The quiet drive had taken on a depressing atmosphere for Aiva. The woman on the sidewalk stirred memories to the surface. To try and distract herself, she turned her thoughts to the misplaced objects.

She began to test her hypothesis out on smaller items; a pen from her new school bag worked well. She closed her eyes and tried to pretend that it was gone. When she opened one eye t peak, her face scrunched in concentration, the pen was still there.

For a good half hour, she attempted this, turning her face red and sweaty. If the Richard had checked in the mirror, he might have pulled the car over thinking something was very wrong.

Frustrated with herself and her silly assumptions, she closed her eyes, wishing that she wasn’t so dumb. What were the other kids going to think of her? She wished she had been born like the divas, beautiful and normal. Finally she wished the stupid pen had just disappeared so at the very least she wouldn’t feel like such an idiot, and she’d have that talent on her side regardless of how strange or unbelievable.

The Richard slammed on the breaks as someone cut them off. Aiva heard his muffled cursing. Honking around her grew more concentrated as the Richard’s voice crackled over the intercom.

“Sorry miss. This traffic is going to take a while to get through. Good thing we started out early.”

Aiva wasn’t listening to him, nor was she looking out the window as vehicles crushed in on all sides. Her eyes were searching for the pen, which was gone. Of course it must have fallen to the floor or rolled under a seat, but she couldn’t find it. It was as if it had never existed.

She didn’t marvel for long. Next she moved on to a piece of paper torn from one of her notebooks. This time she didn’t pretend it was gone. She simply wished that it was Nothing and when she opened her eyes it was.

Excitement shot up her spine as she once again searched the backseat. She didn’t understand what this was, but it was so different than anything she’d ever experienced before. Aiva did not have words for what it felt like.

She fumbled in her purse and pulled out her new cellphone. It already held about a bazillion numbers in it: all her family members and others who had shown up at her party. It’s not like she would ever call any of them.

She wanted to see if something like this would be harder to vanish.

Aiva didn’t close her eyes this time. Once again she wished it away—and right before her it faded from existence. It’s weight no longer warming her palm.

She continued to practice on other small items pulled from her bag, things she wouldn’t miss.

The Richard’s voice again broke into her compartment with static in the background. “Get ready little miss, we’re here.”

Surprise that they’d arrived already Aiva snapped her head up. They entered through an elaborate wrought iron gate connected on either side by a red stone wall. she was not impressed; her life made up of this kind of grandeur.

In a blasé manner, she pointed her finger at a robin that flitted up onto the brick partition, bright gray wings stretched open, red breast puffing out. It vanished without a trace before Aiva had even formed a wish on a conscious level. Her eyes grew wide behind her thick lenses.

***

Aiva could think of nothing else as the Richard handed her off to an older cousin who rolled her into an almost empty auditorium and placed her in the backmost row. She did not respond when Nichole told her everyone else would be coming in a little bit, or that the Richard was unpacking for her. She did not notice as more people filed in and chose seats, nor even the headmistress, a young woman with angular features and square glasses, as she stepped up onto the low stage. The welcoming ceremony began, little to Aiva’s knowledge.

The girl was thinking about the robin. She was wondering for the first time where these things were going, if anywhere at all. Appalled that she could do it to a living creature. A small, quiet part of her wondered if it would work on a human. The ability that she had discovered within herself grew heavier as her thoughts circled, taking a dark turn.

The air vibrated with the sound of applause and she startled, shocked to realize that she was surrounded. The strange power was driven from her mind as the clapping died down and the teachers began to step up one by one to speak about academics, sports, rules and traditions as the students and their parents listened on.

Aiva paid more attention to the people around her, beginning to recognize features here and there: blue eyes, freckles, blond hair. She was even able to name a few of them she remembered from the party, though there were many more faces she couldn’t recall.

As Aiva scanned the crowd, her eyes roved over a head of cropped white blonde hair; it tickled her memory but before she could figure out why, the people began to push up from their seats. The dull roar of conversation rose alongside them all.

“You’ve got Aiva Vic.” Nichole’s voice over the hum of these scattered conversations.

Victoria, another of the divas, sneered down at her. Without speaking she grabbed the younger girl’s wheelchair and tried to turn it about, only succeeding in jerking Aiva roughly. Victoria growled. “What is wrong with this stupid thing?”

Aiva held her head, still reeling from the jolt. “T-the wheels.”

“What?”

