Author's Note: A big thank you to my reviewers!
MiniLippy: I really appreciate the praise! Giving the kids an appropriate backstory and a realistic twenty-first century personality was the thing I was most concerned about, so your reassurance is, well, reassuring. I really enjoyed reading your fic, as well.
Jessiordia: Thanks for the questions, which made me realize that I hadn't illustrated enough on Hector. He already had a car before this, but it was dumped when Uther bought him the Corvette. And, goodness, who wouldn't want a '64, fully restored Corvette? drools I imagined Hector as a car buff, hence the old car.
Hope that everyone enjoys the next chapter, which underwent a lot of editing and rewriting!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem, or anything associated with it. I do, however, own this piece of fiction.
a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a
Florina was on the verge of tears.
Fiora had taken her to get her schedule, and then given her directions on how to get to each and every one of her classes. Which had been fine for the first two or three periods of the day, because the directions were fresh in her mind. But now, for fourth period in room 209, Florina had absolutely no idea where she was headed.
It wasn't just that, she knew. There had been one person from her junior high in her second period class, a boy named Trent, but he had given her a small smile, and then proceeded to sit on the opposite side of the room. The rest of her classes had been filled with new people, some of them sophomores and juniors. She was actually the only freshman in her U.S. History class, and had sat in the back of the room. Everyone else already knew each other, already had friends. And she didn't.
She didn't want to duck into a bathroom and call Fiora on her cell, either. Fiora had told her that it was okay to call any time, but she didn't want to get Fiora in trouble if her phone rang in class. And Fiora had her own classes to go to…. She had already helped so much.
But Florina was becoming more and more aware that she was going to have to do something, and soon. The hallways were so crowded that people kept on bumping into her. Standing against the lockers didn't help, either, as someone invariably needed in the locker that she was standing just in front of.
When one girl with a pair of bright pink pigtails impolitely ordered her to move, Florina backed toward the crowded center of the hallway, sniffling loudly when someone bumped rather forcefully into her.
"You okay?"
Jerked from her private thoughts, Florina let out a small "eep," then turned to see a hulking, blue-haired, letter jacket-wearing young man. Surely she hadn't bumped into him, of all the people in the hallway? "S-sorry?"
The boy smiled and ran a hair through his messy blue hair. "Freshman, right?' Florina forced out a nod, at which the blue-haired young man smiled even more broadly. "What room are you looking for?"
"Um, two-oh-nine," Florina answered after a moment's hesitation, and held her schedule out at arm's length. He seemed nice enough, even if he was so big. And he was probably a senior, with that letter jacket. What was it for, anyways? Football, probably. Fiora had told her that it was mostly the football team that wore theirs no matter what the season.
The young man grinned again. "Oh, old Windbag Merlinus for Chemistry? I don't pity you at all. That was the worst class of my life." Florina whimpered softly, biting her bottom lip sharply. "Don't worry. He's nice, just boring. Now, what you want to do is go down to the end of this hall, and hang a left. On the, um, third hallway you come to, take a right, and his door will be just a few down on the right. Think you can make it?"
Florina took her schedule back from the human hulk, and nodded hesitantly.
"I'm Hector," he continued, grinning politely. "Good luck in Windbag's class!"
With that, the hulk- Hector- turned and strode off, leaving Florina staring firmly at her shoes. That had been interesting, to say the least. She'd managed to talk to a boy. A senior boy who was wearing a letter jacket, and who was at least a foot taller than she was. It had been scary, but he had been completely nice about the whole thing.
What were those directions again? For a moment, Florina panicked, too afraid to run after Hector to ask for directions again. She swallowed, murmuring an "excuse me" as someone shoved past her in the crowded hallway.
Left at the end of the hallway. She could do that much, easily. Or was it right? "No," Florina told herself aloud. "Left. Turn left at the end of the hallway, then right. Room two-oh-nine."
She had just gathered her wits about her, and was about to set off down the hallway, when another voice cut through the random mumblings of the people around her.
"Florina! Hey, Florina! Back here!"
The lavender-haired freshman paused, then turned to look behind her. Lyn was hurrying through the crowd, paying little attention to the people that she was elbowing. Two boys were following behind her, one with reddish-orange hair and another with an unruly mop of brown hair. "Florina!"
