She looked back at Elena for confirmation that this was real. Elena was smug as if Maya's reaction was within her expectations, being proud of this moment.
Besides that strange ritual, she didn't understand what was happening, this was the first time Maya witnessed, this… magic. It blew her mind.
'To freeze water in a second without even touching it… What else can magic do?'
Curious about his reaction, Maya glanced at Leo. He was sitting on her bed, clearly impressed. However, she quickly averted her gaze.
"How did you do that?"
"Magic," Elena stated the obvious with a hint of amusement.
"Yeah, but how did you learn how to do it?"
"You don't want to know. Besides, you're Air. It won't mean much to you even if I explained."
'So Elena's element must be Water. With her icy personality, it does suit her.'
While Maya contemplated the new possibilities that magic could bring, an awkward silence fell over them.
"Want some?" Elena, seemingly feeling the discomfort, offered her bottle to Maya.
Maya shook her head.
Besides the underage fact, Maya didn't drink—especially not straight hard liquor from the bottle. If it wasn't for the scent, Maya would have suspected Elena was just playing a prank with water.
The idea of someone voluntarily drinking straight spirits was unthinkable to Maya, even more so for a teenager. She contemplated whether she should report it.
"Suit yourself," Elena continued drinking.
"How are you going to live with this girl? She's so messy and clearly an alcoholic," Leo was worried. "Is everyone in this world a total basket case?"
"Um… isn't it a bit late for that now? The school starts tomorrow."
Elena took another sip in protest. "You worry about yourself."
"I don't think drinking this is good for you."
Elena sighed. Her gaze turned stern, a clear shift from her previously nonchalant demeanour. "Listen," she began, with an air of presence Maya hadn't expected. "I'm being nice and patient with you since I know you're new and this all must be pretty overwhelming."
Elena put the bottle down.
"…But we ought to set some boundaries and rules," she began counting off her fingers. "First, I enjoy drinking and I don't want to receive life counselling from you. Second, if you touch or try messing with my shit, I'll know." She took a moment to make eye contact with Maya, her expression unyielding. "We don't have to be friends, but keep in mind I can be real unpleasant. So you don't want me as your enemy."
Maya blinked at how quickly Elena turned serious. She was already being unpleasant, but apparently, she hadn't been trying to be just yet.
"You don't have to force a small talk, I am fine with silence" Elena continued. "If you don't touch me I won't touch you, so we can live together as long as you respect those rules."
Taking in Elena's words, Maya asked carefully, "Is drinking something you normally do?"
Maya didn't mind her occasional drinking, but Leo seemed to be right about her roommate being an alcoholic. Elena wasn't celebrating anything, she was simply drinking, and that worried Maya.
"Since we're roommates, there's no point in hiding. But don't poke your nose where it doesn't belong," Elena's tone turned dark. "I won't hesitate to use you for target practice," she added, nodding at the knives protruding from her wardrobe frame.
Maya felt shivers. "Okay…"
Maya couldn't figure this girl out. She didn't know if she was unfriendly or just socially inept. And she knew concluding that would be rich of her.
"Anyway… looking forward to our life together, roomie," Elena smiled again as if she hadn't just threatened her life.
'I swear, this girl might just give me a heart attack one day.'
"Maya, are you okay?" Leo was concerned.
"I'm fine," she whispered under her breath.
Elena was starting to look quite intoxicated so she didn't even catch her whispering to herself. And to add to the mix…
'Is it just me…?'
"So, Elena, where are you from? I can't pinpoint your accent," Maya asked, forcing a smile. She decided to change the subject, matching Elena's pretence of normalcy.
Maya began to suspect Elena's peculiarities stemmed from cultural differences. At first, Maya's lack of sensitivity to accents had masked this. But as Elena's intoxication deepened her accent, the theory gained credence. Elena's unique pronunciations and word choices now clearly hinted at her foreign background.
"Oh, you noticed?" Elena was derisive. "Seems you deserve more credit. It doesn't matter where they've plucked you from. We are all 'citizens of Mellgrah' now." She waved her hand dismissively. "Don't concern yourself about it."
"So you're not even going to tell me where you're from? You've practically read my whole file, but I can't know the same about you?" Maya countered.
"Hah… Persistent, aren't we? Then, I'll give you a hint and let you guess… My homeland makes really good potato juice." With that, she took another swig from the bottle, her fingernails tapping against the glass to create a soft melody.
'Potato… juice…?'
Maya was impressed by her tolerance, as it took almost a quarter of the bottle before any signs of intoxication appeared. Examining the bottle to estimate the alcohol content, she noted the unfamiliar letters and assumed the clear liquid was vodka. This gave her an idea.
