Eleven years ago.
“Mom, please, please, please let me go to this boarding school, please!”

“Honey…”
“Mom, please I wanna go there more than anything. I know I’m adopted mom and from the research we’ve done my real mom went there. It’ll make me feel closer to her, please!”

“I’ll talk to your father about it.”
“Thanks.”

The next morning was my eighth birthday and my parents announced that I’d be able to go to the school next semester. I tackled them with a hug. Then three months later we were driving in. I looked at this place and was a little intimidated. I smiled when I met the two girls I was sharing a dorm with. We all ran down for the first day of school and my eyes widened as I saw people fighting. Fire was coming out of their hands! How is that possible!!!! I looked at my friends Liz and Cammie. They both smiled at me then realized I had no clue what was going on. Cammie looked at Liz with wide eyes then asked me, “Do you know what’s going on?”

“No idea.”
“Come on, follow us.”

We walked into the main office and Cammie started talking to a person about what was going on. The woman looked up at me and said, “Follow me.”

I followed her and we walked into a room. I saw three stands. One with a cup of water on it, one with some dirt on it, one with a candle burning, and one that had nothing. I looked at the woman who was watching through a window. She smiled at my confusion…my innocence and twisted her hand for the water to come up in the air. I nodded as she set it back down. I exhaled and twisted my hand. Water, dirt, and fire shot towards me and I screamed as I ducked. The woman looked puzzled and came back in and took away all three cups leaving me with nothing in there. I realized that these were the four elements. Water, earth, fire, and air. I looked down and smiled at myself. I jumped and lifted my hands up with me. I was two feet off the ground. I looked back at the woman and she was smiling.
Five years later. I was still at this school and was taught a lot. One day I got called into our headmistress’s office. I smiled at her as I sat down. She looked at me and I knew I was supposed to say my full name, “Skye Annabelle Lincoln.”

She smiled at me and said, “Well Ms. Lincoln you are quite the legacy.”
“Excuse me?”

She smiled and said, “Your mother was one too.”
I looked at her puzzled and she said, “You’ve learned for awhile about people that are able to control all four elements you should’ve been expecting this.”

I sighed and said, “I know, but yet I was always hoping it was a mix up.”
“It’s no mix up, Skye, you are the one.”

“And if I don’t wanna be?”
She looked at me with confusion and said, “You can’t give it back, Skye. It’s impossible.”

I looked up at her and whispered, “I know now if this is all I must be on my way I have a lot of homework.”
She sighed and said, “Skye.”

I looked back at her as she said, “I know how it feels like. It is a huge responsibility, but I know you can handle it. I’ll see you later.”
But I knew she wouldn’t as I walked out. I wasn’t going to stay here. Hopefully if everything went as planned my roommates wouldn’t even learn I was leaving that night. But of course I should have known better. Late that night I thought the girls were asleep. It was three that morning. I gulped as I reached under my bed and grabbed my bag. I was glad that I took the bed that was closest to the window. My parents thought I was already in the new school. The new school didn’t start for two more days. I could fly there. I had my bag and my money and was ready to leave. Then I heard Cammie say, “Do you really think we’re letting you leave without us?”

I looked over at Liz and Cammie. They had both lifted up in their beds and were smiling. I said, “How do you guys plan on getting out? You aren’t air benders.”

They nodded and Cammie pulled out a rope from under her bed and said, “We might not be able to air bend, but we can climb down a rope and go get our animals.”
I had forgotten about the animals. I never thought about taking the animals, but they did belong to us. I flew down and watched as the girls climbed down the rope. We all ran out to the stables. We didn’t know what kind of things they did to animals, but everyone knew that they had to of experimented on them because things were either super big or super small and sometimes they could change into their background. I had a bald eagle that was so big that Cammie, Liz, and I could all fit on it. And it also would blend in with all of its surroundings. We all looked at each other happy none of us had the main power of water because it’d be hard to bring an aquatic pet. I smiled as we went into the one I had first. Mine was a super big one the other two had really small ones. I whispered, “Go get your animals its best if mine wakes up only to seeing me.”