"Hi, Lyndis," Florina replied with a polite grin, allowing herself to be swept up in a tight hug. "I haven't seen you in a while."
"Months," Lyndis said, smiling broadly. "Now, Florina, this is Kent-" she gestured to the redheaded boy. "And Sain. They're both juniors, too. Choir nerds. Kent and Sain, this is Florina."
The brown-haired Sain gave Lyn a half-push and gave Florina a wide smile. "Well, hello, Florina. It is certainly a delight to meet you. Lyn," he continued, shaking his head at his friend, "why didn't you tell me that you had such a pretty friend?"
Florina blushed and gave another "eep" before grabbing Lyn's sleeve and stepping behind the taller, older girl. "Don't- stop it!"
"Don't stop?" Sain asked cheekily, taking another step forward. Florina squealed again, and buried her face in Lyn's shoulder. How had she gone from being able to tell that boy Hector what room she was looking for, and now she didn't even want to be close to Sain? Hector had been nicer, though. He hadn't tried to flirt with her.
Lyn sent a well-aimed fist towards Sain's arm, who gave a half-yell of pain, and glared at the green-haired girl. "Oh, come off it, Sain! Leave her alone, why don't you? She's just a freshman. And she certainly doesn't want any of your attentions. Just the same as every other girl alive."
Kent, silent up until that point, chuckled at the fiery junior's antics. "I wouldn't argue with her, Sain. Because I back Lyn up completely on this point. You need to calm down a little."
Sain gave a loud, fake groan, throwing one hand across his forehead. "My two best friends, united against me in my poor search for true love! Woe is me and my poor, lonely soul. Perhaps a kiss from yonder fair maiden would remedy this pain?" he asked with a wink at Florina, who had moments ago begun to release Lyn's shirt.
This time, it was Kent who delivered the blow- a kick to the leg- and rolled his eyes. "Lyn, thanks for introducing us. It was very nice to meet you, Florina," he added with a polite nod. "But we're leaving. Choir, Sain. Choir. Think of all the girls there. It's bound to cheer you up."
Kent shook his head at the two girls as he receded, and Sain began to wax poetic down the hallways once more. "Oh, choir! You seek to remedy my pain from being shot down by a beautiful freshman with whatever second-par beauties are simply willing to come to be?" His voice was decreasing in volume as they went down the hallway, and more than a few people were turning to stare at the odd pair. "No, Kent! Nothing can heal my pain!"
As soon as they rounded the turn, Lyn burst out into laughter. "Oh, sorry, Florina, he just- I just- we just…" She collapsed into hopeless chuckles again, and Florina gave a half-hearted smile. It hadn't been that funny, really. Sain had scared her horribly, even if Kent seemed okay.
"He's always like that," Lyn finally explained once her chuckles quieted. "Always. He's a hoot, but I can't laugh as much as I'd like to around Kent. Kent takes everything so….seriously. In case you hadn't noticed, he's a bit of a stick in the mud. Don't get be wrong, he's nice, he's just predictable."
Florina nodded, becoming more and more aware that the hallways were rapidly emptying. "Um, Lyn, is the bell going to ring soon? Shouldn't we go to class?"
The junior gasped, eyes flicking to her watch. "You're right, Florina. Um, do you know how to get to your class?"
Florina nodded. "A really nice boy named Hector told me. A really tall boy."
"Oh, no. Did he have blue hair, and was he wearing that letter jacket?" Florina nodded. "Come on, then. You're not using his directions. He's a jerk, sometimes, and you really don't want to do what he says. I'll take you."
"But you'll be late for class!" Florina protested when Lyn grabbed her arm and began marching her down the hallway.
Lyn shrugged. "I'll manage. Besides, I've got Canas, and he hates counting anyone tardy. He's late most days, anyways. One of those creative genius teachers, y'know?"
