The Adventures of Emotions Academy - Book 1

Hello again! My pen name is Stella Rosewood. This is another one of my books, and please do not edit or copy this without permission from me. I hope you like it! =) 
**Author's Note**
Hi everyone! I'd like to give an update on the book and a short message! Since no one uses the comments anymore, I figured this would be the best place to put this. I am currently trying to figure out what to do for Chapter 17 and cannot figure out how to start it. For once, I actually kind of know what the chapter's going to be about, but it's the start that I simply can't figure out. By the way, there are only 3-4 chapters left until I finish! It's really exciting and I can't wait to finish! Thank you for all your support, and thanks for taking the time to read my story!! It means SOOO much to me! Thanks also for being patient with me as I figure stuff out! Have a great day, everyone! 
-Stella Rosewood
== Summary ==
Serena wakes up on her 12th birthday to find out she can feel other people's emotions! After receiving a mysterious message through a magical rock, Serena is sent to a school called Emotions Academy, where the students learn about emotions and secrets about them that not many people know. As Serena learns all the new skills she's never known, she makes a few close friends. However, signs of darkness keep appearing. Will Serena and her friends be able to figure out what the "darkness" is? 
== Chapter One ==
Serena sat up in bed, her pink sheets falling off of her. Today, August 26, was her 12th birthday! 
She quickly moved a few books out of the way, then raced down the stairs, her heart pounding with excitement and her shoulder-length medium brown hair flying behind her. She was so excited that she nearly tripped over the last stair. Serena could practically feel the excitement radiating off her as she ran into the living room. Her mom and dad were waiting, sitting on the couch. 
As Serena jumped onto the couch next to them, Mom and Dad said, “Happy birthday, Serena!” 
“Thank you!” Serena said, pleased. 
Serena’s younger sister Chloe, who was 9 years old, came down the stairs, her past-shoulder-length blonde hair straight. “Happy birthday, Serena!” 
“Thanks,” Serena said again. “Can I open my presents now?” 
“Well,” said Dad. “We could eat breakfast first…” 
“Presents first, then breakfast,” Serena said. 
Dad laughed. “Don’t worry, Serena. I was just joking!” 
Serena then felt a surge of some sort of energy in the room. Mom handed her a present that had been hidden behind a box. 
“Open this one first,” she said. 
Serena tore into the present to find… “Books!” 
And not just any books. There was a hard-cover edition of the science book series, Science Power, that she loved! Then again, she loved all books! This book was called All About Emotions and Why We Have Them and was by Raina Maltion. Serena really wanted to read it now, but there were more presents to open first! 
“There is one more,” said Mom, “but we couldn’t get it yet.” 
“What?” Serena asked, puzzled. 
“We’ll explain later,” Dad promised. 
“Okay,” Serena said, still confused, though.
“Open this one now,” Dad said, handing Serena a present wrapped in wrapping paper with hearts on it. Serena unwrapped it. Inside was… 
“A box?” 
Everyone laughed. 
Serena opened the box, feeling excitement and anticipation from everyone. 
Wait. From everyone? But that’s impossible! she thought. No one can feel others’ emotions!
She shrugged off her thought and opened the box. Inside this was… “A diamond?!” 
The diamond was shaped like an oval, was a little bigger than a pressed penny, and sparkled with rainbows in the light. It also had a small hole in the top that looked like it could be put on a necklace.
“How did you pay for this?!” Serena asked, completely shocked. She had read recently that diamonds were extremely expensive. 
“Someone gave it to us,” Mom said. 
Why in the world would someone give our family a diamond? We’re not popular or anything!
“I really wanted it,” Chloe said. “But of course it’s your birthday instead of mine.” 
“Wow,” Serena breathed, staring at the diamond. 
“You can do whatever you want with it,” Mom said. Serena thought about it. 
“I think I’ll just keep it the way it is for now,” she said. “But maybe before school starts, I’ll put it on a necklace so I can bring it.” 
“Okay,” said Mom and Dad. 
Serena continued to open the rest of the presents, which were things like more books, an MP3 player, and some headbands and hair barrettes. Before she knew it, every present was unwrapped and laying on the floor. Unsure what to do, Serena pulled out her new books and started paging through them. 
“We’ll be right back,” Mom said, making Serena look up from her reading. 
“We have to make your birthday breakfast!” Dad added.
“Okay!” Serena said. “I can’t wait!”
Then they left, leaving Chloe and Serena alone. In a minute, Serena spotted Chloe staring at her diamond again. 
“What are you doing, Chloe?” Serena asked her little sister, looking over her shoulder.
“Oh, just looking at the diamond again,” she replied. 
Serena sighed. Wow, her sister must really love the diamond!
“Let me hold it,” Serena said, grabbing her diamond. 
It was smooth and sparkly. It was so cool! She’d have to thank her parents again later. All of a sudden, the diamond started to glow, lighting up Serena and Chloe’s faces. 
== Chapter Two ==
“Wh-what?!” Chloe asked, her jaw dropping. “What is happening?!”
“I-I don’t know!” Serena exclaimed. 
Her sister’s fear started wrapping around Serena. Wait, how could it do that? How could Serena feel other people’s emotions? This was most certainly new! Now, for the big question: Should Serena tell Chloe that she could feel her emotions? After a moment of thinking (since this was way too weird to think any longer), Serena decided yes, she should tell Chloe. 
“Chloe, I — I can feel your emotions,” Serena blurted out before she could change her mind. 
“Wait, what?” Chloe asked. “You can?”
“Yeah,” Serena said. 
“Then what am I feeling right now?”
Serena felt again. “Fear. And you’re also confused.” Not that it was too hard to guess, since diamonds are not supposed to glow, but she could still feel Chloe’s emotions flowing through her. 
Chloe gasped. “You can! But how? How can you do that? And could you do it with Mom and Dad too?”
“Maybe?” Serena guessed, trying to think. “I don’t know.”
“Hmm,” Chloe wondered. “Maybe you’re a superhero or something? Ooh, maybe you have magical pow —”
The mysterious glowing diamond cut Chloe off by something appearing on it. It now said,
Serena, you have been chosen to attend a special school: Emotions Academy. Here, you will learn more about emotions and how to use them. Please show this to your parents so they can send you there. You are special, Serena — unlike most others.
Serena re-read the words over and over. She was special? “Unlike most others”? What was that supposed to mean?
“What does this mean?” Serena asked Chloe, hoping that her sister would have an answer.
“How would I know?” Chloe answered, looking confused. “The diamond was talking to you, not me. I take it you have no idea either?”
“Not a clue,” Serena replied, sighing. “How are we supposed to figure this out?”
“What just happened?” Mom asked, coming back into the room. “I saw something glowing, and —” She stopped when she saw the still-glowing diamond. 
“What? Does that say something?” Mom asked, coming to look over Serena and Chloe’s shoulders. “Serena has been chosen?” Mom repeated. “And she’s unique? Different than nearly everyone else? Serena, what happened?”
“Nothing,” Serena answered. “It just started glowing and then it said that. Chloe and I are confused too.”
“Can you come in here?” Mom called to Dad. “We need a little help here.”
“No kidding…” Chloe said. “We need it. Desperately.”
“What’s up, kiddos?” Dad asked as he walked in as well. Then he saw the diamond. “Okay, that is not what I was expecting…” he said. He read the message as well. “Serena needs to go to this special school? Why, though? Serena, do you know anything about why you need to go to Emotions Academy? Do you even know what—and where—Emotions Academy is?”
“Um, no,” Serena answered. “But…”
“But what?” Mom and Dad asked unanimously.
“Well… I can feel your emotions. All of yours.”
“WHAT?!” 
Once they calmed down, Dad asked, “Serena, what am I feeling right now?”
Serena closed her eyes and tried to make sense of all of the emotions around her. As she focused, her parents’ feelings cleared and came into focus. 
“You’re feeling confused and shocked,” she said. 
Dad stepped back. “How did you know?!”
“I just felt for it, and there it was,” Serena replied. “I don’t even know how I did it. I just… did.”
Mom and Dad exchanged a look. 
“Well,” Mom said. “We’ll have to look into this emotions school, but I think you should go to it. If you really can feel our emotions, who knows what else you can do? I think you do belong there.”
“We were planning on sending you to a closer middle school, in town,” Dad chimed in. “But I think you need to go to this new school. It’s probably the best for you.”
Serena liked the idea of going to Emotions Academy and learning more about emotions and how to use them. She had no idea how you could possibly use emotions, but whatever. She was ready to learn. But at the same time, Serena felt nervous about going there. She doubted no one she knew would be there, and she would be the new kid. But there was only one thing to do.
“Okay,” Serena said. “I’ll go there, just like the diamond wants me to. There has to be so many things I can learn about emotions, and I’m ready to learn it. So, when do I start going there?”
“School starts on August 30th,” Mom said. 
“So you’ll be going to this new school then,” Dad finished. “Well, we’ll have to look into it, of course. But I’m sure you’ll probably be going there.”
“Alright!” Serena cheered. “I can’t wait!”
“Aw, why can’t I go there?” Chloe grumbled, surprising Serena. She forgot that her sister had been listening. “I want to learn about emotions and stuff too!”
Serena looked directly at Chloe. “I’ll teach you some of the stuff I learn,” she said. “No worries!”
Chloe cheered up. “Yay!” she said. “I’m really excited to learn that stuff!!”
Serena, Mom, and Dad laughed at that.
“I’m going to go Google this school now,” Mom said. “Come on, you can help us, Serena.”
“Okay,” Serena said, going over to the Windows computer. Mom typed in Emotions Academy in the search bar, then pressed enter. A second later, the search results showed up: a bunch of websites. Serena clicked on the top one, emotionsacademy.com. It said:
Emotions Academy
The Basics
Emotions Academy is a special school where the students learn about emotions and how to use them. Students also are given special items they will need in the future, like a crystal or gem of some sort. 
Emotions
Anyone who does not attend this school does not know everything about emotions. Emotions can actually be used in many ways, from healing injuries to helping others. It takes skill to control emotions, though. That is why Emotions Academy teaches students these things, to teach others about emotions and be safer and better protected, just in case. You never know what might happen. 
How to get into Emotions Academy
The only way to get accepted into the school is for someone or something to tell you that you can attend. It doesn’t matter what tells you, just something has to tell you and give you permission.
Mom stepped back from the computer.
“Well,” she started, “Serena, this school sounds fine to me. As long as your father agrees, I think you can go there.”
“Really?” Serena asked, surprised. 
“Really,” Dad said. “The school’s website does say that anything that gives you permission is acceptable, and your diamond did give you it.” 
“True. And awesome!” Serena exclaimed, jumping up and down. “I can’t wait!” 
“Well, you won’t have to wait long,” Chloe said. “School starts on August 30th, right? And today is August 26th, so you only have to wait 4 days!” 
“Great!” Serena said. 
“Well, enough about the school for now,” Mom said. “How about some Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast?” 
“Yeah!” Serena and Chloe exclaimed excitedly. 
“I love those!” Serena said. 
“Want to race?” Chloe asked. 
“Sure!” Serena said. 
Then the two of them raced to the bathroom to wash their hands. They washed as fast as they could, but in the end, Serena won by sitting down at the table about two seconds before Chloe did. Serena grinned triumphantly. 
Chloe snort-laughed. “I let you win. It’s your birthday, after all.” 
“Okay,” Serena said. “Thanks.” 
“Which donut do you want?” Dad asked Serena. She looked at them. 
“I’ll have a lemon-filled one,” Serena announced, grabbing it from the box and putting it on her plate. 
“And I’ll have a chocolate sprinkle donut,” Chloe said, taking it. Mom took a plain chocolate glaze and Dad took a plain glazed donut. Then they started eating. 
Once they were done, Serena said, “Well, I’m gonna go read my new book.”
“Okay,” Mom and Dad said. 
“Can I look at it with you?” Chloe asked. 
“Of course,” Serena said. 
“Thanks,” Chloe said gratefully.
Mom and Dad stayed behind to “talk about last night’s news”, but Serena guessed that they would be sneaking more donuts. Parents could certainly be sneaky like that. She knew from experience. One night, there were cookies, but there was an empty bag of cookies the next morning. 
“YOU ATE THOSE COOKIES AGAIN!” Serena would yell every time. 
Serena ran back to the living room, Chloe close behind. She grabbed her new book and plopped down on the couch, then opened the book. 
Suddenly, Mom and Dad came back into the living room. 
“We almost forgot,” Mom said. “There’s one more present we have to give you.” 
“What is it?” Serena asked curiously. 
“Come on,” Dad said. “Follow us.” 
“Me too?” Chloe asked. 
“Of course,” Dad said. He put on a dark-blue jacket, opened the front door, and walked out, looking back to call, “Come on! Your present awaits!” 
Serena laughed, set the book down, and leaned back, then leaped off the couch. That was something that she loved doing, weird positions and actions with her body. Not just that, she also wanted to be a gymnast. Specifically a great or famous one. It would be very fun! Meanwhile, Chloe just stood up and grabbed her light-pink jacket, putting it on. Mom got her lilac-colored jacket, and Serena got her gray jacket. Serena followed Mom and Dad outside, Chloe right behind them. 
“Oh, I forgot something!” Chloe exclaimed. She turned around quickly to face the house. “I’m going to go grab something,” she said, looking back to face Serena and her parents. “I’ll be back in a second.” She dashed inside, and Serena decided to count exactly how many seconds Chloe took. 
1, 2, 3, 4… 
Chloe raced out of the house, panting. She had the first book of the Greystone Secrets series, The Stranger, in her hand. Serena had read the series a year ago, and it was really good! 
Serena, despite herself, rolled her eyes. Chloe was as big of a reader as she was. 
“What?” Chloe asked, seeing Serena’s expression. “You know I love reading in the car!” 
“Yeah,” Serena said. “I know! Also, you took 17 seconds exactly. Not one.”
Chloe sighed and slapped her head to her forehead. “You know what I meant!” 
Serena giggled. “I know! I was just teasing you!” 
The cool autumn air blew through the trees, making Serena shiver as she and her family walked down their driveway, where her mom and dad’s cars waited. She could feel her family’s coldness from the wind too. 
This is weird, in two ways, actually. I’ve never felt anyone else’s emotions before, and now feelings! And it sure doesn’t help in this case, she thought ruefully, frowning. Now I’m colder than anyone else! 
They walked to Dad’s dark blue car and got inside. 
“Where are we going?” Chloe asked. 
“Somewhere,” Dad said teasingly. 
“Where?!” Serena exclaimed. She couldn’t wait another second. 
“Okay, okay,” Dad admitted, giving in. “We’re going to the pet store.” 
Serena sat up straight. “Wait, do you mean —” 
“Yes,” Mom said, smiling. “We’re going to let you pick out a mouse! Happy birthday, sweetie!” 
“Yay!” Serena cheered. 
“Cool!” Chloe agreed. “Can I help take care of it?” 
“Maybe,” Serena said. “How about you clean the cage?” 
Chloe looked disgusted. “No!” 
Serena laughed. “I’m kidding. Well, unless you want to,” she added, twisting her head to look back at her sister. 
Chloe made another disgusted face. “No thanks!” 
Serena grinned, then stared out the window as they were riding. Suddenly, she thought she saw a shadow lurking along the path. It seemed to be in the form of a… person? She couldn’t tell. But as soon as it appeared, it was gone; the car had already driven past it. 
What was that? Some creepy shadow? Serena wondered. Then she shook her head. I must have imagined it. 
Serena stared out the window until the scenery of Target and Walmart made her sit up straight with excitement. 
“We’re almost here!” she squealed. She looked at the clock. It was 10:12 when they left, and now it was 10:25, so she must have zoned out for nearly 15 minutes! 
And imagined a weird shadow, Serena thought. 
Mom, who was driving, nodded. “Yup! We’re here right now!” 
She pulled into the parking lot. The second the car stopped moving, Serena flung open the door and jumped outside. 
“Come on!” she called to her family, jumping from foot to foot in excitement. 
Chloe jumped out quickly too, leaving her book sitting on her seat. She slammed the car door closed and ran over to Serena. 
“I’m so excited! What color mouse are you going to get? What are you going to name it? Can I name it?” Chloe asked very quickly. 
Mom and Dad laughed. “Give her a minute to process!” Mom exclaimed. 
Serena laughed as well. “Um, we’ll see. Let’s go look around first!” 
Chloe nodded. “Okay!” 
Together, they walked up to the door of the pet store, which happened to be Petco. Mom opened the door and stood aside to let Serena in first, followed by Chloe, then Dad, and finally herself. Serena had to be first inside. She couldn’t wait a second longer!
== Chapter Three ==
As Serena stepped inside, she gasped. This pet store was huge! She was used to small pet stores, like the ones closer to home. Here, there were cages everywhere, but in rows: rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, cats, dogs, and best of all… mice! Serena could barely take it all in. 
“Let’s go look around!” Serena exclaimed, feeling tempted to dance around with excitement.
“Yeah! Let’s go, let’s go!” Chloe agreed excitedly.
“You girls go on ahead,” said Dad. “We’ll catch up.”
“Yay!” Chloe said.
Serena studied the store carefully to decide where to go first. The cats and dogs were directly on the left side of the store that you could see once you got in. The guinea pigs and rabbits were ahead to the left, and the birds were on the right side. The supplies for each pet were near them.
“Hey, look!” Chloe said suddenly, pointing to something near the bunnies and guinea pigs. “I see mice!”
As she peered closer, Serena realized that her little sister was right! 
“Come on, let’s go!” Serena called, grabbing Chloe’s arm and pulling her along. Chloe jerked her arm out of Serena’s grip and raced alongside her.
Both of them skidded to a stop once they reached the mice area. Serena gazed around the cages in delight. The mice at this store were so cute!
Serena watched the mice run around their cages. She felt their excitement and energy.
Wait. I can feel animal’s emotions too? Serena frowned, thinking.
Chloe looked at her, clearly concerned. “Serena? You okay?”
Serena shook herself. “Yeah. Well”—she dropped her voice to a whisper—“I can feel the animal’s emotions.”
Chloe’s eyes stretched wide. “Really?”
Serena nodded. All of a sudden, everyone's emotions surrounded her. She grimaced.
“Can you, I don’t know, block the emotions?” Chloe asked.
Serena squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated on the emotions around her. She tried narrowing it down to just Chloe’s and imagined putting a wall around her. Suddenly, the burning emotions dulled. They didn’t just magically disappear, but they were… darker. Dimmer. Farther away.
Serena sighed with relief. The pounding emotions had stopped. Only Chloe’s came through to her now. She put another wall up, and suddenly, she felt like herself before today. A normal person.
“Woah, I guess it worked?” Chloe said. “You look a lot calmer now. Was it really that bad?”
Serena could only nod. “Anyway, let's look at the mice now.”
She and Chloe studied all the mice. There were gray, white, brown, and black mice, some even being three or four colors!
Suddenly, one mouse caught Serena's eye. It was an adorable gray and white mouse!
“Chloe, look!” she gasped, pointing at the cute mouse.
Chloe grinned. “It's adorable! Are you going to get it?”
“Yes!” Serena squealed. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
Chloe looked around the cages, then pointed to the sign above the gray and white mouse. “It says it's a girl.” She looked back at Serena. “Want me to go tell Mom and Dad you've decided?” she offered.
Serena nodded thankfully. “Sure. Thanks, Chloe.”
