It was only when she was in her new homeroom, her backpack opened wide and various items taken from it and put on her graffiti free desk, did she notice just how new everything was. Last year, her folders had pictures of animals and cartoon characters on them, and were made of a plastic like material. This year, they were much simpler, made of thick paper and monochrome colors. Her pencils were mechanical rather than wooden, and her notebooks were thicker than the year before. Not a single piece of paper in them had been touched yet, covered in messy drawings or her tiny, loopy handwriting.

The backpack was new as well, something that she had picked up last minute without looking very closely at it. The size had been what had mattered, and it certainly was large. Looking closer, she saw that though it was black, it also had patches of various dark grey areas.

Just like the high school that she had moved to, everything else was new. Krista took a (brand new) black Sharpie from her bag and began to write her name on the front cover of her new folders and notebooks. She wrote far larger than normal, making sure that whoever saw her notebooks and folders knew exactly who they belonged to.

Her homeroom teacher, a history teacher named Ms. Ral, seemed nice. She was only Krista's homeroom teacher, but she was quite nice; whoever had her for history was very lucky.

Once Krista had finished putting her name on everything that she possibly could, she put everything back in her backpack where it belonged. Later on, once she had an idea of what she needed, she could put some stuff into her locker.

The paper listing her classes was already crinkled. She bit her lip. If this were to start to rip or fade, then she would need to get a new one from the office; the teachers had all been told to only print one. She didn't want to go to the office, even if she wasn't in trouble, and she wasn't sure of how quickly she would memorize the rooms of her classes.

The rest of the students in her class were either busy texting, talking, arguing, or scribbling away in their notebooks. No one seemed to notice her, too caught up with their own situations.

The bell rang.

"Remember to stay orderly in the hallways, student." Ms. Ral said. "I hope that you all have a good first day as sophomores."

Yeah right, Krista thought. Once most of these guys are out of here, they'll probably stampede through the hallway. With my luck, I'll just end up getting run over.

She put her backpack on and clutched the straps tightly. This was probably going to be a day to remember.

HELLO STUDENTS, WELCOME TO THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR! IT'S GOING TO BE LOADS OF FUN!

As if, Ymir thought, her eyes straight on the bright yellow poster above the water fountains. It was covered in multicolored text and smiley faces.

School was a lot like work - it just had to be done. Ymir would do it because there was nothing else that she could do, and she would be damned if she didn't try to get at least some enjoyment out of it.

Still, the kind of fun that Ymir wanted probably was not the same that the poster offered. It had probably been made by some senior desperate to say that they helped the school in their college applications. She gave it four days max before someone took it down, and that was if the tape lasted that long.

So, she thought, think anything amazing will happen to you this year? One of those wonderful moments like in teen movies?

The best part about having mental conversations with herself was that she could reply with anything that she wanted and not get in trouble for it. Most of the time, Ymir would tell herself the truth; still, it was fun to tell herself some bullshit every once in a while.

Oh yes, she thought. This year will be fucking fabulous.

She took one last look at the eye burning yellow poster before leaning down and getting a quick drink of water. By then, the words were memorized in her mind.

Krista was quite sure that Professor Zoe was going to be her favorite teacher. They were her biology teacher, and their room wasn't covered in the typical teacher brand posters. Instead, magazine and newspaper articles were taped to the walls, along with pictures of animals and insects in various stages of life. They dressed rather casually, and usually were not strict. Only one thing really seemed to bother them, and it was one thing that Krista would never do.

"Professor Zoe, should I use Ms. or Mr.?" a student had asked.

Professor Zoe had frowned. "The term is professor."

"But-"

"The term is professor and professor only."

They had explained how the semester would go, describing various projects and experiments. All of them sounded better than writing papers, and they offered extra credit the very first day. In return for volunteering to clean out their lizard's (named Sonny and Bean) cage every Wednesday, Krista would get fifteen points extra credit each week. She wasn't bad at biology, but she wasn't about to let those practically free points slide away from her.

A dark haired girl came over and sat down beside her. "So you signed up to deal with the lizards too?"

"Oh," Krista said, looking down to her new biology textbook on her desk. "Uh, yeah."

Until then, no one had tried to make conversation with her.

"I could definitely use it. I'm not a big science person."

"Me, I am."

The girl nodded. "So you're Krista, right? Or did I hear the roll call incorrectly?"

"Oh, that's me. And you are?" Unlike the girl, she had only been listening for her name.

"Ymir's the name." She smiled. "I'm guessing that you're new here; I didn't see you last year."

"Yeah, I'm new."

"Where did you move from?"

"It's out of town; you probably never would have heard of it."

Ymir did not question her on the name further. "So, what do you think of Shingashima High?"

"I actually haven't seen all of it yet."

"What do you mean? Didn't you get a personal tour or something, or at least a senior guide?"

Krista shook her head. "I had to find this room myself; they should have also given out maps."

Ymir frowned. "Damn, the school was pretty inconsiderate. Do you want some help, maybe a tour? I know the way around, and I'm glad to give help."

"I'll see." Krista looked down to her schedule. "Thank you."

"Okay." Ymir smiled once more. "And hey, I'll be ready to see you Wednesday afternoon."

All in all, it had been an okay day. Krista had befriended Ymir (or at least she hoped she had), and also sort of made herself friends with Ymir's friends Sasha and Connie. They had all sat together at lunch. Krista had spent most of it nibbling away at the sandwich that she had brought from home; luckily, the others could fill in for her on their conversations.

The rest of her classes had at least showed promise. No one recognized her, which was good, and everyone called her Krista. It was a perfectly blank slate.

Already, she was stepping into the shoes of Krista Lenz, and no one at school knew her as anyone else.