I am here to officially reveal the cover of my upcoming novel, ELEMASTERS!!!!
Ain't it a beauty? Yeah, yeah I know. But I'm not just here to show it off! I'm also here to announce that the OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE IS SEPTEMBER 8TH 2026!!! Pre orders are live now anywhere you get your ebooks, with physical copies available at launch!
I am also officially opening up ARC sign ups! If anyone wants an advanced review copy, just shoot us a message here, or email me at [email protected]!
Keep your eyes on this blog for more updates, fun posts about the characters, and a whole lot more!
HAPPY PRIDE FROM GINTSUKI SHIKIBU AND THE CAST OF THE UPCOMING NOVEL, ELEMASTERS!!!!
The cast is a bunch of disaster queers, so there was no better way to celebrate the start of Pride Month than to make some moodboards spotlighting the various romantic (or aromantic) dynamics among the group!
First up is Dustin Ying (gay), the emo swimmer/former frontman, and his boyfriend James Zhang (bi), the impulsive stoner puppy
Next up is Chris Ying (bi), the jock with the grace of a dancer and the smile of a douchebag, and his girlfriend Bailey Yu (bi/trans), the planet made of pink, plastic, and overconfidence
And lastly, but certainly not least...ly, Chloe Li (aromantic/bisexual), expressing her love of casual sex but absolute disdain for pretty much everything else
Be sure to check out the Masters Monday tag for more tidbits about the characters, and keep your eye on this blog for some updates coming very soon about covers and release dates and whatnot!
Dustin dresses in a very typical emo style. But mostly, he dresses more for function everyday than he does for flash, so he doesn’t always wear a lot of accessories, and he doesn't put a lot of effort into his overall appearance.
He wears mostly black so that his clothes are easy to match to each other, and he wears mostly graphic shirts - he can be seen wearing a shirt with an album cover or artist logo almost every single day, and he wears a lot of band merch from concerts that he has gone to. And because of the types of bands that he listens to, those are mostly black shirts with different logos and graphics on them. He also wears a lot of hoodies (also black), and the occasional denim jacket (again, usually black). He wears skinny jeans, but not super skin tight ones, and sometimes he will wear a studded belt or black jelly bracelets - accessories that he doesn’t have to put much thought into.
His go-to shoes are black converse, and his favourite pair have writing all over them courtesy of his best friend Bailey - when you spend a few too many boring classes sitting with your legs in someone’s lap, you end up with Evanescence lyrics written on the sole of your shoe in black glitter pen.
Dustin likes simplicity in his clothing, and he likes to blend into the background of life, like a stage-hand dressing in all black - someone who can be easily ignored, unlike the people who are meant to take center stage.
Dustin used to dress very differently when he first entered high school, when his life was more about his band Colorful Trauma and promoting them, he dressed a lot more eccentrically and embraced his band persona, inspired by the lead singer of L'Arc-en-Ciel. This meant tight leather pants, glittery combat boots, fishnet tops, cropped tops showing off a belly button piercing that he has since tried to forget about. He wore layered belts, layered necklaces, lots of eyeliner and glittery eyeshadow, and he generally stood out a lot more. But that is a wardrobe he has boxed up and forgotten by now, and one that he definitely won’t ever be getting out again…
There’s no need to shake things up when his current clothes work fine, right?
...
Chris Ying - The Classic Fuckboy Jock
Chris is the type of guy who has three looks, and that’s it.
When he wants to get dressed up, he is the type of guy you would look at and immediately think of as a complete douchebag. He wears Aeropastle, Ed Hardy, bedazzled jeans, and he has his ears pierced and he wears diamond studs in his ears that stick out of his primped, straightened and hair-sprayed platinum blond hair. He puts a lot of effort into his appearance if he’s going to a party, and he is absolutely the kind of guy you would read as a ‘rich pretty boy’, especially by the brands of clothing he wears, and how pristine he keeps his clothing. He likes to look good, and he takes a lot of pride in his appearance. And oddly enough, this does cause people to judge him, just in different ways than they would someone who is dressed very eccentrically.
But most of the time, on a regular basis, when there’s not some party to attend or some occasion called for, he can be seen sporting one of his other two looks.
He wears a lot of athleisure - he is a jock, and he definitely dresses like one. He plays a lot of sports or spends time working out, so it just makes sense for his life. Again, he is always seen in expensive brands, and a lot of the time he’s seen wearing sports clothing with school logos on it from his various years on school sports teams. It’s rare that he’s not wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt or some form of basketball shorts with very expensive sneakers.
And his third look is: practically naked with some very old, worn, comfortable pajama pants. Anytime he’s at home, he hates clothing, and he wears the same pair of comfortable, worn-in pajama pants until they’re nearly ripping at the seams and begging for mercy, and then repeats the cycle with a new pair. Pants that were probably stolen from Dustin in order to be well-worn before he got to them.
He is very predictable in the things he wears, and his style matches his lifestyle completely. Thanks to his clothing and his outward appearance, not a lot of people bother to look deeper and find the Chris beneath the air-brushed Ed Hardy shirts and the predictable sports gear. Even if they did, what would they see?
...
Chloe Li - The "It" Girl
Chloe is the definition of an ‘it’ girl, and her clothes absolutely speak to that. She wears a lot of trendy clothing - Juicy Couture matching sets, New Religion jeans, Playboy bedazzled shirts. She is everything a popular girl of the time should be: shiny, pink, polished, perfect.
But as the daughter of a fashion designer, she is also ahead of the curve in a lot of ways and she is a trendsetter who is making waves with a lot of new styles. She is not afraid of bold patterns, bright colours, and of course, all her outfits are made with luxurious, expensive fabrics. And if her clothes not made by herself or her mother, they come from other expensive, designer brands. Everyone always watches out to see what she’s wearing and then follows her, and this puts immense pressure on her to be constantly perfect and to wear only the best for even the most average day of school.
She is always sporting a designer handbag on her arm, and she is well known for wearing heels almost everywhere, even if they are a highly impractical shoe - she will take style over function any day, and gorgeous, designer heels always complete her picture perfect outfits.
It’s rare for her not to be absolutely polished and perfect. With her mother’s entire brand resting on her back, she’s not just a girl, not just an average high school student - she is a walking advertisement for an entire company, one that will likely be her legacy someday. So of course, she can be nothing less than perfect at all times. No pressure, right?
Bailey Yu - The Wild Colorful Girl
Bailey has a very unique sense of style. On her journey of self discovery, discovering her true gender identity and getting to truly express it, she realized that other people’s ideas of ‘normal’ and ‘typical’ are absolutely overrated. If she is going to stand out at her high school due to being the only trans person, then she is going to stand out due to be awesomely, wildly dressed as well. People are going to stare, so let them stare for a reason.
Bailey’s style could be described as ‘scene girl’ - that’s probably what a lot of people would call it at first glance, but she is a lot more complex than that, way too complex to fit into any box. She does love the graphic tee shirts and layered, chunky jewelry that a lot of scene girls wear, but she also loves wearing head to toe colorful outfits, platform boots, and she usually prefers different skirts and dresses with wildly colorful and patterned tights instead of on trend skinny jeans. To her, every single day is an excuse to show off her awesome fashion, and she will always be the most over dressed person in the room.
She is also obsessed with accessories, and while Coco Chanel said ‘you should look in the mirror and take one thing off before leaving the house’, Bailey believes in the opposite - you should find one more thing put on in order to make yourself stand out and look totally fabulous. (And Coco Chanel was a Nazi sympathizer, so who the hell wants to take advice from that old cow?).
