The Four Elements Club chapter 1

Chapter 1







Eve was a mess. Her foot was sore. She had a huge pimple on her forehead. Her hair was greasy from neglect. She had bags under her eyes from staying up all night, listening to heart-wrenching music.

She desperately needed to get out of the house.

Eve thought about going to one of her friends’ houses. Casey would be at tennis training, and Heather’s dad wouldn’t be home.

That left Bella.

Bella was the least judgemental of her friends. She was a great listener and would probably write a story or make a painting about your problem.

Eve scuffed her feet along the shaggy carpet as she left the house. She decided to run all the way to Bella’s cottage. Or at least run a bit, then give up and walk the rest of the way. Casey would be proud of her.

Eve loved walking up the quaint little stepping-stone path that lead up to the cottage. It looked like something out of a fairy-tale, which was rare for the middle of Bendigo. Bella’s parents came from a farm out in some small country town called Redesdale. They had hundreds of sheep and 6 alpacas. The Morgan’s house was so small and covered with clichés like white-washed walls, faded tin roofs and roses crawling up the doors, that Eve suspected they based it off a dollhouse.

“Eve is in the house!” Eve let herself in and announced her presence. She knew where the spare key was, but they hardly ever locked the house. She hoped Bella was home.

She heard a squeal from down the corridor and saw a short blond rush towards her, nearly knocking Eve over, and dragged her by the arm into her bedroom.

“I’ve found you!” Bella said. “Evie, we thought you were dead!”Bella hardly ever got this worked up, but her eyes were full of concern for her friend.

Eve giggled and took in the sight of Bella, who she hadn’t seen in over a week.

She looked at her skinny frame, her dark blond frizzy hair, her warm brown eyes, and burst into tears.

“Oh, Eve,” Bella cooed, hugging Eve and letting her cry on her shoulder. “You’ve had it tough, haven’t you?”

Eve could feel her mascara running, but she didn’t really care. “It’s Will.” She said. “He broke it off.” Her lips started to tremble. Casey was looking at her with equal amounts of pity and confusion. Eve needed some pity. “I thought you two were going really well.” She said. It almost came out as a question. Will and Eve had been going out for a few weeks now, taking each other to movies, sharing their lunches and looking really happy together.

“He found someone better than me. Britney.” Eve said bitterly. To her credit, Bella frowned. “I’ll tell Casey to go whack her with a tennis racket.” Eve laughed. The four friends had been rivals with Britney since grade two. She was an evil witch in designer clothes.

“You locked yourself up in your room for a whole week. We tried coming over, but you mum said you didn’t want to talk to anyone. We were so worried about you! Especially Heather. You know how she gets. She was getting ready to break down the door and she looked like she was going to be sick!” Bella said. Heather did tend to get a bit too motherly, sometimes. She kind of had to, since she was the only female in her house now.

“What are you painting?” Eve asked. She had seen the easel and canvas in the corner of the room.

“Oh, it’s just a meadow, or something.” Bella squinted at it. “I think the trees are a bit lopsided, and the rocks look all...blobby.” Bella was always painting. Or sketching or writing. She was a very artistic person.

“I think it’s great.” Eve complimented. She wished she could draw like that. All she had were her skull-print t-shirts, studded belt, red guitar and music. She could sing, too, and had won a few awards in comps. Eve wasn’t that self conscience about her looks, but she still had her own unique style. Her dark brown hair was always gelled into a messy pony-tail, just the way she liked it. Her gray eyes were always mascara-clad and had a hint of purple eye-shadow streaked across her eye-lids.

“I’m calling them over!” Bella yelled as she headed towards the kitchen, where she had left her phone on the charger. Belles was forgetful in that way. It also seemed that she also forgets to buy clothes from this generation. She always wore vintage t-shirts with old band logos on them, and of course her favourite faded blue jeans.

“Ugh,” Eve groaned. She wasn’t prepared for Casey’s and Heather’s worry-fest. They would defiantly bombard her with questions, and Eve just knew Heather would tell her off for breaking the rule of not answering their calls. They were both big on rules; Heather, on making and following them, Eve on breaking them.

She could practically here Casey sprinting through the five blocks separating her apartment from Bella’s house. Casey was a huge sucker for fitness and anything to do with running around, which is why she took up tennis. Eve felt sorry that a small apartment room was all she had to contain all that energy.

Heather could easily walk to the cottage from her three-story house (more like mansion.), but knowing her, she’d probably get her older brother, Kane, to drive her.

“Let the 20 questions begin!” Eve muttered.