A New Adventure Begins {Open}

"So...This is that Beata Academy place, huh?" With several suitcases around him, Bradley stood in front of the large gates of Beata Academy. Feeling quite nervous, he eventually opened the gates with both hands and walked into what seemed like a courtyard. His palms were still clammy from the ride up here, it was like entering a new High School as a transfer student. Though, Beata Academy was sure to be very different. "Other people...just like me..." He said to himself. Bradley smiled and fixed his hat, then strode through the front yard with pride.

A woman wearing a large sunhat sauntered around the campus of the academy for gifted children. Behind her seemed to be a trail of something white, and even appeared to weigh her hat down a bit, but she didn't seem to notice. Her eyes slowly wandered around the grounds, and stopped at the gates which seemed to be opening. A tall handsome boy appeared from the opening. The girl let out a small hum, and quickened her pace until she was in front of him, stopping him from advancing. Slowly, she turned her head to the side, and raised it until she could see his face. As she did this, some of her hair fell down from the hat, covering a bit of her right cheek. "Hello there, you can call me Bel. I'd like to show you around, if that's okay with you?" she asked in a polite manner, hoping not to be turned down.

Who knew the countless people Bradley was bound to meet, all with their own special ability, their own special gifts. He was so close to reaching the front steps of the building, until he was stopped abruptly by a girl with a ridiculously large hat, at least to his point of view. He was always fond of meeting new people, whoever they were to be honest. Bradley put on a friendly face and introduced himself. "Nice to meet you! The name's Bradley Melnick, but you can call me Brad." He extended his hand out to her, heat was radiating from his palms. Hopefully Bel wouldn't notice the warmth of his hands. That's what usually gave his powers away. "If ya will, could you show me where the Initiate Dorms are?" Surely he didn't need that much help finding his way, but he didn't want to let the girl down. After all, she did seem quite nice.

A smile appeared on her face as she reached for his hand. Something about his name gave off an oddly cozy feel, and sounded a bit familiar. Maybe it was all just from how warm his hand was. She looked down at it, and said, "For someone so high up you're pretty warm, huh?" Quickly, she withdrew her hand, the smile faltering. Living in the cold for so long, she had developed a hate for anything warm. Still, she tried to keep a happy look on her face. "Of course, looks like you're going to be rooming with me for a bit though." She stopped herself from continuing, it wasn't like he needed to hear why. "Anywhoooo, off to the dorms we go." As she started off in the direction of one large, which had four that looked almost identical to it, save for a few small details. As soon as she was sure he wouldn't be able to see, she looked down at her hand, which still had his warmth lingering about.

He nodded and began to gather his belongings that were resting on the ground. His hand reached into the pocket of his jacket, then pulled out a somewhat messy, crumpled up piece of paper. Glancing down he read -Initiate Dorm, Room 3- I wonder what kind of people will be living with me... He smiled just thinking about it, it was a mixture of both nervousness and excitement. Bradley looked over at Bel. "So, um. How long have you been here?" He tried to start up a conversation as they walked through the, what seemed like empty halls. The silence was a bit awkward, so he went on. "And what's your gift?" Hopefully he wasn't being too nosy, but he was always one to ask too many questions.

The silence that followed was so thick it almost felt like she was about to get choked by it. As soon as he spoke, she almost flinched. The silence had been there for so long, and then just like that, it had disappeared. She thought about it for a moment. How long had she been here? "Mmm, about half a year? it's kinda hard to tell, time just went by so fast. " Knowing all the people she did, everyday just seemed like a blur. All the fun she had with them. All the things they had taught her, from secret areas on campus, to locations of beautiful flower fields, and the time she spent with them had accelerated her perception of time, making it feel like it was all just one big day. She stopped and placed her arm across his stomach softly. She would have done his chest, but he was too tall. She quickly pulled it back. "I-I'm sorry." she said, nervousness dancing in her voice, and showing a bit on her face, which was tinted pink from embarrassment. "U-Um, look." She said timidly as she pointed up at the sky, which had white flakes fluttering down slowly. "I-I can m-make snow, and control it."

Bradley listened attentively, listening to others was an important part of making friends or so it said in the books he read. "I guess time passes when you're having fun. I bet you've met a lot of interesting peop-" His voice stopped as Bel brought him to a halt. The redness in her face clearly showed that she was embarrassed. "Listen, it's okay if you don't wanna..." Staring in awe, Bradley gazed at the snowflakes. He reached both hands out in front of him and watched the crystal like substance fall. It immediately sizzled and melted into the palms of Bradley's hands. "W-Wow. I've never felt real snow before...That's pretty cool." He complimented her abilities as he wiped his wet hands on the side of his jeans.