Bailey is the type of girl who likes to make her own accessories for fun - making her own jewelry, and even going so far as to make cute accessories out of unexpected ‘junk’. She makes buttons out of bottlecaps, has made earrings out of old computer chips, and one time she even made a handbag out of one of her old childhood stuffed animals - which was difficult to explain when Dustin came into her room one day and found her gutting poor Gengar. But hey, anything for fashion.
Bailey is someone who loves openly expressing herself with her style, and spiting society’s expectations while doing it, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. The world would be pretty boring without anybody to challenge the status quo, right?
...
James Zhang - The Thrift King
James is a thrift god.
His love for vintage fashion started in his own basement at home. He already loves everything outdated: movies, shows, music. It might be a tired stereotype, but he thinks that he was born in the wrong era. He definitely relates to ET more than anybody among his peers. So when he found several boxes of his parents vintage clothes from the 70s and 80s in the basement, he fell in love. Old corduroy pants, denim overalls, and lots and lots of vintage t-shirts with cool old logos that are already worn down and comfortable - let’s just say he hasn’t bought new clothing (except for underwear, of course) in a long, long time.
He much prefers bidding people up on E-Bay for vintage denim jackets and spending hours at the hyper-curated thrift store a few towns over scanning the racks for vintage Star Wars t-shirts than to give into whatever the latest trend is. To him, nothing beats the comfort of wearing a pair of vintage jeans that have already been broken in. (And no, he doesn’t want to talk about how nagging and sensitive his skin is and how he would probably prefer not to wear clothes at all.)
He loves it when his clothes have character - when his secondhand Chuck Taylors have scuffs on them, when his jeans might have a rip or two, unintentionally, unlike buying them ‘pre-distressed’.
And just as he does with the different clubs and hobbies that he has tried out, he can be very experimental with his style, too. While his usual signature style is a simple pair of jeans and a graphic t-shirt, he can be known to show up to school wearing a ridiculous fancy hat, a fancy vintage vest and button up shirt, or even cowboy boots if he’s in the mood.
His closet is full of one-time style experiments that he tried on, enjoyed, and then never went back to during his general exploration of life and himself. A bright neon windbreaker from the 80s may not have been true James, but he’s glad that he wore it out, showed it off, and tried. He’s okay with people staring at him when he wears weird clothes because it means that he’s truly living it up. And a lot of the time, even if he doesn’t look good, they’re good conversation starters.
There’s nothing worse than sitting on the sidelines and not being seen at all, right?
...
(A/N: That's all for now! I really had fun exploring this because clothing and style is such a great way to showcase a character, and I had a lot of fun exploring the characters more through this. -Mod Sunny ☀️)
These moodboards are taking it omg. Question tho... what are the characters brithdays/zodiacs??? Is that something you thought of?
I am so glad that you've been enjoying the moodboards. We have been having so much fun putting them together, and we're so glad that people are getting a chance to get to know the characters before the novel comes out.
We came together on this and each decided birthdays and Zodiac signs for some of the characters cause we thought this would be fun, and because the characters' personalities have been really built out through the process of the whole book, their Zodiac signs were pretty obvious and then we reverse engineered their birthdays from there.
Because they are all 18 and in their senior year of high school in 2006 when the novel takes place, they were all born in 1988, which means in terms of the Chinese Zodiac, they are all Dragons - which plays into some themes of the novel overall. Dragons are natural leaders, and they are powerful, confident, and ambitious, and they are often risk-takers when it comes to achieving their goals. They are charming, and at times, they can be arrogant and impatient. And these traits can be seen among the group of characters in different ways.
Because Chris and Dustin are twins, they were both born on August 10th, and Chris was born 10 minutes ahead, making him the older brother by a smidge. They are both Leos, and they both show the different sides of this Fire Sign. Chris and Dustin are both natural leaders in their own ways - Chris is a social leader and a key member of many sports teams, and Dustin has to step up to lead the Elemasters team throughout the novel. They both show intense loyalty to the ones they love, and they both have a flare for the dramatic when it comes to their emotions. Dustin shows more of the creative side, and Chris is someone who thrives in the spotlight and being the center of attention. And when it comes to some of the negative traits, Chris can be somewhat arrogant, his confidence a bit over inflated at times, and Dustin can be self-centered, believing that his problems are the most important and believing that others don't take his feelings into consideration.
Chloe's birthday is September 4th, seeing as it's a fun nod for her to share a Birthday with Beyoncé, someone she loves as an artist. Which makes her a Virgo - this Earth Sign is analytical, practical, and detail oriented. She's incredibly organized, excels at problem solving, but this does mean that she can become overly stressed out when things don't go according to plan. She's also incredibly helping and caring toward others, and this shows in the relationships she forms and strengths throughout the novel - she is a people person, and she is always down to putting in the ground work to forming friendships and keeping them. But her meticulous organization and detail oriented mind does mean that she gets stressed when her plans are upheaved.
(Any fellow Jenna Marbles fans out there, you will definitely be familiar with Virgo traits, and you will know that Chloe thrives during Virgo season. Chris better get his messy ass out of her way.)
James's birthday is March 12th, which is a nod to a character he is very similar to - Garfield Logan (who has several canonical birthdays, but I chose the one that would make him a Pisces because those traits fit the best). So, as I stated, he is a Pisces. This excitable Water Sign is someone who is empathic, creative, and adventurous. His empathic nature makes him able to connect with the other members of the team well, especially when they might not be up to it, and he has the intuition to know when to crack jokes and to know when to take things more seriously if needed. He's creative and artistic and puts his toes into a bit of everything when it comes to hobbies, and this means he has knowledge of almost everything when needed. He's incredibly adventurous and down for almost anything, meaning that he shows more curiosity than fear in the face of other-worldly monsters. And he is someone who has absolutely unconditional love, meaning that he will stick by the rest of the Elemasters no matter what. However, his dreamy nature means that he might spend a bit too much time focused on what to call these new monsters and situations instead of wondering how to fight them, and his lack of fear could be a bit of a downfall at times.
Bailey was born on October 30th, and she definitely waits until the next day on Halloween every single year to celebrate her birthday because she loves a good costume party. She is a Scorpio, and she is all the best parts of this versatile Water Sign. She has a bright, magnetic presence that draws people to her, she is deeply intuitive and good at connecting with people, and she is fiercely loyal - once she forms a bond with someone, she will never let them go. She is a friend for life. She also has deep, unwavering determination; once she sets her mind to something, it's nearly impossible to get her away from that task, and she will complete that task even if it seems utterly impossible. However, on the flip side, this can mean that she is stubborn in her ways, even when she needs to change over something, even if this means wrecking herself with little sleep or carrying her negative emotions independently when she should be sharing her burdens with others.
So yeah - that's all the characters <3 and this was intensely fun lmao.
I would sit my bare ass on a hot grill before I published AI slop. I’m an artist and I take real pride in my work, so you will never have to worry about me using genAI in any capacity, trust.
So it's about the five elements? What are those? I know water fire earth and air but what's the fifth one? Is it like spirit or something?
So the five elements in question are based on the Chinese philosophy of Wuxing. The elements themselves are Water, Fire, Earth, Wood, and Metal, but they're far more than just elements in the way you'd think of them. The represent everything from seasons, directions, and energies to body parts (pay attention to which finger each character wears their ring on!) and personality temperaments. I guess it's better to describe them as universal vibes more so than elements.