They nodded and ran off. I smiled as I went over to my animal. I touched its beak and its eyes popped open wide. “Shhhh, it’s just me.” I smiled looked into my bald eagle’s eyes. It looked at me and made sort of a grunting sound and I told it, “Come on, we gotta get a move on.”

It grunted at me again and I said, “Come on, Woowoo. I know I know I should’ve thought of a better name for you, but it’s time to go.”
Cammie and Liz walked in their pets that were on the palm of their hands. I smiled and looked at their tiny pets. I pet the chameleon with one finger. Then I looked at the tiger as it growled. We all laughed and I brought Woowoo out. We all climbed onto it and the girls smiled at me and said, “Let’s going.”

“Come on Woowoo, we got a long way to go.”
It flew off into the night and we never looked back.

We all looked at this new school two days later. Well, it didn’t look wonderful and I knew my parents had tried to get me like a scholarship into this place. Whenever they heard my mom had gone to this school they agreed to let me in. Just like the other school. I looked at the huge brick walls with wiring around the top. I looked at it in awe. I smiled at me two best friends in the world. They showed me a room in the West Wing and ours was on the very top level. Sadly that was where there were the most girls, but we got the room everyone wanted. The one at the very side of the building the very last door. That’s exactly the room we wanted to have again. We all went into our room and met our new roommate, Kat. We went to our first class the next morning. I looked at Cammie and Liz. We were all giddy with excitement as a woman came in. She looked young probably in her mid-thirties, but she looked younger than that. She looked at me and seemed to force a smile at us and said, “Hello class, I’m Nicole Cartier and I’m your teacher.”

I squinted at her. She looked down at me and said, “Your name.”
“Skye.”

“Last name.”
“Lincoln.”

Mrs. Nicole Cartier nodded and said, “So you’re the famous Skye Lincoln.”
I noticed that she was saying it as infamous, but that didn’t stop me from acting like I didn’t know and smiling. She put her arms on my desk and looked at me straight in the eye and said, “It’s not a compliment.”

I gulped as she lifted back up and said, “Class, you are going to learn things you never expected to le…”
A man walked in. Everyone looked up. Some of the girl’s jaws dropped obviously not seeing a man in awhile at least ones that weren’t completely insane. The man smiled and put his hands in front of them and said, “Hello ladies, my name is Mr. Champlan.”

Nicole smiled and looked back over at him and asked, “How’s blue jay?”
“Worried.”

“About?”
“You.”

“That’s not new.” She looked at us and said, “Here you will be learning a lot of things. Right now you will be learning from Mr. Ri… Champlan for the next week. Also ladies that are eighth grade and up. Look at me.” Several girls looked up as she said, “Ask me a question.”

A girl opened her mouth to say something as Nicole handed her a ring. She slipped it on. I got nervous these girls had already learned a lot more things than I did. And it’s the first day of school! The girl asked, “Um, are you married?”
I watched as Nicole looked at her straight in the eye and said, “No.”

The girl shook her hand (the one that the ring was on) and said, “It’s not working.”
Nicole shrugged and said, “Ask me again.”

“Are you married?”
“Yes.”

“It’s still not doing it.”
Nicole smiled and walked over to Cammie she said, “You try newbie.”

“What am I…?”
Nicole moved away and went onto Liz. She said the same thing and Liz stuttered then said, “Are you married?”

“Yes.”
Liz squinted trying to see if there was something she was trying to notice. Nicole moved onto another girl and did the same thing. She walked towards me and handed me the same ring everyone had used. I knew what to do, “Are you married?”

“No.”
“You’re lying.”

Everyone gasped. Nicole showed a hint of a smile and said, “New question.”
“Do you have kids?”

“Yes.”
“Twins?”

“No.”
“Boy?”

