It continued like this for days.

The days turned into weeks. The weeks turned into a month.

I found myself in October. 30 days since I’d seen y mom, my friends, anything from my past life. It was hard to think about. I tried to keep my mind set on what was coming, and not what was left behind. I tried my hardest to not think about anything about my family and friends, but every time I failed, tears filled my eyes. I had never signed up for this, I just wanted to live a normal life. Work y butt off in high school, graduate, got to college, fall in love, get married, have a family. But that is not what would happen.

The holidays were approaching, and the castle was decked out in Christmas decorations. There was a giant tree in the grand dining hall, and there was a huge star topping it. Ornaments covered the branches, about 20 for each element. My favorite of mine was a fire, and it had an illusion that it was flickering, the blue tips sparking. Presents were set under the tree, but I had no idea how anyone got them. I would love to get everyone a present, Christmas shopping was one of my favorite parts of the season. But I’d never left the castle. I didn’t even know where in the world we were located, or how we’d get anywhere.

I took a seat at the table, ready for breakfast. Platters appeared, with the same breakfast delicacies that were always present. I piled my plate with sausage and toast.

I turned to Morgan, who was once again next to me. I had the feeling she really trusted me, compared to some of the others. Her curls were pulled back for the first time ever, and I could finally see her beautiful hazel eyes.

“Um, can you pass the maple syrup please?” I asked. She handed me the bottle, and I drowned the bread in the sweet, sticky liquid.

“How do you think everyone got the presents?” She asked me, and I just shrugged my shoulders.

Across the table, Feng spoke up. “You use the tube,” He said with a mouthful of food. How lovely.

He took a look at our confused faces and gulped down his food before speaking again. “You haven’t been out of the castle, huh?” We shook our heads. “Well, there’s a tube there, almost like an elevator. It can take you to any destination in the world.”

I looked at Morgan, and she smiled.

“I’ll have to check it out,” She said, refilling her glass with orange juice.

“Me too,” I said shyly, looking across the table. I saw that Sol was sitting next to Feng, his dark hair covering his forehead. He caught my gaze, and quickly looked away. I did to, sure he was cute, but I wasn’t in love with him or anything.

I finished breakfast in silence.

I was progressing rapidly. The tricks seemed to come easily, once I knew what to do. I could cause flame to flicker off of my fingers. I could shoot lava at the walls. I could do almost anything using my hands and legs. But that was the easy stuff.

“MacKenzie, you have mastered almost every trick, every power for your limbs. There are still many many harder powers, and you will eventually learn them. But, I wan to move on to something else. Something I think you can perform very well, something that most of the others find very frustrating to do. Are you ready to make fire appear with your mind?”

I nodded. She flew over and handed me a new book. I flipped through it, and the tricks were magnificent. I couldn’t wait to try one out.

“Here, let’s start with something basic.” Delia said, pulling out a few logs. “Now, I want you to light them,”

“How?”

“It’s simple. Rack the back of your head and clench it tight, metaphorically speaking. Then, just think to yourself, ‘Light the logs’ and you should have it.”

I tried what she told me to do, and thought to myself, Light the logs.

I looked at the logs, but nothing was there.

“Try again,”

I tried once more, and the same result came out.

“Again,”

I tried, this time closing my eyes tightly, and when I opened them, the same logs sat there, mocking me.

Over and over again, I tried. Delia would not let me give up, no matter how much I whined.

Finally, I used as much “brain force” as I could and slowly thought, Light the logs.

Fire erupted from the wood, and reached as high as the ceiling.

Delia quietly clapped. “You did it!”

I gazed in awe at the fire, as it’s tips licked the ceiling.

I did this, I did this with my mind.

“Great! Trust me, now it’ll be much easier to do tricks.

I relaxed a bit, and Delia helped me perfect it and many more.

I left the training room learning how to light many different things, and I was excited for the next day, to learn how to light non flammable things.

I headed to the dining hall for lunch.

Once we all got settled with our food, Mother Nature had an important announcement for us. She was excited, and Father Time was standing next to her, laughing for who knows why.

“Everyone, we are excited to release the date of our holiday party! It is Friday, all day! Thursday, you can go Christmas shopping, you’ll have the whole day off as well. At the holiday party, we will have white elephant gifts, secret santa, games, food, and much more. It will be in the grand hall. You’re secret santa will be drawn right now!” And with that, she snapped her fingers. A bowl, floating in mid air, appeared next to her. She removed the lid, and spun it towards us.

“Pull a name, don’t let anyone see it.”

