The Elementals - 3. James Aaron Wright

*James’ POV*

“JAMES! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THAT FUCKING BED AND INTO THE SHOWER!” his older brother screamed through his door.

“CORY ANTHONY WRIGHT! YOU WILL NOT USE SUCH LANGUAGE FOR AS LONG AS YOU LIVE UNDER THIS ROOF!” his grandmother shouted, coercing an apology out of Cory.

“The people in this house are fucking insane!” I fumed internally as I jumped out of bed and went to his bathroom to take a shower.

James Aaron Wright. Son of Angela and Matthew Wright. Grandchild of Amy and Alexander Wright and the little brother of Cory Anthony Wright, is a 16-year-old boy who attends Elemental High School. He is currently number three in the Junior Elemental Division and specializes in both earth and air manipulation. He was a bright, fun, outgoing boy until a certain event occurred that took away his light and plunged him into darkness.

About a week after Tom’s return, his parents who were scientists for Elematrix, were brutally murdered and Ms Oakley, the CEO of the company and current Vice-President, covered it up and called it a 'robbery gone wrong' and nothing more was said. She threatened their household and paid them money to never utter a word about this. Ever since then, James has had a vendetta against the Oakley’s and Tom was the only person he could use as a venting outlet.

After taking my shower, I headed downstairs to eat breakfast with the family. To my surprise, it's just me and Cory in the kitchen. Cory, my only sibling, is 23-years-old and he is an earthbender. He just completed his studies and is pursuing the route my parents once took. I’ve been trying to talk him out of it but he is as stubborn as I am when he’s made up his mind.

“I want to find out what happened to our parents, James. I just want closure for you because I can see this hurts you to the point that you don’t want to make friends. You treat everyone like an enemy and such an outlook in life will lead you to become lonely one day.”

“But what if you die trying to find out the truth? You know how powerful she is. She could get you killed and cover the whole thing up like your life didn’t matter. That lady is pure evil and she always gets what she wants.”

“This discussion is over James. I start working there today and there’s nothing you can do about it.” He said to once again end our morning bickering.

“I constantly fear for his life. He’s always been sticking out his neck to ensure I don’t get hurt. He is the only reason I participated in the games last year and am still in school. He’s always fighting for me and I love him for that, even if we disagree at times,” I thought to myself as a smile enveloped my face. My brother saw this and returned with a warm smile of his own.

“Well, I better head out. I’m still a low-level grunt at the office and I still have to do all the grunt work. It’ll be a while before I can even work in the lab and even longer before I can get to the more restricted areas. Have a good day little brother. Love ya!” my brother shouted as he rushed to the door.

“Hey Cory, I love you and hope you have a great first day, even if you work as a grunt,” I replied with a warm smile on my face. That would probably be the last smile until I get back to the house from school today.

I left the house while my grandparents were still in their room. They had a late night last night, so I’ll let them rest a bit. Besides, I need a walk to freshen me up. “Today’s going to be a great day, even if it’s only day 2 of school. I’ll avoid Tom Oakley and have myself an even better day if that happens,” I muttered to myself as I neared the school. I activated my façade and walked into school. What is the façade I put on when I get here? Well, I pretend to hate everyone in sight and that keeps people away from me. Win-win situation for everyone.

“Oh great, my day has already been ruined because the person I was avoiding is currently leaning on my locker,” I thought to myself as I neared my locker. There’s nothing wrong with Tom really. I actually have the biggest crush on him but him being related to that evil bitch is what makes me this bitter. There was a time during the first day where I wanted to greet him, even if it wasn’t too polite. I think I fucked up my chance to do so when I started giving him my award-winning death glares which even keep teachers away from me. I walked up to my locker and in the rudest way possible, I ‘asked’ him to move. “I am such an amazing flirt!” I mocked myself as I saw him slightly flinch when I spoke but then he did something that completely surprised me. He ignored my rude approach and tried to make me an acquaintance. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!!! Why was he being nice to me even after I rudely approached me. I was rude to him again, hoping he’d back off, but not even that shook him enough to get him to walk away. “He’s persistent and stubborn. I think I like him even more now but I can’t ever show that. He’s the enemy and I cannot fraternise with the enemy!” I thought to myself as I rudely walked away from the scene. As I looked back after I’d put some considerable distance between the two of us I saw a guy about our age, watching Tom with the look I’d probably have if I wasn’t so ‘angry’ with him. “Who the fuck is that guy? And what’s with that creepy look he has on his face?” I questioned myself as I walked away toward the ‘meeting’ spot.

