Seduced by Intention

~Verana's POV~

“Verana!”

I groaned and rolled over in my bed, glancing at the clock on my nightstand. 6:30. Great. The last night I get to sleep in my own bed and I have to wake up ridiculously early. Today I was supposed to be leaving for my new school, which is who knows where, and leaving my life behind. I realized it was an honor to be accepted, but I still didn't like that it was so far away.

“Verana! Get up!” My mother called from downstairs.

I sighed and got out of bed slowly. Luckily I didn't have to pack, I had finished that last night. I just had to put away the things I had kept out for this morning, like my hair brush, makeup kit, and my Pjs. I grabbed my clothes off the back of my desk chair and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. Apparently I had to be gone by 8:00 am so I didn't want to waste any time.

The hot water soothed my muscles and woke me up fully. I was tempted to stay in longer than needed, but eventually I decided against it. I didn't want to be late my first day, and it was still around a five hour trip. I had to fly in to the town the school was closest to, then take a train the rest of the way. How annoying is that?

Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around myself and reached for my brush. After wiping the steam off the mirror, I set about taming my unruly blonde hair. It wasn't all blonde though, no, the underside had been dyed black. I liked it how it was, it wasn't something most kids around my town did.

By 7:30 I was dressed, had my makeup on, and was just finishing packing away the things that had been left out. I made my way downstairs, dragging the suitcase along behind me, and dropped it by the door before going into the kitchen. My mom had set out a simple breakfast which I devoured quickly.

“Easy there, you don't want to choke.” My mom laughed from her place washing dishes at the sink.

“I won't. And I'm in a hurry, I spent a little too long in the shower,” I replied, grabbing one last bagel as I was heading for the door.

My mother followed and stood watching as I put my shoes on and grabbed a light jacket from the closet. All my other bags were in the car and now I just had to wait for my mother to get her butt in gear and drive me to the airport.

“Are you ready?” I asked her.

She just smiled softly and put her shoes on before taking the car keys out of her pocket.

I dragged my last bag out to the car and tossed it in the trunk. I didn't have a carry-on, all I would have is my purse. I had a book shoved in there so I would be entertained on the flight.

We arrived at the airport just as they started the boarding call for my flight. I said a quick goodbye to my mom, hugged her, then ran to find the correct gate my plane was at. Luck was on my side though, I found it in time and got seated next to one of the planes many windows. Now I could just sit back, relax, and maybe take a nap on the way there.

It felt like I hadn't slept very long when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and looked up to see a very pretty girl smiling. Her hair fell just a little past her shoulders and was bright red. I tried my best to not look like an idiot and smiled back.

“Is this seat taken?” she asked. “The guy I was sitting with back there totally pissed me off, he won't take the hint that I'm not interested.”

“Um, no, sure. Have a seat.” I moved my purse of the seat beside me and placed it on my lap.

She sat down with a grateful sigh and looked over to me. “So where are you headed?”

“I got into this school, it's a ways from my hometown, hence the flight.” I wasn't sure if I should reveal the name of the school or not, some of the people who aren't Gifted don't really like those who are.

“Uh huh...Well I got into Harlington.” she smiled.

Well then, maybe it would be ok. She seems to be one of the Gifted, not sure what her powers would be though. Maybe fire since her hair is so red.

“Me too.” I laughed a little.

She smiled. “Cool. I'm Halley And no, just because my hair is red doesn't mean my power is fire. I don't know what my power is yet.”

I laughed. It's almost like she could read minds. Maybe that's her ability. “I'm Verana, just call me Vera.”

“Well it's nice to meet you. What's your gift? Or do you not know yet?” she leaned forward slightly and smiled. She seemed to have way more energy than she knew what to do with.

“I don't know yet. Most of my family are Elementals, but I haven't showed any signs of it.” I looked down at my hands twined together on my lap. My mother was disappointed when she found out that I probably wouldn't be an Elemental like everyone else on her side of the family.

“Well, I'm sure whatever you Gift is, it's going to be great. I can't wait to find out what mine is.” her eyes shone as she spoke and she kept making exaggerated gestures with her hands, it was fun to watch her ramble on and on about going to Harlington.

I got the vibe from her that she wasn't entirely like me though, and I was okay with that. I didn't expect to have the best luck in the world when it came to finding a girl. I didn't let it put me out though, I would be happy with just having one friend when I started at this school.

A few hours later we arrived at the school. Me and Halley waited for our bags to be unloaded from the train while we admired the view around us. It was a beautiful place. There were trees everywhere, the grass was lush and green, and I could here the sound of water off in the distance, almost like there was a creek or lake nearby.

After we had our bags put into our car, we were driven up the winding road from the train station to the school. I couldn't atop staring out the windows, it was so magical. In my hometown we didn't have nearly this many trees, nor were there so many birds flying around. Halley kept laughing at me every time I pointed something new out. She said I was like a kid in a candy store.

After arriving, we signed in at the main desk and were told where our rooms were. Luckily me and Halley ended up sharing a room. We found our way there and proceeded to unpack once we had claimed which bed each of us wanted. I got the one I had wanted by the window. I didn't like sleeping away from windows, not sure why, but it was always like that for me.

It wasn't a horribly small room, but it wasn't huge either, there were two double beds, two closets, two dressers, and two desks. It almost had the same setup as my room back home, minus there being two of everything.

When it came time for orientation, we headed down to the auditorium and took a seat in the bleachers. I managed to hear the first part of the speech, but was soon distracted by a very pretty redhead walking into the room. Her hair fell down to her waist and was so straight it was like she spent hours straightening it every day. She looked to be a little taller than me and was perfectly slender. I couldn't take my eyes off her until Halley nudged me with her elbow and made me look back to where the dean was still speaking.

After the orientation was over, I scanned the crowd looking for that girl again, but I couldn't find her. Where did she go? Who was she? Would I ever see her again?