Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Solitary Flame/A Final Spark ❯ Arrival ( Chapter 1 )

Prologue

"What?!" I screamed. I had just found out the "good" news. We were moving. Not only moving, we were moving to China. I was moving away from my friends, and worst of all, my Beyblade team, Solitary Flame. I couldn't stand it. Immediately, I rushed to the phone and called up the team.

"Hello?" It was my friend, Iris.

"Hey." I greeted.

"What's up Captain?" she asked me, using my nickname. It was true; I was voted captain of our team, "only five months until our world championship tournament!" Iris sounded excited. Only five months she says… I thought.

"Hey, can you get Ardene and Chloe on the line?" I asked. I figured it would be best to tell them all together, if not in person.

"Yeah sure Captain," she began, "hold up!" Again, she used my nickname. It really started to aggravate me. Not that I didn't like it, I did. It made me feel special. It was just that Iris used it too much. I wish she'd call me by my name sometimes, I do have a name, you know. It's Destiny. Destiny Mannings.

"Hey, they're here!" I heard Iris say through the phone.

"Ardene, Chloe?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's us." They said in unison. "What's up Captain?" I wondered at times if they were long lost twins.

"Yeah… the thing is," I paused. How could I tell them? "I'm moving…"

So, four months later, I left Canada for China. I was still part of Solitary Flame. We practiced together using our webcams over the net. We used to talk to each other so often, but then we gradually lowered our calls to each other from once a day, to once a week. Even when we gradually lost touch, we were all in for our tournament.

Ch. 1

I fumbled with my locker at my new high school. I already despised it here. People passing by were staring at me. Have they never seen a Canadian before?

Okay… I thought, looking at the scrap of paper. 36, 16, 24… Or is it 29? No it looks like 24… I reached for my lock and pulled, only for nothing. I pulled harder. I yanked at it.

Nothing.

I knew this transfer wasn't-

"Hey, do you need help?" a voice came from behind me, interrupting my thoughts. I spun around and found the voice came from a girl around my age. Her voice had a sort of Asian accent twinge to it.

"Yeah… I guess," I muttered, "I can't get my locker open."

"You're new here, aren't you?" the girl asked, approaching my locker, "Can I see that slip of paper? I promise I won't break into your locker or anything."

Should I give it to her? I don't know if I can trust anyone here… Oh well, what can it hurt? Everything's going to be in my backpack anyway. I thought. I handed her the paper. She laughed. What could be so funny?

"You probably got the combination wrong. It's 36, 16, 29, not 24." The girl remarked. I felt stupid. Maybe I should have tried both combinations…

"Anyways… I'm Ryoko. What's your name?" Ryoko asked.

"Oh, I'm Destiny Mannings," I answered, "nice to meet you." I held out my hand and she accepted. I smiled at a new found friendship.

As I walked down the halls with Ryoko to our first class, Physical Education (A&N: Gym… you know?) she explained how everything worked. How we switched from one class from another, what to do in a fire… Like I needed to know that! Then, she got to popularity.

"There's one really popular guy in our midst. His name is Rei Kon. Ever heard of him?" she asked.

"No…" I replied, shaking my head as we walked through the gym doors. I looked down to see what I was wearing. Jeans and a t-shirt… Not exactly fit for gym class. "Ryoko," I whispered, "what about what I'm wearing?"

"Coach won't get too bugged out about it… He'll make us change after the welcome back speech." Ryoko whispered back. Before I could answer, "Coach" started talking.

"Welcome back to all of you!" he began, "For those who don't know me, I go by the name of Coach Chang. I hope we're all in for a fantastic year. Now, go get changed and come back."

After we had all changed, all of us assembled back to the center of the gym. When we got back, there was a cart of volleyballs set at the side and a net was up. Whoa, that was fast… The Coach walked out of the equipment room. "Now, let's take attendance." He said, looking down onto his clipboard, "Abby, are you here?" he asked. A pretty girl with long and shiny black hair raised her hand. Coach Chang nodded and continued down the list. "Kon?" A guy stepped out from behind the crowd. He had long black hair and amber eyes. Cute… I thought as he raised his hand.

"That's Rei." Ryoko whispered excitedly. She seemed ready to swoon.

"Oh. Um..." I muttered, having no idea of what to say. Should I say he was cute? Instead, I said changing the subject, "how come I'm not on the list..?" The Coach had passed the M's and had moved onto the N's.

"You're new." Ryoko explained, "The school probably hasn't added you onto the lists yet."

"Anyone I missed?" The Coach asked. I lifted my hand just enough for him to see. "What's your name?"

"Destiny M-Mannings." I replied as he wrote my name down onto his clipboard.

He looked up, "So, do you have any experience in playing volleyball?" I cocked my head.

"Well I've played on a team before…" I stammered. I was on the volleyball team at school when we won our tournament but it wasn't exactly me who carried the team.

"What about a little two-on-two?" Coach Chang challenged.

"Sounds fine, I guess." I said, maybe a bit too dully with a drop of sarcasm.

"Alright," the Coach said, obviously not getting my sarcasm, "Rei Kon and Cal Jin, get on the court." He ordered, "And who will be your partner?"

"Um… Ryoko?" I turned to her. Looking nervous, she stepped onto the court and began warming up. I walked over to her with a smile and joined the warm up. "Hey, is Coach going to challenge me every time we get to a new sport?" I asked a bit worried.

"Nah," Ryoko answered, "just this once. Ok let's do this!"

"Game on!" I shouted, giving Ryoko a high five. We decided that I would cover the back end of the court, and she would cover the front end.

Fortunately, I was pretty good with volleyballs because we had the first serve. I held my breath as my hand made contact with the ball. It went over the net and we started playing. The boy Cal hit the ball over the net with an impressive spike. Unfortunately it was too fast for Ryoko and we lost the serve.

"Sorry!" she called out, keeping her eye on the ball, her cheeks turning the smallest hint of red.

"It's ok, it happens to all of us." I reassured her. Serving next was Rei. He bounced the ball on the ground once and caught it in his hands. Gracefully, he imitated my serve and the ball once again flew over the net.

"Mine!" I shouted, running to the direction of the ball. I jumped and raised my right hand, acting as if this would be a power hit, but the last moment, I tapped the ball hard enough so it would fall just over the net. I grinned as Rei and Cal stumbled to try and save the ball and failed.

It was Ryoko's turn to serve the ball. The ball flew over the net clumsily but we still managed to get the point. After about ten more minutes of playing, the score was tied, 10 all.

"Alright!" the Coach shouted, "last point wins!" I stood in a ready position. I grinned at Rei who was standing in front of me on the other side of the net.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Are you?" Ryoko served the ball over the net. Rei jumped and smacked it. The ball sailed over the net. A perfect spike… I thought as I raised my hand and spiked the ball. It hit the floor with a bound.