Chapter 13 After School Talk

Celia stared at her backpack. Even without being fully open, she could feel the presence of the syllabus. She traced her finger along the path of the zipper, thinking about the day as she rested on her bed. She looked over at her phone, contemplating calling up Roy. She reached out to grab the device. Before she could wrap her fingers around it, however, someone knocked on her door.

"Yes?"

"Can I come in?" came Singe's voice. Celia pulled her hand away from her phone and cleared her throat.

"Sure."

Singe poked his head through the crack in the doorway. His smile was as warm as hot cocoa, which admittedly helped Celia to enter a calmer state of being. She adjusted herself so that she was sitting up straight.

"Hey Dad." She hesitated as Singe closed the door and came over to the bed. "How was your day?"

"How was my day?" Singe laughed. "How was your day? You went to school for the first time; that's bound to be exciting, right?"

There was a pause. Celia allowed the two of them to stew in the silent atmosphere. Singe' expression wavered, noticeably so.

"Right?"

Celia sighed. "It's not nearly as exciting as you give it credit for." Once again, she looked at her backpack. The syllabus's presence weighed down on her.

"Oh?"

"Yeah." When she spoke, she intentionally used a nonchalant, couldn't care less about the day tone. "Mostly just doing work, getting to know the teacher. You know, typically first day of school shenanigans."

Singe beamed. "That's good!" His face fell a little. "Did you have any trouble?"

Celia thought about the day. She remembered how tough and lonely walking down the Toad infested hallways had been. She might as well have worn a neon-lit sign that said "Weirdo on Display." She had certainly gotten enough looks and glares from the other students.

But…despite that one very nerve wracking endeavor…the school day actually hadn't been that bad. After she got back from lunch, she and Ms. Tish had just eased into the rest of the class. Sure, the fact that she was a Koopa had certainly been unexpected, and the picture of her with a human boy had been even more so. But she hadn't been on the receiving end of any scorn, and every once in a while, she had smiled. She even laughed at one point, especially when Ms. Tish had told her a joke involving rotten tomatoes and politicians.

"Uh…not really," Celia finally responded. "It was….a nice day."

"Great!" Singe patted her on the back. "I'm glad." He laughed. "I guess we can take this day off the 'crappy event list."

Celia chuckled. "Yeah." She opened her backpack, pulling out the syllabus with an ever so delicate touch. "Class isn't expected to be too bad either." She handed the packet to her father. He read it with glittering eyes.

"Well, would you look at that." He laughed. "Looks like you got off easy." He turned the page to look at the projects for the year. "And you only have to do one project." He smirked. "When I was in school, I had a class where I had to do five projects in a year. MAN, that was a pain in the shell." He chuckled. "But, on the bright side, at least I was able to learn which of my classmates were total idiots." He shook his head. "Seriously, Cee, avoid group projects like the plague."

Celia snickered. "Well, that shouldn't be too hard. I'm the only one in the class."

Singe blinked. "Really? I wasn't under that impression when your mom and I met Ms. Tish." His face lit up. "By the way, what do you think of Ms. Tish?"

Celia shrugged. "She's…fine." Her mind wandered back to the parts of Ms. Tish's identity that made her think and wonder. The more she thought about that picture in particular, the more intrigued she became. "There's nothing really wrong with her."

"That's good to hear." Singe gave her back the syllabus before doing something Celia seriously hadn't expected. He gave her a hug. The hybrid was doused in confusion as her father held on tight.

"What's this for? Why are you hugging me."

"Because I'm proud of you. You conquered a fear today."

Celia's heart sank. Sure, had she gathered up enough courage to actually walk into that school building. That was debatable, but she herself was leaning on the side of "no, she didn't." For starters, she had been forced to enter that school, a school built of brick, mortar, and terror. Besides, if Roy hadn't been by her side, she probably would have spent the entirety of the school day hiding in the bushes.

"I…I didn't do…"

"Sure you did!" Singe let go and ruffled her hair. "You took a big first step today, and both you're mother and I are proud. Before you know it, this day is going to turn into a week, then a month, and then lo and behold, you're finished with the school year!" His eyes shimmered with a light that resembled starlight. "The greatest journeys start with just a few small steps."

Celia let out a breath. "I guess you're right." Although, something that really bothered her about that last statement was that she didn't know where this journey was taking her. That uncertainty made her stomach churn, her palms sweaty. She felt like life was throwing her onto the front of a stage without actually giving her an opportunity to read her lines first.

"Yeah," Singe said. He stood back up. "Well, dinner should be in a few minutes." He turned toward the door. "You can tell your mom and me all that you want about your day."

Celia snickered. "If it's Mom's cooking that's on the menu, that might be the only thing I do."

"Hey! Your mother tries her best in the kitchen!"

"You mean she tries her best to poison the food," Celia said, trying to to keep her laughter down.

Singe glared at her. "Stop it!" He opened the door. "If you're too mean about what your mom made for supper, we'll force you to join an after school club."

Celia's heart skipped a beat. "That won't be necessary." She stood up. "I'll be nice."

Singe's glare vanished. "Good!" He walked out into the main room. "Although, I think you might want to join an after school club anyway. It's good to get involved at school!"

Celia's heart sank. "Unless you're like me," she murmured.

AN: Hey guys. Sorry that this chapter is mostly filler; I'm more or less dipping my toes back into writing for this story. I hope you at least enjoyed it.