Water is all about flexibility and introspection, Fire is enthusiasm and charisma, Earth is stability and empathy, Wood is vitality and vision, and Metal is discipline and poise. There's also a system of how the elements interact and/or overcome one another, that can give you an idea of how various relationships between the characters might be depicted
I definitely recommend doing some more research if you're interested because I'm oversimplifying a LOT! But feel free to ask more questions about the culture behind all of this, because I could talk for EONS about it
Are those chapter titles named after songs? I thought maybe at first but after chapter three it seems intentional
Yes they are! Every single chapter title in the book is named after a song from the 2000s era - because it establishes the era and the mood and if people want to look up the songs and listen to them, it also curates a vibe along with the story.
It's why one of the first posts I made was associating each of the characters with an album, because music has been a really important part of the creative process in establishing the story and the characters and I feel like people can really connect to the characters through music.
And Dustin and Bailey were in a band together called Colorful Trauma that may be getting a reunion later in the book, and Dustin is a character who releases his emotions through music and he has to find a balance between the creative, artistic side of himself and the more serious, disciplined, responsible side that takes on being a competitive swimmer.
We wanted to make it so that the titles stand on their own as chapter titles but the songs can also be related back to what's happening in the story, and I personally think it works really well 💖
This is a special preview of the upcoming urban fantasy novel from Ginstuski - Elemasters. It's about five teenagers who discover their small seaside town is hiding some secrets and they may have some powers that they never thought possible. This is the final chapter that will be posted to give you a taste of the novel before it premieres on Amazon for purchase early next year.
Word Count: 3,000 words
Check out the website for the novel here.
...
CHAPTER THREE: LAKE EFFECT KID
It was astonishing how quickly things could go to shit.
The second the police boats started to approach the island with their sirens wailing and spotlights beaming, it was every teen for themselves. Solo cups were abandoned, beer cans tossed aside, and lawn chairs flipped over in everyone’s rush to get back to their boats before the cops made landfall.
Dustin found himself scrambling across the sand, trying to find Chris in the middle of the pandemonium before it was too late. Unfortunately, the wild crowd made it virtually impossible for him to see anything; he was lost in a haze of weed smoke and frantic limbs… which is why it was entirely unsurprising when he collided with another person hard enough to knock them both flat on their asses.
“Shit, sorry, are you…” Dustin’s words trailed off when he realized who it was he’d practically headbutted, “wait, Chloe? Do you know where my brother is?”
“He ran off to find you!” Chloe said, rubbing her forehead with one hand and holding her heels in the other, “this is a huge fucking mess. Krissy, Kristen, and Kamden ditched me as soon as shit went south,”
“You can catch a ride with us as soon as we find Chris,” Dustin offered, helping Chloe to her feet, “we gotta move, now!”
Spotlights continued to slice through the fog like blades as the cops got closer by the second. Someone shouted something about them having breathalyzers, but it was drowned out by the blaring megaphones coming from the police boats.
“This is the Pacific Cove Police Department! Stay where you are. Attempting to flee will be considered resisting arrest! This is your only warning; proceed to the shoreline in an orderly fashion with your hands visible!”
“God damn it, I knew I should’ve stayed home,” Dustin muttered to himself as he and Chloe continued through the crowd. It seemed absolutely fucking helpless; there was no sign of Chris anywhere.
However, just before the first police boat reached the shore, a shrill voice called out into the darkness.
“Dusty! Over here!”
Dustin nearly broke his neck from the speed at which he whipped his head around to see Chris and Bailey in the speedboat, riding parallel to the shoreline, with Bailey waving her hands frantically to get his attention. Dustin’s happiness to see them was immediately undercut by the realization that he was the one with the speedboat keys… until patting his pocket revealed that Chris must’ve stealthily lifted them without his notice.
Before Dustin and Chloe could hop aboard, another voice called out to him; this one a familiar baritone.
“Yo, Dustin! Hold up!” James was sprinting toward them, kicking up sand like the Roadrunner as he went. Despite it all, he was still clinging to a beer, “looks like I got left behind!”
Dustin just nodded and motioned for James to come along as he and Chloe waded into the surf, slogging their way to the speedboat. The water was bitterly cold, and it immediately rushed through the strategic holes in Dustin’s leather pants, chilling him to the bone. He ignored the cold as best he could, scrambling up into the boat and hauling Chloe in after him. James followed a second later, still somehow grinning, and before anyone could say a word, Chris slammed the throttle and got them the hell out of there.
For a second, it felt victorious; the wind in their hair, ocean spray on their faces, and the sound of sirens quickly fading into the background. It was almost enough to make Dustin think they’d gotten away with it…
Until another spotlight hit them out of nowhere.
“FUCK!” Chloe squealed, ducking as low as she could, “they’re fucking chasing us!”
Sure enough, one of the police boats had peeled away from the others, and was now gaining on them. The sirens started to shriek, and Dustin’s heart nearly punched a hole in his chest just so it could escape.
“This is the Pacific Cove Police Department. Kill your engine immediately and prepare to be boarded!”
“Fuck. That!” Chris said, hitting the throttle even harder. The speedboat groaned as it was pushed past it’s limit, reaching a speed that made everyone lurch forward and brace themselves against anything rooted to the ground… everyone except James that is, who was whooping and howling like he was having the time of his life.
“Chris slow down! You’re gonna flood the engine!” Dustin shouted, his voice barely audible over the competing sounds from the speedboat and police sirens.
“I’m not facing mom’s wrath if we get arrested!” Chris shot back, his eyes locked on the darkness ahead of them with fiery determination. Dustin pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, before turning back to see how close the cops were…
But what he saw was certainly not what he expected.
A wall of dense, white fog; much thicker than what was normal in Pacific Cove. It was sudden and pervasive, crawling along the water’s surface like the limbs of a giant spider as it enveloped everything around them.
“Whoa… did anyone see that fog bank before we hit it?” Bailey asked, her eyes darting around rapidly.
“No,” James said, his tone finally serious, “there was nothing there. It just rolled in out of nowhere,”
Suddenly, the speedboat started to slow down; the sound of the engine softening into stillness.
“Why are we stopping?!” Chloe shook Chris’s arm, “we don’t know if we’re in the clear!”
“I didn’t do anything, look!” Chris gestured to the throttle, pushed as far forward as it would go, “I have no fucking clue what’s going on,”
“You probably flooded the engine. Would be a shame if someone warned you about that,” Dustin mumbled, rolling his eyes.
“I didn’t flood the fucking engine! Do you hear sputtering?”
“Well then how the fuck else would you explain it?”
“I don’t know. You tell me since you know every fucking thing,”
“Guys, chill for two seconds!” James cut in, ending the twins’ argument before it could spiral further, “what the hell is that?”
Dustin looked in the direction James was pointing, and his breath caught in his throat. The overwhelming fog was slowly beginning to lift in front of them, but instead of seeing the shoreline of their town… instead they saw a series of ornate buildings, floating on the surface of the water like the laws of physics obeyed them and not the other way around. Each building was made of pale stone that looked like moonrock, topped with a sloped pagoda-style roof carved out of glittering silver and trimmed with glowing lanterns that swayed in the wind.
It was a huge and sprawling complex rather than a singular building; it looked almost like a village had somehow risen up from the seabed.
“That’s… a palace? A Chinese one, ancient too. Like, maybe Qin Dynasty? Maybe earlier,” Dustin said, mostly to himself as he continued to examine the structure.
“Oh my god we’re dead. We fucking died and now we’re in Heaven and I have to answer to my Chinese ancestors and I don’t even fucking speak Mandarin,” Chloe rambled, anxiously tapping her nails against the side of the boat.
