"Amaya, what is the nervous system made of?" Mrs. Hisakawa's sharp voice rung out. I sat up a little straighter in my desk.
"The brain, the spinal cord, and the peripheral nerves," I answered, trying to sound as alert as I could. She smiled coldly, her eyes saying you win this round as I turned to my friend, Sakura, and whispered, "Just because I don't raise my hand a lot doesn't mean I don't pay attention." I wasn't sure if she heard me or not, because she was spacing out. Her dark eyes were focused out the window. I shook my head. Health class was not her strong suit.
I was sort of spacing out myself though. Daydreaming about magic again. If anyone had the slightest hope a middle schooler still believed in magic, I was their go-to girl. But of course, no one would come looking for that. Magic was for little kids, blah blah blah, it's not actually real, blah blah blah.
But I had been waiting my whole life for something incredible to happen. And I wasn't going to stop now.
I thanked the bell as it rang out, so we could go to lunch. Mrs. Hisakawa glared at me one more time and then announced the homework. Finally, we were free.
"I left my lunch in my locker. Walk with me?" I asked Sakura. She nodded and we took off in the opposite direction of the crowd.
"God, I absolutely hate Health. Not as much as I hate math though. What class do you hate the most?"
"Gym." I answered without hesitation.
"P.E." Sakura corrected me.
"Same thing. I am not strong nor energetic. I see no educational value in running around yelling at one another." I grimaced, for once glad I was in health. She laughed.
Vvsht! The loud speaker came on. "Sakura Nara, your mother is here to pick you up. Please come down to the front office. Sakura Nara, your mother is here to pick you up. Please come down to the front office."
"Why do you think they say 'come down?'" She shrugged and then saluted me.
"Until next we meet! I have to go to the dentist!" she declared loudly, but luckily there were only a couple other people in the hallway, none seemed to pay us any attention. I smiled and saluted back. She speed walked (no running) off. I listened to the sound of her shoes against the tiles until I was alone at my locker. At the end of the hallway, I could hear a group of girls filing off to the cafeteria.
I pulled out the purple bag with colorful cupcakes printed on it and slammed my locker door shut. I started walking towards the intersection where four halls met. It's a good thing there is no running, or else that would just be an accident waiting to happen.
"Hey, what's happening?" Rei materialized in front of me. Rei was my hopefully-not-imaginary (though sometimes this was not-so-imaginary or maybe-imaginary) friend. He was like a dark angel, he had huge black wings and fierce but kind gold eyes.
"Nothing much," I whispered. "I'll talk to you later, okay? Right now I'm going to lunch." He waved and disappeared. I shook my head, smiling.
BAM! And I walked straight into three boys! Coming from the other hallway, I didn't even see them coming because Rei was distracting me.
One of these boys happened to be Miki Fukui, the boy I had a crush on. He was pretty spacey and adorable, with a funny disposition and striking blue eyes.
POOF! Suddenly there was a blast of strange purple smoke, and Fukui san was gone. I stood there with two boys, holding Fukui san's clothes in my outstretched arms. They looked at me expectantly, like I would have the answer.
"Uh, and that was the disappearing act I've been working on for a while! You'll have to thank Fukui san for doing such a great job as my assistant!" I said after only a bit of a moment of hesitation, grateful I had joined the improv team. "That was a great job on his part! I couldn't have done it without him!"
The two boys shook their heads, recognizing me as the oddball I was and letting it go. "Tell him, wherever he went, to meet up with us after school, 'kay?" The tall blond boy said as they walked away. I nodded and stood still. I peeked over my shoulder. They were gone.
I zoomed into the girls bathroom and fumbled through his clothes. "Ah ha!" I whispered, finding something among his clothes. Though I couldn't say I was expecting what I found. "W-water! I need water!"