Among the Elementals

“So, what does everyone feel Morrison was trying to say in his lines, ‘And lest ye hope die, I shall forever stand here mistress, awaiting your return’?” asked Ms. Hudson to her class.

Aubrey rolled her eyes as she took the note down. Ms. Hudson had to be the most boring English teacher she’d had. All they did was research poems and analyze them. Almost a month into the course, they had yet to actually learn anything. The petite girl crossed her long legs at her desk, and began staring at the clock, counting down the minutes until class ended.

Aubrey sat in the back of the class, her dark, curly brown hair pinned up by a large white clip. She fanned herself with a paper, as other students slumped. The top buttons of her orange chiffon shirt were open, revealing a white tank top on the inside. The shirt went to her elbows, and on the slim, tall girl, it was a bit baggy. She had big, round dark eyes, and her skin seemed to be a golden tanned color, not dark, not pale, but something between the two. She had long, thin legs, and wore white shorts that cut off mid-thigh, revealing a long expanse of leg.

While many girls may envy Aubrey’s slim physique, she wasn’t turning many heads. Maybe it had to do with her tiny forehead, or her nose that was a bit too long. Maybe guys weren’t attracted to her flat body, with just a subtle hint of curve. Maybe it was the fact that her nails were bitten too short, and all uneven. Or maybe, Aubrey was just too ordinary looking for anyone to care. In fact, being a rather normal looking girl, Aubrey was as plain as she suggested.

The girl was relieved when the bell rang, and she was up in seconds. Gathering her loose papers and stuffing them into the side pocket of her binder, Aubrey picked up her plain back-pack, and threw it over her shoulder and was out the door. The girl flew out of the English room and into the hallways of the school. Graham Morrison Secondary School.

The hallways of Graham Morrison were a dark red tile on the floor. The lockers were tiny and old. Some had dents in the doors, others were scratched. They were painted a rather unattractive green color that looked as though it had been reapplied in different shades each time, until the lockers couldn’t decide exactly what particular shade of green covered them all. The walls were a grimy yellow-white. The entire effect seemed almost like a smoker’s mouth, with stained teeth for walls, and a blackened tongue.

The fluorescent lights to the school hallway were all glaring down at the crowd of students. The students milled through the hallways, calling out to one another as they parted on their way home. Aubrey passed the crowd, being knocked this way and that by the students. It was like winding one’s way through a complex maze of animals, all grunting out to each other and calling out in their slang, as Aubrey's friend Lucy liked to describe it.

Finally Aubrey got outside, and reached the buses. Once there, she waited patiently by the bus pick-up area. It was just a long street where the buses parked and left the doors open, waiting for the students. All around, groups of girls and guys passed by, laughing and talking about their day. The familiar complaints of teachers, the talk of weekend activities, it was all buzzing in and out of her ears as she waited. She could see a few other single students like herself, on their phones, flipping through music players, and even reading a book as they awaited their bus or friends.

It was in this haze that she heard a cry, “Aubrey!”

She turned to see a small, pale girl rushing at her, followed by a hulk of boy. The girl was probably the palest girl in the entire school. The tiny girl was easily bumped into by people around her, but she never stopped running. Her pale strawberry-blonde hair shone in the sunlight as it flew behind her. The pale girl was dressed simple in a red cotton shirt and denim shorts, with her blonde hair cut in a short bob. Her grey eyes were bright and filled with light as she approached.

The hulk behind her parted crowds just by walking. He was a tall, beefy boy and unlike the girl, crowds parted easily for him. For a boy at 15, he seemed like a giant as he moved. He was dark-skinned, with brown skin running over his body. His hair was dark black, and cut short and spiky on his head. He had a straight jaw, with dark brown eyes that were warm and amused as he moved slowly, like he was still adjusting to his limbs. His shirt was a blue shirt with some obtuse band, and his shorts were a Bermuda short that seemed to be slightly small since they hung a little too high above his knee. He carried two bags, one white and flowery; the other was a black bag with a green matrix pattern over it.

“Lucy!” said Aubrey opening her arms to hug the girl, as she barrelled into her.

“We missed you!” said Lucy brightly, “But Kale got his test back in math and he passed with a 93 again! That’s the fourth in a row!”

“And Lucy got a 39,” said Kale worriedly as he glanced at her, finally reaching the girls. His running shoes, upon closer notice, were torn and scuffed, with holes in them. Lucy’s weren’t much better.

“It wasn’t my fault!” argued Lucy stubbornly, “I would have done better if the man hadn’t thrown in those ridiculous questions about swimmers and y’s!”

