Chapter 2

Arendwell High School

The journey seemed to last for hours. The truck rolled past mountains, hills, oceans, even rivers. It was never-ending. Yuna gazed out of the window, lost in the depths of her own mind. "I wonder what it's like in Luca…" She thought to herself.

At long last, they reached an enormously populated city. A sign overhead said "Welcome to Luca!" The buildings they drove by were spectacular. In the center of the city was a humungous stadium that towered over everything, casting its shadow over the ground. As they continued on through, they rode by a campus with the sign "Arendwell High School."

"That's your new school Yuna!" Braska said, trying to sound cheerful about it.

"Great…" She said in a whisper. She didn't like the idea of being the new girl. In her old school people would always pick and tease them.

Once past the school, the truck finally stopped. "Welcome to our new home!" Braska said while opening the car door for Katrina. Yuna stepped outside the vehicle and looked. The two women gasped in disbelief.

"How did we afford this?" Yuna finally spoke up.

"Well, when I accepted the job offer, they gave me an enormous bonus. Plus, with the money I'll be making now, it won't be a problem." Braska smiled with pride.

"Honey, it's unbelievable!" Katrina said, gaping. The house was two-stories, pearly white, balconies on the second floor, fancy windows, and beautiful flowers surrounding the area.

"I thought I'd keep it a surprise!" Her father said. "I even paid a little extra to get it already furnished!"

"I don't believe this!" Yuna said slowly. "This house is even more amazing then the one back home!"

"Do you like it?" Her mother questioned.

"Do I like it? I love it!" Without another word, she ran forward, opening the house's front door, and sprang inside.

"It looks like everything will work out after all." Braska said, placing his arm around his wife's shoulders.

"I think you're right…" She replied.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Yuna jumped out of her bed, scared half-to-death by the sound of her alarm clock. Quickly, she reached across her bed and hit the off button. The room was filled with silence once more. The time 6:30 AM flashed on the clock.

"I don't want to go!" Yuna said, muffling her voice into her pillow. With a deep breath, she hoisted herself off the bed and walked over to her closet, throwing the door aside. Sleepily she reached her hand out and shuffled through her clothes. Seconds later she pulled out her outfit.

She slid into the soft fabrics and gazed at herself in the mirror. "Let's see, does this look okay?" Her skirt was a light, faded blue, the shirt a dark blue with short sleeves and a collar that cut down in a V. On her feet she wore white flip-flops that had small beads dangling from the starps. "Looks good enough for me!"

Braska stood in the kitchen above the stove, cooking bacon and eggs. Katrina was pouring glasses of fresh milk and placing them on the table. They both looked up when they heard footsteps on the stairs. Seconds later, Yuna came bounding in.

"Morning Sweetheart!" Her mother said cheerfully.

"Morning Mom, Dad!" She walked over towards the plate of bacon and eggs already fixed and piled some onto her plate. "This looks great!" She exclaimed.

"Well, I'm glad you think so." Her father said smiling.

As soon as Yuna sat down at the table she crammed everything in her mouth and drank her milk in three sips. "Thanks guys! Breakfast was great!"

"Whoa! What are you off to in such a hurry?" Her father asked suspiciously.

"It's the first day of school!"

"I knew you'd be excited about it!"

"What are you talking about? I just want to hurry so I can get this day out of the way, along with the next year of school in my life!" Before her parents could muster a word, she lept up from the table and grabbed her backpack off the floor. In the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Braska sighed. "Don't worry." Katrina said comfortingly. "She'll like it in a few days. She just needs time…"

"This is it!" Yuna stared at the school before her. "Arendwell High." The campus was pretty big; students were walking in every direction. "Now I need to go to the office and get my schedule." Taking in a deep breath, she walked onward.

"Excuse me, I'm here to pick up my schedule." Yuna stood in front of the office personnel's desk. The woman who had been typing on the computer looked up from the screen.

"Name please?" She asked.

"Yuna."

"Yuna…Yuna…ah, here you are. Your schedule is on this piece of paper and then this one has a map of the school on it. Have a great first day!" The lady said this all very fast. Yuna could tell she had been working in the office for way too long.

"Thanks…" She hesitated a little.

Gazing down at the piece of paper in her hands, Yuna looked at her classes. Let's see…1st period I have Alchemy, 2nd period it's foreign language-Al Behd, 3rd period-Physical Education, 4th period-Magic, next it's lunch, then 5th period is fighting styles, and last of all is 6th period History. I have to hand it to these schools, they have pretty good classes. Magic class sounds awesome!"

In the distance, the bell rang. "Time for my first class." She looked at the school map and attempted to find her way. Luckily she found it, with one minute to spare.

The classroom was average-sized. Posters of elemental compounds hung on the walls, along with potion ingredients in cabinets. The tables sat two at a desk. Most of the seats were already full. Glancing around, she noticed a table with only one person. She walked towards it and placed her books down.

"Is anyone sitting here?" Yuna asked hopefully. The girl at the desk turned to face her. She had glistening blonde hair and tanned skin. As soon as the girl looked at her, she knew she was an Al Behd. Her eyes were a swirling green.

"No, it's free!" The girl smiled kindly at Yuna.

"Thanks."

"No problem." The sound of chairs moving across the tiled floor and the babble of voices echoed around the classroom. "So, are you new here?"

Yuna was a little startled by her question. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well, you just seemed a little more lost then most students do." There was a slight pause. "By the way, I'm Rikku!"

"I'm Yuna. It's nice to meet you." The two girls smiled at one another. Just then, silence fell over the entire room. The classroom door flung open, hitting the wall with a bang. A girl walked in, followed by two more girls. They all walked to the desk in the back of the class and sat down. Yuna didn't understand why everyone was being so quiet.

"What's going on?" Yuna asked, her curiosity finally getting to her.

"That? That's just Ralana. She's the most popular girl in school, head cheerleader, and probably the most vicious person you'll ever meet!" Rikku glared over at the group of whispering girls.

"What about the other two?"

"Those are her two best friends. The one with the dark skin and hair, that's Donna, and the one with the short blonde hair, that's Leblanc. All together they would be the so called 'beau monde' at this school."

"Beau monde?" Yuna asked.

"Basically, they're all popular and beautiful people and everyone wants to know them!" Yuna got the point then. Those were the girls, just like in most schools, that got just about anything they wanted.

Ralana's hair was silky and blonde. It fell down to her shoulders, shiny locks framing her delicate features, her eyes a dark, swirling green. She sat leaning against the back of her chair, a nail file in her hand. Just as she began to move the instrument back and forth, the classroom door opened yet again and then slammed shut. The room went quiet as the teacher swept past the aisles of students.

"Welcome to your eleventh grade year of high school everyone! I hope you had a great summer, but now we must educate you. This is Alchemy class. In here you will learn how to make elixirs and potions of all kind. Some are to protect you, while others can be quite harmful. So please open your books to page 11."

Yuna sighed. "This is going to be a long year…"