Free Mark of Four by Tamara Shoemaker Page A

she felt self-consciousness sweep over her. Perhaps Kyle had taken her comment with a little more feeling than she'd intended.
    Professor Grace pulled Alayne's attention back to the front of the room. “Okay, class, listen up!” She tapped her pointer on her desk. “As you learned in Elementary Elementals, you need to break up the elements to bend them. Begin your assignment today by separating the elements, breaking them into manageable pieces, and then try to throw them away from you. If you need to start by touching your element today, that’s okay, but by the end of the class, I want you to have some space between you and your element, even if it’s only a little bit. Please begin.”
    Alayne reached out her hand, searching tentatively for any sense of liquid element. To her surprise, she could feel the tingling in her fingertips, coming from the direction of her water pitcher. Testing, she moved her hand to the side, and the feeling faded. Moving her hand back, the impulses leaped through her nerves again. She flicked her finger. A drop of water in her pitcher jumped, falling back down with a splash.
    Excitement stirred in Alayne. She could control water from a distance! This was a new experience. She’d always before touched the liquid element as she’d shaped it. The only exception was this morning when the whirlpool of water had moved so quickly that it had left her finger, but Alayne had assumed that was due to momentum.
    Moving her fingers around the element, she pulled a long strand of water from the pitcher and lifted it into the air. Casting from a distance was a bit like pushing on the end of a lever. She didn’t have direct contact with what was on the other end, but she could feel the resistance and weight.
    On the side of the strand, she flattened out a piece and shaped it, curling it into a leaf. Then at the top, she molded together some water, fashioning it into a pistil and stamen, and then created clear petals. When she was done, a liquid lily rested gently across the top of the pitcher.
    Kyle was making it rain over his pitcher. A small gray cloud floated just above it, and a smattering of raindrops splashed into the surface of his water. When he saw Alayne’s lily, his blue eyes widened. The cloud fell into his pitcher with a plop.
    Professor Grace passed by them. “Well done, Mr. Pence, Miss Worth. Top scores for today’s class.”
    Alayne watched Jayme as he worked with bubbles. He’d managed to line ten bubbles vertically, but they kept popping. The bubble machine spit out more bubbles, and he’d do it again. At one point, the bubbles stayed around long enough that he managed to pack the smaller bubbles inside the larger ones before making them burst outward like fireworks. Professor Grace saw that one and nodded approvingly. Alayne watched him sigh with relief. She smiled as she caught his eye.
    Marysa’s tongue stuck out as she concentrated on her stack of twigs. A plume of smoke rose from the middle, but as yet, no flames. After a moment, Alayne could see an orange flicker from the middle that rose into a tongue of fire. It stayed small until her bundle was nearly burned out. At the last minute, Marysa turned the top of the flame sideways, and it became a flag flapping in the wind. That was the end of her twigs. The whole thing went out in a puff of smoke and ash.
    She sat back, frustration on her face. However, Professor Grace had seen her work and nodded.
    Kyle lifted his heel and placed it on the wall behind him. He leaned back casually. “Are you playing any sports this year?”
    Alayne nodded. “I signed up for ice-hockey.”
    “Fantastic!” Kyle’s eyes lit up. “I’m captain of one of the teams! We’re supposed to get the rosters at lunchtime; maybe you’ll be on my team.”
    “Maybe.” Alayne tried to work up enthusiasm, but the truth was, she was terrified. She heartily wished she had signed up for two electives instead.
    Professor Grace’s voice interrupted them.