Florina didn't know, but allowed herself to be half-drug down the hallway in the same direction that Hector had pointed her. She had found Lyn, who would watch out for her just as much as Fiora would. Except Lyn didn't have to do it- she wanted to do it. And that made it even better.
a-a-a-a-a-a-a
Raven had managed to get through the entire day without having a single person sit next to him in classes. It was a relief, really. There were so many people at this school that he could blend in, shoot a few evil looks when he needed to, and be left well enough alone. All of the other seniors were wrapped up in their own petty problems. Football, colleges, and for some kids, prom.
He, on the other hand, had been through all of it already. Well, all except the last five weeks of his senior year. He didn't know how to handle the actual graduation, or the senior prom, or applying for colleges. It didn't matter, though. College was not on the top of Raven's list.
Getting through his senior year- again- was. This time, all that he had to do was keep out of trouble. And that wouldn't be too hard, seeing that there were more than enough people to hide behind in this school. He just had to keep to himself.
If only they weren't making him take World Geography. It was a sophomore-level class, to be filled with average sixteen-year-olds, slow juniors, and him. At least no one would pressure him to be in a group project, or something of the like.
Lucius was the lucky one. He was out of school, taking a year off to volunteer for the local church, particularly the Habitat for Humanity branch. At least they were both eighteen now, old enough to live on their own without dodging any questions about parents and being wards of the state. That was a relief, more than anything. The two boys had been living on their own since Raven had turned sixteen, old enough to drive and get a job. Lucius had never been thrilled about the concept of lying about having parents, but Raven had talked him into the whole thing. They were a good pair, the blonde boy who was raised an orphan, and the redhead who had lost his parents from inner city life. One kind and innocent, the other hardened by experience of his life. It was Lucius who had convinced him to finish high school, had pushed him into repeating his senior year.
So maybe, then, it was Lucius' fault when immediately after he sat down in World Geography, he was surrounded by a trio of sophomores. A girl in a knee-length white skirt and a dark green top sat down in front of him, talking animatedly to the boy who sat to his right, a purple-haired young man with more books in his hand than he could need for just school. To his left came a girl with a pair of dark-green braids and a lighter green bandana tied about them. Thankfully, his back was to the wall, so there weren't going to be any undersized midgets behind him.
A few minutes of listening, and he had picked up on all of their names. The girl in front of him was Priscilla, the boy to his right Erk, and the green-haired girl was Rebecca. For some reason, Priscilla was vaguely familiar, but he wasn't quite sure why.
At one point, the girl named Priscilla turned and smiled shyly at him, at which Raven only scowled even more. He knew her from somewhere, and she was important, somehow… He just wasn't quite sure how.
The teacher for this class was certainly less interesting than the babbling idiot who had taught Raven's first-period gym class. Mister Harken. A ridiculous name, to say the least. Harken had tried to joke around with him, but when Raven had returned his japes with cold, unwavering stares, the blonde man had stopped. And what a relief it was, too. Harken had spent the first half-hour talking about how he'd gotten engaged to Isadora, who apparently taught another class at the high school.
Whoopee. Congratulations to him.
But this professor, with his graying purple hair, was wasting no time cutting to the chase. His name was Professor Marcus. He stressed the Professor very strongly, leaving Raven to wonder if Professor Marcus had a Doctorate's degree. What a letdown it must be, he thought with a wry grin, to be teaching an average class of sophomores when you'd spent years and years in college.
"First assignment," the teacher continued, Raven still not pulling out a sheet of paper to take notes, "will be a group project. Groups of four. I'm not going to assign them, because you're big boys and girls, and you can handle something as simple as counting to four without my help. Each group will present a chapter to the rest of the class, as teachers." What was the man going to be doing while they were doing his job? Writing essays for scholarly journals? Writing a novel? Oh, there were so many options that Raven couldn't even pick one. "It must teach. I don't care if it's creative or not, but you have to make the class learn the assignment in one period. Come to me with your group, and I'll give you a chapter number. Project is due in two weeks."
Ah, group projects. Raven had always hated them with a fiery passion, and now, with the promise of working with a bunch of sixteen-year-olds, he despised them with all the flames that Hell could muster. Not that Raven believed in Heaven or Hell- that was Lucius' bit.
The three sophomores around him quickly formed a group, and the redheaded young man was expecting it when Priscilla turned to him and smiled. "Hey," she said, grinning. He had seen that smile before, somewhere. "You need a group?"
