look. “Really? What would make you think that?”

  “I can feel it.” I say. “She feels like earth. Also, I sense no water in her body. It's like shes made of rock or dirt or something.”“Will, you know I trust you but you've gotta meet my halfway here. Her?” She makes a flappy motion with her hands, trying to convey something and failing. “She isn't all… you know.”“I get it.” I say. “But you wouldn't be saying that if you felt what I felt. I think elementals can sense each other in close proximity.”“That would be bad.” She says immediately, frowning. “So if what you're saying is true does that mean…”“Yeah, I think she knows too.” I say. “But we can't just ask her, right?”“I don't know…” She frowns. “She seems like such a nice girl. I like her.”“But didn't you notice the way she acted around me?” I point out. “She seemed almost scared to talk to me.”

  “I noticed that too…” she frowns, sitting down on a chair. “Is there anything we can do about it?”

  “I think I'll have to ask her.” I sigh. “Not today though. Maybe I'll ask her to come out to the forest with us?”

  “No.” Selena says flatly. “Bringing a girl out to the forest then demanding answers? That's a little creepy, you know.”

  “That… yeah, you're right.” I nod. “So, here?”

  “Yeah, sure.” She nods. “mom wont be home this saturday. We can ask her then?”

  “Yeah, alright.” I nod.

  I open the door and stick my head through. “Hey, Lily, what classes do you have?” I ask her.

  “Um… I major botany, and also minor in art and chemistry.”“Oh, I take art.” Selena comments from her seat at her desk.

  “I take bio.” I smile. “Come on, let's study together.”“Oh… sure.” She nods. “Yeah, let's do that.” She stands and makes her way to Selena's room. I give her my seat and flop down onto Selena's bed, reaching over and pulling a hydraulics book out of my bag. The book is titled “Introduction to hydraulics”, and it's the dryest book I've ever read. Ironic, considering it's a book on water power.

  “I'm a second year, so I don't think we will have any classes together.” Lily says, then pauses. “Let me grab my books, one sec.”I feel through the slight moisture in the air to follow her as she moves. It's a blurry sense, as there's not much water in the air, but tracking her is easy. True to her word, she just grabs her books from her room and brings them back. Perhaps I'm being paranoid, but better being paranoid than being dead due to a stone spike through my spine.

  She gets back with her books, which appear quite new , and sits back down. Selena, Lily and I compare books and find that she and Selena share one.

  “I dropped a class for art.” She says, showing Selena her matching book. “I guess we will share a class.”

  “That's cool!” She agrees, grinning. “I'll have to catch you up on what's going on.”“Thanks.” She smiles. “I'd appreciate it.” I look down at my biology book, which I'd already completely read through and made notes (yes it's dry but I'm dedicated like that) then I glance over to her biology book. It's a year ahead of mine. If I read through it, I'd be able to get ready for the competition coming up soon. Last week I took a test to ensure I was ready. I passed, but only barely. With physics I'm years ahead of my class, but with bio I'm not.

  “Could I help you make notes?” I ask her. “I'm taking bio, but finished my textbook ages ago.”“Uh… sure.” She nods after a seconds thought. Maybe we are overwhelming her.

  The next few hours are spent studying physics and the history of headbands or something (I wasn't paying attention to the art stuff much). By the end of it I'm fairly certain Lily isn't a bad person. However, I can't know for sure. I've met manipulators before. She might be one. Though, something about the idea of manipulation only loosely aligns with the concept of earth in my mind.

  For now I decide I'll trust her. Honestly, I have no reason not to yet. She's been nice enough. Only time will tell.