The First Realm | Chapter I

//Edited 6/4/21//

There were only two more weeks until the science fair, and Cassy was reading a book on her porch swing. On this peaceful spring afternoon, the sky was a robin's egg blue speckled with clouds. You could feel the cool breeze and the warmth of the sun's rays across your skin. It was perfect. Well, not quite.

Cassy was stuck, swinging back and forth, reading. Now, don't get her wrong, she loved to read; however, just not when she's assigned a book by her English teacher, Ms. Winfrey. The book would be the last thing she would ever want to read, but had to because chapter four was due by Monday. A vocab quiz and a sequence of short answer questions awaited her.

She was thinking about all the activities she could be doing on this beautiful day. She could be going for a run around her neighborhood or video-chatting with one of her friends, yet here she was reading this book. Cassy's eyes drifted to the bottom of page forty-two and...

"Dang it!!" Her head fell back and she covered her face with the book in frustration. "How many times am I gonna have to read this page!" she groaned. Getting to the end of a page and realizing her mind had been elsewhere happened frequently to Cassy with Ms. Winfrey's books.

"Hey, Cass. English trouble?" A boy who looked to be about fifteen was leaned against the fence. He had brown hair that was tousled frequently throughout the day and a constellation of freckles across his face. His eyes were emeralds framed by his thick glasses. Cassy always wondered at their glow.

"You know it," Cassy's eyes didn't leave the book, "and... you're late, Wyatt."

He laughed somewhat amusingly. "Aw, it's good to see you too, Cass. Now, do you want to take a break from that book and work on our project?"

Cassy and Wyatt had been science fair partners since the sixth grade. This year, they still hadn't started their project with only two weeks left. She started to worry if they'd even start the project let alone finish. Wyatt hadn't even told her what their project was, but there was a good chance that it would be far from a model volcano or solar system.

~

Last year, Wyatt built a shrink ray. Yes, a shrink ray. The machine sounds like it came straight out of a cliché sci-fi movie and that's most likely where Wyatt got the idea from.

In Willowdale Middle's gym, people gathered for the science fair. The sleek floor was polished and tables were set up in preparation for the event. A panel of teachers were put together to judge the students' work and pick a winner. Eyes were on Cassy and Wyatt to demonstrate their project to the judges. Unfortunately, one of the wires had come loose, causing the invention to shake and sputter violently.

"TAKE COVER!!" someone yelled. The entire gym fell into chaos. Parents, teachers, and students were all running every which way and that. Amidst everything, Cassy and Wyatt scrambled to try and fix the ray. She was pacing back and forth as her hand pulled at her thick blonde hair. It was difficult to hear her own voice amongst the noise.

"Wyatt! What are we gonna do? Do you think it might explode?!" Cassy stressed. Wyatt stood up from the shrink ray and began to walk towards her. Then, he grabbed Cassy's wrists and pulled her face towards his, halting her panic.

"Cass."

Cassy swallowed. "Yes?"

"You need to calm down, everything's gonna be alright." Wyatt's face remained relaxed and firm. He waited a second. "Better now?" Cassy nodded at him. He backed off and then turned to the rumbling machine. "Now, are you going to help me or what?" Wyatt grinned. He got into the circuitry and Cassy passed him tools as he said their names. The loose wire was found and secured into place. The shrink ray slowed its vibrations into a complete stop.

"We did it!!" They looked at each other and shared a smile; however, that smile was short-lived on Wyatt. His face had fallen and he began to stare off into the distance. Cassy noticed this and thought to herself. Wyatt... She wanted to say something, anything, but for some reason, couldn't. There they were in the middle of the chaos together, but... something was off.

No one seemed to notice that the shrink ray had been fixed and the crisis averted. People were panicking too much to see or hear anything going on in the room. A student running around the gym tripped over a cardboard box. Out spilled the dozen frogs that Wyatt and Cassy were supposed to be testing their project on. The frogs scattered throughout the gym, jumping onto people.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!! Ew, ew, ew! Get it off of me!!" A woman screamed. One frog had decided to jump right on top of her head. Another leaped across the room onto the ray's lever. The force of the frog's jump clicked the lever into it's downward position. The machined revved and stirred. Then, a beam of blue light shot across the room. Everyone stopped and stood completely still. There was no more running or yelling. One by one people turned their heads toward the steaming area of the far wall.

"Where's Penny?!" One of the judges exclaimed looking for his counterpart. In the blast zone, a woman stood up. She had curled auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her hands were folded into the pockets of her white lab coat. The judge ran up to the woman and fell to his knees. "Penny?? Oh my God, i-is that you??" He stammered.

Penny looked around in horror. It was as if a horde of giants had surrounded her. Then, Penny turned to the man looking down at her.

"M-Marshall?!" Penny cried wide-eyed. She fainted and was caught by the palm of Marshall's hand. Marshall cupped Penny against his fingers, nestling her hair with his right thumb. Cassy and Wyatt both glanced at each other with pale faces. Before Cassy could think of anything to say or do, Wyatt was already pulling her by the wrist into the center of the crowd. Cassy's chest thumped more and more as they got closer to Marshall.

Wyatt sat down on the wood gym floor inside the circle of people. Cassy followed. Tenderly, he moved Penny into his hand as Marshall allowed the transfer. He removed a small spray bottle from his pocket. Cassy stared curiously at the liquid in the bottle moving towards Penny. Wyatt spritzed the tiny judge twice. Seconds after the solution was administered, he swiftly placed Penny onto the floor.

"Everyone stand back!!" Wyatt brought both his arms straight out, nudging the crowd backwards. Everyone, still watching attentively, stepped back willingly. Just as quickly as she had shrunk, Penny grew to her normal size and was awakened with a relieving hug from Marshall.

The crowd rejoiced that everything was okay again. Cassy smiled warmly and looked to her left to share the moment with Wyatt, but he was no longer there. She whirled around to find him walking through the gym door with the shrink ray in his arms. The first prize was then given to some kid with a baking soda and vinegar volcano.

~

"Thank God." Cassy said relieved. She slammed the book shut and went inside her house with Wyatt following close behind. Wyatt was carrying a cardboard box with a small cube stacked on top. "Just set those down on the table and we can get-"

Cassy stopped talking as she looked around the kitchen. Cardboard boxes littered the floor and surfaces throughout the room. Some said Kitchen while others were labeled Cassilia's Room in her grandmother's handwriting. Her hands shot up to cover her mouth for she could no longer speak. Cassy turned her head to look at Wyatt. She expected him to say something reassuring, but he didn't. Instead his smile only faded and he heftily placed the box onto the nearby counter. Then, Wyatt walked over and gently put his hand over Cassy's shoulder.

"I-I'm... moving." The words could barely make it through her suddenly dry throat. The two glanced at each other in devastation.