“The w-w-wheels are locked.”

“That is so dumb. Somebody else should do this.” She let go in frustration as more cousins gathered. Christina ended up moving her from the auditorium into the sunshine.

Aiva made a decision to try and forget about whatever it was she had discovered and focus only on school. It might be her only chance to be normal. The image of the robin’s last moment played behind her eyes, so fleeting.

Turning in her chair, she craned her neck to get a look at her cousin, who was glaring straight ahead in annoyance as they caught up with a bigger group of relations.

Aiva gulped, remembering her mother’s prompts and please for her to socialize. She should jump right in, but she had no inkling of what to say. Just jump in! she repeated to herself, looking around the subdued group to pick out a face she could pin a name too.

“So…Nichole, how has your day been?” She started lamely.

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“Ugh. Completely horrible. My sister got into my closet just to piss me off. She claims she was looking for a cute outfit but I know that was a lie. Mom and dad always buy her more expensive clothes anyway. You’re so lucky you don’t have any sisters or brothers!”

Victoria and the others were nodding, some sharing their own sibling complaints. Aiva would have asked why this was important since they had uniforms anyway—or pointed out that a few of them had said siblings present, if she could have gotten a word in edgewise. As it was the conversation continued on with little help from her.

So much for jumping in.

Her head was spinning, trying to grasp onto a tendril of linear thought when yet more teenagers joined them. The discussion moved onto what everyone had done over the summer and Aiva slouched, losing interest quickly with the reminder of what had happened over her own.

She imagined telling them for a moment too. ‘Well mine started out with my teacher getting fire by my mother who banned me from ever seeing my only friend ever again.’ Instead she remained silent.

“Hi Aiva.” A younger cousin began walking next to her wheelchair. “How are you doing?”

Aiva did not know how to answer, but wanted to try. Torn and feeling as if so many eyes were suddenly upon her, she simply muttered unintelligibly.

“It’s my first year here too.”

Those words sent the gears in her head winding. She remembered her mother talking about this girl—Elaine was her name.

While the others laughed and joked around them, she turned towards Elaine. A shorter girl who, by Aiva’s judgement, was only a bit younger than herself. She was obviously related to the others, with her blonde hair and blue eyes. It was a nice observation that her hair was curly, almost like Aiva’s and cropped short. Her eyes though were a darker blue than any shade Aivva had seen yet. She spoke again. “I bet you’re nervous.”

Relief flooded Aiva and she attempted a smile. “Y-yeah I guess…” Now that she was here? Absolutely. “You?” Aiva wanted to form an actual complete sentence, but at least the other girl could grasp her meaning easily enough.

She laughed lightly and Aiva could already tell that she would grow into a diva along with the other girls of her family.

They reached a fork in the path and Aiva wondered how big the school grounds were, already tired. She cast her eyes past the walkway and saw two large square buildings rising from out of the treetops, their brick work stark against the blue sky.

“Well girls this is where we get off.” One of the boy’s joked. They headed to the left.

Elaine had taken over her wheelchair, walking in relative and comfortable silence until they reached the double doors of their new home. Hallways lines with dark paneled wood that shone under the lights, floors with thick red carpet stretched out before them.

The others departed as Elain explained, “we have to go to the matron’s office since we’re younger and new. She’ll explain the house rules to us and assign our dorms.”

Aiva nodded.

Outside a heavy mahogany door they stopped. Her cousin positioned Aiva’s chair next to her own seat—they were anything but alone. There were a couple other young girls who shyly glanced their way, eyes sliding over Aiva in her chair with the awkwardness that she was starting to notice from these strangers.

No one spoke and Aiva was grateful. Each time a booming voice would call out another name in no discernable order, certainly not alphabetical. One by one they tapered off, only to return minutes later, arms filled with papers. As the crowd thinned a small amount of gallantry spurred Aiva to break the silence. “Do you like to read?” Despite her quiet voice, her words still carried.

Even as Elain was turning to answer one of the few who remained was already a step ahead, wrinkling her nose. “Aren’t books for like… nerds?”

“But comics are pretty cool.” Another piped up, leaning forward in her eagerness.

“Somehow that’s even nerdier.” The first one sniffed. It quickly devolved into a back and forth argument which only subsided as the first was called into the office.

Elaine’s giggle filled the vacuum of silence that was left behind swiftly.