“Or if you’d stopped tapping your pencil and actually written things,” retorted Kale, though he grinned at Lucy with a stupid smile.

“It’s not my fault!” argued Lucy again, “It was right before track! You know how excited I get!"

“Track? I thought it was before baseball,” said Kale, confused, “When did you enter Track and Field?”

“Mr. Coleson said I could miss the occasional practice since I’m one of the best players,” explained Lucy, “And I decided to take that time to join the track.”

“Did she really say that?” asked Aubrey.

“Well, no, she said I would be good at track,” amended Lucy, “So I took it as an invitation to join the track team!”

Aubrey sighed as she looked at Lucy with amusement in her eyes. That was Lucy. She was an odd girl. Lucy often found rules and guidelines chafing. She never followed anyone’s orders, and liked to do things her own way. She didn’t conform to what people expected, and often ran into trouble for it. Her naturally sweet and bubbly nature and sweet personality tended to help her avoid trouble.

“So, what are we doing tonight?” asked Kale cheerfully.

“I was thinking movies and popcorn?” suggested Aubrey, “And those salty pretzels that are the size of my fists?”

“I can’t wait!” trilled Lucy excitedly, “Oh can we watch that fighting movie again, with the Chan guy?

I can never understand why you enjoy those movies so much, we’ve watched it a million times now!” said Aubrey, shaking her head as they got onto the bus. Kale took the seat behind the two, since he towered over the seats anyways.

“Ms. Malta will want us back by nine,” said Kale mournfully, “I swear, we must be the only high school kids with a curfew, and that to a nine o’clock one!”

“I don’t understand why we have a curfew,” said Lucy as the bus rolled off, “I mean, it’s almost like she thinks we’re forever in danger! Why would anyone care to hurt us?”

“Especially when Kale’s behind you,” joked Aubrey, as Kale gave a lazy grin.

“Well, I have to use these muscles for something besides carrying Lucy’s bag when she runs out of class,” responded Kale sarcastically.

“I don’t see why you won’t join me in sports,” argued Lucy, ignoring the taunt, “You’d make such a great addition, and it would help with rebuilding your credit as a non-violent beast!”

“Lucy, I’m on first name basis with the cops,” said Kale, rolling his eyes, “And this was before you moved here. If Ms. Malta hadn’t sworn the Lord was helping me adjust, I’d have been shifted again.”

Kale and Lucy were foster children. It always unnerved Aubrey how easily the two handled their situation. Kale had been transferred around a lot as a child, due to his temper. His mother had passed away under suspicious circumstances, and Kale was left alone at the age of seven. As far as Aubrey and Lucy knew, because of his large size, thick-headedness, and a lot of stress, he’d been temperamental as a kid. This caused him to get into a lot of fights.

Ms. Malta was a different sort of foster parent. She took on troublemakers as a challenge. The rough and tumble old lady had gotten Kale, and tried to remould him. Unable to have her own children, she adopted various foster kids, and ran them with a strict Catholic influence. This made her revered in the community, and well-respected. Her word was law, and people tended to avoid the her children out of fear for the old woman.

Aubrey had met Kale in their first year of high-school. She had been new to the community, her family had just moved. Both she and Kale found they shared a lot of common classes, and both being natural introverts, were paired together by teachers. While at first Aubrey had been intimidated, she found Kale to be quite nice and smart. Due to forever being in trouble, Kale would read whatever books he got his hands on. More often than not, he’d read newspapers, reference books, and whatever else was available, since fiction was not always available. Kale in turn was trying hard not to lose his temper, and hanging out with Aubrey kept him out of trouble. And so, their friendship formed.

“Well, it’s not like you’ve given them reason to worry,” argued Lucy, “They all think Ms. Malta worked magic on you! If only they knew it was just me.”

Kale rolled his eyes, but gave Lucy a goofy grin as the bus turned left. Aubrey sighed, and looked out the window. The two could argue the matter of Kale and sports, or Lucy and books until Christmas. Given it was May; Aubrey had no desire to partake in their conversation.

Lucy had joined their group the following September. She had moved into Ms. Malta’s care, and was quick to befriend Kale over the summer while Aubrey’s family headed up to the Niagara Falls for vacation. By the time Aubrey got back, Kale was head over heels with a crush on Lucy, and Aubrey had no choice but to accept Lucy. To her relief, the two girls had gotten along quite well. Lucy’s bubbly personality was hard not to like. Aubrey and Lucy had hit it off quite well. Lucy filled in the blanks when Aubrey stopped talking. Lucy encouraged Aubrey when she closed off. Naturally cheerful, she pushed Kale and Aubrey to do things they’d normally never consider. She gave them some excitement. Lucy was the spark to their otherwise relatively calm friendship.