“We’re not dead, we can’t be. I definitely wouldn’t be in Heaven if we were,” Chris narrowed his eyes on the building as the boat continued to drift closer to it, “Dustin, you’re sure it’s a Chinese palace?”
“Positive. Mom talks about this stuff all the time… if only you’d pay attention,”
“Okay Mr. Scholar, then can you explain why the fuck this palace is floating in front of us and not in the country or fucking CENTURY where it belongs?!”
“Not really, no,” Dustin admitted.
“Maybe we’re all stoned? I’m definitely stoned… but then again, I don’t usually hallucinate,” James said, and for the first time that night, his voice wavered. The grin was gone, instead he looked… rattled.
Before anyone could respond, a sharp, blinding pain split through Dustin’s skull, like lightning behind his eyes. He gasped and dropped to his knees…
And then came the voice.
Smooth. Detached. It didn’t echo so much as press against the inside of their heads.
“Inside the Palace of Radiant Clouds, you will meet what has always been yours to master,”
At first Dustin thought he was the only one to hear it, but a quick glance made it clear that everyone else was experiencing the same thing, based on the way they were clutching their ears and heads.
“What the fuck was THAT?!” Dustin and Chris cried out simultaneously.
“That voice… I think it wants us to go inside,” James said softly, watching intently as the boat drifted closer and closer.
“No way we’re doing that, are you dumb? We’re calling for help. At this point, even the police are a better option than going inside the creepy ghost palace that we were invited into by a disembodied voice,” Bailey rummaged through their bedazzled handbag and pulled out her flip phone. However, instead of dialing anything, she just started at it in disbelief, “are you fucking kidding me? No bars… fucking AT&T,”
One by one, everyone else checked their phones as well, and surely enough they had no service either.
“Maybe we should go inside,” Chris suggested, though he didn’t sound very confident about it, “maybe there’s a landline or something in there,”
“Seriously dude? A landline in an Ancient Chinese palace?” Dustin shot him a look, “what, are we calling The Emperor collect?”
“A fucking weird Chinese palace that’s floating on water! A phone being in there would not be the weirdest thing about it! Besides, it’s not like anyone else has any ideas!”
As if responding to their argument, the boat shifted beneath them; pulled closer to the dock at the palace’s edge by an unseen current.
“Fuck it… why not,” James finally shrugged and leapt off the boat, landing on the polished wooden dock with a soft thud, “what? It’s better than just floating out here waiting for something worse to happen,”
Chris closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and followed James onto the dock.
“What the hell are you two doing? We are not going in there!” Bailey scolded, folding her arms and stomping her foot indignantly, “Dustin, please talk some sense into your brother,”
Dustin wanted to. He really, really did. But there was something; call it a voice, intuition, whatever… it was urging him to go inside. Like the moon pulling the ocean. He couldn’t explain it, wasn’t sure he wanted to… but he knew he needed to follow that feeling.
And so, he stepped off the boat, joining Chris and James on the dock.
“Oh hell no, these motherfuckers have lost their minds,” Chloe mumbled to herself, massaging her temples.
“I know it’s insane, and I can’t really give you a good reason to follow us,” Dustin began, “but I just have this feeling that we need to go inside. I promise we’ll bolt at the first sign of danger,”
Bailey and Chloe exchanged a long glance, looking like they were telepathically debating just how much of a dumbass Dustin was. The silence was long and heavy, but eventually Bailey broke it with a deep sigh.
“Fine, but we stick together. No splitting up, and no losing sight of anyone, got it?”
“Got it,” Dustin nodded, reaching both hands out to help the girls off the boat. Once everyone was on the dock, Chris tied the speedboat in place, and they all turned to face the palace.
The walls seemed to glow under the moonlight as it filtered through the ever-thickening fog. The wood beneath them creaked ominously as they took their first steps forward in unison, and Dustin started silently praying that he hadn’t just made the dumbest decision of his young life…
…
The palace interior was just as haunting as its exterior; a maze of winding halls and towering ceilings carved from smooth limestone, each step echoing across the black lacquered floors like a whisper in a cavern.
Dustin walked slightly ahead of the group, his eyes following the artwork etched into the walls as they went. It looked like some sort of mural that was meant to tell a story; five people standing against an army, a huge cloud overhead striking the ground with lightning, and a truly terrifying figure in bulky armor with huge deer-like antlers. He had no idea what it was supposed to depict, especially since he couldn’t read the archaic Chinese writing inscribed alongside it; was it a folktale? Ancient history? A prophecy?
Suddenly, that splitting pain from earlier returned in full force; knocking the wind right out of Dustin’s lungs. He braced against the wall as that psychic voice echoed in his skull again.
“What was once will be again. You must be ready for the end of all things,”
“Okay, where the fuck is that coming from?!” Chloe yelled, gripping the side of her head. She was clearly prepped to continue her rant, but something else caught her attention, “wait… what is that?”
Dustin shifted his focus to what she was pointing at; a circular stone altar had suddenly appeared in the center of the room, directly in the path of moonlight streaming in through one of the high windows. As he approached it, he noticed that a five-pointed star, almost like a pentagram was chiseled into the surface, and on the point of each star sat a ring. They were fairly unassuming; each was a simple band of a solid color— red, black, white, yellow, and green.
“Oh man, you guys think these are worth anything?” Chris said, beaming as he approached the altar, “Mr. Liu’s Pawn Shop would probably pay a shitload for them,”
“Use your brain for two seconds Christian,” Bailey flicked his ear, “stealing from the haunted palace is probably the stupidest shit you’ve ever suggested,”
“But ghost voice clearly wants us to take them, right?” James said, turning to Dustin as if he’d somehow have the answer, “don’t you think that’s why it led us here?”
“H-how should I know?”
James stepped a bit closer and gently took Dustin’s hand, locking eyes with him.
“You were saying that you had a feeling in your gut that we should come inside the palace. It also looks like you get hit harder by that voice in our head than the rest of us. If anyone should make the call, it should be you,”
Dustin immediately felt overwhelmed; like he’d just been bowled over by a tidal wave. Not only from James (THE James Zhang) holding his hand, but by the mere idea that someone would defer to him on anything. He blinked several times too many, before finally attempting to regain his composure and make a decision.
“I… I think we should take them. If nothing else, they might be a way out of this,”
James didn’t hesitate to grab the green one and slip it on his ring finger. Everyone held their breath, as if they were waiting for him to be struck down or something… but nothing happened. Dustin breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that he didn’t cause his crush to get cursed, before taking the black one for himself. It was too small to fit any finger other than his pinky, so he put it on and waited to see if he felt anything strange…
Nothing. Thank God.
Chris, Bailey, and Chloe took the remaining three next, and while Chris and Chloe were quick to put theirs on their middle and index fingers respectively, Bailey was hesitant. She just held it in the palm of her hand, staring at it intently like it was going to jump up and bite her or something.
“It’s okay Bailey,” Chris reassured her, holding up his hand, “see? We all put them on and we’re still breathing,”
“Y-yeah, I know. I’m just… I don’t know, just forget it,” Bailey said shaking her head like she was trying to physically dislodge her anxiety. After another long moment passed, she carefully moved the yellow ring down her thumb…
And then shit went crazy.
In an instant, Dustin found himself being pulled underwater; completely displaced from the palace and everyone else. He could see the surface; the moon teasing him from beyond the barrier as an impossibly strong current pulled him down faster than he could think. He never panicked underwater, not even once in his entire life. But now? He was completely out of his element.