A thousand sarcastic remarks shot into Raven's mind. He certainly hadn't telepathically communicated with another group and joined them. "Sure," he muttered, shrugging.
"I'm Rebecca," the two-braid girl piped up, as if she'd made a stunning revelation.
"I know," Raven replied, trying to keep some of the bite out of his voice. "It was impossible not to hear you three introducing and talking. Besides, it's not as if it's an impressive group of students in this class."
Erk frowned, and Priscilla's smile faltered, but Rebecca continued brashly onwards. "Well, you know my name, and I don't know yours. What is it?"
"Raven," he answered. There was no reason to try and hide that information from them. His name would have to go on the group project.
"Are you a junior?" Rebecca asked again, and Raven scowled even more deeply. "I don't think that I've seen you before, but this school is pretty big, so it's likely that we've seen each other in passing."
Did the girl not know how to shut up, or did she just like to pry into other people's business? "I'm a senior. Just transferred in."
Rebecca nodded as if she understood the entire thing. "That sucks, having to transfer out just before your senior year started! Do you miss anything of your old school?"
"No." He gave the answer and a glare at the same time, which effectively quieted the peppy sophomore. For a moment, at least.
"Anyone want to get the chapter number?" she asked. Raven wanted to turn and bang his head against the wall. Or, better yet, bang Rebecca's. Priscilla and Erk didn't seem too bad, but if this girl didn't stop talking, he was going to have to do something. "Well, then, I will!"
Thank whatever God existed in the universe. Blessed, blessed silence.
Priscilla cleared her throat softly, and turned her gaze from Erk back to Raven. "I'm sorry, but have we met somewhere before? You are very familiar. I went to this school last year, and Fairmont Junior High before that. Did you go there? Or maybe to Jackson Elementary?"
"Sorry, no," Raven replied with a shake of his head. He nearly told Priscilla that she was quite familiar, too, but decided against it. No reason to encourage the girl to talk more than she had to.
"I just want to volunteer my house for any team meetings that we might have," Erk interjected, breaking into Raven's thoughts. "It's very large, so we would have plenty of space to work on whatever we needed. Pent and Louise- my adoptive parents- have very excellent computers, so anything that we needed off the internet, or anything printed, we can obtain easily."
"Chapter Three!"
Wonderful. She was back.
Rebecca sat gracelessly in her chair, and smiled at the group. "Chapter three is what we've got. Rise and fall of Ancient Greece. We just missed out on the Egyptian Dynasties, which was chapter two. But I like Greece a lot better."
"This'll require very little work," Erk said with a breezy air. "I'm very interested in the ideals of classical antiquity, so I already know a large majority of the basic facts. The textbook probably doesn't delve any deeper than the bare facts. We won't be discussing too many wars, because it simply wouldn't be cost-result efficient."
Raven had to admit, it was a little funny to listen to this purple-haired little kid ramble on and on about Ancient Greece. He certainly hadn't been this verbose a few minutes ago, when he was talking to Priscilla.
"Um, does anyone have any plans this afternoon?" Priscilla asked, looking around. "I know that it's the first day of school, but the sooner we get started on this, the sooner we're finished, and the better that we'll know the material for the presentation." No one raised any objects, and the redhead continued. "We can start planning now. I don't like the idea of giving everyone a section, because it just makes the overall flow of the presentation very jerky and disjointed."
It would have been easy for Raven to drift off, and he normally would have, thankful for an escape from the conversation. But Priscilla was turned sideways in her chair, facing towards him, her book open on his desk. Something about her was bothering him.
The way that she bit her bottom lip when she was thinking… He had seen that before. Seen that smile, seen the eyes, heard the laugh. He couldn't turn his focus somewhere else. At one point, he glanced towards Erk, and saw the violet-eyed boy glaring daggers.
But even glares from some jealous sophomore couldn't stop Raven from staring at Priscilla, wondering exactly where she was from, and how he knew her.
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A/N: Sorry, this was originally going to be three scenes, with the third from Priscilla's PoV, dealing with how Erk and Rebecca interpreted Raven's staring. But it ended up being short and shallow, so it was dashed on the cutting board floor.