While she waited for Chloe to come back with their parents, Serena watched the other mice, just in case she would change her mind. A black one scurried around its cage. A pure white one ate its food. But none were better than the gray and white mouse.
A few moments later after Serena had started to think of names for the mouse, Chloe came back with Mom and Dad right behind her.
“Chloe says you've decided already,” said Mom, looking slightly surprised that Serena picked so soon.
“Who did you pick?” Dad asked.
“This one,” Serena replied happily, pointing at the gray and white mouse.
“Are you sure?” Mom asked, then added when Serena looked at her, annoyed, “Just making sure it’s what you want.”
Serena nodded, her mind already made up. “Let’s get her!”
“It’s a girl?” Dad asked, peering closer at the sign on the mice’s cages. He nodded. “Yup, that’s right. Good choice. I read an article a couple days ago that said female mice are better to have because they don’t smell as much.”
“Ew.” Chloe made a disgusted face.
“Good,” Serena remarked. “I wouldn’t want to pick any other mouse anyway.”
“Let’s get the mouse!” Chloe cheered, and Serena joined her. She was so excited that she didn’t even care when other store customers stared at them, making a scene.
“Okay, okay,” Dad said with a laugh. “Let’s go tell an employee that Serena wants this mouse, Glory,” he said, calling Mom by her real name.
“Okay,” Mom agreed. She and Dad started to go look for an employee to help them, but before Dad left, he called, “Stay there and wait for us to come back, okay, Serena and Clo?” he said, using Chloe’s nickname that no one ever used very often.
“Got it!” Serena replied.
Chloe raised her arm in front of her eyes, like a salute of some sort, then said like a pirate, “Aye, aye, matey!” She and Serena burst out laughing.
After a minute of waiting, Chloe said, “Let’s go look at the guinea pigs now!”, pointing to them.
Serena wanted to, but she shook her head. “Chloe, we have to stay here, remember?”
Chloe’s head dropped down. “Right.”
“But look!” Serena said. “Mom and Dad are coming back with someone!”
Chloe bolted upright and waited as they came over. The employee they brought had black hair in braids, dark blue eyes, brown skin, and a bright blue Petco shirt with their logo.
“She’d like this mouse, please,” Mom told the employee, pointing to the gray and white mouse. The employee nodded. “Good choice!” she said to Serena. “By the way, my name is Tora. Would you like to hold the mouse?” she asked kindly.
Serena nodded vigorously.
Tora took the mouse out of its cage. “Open your hands,” she told Serena. “And make sure the mouse doesn’t jump out and run away!”
“‘K,” Serena said and opened her hands like a mini floor for the mouse.
Tora gently set the mouse onto Serena’s hands. Serena flinched slightly at the touch of the mouse and curved her hands to look more like a bowl, but then relaxed. The mouse scurried around, sniffing everything. She had never been outside her cage before.
“What do you think you’re going to name it?” Tora asked Serena. “If you decide to get it, of course,” she added.
“Hmm,” Serena said. She thought for a moment.
I need to pick a good name for this mouse. What about Stella, or Ice? Nah. Hmm… Aha!
“Maybe… I know! Brantley!”
“Ooh, good name!” Chloe replied, grinning. “Look, I think she likes that name!”
Sure enough, Brantley started squeaking and sniffing more. Everyone laughed.
“Are you ready to take her home?” Tora asked Serena and Chloe.
“Yes!” they answered excitedly.
Tora turned to their parents. “Do you have a carrier to bring Brantley home?” she asked them.
Dad shook his head. “I didn’t think about it before we left,” he admitted.
Tora smiled. “That’s okay! We have some for sale today,” she said and pointed near the entrance of the store, where a table sat with carriers; dog, bird, and cat toys; and cages and litter, among other things.
“We’ll need a cage too,” Mom added.
“Don’t worry, we have those over there too!” Tora said. “That’s the clearance table, where everything’s on sale!” she sang. “Sorry. I like to sing.”
Serena smiled while Chloe laughed. “It’s fine,” she said.
“Alright, let’s go to ‘the clearance table!’,” Mom sang like Tora did. Everyone laughed. 
Serena gave Brantley back to Tora, then ran ahead of her family and Tora and reached the table first, so she studied the items there. There were many different cages and sizes, and lots of treats for every animal that was at the store. There was also a perfect, blue-purple carrier that would fit Brantley perfectly. Her eyes settled on a cage that looked like it would be perfect for Brantley. It had a wheel, a little house that she could hide in, and of course, a water bottle and food bowl. The only thing that the cage didn’t come with was mice treats and the food itself. Thankfully, right next to the mice section, there were bags of food and treats.
“Find anything?” Dad asked, coming up behind Serena to look at the items.
“Yeah,” Serena replied. She pointed to the items she found. “These look good for Brantley.”
“Okay, let’s get them!” Mom said. She looked at Serena seriously. “I trust your judgment for your new pet.”Mom picked up the new stuff and carried it over to another employee, whose name tag read Kila.
“Buying those?” she asked, taking the supplies from Mom.
Mom nodded. “Thanks.” She opened her purse, pulled out her wallet, and took out $30 to buy the items. She handed it over to Kila, and she gave Mom the change: $3 and 24 cents.
Tora came over to them, Brantley in her hands. “Here you go,” she said, gently putting Brantley inside the carrier. She took a step back to observe Serena. “Have fun with Brantley!” she said brightly, grinning. Then Tora went back over to the mice area, ready to help anyone else.
“Thank you!” Serena called to Tora, now standing closer to the guinea pigs than mice, and Kila, who still stood near the check-out. 
Tora smiled. “You’re welcome!” she called. Kila nodded her agreement from where she was. 
Chloe opened the door and held it open to let her family and another one go through. 
“Thanks!” said the other family. 
“No prob,” Chloe said. 
Serena’s mom and dad said the same thing. Serena simply nodded her thanks. 
Serena clutched the handle to Brantley’s carrier tightly as they crossed the parking lot. Her eyes darted every way, searching for cars. Thankfully, none came near them. 
Serena walked around to the left side of the car once they reached it, set Brantley’s carrier down on the seat, and climbed inside. Chloe jumped into the car on the right side. 
They strapped their seat belts, and Serena set Brantley on her lap. Only 15 minutes until Brantley would be home! 
== Chapter Four ==
With Brantley inside the car with her, Serena felt like the car ride home was only a couple of seconds. She reached over and held her hand near the “window” of the mouse carrier made with netting, and Brantley came over to sniff her fingers. 
Serena giggled as her whiskers brushed against her hand and pulled her hand back. 
Before she knew it, the car slowed down as it passed the familiar oak tree in Serena’s family’s front yard and pulled into the driveway. Serena unbuckled her seat belt and sat up straighter as Dad opened the garage door and backed the car into it. 
“Isn’t it exciting?” Chloe asked, turning left to face Serena from her car seat on the right. “We finally have a pet now! And what’s better than a mouse?” 
“Nothing!” Serena answered confidently. She had been wanting a pet- particularly a mouse or rabbit- for a long time now, and she finally got one! 
“What do you think about having a bunny?” Serena asked her sister, voicing her thoughts out loud. 
“That would be awesome too!” Chloe agreed, but Mom didn’t quite think so. 
“We just got you a mouse,” Mom warned, “so don’t expect us to get you a bunny too!” 
Serena and Chloe laughed, and Dad and Mom joined in. “Well, we’re home now,” Mom said. “Why don’t you girls get out now, and we can find a place for Brantley’s cage?” 
“Okay!” Serena replied enthusiastically and jumped out of the car. She and Chloe, who came out right after Serena did, ran down the sidewalk on the left side of their house and grabbed the handle to their front door. 
Chloe pulled hard, but it wouldn’t budge. “We’re not going to be stuck here, are we?” she whined. 
Serena shook her head. “Of course not, silly! Mom and Dad have the keys, remember?” 
Chloe’s eyes widened for a moment, then she nodded. “Of course. Right.” She jumped off the steps leading up to the front door and yelled to their parents, “Mom! Dad! The door is locked!” 
Dad stopped the car from moving any further while the right-side door opened and Mom came out. “I need the keys,” she said, and Serena could barely see the car from where she was at, but Mom grabbed something- the keys, she assumed- and came over to Serena, while Chloe bounded back up the steps. 
“Here we go,” Mom said, sliding the key in the lock and turning it. The door sprang open and Serena went inside first. She carefully set down Brantley’s carrier and untied her shoes, then picked it up again and set off for her room. 
But before she made it far, she groaned. “Chloe, why did you have to leave your Pokemon cards and toys and Frozen 2 books on the floor?” 
Chloe stepped through the door and peered into the living room around the door. “Sorry, Serena, but I swear that wasn’t there before we left.” 
“Are you sure?!” Serena asked angrily. “You know I like things neat and organized!” 
Chloe looked again at the room. “Really, I mean it. We came out through this door, remember? And you definitely would have noticed if it was there before we left.” 
Serena glanced down at the rare Charizard card at her feet. “You have a point,” she said, looking back at her sister. “This couldn’t have been here before.” 
“But where did it come from?” Chloe asked thoughtfully, tilting her head to the side. 
“What’s going on here?” Dad asked suddenly, coming through the door and starting to untie his shoes. He looked at Chloe. “Clo, what happened? And why is the floor messy?” 
Chloe shrugged. “That’s the point. We don’t know.” 
“Well, never mind,” Dad said. “Let’s clean it up, then we can get Brantley’s cage up and ready for her.” 
“Got it,” Serena said and started by picking up the Charizard next to her. She glanced up and saw Chloe standing as still as a statue. “Come on, Chloe, help me here!” 
“Yes, come on, Clo!” Dad added. “It’s your mess too!”
Chloe sighed in disappointment but obeyed and picked up three books, then went down the hallway to her room. Serena could still feel her reluctance and disappointment even after she went down to her room. 
Wait. She could feel that? 
“No way!” Serena breathed as emotions started pounding against her again. She winced and held her head. “I guess the shield wore off!” 
“What?” Dad asked, looking at Serena concernedly. “Serena, what's wrong?” 
Suddenly, Mom came inside. “I was getting the mail,” she explained, gesturing to the stack of papers in her hand. “What’s happening? Oh, Serena, are you feeling our emotions again?” 
Serena nodded. “Chloe said at the pet store that I should try to imagine a shield around me so I wouldn’t feel emotions, and it worked, but now it’s gone!” 
Dad shifted his feet, and his uncertainty about what to do wafted over to Serena like the smell of brownies wafts throughout the house when Mom made them. 
“Well,” Mom started, “then why don’t you try to make a shield thing again?” 
Serena nodded slightly and imagined putting another wall, a stronger one, around her. It acted like a wall of cobblestone in Minecraft: strong, but not permanent protection. In fact, Serena still felt most of everyone’s emotions. Even Brantley’s made their way through. 
“There has to be some way to prevent this!” Serena exclaimed, trying to not go insane from all these emotions flooding her head. 
Mom nodded slowly. “You’re right. There has to be some way to.” 
“Maybe Emotions Academy will help,” Dad suggested, and his emotions turned from uncertain and concerned to hopeful. “School starts in only four days, so you’ll be able to find help soon.” 
“Hopefully,” Serena muttered and tried again to make a shield. It still didn’t work. 
“Guys,” Chloe said suddenly, coming back out of the hallway, “what are you talking about?” 
Serena lifted her head to look over at her. “That shield from the pet store wore off…” 
Chloe gasped. “Oh.” She looked thoughtful. “Did you try making another shield yet?” 
Serena nodded. “Of course. But it still won’t work.” 
“Hmm,” Chloe said again. “What if you do what you’ve done before, but add your own emotions in it?” 
Serena was shocked by how smart her sister was. “Let me try…” she murmured, then tried again. She did what she had done again, then thought about what made her happy. Family, her friends… Brantley… Books, the thought of becoming great at gymnastics… 
Suddenly, it felt like Serena’s brain was turned off. She gasped, then sighed in relief. 
Chloe studied Serena. “It worked?” 
Serena nodded, then stood up and hugged her sister. Chloe, Mom, and Dad blinked. 
“What?” Serena asked. 
“It’s just… when do you ever hug me?” Chloe asked. 
“When I want to,” Serena replied, smiling mischievously. 
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay!” 
Mom clapped her hands. “Come on, girls, let’s get this cleaned up!” 
Serena nodded and grabbed the nearest toy, then brought it upstairs to Chloe’s room. She dropped it on the floor, then turned around, nearly crashing into Chloe as she came into the room, holding a stack of Pokemon cards. 
She set them down on top of her card binder. “What do you think Emotions Academy will be like?” she wondered out loud. 
Serena shrugged. “I don’t know, but I hope it will be fun. No, it has to, because they’ll teach me everything I need to know about emotions.” 
Chloe nodded knowingly. “Of course.” 
“Come on, we’d better go back down.” Serena practiced her jumping skills by jumping two stairs at a time on the staircase. 
Chloe followed, laughing amusedly to herself. “Sis, why are you jumping down the stairs two at a time?” 
Serena jumped off the last stair. “Because I want to. And I want to become a good gymnast.” 
Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch when Serena walked back into the living room. 
“Whatcha doing?” she asked. 
“We were going to watch something on TV,” Mom explained. “What do you two want to watch?” 
“Pokemon!” Chloe squealed, while Serena shrugged, saying, “I don’t know. Upside-Down Magic, maybe?” 
Dad got to his feet suddenly. “I have a better idea,” he announced. “Why don’t we play a board game instead?” 
“No way!” Chloe argued. “Video games are way better!” 
Serena had to agree on that one. 
“They’re all in the basement,” she tried to counter. 
Dad sighed. 
“Oh! That reminds me,” Mom said. “Serena, we have one more present for you.” 
Serena’s eyes lit up. “What is it?” 
Mom simply smiled. “Follow me.” She started to walk towards the stairs, and Serena followed curiously. 
“Can I come?” Chloe asked curiously, but Dad grabbed her arm. “Wait until they come back,” he said, smiling mysteriously. Serena wondered what that was about.
Once they reached the stairs, Mom opened the door and gestured to the basement. “Your present awaits!” She led the way down, and Serena turned on the light. The mostly clean and organized basement (partially thanks to Serena) lit up with light, and Serena realized that something was off. There was a wrapped something next to the downstairs freezer.
Mom went to pick it up. She handed it to Serena. “Take this back upstairs,” she instructed, “so Chloe and your father can see you open it.” 
Serena obeyed and went back up the stairs. “Ooh,” she whispered to herself, “I wonder what else Mom and Dad could possibly have for me.” 
Chloe jumped off the couch when she saw Serena come back in. “What’s that?” she demanded. 
“Open it and find out!” Mom said. 
Serena tore open the wrapping paper, and waiting inside was a hardcover book! 
“Another book?” she questioned, glancing up to see Mom and Dad smiling. 
“Yes,” Mom said. She ran her fingers over the cover of the book, which had a heart on it as well as a kid. “Look at it.” 
Serena flipped the book, titled Emotions Master, to the inside jacket page. She read the summary out loud: “‘Aaron is a normal kid. At least, until one day. That one day, Aaron could suddenly feel emotions. 
“‘His best friend Andrew has been acting a little strange lately, but Aaron barely notices. Once Aaron realizes he can feel emotions, he sets out on a mission to learn how to control his powers.
“‘But not everything can be easy. Controlling powers of any kind is pretty hard. Will Aaron/Conner be able to control his power?’”
“Woah,” Chloe said. “That sounds cool. It also kind of sounds like you.” 
Serena nodded, barely breathing. “It does.” 
Could this really be what she was looking at? 
“I’m reading it right now!” Serena declared. 
Mom smiled. “Go ahead, honey. It’s your birthday, after all!” 
Serena plopped down onto the couch and opened her book to the first page. 
I’m totally normal. At least, I was. But then, my best friend Andrew changed everything. Read to find out what happened. 
Serena was already intrigued. She looked over to the next page. 
I walked into my classroom. 
“Hi,” said my ELA teacher, Ms. Gia. “How has your morning been so far, Aaron?” 
“Great!” I answered excitedly. “I won a Polaris T-shirt in STEM earlier!” 
“Awesome sauce!” a voice said behind me. I turned around to see my BFF Andrew. “Can I see it after school?” 
“Of course,” I answered, smiling. I looked back at Ms. Gia. “I couldn’t believe I won!” 
“Why wouldn’t you have?” Andrew asked me. He grinned. “I can sense you’re excited, Aaron.” 
“Obviously!” I exclaimed. 
“Nice job, Aaron.” Ms. Gia cleared her throat. “Students, we are going to be gluing many papers today, so please go get a gluestick if you don’t already have one.” 
I opened my pencil pouch and pulled out my extra-large gluestick. 
“We’re going to glue in some grammar notes,” Ms. Gia announced once the room got quiet. “Please get scissors too, if you don’t already have them.” 
I took out my dark blue scissors, named Mr. Scizors by Andrew, and waited as Ms. Gia passed out our papers. 
It didn’t take too long to cut and glue our grammar pages, since it wasn’t like we had to glue in 12 weeks worth of pages. I finished early, so I took Andrew and my other table-mates’ paper scraps and recycled them. 
Andrew looked up. “Thanks,” he said. 
“You’re welcome,” I said. 
Suddenly, I started to feel a little strange. Why did I feel like I could feel how grateful Andrew and my table-mates were and how busy they were with their cutting and gluing? 
Wow, Serena thought. She ran her fingers over the pages she had just read. It had so many connections to her! 
She continued reading. 
Before she knew it, the light was fading from the sky. Serena looked up. “Nighttime already?” she asked Dad. 
Dad nodded. “Yep. Did you like the book?” 
Serena nodded vigorously. “Yeah! It really feels like I know Aaron, not just read about him.” 
“Just for the record, we bought that book before you told us about your power,” Mom added, coming to stand behind Dad. 
“Really?” Serena asked skeptically. “Seems to me like you already knew about that before you got it.” 
“We didn’t. Really!” Mom exclaimed. 
Serena shrugged. “If you say so. Now, I should probably get to bed.” 
“You should,” Mom and Dad agreed. 
Serena rolled her eyes, then trudged up the stairs to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for bed. Was Mom telling the truth about Emotions Master? It seemed too odd to be a simple coincidence. But now wasn’t the time to think more about it. It was time for bed. Besides, when she woke up, she’d be one day closer to her first day at Emotions Academy!
== Chapter Five ==
**Note: Any ___ means that I have not decided on a name for that person yet.**
“Serena! Hey, Sereeeeena!” 
She sat up sleepily. “What, Chloe?” she grumbled, still tired. She looked over at her alarm clock, set to let out a blaring RIIIIIIING! when it was time to get ready for school during the school months. It said 9:00 AM. Why couldn’t she just sleep in over summer break? Serena’s normal sleep-in wake-up time was usually around 10-11 o’clock. 
“Your friend called on your phone!” Chloe exclaimed excitedly. She held up Serena’s new phone to show her the incoming call. 
Serena snatched her phone from Chloe’s hands and stared down at the words Skye Weatherall is calling. Skye was one of her best friends from normal school, although they hadn’t talked much over the summer. However, one reason was probably that she had just gotten the phone a few weeks earlier, as a present before the start of school. 
“It’s so we can call each other and communicate,” Mom had explained, “just in case there’s an emergency.” 
“Awesome!” Serena had replied excitedly. Most of her friends already had phones, so it was a big experience for her. 
Serena tapped the green “answer call” button and held the phone to her ear. “Hello?” 
