The Secret Six

by Evie Del Mar

  “Knock, knock, Lily!” Blair shouted into the room.

  Lily looked up from her sketchbook and turned to us standing at the door. She pushed her glasses up, which had fallen down her nose, and leaped off the bench with a huge smile. She moved towards us with such grace, it was as though she flew. Her brown, low braided pigtails fell behind her, and she embraced me in a hug.

  “I’m so happy to finally meet you, Melody,” she said. “You better get used to receiving hugs because I’m not much of a hand shaker.”

  I gave her a big laugh and hugged her back. “Don’t worry.” I joked. “I’m from the South and a lot of us are big huggers.”

  “So, Lily, what were you sketching this time?” Blair asked.

  “Oh, just the palmetto tree outside of my window.” Lily headed back to the bench to grab her sketchbook. She flipped open to a page and turned it around to show us. I was floored at the intricate detail she managed to capture of the tree. The sketch was done by pencil, the little detailed strokes of each branch and leaf clearly visible, almost tangible. It seriously put any drawing I’d ever done to shame, which was just stick figures for people and simple lines for trees.

  “Wow, you are extremely talented!” I exclaimed.

  Lily smiled and blushed. “Thank you.” She closed the book and tossed it onto her bed. “So, what have you two been up to?”

  “I’ve just been giving Melody a tour of the academy,” Blair answered

  Lily looked back at me in anticipation. “And…? What do you think?”

  I let out a breath. “Honestly, I have no idea. I think I’m still a bit overwhelmed that this is my life now. I’m also having a hard time getting over the fact that my mother used to live here, as well.”

  Lily pouted her lips. “I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine, but don’t worry. We’ll take good care of you,” she said with a smile.

  I couldn’t help but smile back. "So, Tony tells me that you have the power over nature? Do you mind showing me?” I couldn’t contain my excitement at the thought of seeing someone else’s power in action.

  Lily giggled as she started dragging me to her window. She told me to stand there with my palms up, like I was cupping something. She took the flowerpot from her windowsill and poured all the dirt into my hands.

  “Um, thanks?” I questioned.

  “Just watch,” she whispered. Placing her hand next to mine, palm up, she slowly started raising it up, as if lifting something invisible. Right before my eyes, a single stem bloomed from the palm of my hands.

  I couldn’t help the gasp that came from my lips. The stem grew taller as it continued to follow Lily’s hand up, sprouting leaves from all sides. A little seedpod opened up, revealing a single pink lily.

  Lily put her hand back down to her side when the lily opened up fully. I looked at her, astonished. “That’s incredible! Doesn’t it take up to two weeks to see a lily after planting it?”

  “Not when you can do what I can,” she said, giving me a wink.

  She took the flower and dirt from my hands, and planted it back in her pot. We both wiped our hands together, getting the remains of the dirt off.

  “So, what else can you do?” I was curious to know if her ability only affected planted flowers.

  She turned to face the palmetto tree outside of her window and looked back at me. “Watch this.” She turned back to the tree and extended her arm, palm up. One of the tree’s branches began shaking. She brought her arm back, slowly, towards her. On command, the branch extended into the bedroom. When her arm got to her chest, she switched gears. She started pushing the branch outward, which shortened it back to where it started.

  Lily turned to me with a satisfied grin on her face. “I can make any form of nature do what I want. I can lift rocks of all sizes, though the bigger ones take more energy. I can also crack the ground open to make rifts.”

  Blair jumped up and down. “Ok, my turn!” She skipped over to the window, and pointed to where the sun’s rays were shining into the bedroom. She reached towards the rays, as if grabbing something off a shelf. When she brought her hand back, instead of an object, it was an actual ball of light.

  She began tossing the “ball” into the air and catching it. “I can manipulate light, like the sun’s rays, and bend it into whatever I want.” She turned her focus back onto the “ball”, and turned her wrist like she was trying to drop it, only it stayed right in front of her, levitating. She took both arms to the side of the “ball” and brought them back, enlarging it and making it brighter.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” Blair asked without breaking concentration.

  As she continued enlarging the “ball”, Lily and I had to lift our arms to shield our eyes as the light grew brighter.

  “Yes, Blair, it’s cool. Now can you tone it down? It’s getting a bit too bright in here.” Lily shouted back.

  Looking at us, Blair’s eyes got big. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry.” She began bringing her arms back together, which made the light slowly diminish. When she closed her hands together, the light disappeared.

  I still couldn’t believe that I just witnessed one girl instantly grow a flower and extend a branch and another girl create a literal “ball of light”. If the people at my old school thought I was weird before, now they would think that I needed to be admitted somewhere. I chuckled at the thought of seeing their dumbstruck faces.

  Blair looked over at me with a raised eyebrow. “Do you want to give yours a go?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I wouldn’t even know the first thing on what to do. I only learned a few hours ago that I even had powers.”

  Lily turned around and headed to her nightstand. She picked up a glass of water and brought it back to me. “Here, try moving the water. Maybe something will happen. You never know,” she said encouragingly.