As Aubrey stared at the window, she tuned out from Kale and Lucy’s conversation completely. Instead she watched the idyllic town of Brookton roll by. With acres of lawns spread in front of identical houses. Bubble-headed kids all cheerfully strolled by, back-packs strapped on their back and for extra insurance held by their meaty fingers, all in rows of different colored matching clothing. Fair-haired, or dark-haired, with chubby bright faces and an air of perfect child material, they moved like an army of dolls would, splitting off at various corners and heading to their identical homes.

Every ten blocks, a new school sprang up and from it another army of bubble-headed kids would rush out as the bell rang. Every five blocks, the same convenience stores with their tiny parking lots, their cute little Laundromats and pharmacies, their perfect little bakery, and the occasional ice-cream parlor, pizza place, or Starbucks sat awaiting the bubble-headed kids. Signs of candy promotions, sales on special cooling drinks, and deals for some new-fangled item blared out on black boards. Parlors were already offering discounts for prom. Even the stop signs by each of these stores seemed rounder and cuter, rather than the harsh angles they normally held. Like bright red lollipops in a candy town.

Aubrey took all the same sights in. She could probably draw it by heart, not that it would be too difficult. Everything from the window size, to the brick patterning on each house was done the same. The front doors all had the same handle, the grass not a blade taller than the other. The driveways were all dark asphalt. It was at the fifth crossway that Aubrey saw the first sign of something new.

Two teenagers, or perhaps young men, stood in the typically empty parking lots by two large motorbikes. A sight that was always reserved to be seen in the cities was now in front of Aubrey’s eyes. Her attention peaked, as they waited for the bubble headed children to cross. She watched the men, so seemingly different.

They were tall, both of them. They had identical features. Long sharp noses, thin eyes. They had the same kind of hair, long bangs, parted to in opposite directions from the other, and grown out to fall behind them in a long pony-tail. They wore identical black leather jackets and black jeans. Both held bottles in their hand of water. They had the same kind of angular cheekbones, making their faces lean and sharp. Long fingers rested on long arms, and they seemed tall and thin, shorter to Kale of course, and leaner too. A similar serious expression was worn on both their faces.

However, it wasn’t their similarities that caught Aubrey’s attention. No, they could have been twins with those features. However, it was their differences that were more striking. Where one man was pale, with fair hair, and skin so white he made Lucy look tanned, the other was dark haired, with skin that seemed almost black in color. Not like an African-American color, but like a solid, ashy black. His eyes were the only light bit, with the whites in his eyes. He seemed to blend behind the other man, almost like a shadow at first. The light man seemed to stand starkly against him.

And then they were gone. The bus rolled away, and Aubrey found herself letting go of her breath. She leaned against the window, trying to catch a last glimpse, but they turned the corner, and those two strange men were gone. She felt someone tap on her shoulder, but she didn’t turn, her eyes glued to the window, despite the men had long since gone.

“Bree!” called out Kale, shaking Aubrey from her shock.

“Did you see them?!” she asked, turning around to face her two amused and slightly concerned looking friends.

“See who?” asked Lucy in surprise.

“The guys with the motorbikes, in the convenience store over by Meaden Road!” cried Aubrey, as her friends exchanged glances.

“There were some guys in that plaza? Are you sure they weren’t someone’s dad?” asked Kale with a raised eyebrow.

“They were like, almost our age, on motorbikes!” argued Aubrey, surprised her friends weren’t as shocked.

“Are you sure?” asked Lucy, a brow furrowing.

“Even if they were there, they were probably passing through, to get to the city,” said Kale with a shrug, not flustered at all.

“Why were they so interesting anyways, were they that cute?” teased Lucy, as Aubrey glared.

“No, they-

“Oh god, please, I’m still a straight guy! I do not want to discuss cute guys!” interjected Kale.

“We discuss cute girls for you,” argued Lucy again.

“Yes, but this is different,” said Kale, looking embarrassedly at the ground.

“How is it any different?” asked Lucy with a grin, as Kale struggled for an answer.

And on the two went, leaving Aubrey to contemplate what she’d seen. Later, Lucy would ask Aubrey about it again while watching the movie. Later, Aubrey would deny the moment, saying she didn’t really remember. However, she’d think about those strange guys all night. Trying to figure out what they were. Trying to figure out if they were real or just a dream.