“Hi!” Skye answered, her voice buzzing with excitement. “So glad you answered my call! I wasn’t sure if you would, it being summer and all.” 
“Of course I’d respond,” Serena assured her. “You’re my best friend, one of them, besides Rocky. I’d never ignore you!” 
“Good!” Skye said. Serena could hear her smile. “Anyway, do you want to meet at 808 Shaved Ice today with Rocky? I want to see each other before school starts, even if we’ll still see each other at school. Speaking of which, who did you get for homeroom? I got Ms. Tanten, the 7th and 8th grade social studies teacher. Who did you get, and what do you think about meeting later?” 
Oh. 
It had completely slipped Serena’s mind that her best friends would still be going to Richmond Middle School without her while she would go to Emotions Academy. 
“Um… actually, Skye, I’m not going to Richmond Middle School this year.” 
Serena could hear Skye gasp. “Why not, Rena?” 
She struggled to explain without giving too much away. “We, um, heard that a school, Emotions Academy, wanted me to join them this year. I’ll really miss you guys, lots.” 
“Awww, that’s so sad!” Skye exclaimed. “I hope you have fun, though. Should I take it you want to meet today, then?” 
Serena nodded. “Yep. I’ll ask my parents right now. Be right back,” she added and set the phone down on her bed. 
She ran down the stairs, Chloe staring questioningly after her. 
Serena skidded into the living room. “Mom, Dad, can I meet Rocky and Skye at 808 today?” she asked, sucking in breaths that she desperately needed after running. 
“Sure,” Mom said as she took a bite of toast, grape jelly spread across it. “Ask Skye what time works best for her. Call Rocky too.” 
“Thanks!” Serena exclaimed, then bolted back up the stairs. When she got up, she saw that Chloe was talking on her phone. 
“Hey!” she exclaimed. “Chloe, what are you doing?!” 
“Just talking to Skye,” she retorted and turned back to the phone. “As I was saying, can I come with you, Serena, and Rocky to 808 if you go today?”
“Did your mom and dad say it was okay?” Skye asked Serena. She nodded, then remembered Skye couldn’t see her. 
“Yes,” she repeated. “But Chloe, this is kind of our thing, not yours.” 
“Skye, what do you think?” Chloe asked her, avoiding looking at Serena. Chloe’s disappointment wafted over to Serena, and she almost gasped. What happened to her shield? 
But she stopped herself. It doesn’t matter. It’s actually kind of becoming cool to feel emotions. Though I don’t want it to happen too much!
“Well…” Skye sounded apologetic. “Probably not today, Chloe. Maybe another time.” 
Serena inwardly agreed. Today was going to be a day for just her and her best friends to hang out. 
“We can do something tomorrow,” Serena assured Chloe. She meant it. It wouldn’t necessarily be the best thing in the world—that would be Emotions Academy, most likely—but Serena kept her promises. 
“What time works for you?” Serena asked Skye, repeating what Mom had told her to say. 
“Hmm… would 1:00 work?” 
Serena nodded. “Sure! I’ll call Rocky to make sure he can come too. See you at 1, Skye!” 
“See you!” Skye called as Serena tapped the hang-up button. She pushed herself off her bed and beamed. She’d get one more time to see her friends before school started! 
*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Serena shoved the last gummy bear into her mouth, then pulled herself to her feet from the couch and walked into the hallway to get to the kitchen. She stepped on the pedal of the garbage can, and the lid swung open. She tossed her wrapper inside and whirled around, running back up the stairs to grab a backpack. 
She rummaged around her room until she found the perfect thing: a small mouse backpack. Serena grabbed a few things—a notebook, pen, camera, and her phone—and put them inside. She was just about to exit her room when Mom came and stood in front of her. 
“Going already, Serena?” she asked. Serena nodded, excitement coursing through her. Rocky had texted her earlier that he could come, and Serena couldn’t help feeling cheerful. 
“Yeah, Mom.”
“Are you going to walk there, or can I take you?” Mom asked, concern seeping into her tone. 
Serena thought for a moment. “Can you take me? I don’t want to walk by myself.” 
Mom smiled. “Of course. Say bye to your sister and father, then come on. I take it you already have your stuff with you?” 
Serena turned around to show her backpack, and Mom laughed. “Of course. Come on, sweetie, let’s go now.” 
Seren yelled “Bye!” to Chloe and Dad as she passed by. Dad came to hug her, and Chloe simply said, “Have fun. Tell Skye I said hi!” 
“I will!” Serena promised. She pulled on her jacket once she got to the living room, which was hanging off of the coat hangers, and put on her pale pink shoes. Then she and Mom opened the door leading to the garage, got inside the car, and started moving. 
It was silent for a minute. Crickets. If Chloe had been here, she would have quoted Ash from a surprisingly good Pokemon book, Pokemon Journeys: The Journey Starts Today: “Where’s a Kricketune?” It was hilarious! But, even that couldn’t cover up her not-so-positive thought. 
“I-Is this the last time I’ll get to see Rocky and Skye?” Serena blurted out before she could change her mind to voice what she was thinking. 
Mom blinked. “Maybe for a little while, but of course not, Rena. It’s the 21st century, there’s technology!” 
Serena felt a smile appear on her face. “True. I could always FaceTime them or something.” 
Why didn’t I remember that? I mean, I’m not really a technology person— I don’t know much about it—but it doesn’t sound that hard. Aunt Christina and Uncle ___ might have trouble, though! 
Uncle ___ was Dad’s brother, and he was more old-fashioned, similar to Dad. It must run in the family. Aunt Christina grew up in a small town not near many places in Maine, so she wasn’t familiar with fancy things like Nintendo Switches. Uncle __ and Aunt Christina lived in Mississippi. Serena’s family usually visited them a couple of times a year. 
Mom nodded. “Of course. We can arrange times for that. Actually, I guess I mean you will be doing it because you’ll be at Emotions Academy in 3 days.” 
That was true. 
“Yeah.” Suddenly, Serena’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket to read the text from Rocky in their group chat. 
Are we still going to 808? I just remembered.
Of course, Serena texted back. 
Yeah, Skye added. I’m already here. See u guys here!!
K! Serena and Rocky responded at the same time. 
“What were they saying?” Mom asked curiously. 
“Just Rocky asking if we were still doing it. Skye said she’s already there waiting for us.” 
Mom laughed. “Of course she is.” 
“She will practically die if she’s late to a reunion like this,” Serena added. That was how Skye rolled: She was always energetic, and she was really close to her friends. She never wanted to let go of any friendships, so it was no surprise that Skye was there at 808 first. 
The minutes blurred together in anticipation, so it felt like no time had passed when Mom pulled into the wide parking lot. This specific 808 shop was one of the biggest in the area, so it was good for hanging out. 
Serena slung her backpack across her shoulders as Mom unlocked the car doors. “Bye, Mom!” she called as she hopped out of the car onto the hard, solid concrete ground. Her left foot stung a bit from the landing, but Serena tried not to mind. Mom waved, and Serena ran over to one of the outdoor tables. 
“Hey, Rena!” 
Skye was sitting at the table closest to the busy street behind her, the second one from the end of the row, her long hair hanging down. She waved and grinned. 
Serena made her way through the crowd of people and plopped down next to Skye. “It’s so great to see you!” she exclaimed. 
“It’s awesome!” Skye agreed. She glanced down at her phone, which was in her hand. “No word from Rocky yet. I guess we just wait for him.” 
Serena nodded and took out her phone to watch some YouTube videos on gymnastics while they waited. She watched them a lot but always was stunned by how easily and gracefully they moved. 
An alert popped up on the top of her screen, saying New text message from Rocky Colidan. Serena and Skye looked at each other excitedly. 
“It says, ‘I’m on my way’!” Skye exclaimed. Serena grinned. 
“Heyo!” a boy’s voice said as a black car pulled into the parking lot. He stuck his head outside the window while his dad parked the car. “I’m here!” 
“Rocky!” Skye squealed. She leaped out of her seat, her silver-blue tips at the end of her hair noticeable since she was standing up, and waited until Rocky hopped out of the car and ran over to them. He was wearing a Batman shirt, Serena noticed. Rocky had always liked Batman. 
Rocky smiled. “I’m glad we’re doing this today!” He looked at Serena. “Now we can catch up. Serena, who’s your homeroom teacher? I got Ms. Tanten.” 
Serena opened her mouth to answer, but Skye shrieked in excitement before she could speak. “Me too!” 
Rocky’s eyes widened happily. “Awesome!” 
“Um… I don’t have her,” Serena mumbled, shifting her feet uncomfortably. “Actually, I’m not going there at all this year.” 
“What?! Where are you going?” Rocky asked in shock. 
“Someplace called Emotions Academy,” Serena replied. She looked back at her feet. “Sorry. I wish so bad you guys could come too.” 
Rocky frowned. “Dang it. I wish that too. At least I’ll get to see Skye,” he added, then covered his mouth. “Sorry.” 
It hurt a little, but Serena nodded anyway. 
“Anyway,” Skye interrupted, breaking the tension a little, “let’s talk about something more cheerful, shall we?” 
“Definitely,” Serena agreed. So they talked about their summer, CNN10, and Krispy Kreme (Serena couldn’t help herself there).
After Serena finished with her Krispy Kreme talk, Skye said, “Rena, you really love Krispy Kreme donuts, don’t you?” 
Serena grinned mischievously. “Yes.” 
Rocky and Skye bent over and burst out laughing, and Serena joined them. After they stopped, Serena pulled out her phone. She had gotten an email from her classmate Cece— who was a really good artist— with a new drawing. She tilted her screen to show her friends. 
“Nice,” Rocky said, nodding. “Tell her I said good job.” 
“Me too,” Skye jumped in. She studied it more. “I like it! It really does look like a dog.” 
Serena typed a quick response to Cece, then hit send and turned off her phone. 
“Now what?” Rocky asked. 
Skye stared up at the sky. “Dunno.” 
Suddenly, a large black car pulled into the parking lot. Rocky looked over his shoulder. “Oh, time to go already?” He hugged Serena and Skye. “Let’s text each other often, ‘kay?” 
Serena nodded, feeling something warm inside her. Rocky wasn’t ditching her. “Of course. I’ll tell you guys all about Emotions Academy!” 
“Awesome!” Skye said, giving a thumbs up. She grinned. “Bye, Rocky! Text you later!” 
“Bye!” he called as his dad pulled away. 
Serena turned to Skye. “Do you think my mom will be here soon?” she asked. 
She was answered by her mom and Skye’s mom’s cars drive along the street and turn into 808. “Guess that answers my question,” she said with a sigh. 
Skye stood up again and hugged Serena. “Bye, girl! Tell us all about this Emotions Academy as soon as you get through the first day!” 
“I will!” 
Serena ran over to Mom’s car and hopped inside then waved to Skye. 
“How was it?” Mom asked. 
Serena smiled. “Great! They made sure to make me promise to tell them about Emotions Academy.” 
Mom laughed. “I’m not surprised.” 
Serena leaned back and stared out the window as they drove. Suddenly, she thought she saw something running straight ahead towards home. But after she blinked, it was gone.
== Chapter Six ==
“Now that you’re back, we have some stuff to do!” Mom announced. 
Serena looked at her curiously. What else could there be? She had only been gone about an hour! “What is it?” 
“We have to get your school supplies.” 
Serena sighed. “Right. There’s nothing super rare or anything, is there?” 
Mom walked over to the family computer and searched for the supply list. “Nope. Just a book called All About Emotions and Why We Have Them, and a few other things.” 
“Hey,” Serena said suddenly, a lighthouse flashing in her brain, “isn’t that one of the books you got me for my birthday?” 
Mom’s eyes lit up. “Yes, it was! At least it saves us some time. Hey, Serena, look at this!” 
Serena jumped over and looked at the screen Mom was pointing at. “‘Students are allowed to bring one small pet’...?” She realized what that meant and bounced up and down in excitement. “I can bring Brantley?!” 
“That’s what it says,” Mom agreed, tapped the Print icon on the computer, then closed it gently. Mom liked to keep things, especially fragile ones, safe, and Serena agreed, but sometimes there was nothing more satisfying than slamming something closed, especially her locker at school. They were basically made for slamming. Everyone did it. 
“Wait, you can bring Brantley to school?” Chloe gaped in surprise, standing at the edge of the hallway that connected it to the living room. 
“Yes!”
Chloe made a sad face that little sisters excel at. “But we just got Brantley! I want to see her all the time too!” 
“Too bad,” Serena replied, smirking, then regretted it. “Sorry. But wasn’t Brantley my birthday present?” 
Chloe frowned. “Yeah,” she muttered. “But still!” 
“I agree with Serena,” Mom spoke up. “Brantley was her present.” 
“But I want to play with Brantley and stuff!” Chloe complained. “We just got her!” 
“Sorry, sweetie,” Mom replied to her apologetically. 
“Agreed, and sorry, Chloe,” Serena said. “I’m going to get the supply list.” 
She ran down the hallway and turned into one of the guest rooms that her family had turned into a library room. The printer sat there, the paper hanging from the slot where it came out. Serena pulled it out and left. As she went back down the hallway, she stared down at the paper. At the bottom, it said, 
Recommended School Supply Store:  Emotion Supplies. Located in Virginia Beach___, Virginia
I guess that’s the official store? Serena wondered. She looked at the paper again. Guess so. 
“Look,” she said as she got back to her parents, pointing to the paper, “there’s a special supply store that has everything.” She noticed that Chloe had disappeared off to who-knows-where. 
Mom looked over Serena’s shoulder, and Dad unknowingly came up behind her. Serena felt something behind her and felt her dad’s anticipation to scare them. She turned around. “Dad!” 
Dad frowned, but his eyes told her that he was joking around rather than being super serious. “Ah, your emotions-sensing messed up my evil plans to scare you and your mother!” 
Serena couldn’t help but laugh. Mom just smiled, though it looked like she was close to breaking out in laughter as well. 
“Then we’ll shop there, I suppose,” Dad said. He took the paper from Serena. “Why don’t we go in-person shopping?” he asked Mom. 
Mom smiled. “Great idea, Henry. Let’s do that so we can have some family bonding time before you start school. Besides, Emotions Academy is a boarding school.” 
“I guess,” Serena said and shrugged. 
“Am I coming?” asked Chloe, who had come into the room with a toy that she loved, a tiger. When you squeezed it, it stuck its tongue out at you and made a squeaking noise. Chloe loved to prank people, even her friends and their parents, with it. Serena had to admit that she liked it too. 
“Maybe we can ask one of your friends’ parents to come over and watch you,” Mom offered. 
Chloe’s face lit up. “Yes, please!” 
“Okay,” Mom replied, smiling. “I’ll call Trina’s parents and see if they can have her come over for a short playdate while we go shopping. Sound good?” 
“Absolutely!” Chloe squealed. She started running around the house, screaming, “Trina’s coming!” Serena giggled at her sister’s antics. 
“Meanwhile, let’s get ready to go,” Mom told Serena. 
After Trina and her parents came, Serena and her parents said bye to Chloe and got inside the car. Mom pulled out her phone and asked Siri, “How to get to Emotion Supplies store, Virginia”. The phone glowed as Google Maps showed them how to get there. 
“I may not necessarily like technology or know much about it, but this sure is helpful,” Dad admitted. 
Mom laughed, a pleasant sound. As Chloe would say: “Laughter is the best thing since video games.” Serena tried choking back more laughter. She seriously couldn’t stop laughing today. And a few days before. 
She stretched forward to try to read the phone. “30 minutes? It’s that far away?” 
“Apparently,” Dad said. 
The 30 minutes passed by quickly as Serena sketched drawings of some gymnastic moves, and they soon arrived at the store. 
She unstrapped her seatbelt and leaped outside, turning to face the direction of the sun as the wind blew her hair behind her. She could feel her parent’s emotions, as well as how cold they were, too, but didn’t care. The cool breeze tickled her skin and made her feel very refreshed. 
Mom and Dad led the way into the store, and Serena gasped. It was gigantic! There were supplies everywhere! It seemed that this place was a storage box for the world’s every need. 
“Woah,” she said, and Mom echoed her agreement. 
Dad simply nodded.”You’ll have no trouble finding what you need here.” 
“No kidding,” Serena snorted. 
They wandered around the store, checking out what they had. The supply list was right. This store had everything. This store was so mysteriously beneficial that Serena was on the last two things on her list to look for after only about 10 minutes in the store. 
Hey, Mom?” Sershe began to ask, but something seemed… off. Both Mom and Dad seemed to be staring off into space. She looked around the store, and everyone seemed to have froze and paused what they were doing. 
What is happening?
All of a sudden, she heard someone sniff. She turned to them and they started bawling. Others did the same, though some started yelling at no apparent thing. And some others just glared at one another. 
“M-Mom?” Serena whispered quietly, getting frightened. “D-Dad?” She was too afraid to look up at them but finally dared to. Mom was sniffing just like the first person she heard, and Dad wasn’t looking happy either. He looked like he was about to give someone a long lecture. 
Serena spun around, feeling dizzy and sick. What had just happened? 
== Chapter Seven ==
Serena whirled around again, glancing at the people in the store. Every single person was acting odd. 
“What’s going on?” she whimpered, but as she expected, her parents didn’t seem to hear her. 
Suddenly, she heard a rustling sound, and she spun around to the far corner of the wall. A shadow of what seemed to be a human stood there for a second, then melted back among the supplies. She felt a twinge of anger as the shadow retreated, then frowned. 
What in the world was that? It looked like a human, but… what human would be hiding in a pile of pencils? Serena sat down on the ground and held her head in her hands. She had no clue what was happening. 
It felt like hours had passed before she heard a faint noise. It sounded like footsteps. She lifted her head up and saw someone walking towards the door of the store. Serena tensed, getting ready to run, or even hide behind the shelves if someone who wanted to kill everybody came in. 
Instead, a perfectly normal-looking person opened the door. Serena let out a small sigh of relief. 
They were about to come inside when another person came running up to them. The first person turned to them and began talking, leaving the door propped open. The cool wind from outside came rushing in, and Serena felt her skin tingle from the coldness of it. 
Everyone else continued to stare through the walls while Serena paid attention to the person at the door. The person suddenly seemed to be sad for a few moments, then shook himself off and continued talking like nothing had happened. 
Serena’s ideas about what was happening vanished. This was way too weird. 
After another minute, the person finally stopped talking and came inside. Everyone else seemed to go back to normal too. 
“What happened?” Serena asked Mom and Dad. 
“Hmm? I don’t know,” Mom answered. 
“Neither do I,” Dad added. “All I remember is feeling angry.” 
“Same with me,” Mom agreed, “except I was sad. Anyway, let’s finish up here, shall we?” 
Serena nodded her agreement and cast a final glance back at the spot where the shadow was. There didn’t seem to be anything there; just #2 pencils. She shrugged and followed her parents to the checkout. Everyone else in the store was back to bustling around, their previous emotions forgotten. 
The chilly breeze outside blew Serena’s hair behind her, sending her brown curls flying out. She jogged over to Dad’s car and got inside. 
“That was strange,” Serena said out loud as she watched the world blur in front of her. “Why did everyone start acting weird?” 
“I don’t know,” Mom admitted. “Well, it doesn’t matter, because we’re fine now and you’re about to go to Emotions Academy.” 
When they arrived back home, Serena went to her room to pack her school supplies in her new backpack, after saying hello to Chloe and Trina. 
She took all of her supplies and shoved them in her backpack, then took them out and put them back carefully. The markers and coloring supplies were at the bottom and the folders and notebooks were propped up against the side. 
