Bittersweet Symphony
Chapter 4: Nina
Author's Note: HEEEEEERRRRRRRRREEEEE'sssssss.....CHAPTER FOUR!! You thought I was going to say Johnny didn't ya? Hmm? HMM?? Okay, maybe you didn't well poo on you!! Another day, another chapter. But guess what, it brightens up a little, yeah...a little. Something like that! Thank you to all who reviewed!! Hope to get more reviews in the future. And thank you to peoples who tell me things that seem a tad flawed or confusing coughspiritscough Anyways, please enjoy the next chapter, Sams' off to the new school!!!
Chapter Four: Nina
"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
" Well, this is it..." Sam mutters to herself, looking towards the gates of her new school. Sure, Sam's hand was on the door, ready to push it open. Keyword, ready, not actually doing. She was still, ready to open the gates, but not sure if she should. She curses to herself, hearing the chatter on the inside.
" Darn it, why didn't I expect this to happen? " Sam asks herself, not really wanting an answer. There was a slip of paper in her hand, a blue one that was to be given to the head warden. Something about a school uniform, Sam had heard her mother explaining to her on the way there, but she wasn't really listening. She tried, oh yes, but her mother could just gab and gab...and gab.
" What're you waiting for? " Sam grunts as she hears Svara talk to her from her subconscience. Sam takes her hand of the solid door and places it on her hip.
" I'm not waiting, I uh...just don't want to go in yet. " Sam says plainly, looking up to the sky in distraction. She hears Svara giggle, making Sam become somewhat annoyed.
" Well you have to go in sometime, why not now? " Svara asks, trying to hold her laughter in. Sam frowns slightly and puts her hand back up to the door.
" Geez, you're insistant today..."
" Just want to see the famous ' P.W.C. Acadamy ' that's all... " Sam could feel Svara pouting, and she snorts in response.
" Fine... " Just when Sam is about ready to open the door, it is nearly flung opem, reveiling a group of older students, each wearing a different colored uniform. There were three guys and two girls. They glanced at Sam momentarily before bumping past her rudely. Sam whirls around to glare at them, until she hears the bell ringing on the inside. She quickly rushes inside the doors just before they close. The group of teens shoved in the back of her mind as she gazes around the school grounds.
" Where's the school? " She asks herself, looking for some sort of academic building, but finds none. There was just a bunch, or maybe a lot of bunches of children of various ages running or chatting amongst themselves. She spots little children running about, looking about the age of five, all of them playing tag with each other. The teens that looked Sam's age, mostly sat in a group, talking about who knows what.
" Ms. Manson..." She hears a voice call out from a small distance away. She turns to see an elder looking woman, who was holding a clipboard, " Please come this way, you need your uniform. What brand are you? " Sam raises an eyebrow at the question.
" Excuse me? " Sam asks, walking a bit faster to catch up with the brisk walking woman. The woman, presumingly the warden gives her a weird look.
" What? You have that slip, don't you? What brand does it say? " The warden asks again, becoming impatient. Sam frowns at the warden, before taking a glance at the slip. She had never bothered to look at it before, but now that she did, she was gaining confusion.
" It says undefined. " Sam replies, continuing to walk as the warden lets out a little 'hmph' before they reach a desk that had many things sitting on it. She reaches for a thermometer type contraption.
" Open your mouth. " She states, sliding a plastic wrap type slip over the tip. Sam obeys, opening her mouth and nearly jumps back as the item is nearly shoved down her throat. Moments later, it is pulled out again, the warden looks at it for a few moments. Sam began to get a funny feeling in her stomach.
" Class...red...that's odd, I haven't seen one of those in a long while. You a relative of Ani? " She asks rumaging in several stacks of uniforms for girls.
" I have a grandma named Ani. " Sam says, watching as the warden pulls out a skirt, that resembled what Sam was already wearing, but the plaid strips were red instead of green. She pulls out a white shirt and red plaid tie and piles them on top of each other. She nods to Sam, smiling ever so slightly.
" I see, great student she was. How is she doing? "
" Um...fine I guess. She's staying with my family for a week so I'll tell her you said hi, okay? " Sam says looking up to the woman, who was now sending a glare past her towards the young children.