She smiled and said nodding back to the girl she started with, “You put up a good fight. A better one than Ada did.”
I squinted then smiled as she left. Mr. Champlan looked at me. All of the girls looked at me for several minutes as Mr. Champlan watched me. I could sense everyone looking at me. I didn’t look at them. I watched Mr. Champlan. He didn’t smile, he didn’t say anything, he just…watched me. He sighed and said, “Welcome, ladies. Raise your hand if you’ve already gone to this school before.”

Everyone but Cammie, Liz, and I raised their hands. I sighed and noticed Kat smirk. Mr. Champlan looked at me and sighed, “Up to the front, Ms. Lincoln.”
I got up and asked, “Is there something…”

“Shhhh.”
I remained quiet as he said, “Look at Ms. Lincoln.”

Everyone stared at me. No one spoke. I wasn’t sure if they were scared to or if no one just knew what to say. I gulped and couldn’t help, but watch Kat. Kat was beautiful. She had a gorgeous smile and golden blonde hair, with big brown eyes. She was skinny, but not like too skinny. She was probably around five foot six inches. I forced myself not to sigh. I was still developing. I had no boobs, no curves, didn’t have a period yes…I guess you could call me a late bloomer. I gulped as Mr. Champlan walked around me. He grinned and said, “Take your seat. Who knows what she is?”

I looked at Cammie and Liz confused. Kat scoffed and raised her hand. Mr. Champlan called on her and she answered, “She’s a normal girl. She will most likely end up being like a chameleon. The one no one notices and blends in with the crowd.”
“Correct, Ms.” He looked at her for a response. She showed a hint of a smile, “Black.”

“Correct, Ms. Black. In this business we need people like her. She’s not to short, skinny, tall, fat, gorgeous, ugly; she’s just a normal girl. In this business we also need people who can stand out. Who can be a distraction…someone who likes to stand out. Like you Ms. Black. You are five foot six inches and you are only thirteen. You have a couple more years to grow and I have a feeling you will. You have a good complexion and a lot of people notice you. That might be from the fact that you are the President’s daughter and the fact that most boys would think you’re gorgeous. You would be a perfect distraction when we needed it. Now what other types are there?”

Cammie raised her hand and said, “There are the really smart ones.”
“That’s right. Without them we couldn’t do what we do. They create almost everything we use. What could we do without them? I have no idea I think we’d be out of a job.”

I nodded and looked up as three boys walked in the room. But these three looked our age. This was a girl’s boarding school what were boys doing here? One walked towards my desk as another walked towards Cammie. I heard a couple of girls sigh as they swooned over them. I sat up straighter as one walked towards me and sat up on my desk and the other one sat up on Cammie’s desk and the other sat up on Liz’s. I looked at Liz and Cammie who were sitting next to me. Liz looked at our teacher and asked, “Who are they?”

The one that was one Liz’s desk leaned down to look her in the eyes and said, “Kregg.”

The one on Cammie’s desk did the same and said, “Cody.”
Since I wasn’t focused on the boy that was on my desk he moved my chin up so he could look at me, “Washington.”

I stood up and looked at him, “Lincoln.”
He smirked and looked at the teacher and said, “We’re your new students.”

“This is a girl’s school if you haven’t noticed…what’s your first name, kid?”
“Anonymous.”

I didn’t know why when he said that that a chill went up my spine. “Well I already know them two tell me who you are Mr. Washington.”
“I already told you anonymous.”

“Get off Ms. Lincoln’s desk.”
He listened and slung his arm around me. I looked at Liz and Cammie and Cammie stood up and grabbed his arm and yanked him off me. I smiled at Cammie and put my arm around her and as Cody walked over by Washington as Washington muttered, “These girls like playing hard to get.”

I glanced at Washington and wondered what his real name was. I whispered to Cammie, “Don’t say my first name around him.”
“Diddo.”

“Tell Liz.”
“On it.”