At the last moment, Serena grabbed her pair of scissors now named Mr. Scissors, just like Andrew’s from Emotions Master, and put it in her backpack. 
She smiled. She was ready for Emotions Academy.
== Chapter Eight ==
I was in darkness. The lighting of the place I was in was so low that I could barely see anything. 
Suddenly, everything turned bright. A large, open hallway appeared. It had large stained glass windows in many colors that were about halfway up the walls, a bunch of tables, and hallways leading off to different areas. Other than that, it was empty and devoid of life. 
“Woah,” I said aloud. The sound echoed across the room. 
“Is anyone there?” I called out, hoping to find someone that could tell me where I was and why I was here. 
All of a sudden, a shadow in the shape of a human flashed by me. My heart froze. I took a step back, remembering what happened at the school supply store earlier. A shadow-human thing had been there too. 
“Are you a good-good ghost—I mean shadow—or a bad-bad shadow?” I asked, partially quoting Gilligan from ‘Gilligan’s Island’.
It didn’t answer, but I was then taken to what looked to be a classroom. The shadow was lurking in a corner. As I left the room, I heard a voice telling someone something. I thought I heard “Serena” in their conversation. 
“Very good,” a male adult voice said approvingly. “Thank you, L—” The sound got muffled, then returned to its normal state. 
“This will be helpful.” 
After that, everything went black. 
Serena sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. That was a very odd dream… She stood up quickly, remembering what today was. Her first day at Emotions Academy was beginning today! Starting soon, she would be able to control her emotion powers. 
Mom cracked open Serena’s bedroom door and peeked inside. “Are you awake?” she whispered. 
“Yes,” replied Serena. “You can come in.” 
Her mother came in and sat on Serena’s currently unmade bed. “Ready for school?” she asked. 
Serena smiled. “Of course! When does school start?” The current time was 7:35. 
Mom frowned thoughtfully. “I believe it starts at 8:50, but I’ll have to go check. Besides, I have to print out the directions there anyway. Come when you get dressed, Serena.” She stood up and left. 
Serena nodded and went over to her dresser, which was by her windows. She opened the top drawer, pulled out some socks and underwear, then opened her middle drawer and took out a cute pink shirt. It had pale pink ruffles along the bottom. She also pulled out a pair of blue leggings and pulled them on. Finally, she found her diamond and strung it on a necklace chain so she could wear it to school today. 
“Oh, you look cute,” Mom said as Serena jogged into the kitchen. “That’s perfect for school.” She then held up a sheet of paper. “I have the directions to the Virginia Beach dock.” 
“Hold on,” Serena began. “Dock? We’re not going to the beach! Are we?” 
“We are,” Mom answered. “When I looked online for directions, I also checked my email and saw an email from the school. They told us to bring the kids to the dock. It turns out Emotions Academy is on an island! You also have to take a boat there.” 
This was not what Serena was expecting. She thought this would just be a normal school—well, as normal as a school where you learn to control your powers can be. She had no idea this would be a boat ride. 
“I might need medicine for motion sickness,” Serena added. She shivered. “I don’t know if I’ll get seasick or not.” 
“I’ll pack you some,” Mom promised. She hugged Serena. “For now, eat some breakfast and get ready for school. You have about 40 minutes to get ready.” 
Serena did the math. She had 40 minutes to prepare herself before school, and it took 15 minutes to get to the beach. Then, there would probably be about a 20-minute boat ride. 
“Okay,” she said and stood up, walking to the kitchen. A Krispy Kreme donut box was still sitting on the white counter. Serena opened the box but found only one donut. 
“I guess it’s for me then!” she said to herself and took the food out of the box. It was a pumpkin glazed donut with sprinkles. 
Serena turned around and walked back to the kitchen table, eating her donut, then sat back down. Crumbs fell onto the table, and when Mom wasn’t looking, Serena hurriedly knocked them onto the floor so she wouldn’t have to clean them up. 
Soon, Chloe came in as well, wearing a blue dress since it was her first day of school too. 
“You look nice,” she commented, seeing Serena. 
“Thanks,” Serena replied. “You too.” She finished her donut and stood up. “I’m going to get ready, bye!” She dashed off into the bathroom to finish getting ready. 
Before she knew it, it was time to leave. Mom and Dad had decided that Dad would take Serena to the boat dock and that Mom would take Chloe to school. 
Suddenly, Serena felt a vibration in her pocket. She took out her phone, which lit up and buzzed with a text message. 
Skye Weatherall:
Hope you have a good time at EA! Rocky and I will miss you! Don’t forget to stay in touch!
Serena gave a small smile and typed back, Thanks, I won’t forget! Have fun at school! She put the phone back and retrieved her backpack from her room. It was already packed and heavy with school supplies. Making sure the diamond necklace was safely fastened around her neck, she went to say bye to Mom and Chloe. 
Serena hugged Mom first. “Have fun, sweetie!” Mom said. “Make sure to call us every once in a while and come visit for the holidays!” 
“Okay,” Serena agreed. 
“Teach me everything you learn, okay?” Chloe asked, looking at her sister pleadingly. 
“Of course!” Serena promised. She leaned over to whisper, “Absol-lutely!” 
Chloe giggled. “Thanks,” she said. 
Dad checked his watch. “Time to go,” he reminded Serena. 
“Bye!” Serena called as they left and went into the garage to get in Dad’s car. 
As they were driving, Serena stared out the window until bright, yellowish sand appeared. The Atlantic Ocean water was deep blue and sparkled in the light. 
The car stopped in the beach’s parking lot, and Dad got out with Serena to accompany her to the boat. 
The boat was huge. It was white with a large deck. Emotions Academy Transportation was printed across the sides. 
“Goodbye, Serena,” Dad said, hugging her tightly. He let go and stood back. “Do you have everything?” 
Serena checked her backpack, then nodded. “Yup. Bye, Dad!” She turned back one last time, then ran off to the boat. 
She slowed down as she got closer, panting. A large crowd of kids were huddling around while two adults admitted kids into the boat. 
“Do we need anything to get on the ship?” Serena asked the girl in front of her who had long dark brown hair and was wearing a purple hoodie with a smiley face on it. 
The girl turned. “I think you just need that ticket that your parents were supposed to have gotten either through the mail or digitally.” She dug her hands in the pockets of her hoodie and took out a slip of paper and showed it to Serena. “Here’s mine. Do you have yours?” 
Serena felt worried for a moment (she didn’t remember getting one) but then found a piece of paper inside a folder in her backpack. She didn’t remember putting it there so she assumed that her mom or dad had placed it inside. “Yep,” she replied and showed the girl her ticket. 
“Good.” The girl turned around and continued waiting for her turn to board the boat. After a couple-minute wait, it was finally Serena’s turn to get on the boat. 
“Show your ticket, please,” the person instructed as she came up. Serena took her ticket out of her folder and handed it over. 
The person looked it over, then nodded. “All set, in you go.” 
“Thank you,” Serena called as she walked up the platform that led to the boat. She took a deep breath to contain her anticipation and excitement, then pulled herself up. 
She stepped onto the boat deck and gasped in pleasure. She gazed up at the sky, which was a clear blue. Only a few clouds were in sight. She knew the boat hadn’t magically made everything look prettier, but it sure seemed like that was the case. On the boat was a big group of kids talking together. Serena listened and watched but couldn’t bring herself to join them. She didn’t even know them. 
“The boat is leaving now!” the captain of the ship shouted through a speaker. “Is there anyone else who needs to get on?”
Serena checked the area. No one else was waiting. 
“Nope!” the kids chorused. 
“Then we’re all set!” said the captain. “Booooat leaving!” 
Many of the kids let out a cheer, and Serena smiled, though didn’t move any closer. 
As the boat set sail and rumbled to life, Serena held onto the rail and leaned over the ocean. The salty breeze felt refreshing, and the ocean sparkled. The sun was shining and the temperature felt like the perfect 77º. 
Suddenly, a kid shouted, “A boat! The gods have given us a boat!” 
Serena jumped, startled, and turned to see a boy with blonde hair standing next to her, grinning. 
“Sorry to scare you,” the boy said. “I couldn’t help myself. My siblings watch Moana too much. Besides, it was so fun saying that!” 
Serena tried to stifle a giggle and smiled as well. “It’s fine. My sister likes Moana too.” 
The boy said, “Good. It’s a very good movie.” He stared out at the water as the boat roared through, then turned back to Serena. “My name’s Finn, what’s yours?” 
“Serena.” 
“Nice to meet ya, Serena!” Finn crossed his arms behind his head. “Okay, I’m curious. When did you get the message about attending Emotions Academy?” 
“It was pretty recently,” Serena responded. “I got the message on my 12th birthday, which was four days ago.” 
Finn blinked. “Woah, that was recent. I got the message on my mom’s phone a few months ago. Oh, happy belated birthday!” 
“Thanks,” Serena said. “Now I’m wondering, what did your parents think when they learned about your powers and stuff? Mine basically started freaking out.” 
“They were surprised but thought it was cool,” Finn answered. He held out his hands in front of him as if feeling for emotions right there. “I think it’s awesome too! Hey, do you keep feeling everyone’s emotions all the time too? Well, almost all the time? I can’t feel yours.” 
“I don’t feel yours either, and yes, I did feel everyone’s for a while,” Serena agreed. “I figured out how to make a ‘shield’ to block emotions, but it doesn’t work for very long.” 
Finn gaped at her. “You can make a shield?! Tell me how!” 
Serena told him what Chloe had advised her to do, and Finn tried, but he still couldn’t get it. 
He sighed. “Maybe once we get some official training, I’ll be able to do it." 
Serena nodded. “Hopefully they’ll help me too.” 
“I’m sure they can,” Finn reassured her. He glanced at a group of kids on the other side of the ship. “I’ll be over there. You know where to find me!” Then he ran off. 
Serena waved and gazed back out at the ocean until she suddenly saw something dark. It was a shadow again, this time on the surface of the water. It seemed to be moving along with the boat. She blinked, but it was somehow still there and did not disappear. 
It must really be there, then, she thought and shivered despite the warm air. 
She sat down and leaned back against the boat railing, listening to the other kids chatter. She relaxed as the warm breeze blew. Pulling out her phone, she listened to music like Believer by Imagine Dragons and a violin cover of Stronger (by Kelly Clarkson) performed by Karolina Protsenko. She sat there enjoying the music until she bolted upright after hearing a message. 
“Booooat arriving! The boat has arrived at Emotions Academy!”
== Chapter Nine ==
Serena stood up after grabbing her mouse’s carrier and ran over to the edge of the boat, where the kids were gathering. They carefully stepped down from the ship—or at least most kids did. Some of the rowdier ones simply jumped off the edge instead of walking. 
A bunch of kids were just chatting and walking but suddenly, a girl with lavender hair flashed by on some sort of roller skate shoes. 
What the- Serena thought as she followed the swarm of kids off the boat and onto the dock.
“This way!” someone shouted as the kids finally put their feet on the ground. A tall girl was shouting, directing the kids north. 
“Look up!” one kid shouted, and everyone’s heads immediately snapped up. 
“Woooaaahhh!” 
Ahead of them was a tall building! It was a gray building and had a rainbow-colored stained glass dome on the top. 
“I lOvE iT!” a girl nearby breathed. She had very pale blonde hair with a bright rainbow streak in it. Serena could tell this girl was OBSESSED with rainbows. 
“Come on! This way!” the tall girl said and waved her arms above her head. “Emotions Academy is this way! By the way, my name is Elodie.” 
The swarms of kids (it seemed to Serena that there were at least a hundred of them) followed Elodie into the enormous school. 
Many of the students gasped when they walked inside past the main entrance. There was a huge open room. There were also more stained glass windows on the walls, about halfway up to the ceiling. Everyone, including Serena, stared in awe at the school interior. 
“Yes, I know it looks amazing,” Elodie said, a hint of impatience in her tone, “but we have to keep moving. Orientation is in the auditorium.” 
A few rebellious students stood still to defy Elodie’s orders, but when her glare turned on them, they immediately looked down and shuffled forward. The leader turned into a hallway on the right and led the bustling students through. 
On the way, a few adults were standing behind a table. “All small pets can be put here!” they called. “Just write your name on a tag and put it next to your pet. We’ll put them in your rooms.” Serena and a bunch of other kids set down cages of many sizes. Serena scribbled her name down quickly, said bye to Brantley (who squeaked at all of the commotion), and ran back to join the other kids. 
Eventually, the hallway opened up to a huge room. The auditorium! Serena thought. There were hundreds of chairs lined up next to a huge stage. A white projector screen was pulled down, covering about the middle third of the stage. 
“Sit down,” Elodie instructed. 
Serena walked down one of the aisles and sat in a seat at the end of the row. She was seated next to a boy with blonde hair and pale brown eyes. A girl with wavy, long, black hair and dark brown eyes came over to Serena’s row and sat on the end seat, to Serena’s left. 
“Hey!” the boy exclaimed as Serena pulled out the seat and sat down. “You’re the girl from the boat! Serena, right?” 
Serena blinked. “Oh, yeah. You’re Finn, correct?” 
He grinned. “Yes.” 
“Cool, you two know each other?” asked the girl on Serena’s left. “I’m Agatha. You can call me Aggie. I’m a Third Year student this year. Principal Brinwood asked me and some other Third Years if we could help the new students.” 
“Wait, there are Third Years?” Finn questioned, looking confused. 
“Yes,” Agatha said with a smile. “Second Years, too.” 
“Is there anything else you can tell us about the academy?” Serena asked curiously. 
“The food is delicious.” 
“Uhh… what?” Finn asked. 
“I said that the food is delicious. It’s also not really human food.” 
“...We are humans,” Serena pointed out. 
“I know,” Aggie replied. She closed her eyes slowly and licked her lips, clearly thinking about the food. “It’s so good that it might as well be from another planet. Anyway.” She opened her eyes again and looked at Serena and Finn. “Keep watching the stage,” she advised. “They’re going to begin soon.” 
Just as the Third Year student said, a woman walked up to the stage. She had long black hair that reached down to her back. The lower third of it was auburn-colored. The woman looked to be a little taller than Serena and also had pale blue eyes. 
“Welcome, new students!” she exclaimed, stepping up to the microphone. 
“No microphone problems?” an older student commented from a row or two behind Serena. “Huh, that’s new.” 
“Chill,” Aggie said somewhat aggressively, turning around. “It’s always possible that it won’t happen. In fact, the probability of that is—” 
“Just be quiet,” the other student growled. 
As the woman adjusted the microphone on the stand, there was suddenly an ear-piercing screech. All the kids in the auditorium stuck their fingers in their ears. 
The woman fumbled with the stand. “I’m sorry about that,” she sighed apologetically. “It happens every year. This microphone clearly hates me. Maybe I should get a new one.” She cleared her throat. “Back to what I was saying. Welcome to Emotions Academy, First Years! I’m Principal Brinwood. At this school, you will all learn to control your powers, as well as learn what can be done with them.” 
“Wait, there’s more to my powers than just feeling emotions?” a younger kid squeaked from somewhere in the audience. 
The principal nodded, a smile curling on her lips. “Yes. Some of the things are—well, why don’t I let one of your teachers tell you?” 
Applause began from the Third Years as a man climbed up to the stage. 
“Greetings, students,” he began. “I am Professor ___. I teach the ‘Use of Emotions 1’ class. This year, we will learn about how to use emotions and your powers, so that you may use them when in need.” He glanced at Principal Brinwood. “Shall I show them one trick they will learn to use?”
She nodded her approval. 
“Very well, then. Watch!” The professor held his hands in front of him, his eyes squeezed shut. “I feel… anticipation! From you!” He pointed to a kid on the right side of the auditorium. The kid gasped. “Now watch!” Professor ___ was so still that Serena thought he had fallen asleep, but suddenly, a light blue-colored mist rose from the stage up into the air. 
“Woah!!” the First Years shouted. Even the Third Years smiled. 
“You will learn all of this in class,” Professor ___ explained with a smile. “I hope you are excited for the school year!” He walked down the stairs and returned to the edge of the auditorium. 
A few more teachers came up, introduced themselves, and explained their classes. The other classes the First Years had were Emotion Defense/Attack 1, science, math, ELA, study hall, and obviously the breakfast-lunch-dinner. 
“Now, every student come up to the stage to receive your schedules!” Principal Brinwood shouted over the chatter. 
A line of students formed, snaking up to Principal Brinwood. The schedules were on the table in alphabetical order. Serena searched through the piles of schedules that were set on the table and eventually found hers. 
“Now you may go back to your seats,” Principal Brinwood instructed after the last paper was taken. “The Third Year or Years in your row will help you get to your rooms and roommates, where you can get situated. Then they will help you find your classes. The teachers will also be around to assist you as well.” Serena obeyed and went back to her seat. 
Aggie stood up. “Come on,” she said and beckoned the students towards her. “Your rooms are all connected to the main room, so they won’t be hard to find. If you need help, just ask anyone.” 
Then she started leading the row out into a hallway on the left side of the auditorium. Serena was in the front of the line since she had been the closest to Aggie, at the end of her row in the auditorium. 
After turning through a few more hallways, Aggie stopped in front of a large pair of double doors. “This is the First Year ‘General Room,’” she explained. “All of the dorm rooms are connected to the General Room in some way. Now you can check your schedules to see which room is yours. One other person will join you as well.” 
Serena glanced down at the paper she grasped in her hand. Her room number was 11. She looked around, scanning the golden plates with the room numbers until she found hers. 
The number was etched in a fancy way, where the 1s curved. Her heart lifted in joy as she saw that her room overlooked the ocean. She had forgotten briefly that Emotions Academy was on an island. 
She felt a rush of wind and turned to see a girl standing beside her. She had long lavender hair and green eyes. Her hair was a bit messy as well, and she had an adventurous look in her eyes. She wore a neon purple helmet strapped onto her head. Looking down, Serena noticed that she was wearing some type of tennis shoe that had roller skates on it. 
“Hi! I’m Aura!” the girl said, leaning back against the wall. 
“I’m Serena,” Serena replied, staring at Aura. Suddenly, a lighthouse flashed in her brain. “Were you the one I saw roller skating as we got off the boat earlier?” 
“Yeah,” Aura answered bashfully. “I was super excited to see the academy, and whenever I can skate, I take the chance.”
“Understandable,” said Serena. She looked at Aura’s schedule. “So… I guess you’re my roommate?” 
“Well, if it says ‘11’ as the room number on yours too, then yes,” Aura commented, smiling. 
“Is the door locked?” Serena asked. She shrugged. “I guess we just wait for Aggie.” 
Eventually, the Third Year came over to them. “Are you roommates?” she questioned, checking their schedules. She nodded. “Yes, you are. Why are you standing there?” 
“Uh… isn’t the door locked?” Aura answered quizzically. 
Aggie looked at them strangely for a second, then laughed. “Of course not! You don’t need me to get in!” She smiled. “Go ahead. Open it up!” 
Serena grasped the door handle and pulled it open. She and Aura gasped. The room was bigger than what Serena thought it would be. It looked like a fancy hotel room, just smaller, with everything looking to be brand new. There was one twin bed that was close to the windows, and there was also a bunk bed on the other side of the room. Three tables were also spread throughout the room. 
“I guess we get to choose where we’re gonna sleep,” Serena told Aura, who was skating happily across the room. 
Aura stopped. “Yeah. I vote bunk beds, what about you?” 
