OPERATION ELEMENTS-PROLOGUE

Prologue

The crisp Autumn air grazed across my cheek. My palms were sweating and my face was stinging of heat. Sunburn? Who gets a sunburn in November? I wondered, gently pressing my finger against my forehead. I pulled it back immediately, for there was a bright red blister on the tip of it. I stuck my finger in my mouth and pulled out my ringing cell phone. “Hello?” I said into the device. The voice spoke, then I hung up after saying, “I’m on my way.” I sighed. This was it. Excitement and dread filled me as I hopped on my penny board and rode down the block. I arrived at Danielle’s house. I threw my board into the grass and knocked lightly on the front door. I waited patiently for someone to answer. Danielle was the most popular girl in the tenth grade, stereotypically speaking of course. In other terms, everyone was scared of her. She had control over everyone’s social life. She can either make it or break it. So why on earth did I ask her for help? My thoughts were interrupted when Danielle opened the door. She was holding a pomeranian in one arm and applying lip gloss with the other. Her nasty expression changed from a snarl to a smile when she saw me. “Hey hey!” she said bubbly. She was a deadly shark with extensions and Ugg boots. She invited me in and I took in everything. Her house was probably fancier than Buckingham Palace. “Here, hold Penelope,” she ordered, thrusting the pooch into my face. She was in the middle of applying her hundredth layer of lip stick when the dog yelped. Danielle dropped her lip stick and snatched the dog from me. “Penny! My sweet baby poochy poo! You’re hot!” She said, feeling the side of the dog’s belly. We walked into the kitchen and filled Penelope’s bowl with ice water and left her in her bed. I followed Danielle to her room, which was all black and white furniture with hot pink decorations. I started to speak but she interrupted me. “Listen, I know why you’re here.” I stared at her, questioning how she would know such a thing. “Duh, to get Isaac’s number!” She said, laughing. I’d known Isaac for as long as I could remember. He had always been this disgusting, annoying kid that would do anything for attention. But he got really really hot over the summer, and I couldn’t help but like him. “Isaac is really cute. I can understand why you are in love with him,” she said. “I’m not ‘In love’ with him!” I said defensively. She completely ignored my argument and continued to blab on and on. “I’d totally go out with him, if I wasn’t dating Josh.” “Can I just have his number?” I asked, getting even more annoyed by every layer of lipstick that was applied to her mouth. She tossed a crumpled up piece of notebook paper at me. I caught it and tucked it into my sweatshirt pocket. As I turned to leave, I knocked over her mannequin. Hats and scarves littered the ground, and the metal statue hit the wood ground with a loud bang. “I’m so sorry,” I said bending down to help pick up the mess. “You should be,” she glared at me. “And don’t touch my stuff!” She said, swatting my hand away from a purple scarf. I dropped the accessory, only to see that the fabric was singed. Black ashes fell to the ground. “What did you do to my scarf!” She roared. “I’ll just go,” I said, backing away shamefully. When I reached the porch, she slammed the door behind me. Geez Louise, I thought. I pulled out the paper and unfolded it. I expected to read ten numbers, but instead there were words that read: Listen up Peterson. I already spoke to Isaac, and surprise surprise. He isn’t into you! He didn’t even know who I was talking about, and haven’t you two been in the same class since like fourth grade? What a shame. But I’m not shocked. Boys don’t like you! They never have and never will! Your just a worthless person that no one cares about. So back off! I was one the verge of tears, but when I looked up and saw Danielle’s smirk through the window, something snapped inside of me. The whole yard lit up in flames. Time froze. Ruckus was about me, I must have been frozen still for twenty minutes before I heard a deep voice behind me. “Okay girl, come out so we can help you.” Panic struck me. I turned around and fire shot out of my finger tips. The fire fighter managed to dodge it, but it kept shooting out. Someone was aiming a gun at me. I turned around to face black flame swirling, forming a circle. Shouts and warnings were sounding behind me, but I was in oblivion. I dove headfirst into the fire and all the voices disappeared. Everything was dark. My life was about to change forever. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. Hi, I’m MacKenzie, and I control Fire.