Chapter 6

I woke up feeling great.  I didn’t know if it was because of what Mom or Megan said yesterday, but I could feel this amazing power pulsing through me, like a heartbeat. I felt like I could do anything in the world. Mom was already in the kitchen making a power drink for us. She still looked worried. “Honey,” She called softly as I gulped the drink. “We haven’t finished talking about what we were talking about yesterday. After practice, meet me in the living room okay?”

“Sure thing Mom.” I told her. “Isn’t Sal ready yet? We have two minutes till we meet them outside.”

“Correction.” Megan walked into the kitchen briskly. “ One and a half minutes and counting.”

Sal almost crawled down the stairs in her sleep. “Whatever Megan, we will be there.” But she was already gone. “Hey Mom, what are we going to do for our birthday party?” I had forgotten about that, mainly because it wasn’t my priority at the moment. It wasn’t like Sal to forget what was really important.

Mom wrinkled her nose. “About that, well.” She paused to think about it. “We will talk about it in the evening after practice since we have to talk anyway. Now go! Don’t make your cousins wait!”

Outside, only Megan was waiting next to the tree. Ashley was nowhere in sight.  “Ten seconds late.” She reprimanded us.

“Ten seconds. Big deal.” I rolled my eyes.

In the neck second I found myself pressed against the wall of the house by a hand made of earth. Megan stood ten feet away with her hand in the same position as the earth hand. “Ten seconds is an incredibly big a deal in this world. In ten seconds, you could be dead or alive depending on what you do.” She released me. “Your call.”

“Okay okay fine.” I muttered. “Where is Ashley by the way? Isn’t she late?”

“Oh no I’m not. I have been here for a while.” And I jumped at the sound of the disembodied voice that belonged to Ashley, but sounded like it came from next to me. “And I’m not invisible.” She said with a laugh that scared me for some reason. “I can’t do that yet.”

“Well, if you’re not invisible, what are you? We are wasting time here, I could be doing anything else right now.” Saleena said kicking a stone around.

“Then go do it.” Megan snarled.

“I just might.” Saleena replied.

“Oh no don’t fight!” Ashley appeared from near the tree and ran towards the two. “Don’t fight! This is extremely important!”

Megan backed off. “She’s right. Lets work.”  She called all of us to gather in the center of the yard. “Okay everyone, form a line.” When we had done so, we had formed a line with Megan and I at either end. She walked over to me and took my hand so that we had formed a square. “Now, the first step to mastering is to clear your mind. Breathe evenly and empty your mind of all thought.”

“One sec.” I called out. “Before we start all the mumbo jumbo I have a question.”

Megan sighed. “Yes. What is it?”

“Won’t our neighbors see us chucking rocks at each other?”

“No they won’t,” She replied, her eyes already closed. “Those who don’t have powers won’t be able to see a thing. Now close your eyes!”

I closed them fast wondering how she knew they were open.

“Clear your mind of all emotions. Breathe evenly. In. And out. In. And out. Continue.”

I could feel myself calming down suddenly as I listened to her. “Okay, since Michaela will need to work near water since it is the easiest element, so Ashley is going to teleport us over to the river.”  Then to Ashley. “When you are ready Ash.”

There was a sudden whoosh of air and we were on the bank of the river. Everyone except Saleena. Megan sighed heavily, “She didn’t clear her mind. How can Ash teleport her if her head isn’t clear?”

Ashley seemed unaffected. “Don’t worry, I’ll get her.” And she was gone.

The river seemed pretty calm as it flowed downstream. We had waited a full two minutes before Megan finally said, “Might as well begin. Don’t want to waste precious time. Get near the water.” I silently reached the bank of the river. It was pretty shallow on the bank but really deep about five meters in. “Get in.” She ordered. When she saw my questioning look, she just waded in. “Being in the water will help you to understand what you are trying to control.” She called over her shoulder. I waded in after her, enjoying the cool touch of water as it swirled around my legs. I felt home in the water, an amazing feeling, like it was part of me. I had never felt like this before, even though I swam often.

“Good.” Megan smiled. “I can feel you being comfortable in the water, your mind is clear. We can now go to the first step. Hold your palms over the water.” I copied her demonstration. “We’re going to move the water slowly, just to create ripples on the surface so that you can get the hang of it. Will the water to move.”

I watched her as she gently moved her hands back and forth over the surface of the water and almost immediately, the water began to move in synchronization to her hands. I tried to mimic her action but all I lost my footing and fell into the water with a splash. I shook my head to get rid of the water. “Don’t lau…” I was about to say laugh but she was scowling instead. That would have been funny for anyone. What is her problem?

“Don’t fool around.” She growled. “Get up and try again.” Then she took a deep breath to calm herself before saying, “Okay, try to be one with the water. Watch its movement and try to make your mind move with it, then try to make it move according to your will.”

I stared at the water with determination. Soon, I found myself swaying with the water, moving with its molecules. “Perfect. Now will it to move the way you want it to.” Megan said from behind me. With caution, because I didn’t want to miss this and have to start again, I moved my hands against the motion of the current. At first, the change was pretty minimal but soon I could manipulate the current according to my hand movement. The edge of my mouth curled up in a smile. This was going to be easy.