“Sure.” Serena nodded. She looked at the open twin bed. “Maybe we could use that if we have any friends over,” she said and pointed to it. 
“If you want, sure!” Aura replied. She took off her helmet and stretched out across the bottom bunk bed. She squealed. “Serena, you HAVE to try this!” She leaped up and stood off to the side to let Serena try. 
Serena cautiously sat down on the bed. It was as soft as velvet. She practically melted in the cozy bed. “Aura, you are absolutely right.” 
“Hey!” Aura suddenly shouted, pointing to one of the tables. “Look, it’s our pets!” 
Serena stood up so quickly she almost fell and raced over to Aura’s side. “Brantley!” she exclaimed. 
“And Iris!” Aura said happily. 
They looked at each other. “I guess we haven’t told each other about our pets yet,” Serena said sheepishly. 
“Mine’s a chameleon named Iris,” Aura explained. She looked at Serena curiously. “What’s your pet?” 
“Brantley is a mouse,” Serena answered. 
“Cool!” Aura exclaimed, taking Iris out of the cage and letting the chameleon crawl up her arm. The animal suddenly turned pink. 
“Wha-” Serena started, shocked. But Aura just laughed. 
“Iris can change colors based on what emotions it can sense,” she clarified. 
“Ohhh,” said Serena. “That’s really cool! Off-topic, but… who gets the top bunk and who gets the bottom?” 
“How about whoever touches the bed first gets it?” 
“Okay,” Serena agreed, “but you can’t roller skate. To be fair.” 
Aura pouted but obeyed, pushing the wheels back inside the shoe. She put her chameleon back int its cage. “Ready?” 
“Go!” they shouted. Serena ran as fast as she could, pushing harder and harder. She wanted that top bunk bed. However, Aura slapped her hand on the poles of the bed a second before Serena did. 
“Aw, man…,” Serena grumbled as Aura let out a cheer. 
Suddenly, Aggie peered inside their room. “I hate to spoil the fun, but it’s time for your first class. The teachers will be around to help you all since we have to go to our classes.” 
Aura pulled out the skates from her shoes again and skated out of the room. “Wheee!” 
Serena giggled and followed. 
“Okay, First Years, this way!” Aggie took the lead. 
The students followed her out of the General Room, where she abruptly stopped in the hallway. 
“Rea? What are you doing here?” 
== Chapter Ten ==
Serena watched, curious anticipation soaring through her, as she watched the girl Aggie was looking at. The girl simply stood there. 
Aggie was watching this girl through narrowed eyes. “Rea. Answer me.” 
The girl, Rea, flipped her completely red-streaked hair haughtily. “You could say ‘please’.” 
Aggie let out a low growl. “Please. There, I said it. Now ‘please’ state your business here. Weren’t you supposed to be with Group 3 of the First Years?” 
“Yeah, and I finished,” Rea said triumphantly with a smirk. 
Aggie stared at her doubtfully. “Did you really help them?” 
“Of course I did!” Rea exclaimed. “Why wouldn’t I? They all figured out where to go quickly, so I came here to ask you if you needed any help.” 
“You probably just ditched them and ran here,” Aggie muttered under her breath, so quietly that Serena could only hear because she was one of the closest people to Aggie. 
Aura tapped Serena’s shoulder and mouthed the words, “I don’t like that girl.” 
“Neither do I,” Serena whispered back. If all the Second Years were like this, (besides Aggie, of course—she was really nice!) Serena wasn’t feeling too great about having to listen to them not only for this year but next year too. According to Aggie in the auditorium, you officially graduated from Emotions Academy after your third year there. Rea would be a Third Year next year, which meant… Serena and the others were stuck with her for a while. 
Suddenly, Serena came back to her senses. She shook her head. Why was she suddenly complaining about Rea? Sure, she didn’t seem very nice at all, but… the Second Year could still change. Anything could happen. So why was Serena so… infuriated with her? 
She probably wouldn’t find out. 
In the meantime, she should listen to what Aggie and Rea were saying. She listened intently again and heard Aggie say, “Fine. Rea, you can take a small group of these First Years and help them find your classes. No more than about 8 kids in your group,” she warned her. 
Serena did the math in her head. That would mean Rea would only get about a fourth or fifth of the group. She supposed that was fair. If Rea really didn’t help the other First Years in her real group, then that was probably wise. 
“I’ll pick who I want to take,” Rea agreed. “Good?” 
“I guess you can pick,” Aggie replied reluctantly. She waved at the crowd of students. “Go ahead.” 
Rea stepped forward and peered closer, inspecting each of the students. “I’ll have her”—she pointed at the rainbow-obsessed girl from the boat—“and them.” She pointed to a bunch of kids, one being an auburn-haired girl and the others people Serena had never seen. Finally, she pointed in Serena’s direction. “I’ll take her, too,” she said as she met Serena’s eyes. 
Serena gulped. Uh-oh. She looked over at the remnants of Aggie’s group and saw Aura still over there. “Bye,” she mouthed to Aura, and Aura returned the message. Serena felt a pang of sadness to be leaving her real first friend and be going with the mean-sounding Second Year. Even Finn, who she didn’t know extremely well but still was friends with, didn’t get chosen by Rea either. 
“Come on!” Rea announced, starting to lead her chosen students away. She turned back and said, “Bye, Aggie.” The 8 chosen students followed tentatively behind Rea. Everyone seemed to be suspicious of her, not just Serena and Aura. 
Rea led them through the hallways, occasionally stopping to point out the Second and Third Year classrooms. She always kept a happy tone, but Serena still felt wary. 
Suddenly, Rea stopped in front of a classroom—room 112. “Here’s the science classroom,” she said, not betraying any particular emotion. “Check your schedules. If you have science as your first period, well, this is your classroom.” 
Serena checked her schedule and saw that she did have science for her first period. “I have it,” she called, raising her hand. The auburn-haired girl from earlier also raised her hand, as well as one other boy. 
“Go ahead, then,” Rea replied, nodding and waving towards the door. “Ms. Patton will be waiting. As for the rest of you, come on. We have more classes to cover.” She turned abruptly and started strutting onwards, leaving the rest of the students to scramble forward. 
“Wait!” Serena called as something else caught her eye. “What about homeroom?” 
“You don’t have to go there today,” Rea said. “Homeroom starts tomorrow. For today, you just go to your first class.” 
Serena felt skeptical, especially since what Aggie said earlier applied the fact that Rea was untrustworthy. But Rea seemed to be telling the truth. I guess she’s probably right, Serena thought. 
As Rea walked away with the other students, Serena stood in silence with the two other kids in her science class for a moment until the auburn-haired one spoke up. 
“Well, I guess we should go. I hope Ms. Patton is nice,” she said. She grinned at them. “We need an introduction. I’m Kelly.” 
“My name’s Serena,” Serena added. 
“I’m Leo,” the boy in their group said. 
“Let’s go in!” Kelly shouted, running into the classroom. “Come on, guys!” 
Serena and Leo looked at each other, amused. They followed the excited Kelly into their first classroom. 
When Serena, Kelly, and Leo stepped into the classroom, Serena noticed that about 8 other students were standing throughout the room, which meant that they weren’t late. Perhaps Rea did help her other group quickly? 
“Good morning!” a woman shouted cheerfully. She had wavy blonde hair that reached to her shoulders and green eyes. She rushed forward to stand next to them and said, “I’m Ms. Patton, the Science 1 teacher. Take a seat anywhere you’d like!” She gestured across the room. “We’ll discuss permanent seats later. Go on!” 
Serena sat down at a chair right next to the window. Kelly sat down next to her. Serena gazed outside and gasped softly. This must be the courtyard! The sunshine was shining brightly, making the little dew droplets on the bushes gleam. 
As Serena was looking out the window, more students trickled into the room. 
“Time for attendance!” Ms. Patton called. Everyone’s attention turned towards her. “Leo A?” 
“Here!” Leo called. 
“Alaska A?” 
“Here.” 
“Harley D?” 
No one answered. 
Ms. Patton scribbled a mark on her attendance sheet. “I guess she’s not here today. I wonder why.” She looked over the list of students again. “Benjamin F?” 
Again, no one answered. 
“Weird,” Kelly muttered to Serena. She nodded in agreement. 
“Gigi K?” 
“Here!” she sang. 
“Serena M?” 
“Here!” Serena shouted. 
“Kelly R?” 
Kelly stuck her hand in the air. “I’m here!” 
Ms. Patton continued through the list. One more person wasn’t in the classroom (which made three absent students) even though they were on the 1st-period class list. 
“This is strange,” Ms. Patton commented, looking thoughtfully at her list. “Maybe they got lost. But they shouldn’t have because they should have had help from an older student!” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, let’s begin class. As I’ve said before, my name is Ms. Patton. In this class, we will learn about the normal science things that you’d learn in any old school and how they connect to emotions, which you’ll only learn at THIS school!” Ms. Patton’s eager grin was contagious. Many students were starting to smile, including Serena. 
“So let’s begin with us all introducing ourselves!” Ms. Patton said. “Talk with your tables and give your name and another fact about yourself—it can be anything, like what your favorite sport is or when you got accepted into Emotions Academy.” 
Immediately, the kids at each table (other than Serena’s) turned towards each other and began jabbering away to each other. Kelly was the first to speak up at Serena’s table. 
“Hi guys, I’m Kelly! I like to go exploring. I liked climbing up the Appalachian Mountains when I went there a few years ago.” She looked curiously at the rest of her classmates. “Okay, your guys’ turn!” 
Serena went next and said, “My name is Serena, and I have a pet mouse named Brantley.” 
“Aw!” Kelly squealed. 
“I also got a diamond for my birthday,” Serena continued. She pointed at her necklace, where the diamond hung on a silver chain. 
The other girl at the table, who had wavy black hair, gray eyes, and glasses, gave an expression of surprise. “Woah, is your family rich?” 
Serena shook her head, feeling confused again at why she had gotten it. “No. My mom said she got it from one of her friends, but… it’s really weird.” 
“Well, that’s pretty cool,” the girl said. “I’m Alaska. Emotions Academy sent me the confirmation message on my phone when I, uh, said how my dad was feeling about my mom’s dinner. It didn’t go too well,” she whispered. “But the problem eventually was solved, so don’t worry.” 
Finally, the last kid at Serena’s table introduced himself. “Name’s Spencer. Um… trying to think of a fun fact about me… my little sister Grace has autism. I know a couple more people in my family who have it too,” he added. 
“Interesting,” said Alaska. 
When everyone finished sharing and quieted down, Ms. Patton clapped her hands and announced, “Okay, now it’s time for our first activity of the year!” 
“What is it?” Leo called. 
Ms. Patton smiled. “Today, we are going to review what you have learned in your previous schools.” 
Most kids didn’t comment, but some booed and some cheered. 
Their teacher passed out a worksheet. “This is just so I know what you already know,” she explained. “It’s a pre-test. Then I’ll know where to start teaching you guys. Also! This test has some emotion questions on it. Don’t expect to get them right. You just got here, after all.” 
Serena glanced down at the paper. It was a 20-question quiz. Most of the questions looked pretty simple. 
She started scribbling down what she knew as the sound of pencil scratching and the scrubbing noise of an eraser filled the air. The science-y questions were pretty easy. Science was one of Serena’s favorite subjects. She didn’t know what transpiration or some other water cycle things were, though. Suddenly, she raised her hand. 
Ms. Patton came over. “Yes, Serena?” 
Serena was impressed that Ms. Patton already knew her name, but she pushed the thought away. “Can I go to the bathroom?” 
Her teacher nodded her approval. “Of course! The bathroom’s down the hall to the right. Let me know if you can’t find it. I can help.” 
Serena nodded back and stood up, pushing her chair in. Glancing around at the quiet, working classroom, she stepped outside of the doorframe. 
She looked to the right and shrugged, hoping to find the bathroom quickly. She clasped her hands together behind her back in hope she wouldn’t get lost in this new, fancy school. 
Luckily, Ms. Patton’s directions were correct. The bathroom was right where she said it would. Serena was about to walk in, but a strange noise caught her attention. 
“Hey! Someone! We don’t know where we are!” 
Forgetting that she needed to go to the bathroom, Serena raced out and listened closely, trying to hear where the voice came from. She ran, almost not even seeing the surrounding area, and she plowed straight into somebody. “I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, stepping back. 
She had crashed into a girl. Nearby were two other students: one a girl and another a boy. 
“It’s fine,” said the girl Serena had crashed into, rubbing her head. “We’re glad to see some friendly humanity around here. I’m Harley.” 
“I’m Serena.” Something pricked at Serena’s memory. Hadn’t she heard someone talk about someone named Harley? 
Harley looked around. “Would you mind helping me, Kamala, and Benjamin find our way around here? Ya know how there was supposed to be a Second Year helping us? Ours didn’t. I don’t know where they went, but they sure weren’t helpful and they didn’t tell us where we were or anything.” 
A Second Year not helping some First Years? It hit Serena. Rea! She gritted her teeth. Aggie was right. Rea must not have helped her original group after all. But why did she help Serena, Kelly, Leo, and the others? 
“Did your leader’s name start with ‘R?’” Serena asked. 
The other girl, Kamala, frowned, thinking. “I don’t think so. I believe their name started with Q. But honestly, I can’t remember.” 
“If Kamala can’t remember something, that really says something,” Benjamin explained. “She practically has a photographic memory.” 
Kamala blushed a little. “Not really, Ben. It’s just easy to remember things.” 
“Anyway,” Serena jumped in, “sorry to interrupt, but you need to get to your classes. You have your schedule, right?” 
Harley pulled hers out from her pocket. “Yup, right here.” 
“I have science,” Kamala read. 
“Me too,” Benjamin added. 
“Hey, same!” Harley exclaimed. 
A lighthouse lit up in Serena’s mind. Of course! This trio of students was the same one that Ms. Patton noticed was absent. 
Feeling relieved, Serena said, “Good! I’m in science too. Ms. Patton, the teacher, was wondering where you three were. Come on, I’ll show you!” She started to head back towards the class, then paused and turned around to face them. “Hang on, I have to use the bathroom real quick. That’s what I intended to do anyway.” 
Harley laughed. “Okay!” 
Serena went in, and when she was done, came back out. “‘Kay, I’m good now. Let’s go!” Serena led them back down the hallway to Ms. Patton’s classroom. 
Harley, Kamala, and Benjamin looked in awe at the classroom as they walked in. Everyone else in the room dropped their pencils when they saw Serena bring in the large crowd. 
Ms. Patton stopped typing on her computer and stood up to see Serena and the group. “Who are you three? Are you in this class?” 
“Yeah,” Harley said, lifting her schedule. Ms. Patton looked at it. “I’m Harley and we’re in this period. We got lost, but Serena found us.” She gave Serena a thumbs-up. Benjamin nodded his agreement and Kamala smiled. 
Ms. Patton’s gaze turned to Serena, a warm smile appearing on her face. “Well done, Serena. Thank you for guiding our students to our classroom.” She nodded at Serena. “Come back to this room after your lunch period. I may have something for you.” 
“Ooh!” Kelly said loudly, grinning at Serena. She smiled back. 
“Harley, Benjamin, Kamala, please sit anywhere you’d like,” Ms. Patton instructed. “We have one more thing to do in class today after everyone finishes their pre-test.” 
“Wait, we have a test?” Benjamin asked, frantic. “Already?!” 
“Oh no,” Kamala said, hiding her head in her hands. 
“Kamala, you’ll do great,” Harley assured her. “I know it.” 
She smiled. “Thanks.” 
Ms. Patton pulled three papers from a pile on her desk and gave them to the students. “Bring it up here when you’re done,” she said. Turning to the rest of the class, she added, “You can give your test to me if you’ve finished.” 
Serena went back to her seat and started to wrap up her test. She reached the part with the emotion questions and studied them. 
17. Where do emotions come from?
Of course, Serena thought regretfully. If only I read that book Mom and Dad gave me- the All About Emotions and Why We Have Them book. She sighed and took a guess on the question. 
18. What can emotions be used for? List everything you know. 
Serena pondered the question for a moment. She remembered Aura’s chameleon, Iris, and wrote down, “Emotions can change the colors of animals.” Unfortunately, that was all she really knew about emotions. 
She finished the last two questions and stood up, pushing her chair in slightly. She handed the paper to Ms. Patton. Harley, Benjamin, and Kamala passed their papers over too. 
“Okay!” Ms. Patton said cheerily, seeming very excited. “Now we have the final part of our class today! This is an Emotions Academy tradition, and I think you all will really like this. Okay, let me just call Principal Brinwood…” She picked up a phone that was sitting on a small, rectangular table next to her desk and typed in a number. 
“Yes, Principal Brinwood, we need the rocks now. 1st-period science class. Thank you!” She set the phone down. “Any second…” she said, and the class stared out the door with anticipation. Serena thought about what Mr. __ had done at orientation with the light blue mist. Suddenly, two middle-aged staff members wheeled a white cart into the classroom. Alaska looked up with interest, and Kelly asked, “What’s that?” 
“Rocks,” Ms. Patton replied simply. She grinned mischievously. “You’ll see!” 
Serena was confused. Why would rocks be a tradition at Emotions Academy? Well, she thought to herself, I guess I’ll find out soon. 
Ms. Patton took the cart from the staff members, nodded and thanked them, and turned to the class. “Every First Year student receives one of these rocks,” she explained. “You’ll get to choose which one you like. If you can’t find one you like, I can choose one for you. Go ahead!” she added when everyone was still sitting down. “You can come to look now.” 
Serena leaped to her feet, as did everyone else, and they all peered into the cart. Everyone gasped in sheer pleasure. Inside the cart were hundreds of rocks! Ms. Patton was absolutely right. There were rocks of all colors—blue, clear, orange, purple, rainbow, yellow, green, anything! And they could really choose any one of them? 
Serena held back and watched as everyone selected their rocks. Kelly’s face lit up and she pulled out an orangish-red rock. Suddenly, the rock began to glow, literally lighting up Kelly’s face. It pulsed with a steady, orange light. 
“Huh- what?” Kelly exclaimed. All eyes turned to her, and everyone let out a gasp. However, Ms. Patton just smiled. 
“That’s exactly what is supposed to happen.” She laughed. “I forgot to mention that. If you choose the correct rock, it will glow.” 
“Cool!” Leo exclaimed. “Magical rocks!” 
“Precisely,” Ms. Patton agreed. She gave a small smile, something that seemed to imply there was something else she wasn’t saying. Or so Serena thought. 
Everyone dug their hands through the pile of rocks, seeing which one glowed at the touch of their hands. Alaska settled on a dark blue rock and held it up to the light, admiring it as it lit up with a soft blue glow. 
Eventually, everyone had found the rock that lit up for them. Well, everyone except Serena. No matter how many rocks she touched, none of them glowed. Feeling a surge of anxiousness, she rubbed her finger along the smooth surface of her diamond necklace. 
Suddenly, something lit up at the edge of Serena’s vision. She looked down and saw that her diamond was, indeed, glowing. 
“Wha- I-” Serena began. She knew that this surely was not supposed to happen. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why it’s glowing-” 
To her surprise, Ms. Patton laughed, although her face still expressed shock. “It’s perfectly fine, Serena. Sometimes… Well, things end up a little different than what the plan was. I’ll have to make sure you get permission for your… um… rock to be used here at the school.” 