" Thanks, dear. You can keep your shoes, they'll be fine as long as they're black. Damn those little brats, always teasing that poor little Kennedy..." She mumbles stomping past Sam towards the group, " Oh, you can change in the girl's locker room. " After taking one last glance towards the now angry warden, she trudges off to the locker room labled ' GIRLS '
" Class red, huh. Wonder what that is... " Sam says to herself while she fixes her tie into a reasonable position on her shirt, " Good enough..." She glances up at her hair, looking up at the green pony that held a lock of her hair. She quickly pulls it out.
" Aw, I thought that was cute, why'd you take it out? " Svara asks suddenly, startling Sam slightly.
" It's stupid. " She replies, recieving a sigh from the exasperated Svara. This confuses Sam, " Hey, you okay? "
" I'm fine, don't worry about it...I just wasn't expecting her to probe your mind. I some energy drained from me, that's all. " Svara says, trying to reassure Sam. Too bad it wasn't working too well, but Sam eventually let it off and trudges into the locker room.
" Danny, I'm going to school! You staying home? " Jasmine calls out within the empty house. Their parents were in the cities for yet another convention and she and Danny were the only one's left there. She hears a muffled voice from the bathroom. groaning, Jasmione walks over to the door, knocks on it and walks in without warning. Not that Danny was doing anoything important, just staring in the mirror, dark rings under his eyes. Jasmine lets out a sigh before adding.
" Nevermind my asking, you are staying home today. Go back to bed, you need it. " She says, pushing him out of the bathroom and towards the stairs. Danny nearly trips as they reach the stairway. He whirls around to face his sister, ready to argue but freezes as the glare on her face. Her teeth were clenched.
" Go. To. Bed. Now. " Jasmine says slowly, as if talking to a toddler who had just been doing something bad. Danny nods quickly and rushes up the stairs. Jasmine waits until she hears the slamming of his bedroom door before scribbling something on a note and leaves the house.
Up in his room, Danny gazes out the window as Jasmine was pulling her car out of the driveway. Once her car was out of sight, Danny lets out a large amount of air. He reaches a hand to his forehead and runs it down his face in exasperation.
" Man, she's as stressed as I am. " He says to himself, as he looks at the things around his room. The Fenton Thermos and Fisher were on his dresser, assumingly thrown there, for a picture frame was knocked over under them. He walks over to the dresser and shoves the to ghost-catching items off the surface, not bothering to pay attention as to where they fell to. His eyes were fixed on the down-framed picture. He grabs it curiously, not remembering the actual picture that it held. He flips it over, and his eyes automatically widen, his chest tightening.
" Sam..." He whispers, taking a better look at the picture. The image in the frame was indeed him and Sam, but they were in first grade. They were just becoming ' best ' friends and had gotten their picture taken together at a family picnic event at school. Danny's arm was draped childishly around Sam's shoulders, each child had a bright smile on their face. Sam had blonde hair, tied in two pigtails by her ears. That was her known hairstlye back then, and Danny smiles at the sheer memory of her innocence when she was little. He spots the messy lock of hair that stuck out on his forehead, and remembers when Sam had tried anything from water to honey to keep the lock down. But they decided to leave it and and SNAP. There was there picture, laying right in Danny's hands. One of his hands reach up to his bangs, his fingers pinching the stray lock onhis forehead.
" So...carefree...Sam was. What happened to her? " The thought soon disappears as he hears a loud barking sound, making him drop the picture. It crashes to the floor, and Danny glares out the window at the bellowing dog across the street. Turning back to the picture on the floor, he quickly picks it up and his frown becomes a sad one. The glass of the picture frame had cracked.
" Sam... " He says again, tracing the crack, which traveled right between Danny and Sam in the picture, seperating them more than Danny could comprehend. His left hand rests on his face a depressing sigh escapes his lips.
She rebuckles her boots and heads back outside, instantly wishing she hadn't. Everyone's eyes were on her, as if proding for something. The teen group gave her weird looks, and the older teens gave her disgusted glares. Sam, of course, didn't understand why, and simply glares back at them, not noticing the color of her eyes changing from amethyst to red momentarily. Everyone else noticed though, and all went back to their regular talking and gossip.