First, was Scarlet. She pulled a slip out, grinned, and passed the bowl to the twins. Fauna took a look at her slip, and giggled. Eventually, the bowl made it’s way towards me. I closed my eyes, reached in, and pulled a gold slip out. In darker gold letters, there was a name. It read, “Chi Akintola”

Great, I thought. How do I know what to get him?”

I tucked the slip into my sweatshirt, and continued on with lunch. It was Tuesday, so only tomorrow until the holidays began. Mother Nature said they didn’t celebrate on the actual day of the holidays, since everyone celebrated something different. I was upset, I remember coming down the stairs Christmas morning, holding onto my little sister, Piper. I sighed. I missed my old life so much.

I finished lunch, and walked down the hall. Sol ran up to me.

“Hey MacKenzie,”

“Oh, uh, hi.”

“So, um, who’s secret santa are you?”

“Chi,”

“Hah! He’s hard to buy for. But I can help you, if you wanna, like, um, maybe go shopping together, um Thursday.” I thought it was cute how he stumbled with his words.

“I’d love to,” I said, and smiled.

“Great. We have the whole day, so we can even visit our old homes.”

“Really? Are we allowed to do that?”

“Yes, as long as we don’t get into any trouble.” He said, and winked.

I felt my self blushing. “Awesome. Sounds like a date.” My face froze. “Not that, its like, not, I mean–”

“Sounds like a date.” He grinned, and walked off.

I stood there, a little in shock. Aria raced up to me.

“What was that all about?” She asked, bubbling.

“Um, I’m not really sure. Sol asked me to go shopping with him,” I said, barely opening my mouth.

She gasped. “Sol asked you out? Oh my God!”

“I don’t know if it’s really a date, but yeah. Why’s it such a big deal?”

“BECAUSE! Sol is like, the heart throb of this place! I mean, he’s hot, ironically, he’s smart, kind! And did I mention he’s cute?” I could imagine Aria’s eyes shaped like hearts.

“I guess. There are other cute boys here, you know, like Caldwell is good looking.”

“Duh, but Sol is like, Mhphmhmhmh!”

“I guess,”

“Oh come on Kenzie, you totally agree with me! Look, you’re blushing!”

My face was hot, and I didn’t know if it was from the fact that I controlled fire, or that I had a crush on Sol.

Aria rolled her eyes playfully, and practically skipped off, her bright blonde ponytail swaying back and forth.

I made my way down the hall, nervous for Thursday.

~

But it came. It was Thursday, and I took a seat in the dining hall, ready for breakfast.

Sol took a seat next to me, and I felt my face get warm.

“Good morning,” He said, giving me a sweet smile. He obviously was very straight forward with his feelings, he had no intentions of hiding the fact that he liked me.

I glanced across the table, where Caldwell, Feng, and Chi were making kissing noises.

I felt myself blush, and looked over at Sol, who just rolled his eyes and laughed it off.

We served ourselves breakfast, and Sol and I made small talk. I chatted with Luna too, and down the table, Aria was winking at me.

I finished my meal.

“Where do you want to meet?” I asked Sol.

“How about the front gates?”

“Alright, I’ll see you then.”

I caught up with Aria, I needed her desperately.

“Aria, help?” I whispered.

That was all it took. Aria knew what she needed to do, apparently she’d been on lots of dates, whereas this was my first one. We walked to my room, and I unlocked the door. While she helped me get ready, Edna and Aria’s nightingale, Tambre, were squawking and singing at each other, flying around the room.

She helped me choose the perfect settings for my shower. Volumizing shampoo, softening conditioner, and exfoliating body wash. She dried my hair, so that it looked thick and shiny. I applied on some scented bod lotion, and put on a robe.

We searched through my closet, finding the perfect outfit to match my style. We settled on a ruby colored over sized sweater, thick black leggings, and black winter boots. Aria styled my hair, and did my makeup. She applied concealer, a thin layer of eyeshadow, liquid eye liner, mascara, and neutral lips. I asked about my cheeks, but apparently it would  I looked the same, but, more awake. More energetic. Not my usual glum self. I spritzed on some perfume, and grabbed a red wristlet.

“Alright. You’re always beautiful, but now you look even better. You look amazing.”

I thanked her, and headed out the door, before she stopped me.

“Wait! I almost forgot, Mother Nature needs to give you something,” Aria held up her wrist, where she was wearing a beaded bracelet. A teal treble clef charm was dangling in the middle. “She’s in the grand hall.”

I nodded, and made my way towards there. Edna soared next to me, and I stroked her.

Mother Nature was talking to August. I had never really talked to her, but she seemed really nice. Her bangs were pulled up and Rai was nestled in her pocket.