"Russian?" she asked cautiously, afraid of making an assumption based on a stereotype.
"Just because I'm drinking vodka, doesn't give you the right to assume…" Elena started, seeming upset, but couldn't maintain a straight face. "You got me," she admitted, smiling. "Za tvoyo zdorov'ye," she said, raising the bottle as if toasting, and took a large gulp, finishing the bottle.
Maya shivered at the mere thought of drinking pure vodka. Her only experience with hard liquor had been a small sip of whiskey, taken in a misguided attempt to comprehend why people turn to alcohol for solace.
The whiskey had scorched her throat, making it nearly impossible to swallow, and did nothing to ease her pain.
"But don't consider me a typical Russian. I haven't set foot in the motherland for ages."
"Huh? You travelled?"
"You make it sound as if it was a leisurely activity," Elena mumbled.
"Like where?"
Sigh. "Here and there. Cruising through Europe, mostly."
"But you're an orphan, and what, like 17?"
"Yeah, probably…"
"Probably?!"
It didn't feel like it was Elena's attention to admit, but it rather slipped up. Then, Maya recalled her mentioning she never had anyone to begin with.
'If that wasn't a lie, did she mean she was actually abandoned at an orphanage as an infant, with no trace of her family or even a way to determine her exact age? Is it possible for such things to still occur in this day and age?'
"So you don't even have a birthday?" Maya felt a bit sad for her.
"Of course, I have a birthday! It's just not the day I was born… Ugh. It's gross talking about this." Discomfort was clear on he face. "How about you? Have you travelled somewhere interesting?" Elena redirected the conversation.
"No. I am familiar with many fictional places but have never left Massachusetts."
"Really? Your parents never took you to Disneyland or something."
"I suppose they were busy. But I never requested to go. We had a vacation home in the hills. I used to love it there, but haven't been in a long time," Maya recollected the happy times she spent there.
She glanced at Leo. He remembered, too.
"Why not?"
"Not since my mom died. It was in a car crash near there, so it brought a lot of pain. And I had no one to hang out there with."
"What, you only hanged with your mom?"
"No," Maya chuckled, emptily, hiding her pain. "I had a childhood friend that moved away around that time," her gaze fell. "I found out he died a couple of days ago."
"That's rawgh," Elena's slurring words became more noticeable.
Not that she expected sympathy from Elena who already showed she had none before, so she wanted to move on from talking about something that reminded her of pain. There was one thing she still wanted to ask Elena.
"Can I ask you something about the Elements? The strange ritual they did. It's been on my mind ever since they introduced themselves as priestesses. Is this like a religion? Do we have some sort of special prayers?"
Elena laughed. "You got the right idea. But no. There's an entire doctrine and a set of gods and Elements aren't them. If anything they are just tools. They all do their own thing and praying to them won't change shit."
Elena did her best to explain, but her words began sounding more and more incoherent.
"…Not that it would, otherwise," she added to herself. "But why you'd had to go and spoil my mood talking about shitty gods."
Elena seems to have a strained relationship with religion.
"It's getting late. We should get some sleep," Maya suggested. Time flew while they talked and Maya suspected the rest of the house was asleep for a long time already.
Elena looked at her annoyed, at first, but realized she was tired. She sighed in the acceptance of her proposal.
"What was the point of her getting hammered before sleep?" Leo complained.
Maya wished she could answer him, but she was holding back, having decided she wouldn't let people know she could speak to ghosts. That could potentially creep people out more than Elena's menacing stares could.
Elena stood up, taking a moment to steady herself. She cleared a space on her bed by tossing the clutter onto the floor, and then she began to undress.
Maya was surprised, but didn't object. They were both girls, after all. She just looked away as Elena changed into something more sleep-friendly. However, a sudden realization hit Maya.
Elena was braless, and all Leo needed to do for a glimpse was to walk there. She found herself feeling jealous, wondering if he wanted to see her. After all, the girl was built like a goddess.
Despite Elena's intimidating, cold, and unpredictable demeanor, her attractiveness remained undeniable. Maya realized that living with someone so effortlessly beautiful might chip away at her already fragile self-esteem. She couldn't help but feel she'd never measure up to Elena's level of allure.
Elena put on an oversized men's shirt, which was both surprising and entirely expected.
'Of course a girl like her would have a boyfriend. She must have boys falling at her feet.'
Elena retired to bed, and Maya felt a twinge of irritation at Leo's apparent fascination with her roommate. Pushing the thought aside, she headed to the bathroom to prepare for sleep. They had previously established that bathrooms were off-limits to Leo, offering Maya a moment of privacy.