" Hey give me back my hat, please!! " Sam suddenly hears a childish voice call out from the distance and spots the group of children running around the play area, the lead kid holding a laced hat that had a green ribbon attached to it. Several feet behind them, was a little girl, trying to catch up with them, tears running down her cheeks as she screams.
" Please give me my hat!! " She cries out again, her blonde curls bouncing around in two ponytails by her face. Her hands were outstrectched and reaching for her hat, thought it was far away from her reach. Sam clamps her teeth shut as the group heads towards her. As the lead child nears Sam, a feeling shoots through her, nearly causing a spasm. The said child trips about five feet in front of Sam, the hat flying out of his hands. The rest of the children run for the hat, each trying to catch it before the girl could catch up with them. Sam simply raises her hand in the air, the hat seemed to just fall into her palm and her hand grips it tightly. The children stop, each backing up slightly.
" Can we have that? " One dares to speak, causing Sam to look from the hat she was examining to the group of twerps.
" No. " She states angrily, " Go away. " The children all turn and run past the little girl, and back to the play area. The girl stops, her breathes coming out in sharp gasps of air. Sam walks up to her and kneels so she could get a better look at the girl. The girl looks up nervously and to Sam's surprise, she had one green eye and one blue eye. Both were partially hidden by her wavy blonde bangs that hung in the way.
" Um, could I have my hat back? " She squeaks, her eyes blinking curiously. Sam smiles at the girl before holding the hat out to her.
" Sure, kidlet. " Sam replies, handing the small girl the wooven hat. The girl giggles before pulling the hat onto her head, securing it tightly. The girl manages to murmer out a thank you before a loud voice over took Sam's attention.
" KENNEDY!! " The voice screams, as a lone teenage girl runs up to them. She scoops the girl, assumingly Kennedy, into her white gloved arms. She squeezes Kennedy to her chest tightly.
" Darn you munchkin! I swear I've been searching for you everywhere! " She gasps, trying to breath. It looked like she had been running a lot. Sam looks at her for a moment before turning away, and starts to walk away. Kennedy yanks on the teen's uniform shirt and points to Sam as she retreats. The teen steps forward, letting Kennedy slide to the black concrete ground.
" Hey, um...you! " She stutters, just realizing that Sam wasn't recognizable. Sam stops, moving her gaze to the teen.
" What? " She asks, uninterested in anything at the moment. After a few seconds of silence, Sam sighs and starts to walk away again. The teenaged girl looks at Sam as she leaves, feeling slightly insulted. But after she had called Sam's attention to herself, she didn't quite know what to say so she just...stopped talking. Sam finds herself wondering into the edge of the school grounds, if she could call them school grounds. She still hadn't found the actual school. There was a set of swings by a tall willow tree, which was about as far as Sam could get from the crowds of obnoxious teenagers who had stared at her before.
" It's only been fifteen minutes and I already don't like it here... " Sam says sitting within the long vines of the willow tree, each vine had a couple or more blossoms on them.
" We've been here a week and a half and we still don't like it either... " Sam hears a voice say from the other side of the vines. She looks up to see Kennedy and the older girl walk through, Kennedy was in the lead and was pulling the teen with her.
" Yeah, well there's not much to like about this place. There's not even a school, what the hell are we... I mean, what the heck are we supposed to learn without teachers? " Sam asks, frowning as Kennedy sits in front of her.
" The warden is the only teacher, she kinda drifts around. We don't actually start anything for another 45 minutes. " The teen explains, sitting next to Kennedy. Sam's frown deepens.
" Then why doesn't school start an hour later? "
" This hour is for graduates to recieve their certificates on their last day and for soon to be graduates to practice their skills. " Sam's eyes widen slightly at this comment. Kennedy giggles as one of the vines brushes against her cheek.
" Nina, she doesn't know what practice is! " She chirps, now playing with the blossom by her. Sam then looks off as the teen points to a secluded area nearby. Within the area, were three older looking teens. They sat with their legs crossed, one over the other. But to Sam's surprise, or even utter shock, was that they were leviatating about one to one and a half feet off the ground. Their heads were bowed forward, looking deep in thought.