Bel flinched at the sizzling noise and stared at his hands which were now moist with her melted snow. She quickly shook her head, denying his praise. "No no, it's nothing too special." Compared to all the other gifted children, her power seemed pretty bland. "B-Besides... It's n-not exactly something you'd l-like to have in a room." She had almost filled a room with the white powder several times, and her power would kick in sometimes when she was asleep, leaving her half buried in her room. "S-so, can i see yours?" she looked up at him with eyes that would have resembled a child's. She really wanted to know what it was, and hopefully find out why his hands were so hot. "I-If you don't mind..."

He didn't exactly support the idea, but Bel had already shown hers. "Alright. Hope you're not afraid of fire." He clapped both hands together, making the sound resonate throughout the quite halls. Slowly, he began rubbing both hands together, causing Bradley's palms to gleam with a red, orange color. Of course, this was all for show. He had no need for creating friction or any other comic book stuff like that, he just wanted to impress Bel. The warmth in his hands became even greater, then finally balls of fire formed at the blink of an eye. "S-See?" Like most students here, Bradley didn't have complete control over his abilities. His hands shook and soon both flames went out. He let out a big breath as the heat in his hands grew cold.

The girl stiffened at the mention of fire. Slowly and uncontrollably, he body started to shake. Not enough to notice, but just enough to feel. The build up felt like an eternity, standing there, waiting for something that she hated. Still, she didn't want to just stop him after asking him to show her. As soon as the ball of heat appeared in front of her, she flinched, and backed up a bit. her trembling only grew as she continued to stare at the ball with wide eyes. As soon as it had finally disappeared, she felt like she was about to fall down. Her legs felt weak, and it took all her strength to keep her from falling. "Y-y-yeah." her voice was shaking as much as she was. "I-I'm sorry, i'm n-not good with fire..." She looked down, not wanting to see a disappointed look that would be on his voice.

Seeing her reactions after the little stunt made Bradley a bit worried. I knew using my powers would be a bad idea Bradley thought to himself. Bel looked weak, and maybe a little pale? He couldn't tell, what with the big sunhat in the way. Nevertheless he attempted to comfort her by talking about something else. "Um, so where did you use to live? I assume somewhere cold..." He continued walking, he glanced back at her from time to time to make sure she was walking well. "Back where I lived, it never snowed, so this is pretty much the first time I got to experience it. So, thanks I guess."

As soon as he started back down the hall, she followed behind, a little way away from him. Her shaking had gone down, but if you were to look closely you could see a bit of vibration. She looked up as he asked another question. "An orphanage in Oregon. It kind of..." She pushed herself to say the last words of the sentence, but couldn't. "A-Anyways, it's n-not there now." The memories all rushed back to her and hit her like a round from a tank. She almost felt like she was going to cry, but held it all back. "Where did you live?"

He felt like questioning further about the Orphanage business, but he figured it'd be better to leave it alone, considering her extreme discomfort over the topic. For now anyways. "I lived all the way in Los Angleles." He let out a deep sigh. "Glad I'm outta there though. The city...Just isn't my cup of tea. You know?" After walking for a good amount of time, both Bradley and Bel approached the hall where the Initiate Dorms were held. "Finally, carrying this luggage around was really bothersome." Students exited the dorms left and right. One girl was somewhat happier then the rest. "I got into the Summer Dorm! She cheered again and again. "What the hell is the Summer Dorm?" He asked, unintentionally out loud.

Bel stayed silent for the rest of the walk. All she did was nod to show she was listening to him. "You could've asked for help." she spoke quietly, hoping he didn't comment on what had just happened. As students started to pour out of the dorm, she pushed rushed up to Bradley, hiding behind him with her hat slowly getting pulled over her face. Still, she could see some of the men glancing at her with looks that scared her. She kept pulling the had down until it covered her face. It wouldn't stop the looks, but at least she couldn't see them. "Shhh!" She turned back to see a couple of the kids looking back at them. She pulled the hat off, revealing a head of green hair. "You're an initiate. A-After a week, you t-take a test to see which dorm your placed into. Spring, Summer, Winter, and Autumn. I-I hear Summers are restless a-and passionate." She turned back, staring at the girl who had made the announcement. "They can be... R-really cool..."

"Uh, you're pretty shy, aren't you?" He had to admit, it was kinda funny, of course he wouldn't say that out loud. They both walked slowly through the hall, making their way past a great deal of students. "What dorm are you a part of...?" Bradley asked, his voice dying down in the busy hallway. Without hearing a response, he continued figuring Bel didn't catch the question. They finally arrived at the Initiate Dorm Bradley was assigned to. He opened the door slowly, causing a loud creak to be heard from the old wooden door. Peeking inside, he caught a glimpse of the atmosphere. Dull wall paper, uncomfortable looking bunk beds and worn out planks in the floorboards. Hopefully those season dorms are better than these. He walked down, searching for the best bunk in the room and plopped his bags on the mattress. "This'll do."

(Sorry for the super late response, was busy with New Year's and stuff.)