Chapter 5: Kimber

Dear Diary,
Well...we don't know what else to call you, you inanimate object who can't even reply to whatever we say.
Anyways, we started school at Ember High a couple of days ago. Overall, it's a pretty big school...in a good way. We blend right into the background. We haven't really made any friends yet. We guess it's because we've secluded ourselves in a comfy corner of the library every day during lunch. Well, there is this one girl, Quin. She came over to talk to us today and seemed really nice-even after I humiliated ourselves by checking out a stupid bug encyclopedia and looked a full color picture of a giant caterpillar of doom. She fears the open ocean. I guess I could understand that...but then again, it's freedom! Skaene says the sky is freedom and I absolutely agree. Maybe he'll settle as a falcon...or a hawk. Too bad I myself can't fly. Back to school, math is really easy. They should hire teachers who actually know that sine of 90 is one. Well, we have homework to do. Oh joy.

-Kimber & SKAENE

Kimber sighed and closed the notebook. She reached over and grabbed the glass of juice from the night stand. She brought the glass to her lips, but wasn't able to enjoy the sweet tropical taste. They had checked out a book that didn't have a title. It had a pale, cream tint with deep red stripes across the spine. Out of curiosity, they brought it home. That book had just changed colors as it sat on the edge of Kimber's bed. It faded from a cream to a black. A strip of green and blue shot across the edges of the pages like a bolt of lightning. As soon as it began, it was gone. Th ebook returned to normal. Kimber dropped her glass. Skaene grabbed the book with his talons. Kimber let out a frustrated grumbled. Skaene plopped the book on her lap. Kimber got out of the bed and sat in her beanbag chair, opening the book as she did. It wouldn't open. She threw it in her backpack. It was going to go bye-bye the next day.
-Read it!
No. I have a bed to clean and homework to do. I don't want to go to sleep to mango punch goodness and have missing assignments.
-Read it!
NO!
-Why?
silence.
-Come on. It's an enigma. Why did it do that?
But, I can't open it.
-Try.
I did. Hoooomework.
-Fine. But, I don't think you should return it just yet.
Ugh.
-You should take time to examine it. We have no clue what we have here. The librarians probably don't even know about it. Maybe we could show it to Quin. She seems trustworthy enough.
But, it's just a book.
-"Just a book?" You never treat books as "just" books...except for the bug book.
Grumble. OK fine. We'll show it to Quin. I highly doubt she'll say much about it though.
-Yes! So, deal?
Deal.