  With a little hope, I gave all my focus to the water in the glass. I knew I made the fountain in Tony’s office explode, so I knew I could make this little amount of water do something. I continued to stare at the glass, willing it to do something, anything.

  Nothing.

  I pictured how Blair used her hands to grab her “ball”. I stood up straighter and mimicked her movement, thinking it might work the same way.

  Nothing.

  I thought how Lily used her arms instead of her hands, so I tried that.

  Nothing.

  My shoulders slumped as I let out a frustrated sigh. These girls have had years and years of practicing, and here I was, late to the party and super behind.

  Blair put an arm around my shoulder. “Don’t worry, girl, you’ll get it!” she said reassuringly. “What works for us may not necessarily work for you.”

  “Definitely! We had to find our niche, so you will, too! It just takes a little bit of time,” Lily replied.

  “Thanks, guys, for trying to make me feel better and for being so understanding,” I said dejectedly. “It’s definitely going to take me some time to figure this out. I don’t even know where to start.”

  “I know something that’ll cheer you up,” Blair said, perking up.

  Lily and I both looked at her in confusion.

  Blair started laughing. “We should go see the guys! Drake is always doing something to make us laugh.”

  My heart started to race in anticipation of seeing Cole again. I wished I understood what this guy was doing to me. Maybe I’d be able to form a coherent sentence this time, instead of embarrassing myself again. I shuddered at the memory of my complete lack of sentence structure when I shook his hand.

  Blair looked over at Lily. “Do you know where they are?”

  “Where they always are,” Lily said with a sly smile.

  Blair and Lily both rolled their eyes and in unison said, “The game room.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Arm in arm, we made our way toward the game room. Before we even reached the doorway, we heard two voices calling out from the room.

  “Seriously?! Ugh, this game is rigged!” someone y
elled.

  “Come on, man, that was a cheap shot!” another person shouted, followed by laughter from a third voice.

  When we finally reached the door, the girls and I found Cole bent over near a pool table, laughing with his hands on his knees. The sound was so clean and pure, in contrast to his deep voice, that it sent my heart into irregular beats.

  Breaking me from my inner drooling over Cole, Blair stopped next to me. “Welcome to our media room, or as the boys like to call it, our ‘game room’.”

  I broke my gaze away from Cole, and was taken back by not only the size of the room, but by everything in it. To the right was, what I could only guess, a 70-in plasma screen TV mounted onto the wall, showing a football video game. The graphics were so real and crisp, I felt I was physically at the stadium, watching it live. Nestled neatly underneath it, were many different gaming consoles. Large shelves on each side were crammed tight with possibly every movie ever made.

  I couldn’t keep my mouth from opening in amazement. “Where did all this stuff come from?” I asked, turning to Blair.

  She gave me a smile. “This was all here when each of us arrived, courtesy of Tony.” Dropping her arm from my side, she walked over to the guy who’d been sitting on the couch, engrossed in the football game. There was no doubt the guy had to be Blake. With the same brightly colored hair, he was the male copy of his twin sister.

  She stood next to him and bent down to his level, waving her arms and calling out to him. “Hello? Earth to Blake?”

  He moved his body to see around his sister, shouting into the headset microphone. “Dude, Shawn, did you see that play?”

  Blair rolled her eyes as she stood back up and put her hands on her hips, contemplating something. She turned her focus on me and mouthed the words “watch this”. She made her way to the window and took hold of one of the sun’s rays, like she did in Lily’s bedroom, and lifted it towards Blake’s face, blinding him.

  Jumping up from the couch and throwing his headset off, Blake shrieked. “Argh, what the hell, Blair? What are you trying to do, blind me? Totally uncalled for.”

  I couldn’t help but cover my mouth, hiding the small giggle, while Blair erupted into a laughing fit, rubbing the corners of her eyes. “Well, you should’ve been paying attention when I was calling your name out!”

  Blake scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I don’t have to listen to you. And don’t say that I do because you’re older than me. You’re only older by two minutes.” Blair simply gave him a wink, and blew him a kiss.

  Turning her attention to the rest of the room, Blair cleared her throat. “Guys, there’s someone I want you to meet. This is Melody,” she said, making eye contact with me.

  Being an outcast, I was never good at being the center of attention. I always avoided other people’s stares at school by ducking my head down in the hallways, but I couldn’t do that here. Seeing everyone’s eyes on me, my face was so red that it looked like I stepped outside and got sun burned. I stood there awkwardly with a forced smile and lifted my hand in a small wave.

  I met the dark eyes of Blake first, then Drake’s deep brown eyes. He definitely was the guy I saw in the kitchen when I first arrived. Lastly, my eyes landed on Cole, who was standing to the side, slouched against the pool table with a small grin that seemed to take my breath away. Something about his calm and happy demeanor made my nerves ease a little, which I wasn’t complaining about.

  Blake got up off the couch and headed over in my direction with an outstretched hand, introducing himself. His t-shirt, which hung loosely over his medium sized build, and faded jeans were a huge contrast in style compared to his sister's. “Hey, I’m Blake. Welcome to the team,” he greeted warmly.

  I returned his welcoming smile. “Nice to meet you, too.”

