March Story Contest

The Shifters part 2 part 1
By: Skyberry
Age: 12

“I was really enjoying that,” Lexi says, sighing, “I wish it wasn’t so soon,”

“Yeah, I agree,” I reply as we start walking. Belle trots up to us, still a cat, and arches her back. Then she springs up into her own form and yawns.

“I wish I could tell you about our science class! My class just learned something really awesome yesterday. All lunch period I’ve been forcing myself to keep quiet. Mr. Scott said we couldn’t ruin it for everybody else,” She looks so excited for Lexi and I to get to class; I can’t help but laugh a little.

“Wow Belle,” Lexi laughs too.

“Get going!” Belle practically drags us to the classroom and then pushes us in.

“Bye!” I call to her as she runs to her class.

Lexi and I take our seats and sit quietly. The bell rings a minute later and Mr. Scott begins talking.

“Today class, we will be learning about shifters affinities. I know that this is the year you’ve all been waiting for – Affinity Powers. This year is when they come in. And today, we are going to learn what yours is.”

The class immediately erupts into conversation, but I’m so excited I can’t speak.

“Quiet!” Mr. Scott’s voice carries over the classroom and everyone stops talking as if their mouths are suddenly taped.

“Thank you. Now, this class is going to seem more focused like your shifters class. It will be reinforced in that class.” Mr. Scott says,

“Starting our lesson: Affinities. An Affinity is almost always shown in your marks, so if you have a water ripple, you’ll have something to do with water. Mine is a swirl, like wind, and my Affinity is the ability to manipulate the wind. Observe.” He puts out his hand, closes it, and when it reopens, a gust of wind skims across it. His hand moves in a circular motion, while the class suddenly is hit with a slight breeze. My long, dark chocolate colored hair blows in it.
“So, to get this class moving, I need a volunteer. Anyone?” 8 people in the class raise their hands. I watch him look at each person’s mark, checking for a particularly good one. He sees Lexi’s, and even though her hand is not up, he calls on her.

“Lexi, come on up.” I give her a reassuring smile as her eyes flick quickly to me.

“Class, Lexi has a pretty tell-tale mark. A flower petal. Can anybody guess what they think it is?” He calls on a girl I don’t know very well.

“Flowers?” She asks,

“That would be a little too descriptive right now. For our class, we’ll go with something more general – Plants. So now we can use logic and our imaginations,” He says “Would anyone like to make a guess to what she might get for an affinity?”

I raise my hand and he chooses me. “Maybe she’ll be able to make plants grow better?” He nods at me, “Good guess. I’m thinking along those lines too,” He tells Lexi she can sit back down.

“Now class, get with a partner and work on what your affinities might be. 30 minutes until the bell,” He gives out worksheets for us to work on.

“Well, that was a little embarrassing,” Lexi blushes, “I hate standing in front of the class like that,”

“I’m glad it wasn’t me,” I laugh a little.

          Mr. Scott hands us our worksheets and we get to work. Since Lexi did hers in front of the class, she quickly fills out hers and then we get to work on my mark.

“Yours is so pretty,” Says Lexi “I wonder what it is…”

I look at it in my compact mirror, “Yeah… since it’s a moon, do you think it has anything to do with the night or elements?”

Lexi shakes her head and stares at it in thought. I look down at my sheet:

History Class with Mr. Scott Affinities Worksheet 1.      What is your Mark? ______________________________________ 2.      What is it classified under? (Ex. light, plants, animals)                         _____________________________________ 3.      Does the classification suggest a special power? If so, what? _____________________________________ 4.      If you think you may be an element, please write it below and why. _________________________________________    _________________________________________ Turn in your sheet to Mr. Scott at the end of your class period.

I write down “Crescent Moon” on the line below 1., and then I write down Night/Elemental below 2.

“So, what do you think? Special power?” I ask Lexi.

“I’m not sure, though the fact that it doesn’t suggest anything obvious is a good indication,” She says, “But it’s for certain with night or elements,”

“Yeah,” I say, “I’m gonna go to Mr. Scott and see what he thinks,”

“Kay,” Lexi replies as I walk up.

“Mr. Scott?” I ask, “I would like some help with my mark,”

“1 minute,” He responds, finishing his writing on the board for tonight’s homework. “So, what do you need help with?”

“Well… I’m not sure about powers or elements… or my classification,” I say,

“Okay, turn so I can see your mark,” I turn as he asks,

“Hmmm… it looks like a night element of some sort,” he says, “Shifters with marks including the moon are sometimes multi-affinity gifted, maybe you are too,”

“Really?” I ask, now concerned about my mark,

“Yes, and the fact that it’s the moon alone doesn’t help me to know what exactly. You would be the first of this school to have a strong core-elemental power. Very special.” He says. He marks my sheet on question 3 as “Yes” and 4 as “Strong suggestion”, then takes it and puts it on his pile.

“You have 5 minutes until the end of the period. You may go back to your seat and chat with your friends.”

I walk quickly back to my seat, and then gush over to Lexi. “Oh my gosh! I might be a multi-affinity!” I squeal and then quickly lower my voice again because I’m getting odd looks.

“Oh my gosh! Ali, that’s so amazing! Maybe that’s why you’re so good at shifting,” She smiles.

The bell rings at that moment and its time for my Gym class. That means Olympic shifting and games… I jog down the hall and out into the courtyard. I cross the grass, open the gate, and trot into the 20-acre field. Then I jump into the air, exploding into a border collie, then race towards my class about a ½ mile in. I jump over a log, shifting into a hawk in midair, spreading my wings and swooping high. Suddenly I’m above my class and I dive, air streaming past me, before I quickly pull up and tear back into my form. I am breathless but exhilarated.

“Whoa, Ali, a little quick there,” Belle laughs as I land next to her. Lexi or Belle are in all my classes but history, so I see them almost every class period.

“Get in groups of 2!” My gym teacher, Coach Sullivan shouts to us.

Belle and I hook arms and line up.

“Stretch with your partner for 5 minutes and then line back up,” She calls out.

Belle and I sit down and do a hurdle stretch, then a “butterfly” stretch, and lastly an arm stretch. We stand up just as Coach Sullivan yells at us to stand back up and get in line. Once again Belle and I stand side by side and line up.