He tried to calm himself down enough to remember what to do when caught in a riptide, but he couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, and the deeper he went, the harder it was to even see. His lungs burned, his limbs ached, and the only thought he could muster was that he was going to die…
And he was going to do it without Chris.
But, before death could claim him, he felt the presence of someone else with him in the water. It was all at once reassuring and revitalizing, and that was before he laid eyes on the person.
The current slowed to a stop, allowing Dustin to float peacefully. He didn’t even feel like he needed to hold his breath anymore, though he wasn’t about to test that theory.
The water around him shifted and solidified until it became a humanoid shape. At first it was like a man-shaped bubble, but then the details started filling in; skin, hair, eyes, robes. When it was all done, Dustin nearly gasped at the sight. It was the single most ethereal man he’d ever seen; skin like porcelain, hair long and black as the starless night sky, eyes like a fox, and flowing white robes. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a Chinese period drama about concubines and imperial succession.
The strange man said nothing; he just stared at Dustin with a quiet intensity that drifted somewhere between determination and pity. He raised his hand and placed two fingers in the center of Dustin’s forehead, and then in an all-too-familiar voice, he spoke without moving his lips.
“You have accepted the role you were born to play. Fate spins along as it should,”
I was rewatching Teen Wolf and a lot of the characters really reminded me of the Elemasters characters (I am heavily considering making a post paralleling some of the characters cause it hits so hard), and this post immediately came to mind. It's fun and funny, and I hope you enjoy it.
Chris: Where are you getting your juice?
James: What?
Chris: Where. Are. You. Getting. Your. Juice?
James: I mean, my mom does the grocery shopping...
...
Dustin: I'm here to save my brother.
Bailey: I'm here to save my boyfriend.
James: ...I just didn't feel like doing any homework.
...
James, gesturing toward Chloe: Seriously, what is the point of her? Aside from the persistent negativity and the scarf?
...
Chloe: You're gonna find Chris by scent?
Dustin: We both are.
(Dustin hands Chloe Chris's clothing.)
Chloe, mumbling: How come he gets a shirt and I get a shoe?
...
Bailey: I'm not gonna be one of those whining teenage girls who looks at her father and says 'I hate you, I wish you were dead'.
Dustin: But...
Bailey: But... I hate him and I wish he was dead.
…
Mrs. Ying: You are officially grounded! No TV-
Dustin: My TV is broken.
Mrs. Ying: No computer!
Dustin: I need the computer for school.
Mrs. Ying: Well... no... no Bailey!
Bailey: No Bailey?
Mrs. Ying: No Bailey!
…
Chris: Seriously, Hoosiers is not only one of the best basketball movies of all time, but one of the greatest sports movies of our generation-
Chloe, sighing: No.
Chris: It’s an underrated masterpiece-
Chloe: No.
Chris: I am NOT watching The Notebook again.
Chloe: Mmmhhmm.
(A few moments later.)
Chris, walking into the video store: Can someone please help me find The Notebook?
...
Dustin: You didn't steal these, did you?
Bailey: No, I just cloned them. Using an RFID emulator.
Chloe: Is that worse than stealing?
Bailey: It's smarter.
…
Chloe, whispering to Dustin and Chris in class: Hey, left testicle and right testicle!
…
Chloe: And WHAT am I supposed to do about the mobs of people gathering outside?
Bailey: Who throws the best parties in all of Pacific Cove?
Chloe: Me! Obviously.
Bailey: So throw a party!
(Everyone else runs off.)
...
I could easily do a part two of this, it was so much fun and these characters are sooo Elemasters coded.
i fucking love what you guys have shared so far from the elemasters. but i was wondering are the characters japanese or chinese? it seems like their last name is chinese but then chris speaks japanese in chapter two? just curious about that
I’m so glad you’re liking it so far!
I figured someone might ask this question, and the answer is simple- they’re mixed! Their father is Chinese and their mother (who will be introduced in a later chapter) is Japanese! It’s directly confirmed in one of the later chapters. Between the twins Chris is more likely to speak casually in Japanese, while Dustin is far more connected to their Chinese heritage. By the nature of the plot, their Chinese ancestry is also far more relevant, but that’s all I can say with no spoilers (although, those who are familiar enough with Chinese history have likely already noticed the significance of their family name 🤫🤭)
This is a special preview of the upcoming urban fantasy novel from Ginstuski - Elemasters. It's about five teenagers who discover their small seaside town is hiding some secrets and they may have some powers that they never thought possible. This is the second of three chapters that will be posted to give you a taste of the novel before it premieres on Amazon for purchase early next year.
Word Count: 2,800 words
Check out the website for the novel here.
...
CHAPTER TWO: SIX FEET UNDER THE STARS
Dustin sat on the edge of his bed in a towel, glaring at the pile of rejected outfits scattered across his floor like casualties of war.
“This is dumb,” he muttered, mostly to himself, “it’s just a bonfire, not the goddamn Met Gala,”
“Which is the entire point. Everyone else will be more casual. It’ll make you stand out even more,” Bailey said, flouncing into his room with the kind of presence that demanded all the air within a five-mile radius. She was already fully dressed in a cropped varsity jacket over a rhinestoned mesh top and jeans so tight they might’ve been painted on.
Chris followed behind her, two duffel bags slung over his shoulder and a familiar, shit-eating grin plastered across his face.
“You should be thanking us little bro,” he said, dropping one of the bags on Dustin’s bed with a dramatic thud, “we're about to save you from the dark abyss of your hoodie collection,”
“I stared into the abyss, and when it stared back, I chose to wear it as clothing,” Dustin muttered, getting a cringe from both Bailey and Chris.
“Save that line for your VampireFreaks profile, but for the love of God don’t say anything like that at the party,” Bailey replied, grabbing a black leather jacket and tossing it at his head.
“You’re one to talk! What is this jacket? You trying to get me cast as an extra in One Tree Hill?”
“Oh please babe, when I’m done with you you’re gonna be way hotter than any extra,” Bailey said with a wink as she handed him a black tank top to wear underneath the jacket.
Dustin took the tank top with the enthusiasm of someone being handed a live grenade, but he still slipped it over his head and pulled the jacket on afterwards. Bailey stepped in with practiced ease to fuss with his sleeves and collar, tilting his chin up like she was checking for symmetry.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about. I’d kiss you if you weren’t, you know, you,”
Chris sat back on the bed, watching her with an amused tilt to his mouth.
“Careful,” he said, voice low and teasing, “you flirt like that too much and I might think you’ve got a thing for the Ying twins,”
Bailey glanced at him over her shoulder, one perfectly plucked brow arching.
“Please, Christian. I have standards,”
“You literally just said you’d make out with my brother. My twin brother,”
“Because your twin brother cleans up shockingly well when properly managed,” she replied, carefully removing Dustin’s ponytail ring to let his long black hair fall to his shoulders, before she started to comb it out, “you, on the other hand? Lost cause,”
Chris clutched his chest like she’d physically wounded him and rolled his eyes.
“Uzai,” he muttered in Japanese.
“What did I tell you about insulting me in languages I don’t speak? If you wanna talk shit, either speak English or learn Cantonese,” Bailey reprimanded him as she put the finishing touches on Dustin’s hair.
“It means you’re annoying,” Chris fired back, “anyway. Bro, you look GOOD! You’ve gotta check yourself out,”
Dustin turned, half-expecting to feel ridiculous. But the second he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror; messy hair falling just right, the sharpness of his jaw emphasized by the jacket’s collar, the sleek outline of his frame in all-black… he froze.