“It’s a diamond,” Serena informed her teacher. Ms. Patton blinked in surprise but proceeded to go out into the classroom across the hall. Serena couldn’t hear much of the conversation but heard something about Principal Brinwood coming down to their classroom. 
Under normal circumstances, Serena would (or at least should) probably be worried about the principal coming down to see her, but she knew that Principal Brinwood was kind. She just seemed like a nice person in general. She never seemed angry at anyone—except her continually-failing microphone. And that was only a tiny bit. 
Before Serena knew it, Principal Brinwood walked into the classroom. “Miss Meyers?” she asked. 
Serena raised her hand. It bumped her necklace and the diamond began to glow again. 
Principal Brinwood’s eyes widened. She came closer to Serena and held her finger out, quivering but not touching. “May I touch it?”
Serena nodded her approval and the principal brushed a finger against the diamond. She continued to stare, eyes widened. Then they closed and she shivered, not because she was cold but she was clearly sensing something. 
She took a step back. “Serena, you clearly have something there. Something powerful.” 
Serena was perplexed. “Powerful?” 
“How can a rock be powerful?” Leo questioned, glancing at his own rock. It was a blue rock that was splashed with green and black. Serena thought it might be a rock called spectrolite. She thought she might have seen a picture of it before on her parent’s computer. It looked really cool. 
“That’s a little… complex,” Ms. Patton replied, shrugging her shoulders. “You’ll probably learn about that in the Use of Emotions class.” 
I just want to learn that now, Serena thought. Another classmates of hers seemed to have thought the same thing and muttered to the person sitting next to them, “Can we just get out of here and learn stuff already?” Serena privately agreed but hoped Ms. Patton wouldn’t hear. 
“Your teacher is correct. You’ll learn about this later,” Principal Brinwood agreed. “Well, Miss Meyers, I guess you can keep it. It really responds to you, so I can’t just take it away. Also, out of curiosity, where did you get that diamond? That’s a really rare rock.” 
“My parents got it from one of my mom’s friends,” Serena explained to the best of her ability. She shook her head, so many gaps in her memory. Or at least it felt like it. “That’s all I remember my mom saying.” 
“Weird,” Principal Brinwood said. She smiled. “Well, then, I guess I’ll be on my way. Good luck, Miss Meyers.” Then she left. 
Kelly gave Serena an expression of confusement. “‘Good luck’?” 
All Serena could do was shrug. 
“Okay,” Ms. Patton began, clapping her hands to bring back everyone’s attention. “Please take your seats again and put your rock in front of you. I have to explain the basics before our class is over.” She looked at the clock. “We have about 10 minutes left.”
“What are we going to do?” Alaska asked quietly. 
Ms. Patton smiled, seeming to guess how the students were going to react. “This is my favorite part of the first day,” she said. “These rocks are more than just… rocks. They do more than glow.” 
She grinned now. “You kids don’t need your fancy, technology devices like your cell phones. These rocks can text just like phones can!”
== Chapter Eleven ==
“Hold on, WHAT?!” 
Every student in the class stared at Ms. Patton, wide-eyed. 
“Um… I don’t want to contradict you, Ms. Patton, but that’s not possible,” Kamala stated. She pulled out her phone from her pocket and started typing quickly. “I’ve seen many sources that say that rocks can’t do anything other than be hard materials and occasionally glow. Rocks can’t be able to turn into phones; it’s just not possible!” 
Ms. Patton gave a small smile at Kamala’s scientific enthusiasm. However, she shook her head. “Maybe to those sources, yes. But as you’ll learn soon, there are many things at Emotions Academy that the world does not know. And they won’t, at least for a while. Our school’s traditions include keeping our knowledge secret from the rest of the world. For the most part. The capabilities of emotions are mostly known by students and teachers alone because we’re the only ones who need to know them. Anyway,” she continued, getting back to business, “thank you for that, Kamala. Now I have to teach you how to use the rocks.” 
Serena glanced around the room, seeing excitement spark in almost every gaze. Kelly seemed like the type of person that would be running around the room by now, but she stayed still, awaiting their teacher’s directions. 
“You already have your rock. All you have to do now is get it to work. You’ll have to use some of your emotions to make sure it works for you, just like the fingerprint scanner in some computers and phones,” she explained. “The way you’ll learn in Mr. Allen’s class will be more beneficial than this, but think about how you usually feel. Whether that’s grumpy, happy, excited, sad, or mad, think of it. Then press your finger to your rock and hold it there.” 
Serena tried to think of how she usually felt. She thought back to her family and wondered what they would say about her. As she was thinking, a short flashback hit her. 
“Serena!” Chloe raced into Serena’s bedroom, skidding to a halt.
 	She looked away from where she was organizing the items in her closet. “What?”
 	“Mom said that we can get a cat!”
 	Serena jolted upright. “Really?” She looked back down at the stuff she was organizing and shrugged, a sense of calm filling her as she looked at her progress on the closet. She always wanted a pet, but her parents had always said no. Surprisingly, though, Serena didn’t feel overjoyed. She felt happy, of course, but not over-the-top happy like she thought she would if this day ever came. She felt… tranquil. Serene. Just like her name.
 	“Awesome!” she replied, excited but still focused on her work.
 	Chloe blinked. “Wow, I thought you’d be WAYYY more excited than that.”
 	“Me too,” Serena agreed truthfully. She started folding up a blanket and set it next to her, the blanket awaiting her judgment on what to do with it.
 	Suddenly, Chloe doubled over in laughter. “Haha! You fell for it!”
 	Now Serena blinked in surprise at her sister. “What?”
 	“April Fools!” Chloe continued to laugh.
 	Serena sighed. “You’re literally in 3rd grade. Why and how are you pranking me?”
 	“Dunno,” Chloe answered. “It’s fun! Besides, Erin taught me.”
 	“Of course she did,” Serena commented, rolling her eyes. “Erin likes doing that type of stuff, doesn’t she?”
 	“Yep,” Chloe said. “I’m shocked you were so calm, though. We’ve always wanted a pet!”
 	“Yeah, I know.” 
	The flashback ended, and Serena thought excitedly, That’s it! She was usually calm. Even when Chloe had tried a pretty good prank on her, she managed to stay calm. 
Pressing her finger against her diamond, she thought about being calm, and a wave of peacefulness washed over her, from head to toe. The diamond lit up again, and little glowing shapes appeared around the classroom. Serena assumed that meant they did it correctly. 
All of a sudden, the glowing blobs of light flashed brighter. When the students could open their eyes again, everyone’s rock was big. Bigger. Huge, about three times their original size!
“How did it just get bigger?!” Kelly asked in shock. 
“That’s not possible either!” Kamala agreed, her eyes widening. “Nope. Not possible.” 
“But it is,” Serena stated. 
Ms. Patton shrugged. “It’s one of the mysteries of the rocks. Now that it’s bigger and you can see it better, you can use it. The ‘Home Screen’ is just like cell phones. There is an app for texting on there. You can scan someone else’s fingerprint, with the emotion that they chose, to register them as a contact.” She looked at the clock again. “This class period is over now!” 
Many students cheered. 
“There will be teachers and older students in the hallways to help you to your next class,” Ms. Patton added. 
Everyone stood up and raced outside. Do they hate science that much? Serena thought with disgust. 
As Serena stepped out into the hallway, she nearly got knocked over by kids racing by like race cars in a NASCAR race. “Hey!” she murmured since she didn’t want to get anyone mad at her. 
“Hey, Serena, right?” 
She turned and saw Aggie waving at her down the hall. Serena walked quickly down to meet her, twisting around to avoid colliding with anyone. She nodded once she approached Aggie. 
“I guess you got to your class well,” she said, looking at the stream of students coming out of Ms. Patton’s classroom. Her face darkened. “Did Rea leave you?” 
Serena shook her head. “Nope. Why?” 
Aggie blinked. “N-nothing. Well… she’s usually just annoying. And untrustworthy. I didn’t know if she’d help your group or not. Besides, she was over to my group waaay too quickly to not have ditched her group.” 
“Hmm.” Serena thought back to her first class. “Wait. Actually, in the hallway, I saw—” 
“Aggie! Some more First Years need help over here!” another Second Year called. 
Serena’s Second Year friend sighed and looked at Serena apologetically. “Sorry, Serena. See you later!” She raced off over to the group of First Years that needed help. 
Serena took her schedule out of her backpack and looked at her second-period class. She had gym next. 
She wandered around, soon getting help from a Second Year. She took a deep breath and stepped inside the gymnasium. 
She let out a gasp. The gym was huge. There was equipment for every sport. Baseball bats and balls were clustered together in the northeast corner. Basketball, soccer balls, volleyballs, and all other kinds of balls were sitting next to them, wrapped in a net. There were three basketball hoops, three soccer goals, and more. Serena couldn’t believe her eyes. This gym seemed to have every piece of equipment in existence. There also were some items that seemed unusual to Serena. Maybe they were for special Emotions Academy sports? 
“Come on in!” a voice called from Serena’s left. She turned and saw a man sitting at his desk. He looked at Serena and said, “Come over here. I’ll mark your name down for attendance. Once everyone else comes, we’ll start the class.” 
“Okay.” Serena walked over to her teacher, thinking, Wow, I can’t believe I’m the first one in here! 
There was a sheet of paper on the desk. “Name?” her teacher asked. 
“Serena Meyers.” 
Her teacher put a checkmark next to her name and looked at her. “Welcome to the academy, Serena. My name is Mr. Bendol, and I’m your gym teacher. Exercise is very fun and healthy, and emotions improve it. We’ll learn about that later on. You can go sit on one of the mats on the floor. I’m letting everyone choose their seats today.” 
Serena nodded and looked around the gym for a place to sit. There were about thirty small circular mats spread throughout the gym, in all sorts of colors. Serena eventually decided on a dark pink mat near the right edge of the gym. 
Quickly, the gymnasium filled up. There were only a few students Serena recognized from her previous class: Spencer and Kelly. She looked around and saw a girl come into the gym. She got her name marked for attendance and choose a seat in the middle of the gym. The girl didn’t seem to walk around, though—she seemed to glide. 
Wait. 
She was skating! This girl was Aura!
Serena waved as Aura sat down. Her roommate grinned and waved back. 
Mr. Bendol walked into the center of the gym and began, “Welcome, students. As I’ve already told many of you, my name is Mr. Bendol. This year in gym, we are going to exercise and train our bodies to be stronger while using emotions to help us and entertain us. Today, like you will be in other classes, you all will be playing some games that you are probably already familiar with. Over the year, we will be trying some activities from other countries as well.” 
“What are we playing today?” one student asked. 
“I guess we’ll play soccer today. Also, keep in mind that you will be graded on your physical abilities during this class. Today is an exception because it’s only your first day.” 
Mr. Bendol started pulling out some goal nets and placed them around the gym. Then he turned to the class and said, “Make your teams and figure out any strategies you may have.” He smiled mischievously. “Then let the game begin.” 
*  *  *  *  *  *  * 
“Who’s ready to learn some things about emotions?” 
Serena stepped inside her third class, Use of Emotions 1. Mr. Allen was standing at the smartboard, writing instructions on the board. She smiled. This was the class she was looking forward to the most. Serena wanted to know desperately how to control her powers and stop herself from feeling other people’s emotions when she didn’t want to feel them. Besides, Mr. Allen had implied—and shown—everyone that they could actually do things with emotions while they were at the assembly. Serena was sure that this would be her favorite class. 
Speaking of her classes, gym last period was… interesting. Serena’s team had good players, but the other team had some mean kids. One of them was named Jay, according to her other classmates. She kept trying to pull some shady tricks to help her team win. Luckily, though, Serena’s team won anyway. 
“I’m ready!” Serena called to her teacher. Mr. Allen nodded in approval, smiling. 
“Do we have assigned seats?” one girl asked, glancing around at the empty chairs. She had tanned skin and brownish-green eyes. Her dirty blonde hair was piled in a bun on top of her head. 
“Yes,” Mr. Allen answered, turning away from the board to look at her and the other students. “Give me a moment and I’ll tell you where you sit.” 
“Ugh,” the girl muttered. “That’s bu hao! I like sitting where I want.” 
Their teacher finished writing his instructions on the board, put the marker back in its spot, and walked over to his desk, then picked up a piece of paper. He also grabbed a stack of skinny Post-Its—the kind that you can use to mark a page in a book. 
Mr. Allen picked up a pen and began to write down a name, then paused. He closed his eyes, concentrating intensely, and the tip of the pen glowed a red-orange color. Suddenly, the pen moved faster as Mr. Allen wrote. Serena’s eyes widened and she tried not to gasp. Other students’ faces showed that they were impressed too. 
Mr. Allen finished writing the names and placed them around the classroom on the tables. “There you go.” 
Serena wandered around with the other students, finding her seat. Her table in this class was around the center of the room. Next to her was a kid named Jacqueline. Across from them were the names “Orla” and “Harley.” 
Oh, Harley is in this class! Serena thought, happy. We should get along because she and her friends seem to really appreciate me for helping them! 
She sat down and watched as Harley sat across from her, the girl named Jacqueline sat next to her, and the girl who asked about assigned seats sat diagonally from her. She must be Orla. 
“Alright, let’s begin!” Mr. Allen shouted. He stood by the smartboard. On the board was:
# Give Assigned Seats
# Take Attendance
# Show Slideshow
He looked at the class. “Every seat is taken, so we have everyone here!” He put a circled checkmark on the edge of the screen, then opened a PowerPoint presentation. 
“Okay. So, as you probably have guessed from this class’s name, we will be talking about what emotions can do for us this year. The teachers of your other subjects will also cover similar topics, but I’ll be discussing the basics.” He changed the slide. “Something that many people like to use emotions for is for medical treatments. Emotions like happiness and calm help the doctor treat the patient. Would you like to see an example? If you stay well-behaved, I’ll do this after each example.” 
“Yeah!” many students, including Serena, shouted. Across from her, Orla grumbled a yes. 
Mr. Allen’s gaze raked across the class. “Does anyone have a cut or scrape that needs healing?” 
A blonde-haired boy raised his hand. “I do.” He pointed to one of his fingers, which was wrapped in a Band-Aid that featured Maui. Serena gave a small smile. She knew Finn’s interests. 
“Okay, take the Band-Aid off and come up here,” Mr. Allen instructed. Finn unpeeled the bandage, got up to throw it in the trash can, and walked up to his teacher. Serena could see that there was an ugly, red, jagged line on Finn’s finger. She wondered where he got the injury. 
Mr. Allen closed his eyes in concentration and touched the scratch. It glowed yellow for a moment, then disappeared. When Serena looked again, the line was gone. 
“That’s awesome,” Jacqueline said softly. 
“Isn’t it?” Mr. Allen agreed, somehow hearing her. “Next, we have pranks. Surprise or really any emotion can be used for pranks. You can make anyone feel anything. One particularly popular prank is putting cut onions next to someone while also releasing some amount of sadness. Many people think it’s just hilarious to make people cry hard like that.” 
He shrugged. “I don’t know why they think that’s funny, but I guess that’s just their personal opinion. I will also not demonstrate this one because I consider myself a kind person. Moving on!” He changed the slide again. 
“Finally for today, we have the simple ‘making other people feel a certain emotion’ method. You can make anyone feel a certain way if you release specific quantities of that emotion. This is a simple trick and can be done by just about anyone.
“I hope you were paying attention!” Mr. Allen added with a mischievous smile. “Now you have a short quiz on what I just taught!” 
Everyone groaned. 
“Why are we getting so many tests today?” Orla complained. 
“Because why not,” Finn answered. Everyone (except Serena) glared at him. 
“Come on, guys,” said Mr. Allen. “It’s not that hard. If you were paying attention, that is.” 
Serena internally wondered how many people actually paid attention to the lesson. 
“Oh, one more thing!” Mr. Allen added. “The test will be taken on your magic rocks as a way to get used to them. Have any of you tried them yet?” 
Everyone shook their heads. 
“Well, I’ll show you how they work. After you finish the test, the class will be over.” 
Serena was about to begin the test when a loud sound echoed across the room. Everyone looked over where the noise came from. Orla was staring at her phone, a shocked expression on her face. Music blasted through the classroom. 
“Stupid AirPods,” Orla muttered, reconnecting them. Before they connected properly, a very important sound rang out: 
“BECAUSE YOU KNOW I’M ALL ABOUT THAT BASS, ‘BOUT THAT BASS, NO TREBLE-”
== Chapter Twelve ==
Loud voices could be heard from a hallway away. Serena knew she was heading in the right direction to the cafeteria. She walked into the room and raised an eyebrow in amusement. Aura was gleefully skating around the whole cafeteria. 
Serena started to walk up to her when a lunch monitor came over first. “Um, ma’am, you can’t skate across the whole cafeteria. You’ll hurt someone.” 
“I’m sure I won’t,” Aura responded, immediately beginning to skate about again. 
“MA’AM! YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” The lunch monitor chased Aura around, trying to pull her off to the side. It was like some incredibly complicated game of tag. Except this was between a 12-year-old and a fully-grown adult. 
“Aura! You’re gonna have to stop, you know,” Serena said, running over to her roommate. She glanced at the lunch monitor, who had halted and was panting heavily. 
“But whyyy?” Aura whined, looking around longingly at the open space. “There’s plenty of room around here! What harm did skating ever do?” 
“Um, roller skating in crowded areas has injured lots of people, some of them even getting serious injuries,” a new voice chimed in. Serena turned to see Kamala walking over to them, phone in hand. She was scrolling through an article. 
Aura leaned over and peered over Kamala’s shoulder to read the article. She made a face. “Yeah, well, maybe it can cause some injuries. But then those people can watch Disney Junior and add it to their own Big Book of Boo-Boos!” 
Serena stared at Aura. “When did you last watch Doc McStuffins-” 
“Only, like, three or four years ago!” Aura said cheerfully. 
Kamala sighed, exasperated. “Whatever. Not important. My point is, a lot of people get hurt by crazy roller skaters and I want you, Aura, to be more careful. You can’t just zip around the whole school like this.” 
“THANK YOU,” the lunch monitor called over. She still looked a bit out of breath. 
“But I do that,” Aura countered back to Kamala. “How do ya think I get around this school?” 
“Never mind,” Kamala said. “Just be careful.” She looked at Serena. “Hey, Serena, do you want to sit with me, Harley, and Benjamin? We’d all love to sit with you!” Her eyes were full of gratitude. 
“Well…” Serena considered the offer. She glanced around to see if anyone was sitting alone and her eyes stopped on Finn. He was by himself, but he had a cheerful face on. His mouth was moving and it looked like he was singing. 
Probably ‘You’re Welcome’ or something, Serena thought, greatly amused. 
“Thanks for the offer, but I might sit somewhere else today,” she said politely. 
Kamala nodded. “Okay. You can feel free to sit with us any time, though!” 
“Thanks!” Serena exclaimed. Once Kamala left, she went over to Finn’s table. “Hey, Finn!” 
Finn looked up. “Oh, hi, Serena!” 
“Can I join you?” she asked. 
He grinned. “Of course!” When Serena said thanks, he immediately began, “What can I say, except, you’re welcome?”
“Nothing else,” Serena replied, a smile curling across her lips. Then she looked at the growing lunch line. “I have to get my food, I’ll be back!” 
Finn stood up. “Oh, yeah, I forgot! I gotta get mine too.” He followed Serena across the room to the line. 
As they stood there, Serena examined the stained glass windows that covered the upper third of the ceiling. They were multi-colored and looked spectacular with the sunlight streaming through. 
