Mirror

Chapter One

“So, are you ready for the Festival?” My best friend, Kinley, asks. I snort.

“What’s there to be ready about? Eating, talking, dancing. Unless you’re afraid of stepping on Asa’s toes.” I snicker. Asa’s Kinley’s Second. I don’t have one, but Kinley and Asa usually stick together like glue when they’re together. Kinley punches me in the arm

“Not everyone can have the effortless grace you have, Scarlett.” Kinely says, referring to my uncanny talent of tripping over anything.

“And not everyone can have your common sense.” I retort, remembering the many times that she’s set fire to things or tried to rappel down the side of her house. She punches me in the arm again. “Ow!” I complain, rubbing my arm.

“You know what I’m talking about.” Kinley says. “The Choosing.” I shudder. The Choosing is a ritual in which the sacred Mirror speaks out to a single person, beckoning them to step in. For unknown reasons, the person is always a child. And no one knows how the Mirror decides. After the first Choosing, the Clan leaders ordered all mirrors to be destroyed, in case any mirror, not just our sacred one, could take children.

They would’ve destroyed the sacred one, too, but they were too afraid of angering the gods.

“Please,” I tease, trying to change the subject, “you’ll probably try to set it on fire, if you’re chosen.” Kinley smirks.

“And you’ll probably trip over it and shatter it.” she replied.

“And then you’ll try to set it on fire.”

“Pyromaniac!”

“Hey, I’m not the one who tried to boil oil.”

“It was a science experiment!” I smile. Kinley seems to have forgotten about the Choosing. I hope I can, too. It’s the only way I can distract myself from what happened three years ago. When my Second was Chosen.