  Drake walked over to me and slung one of his arms over my shoulders. “What’s up? I’m Drake,” he said with a sly grin.

  I rolled my eyes at his attempt to “charm” me. “Let me guess, you hit on every woman that catches your attention?”

  “Only the pretty ones,” he winked.

  I couldn’t help but notice Cole standing up a little straighter, all traces of his former grin, gone. His chiseled jaw showed a slight clench. I would have found it very sexy if he didn’t make it look like he wanted to walk over and punch Drake in the face. I chuckled and quickly thought of something to say to joke back. “Well, if that’s your only pickup line, you might want to consider using a glue stick instead of chapstick, to keep those lips shut.”

  Everyone started laughing, including Drake. “Oh, feisty! She’s got guts! If you have witty comebacks like that, then you’re going to fit in here just fine.” He took his arm off of my shoulder and made his way back to the pool table.

  Cole seemed to relax a little, going back to his former stance. He locked eyes with me, his charming smirk back where it belonged, but something else showed on his face. Was it pride?

  “Hey, Blake, since Cole’s a cheater, want to play pool?” Drake shouted out, clearly trying to get a rise out of Cole, but to no avail. Without removing his gaze from me, Cole handed the cue stick to Blake, and walked my way. I hardly noticed when Lily and Blair left the room. I didn’t dare break eye contact with him.

  With him only inches from me now, I had to force myself to remember to breathe. His eyes were just so captivating, the way they reminded me of the ocean. Anyone could get lost in that much sea of blue, and yet, I felt right at home. He continued to stare at me, waiting for me to answer a question that I didn’t even hear.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “What did you say?”

  He gave me a small chuckle. “I asked you if you were all right?” Then his expression turned serious. “I saw when you ran out of my father’s office and I wanted to make sure you were ok.”

  Embarrassed, I groaned and covered my face with my hands. “You really saw that?” I mumbled. I looked up between my fingers to see him nod his head. “Ugh, I’m sorry you had to see that. I guess it was just a lot to take in at once.”

  Cole scoffed. “Don’t even worry about it. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like to just now discover you’re someone else entirely, and have magical abilities.”

  “Speaking of,” I said, perking up. “Tony mentioned to me that you have the ability to control air? How does that even work?”

  Cole gave me a full, wide smile that made his eyes crinkle at the corners. “Want to see a demonstration?”

  I returned his smile, eagerly nodding my head.

  Cole leaned in closer and whispered, “Watch this.” His breath was cool on my skin, sending shivers down my spine.

  He turned his attention toward the pool table where Drake and Blake were playing. It was Drake’s turn, as he bent over the table with his cue stick poised on top of his hand. His eyebrows were forced down in deep concentration. As soon as his cue stick made contact with the ball, Cole blew a gush of air, forcing the white ball to fly off the pool table and onto the ground.

  Still crouched over the table, Drake dropped his head in defeat. “Not cool, man! I’m sure that’s how you won the first round!”

  Blake, Cole, and I burst out laughing. I was hunched over, clenching my stomach from pain with one arm while wiping my eyes with the other. I couldn’t remember the last time I laughed so hard that I cried. It definitely felt good to let go and not focus on everything that had happened within the last week. Everything felt natural instead of forced, like maybe I could fit in here.

  ◆◆◆

  I continued to watch the guys play another round of pool, kicking back and laughing at their sarcastic jokes to each other. After one game, Cole suggested playing a game against me, but I had no clue how to play. He offered to teach me, but it didn’t go so well. I was so focused on his proximity when he came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist to help me hold the stick, that I kept missing the cue ball, thus continuing the embarrassment streak I had going with this guy.

 
Later, I excused myself so I could head back to my room to unpack and get settled in. Once I stepped inside, I took one look around at all the different shades of blue. I chuckled to myself, thinking this explained why it had always been my favorite color.

  I walked over to the vanity and sat in the chair. I was finally able to take a good look at myself in the mirror for the first time since I arrived here this morning, and to be honest, I hardly recognized the person staring back at me. She had the same face as me, medium length auburn hair, and gray eyes, but her life was completely different. Her life was now full of magic, with mysteries and secrets that were only just beginning to unravel.

  Underneath all that was an emotion so powerful and so raw, it nearly consumed me. Being in the same room my mother used to live in was making the guilty wounds I tried to hide back at the hospital rip back open. Like a coat made out of lead, it made it hard to breathe. I was suffocating. I was responsible for the death of my parents.

  I made myself look up to hold back the tears, forcing myself to take deep breaths. I decided I needed to do something to keep my hands busy, hoping it would take my mind off the agonizing feeling constricting my chest. I made my way over to my bed, opened my suitcase, and started unpacking.

  I was pacing back and forth between my bed and the dresser to put my clothes away, the movements so mundane, when I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door. I walked over and opened it to find Tony standing with his hands behind his back.

  “I just wanted to check in on you to make sure you were getting settled in and to see how you’re doing after our discussion earlier.” I mentally groaned. If one more person asked how I was doing, I might scream.

  “I’m hanging in and finally getting settled. I’m really sorry for running out of your office and for the spilled water.”