For a brief second, he didn’t see the quiet twin. He didn’t see the awkward kid who avoided his reflection.
He saw someone that looked an awful lot like his old self. The version that he’d tried so hard to kill and bury… and he actually didn’t hate it.
“…Holy shit,”
“See? Blondie was right, you look HOT!” Bailey beamed.
“I look like I’m gonna stab someone at a rave,”
“And that’s a bad thing? You act like you didn’t used to rock eyeliner and tight leather pants when we used to…”
“Anyway,” Chris abruptly cut in, hopping to his feet and slinging his own matching leather jacket over his shoulder, “we gotta bounce. If we’re not on the boat by seven, we’ll miss the tide window to get to the island without bottoming out. Get some pants on, I’ll get the speedboat keys from dad and meet you in the car in five,”
As Chris and Bailey left the room, Dustin decided to forgo his dresser where he kept his usual school clothes, and venture into his closet instead; that space full of the things he told himself he shouldn’t wear anymore. All the band tees, skinny jeans, and leather pants that hugged his figure and highlighted his assets (emphasis on the ass) in a way that “wasn’t appropriate for a boy”. But, if he was really supposed to be going all out, he figured dusting off the ripped leathers to match his jacket wasn’t the worst idea in the world.
Once he was finally fully dressed, he made his way downstairs to head to the family’s speedboat, but before he could make it out the door, he came face to face with his father who was coming in from the garage.
Elliot Ying was a mountain of a man; like a dragon in human form. He stood somewhere around 6’4, towering over both his 6ft sons like they were nothing, and constantly glaring down at Dustin with that unique and palpable combination of disdain and dismissal. His eyes raked over Dustin like knives across flesh, his mouth pressed into a thin line.
But Dustin knew how this was going to play out. While some parents would’ve launched into a speech about fashion choices, forced their child to change clothes, or even gotten violent with them… Dustin knew none of that was coming.
Instead, it was the silence; that ever-present lingering judgement that persisted even without words to give it shape.
Without missing a beat, his father disappeared into the kitchen, not offering so much as a “be safe”.
Typical. Predictable as the tide.
One he was gone, Dustin took a moment and breathed deeply; he was doing this. He’d already committed, gotten all dressed up, and even let himself feel the tiniest bit of excitement. No one was going to ruin this moment for him.
He grabbed his converse from the shoe rack by the front door, and headed outside, leaving judgement and doubt behind him… at least for one night.
…
Riding with Chris was like playing Russian Roulette, but thankfully Dustin hadn’t been shot… not yet at least.
After the longest fifteen minutes of his life (mostly spent switching lanes with little regard, playing chicken with a railroad crossing, and nearly scaring a sweet little old lady out of her wheelchair while she was crossing the street) they finally arrived at the marina where the Ying family speedboat was kept.
“Thank god we made it in one piece” Bailey sighed from the backseat, gripping her seatbelt like her life depended on it… which honestly, it probably did.
“You guys are always bitching about my driving, but last time I checked we were still alive!” Chris replied with an eyeroll.
“Yeah… we only have to die once for it to stick bro,” Dustin said as he exited the car, “give me the speedboat keys, I’m not letting you sink us,”
Chris groaned but ultimately handed the keys over, and within a few minutes they were making their way across the water toward Tripoint Island. The fog parted in front of them like a veil being lifted as they approached, and they could feel the thumping bass and smell the smoke mixing with sea air before the silhouette of the island even came into full view.
Tripoint Island was aptly named for its striking shape; three jagged rocks the size of small hills were the first thing Dustin saw as they made their approach, followed by the orange glow of the blazing bonfire. He slowed the speedboat to a stop and dropped the anchor, and that was when that feeling settled in his stomach. That regret, twisting his gut into pretzels; telling him that he was a fucking idiot that was in over his head. That he should drop off Chris and Bailey and just head home.
Thankfully, Chris always knew when that feeling was setting in, and he always knew how to remedy it in the most Chris way possible…
“No time to get cold feet now Mr. Bubble Butt,” he said, landing an open palmed smack on Dustin’s asscheek with enough force to cause an echo, “we’re here, you’re queer, and it’s too late to turn back,”
Dustin steeled his resolve, ignored his stinging butt cheek, and stepped off the boat into the soft sand. If walking on sand in platforms was tough, Bailey didn’t show it as she sauntered off ahead of the twins, immediately heading for the nearest cooler to grab a beer.
Most of the students gave her a wide berth, like she was fucking infected or something. Dustin hated that shit more than anything; he’d been on the receiving end of more than a few choice comments himself, but the shit he got was nothing compared to the insults hurled at Bailey. Weirdly enough though, it was like she never seemed to notice them. When she sat down at a lunch table and the other students got up and moved, she paid them no mind. When some asshole would mutter “tranny” under their breath when her name was called during attendance, she wouldn’t even flinch.
Dustin wasn’t sure if it was strength, or just resignation. But whatever it was, he couldn’t help but admire her refusal to turn herself down a single notch.
If only he’d been able to do the same.
He didn’t have much time to let that thought simmer before Chris was gripping his arm like an overzealous blood pressure cuff.
“Dude, holy fucking shit, LOOK!”
“What am I looking at?”
“There!” Chris pointed up ahead to where the main bonfire was raging, and that’s when Dustin saw her. The Blasian girl with medium brown skin, sharp eyes, and long braids pulled into a high ponytail. She was dressed in a white cropped hoodie that showed off her star-shaped belly button piercing, and a black denim miniskirt. Her feet were bare, but some guy trailing behind her looked to be carrying her heels for her. Despite the fact that all the attention was on her, she was completely zoning out as if she hadn’t heard a word of it, “Chloe’s here! I should’ve known she wouldn’t miss this,”
Dustin knew Chloe Li all too well. Daughter of a locally famous fashion designer, Kochiyama High’s number one it girl… and Chris’s ex-girlfriend. They’d known Chloe since elementary, but she and Chris only started dating in Freshman year, only to break up at the in the middle of Junior year. But Chris hadn’t stopped peacocking in an attempt to get her back ever since.
“Bro, leave that poor girl in peace for one night, I’m begging you,”
Chris gasped in overdramatized horror.
“Excuse me?! You expect me to just let her walk away from all this?” Chris gestured up and down his body.
Dustin pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
“You’re good at so many things, why can’t ‘respecting boundaries’ be one of them?”
“Fuck off Twinkula, I’m going to talk to her,” Chris said, playfully shoving Dustin, “you gonna be cool without me, right?”
Dustin’s eyes drifted to the ever-growing crowd of increasingly inebriated seniors and felt that uneasy feeling return. He choked it down and offered a casual nod; he wasn’t about to ruin Chris’s moment.
“Go for it. I’ll find the middle ground between the computer nerds and the theater kids and hang out until you’re done,”
“I don’t know bro, I’m feeling kinda shaky. You know what I’m gonna need if this is gonna go smoothly,” Chris smirked, before raising his hands high in the air, palms to the sky, “please, give me your energy,”
Dustin chuckled as the scene from Dragon Ball Z flashed in his mind; Goku drawing energy from the lifeforms of the universe to boost his Spirit Bomb. It was the nerdiest shit of all time, and something only someone as effortlessly confident as Chris could pull off without plummeting down the social ladder…
So of course Dustin raised his hands in the same fashion without thinking twice.
“My energy is yours sensei. Just don’t use it for nefarious purposes,”
With that, Chris pulled him into a quick hug and made his way toward his target.
