Black Betty
Elizabeth Morten had lived her whole life growing up in the shadows of her parents. She had grown up in a prestigious nuclear family in the 'upper lands' of town. Being an only child, Elizabeth Morten had never known what it was like to care for someone her own age. She had never had a true friend, unless you count the scamming 'friends' hired by her parents to encourage Elizabeth to 'socialise'. Through their fake smiles and laughter Elizabeth see the black greed behind their eyes and in their minds. All they wanted was the money offered by her parents; they didn't care at all about her, they didn't see the soul inside of her; all they could see was a babysitting job to earn some quick cash. For this Elizabeth resented them. She hated how they acted like her best friends in front of her parents; they put on the nicest show in public; they bowed respectfully to her parents, walked her down the driveway and chatted with her until they reached the school gates. As soon as Elizabeth set foot inside the school grounds she was all alone. Her 'friends' scattered and were soon absorbed into their separate crowd of friends. This happened every day of school since grade one until Elizabeth had entered her first year of Middle School. Since her school was too far away to walk to Elizabeth had asked her parents to have her driven to school in the limousine instead of arranged friends. Her parents had agreed, after all, they thought, it was time that Elizabeth entered the world by herself.
And so Elizabeth had stood at the gate entrance of Starbrook College, staring at the tall red, yellow and blue administration building reflecting on how her life in Infinity College may vary to her future life at Starbrook College. As she stood gazing over the navy-blue and white uniformed students, their team house identifiable by the girls' colours above their navy arm bands on their sleeves and on their sailor-like Japanese collars, the boys' team house colours around the cuffs around the bottom of their sleeves and trousers. Elizabeth couldn't get over how traditional this school was, yet it still had a sense of casualty around it unlike Infinity, where everyone stuck to the harsh rules and never walked on the 'oh so precious grass'. Elizabeth pondered upon this thought about the 'sacred' grass at Infinity as she watched a group of giggling girls cut the cement path and take a shot-cut through the grass to the pavement on the other side.
How different, this will be, Elizabeth couldn't help the feeling of relief this thought left her.
Elizabeth stepped into the administrative building and was immediately served by a large woman behind the counter.
"Yes, dear?"
Elizabeth was startled by the lack of severity in her tone. The secretaries at Infinity were so foreboding that most students preferred to spew up their guts rather than having to go through the trial of entering the sick bay.
The secretary noticed Elizabeth's white bands on her uniform.
"Oh, so you're new, are you dear?" she asked smiling.
Elizabeth nodded. New students to Starbrook were given a complimentary uniform whose bands were white, until they were given their house colour.
"Where did you switch from?"
"Infinity" Elizabeth blushed. Infinity's reputation for being a high upper-class school was widely known. She had already prepared herself for the embarrassment of her previous school by telling only the required people. Elizabeth silently prayed that no one was trying to eavesdrop on their conversation, as was so common at Infinity.
"Isn't that the new school up town? My father's cousin's niece's daughter's son goes there. What grade are you in?"
"Nine."
"Nine? That's a strange year to change schools. Most of our new kids change over from grade seven or eleven," the secretary wondered to herself out loud.
"My parents did not know that Infinity and Starbrook have different grade settings. Infinity supported years one to twelve like here, but their Middle School consisted of years nine to eleven," Elizabeth explained. She suddenly realised the tone of voice she had used.
"I'm sorry to sound so formal," Elizabeth apologised. "It's a bit of a habit at Infinity." She blushed a deep crimson red.
"Oh, don't worry about that, dear. It usually takes most kids a while to settle into Starbrook. I'm sorry I didn't ask you your name. What is your name, dear?"
"Elizabeth."
"That's a pretty name," said the secretary, rustling through some papers. "Here are your papers and timetables to get you set for classes and things like that," she said handing Elizabeth a manila folder.
"I'll call a student over on the intercom to show you around the school."
"Domo," Elizabeth bowed.
Elizabeth took a seat near the reception desk and waited quietly. Five minutes later a bouncy young girl Elizabeth's age walked in. She had layered bouncy brown hair and clear blue eyes. From the red bands on her uniform one look could tell she was form the red house, Sunbyria. She smiled at Elizabeth and waved.
"Hajimemashite! You must be the new girl. Hi. I'm Miranda," the bouncy girl greeted Elizabeth.
"Hajimemashite. I'm Elizabeth," Elizabeth returned her greeting. It was strange to hear someone greet her in the traditional way and smile. How many other people would she meet who acted in this way?
"Where do you come from?" Miranda queried waving good-bye to the secretary who gave a cheery wave back.
"Infinity," Elizabeth mentally slapped herself for giving out this information.
"Wow. I've never met someone from there. How different is it from here?"
"Very. Infinity was so glass and cement. This place, however, is bright and …colourful" Elizabeth trailed off. The buildings were all coloured in formations of blue, green, red and purple, corresponding with the name of each wing. From what she had been told the four colours of the houses were somehow significant to the names of the houses. Elizabeth wondered which one she would be in. Miranda seemed to read her mind.
"What house are you in?" she asked Elizabeth.
"I don't know, which ever one has room left I suppose…"
"What? You don't get sorted into a house depending on the number of people!"
"You don't?"
"No!" Miranda laughed. You get sorted depending on your personality and other things. Each house is different."
"What's yours like?"
"Mine's Sunbyria," Miranda said pointing to the red bands on her collar. "Our colour is red and our symbol is the sun. So our people are usually brave and loyal."