Cammie walked over to Liz and whispered in her ear and Liz nodded and winked at me. I looked over at Washington who never let his gaze shift from me. I looked up at Mr. Champlan and asked, “When are they leaving?”

“I’m not sure…Kregg, Cody you know I know you’re mother…does she know you’re here?”
“She dropped us off.” Cody answered.

“Who’s Mr. Washington?”
“We don’t know.” Kregg responded.

“So, you didn’t bring him here?”
“No sir, they didn’t.” Washington answered.

“Then who brought you here?”
“Anonymous.”

“Stop saying that, boy!”
He rolled his eyes and looked at me and said, “See ya later Lincoln.”

Washington, Cody, and Kregg all left and Kat looked back at Liz, Cammie, and I and seemed well…jealous. Why would she be jealous of us? She’s gorgeous! Used to no boy gave me a second look why is it that now a boy is? A bell rang out and Mr. Champlan said, “Class dismissed…have a good day girls I’ll see you in the morning.”

Liz, Cammie, and I all decided to split up and mix in with the crowd hoping none of the boys would see us, but then again I’m like a chameleon nobody notices me. Until Washington. He seemed to have spotted me right away and followed me. When I saw him as he tried to make his way through the crowd of girls I continued to walk acting like I didn’t notice. I walked towards the barn to visit my big bald eagle, Woowoo where I had gotten special permission to keep him. Meanwhile the girls’ chameleon and tiger both lived in our room since they could fit in the palm of your hand. I stood next to Woowoo and rubbed his head. “Woowoo?” I heard a boy say.

I turned around to see Washington and asked, “How did you know that?”
“I guess you could call me a spy.”

“Hmm…interesting…what’s your name?”
“Washington and your Lincoln.”

“I’m aware of that. What’s your first name?”
“That’s anonymous.”

“Oh come on Washington…are you too scared to tell me?”
“Me? Scared of you? HA! Yeah right, why on earth would I be scared of you?”

“Maybe because I’m a threat…or because you know I’m special.”
“What would make you a threat?”

“You know I’m special, Washington, no boy has taken a second look at me except for you and I believe the only reason you did look at me is because I’m special.”

“What do you mean by special, Lincoln, besides the fact that you have a boy’s name.”
“That’s my last name just like how I assume Washington is your last name.”

“And you’d be correct for assuming that…and just like how you are special I am too…I believe you are in for some competition Ms. Lincoln.”
I took a step closer to him, “I believe you are as well Washington.”

He smiled and said, “You’re gonna be quite a challenge Ms. Lincoln.”
“Good.” With that I turned and walked away. But I still had one question running through my mind, why were boys here??? I left him and went to my room surprised that Kregg and Cody were there talking with Cammie, Liz, and Kat. Kat looked at me and then seemed to lift her head up trying to see if Washington might come past me. He didn’t. She looked at me and seemed to be jealous. I didn’t understand why. She was absolutely gorgeous! But then it dawned on me…she must have been used to having all of the attention. Now that her three roommates that were well nobodies were getting all the attention she couldn’t stand it. Kregg looked up at me. I smiled and looked at his twin brother Cody. Cody seemed a lot more comfortable with Cammie while Kregg seemed to be awkward and uncomfortable with Liz. But one other thing I caught was that they seemed to be ignoring Kat. Kregg stood up and walked past Kat and looked at me and whispered, “Can we talk?”

I nodded and walked out into the hallway with him and he asked, “Can you help me talk to Liz? Or tell me what kind of stuff she likes? I’m so nervous around her. No, it’s not because I wanna be her boyfriend I’m too old for her, but I mean I’m not comfortable around girls at all and I’m kinda comfortable around you because you seem to be a lot like my mom, can you help me?”
“Follow me Kregg…I have a few questions for you myself.”