As soon as his twin disappeared into the sea of kids around the bonfire, Dustin found a smooth rock to sit down on. He was close enough to still feel the bass from the Yung Joc song thumping in his chest, but far enough that no one would really notice him. Maybe he’d move in closer a bit later, but for now he was content to just vibe near the water’s edge and enjoy the music from afar.
Or at least, that was his plan…
“You realize the party’s over there, right?”
The sudden deep voice made Dustin flinch so hard he almost slipped off the rock, but he regained his composure and turned around… only to see none other than James Zhang himself standing over him with a beautiful, carefree smile etched on his face. He was notably shorter than Dustin was, likely around 5’6 or so, but what he lacked in stature, he made up for in pure presence. He’d always been a force to be reckoned with; chaos in human form that bounced between extracurriculars like the world’s sexiest pinball. Dustin envied that energy; the ability to try on any hat and then ditch it at a moment’s notice for whatever else struck his fancy.
He wasn’t even 100% sure when his obsession with James started. It could’ve been back during their Freshman orientation, when he saw that brilliant 10,000-watt smile lighting up the auditorium from halfway across the room. Or maybe it was Sophomore year during Culture Day, when James showcased his mixed heritage by cooking up a Filipino/Chinese fusion platter that made Dustin realize how hot being a good cook was.
Regardless of when the crush started, Dustin never thought anything would actually come of it. They’d never even had a full conversation; the only time they’d ever even sort of interacted was… Junior Prom.
The worst night of Dustin’s life.
It was only then that he realized that he’d just been standing there, dumbfounded for like ten uninterrupted seconds. He tried to form words, to think of a witty reply, but he was totally disarmed. The way James just stood there, existing with the firelight glowing against his soft, glowing skin. Completely unbothered by the sea breeze ruffling his loosely curled hair; it was magical.
“I… uh, y-yeah. I know. I was just, getting a bit of fresh air,” Dustin stammered.
“Really? You guys just got here though,” James said, raising a curious eyebrow, “you’re more socially awkward than I expected,”
Dustin just blinked dumbly at that. It wasn’t an insult; James just threw it out there like the casual observation it was. But still, Dustin wasn’t quite sure how to respond.
“Oh, uh… well, what makes you say that?”
“I used to watch you guys,” James continued, “your band, Colorful Trauma? You guys were fucking tight. But seeing you on stage singing? I don’t know, I guess I just expected you to be a bit bolder in person. I’m kinda digging the Cobain vibes though,”
There it was; the feeling like someone had just detonated C4 next to Dustin’s head, just by uttering a simple name…
Colorful Trauma.
That past incarnation of himself that he’d buried alongside his eyeliner pencil when he fully committed to swimming and trying to get into a good college. The band that he and Bailey poured their souls into, before the night it all came crashing down.
Memories ran through his mind at top speed.
Arguing with Chris in the pouring rain as they left the Junior Prom afterparty. A sudden head-on collision. Dustin pulling a limp, bloody boy out of the passenger’s seat of the other vehicle and giving him CPR…
“I… uh… I haven’t thought about that in a while,” Dustin mumbled, his voice wildly uneven. James’s eyes widened.
“Shit, bad memory huh? Sorry man, I didn’t mean to…
“It’s fine,” Dustin cut him off, more sharply than he intended, “seriously don’t sweat it,”
“Uh, okay,” James said, looking nervous for what was likely the first time in his life, “well, I didn’t come over here just to make you uncomfortable. I was actually gonna ask you if you wanted to…”
Before he could finish the sentence, a bright spotlight hit both of them like a burning accusation. Dustin’s hands flew up to shield his eyes, as James instinctively stepped in front of him. He barely had time to process what the hell was going on, before he heard the slurred scream of one of his fellow students.
This is a special preview of the upcoming urban fantasy novel from Ginstuski - Elemasters. It's about five teenagers who discover their small seaside town is hiding some secrets and they may have some powers that they never thought possible. This is the first of three chapters that will be posted to give you a taste of the novel before it premieres on Amazon for purchase early next year.
Word Count: 2,200 words
Check out the website for the novel here.
...
CHAPTER ONE: IN TOO DEEP
PACIFIC COVE, WASHINGTON, 2006
When Dustin Ying was 7 years old, he learned a fun fact.
“70% of the human body is water,”
It was like the universe suddenly clicked into place for him; like he finally had a way to describe the way he experienced the world. The way his thoughts flowed in ways that weren’t always easy for others to track, how the true depth of his emotions couldn’t always be gleaned from the surface… and the pressure he was constantly living under.
Given his obsession, it was no surprise to his parents when he spent an entire summer at the beach, swimming from sunup to sundown; deeply familiarizing himself with the feeling of waves against his skin, the flow of the currents, and the way salt clung to his hair. It was even less of a surprise when he wanted to try out for the swim team freshman year, and less still when he quickly became their star member.
You’d think that’d be enough to make his mom and dad brag about him at every family gathering, or around the water cooler at work… or whatever the fuck people did in corporate offices.
Yeah, you’d think.
His parents’ lack of acknowledgement never stopped him from getting to school over an hour early, just to practice his dive, or take a few laps in the massive pool to clear his mind. It was a bit colder than he liked and filled with chlorine that made his skin feel weird; but he’d still much rather be there than at home when everyone else woke up.
And so, there he was, standing on the diving board overlooking that sparkling, blue rectangle that always welcomed him when no one else did. There was only one week left until the regional swim meet, and there was no better time to focus than this; before anyone else was around to break his concentration.
He stared down at the still water from the 3-meter diving board and inhaled deeply. He rolled his shoulders back, bounced once on the board… and then launched himself into the air, twirling dramatically on the descent until he sliced through the surface of the water like a precision instrument. In an instant, the world above was gone, leaving him alone with nothing but the sound of his heart beating in his ears and the feeling of currents rippling against his bare skin.
This was the part no one ever saw. People clapped when he got out of the pool, wet and breathless. They looked impressed when his name hit the leaderboard. But none of them understood this; the weightlessness, the silence, the way the world dulled and drifted away like the tide. Down here, time didn’t tick forward, it pulsed. That was the only way Dustin could ever describe it.
He stayed there as long as he could stand it, just floating and letting himself think. Eventually, however, his mortality came knocking; his lungs burning in that eternally familiar way that only served to remind him of his limitations.
He kicked his legs and propelled himself to the surface, and the moment the air came rushing back to him, so did everything else; the bullshit calculus test he had in fourth period, the too-loud hallway he’d inevitably have to step into sooner than later, that weird silence at dinner the night before that stretched until his brother joined them…
Dustin shook his head and glanced at the clock on the far wall.
6:45am
He still had an hour before any of that shit would matter, and he was going to make the most of it.
…
By the time Dustin had showered, dressed, and stuffed his still-damp swim gear into his gym bag, Yuri Kochiyama High School had fully roared to life. The halls were humming with noise; lockers clanging, sneakers squeaking, someone’s Motorola Razr chiming with a song that was catchy a couple of months ago but had been annoying ever since.
Dustin slipped in with the early crowd; hair still wet at the roots, headphones on and plugged into his iPod nano, but no music was playing. That way he could pretend like he couldn’t hear anyone, without actually limiting his spatial awareness.
He moved like a ghost, just another half-asleep senior in a sea of faces. He kept his head down, eyes on his schedule even though school had started months ago and he’d long since memorized it. Anything to avoid eye contact.
That worked fine until Bailey Yu came into view, orbiting the vending machines like a planet made of pink, plastic, and overconfidence.
“Dusty!” she sang, like she hadn’t just blasted through the noise-canceling barrier of his fake music bubble.