I approached the two, and they both greeted me with a warm smile.

“Hi, um, Aria said you have something for me?”

She nodded, and pulled out a beautiful charm bracelet. t looked exactly like Aria’s clear, glittering beads, but there was a red flame in the center. It was beautiful.

“This how you will communicate with us. The bead on the right of the charm allows you to vice call us, and the bead on the left calls us to your location. Only use the left bead in cases of emergency.” She informed.

I admired the piece of jewelry as I made my way towards the front gates.

Sol stood there, hands in his pockets. He looked up at me, and a smile stretched across his face.

“Why hello, Kenzie,” He said, looking me over. I looked nice, at least in my opinion.

He called me Kenzie, which only my friends and family called me back home.

“Hi, Sol,” I replied, my palms sweating.

“You look beautiful,” He said, brushing away his long bangs.

“Thank you, so do you.” He looked puzzled, I just called him beautiful. “I-I mean, I mean like, you look like, you know,” I cleared my throat and looked down at the ground. “You look nice.” I said, almost whispering.

He chuckled, “I think it’s cute when you stumble on your words,”

I blushed, my face as red as a strawberry, and looked up. We held each other’s gaze for what seemed like forever, before I coughed. My allergies ruined the moment.

“Uh, should we, um go?” I said, biting my tongue. All I ever did was stumble on my words, and especially around Sol. But I guess I was adorable while doing it, so oh well.

We headed out through the gates, where I was met by an amazing sight.

It was beautiful. More than that, magnificent. There were no words for it.

The grass was as green as it could get, and small white flowers grew here and there in the midst of it. There was a shiny stone path, leading to all different things.

Par of it led to a garden, which seemed to hold every plant in existence. Another path led to a group of trees, which all looked perfect.

But the thing that kept me in awe was the glorious fountain in the center of it all. It seemed to be 20 feet tall, the water reaching 30. It was about 20 feet wide as well, and there was a beautifully interlocked OE in the center of it, the water dancing around it.

“Watch this,” Sol said, walking towards the fountain. He made a quick hand motion, and with that, the water disappeared and was replaced by hot sunlight. It shone about, and sun flares wove through the beams of light. There were even small sun spots on some rays.

I was taking it all in, when a tingling sensation ran through me. I looked to see that Sol had my hand in his, and guided me toward the fountain.

“Now, do this with your dominant hand, looking straight at the fountain,” He said, and whipped his hand in a circular motion, clapping his fore finger and thumb together while doing so.

I copied his movements, but nothing happened.

“Now, faster.” He said with a gentle smile.

I did it as fast as I could, concentrating hard on the fountain, and before you could say “Fire” the sunlight turned into flame. Lava bursted out here and there, and the blue tips blended in with the sky.

“It’s amazing,” I said, admiring what I had just performed.

There was a moment, where we stood side by side, gazing up at the fountain.

Eventually, Sol showed me to how we would travel. There was another stone path leading to a small white building, about the size of a little barn. It was all made of metal, and we walked through the automatic doors.

Inside was a large screen, that covered the entire wall. Three chairs sat in the middle. You’d expect them to be all fancy and robotic, with wires and cords connecting all sorts of things with each other. But they were simple chairs, bolted to the ground.

Sol gestured to the end two, and I took a seat. He fiddled with the screen in front of us.

“Any great shopping centers you know of?” He asked me.

I wanted to say “North Park Shopping Mall” but I didn’t want to risk seeing any one I knew there, questioning where I had gone for the past four weeks.

“You choose,” I said.

He typed a few buttons, and a large building showed up on the screen. He pressed a green button, and quickly took a seat next to me. I closed my eyes, and heard a robotic voice say “Transporting to Madrid, Spain” before I was whisked away with Sol.

It was over in a split second. I opened my eyes, and we were standing right in front of the building that was shown in the pictures.

People raced about us, hustling around.

I looked at Sol, who was smiling sheepishly.

“Is this where you’re from?” I asked.

“No, but I’ve always wanted to come here. Ever since I was younger. Only certain people can come here.” He said, looking over at me. Something flickered in his green eyes, but it was gone after a second.

He took hold of my hand, which sent goosebumps up my arms, and a warm fuzzy in my chest. He smiled, for like the hundredth time, but this time with his white teeth showing.

We headed for the mall door.

Inside was beautiful. It was bright and classy, and stores lined the walls.

We visited all sorts of stores. Mother Nature had provided us with a credit card, and we used it wisely. I got most people’s gifts, and we headed out.