The light hit the ground right behind Serena and Finn. But something looked… off. Where the light should have made the floor look brighter, it looked darker. There was a dark spot on the floor that shouldn’t have been there. As Kamala would say: “It’s just not possible!” 
Serena squinted and peered closer. She stumbled back, bumping into the person in front of her (who let out an annoyed hiss), as she realized…
The shadow was back. 
“Why is there a shadow on the floor when the sun is shining?” Finn questioned, staring at the ground intensely. 
Serena looked at him in surprise. “You can see that too?” 
“Um, yeah,” he said. He gestured towards it. “It’s a dark shadow. Who can’t see it?” 
I thought I was the only one who kept seeing the shadow. I didn’t even think it was real until I saw it stay while on the boat. Serena continued to stare at the ground. And now Finn sees it. Something must be going on… 
“But why is it here? In the lunch line?” Serena mumbled, lost in thought. However, Finn heard her and joked, “Well, shadows have to eat too, ya know!” 
Even though she felt sure that something was off, she laughed. “I think you’re the only one who would talk about a shadow that eats stuff.” 
“Hey!” Finn said, bumping her arm playfully. “You never know!” He peered closely at her. “Would you be hungry if you were a shadow?” 
“Well, I- never mind.” She turned away and moved up the line before anyone could cut her. She shook herself, trying to get rid of that weird feeling. But uneasiness still hovered over her like a cloud. Cold and wet. 
After she got her lunch, she went back with Finn to sit at their table. They had only just started to talk when Aura skidded over to them. 
“Hey, guys,” she said. “I have nowhere else to sit. Can I sit with you two?” 
“Of course!” Serena replied. She pulled over a chair so Aura could sit. She plopped into the chair and stared creepily and intensely at Finn and Serena until they talked. 
“Ummm… Moana is the best movie?” Finn said questioningly. 
“We need a better conversation than this,” Aura sighed. “Hey, let’s talk about roller skating! Or anything, actually!” She started to ramble on about how she had loved roller skating since she was 7 years old. Serena started to eat her stuffed crust pizza, and Finn did too. He didn’t interrupt Aura, but he looked desperate to start another Moana conversation. 
“Hey, I have an idea!” Aura exclaimed suddenly, mid-sentence of her previous topic. “You two should try roller skating sometime with me!” Her eyes lit up and she pulled out her phone. (Serena wondered why she didn’t use her magic rock. I guess people are too used to their normal phones now.) Aura searched for something and thrust the phone into Serena’s face. She showed a picture of a group of people proudly wearing roller skates and holding up a certificate. 
“That’s a Roller Derby team!” Aura explained. “It’s a whole sport based on roller skating!” She looked like she was going to burst from excitement. “Wanna join me? I am going to try out for the Emotions Academy team!” 
“Wait, there’s a team?” Serena asked. She didn’t know there were any sports teams at this school. She probably would have known if there was one. 
“Oh.” Serena expected Aura to look disappointed, which she did, but she immediately replaced that expression with one of determination. “Well, then! I’ll make a petition myself!” She jolted out of her seat and started skating away. “I’ll be back!” 
She began to run around and ask people to sign her petition. It looked like a bunch of people nodded and scribbled their names. 
Aura raced back over to Serena and Finn. “Look how many signatures I got already!” she shouted, excited. 
Serena peered over at the paper. She quickly counted the names. There were about 20 names written down. “Wow,” she said. “That’s a lot!” 
“I know, right?!” Aura looked ecstatic. Suddenly, a lunch monitor called out that it was time to go to their second Half Period, study hall. 
According to Mrs. Kennedy, Serena’s math teacher that she had earlier, Half Periods were the times of lunch and study hall. They were called “half periods” because they were a bit shorter than normal periods. They were also just the stuff that happened in the middle of the day. 
Aura took out her schedule from her backpack that sat next to the table. “I have Use of Emotions 1 next.” 
“I already had mine,” Serena replied. She found her schedule and looked at it too. “I have social studies next period.” 
As she walked with Aura and Finn, trying to figure out where their classes were located, she thought about Aura’s new petition. She hoped it would go through. 
She also hoped that the shadow would disappear for good. 
Soon. 
== Chapter Thirteen ==
Serena yawned and stretched. She heard a steady, continuous sound that followed a pattern of quiet, loud, and quiet. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! “Ouch!” 
Startled, Serena quickly sat up and looked around frantically. Her eyes fell on Aura, who was standing next to the window. She was clutching her leg. 
“Are you okay?” Serena asked, worried for her roommate. The pain wafted over to Serena and made her skin tingle. Her heart began to hurt too in sympathy for Aura. 
“Hey, you’re awake!” Aura smiled, then looked back down at herself. Even from the other side of the room, Serena could see a purple bruise growing on Aura’s left leg. “Well… I smashed into the stupid air conditioning-slash-heating-slash-whatever-this-thing-is and it hurts.” 
Remembering what Aura had said the previous day during lunch, Serena suggested, “Want to add it to your Big Book of Boo-Boos?” 
It took Aura a moment to realize what Serena was talking about. She burst out laughing. “Maybe!” Serena sighed and rolled her eyes. 
“Anyway, I’ll be fine,” Aura said, dismissing her injury. She went over to the corner where her suitcase was located and took out a white shirt with purple stripes. “We should get dressed. When does class start again?” 
Serena tugged her schedule out of her backpack, which lay at the base of her bed, then looked at the clock on the nightstand. “It’s 8:05 right now, and class starts at 8:20, so we have 15 minutes to get ready.” 
“‘Kay, I’ll get ready in here so I can roller skate more today, if you don’t mind!” Aura asked. Serena nodded, leaned over, and opened her backpack. She took out her clothes for the day and took them to the bathroom down the hall, closing her dorm room door softly. 
Serena went into one of the showers and got dressed quickly. Once she finished, she went back to her and Aura’s room. 
“Hey, where is breakfast held?” Serena asked Aura. 
“I dunno, let’s ask someone else,” Aura replied. They left the room and knocked on the dorm room next to them. 
A rainbow-haired girl answered the door. “Helloooo, I’m Iridiana, what are your names?” 
“I’m Aura and this is my roommate Serena!” Aura answered, cheerful. “Where is breakfast held?” 
“I think it’s a grab-and-go breakfast in the cafeteria,” Iridiana said. She looked back into the room, where her roommate was standing behind her. Serena recognized the girl as Jacqueline, the girl sitting next to her in her Use of Emotions class. “Come on, Jacqueline, let’s go get breakfast!” The quiet girl simply nodded. 
Serena, Aura, Iridiana, and Jacqueline made their way to the cafeteria, getting a little help from the teachers and their magic rocks. (Serena was the first to figure out how to access a map.) 
The breakfast of the day was two pieces of toast and three pieces of bacon. To bring it to their classes, the students put them in a paper bag. 
Suddenly, on the way to her science class, Serena realized she left her backpack in her dorm. “I have to go get my backpack!” Serena exclaimed, frantic. How could she have forgotten? 
“I can go with you!” Aura volunteered. Serena could feel how she wanted to help. But Serena shook her head. “You might be late if you go with me. I’ll get it myself.” She looked at a nearby clock. “Isn’t your first class upstairs? You should go now.” 
Aura’s reluctance polluted the air, but she stepped back as her emotions changed to a wave of acceptance. “Okay, see ya later!” She, Jacqueline, and Iridiana proceeded to search for their classes while Serena sprinted back to her dorm room. 
She hurriedly pulled out the key, jammed it into the door, and ran inside. She unzipped her backpack, double-checked to make sure everything was inside, then hared right back out. 
On the way out of the dorm hallways, Serena collided with someone—two people, actually—outside of what looked to be their dorm room. 
“Sorry!” she exclaimed, noticing that one of the students was her classmate Kelly. 
“Oh, hey, Serena!” Kelly said, not looking mad like Serena expected she might be. “Want to walk to science with us?”
“Um, sure!” Serena said. She glanced down at her magic rock, tapped it twice (that was how she made it bigger), and looked at the time. “Class starts in 5 minutes, so we have to go now!” 
“Okay, okay, we’re coming!” Kelly exclaimed, grinning. She speed-walked as Serena hurried away. Serena could not, would not be late. 
Once Kelly and the other girl caught up to Serena, Kelly said, “Serena, this is my roommate Analie Wright.” 
Analie grinned. “Hey there!” She had blonde hair with pink streaks, a red bow in her hair, and brown eyes. “I have Use of Emotions 1 as my first class, so I’ll walk with you guys until I have to go to my class!” 
True to her promise, Analie followed Serena and Kelly to science class, then waved as she left. Serena thought back to their short trip. Analie had talked non-stop about everything that came across her mind—her emotion powers and how she didn’t feel anything while at the academy, marshmallows, and pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows. (Serena gave a small smile at this while Kelly rolled her eyes.) Analie was quite the talkative type, that was for sure. 
“Good morning, students!” Ms. Patton greeted Kelly and Serena as they entered the room. “I have a fun lesson planned for today, and I think you’ll all enjoy it!” 
“What is it?” Harley called out. 
Ms. Patton winked at the class. “You’ll see!” 
Serena felt excited about this new activity. She wondered if Ms. Patton would start teaching them about emotions today. 
Her teacher ran around the classroom, gathering supplies. She dropped the armful of materials onto the table in the center of the room. “Today, we will be learning about how our emotion powers get passed down through families!” 
Serena was surprised that no one groaned at the prospect of actually learning these things—Looking at you, Carla! she thought, mentally chiding her classmate from Mabelie Elementary. I guess everyone is excited about figuring stuff out. And I am too! Maybe, throughout my time at Emotions Academy, I will create a plan to figure out what that shadow really is. 
Planning things and crafting strategies were one of Serena’s talents. She always was the one in her friend group that planned stuff. Skye was the enthusiastic one and liked to do the written part of any school assignment, and Rocky covered the artwork and fine details. Serena’s job had always been to plan, plan, plan. Then she made sure the project looked nice and helped the other two with whatever they needed. It was how they rolled. Serena felt an ache, a hole, of longing as she remembered how well she and her friends had worked together. I wonder how Rocky and Skye are doing. She made a mental note to text them later. 
“Get into groups of two or three and sit by each other!” Ms. Patton instructed. “Then I will give your group the materials.” 
In a flash, Kelly bounded over to Serena. “Hey, do you wanna work together?” she asked. 
Serena nodded. “Sure!” 
Ms. Patton came over and gave them a panel of test tube-like objects. They were assembled in an odd pattern, with two tubes leading downwards that branched into multiple other sections. Looking at the same thing, Kamala exclaimed, “It’s like a family tree!” She turned to Harley and Benjamin and pointed to the top. “Look, it starts with two tubes, just like two parents. Then it diverges into other sections! Those represent the kids!” 
“You got it,” Ms. Patton admitted with a laugh. “Way to go, Kamala!” 
She smiled in pleasure, her face turning red from embarrassment. “Thanks, Ms. Patton.” 
“Anyway, your classmate is absolutely right. These tubes represent families of all kinds. And this,” Ms. Patton began, holding up a small marble, “represents your powers.” She handed a few marbles to each group. “Put your panel against the wall, as vertically as you can, and drop the marble through any of the top tube openings! The marble should go through a completely random tube.” 
Kelly picked up the marble and dropped it into the tube on the left. Just as Ms. Patton said, the marble went into the middle tube. Other kids exclaimed that theirs went in completely different directions than their classmates’. 
“That’s the point!” Ms. Patton said, raising her voice so everyone could hear it over the commotion. “The powers pass down to a completely random child. Usually, the powers from one parent or relative only pass on to one child, but there are exceptions.” 
Serena stared at her and Kelly’s falling marble, her eyebrows pressing together as she thought hard. Which parent had her powers come from? Was it Mom or Dad? With a start, she remembered how Mom had bought her the Emotions Master book, which oddly connected to her own sensing-emotions power. Could Mom actually have known about Serena’s abilities because… she herself had them? 
Seeming to read her mind, Kelly asked Serena, “Which parent do you think your powers came from?” She didn’t look away from the marble. 
“I don’t know, but I feel like my mom knew about my powers before I did,” Serena admitted. “She got me this book about a kid who also can feel emotions—it’s called Emotions Master and it’s one of our ELA books this year—and said she got it before knowing about my abilities. But it just seems too suspicious to really be true.” 
Kelly looked at her and blinked. “Yeah, that’s no coincidence. Your mom must have known.” She paused and propped her head up with her hand. “I think my powers might have come from my dad. When we climbed the Appalachian Mountains, he seemed to never get tired. He could also walk unusually fast. Serena, do you think that’s because of some emotions trick?” 
She thought about Mr. Bendol’s class, when he said that they would learn tricks to help them exercise and improve their health. “Probably. Gym class is supposed to teach us those things.” 
Kelly nodded. She retrieved the marble from the bottom of the panel and handed it to Serena. “Here, your turn!” 
Serena dropped the marble in and watched it fall down. Her mind wandered to the shadow yet again. Without thinking, she blurted out, “Kelly, have you seen a weird shadow in this school?” 
Her lab partner blinked. “Umm. No. You have?” 
“Yup.” Suddenly, she began spilling everything about the shadow that she knew, from when she first saw the shadow after buying Brantley to the incident in the lunch line. “I don’t know why it keeps appearing. It mostly seems to just appear by me, too. As far as I know of, no one else has seen it except after I see it. And I’m getting fed up with seeing it. I don’t know why. It’s just annoying.” She felt a surge of relief at releasing her feelings. 
“Okay, that’s reeeeeally weird,” Kelly said. Her eyes widened, a glint of curiosity emerging. “Serena? I’ll see if anyone else knows about this weird shadow thing for you!” She turned quickly to Harley’s group. “Harley, have you ever seen a shadow in the school? Serena has seen one.” 
“No, why are you asking?” Harley asked. She looked at Kelly, then at Serena, confused. 
“Kelly-” Serena began. She never meant for Kelly to reveal to everyone what she saw! However, it was too late. Kelly was already questioning Benjamin. 
“I-I don’t know!” Benjamin exclaimed nervously. 
“Um, no. It’s just not possible to see a shadow in a well-lit space!” Kamala added. 
“Okay, thanks!” Kelly tore away and ran to everyone else in the class. 
In response, Serena hared right after her. “Kelly! Wait!” 
Kelly paused for a moment and turned back to Serena. “You want to know if anyone else sees this shadow too, right? And you want to know what it is?” She placed a hand on her hips and stared, determined, at Serena. “Well, I’m going to find you some answers.” 
== Chapter Fourteen ==
As soon as the bell rang, Kelly ran. She’s probably racing off to question more people, Serena thought with an angry sigh. 
Even when the class started to leave, Serena didn’t move. Why would Kelly share what Serena told her without permission? Her hands clenched into fists as anger seeped over her. Then she shook herself. Calm. I’m usually calm. Why was she suddenly so angry? Most things didn’t faze her. Her brain still a mess, she walked out into the hallway, trying to clear her mind. 
She continued on, thinking, Should I have trusted Kelly with this information so soon after I got to know her? I thought she could maybe help me. She seemed nice, curious, and just friendly. But this… this is not what I planned!
All of a sudden, there was a crashing noise, startling Serena out of her thoughts. It sounded like glass breaking. Serena spun around, trying to locate the source of the sound, but nothing could be seen. Except… there was a piece of artwork on the wall. It looked like Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night” painting. 
Her eyes lingered on the canvas for a moment as she thought, Huh? That wasn’t just there… was it? Then she shrugged and turned her gaze towards the floor. Eh, it’s cool, but… Even her thoughts trailed off as she saw shards of glass laying on the floor. 
“Where did that come from?” she asked out loud. She looked back up at the painting, but it seemed to be getting smaller. It spun, shrunk, and fell towards the floor, (Serena had an urge to lunge forward and catch it before it made a mess but decided against it) then disappeared. 
“What the-” a boy nearby breathed. Serena turned to look. He was staring at the wall where the painting had once been. “I love that painting! It’s my favorite of van Gogh’s! It’s just so… intricate! And beautiful!” Then he frowned, probably realizing that it was gone. “Wait, where’d it go?” 
Serena took a step forward towards the boy. “You saw it too?” she asked, surprised. Most of these odd things she had been seeing lately seemed to be aimed just at her. 
The boy saw her and scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin. “You heard me talk, didn’t you? Oops. But yeah, I saw it. And I loved it! Vincent van Gogh was an amazing artist.” 
Serena snorted in laughter and said, “Sure,” though she preferred other artists. 
“Anyway,” she said quickly, “I have to go find my classmate now. She just ran off when there was more that I wanted to say to her!” 
The boy nodded. “Haha, that happens a lot,” he said, not sensing that the matter was urgent. “Good luck finding her! By the way, my name is Vincent.” 
“After van Gogh, I assume?” Serena asked, smiling. 
Vincent nodded. “Remember, Vincent van Gogh is the best artist. And I will be too.” 
Serena said goodbye and began to search for Kelly. I have to find her and get her to stop telling people about the shadow! I know she’s trying to help, and I appreciate that, but I don’t want this to end badly! People are going to think I’m crazy. But… she thought, maybe, if I tell her how I feel about this, she’ll stop. I would stop if someone admitted to me that they didn’t like what I was doing. She let out a relieved yet determined breath, satisfied with her plan. Now, last thing: Where would Kelly ask next? 
*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Serena’s thoughts wandered to the shadow as she looked for her kind-of friend. Kelly wanted to ask people if they saw the shadow or knew anything about it. What person would know things about shadows? 
Suddenly, it smacked her in the face. The art teacher, Mrs. Sawyer, knew about shadows! 3D artwork contains lots of light and shadows to make it look realistic. The teacher would definitely be knowledgeable. Serena had to admit that Kelly was pretty clever in her investigation efforts, despite the bad way she did it. She was also a bit proud of her own problem-solving. 
Serena knew that she would have to hurry. The breaks between classes were only 5 minutes long, and she still had to find Mrs. Sawyer, get Kelly to stop her investigation, AND get to her next class. 
She speed-walked down the hallway and turned left, remembering how to get there from yesterday’s class. She skidded into the room, out of breath, to see Kelly speaking with Mrs. Sawyer. 
“Kelly!” she panted. “Wait! Please stop!” 
Her classmate turned from her discussion with the art teacher. “Serena, I thought you wanted me to figure stuff out?” 
“Not like this!” she said. She took a deep breath, feeling the air fill her lungs. It soothed her. 
“Kelly, I want to know why the shadow keeps appearing and why no one really seems to see it, but I didn’t want you to tell everyone that I was seeing some weird thing! Yes, I know you were trying to help, but I wish you asked me about it first. Could you please stop telling everyone about this?” She paused, waiting for Kelly’s answer. Mrs. Sawyer looked at the two girls in silence, waiting to see what would happen. 
It took a moment, but Kelly eventually said, “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. I have issues with that sometimes. But why don’t you want everyone to know about the shadow? I thought you wanted it to go away, and maybe someone else has an idea of how to do it. Like Mrs. Sawyer here,” she added, pointing to Serena’s teacher. 
“I…” Serena sighed. “I didn’t want everyone to know because I didn’t want them to think I was crazy or something. Also, something serious could be going on; I don’t know. But I thought it would be better to just keep quiet about this and investigate without telling the whole school.” Serena felt relieved at finally being able to tell Kelly her thoughts. She also, surprisingly, didn’t feel angry at all, unlike earlier. Her sense of calm was back. 
Meanwhile, Kelly looked guilty. 