He flinched internally… well, mostly internally.
“M-morning Bailey,”
She wore a neon yellow bomber jacket over a tight pink graphic tee that said GOD IS A WOMAN AND SHE HAS LIP GLOSS, paired with a tiered denim skirt and platform boots that made her at least four inches taller than she was the day before. Her makeup was glittery and precise, and her smile was that brand of intense that made it impossible to tell whether she was delighted or deranged.
Some people saw her as an icon, most saw her as a neon nightmare and called her names that Dustin wouldn’t dare repeat. But to him, she was just… Bailey. His best friend who’d always been there for him. There for the late night calls when he was spiraling after yet another awkward dinner. There to smoothly save him when he’d frozen up during the morning announcements and stumbled over his words. There to cover for him with a convenient excuse when he was caught staring at one of the boys in gym for a few seconds too long…
“Big meet coming up, yeah?” she said, popping open her Red Bull with a long, glittery press-on, “you better kick ass or else I will have made a giant sign for nothing,”
“I always do, don’t I?”
“Good. I’ll be damned if I use my glitter-glue for no good reason,” Bailey replied with a wink, taking a big gulp of her energy drink, “so… you’re gonna be at the bonfire tonight, right?”
Ah, right. That.
The bonfire that the senior class had every year to celebrate the last vestiges of fall before winter arrived in earnest. It was a Kochiyama High tradition; even Dustin’s parents had done it back in their heyday. Honestly though, he’d completely forgotten about it.
“I don’t know, doesn’t really seem like my scene,” he shrugged, “I don’t drink, and I only smoke every now and then. Besides, the only friend I’d have there would be you,”
“I’m the only friend you have anywhere,” Bailey quickly corrected him with a giggle, “you should still come though! I bet James Zhang is gonna be there,”
Dustin stiffened, his cheeks flushing red.
“S-shut up!” he hissed, though it had no venom, “look, I gotta get to class. I’ll catch you at lunch, alright?”
“Fine, fine. But think about it, k’ Dusty?”
Dustin shot her a thumbs up as he continued making his way to his locker, trying to will away the blush still creeping across his face.
…
Dustin hit his locker, grabbed his AP History textbook and immediately headed to class; the entire time he’d been in the halls, he felt like there was a specter looming over him. An unspoken dread that he knew all too well. There was one particular person he had no energy to see that morning, and, at least so far, he was lucky enough to avoid them altogether…
At least, until he had to cut through the main lobby.
Right next to the giant trophy case, stood a few members of the basketball team; The Kochiyama Orcas. Usually, it would be easy enough for Dustin to ignore them entirely, and they’d likely do the same to him.
But of course, right in the center of the group was someone Dustin couldn’t ignore… no matter how much he wanted to sometimes.
Chris Ying; his dumb ass twin brother, leaning casually against the glass case, running a hand through his freshly bleached hair for no other reason than to flex his arms in his Ed Hardy tank.
Dustin didn’t hate Chris. He couldn’t; not only were they twins, but there was a time when they were incredibly close. Before Dustin had Bailey, Chris was the one he shared everything with, and Chris championed him in return. He was the one standing up for him when the bullying started, the one forcing their parents to notice him when it seems they only had time and attention for one of their sons. And now, even though their social circles had diverged, Chris was always cheering him on… in his own way.
Dustin’s disdain wasn’t rooted in anger toward his brother, it was just… everything. The way he was so effortlessly confident, the way everyone gravitated to him like a human magnet. And most of all, the fact that they had the same face; the same high cheekbones large expressive eyes, and sharp jawline. Hell, the only difference between them was that Chris had a small scar across his upper lip; barely even noticeable, but the only real way to tell the two apart.
But somehow, everyone saw Dustin as soft, thoughtful, maybe even forgettable… but on Chris those same features looked model-esque and downright magnetic.
Dustin stopped for a moment, knowing he didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with any bullshit that morning.
But he still had to walk this way to get to class on time… so, he adjusted his headphones to reestablish the illusion that they were actually playing music, and prepared to walk right past the group like he hadn’t even noticed them.
But unfortunately, one of them noticed him; Spinner, the tallest one on the team, with the lowest IQ (if any of Dustin’s past run-ins with him were to be believed).
“Chris, bro, I cannot believe you’re actually related to that emo freak,”
Dustin’s shoulders tensed; slightly. Imperceptible. He’d heard worse than that a million times, he’d just keep walking and ignore that asshole.
Of course it couldn’t be that simple.
“I can’t believe it either man. Looks like God only had enough swag for one of us,”
Hearing that from Chris, who probably thought his words wouldn’t make it through the headphones, forced Dustin to stop in his tracks. He whipped his head around and shot eye-daggers at his brother, causing Chris’s face to go pale and his expression to drop immediately.
Before Chris could say anything, Dustin had already turned on his heel and started storming down the hallway, hoping to just get into his classroom and forget he’d ever heard anything.
But as always, Chris moved faster.
“Bro, wait! Dustin, it was just a fucking joke dude, chill,” he called out, grabbing Dustin’s shoulder the moment he caught up to him, “don’t take shit so seriously all the time,”
“Just because you’re joking doesn’t mean I have to think it’s funny,” Dustin immediately shot back, shrugging Chris’s hand off him.
“Alright, alright fine. Look, why don’t you come to the bonfire with me tonight? Me and Bailey will make sure you look dope as fuck, and maybe you can finally hook up with that dude on the swim team that’s always staring at your ass. What’s his name, Leon?”
Without hesitation, Dustin flicked Chris’s ear, causing the latter to dramatically recoil in pain.
“Keep your voice down idiot. Unless you’re trying to out me to the entire school,” Dustin hissed, “and his name is Leo! It doesn’t even matter, I’m skipping it anyway,”
“I think the fuck not sir! You already missed Homecoming; your whole life can’t be swim training and jerking off. You only get one senior year… well, unless you’re Bobby Arrington that is,” Chris gestured to the 20-year-old senior with a patchy beard just as he passed by them, “we’ve gotta make it count. Do it for me? Your beloved big bro?”
Dustin let out another sigh. He really would rather swim a few more laps after school and then head home to relax… but he also knew that Chris would never let him hear the fucking end of it if he didn’t go. The last thing he needed was to spend the rest of their lives being badgered about the time he didn’t go to the senior class bonfire; that was not the kind of story he wanted his future grandkids hearing about.
“Alright, fine. I’ll go, but only because you won’t fucking leave me alone about it,”
Chris broke into a wide grin.
“Why would I ever do that? Cradle to grave baby bro, cradle to grave,”
Dustin had heard that phrase from Chris a million times; it was supposed to be a way of cementing their bond. The fact that they’d known each other since the beginning, and they’d ride or die together until the end…
The unfortunate reality was that Chris usually said it to soften Dustin up before they engaged in truly unhinged behavior.
Hopefully this wouldn’t be one of those times; the last thing Dustin needed was to die at some stupid senior party he didn’t even wanna go to.
Then again, what was the worst that could happen? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d spent his night cleaning up Chris’s puke. Or being forced to serve as the DD because everyone was shitfaced but him.
Annoying? Yes. But ultimately survivable.
He’d just need to do what he always did, and the evening would pass quickly without any problems.
Take a deep breath, and endure.
...
If you're reading this today, then tomorrow there will be another special preview chapter, so keep your eyes peeled for that. For now, you can check out the website if you want to learn more about the characters, or check out the Masters Monday tag on this blog to see more posts I have made on this blog about them.
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