“Now what?” I asked, I figured he wanted to visit his family.

“Would it be a problem if we visited my folks?”

“Not at all! But, how do we get back to the chairs?”

We walked to a clearing, n which two metal plates were planted into the ground. We stood atop of them, and we were then transported back to the “travel barn”

Sol pressed a few more buttons, and we were off once again.

We arrived at a small, dirty town. Women and children were running around, cleaning, doing laundry, and much more. The houses were small and not well built.

I looked over at Sol, who seemed to be tearing up.

Only certain people get to come here, Sol’s words played back in my mind.

I felt pity for everyone in the small town. They all were working so hard, but received so little.

We walked through the village, we seemed to be the only bright things. Everything else was either brown, black, or gray.

At the end was a house, who was much different than the others. It was big, made of wood, and smoke came out of the tall chimney.

Outside the house was a woman dressed in much nicer clothes. She seemed to be giving out warm loaves of bread and water. A small line was formed around the porch, everyone hoping to get a piece of her kindness.

“Mama!” Sol exclaimed, racing over to the small woman.

“Sol! Mi Hijo!” She said, wrapping Sol in her arms.

They hugged for a long time, before Sol’s mother called out, “Abilio! Come, our son has returned!”

Soon, a muscular man emerged, who looked like an aged version of Sol. His face lit up once he saw his son standing there with his bright yellow sweatshirt.

“My boy!” He said, shaking hands with his son.

They talked a while in spanish, which I could not understand, until Sol made a gesture towards me.

“Mama, Papa, this is MacKenzie. She is fire,” He talked slowly, making motions with his hands as well.

“Nice to meet you,” I said politely, shaking my hand with both of them.

“Well, don’t just stand there. Show us your gifts!”

I didn’t know what she meant, until Sol circled his hands, and a burst of light illuminated the sky. Sun flares erupted from his fingers and disappeared into the ground. He performed several more tricks, and looked to me.

I let a flame flicker off of the tip of my finger, which was the most basic trick of all. But it died out, and a few sparks climbed out of my palm. I looked to Sol, who looked confused. But I knew what I was doing. In seconds, a fire ball emerged from my hands and I threw it to the sky. With just a snap of my fingers, the sky lit up with flames, like we were inside a huge bonfire. It was y favorite trick, and seemed to impress everyone else.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sol gazing at me. As he grabbed my hand, I melted.

Christmas music was blaring from the speakers, treats were lined across the tabe, and the huge tree was lit up and sparkling. I wore felt reindeer antlers with bells on them, and Morgan and Aria were by my side. We were dancing, eating and jus having a great time.

Mother Nature walked in, dolled up in Christmas Greenery.

“Welcome, everyone. I’m glad to see everyone is enjoying the party, we will now start the gift exchange!”

With tat said, everyone crowded around the tree, passing gifts back and forth.

Aria opened her gift from me, which was jam packed with music cd’s and gift cards for iTunes.

My gift from her was less ironic. It was movies and lotions, which I absolutely loved.

Everyone was happy with what I gave them, which relieved me.

Sol made his way to me, and gave me his present. I gave him his, and he opened it. It was clothes, which was really unoriginal. Especially since they provided us with a full wardrobe.

He gave me a hug, and told me he appreciated it, which I hoped was true.

I untied the ribbon of the box he had handed me and opened the lid.

Inside was a beautiful golden necklace, in the shape of a star. It had a diamond in the center, which was my birthstone.

I admired it, and looked up at him, at a loss for words.

He smiled. “You like it?”

“I love it,” I said, blushing.

He took it out of the box and clipped it around my neck. It hung perfectly at the top of my chest.

“I-its…how did…um. Its beautiful. Thank you,” I said, laughing at my own dorkiness.

He laughed and brushed my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear.

We talked for the rest of the night, chatting about every little thing. Every time there was an awkward pause, we’d both blush and laugh through it.

It was getting late, and everyone was still having such a great time that no one was tired. Except me. I was yawning uncontrollably.

“Go get some sleep,” Aria said, taking my soda.

I yawned once more, and agreed that it was time for a good night’s sleep.

I said goodnight to everyone, including Sol.

“Okay, goodnight beautiful,”

I blushed, and waved away.

As I made my way through the room, in the doorway, I felt a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.

I turned around and saw Sol standing there, a faint smile on is face.

He held the back of my head, and leaned in.

Hi lips connected with mine, and it was like fire works erupted in my chest.

I fell into it, and it seemed to last a lifetime. When he released, he smiled and walked away. I looked up to see mistletoe hanging from the doorway.