“Besides, I wanted to create a different plan that didn’t involve getting everyone, well, involved. The way you just rushed off, telling everyone, kind of betrayed my trust in you. I want to think of a plan that we both agree is the best way to go. You’re right about this: We do need to figure out what the shadow is and why it’s here. I’d just like a different plan.” 
Kelly hesitated, then sighed. “Okay, I know why you were so upset. I’m sorry, Serena.” 
“It’s okay,” Serena assured her. “Thanks for stopping.” 
“A-huh. But I still want to do something. What do you think we should do? And how can we get it to go away?” 
Before Serena could reply, Mrs. Sawyer chimed in, “I’m glad you girls solved your argument! Since you’re trying to figure out the mysteries of the shadow, I had an idea that you might like to hear… You know that shadows appear when light is blocked by something, correct? Well, to make a shadow disappear, you have to take away the item that blocks the light. Or shine light onto the item.” 
Serena pondered the advice. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “That’s it!” A plan was already starting to form in her mind. “We have to find a light to shine!” 
“But what can we use?” Kelly asked. “Wait, we have to find the shadow again too.” 
“True. But I know just what we could try for a light source.” Serena smiled. 
== Chapter Fifteen ==
“What is it?” Kelly asked eagerly. Curiosity radiated off her, filling all of Serena’s senses. 
Serena tapped her diamond, checking the time. Her eyes widened as she saw the time. “Hang on, we gotta run to Gym! Quickly!” She cast a swift glance at Kelly. “I’ll tell you on the way there.” 
“Goodbye, and good luck!” Mrs. Sawyer called after them. 
Once they got moving, Serena began, “Okay, so you remember what we learned from in Use of Emotions yesterday, right?” 
“I miiiight have forgotten,” Kelly admitted sheepishly. 
Serena rolled her eyes. She wasn’t thrilled that Kelly had already forgotten the previous day’s lesson, but she supposed it would be hard to keep everything straight after the chaos of their first day. Serena’s brain was still filled with all the thoughts about her abilities, emotions, and all the new friends she had met. Hopefully, she thought, I’ll be able to discuss all this stuff with many different people! It never hurts to have an extra friend. Speaking of that… She looked at Kelly. I guess I can really call her my friend now. She never did mean any harm. 
“Well, Mr. Allen told us that emotions can be used for medical treatments, pranks, etc. At orientation, he also made mist from anticipation. Wouldn’t that mean that we could theoretically create light from emotions?” 
Kelly nodded. “I see! We could shine it at the shadow and see if it goes away. That could work! Now when do we start?” 
“Hold on,” Serena warned. “We still have to figure out a real plan. Besides, we still have to attend our classes.” 
“Oh, yeah, you’re right.” 
As they entered the gymnasium, Kelly said, “So, do you wanna tell other people about this or not? I mean, we could use a bit more assistance.” She hesitated, then added, “I think we should, but it’s up to you.” 
Serena gave a small smile, glad that Kelly was asking for her opinion. “Well, I think that would be a good idea”—Kelly opened her mouth to start speaking, but Serena continued— “but I think we should wait a bit. At least while we think of a plan.” Privately, Serena wasn’t quite ready to tell anyone else just yet, especially after what had just happened with Kelly. She wasn’t sure that was a good idea. 
“Kelly, I think we should put this aside and focus on our classes,” Serena suggested. “I’d bet that we’ll learn things that will help us on our mission.” 
“Yeah, that makes sense! Then let’s do that!” Kelly agreed. 
Satisfied with Kelly’s answer, Serena sat down at her spot in the gym happily, ready to learn all that she could. 
* * * * * * * * * *
Serena walked into the Emotions Attack and Defense classroom, Finn trailing along behind her. There was always something odd about this room. Even though the lights were clearly on, it always seemed a bit dim. Shadows stretched across the walls of the classroom, and Serena shivered, feeling like it was an ominous sign. 
“Welcome, students,” said their teacher, Ms. Adair, her voice sounding wispy like the wind. “Today I will teach you a trick to help if you are ever caught off guard.” 
Serena shared a knowing glance with Kelly, who was sitting at the table across from hers. That reminds me of when I keep seeing the shadow! I’m always surprised. 
“Now, since you have learned some things in your Use of Emotions class, I will let you guess what emotion or emotions could help us out.” 
“Do we have to guess? ‘Cause I don’t know the answer,” a girl named Jay said, crossing her arms. She looked defiant. 
“Yes, someone must try.” Giving a hard look at Jay, Ms. Adair continued, “I was going to let volunteers offer an answer first, but since you questioned my teaching, you must answer.” 
Jay scowled, but Serena could see that she was more scared than she let on—she gulped, and panic flashed across her eyes. Serena could even feel her fear. By now, she had kind of gotten used to feeling her classmates’ strong emotions. “Ummm…” Jay mumbled. 
“Here’s a hint: What do you feel when you are pranked? Come on, you got this!” 
Jay sat in silence. 
Finally, Finn raised his hand. “Umm… what about surprise?” he asked after Ms. Adair called on him. 
Ms. Adair nodded approvingly. “Yes, that is correct. Thank you, Finnley.” 
“Finn,” he corrected. 
“Ah, yes, my apologies. Anyway, to use this trick, you must use the surprise you feel and the defensive feeling that pounces upon you when you get startled. If you think quickly, you can form a shield, to help prevent any possible threats.” 
That’s pretty cool! Serena thought. She shivered in excitement as dozens of ideas crashed down into her head like a waterfall. She had been right to be enthusiastic about going to Emotions Academy. If the shadow ever does more than just scare me… now I’ll have a shield to defend myself with. She nodded, feeling good about everything she was learning. I knew it was a good idea to wait on telling more people. Now we’ll have more ideas, strategies, and techniques to use! Besides, once we know more, we can investigate better. That’s a good plan. 
“Okay, who would like to attempt this trick?” Ms. Adair called out. “One person must scare the other, and one must create the shield.” 
Serena raised her hand. She looked and saw Jay raising her hand too, giving a mischievous smile. 
Uh-oh. I don’t have a good feeling about this… She hadn’t forgotten how Jay tried to cheat in gym class.
Surprise came from Ms. Adair, probably surprised that Jay would volunteer for the trick, but she shrugged it off. “Serena, are you okay with creating the shield?” 
“Sure!” That was what she planned on, anyway. 
“And Jay, you can try to scare Serena. You can do anything you like. As long as it’s appropriate and not too mean,” she added. 
Serena and Jay stood up, pushing their chairs in. They came to the front of the classroom and stood facing each other. 
In front of her, Jay fidgeted. Her nervousness tainted the air in front of her. Why did she volunteer for this if she was scared? Serena wondered. Then she looked back at Jay’s mischievous half-smile. Oh yeah, she wants to prank me. 
“Alright… go!” 
Jay snuck behind Serena, and she waited in anticipation. She hoped she wouldn’t jump out of her skin. The proud and mischievous feeling approached closer, and she knew that Jay was about to do something. She squeezed her eyes tight and waited for the scare. 
But nothing happened. She turned around and saw Jay, frozen. Fear surrounded her like a cloud. Serena felt puzzled, and she saw the same feeling in her classmates’ gazes. Confusion wafted around the room as students began muttering to one another. 
Jay stood there, petrified, as Ms. Adair came over. She put a hand on Jay’s shoulder. “Come on. You can do this.” She paused, then added, “What’s wrong?” 
Jay said nothing. 
Ms. Adair sighed. “Okay, then. If you say so. But really, let me know if you need something. I have my ways of helping.” She smiled. “Now go on ahead. You got this! Don’t worry about what others think if that’s the problem.” She stepped back and resumed watching. 
All of a sudden, Jay shouted, “RAHHH!” and Serena jumped, quite startled. She tried to remember how to make a shield. She collected her surprise, but at that moment, forgot what to do next. 
She expected someone to laugh, feeling shameful that she forgot the steps, but no one did. Kelly and Finn nodded at her. Their encouragement shone like a bright light. Feeling grateful for her friend’s support, she looked at Ms. Adair. 
“It’s okay,” she said. “On occasion, it does take a bit to remember how to make the shield. Most students that I’ve had have had trouble in various ways. Would you like to try again?” she asked Serena. 
Serena nodded. She wanted to succeed. She had to do well. This could benefit her a lot. 
She and Jay got back into position. When Jay scared her this time, she summoned all of her feelings of surprise into a ball. Imagining it was a ball, she squashed it down into a flat trampoline shape. After all, trampolines do look like shields. Focusing on gymnastics helped center her. 
Feeling the energy hum and vibrate through her body, she pushed it outward and into her hands. When she opened her eyes, a swirling pale blue and yellow shield was in her hand. She looked at it in wonder. 
Ms. Adair clapped her hands. “Good job! You did well.” Serena let go of the shield, letting it disappear into the air. She felt happy, knowing that she was the first in her class to do the trick correctly and that she did it at all. She could feel the happiness and approval of the other students as well. 
Serena knew that she made a good call in telling Kelly that they should just learn in their classes. She rubbed her hands together. They’d be learning so much, so soon! 
She felt confident that soon, they’d figure out how to get that shadow to disappear. 
But wait! If they made it go away… they’d never figure out what it was. 
Serena changed her mind. They would still try to create light out of emotions and see if it could go away, but at the same time, they would investigate what it was and why it was there, too. 
== Chapter Sixteen ==
“Shadow, shadow, shadow,” Serena repeated, pacing back and forth in her dorm room. “I need a plan! How in Emotions Academy can I get this shadow to appear without it scaring me to death? And I need to figure out which emotion I can make light out of and how to do it.” She stopped pacing and collapsed on the bed. “This shadow is driving me coconuts.” 
“Coconuts?” Aura exclaimed, opening the door and skating inside. “What about coconuts? And did you say something about your shadow?” 
Serena blinked. “Uh- Well-” 
“What?” Aura asked, leaning against the wall. Serena felt her concern and curiosity as clear as the light from a lighthouse. 
“I-I’ll tell you later.” Serena began to put all of her supplies in her backpack to get ready for school. She tapped her diamond, and it showed the time: 8:14 AM. Classes started at 8:20, so she’d have to hurry. 
Aura tilted her head to the side. “...Okay, then.” She frowned, looking a bit hurt. 
Guilt washed over Serena and she conceded. “Okay. So, I’ve been seeing this weird shadow, and Kelly and I are trying to get rid of it. And find out what it is.” 
“Ooh, can I help you?” Aura asked. 
Serena hesitated, thinking about her argument with Kelly yesterday. “Maybe.” 
“Well, if you need help, I’d be happy to assist!” Aura replied cheerfully. Serena smiled—she was glad that she could at least count on Aura to help if the need arose. 
They each went their separate ways to their 1st-period class. The whole walk to Science, Serena pondered what emotion she could use to create light until her head hurt from the intensity of her thoughts. She shook her head and walked into the science classroom, hoping she would learn something that would help her on her mission. 
Soon enough, it was time to go to Use of Emotions 1. Maybe I could ask Mr. Allen which emotions I can create light out of, Serena wondered. She felt a tingling sensation at the thought of finally seeing how the shadow would react to her light. 
Serena tried to navigate through the hallways safely, but it was a bit tricky with all the students running around in every direction. She heard loud talking and giggling behind her and turned around. A group of loud, annoying students was coming her way. They barged past her, smashing her against the wall and causing her smiley-face keychain to drop to the ground with a clang. She crouched down to pick it up and fasten it on her backpack. Oh, yeah, she thought, staring at the happy-eyed keychain. Our one teacher at Mabelie loved smiley faces! And that’s where I got this keychain. Just looking at it made her happy, thinking of the memories. 
She sighed. Emotions Academy was amazing, but she still did miss her friends and family from home. She wondered if she could find a way to contact them. Well, I’ll figure it out! 
Suddenly, something caught her eye. Something dark… 
She jolted upright in surprise. It was the shadow. 
The last EAD lesson about shields replayed in her head. She squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating on taking her surprise and forming a shield in case the shadow suddenly retaliated. The emotion glowed faintly in front of her. Serena thought she did it wrong but soon realized that the hallway lights were so bright that they dimmed the shield’s glow. 
She glanced at the shadow, but it remained still. 
Okay, then… With a start, she remembered her whole plan to make light out of an emotion. But which one? she thought with a sense of dread as her mind filled with a chart of all the possible emotions. “Ummm…” she mumbled out loud. All of a sudden, it smacked her in the face. Couldn’t triumph work? She was proud that she finally had a plan and found the shadow! 
Wait… how do I make light? Serena felt stupid. She should have researched the topic earlier. She sighed in reluctant acceptance. All she could do now was try. 
She closed her eyes, gathering the triumph she felt, and tried making it lighter, making it brighter. In front of her was a dimly glowing light. In a start of pleasant surprise, Serena thrust the light toward the shadow. But as soon as it approached the shadow, it flickered and disappeared. 
“H-huh?” Serena exclaimed. She peered at the shadow. Nothing happened. It was still there. Then, suddenly, it faded away and vanished. 
That’s it? Well, that didn’t work, she thought. She sighed. She would have to ask Mr. Allen about the light for sure. What emotions worked the best? How could you make a strong light that doesn’t flicker? Serena felt the usual tingle of excitement as she thought about the new things she could learn. Anyway, I better get going! She grabbed her stuff and hurried down the hallway. 
The bell rang the second as Serena entered the room. She panted a sigh of relief, glad that she had made it on time, and plopped down in her seat. 
“Good morning, students,” Mr. Allen called. “Today I’d like to teach you how to make physical objects out of emotions.” 
“Can you create the Blu-Ray version of Moana out of emotions?” Finn asked. Serena giggled at his Moana enthusiasm. 
“Can you make a model of a brain?” Kamala questioned. Everyone, including Mr. Allen, stared at her. “You know, for this advanced science class I’m taking?” she added, raising an eyebrow at the class. 
“Well… yes, perhaps,” Mr. Allen answered slowly, thrown off guard by Kamala’s odd question. 
“Can you make Bonnie Thunders roller derby skates?!” Aura exclaimed, sticking her head into the room. 
“What- Aura, I don’t have you until after the Half Periods! What are you doing without a hall pass?” Mr. Allen questioned. 
“Don’t worry, I have one! Come to think of it, why do I have a hall pass? Anyway, I got one right here, Mr. A!” Aura held up a yellow piece of paper. 
“That’s a valid point,” Kamala noted. 
“Well, Aura, I’ve never heard of anyone making those specific skates. But you’re always welcome to try!” 
Aura began to skate into the classroom, but Mr. Allen held out his hands in front of him like a stop sign. “Not now, Aura! During 5th period.” 
“Okay, fine. Byeee!” She glided out of the room. 
Mr. Allen sighed. “Anyway, in order to make physical objects out of emotions, you must take an emotion similar to the object you want to make—for example, if you wanted to make a toy car, you would use excitement or playfulness—and shape it into the object as if you were molding clay. However, it does usually have to be small, as it will take too much energy otherwise. Watch!” He closed his eyes and concentrated. “Right now, I’m imagining myself on a roller coaster and am taking that excitement and making it a toy car. See?” 
As Serena watched, the vague outline of a car began to form out of yellow light. Mr. Allen squeezed his eyes shut even more and stretched his hands out in front of him. After a moment’s pause, a small yellow toy car dropped into the Use of Emotions teacher’s hands. 
Everyone applauded. Serena watched, wide-eyed, thrilled that emotions could turn into toys. But the yellow light that appeared as Mr. Allen created the car… that grabbed Serena’s attention more. Now would be the perfect time to ask about creating light out of emotions. 
“Well, there you have it!” Mr. Allen said with a smile. “Feel free to try to make your DVDs and brain models. I can assist if needed.” 
Finn grinned and immediately closed his eyes, surely pondering the enthusiasm he felt every time he heard the word ‘Moana’. A yellow, slightly orange, rectangle appeared in front of him. Serena studied the shape, hoping Finn could manage to create his DVD. 
Suddenly, the orange light burst, and in its place was a DVD case of Moana. 
“Well, would you look at that,” Mr. Allen chuckled. He clapped Finn’s shoulder. “A Moana movie! That’s a first!” Finn smiled even wider. 
Serena concentrated on the medals she had seen gymnasts wear at the Olympics. She took triumph—what better emotion is there than that?—and tried making it into a medal. She imagined the emotion as a floating blob in front of her and stretched her hands out, shaping it into a circular shape. Serena made the final touches and opened her eyes. Laying in the palm of her hand was a medal. 
She smiled as Mr. Allen came over. “Wow, an Olympic medal! I assume you want to win one yourself?” 
“Yeah!” Serena replied. She nodded, picturing herself completing the flips and tumbles of a gymnast and receiving a pristine gold medal. “I want to be a gymnast.” 
Mr. Allen looked surprised. “I never knew that about you! I suppose emotions really can help people understand each other!” He laughed, and Serena joined in. She looked at what objects the other students created, impressed that everyone could create something remarkable and unique. 
At the end of class, after everyone had left the classroom, Serena approached Mr. Allen at his desk. “Mr. Allen? I have a question.” 
He looked up. “Yes?” 
“So, if you wanted to make light out of an emotion, how would you do it?” she asked. “What emotions can you use?” 
“Hmm. Interesting question! I suppose you can make light out of any emotion, but I bet the brightest light would be from positive emotions such as joy. Why do you ask?” 
“Well…” Serena wasn’t sure how much to say. “I was curious if you could make light. I mean, we can make so many other things with emotions. I wanted to see what happens if the light shines on something.” 
Mr. Allen nodded slowly. “I see. Well, you can create light by imagining putting the emotion inside a light source such as a lamp, imagining it getting brighter, or observing its glow on other objects. If you can master this skill, you’ll never have to worry about the dark again!” He grinned. 
Serena brightened as if she was a light created out of an emotion. “Thank you, Mr. Allen!” With a polite nod, she ran out of the room, excited to tell Kelly her plan. 
She paused near her next class, organizing her supplies so she could be as prepared as possible. As she rearranged her notebooks, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Kelly chatting with someone. While she zipped up her backpack, she watched and listened. 
“...there’s this shadow, and it’s really weird…” 
Serena froze. 
“Huh? A shadow? Wait, I saw a shadow in the lunch line yesterday.” 
“Serena told me about that! Do you know why it keeps appearing? We’re trying to figure it out.” 
What?! Was Kelly telling someone about their investigation? 
She glanced over to see who Kelly was spilling the beans to. It was Finn. A wave of relief washed over her, despite her annoyance. At least Finn was trustworthy. But wait! We promised to wait for now until we learned more!  
Serena approached Kelly, whose surprise and guilt clearly floated through the air. 
“What are you doing, Kelly? Didn’t we promise to wait and see what we learned before we dragged anyone else into this?” Serena’s frustration flowed into her voice. 
Kelly bit her lip. “Oh, yeah. I’m sorry, Serena. I couldn’t help myself; I had to tell someone else. Secrets are hard for me,” she explained. “I can’t just sit still and do nothing. I promise you, though, I’ve been trying to not let that feeling take over. I’m so sorry!” 
Finn blinked. “Umm… did I miss something here?” 
Kelly looked at Serena, waiting for her answer. Serena could tell that her friend was trying hard to not blurt out anything. Even though she had a reckless, eager look in her eyes, she said nothing. 
“Well…” Serena sighed, “now that you know, we might as well fill you in.” 
== Chapter Seventeen (coming soon) ==
Category:Stories
Category:Fantasy
Category:Series