He nodded and followed me as he said, “Look if you’re gonna ask me who am I and who’s my parents and why I’m here I can answer that now. My name is Kregg…Kregg Beninfield…well technically now it’s Kregg Cartier my mom is Mrs. Nicole Cartier. You’re teacher. I don’t know who my biological dad is, but my adoptive dad is Jason Cartier…also known as blue jay. I honestly don’t know why I’m here. My brother and I were coming here to tell my mother something that came from my father and that’s when we met Washington-”

I interrupted, “Ok, what is his real name?”
“We don’t know…he told us that was his name we have no clue what his real name could be. He seems to be quite fond of you.”

I rolled my eyes and shrugged, “I guess…anyway you said you’re wanting to know things about Liz? Well first I need to know how old you are.”
He smiled, “Nineteen and she’s thirteen…now how old are you?”

“Thirteen.”
“What’s your real name Lincoln?”

“You know for right now I’m not gonna tell you. Only my friends will know.”
“Alright, fair enough…let me guess that’s a way for you to play a game with Washington.”

“Shut up, Cartier.”
Kregg laughed at me and smiled as he said, “You’re different.”

“Thanks.”
He smiled, “Your welcome.”

Skye looked at Kregg. He looked familiar and he looked kinda like her. She shook her head and thought about how she wanted and desired to find out about her family’s past. Kregg sighed and looked at her, “I’ll help you if you help me.”

“What do you mean?”
“What’s your hearts biggest desire?”

“To find out about my family.”
“Come on, walk with me, talk to me.”

For some odd reason I followed. It was unlike me to follow someone I didn’t know very well and listen to them. But something inside of me beckoned to trust him. We walked outside and took a stroll around the grounds. I jumped up on the curb and balanced myself as we talked. Kregg smiled as he watched me and said, “So what is your hearts biggest desire?”

“I find that very personal on first meeting a person how about some less deep conversation?”
“Lincoln, I need your help…I’m looking for someone and I believe you can help me find her, but since I’m fair like this I’ll help you with whatever you want.”

I looked at him and said, “Do you know I’m adopted?”
“No, I was unaware.”

“Well I am…my hearts deepest desire is to—”
I stopped as Washington came near us. He smiled and said, “No reason to stop talking simply because I’m here Lincoln.”

I scoffed, “That’s what you think.”
“What’s your name, Washington?” Kregg asked.

“You just said it.”
Kregg groaned and I said, “I’m not sure what you want Washington, but just out of curiosity how old are you?”

“Fourteen, you?”
“Thirteen.” I said truthfully. Honestly I wanted to lie to him. I wanted to lie to him so much, but because of my body not blossoming yet he wouldn’t have bought it if I told him I was fifteen or sixteen. He looked at me as if I was an annoying…rash he wanted to get rid of. I rolled my eyes and said, “Leave us alone, Washington.”

“Sure.”
He walked away and once they were out of ear shot I tried again, “My deepest desire is to…find out about my real family. Kregg, I don’t know anything about them. I don’t even know my mother’s name! You help me learn about my history I’ll help you find this girl.”

Kregg smiled and said, “Deal, I’ve got connections I’m sure we can find information about your mom in no time.”
“I don’t just want it to be my mom I want it to be my whole family. I have to know if they’re alive or not and if they’re alive why did they wanna get rid of me?”

Kregg nodded as I jumped off the curb and faced him, “What girl are you looking for?”
“She’s very special, Lincoln. She probably won’t fit in with a lot of people. She’ll probably not wanna be very noticeable, you get what I’m saying?”

“She’s like a chameleon?”
“Exactly!”

“Is that all I need to know about her? I don’t get a description?”
“I don’t even know what she looks like and trust me you’ll know she’s special.”

“What about a name?”
“I don’t know her name all I know is that we need her.”

“Fine, I can try to find her.”
“Thanks, I need to get going I’ll see you soon, Lincoln.”

“Bye Kregg.”
He ran off and I watched as he did. His brother had met up with him and they ran off together. I exhaled as a piercing sting went through me. It made me lose my breath and the next thing I knew I was passed out.