Every morning, us as the 5 members of the top ten meet up to discuss practice times and also to walk together to our first class like a pack of damned wolves. We always walk in late to get major attention, but I’d prefer it if I could arrive early so I could avoid attention. Besides, I’m not the most sociable person in the class as I don’t really present a welcoming face. “On well, sacrifices must be made in order for me to avoid people,” I thought to myself as I walked into the class.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING HERE?!!?” I thought, almost losing my façade and making an ass of myself as I walked int the class. “To make matters worse, he’s taken a seat next to mine so I can’t avoid him whatsoever. So much for a great day… Wait, isn’t that the guy from earlier? He’s in this class?” I thought as I went to my seat. “Oh fuck, he’s got that sexy as smile on his face. I need to say something before I completely melt and lose my composure,”.

“What the fuck are you grinning about?” I asked in my most menacing voice.

“Way to go, James. Now you’ve gone and shown you actually dislike him and that’s really not the case,” I fumed as I took my seat next to him.

The teacher began the class by asking the newcomers to introduce themselves. The first person to go up was that creepy guy from earlier. His name is Raymond and he’s a dual elemental like me, Cameron and Blake. I need to keep an eye on that bastard. I don’t like him at all. He gives off this weird aura that doesn't sit well with me. After him was Tom, and my oh my, did he give us all a shock. Who knew a person could manipulate all 4 elements with such ease? Blake is probably jealous of his former friend’s achievement and intimidated, judging by the look on his face. “Wonder what broke them up as friends, but more importantly, how can Tom manipulate 4 elements? My parents vaguely spoke of something like this a few days before their death and it seemed to be stressing them. I wonder…”

We were told to pair up and await further instructions. I was so tempted to pair up with Tom, but then I would be betraying my 'way of life' thus far. I had promised to not get associated with Tom, no matter what. After I paired up with Max Wellington, the former number 10 (he lost to Janie when she challenged him in challenge month), I noticed that Tom had paired up with that creep. My scowl deepened at the scene as I watched him make advances on Tom. “He’s not worthy of Tom. He’s such a creep!” I though to myself. I guess I am jealous of anyone that tries to get close to Tom, but then I don’t make advances, so that makes me look like shit. “I hate that I built this façade at times. I could have been his partner, flirting with him and…”

“Uh, James, I’m going to go draw a name out of the hat to see who our opponents are, okay?” Max spoke disturbing my train of thought. I merely nodded and went to look back at the two but only found Ray glaring at me. I glared back, determined not to lose this little battle occurring between us. As soon as Tom returned to Ray, I turned away so he didn’t see me. Max came back and told me who we were facing. We’d be facing Ian and Cameron after Tom’s match.

“Also, while I was there, I heard Tom and that Ray guy are facing Janie and Blake! The first match is going to be AMAZING!” Max said, obviously excited to see how strong the new guys are and obviously to see Blake in action. I swear this guy probably has a shrine in his room dedicated to Blake because his obsession with the guy is borderline creepy. “Blake and Janie vs Tom and Ray… Interesting match-up.” I thought as I looked at Tom who looked visibly nervous about the match. Blake on the other hand, looked a little to excited if you ask me.

“This match may be as 'amazing' as Max pointed it out to be. Former best friends and a guy who doesn’t like Blake. What a team.” I thought as I took a seat.

“Alright boys and girls, now that the teams have been chosen, it’s time to begin today’s matches! Can Tom, Ray, Blake and Janie please enter the arena?” Ms Elkins asked, starting the mini tournament.