"What about the others?"
"OK, Moonbae is blue and is for the really smart people. Their symbol is the moon. Mori is green and their symbol is the tree and other plants. Their people are generally nice and try to get on with everyone, sort of really happy-go-lucky people," Miranda explained.
"What about the purple house?"
"Oh, that's Myst. They're kind of….weird. Most of their people have psychic powers and that's why their symbol is an eye".
"Just because of someone's powers doesn't make them weird," Elizabeth said. Elizabeth watched a pair of students from Myst walk past. They looked just the same as everyone else.
"Oh, I know that. It's just that it has a reputation that most of the people that leave school from that house don't turn out too good. A lot of them either go mad with power and kill themselves or go mad with power and end up getting killed themselves," Miranda explained. "But don't go just taking my word for it, you can make up your own mind. I only reckon that partly because most of 'em end up being terrorists and partly 'cos Sunbyria is literally at war with Myst".
They walked on in silence for a while.
"You said your name was Elizabeth didn't you?"
Elizabeth nodded.
"That's a nice name, but d'you know how many Elizabeths there are here?"
Elizabeth shook her head.
"Believe me, there's tons. We need to give you a nickname. Uh… Elizabeth… how about… Beth… Bethy… Liz… Eliza… Bet… Betty… Betty! How about Betty?" Miranda asked.
Elizabeth's eyes lit up. "Betty…. Yeah, I like that name!"
"No problem. Hey, I'll introduce you to everybody, come on!" Miranda ran across the courtyard over to a group of kids about Elizabeth's age. Elizabeth followed her.
"OK, everybody, this is Betty. Betty, this is everybody!" Miranda announced.
"Oh, yeah, that's so creative Miranda," said a brown-haired girl who jumped up and introduced herself. "Hey, I'm Tori. That's Amy, Usagi, Emily, Emma, Abbey, Gohan, Trunks, Rei, Rei, Ethan, Bry, Kai, Max, Tyson and…." She trailed off as if looking for someone else. "Hey, where's Riva?"
"What's up?" A girl who looked to be Betty's age walked around the corner. Her jet-black hair reached just above her shoulders, contrasting her dark blue eyes. She smiled at Betty as she joined the group.
"I'll bet Tori just pummelled you with a ton of weird names that didn't match any face," Riva laughed. She then pointed out every person and gave a name to each face.
Emma and Ethan were clearly faery (basically a fairy, but less wings, more knives knives obviously aren't at school or are they?) twins, identifiable by their long ear lobes. Ethan had an obvious infatuation with the elven girl next to him, Emma. Although naturally so, her light purple hair seemed to be constantly in a state of perfection (i.e. attacked every hour or so with a bucket of water, a can or hair spray, and a mirror). All three belonged too Mori. On the ground leaning against the yellow wall sat Rei , a thin but tall girl who looked about a year or two older than Betty – or that could just be her hight. She was in Moonbae. Next to her sat Rei Kon, a boy about Betty's age with black hair and golden-yellow eyes. He somehow reminded Betty or a black, gold and white cat. Sitting on the long four-panel wooden bench was Abbey, who seemed uneasy, but managed to give Betty a small smile. She protectively held a bag hung over her neck and shoulder that had the suspicious outline of a gun at its centre. Seated beside her was Gohan and Trunks, both of whom looked like street fighters, although their friendly smiles gave them away as not so offensive. All three were in Sunbyria. Beside the lavender-haired boy stood Bry leaning against the red wooden pole. She gave Betty a contagiously warm smile, which Betty immediately returned. Next to her stood Bry's sister, Riva, who was asking Kai if he had seen her brother, Evan. All of the previous, except Kai and Bry, seemed to belong to Sunbyria. Next to Kai were the youngest of the group, Tyson and Max, who were enthusiastically engaged in an argument about Beyblading. Max belonged to Mori, while his friend Tyson, and also Bry, belonged to Moonbae. The only odd person out seemed to be Kai, who was from Myst. Betty wondered whether he was like what Miranda had described the people of his house.
Betty jumped when she heard a shrill bell sound just above her head. School had obviously started.
Miranda laughed. "Yeah, you'll have to get used to that. Dunno why these people chose to sit here with that bloody bell ringing every day."
As Betty followed her new friends to her first class she began to finally feel relaxed and happy.
OK, for all those people out there who are as confused as hell:
Miranda: best friends with Abbey, Betty's age, Sunbyria
Emma and Ethan: Twins, Betty's age, faeries, Mori
Emma: Elven, Betty's age, Mori
Rei Ayanami: Moonbae, Year older than Betty
Rei Kon: Betty's age, Sunbyria
Abbey: From the near future, best friends with Miranda, Betty's age, Sunbyria
Gohan: Betty's age, Sunbyria
Trunks: Betty's age, from the near future, Sunbyria
Tori: Betty's age Betty's age, best friends with Bry, Mori
Bry: Betty's age, Riva and Evan's triplet sister, best friends with Tori, Moonbae
Riva: Betty's age, Bry and Evan's triplet sister, best friends with Binci (Binky), Sunbyria
Evan: Betty's age, Riva and Bry's triplet brother, Mori
Kai Hiwatari: Year older than Betty, best friends with Rei Kon, Myst
Tyson: Year younger than Betty, best friends with Max, Moonbae
Max: Year younger than Betty, best friends with Tyson, Mori
Binci: Betty's age, (yet to be seen) best friends with Riva, Moonbae