" They look like their...asleep. " Sam mutters, trying to not act impressed. Kennedy laughs again, leaning forward.
" They are in Trance! It's so fun to do! But it's hard for a little girl like me. I haven't had time to practice. " Kennedy says before turning to the teen, " But my big sister Nina here, she does it real well! She tries to teach me... " Sam nearly jumps back as the teen girl, Nina, almost slams her hand on Kennedy's mouth, silencing her.
" Now you can't go telling her all that yet, she hasn't gone through all the teachings yet, you know about Classes and Ranks... " Nina hisses to her little sister, automatically shutting the small girl's mouth. Kennedy nods slowly before Nina lets her go.
" Classes and Ranks? What are those? " Sam asks, now curious of this new information. Nina sighs, almost in an annoyed way, before she starts to explain.
" Before you start classes, you are tested and given a Class, but I still don't know the meaning of that, but after you start to do ' real courses ' with the warden in small groups of your class, you are given a Rank depending on your abilties. I don't even know what the different Ranks are as of now, upper classmen aren't supposed to say. " Nina explains, trying to go slow so Sam could absorb the information well. Sam raises an eyebrow, leaning back on her hands.
" What's your ' Class ' " She asks looking at the two steadily. Nina turns her gaze to the grass, and Kennedy suddenly finds interest in the ribbon on her hat, the hat itself now resting in her lap.
" Um, well... " Nina falters, not wanting to answer. Kennedy begins to yank on her curled hair.
" What? What's wrong? " Sam asks, bemused. Nina finally looks up at her sternly.
" I'm a cerulean class. And she's a- "
" A lavender class, yeah... " They both give her drawn back looks, as if expecting to be spit on. Sam shakes her head in perplexion.
" And that means...? " Sam extends her question, still not understanding their problem. Nina purses her lips together, smaking them together once.
" No one in this school has our Class, they all have teal or plain purple. You can tell by the color of our skirts. The lines are the color of our Class... and since we're individuals amongst the crowd, we're frowned upon. And by the looks they gave you, you must have...a...far...out...color... " Nina trails off as her eyes spot the color Sam's skirt was. Kennedy also looks down, and both are suddenly gaping in shock. Sam pans between the two girls, now even more confused.
" What, is red a bad Class? " Nina looks up at her aghasted.
" Excuse me? No one has EVER had a red Class before, except for her... " Nina says, beginning to stand, " I bet they were more astounished than disgusted..."
" Who's her? " Sam questions, putting 'her' in quotes with her fingers. A couple weird looks later, Sam sighs loudly and also stands and dusts off her skirt.
" You'll find out in your first session! Believe me, from what you've told me, I don't think you know what this school is for..." Nina says before backing up a few steps, and nudges Kennedy with her foot. Kennedy looks up, startled because she was still playing with the dancing blossom. Both sisters wave before beginning to turn around.
" Wait! " Sam calls out quickly, almost too quickly. Nina turns back and finds Sam's hand almost in her face. Nina glances up at Sam, a smile touching her lips.
" Glad to meet someone who's on my line..." Sam says boldly, just as Nina grabs her hand, shaking it. Nina's smile becomes larger, her blue eyes brightening.
" Me too, a new world has been born as my mother used to say. Well, your session will be starting soon so you better get going. " Nina says, as she releases Sam's hand. Exchanging their waves, Nina and Kennedy disappear behind the vines. After a few silent moments, Sam feels content and she too leaves the barrier of the willow tree, perhaps now her favorite place in this school. Stepping out into the open, she watches the crowds talking amongst themselves, just like when she first came. But this time, it didn't affect her as much, if any at all. She had a new friend, and as Nina's mother had once said, ' A new friend means a new world. ' Perhaps she is right...
Yes!! and now I am done with yet another chapter!! How awesome that I wrote this that fast!! And since a dear friend of mine has just reviewed all my fics, I want to continue all those too, so my chapters might come out a bit slower, cause now I have to balance three fics. But hey summer break isn't too far away!! So I hope to see you on the review board and next chapter!! Happy reading!!
SilentDemon