Echo Soul Seekers

myself this way.” I toss my hair over my shoulder, hoping I’ll soon forget about it, stop messing with it. I’ve got way more important things to focus on than the sparkly, new, holiday party look my mom foisted on me.
    “I’m sure you look amazing,” Xotichl says. “But that’s not what I meant.”
    Oh. I look at her, wondering just what her blindsight is telling her.
    “Part of you is stronger.” She lifts her hand from my mine, allowing it to hover as she assesses my energy. “And yet, part of you is not .”
    “You wouldn’t say that if you saw me earlier today. Paloma taught me to manipulate the elements. If it’s up to me, you’ll have your white Christmas and then some…” My voice drifts along with my gaze, claimed by the girl just a few tables away.
    The new girl.
    The one with the wild hair and exotic good looks.
    She’s talking with Jacy and Crickett and a handful of boys whose names I keep forgetting.
    “Daire—” Xotichl squeezes my fingers. Trying to stop me from staring, stop me from asking the question we both know is coming.
    But I can’t stop either of those things.
    “Who is she?” I ask, knowing there’s no need to explain who I’m talking about.
    Noting the way Xotichl’s voice grows soft and resigned when she says, “Her name’s Phyre. Phyre Youngblood. Pronounced like fire—but spelled with a P H Y .”
    Phyre.
    Pronounced like fire.
    The very element I bonded with—learned to control. And yet, Phyre the person leaves me feeling completely outclassed .
    “How do you know her? How come all of you seem to know her?”
    I’m still staring, unable to look anywhere else. Watching as she laughs in a way that sends a cascade of curls bouncing over her shoulders, exposing a long, graceful curve of neck. Her movements so fluid, so elegant, so endlessly watchable—the boys can’t help but stare with unbridled longing, while Jacy and Crickett look on with unabashed envy.
    She presses a hand to her mouth, hushing herself, as the boy standing before her—Brendan? Bryce? whatever—all I know for sure is that the sheer sight of her causes him to inch just a little bit closer, as though warming himself in her glow.
    But the second she turns toward me, catching me staring, I tear my gaze away. Feeling awkward, stupid, and clumsy—wondering if I should maybe add the word jealous to the quickly growing list of my faults.
    “She used to live here,” Xotichl says, pulling me back to my original question. “Then her mom disappeared and her siblings, Ashe and Ember, went to live with their aunt, while Phyre moved away with her dad. But now, apparently, they’re back. Or at least that’s the nutshell version.”
    “Yeah? And what’s the other version—the one you’re keeping from me?”
    I study her closely, knowing she’s only trying to be a good friend and protect me from things like “wrong ideas” or “hurt feelings,” but it’s too late for that. My mind is already spinning with ideas—both wrong and hurtful—and only the truth can set me straight.
    The fact is, I saw the way Phyre looked at Dace.
    I also saw the way he could barely bring himself to return the gaze.
    There’s a story there.
    One that probably has nothing to do with me—one that’s no doubt none of my business. And yet I still need to hear it, so I can try to make sense of the strange way I’m feeling.
    So I can determine if there truly is something odd about Phyre—or if I’m just acting petty and feel threatened by the arrival of a girl who just so happens to be unbelievably pretty. One who may or may not share a past with my boyfriend.
    Am I just pulling a Lita?
    Or is there something substantial to worry about?
    Having never been in this kind of situation before, it’s hard for me to read. Still, I’m really hoping the blame falls on Phyre—not me.
    “You have nothing to worry about. Dace loves you and only you, you already know that.”
    I look at Xotichl, seeing the veil of regret that crosses her face at revealing even that much. Knowing whatever she tells me only serves to add fuel to my fire—Phyre?—it’s now one and the same.
    “Just tell me,” I plead. “What’s their connection? I mean, obviously they were together, but just how together?” I stare hard at Xotichl, remembering what Dace told me the other day at the not-so Enchanted Spring. How he’d only been with one other girl. And knowing deep down in my heart it was Phyre.
    Xotichl sighs, toys with her