“I do like to read!” Elaine whispered, holding up her hand conspiratorially to keep the only other girl still present from interrupting again. “My faves are like—those cheesy romances like ‘To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.’ Have you read it?”

Aiva immediately perked up as her cousin answered, a thoughtful look crossing her features. She shook her head. “I’ve not read many love stories.”

“Oh? You totally should they’re so cute!”

“What I enjoy most are usually myth and legend anthologies—though sometimes I do sit down with a fantasy series—like ‘Percy Jackson’!”

“I haven’t heard of those!”

“They’re old—but really good.”

“We should swap recommendations!” Elaine suggested, her easy smile contagious, “I’ll have more luck reading here than at home, everyone there likes to tease me about it, especially Thackeray the big jerk!”

Before Aiva could reply their last name was called, they both jumped. Their conversation cut short, threads falling in pieces around Aiva as they looked at each other. The speaker hadn’t specified which Corelyn. Elaine shrugged and they headed into the cramped office together. A harsh looking middle-aged woman of medium stature and fly away dyed red hair sat behind an organized desk.

She sighed as she glanced up. “More of you, huh?” Her pen was set down with a harsh snap and she removed her glasses to run at her eyes. Once she returned them to her nose, she finally spoke. “The main thing I want to clarify for the two of you is this; it seems as if some of your family members believe they can get away with rule breaking. I am warning you now that no one gets away with misconduct in my house. I don’t care how much money your family has donated to this school.”

The girls nodded their heads, eyes wide.

“Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way,” She launched into a long winded speech which flew off her tongue in a memorized fashion. They each received a stack of papers, which seemed to be nothing more than printed forms of everything they’d just heard.

Once finished, she lifted her hand in a dismissive gesture but paused when she met Aiva’s eyes, looking at her for the first time.

“You.” She pointed. “Are you really a Corelyn?”

Aiva nodded, neck and shoulders tiff with sudden apprehension.

Elaine leaned in. “Of course she is.”

The older woman harumphed. “Don’t look much like one is all. I’ve dealt with more than my fair share of Corelyns.” She spat out the name irritably and waved the girls away.

Once they were in the hallway, Elain let out a breath filled with giggles.

Aiva hadn’t been aware that she too held her breath captive, though she wasn’t laughing.

“Wow, she was cranky. The good news is that you and I are roommates along with another girl named Samantha. Hey, she was at your party! She came with Christina.”

They went together to the room, navigating alien hallways and picking up snatches of conversations from people Aiva had yet to meet.

***

Later that night as Aiva slept, the dream of Nothing visited her once again. Its intensity would have frightened her, but that fear vanished, replaced by Nothing. It went on indefinitely. She had no memories of there being anything else in her life besides this vast emptiness.

At least she hadn’t a moment ago. Now there was an edge to the Nothing. Something was pushing. Pulling. Becoming.

It was a mystery to Aiva. The Nothing moved to envelope this intruder of existence. Before devoured though it became a voice, which swelled into a multitude of tones. The Nothing receded and the sounds filled words. A message. A command.

“Wake up!”

The Nothing shattered and Aiva blinked up at three faces. She attempted to put names to their features, a task which would be much easier if she could even remember her own.

One by one the memories dropped back in. Samantha had a look of amusement. Elaine appeared concerned, but offered her a warm smile. Christina was shaking her head in annoyance as she went back to her own room across the hall.

They were all back to their own business by the time Aiva had processed what had happened.

“Better hurry girl, or you’re gonna be late!” Samantha laughed.

Aiva still felt misplaced.

Elaine walked over to her cousin and placed a hand over her forehead. “Are you okay?”

Aiva nodded and forced her voice into a yes, punctuated by a yawn.

“Man, you are a hard lady to wake up. Must have been a good dream.” Samantha teased from over Elaine’s shoulder.

Aiva did not reply, instead moving on unsteady feet to the bathroom. She didn’t have time to shower so she tossed her nightgown in a corner and began to dress herself. As she pulled the uniform blouse on, the sleeve caught midway up her right arm. Bemused, Aiva dropped the shirt to the floor.

There was something on her. She went to brush it away, the texture rough. Confused she picked at it only to realize that the small, dark, oblong patch covering her elbow wasn’t on her skin. It was her skin. As she prodded it there was no pain, no sensation at all.

There was a knock on the door. “Come on slow poke! I’ve still gotta do my makeup!” Samantha’s voice came muffled.

Aiva shrugged. She had many allergies; the appearance of this rash was probably no different.