It turns out, I can do a lot of stupid things when I'm left alone for too long. For example, I can stand up even amidst the very sore state of being I was left in. Not too well, but enough to maneuver my legs for a few minutes. I also can figure out what my adroit is. Not very many people can do that when left alone for two hours. Suffice to say, I gave Mandy a scare when she walked into me standing in the middle of a very cluttered room. "What happened here?" she asked when she walked in. "I left you sitting on a bed, barely able to move!" "Yeah, I still can't really move so good," I said, making my way over to the bed I woke up on. I sat, my head spinning. "Okay, is that how this room became so messy? Or was that something else?" "Uhhh," I stammered. "I... might have discovered my adroit?" "Aiko," She started. "You could get in serious trouble for this!" "Already?" I groaned. "But I just got here!" She nodded. "How come you won't get in trouble?" "I have had my adroit for two years now, and learned how to control it and practice it, without causing such a mess!" "So basically, you're using it illegally." I said. "No, I am practicing the control of my adroit in secrecy." Mandy said, trying to make it sound better. "Right, those are totally different," I said, leaning back on my hands. She rolled her eyes. "What can you do?" She asked, sitting down next to me, suddenly taking an interest. "I don't know," I started. She gave me a blank look. "What? All I did is what you showed me! I brought my hands together and started pulling them apart, and all of the sudden, there was a shadowy black cloud lying in wait! I got surprised and kind of dropped my hands, and it went out in a wave across the room." "Show me," Mandy said, her eyes gleaming with excitement. It was my turn to roll my eyes. I pushed myself off the bed and walked to the center of the room. "Try not to let go this time!" Mandy advised. I nodded. I did exactly as she did before. I clamped my hands together and slowly pulled them apart. I could feel the magic being drained from my palms and collected in between them. I looked down and saw the black shadowy cloud moving under my fingers. I kept stretching my palms apart, trying not to lose control, until finally it was as big as my head. "Uhh, Mandy?" I said. "Now what do I do?" "Think of an object," she prompted. I thought of a dove soaring across the sky, weaving in and out of clouds. When I looked down, the shadow cloud was still there, but shaking violently. It kept getting bigger. It was bigger than my head, bigger than the dove I'd imagined, until finally, it was bigger than the largest beach ball I'd ever seen. "Mandy," I whined, growing more and more anxious. "Stay calm," She said, backing up on the bed. "Try and push it back into itself." I tried, but no matter what, it kept growing. "Mandy!" I cried. "Just let go! It'll be fine!" She promised. I listened. My hands dropped to my side and my head flung upwards to avoid the blast. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Mandy shield hers. A minute later, we were left standing, afraid to move. Finally, Mandy scooted forward on the bed. "Can you at least help me clean up?" Mandy asked me, standing up. "You know, since the mess was basically your fault? They do inspections while we're at dinner." "Dinner?" I asked. "What's the date?" "The 12th, why?" "I was taken from Mom and Dad's on the 10th, right before dinner." "Wow." Mandy said. "Anyways, this school requires uniforms when we're in classes and at dinner so," She opened the closet and displayed to me the mandatory uniform. "They dropped this off a few minutes after they deposited you." She handed it to me. It was the worst thing I had ever seen. There was a baby blue long sleeved button-up shirt, and on top of that was a white jean dress with straps that went over my shoulders, big, obnoxious, brownish buttons, and pockets near the bottom of the left and right side on the dress. Luckily, there were black leggings, which were the best part of it. "Your shoe options are in the closet. There's the regular shoes, and the sneakers which are required for training and gym class. There's a bathroom behind your bed to change it." She said. I whirled around. Mandy was right. There was a third door in the room that I hadn't seen. My bed wasn't pushed up against the wall, like I thought, but was pushed against the door frame of the bathroom door. "Thanks," I mumbled. I walked over to the closest to grab my shoes, which were these little grey dress boots with a zipper up the side to slip them on. I saw the sneakers she was describing. I stalked over to the bathroom and got dressed. Just as I walked out the door, a bell sounded over head. I shot Mandy a questioning look. "Dinner bell," she explained. I nodded as she lead me out the doors and to the hall. I took a deep, shaky breath to steady myself, and walked out the door.
