chapter two | ice breaker


BZZZZ BZZZZ

Lloyd groaned. His alarm clock read 6:30 in the morning. He smacked it so it would stop buzzing, and then slowly put on his school uniform. Today was his first official day at the academy, he thought, as he stared at himself in the mirror. He combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and walked with Tony down to the cafeteria for breakfast. The cafeteria seemed to be an entire other world. Tables upon tables of kids from all grades and all backgrounds, all shapes, and sizes, colors, and interests. Tony guided him to a table with other boys in their grade, and Lloyd drew a sigh of relief. Thank God he didn't have to find a seat on his own. The boys at his table were either in their freshman or sophomore year, and they all seemed to be a bit rambunctious. Lloyd seemed to be the only one without an appetite, only picking at his food.

"You that scared, Lloyd?" asked Lopaka, eating his eggs and bacon quickly.

"Don't ask him that, of course he is, honestly I was too my first day, plus when I have the look on my face that he does now, I usually have to throw up or go to the infirmary," blabbed Keith, inspecting his food anxiously for any hidden "treasures".

"Yeah, I'm kinda nervous. I dunno," Lloyd said in a monotone voice. He got up to throw away his food, when he ran into a taller figure, smashing his food all over him. Lloyd looked up nervously to see an older teen, with shaggy black hair and dark brown eyes, and olive skin. He was tall and bulky, and had a blank look in his eye.

"Watch where you're going, punk." The older teen said. It felt like the whole cafeteria was staring. Lloyd swallowed hard.

"Sorry, man," he choked out, throwing away his food and rushing back to his seat. The normal commotion commenced, but the boys at his table were freaking out.

"That was COLE BROOKSTONE! He's the captain of the FOOTBALL TEAM!" shrieked Keith, shaking from the minor incident.

"Calm down, you dimwit, as long as Lloyd didn't get beaten, we have nothing to worry about," Antonio said, studying Keith's weird, shaky behavior.

"I'm fine guys, really," Lloyd said, cringing at Keith's weird panic.

"I'm going to the infirmary, I'll see you all sometime later," Keith said, running out of the cafeteria.

"That's a universal sign the school year has started," laughed Lopaka, taking a sip of his chocolate milk. Lloyd and Tony laughed, though Lloyd was a bit concerned for poor Keith's safety... and stability.


"All right, class, before we get started today, we're going to do an ice breaker!" said the history teacher, Ms. Blythe, as the whole class groaned. She was a short, round woman, with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, and a pinkish pale complexion. She had small glasses, and seemed very jolly. Everyone was forced to say their name and one thing about themselves.

"My name is Lia Parks, and um.. I love being on the dance team, I guess."

"I'm Lopaka Mele, and I do tennis with my brothers."

"My name's Marina Reynolds, and I kinda like to draw."

"Uh... my name is Lloyd G., and my favorite color is green." Lloyd awkwardly spit out, looking around the room. No one seemed to really care about his odd fact about himself, or the fact that he had purposely left out his last name.

"My name is Margaux Descoteaux, and I like to play piano-"

Before Margaux could finish, the door opened loudly, and in came a faculty member, likely a guidance counselor, and a small looking, pale girl with straight ginger hair down to her chest tied in two braids following him. He spoke a few words with the teacher, as everyone stared at the girl with amusement. She was small, likely not a sophomore, and wasn't wearing the uniform. Instead, she had on a dusty blue cardigan with the logo for another private school on it, white blouse, a white skirt, white stockings, and black mary janes. There were no initials on her cardigan. Her blue eyes were as wide as saucers, as she avoided eye contact with everyone in the room. Ms. Blythe smiled at her, waving off the faculty member as he left.

"Alright everyone, sorry to interrupt our fun ice breaker, but we have a new student joining us today! She couldn't make orientation week, but she's here now. Leerah, please keep the ice breaker going, just say your name and a fact about yourself!" beamed Ms. Blythe. The girl looked nauseous.

"Um.. my name is Lyra, and... I'm going to be sick," she said quietly, and ran out the door. Everyone was silent. Ms. Blythe cringed.

"Some first days are harder than others. Lia, would you go find her and either make sure she finds the infirmary, or make sure she comes back here? Alright, let's keep the ice breaker going, kids,"

Lloyd couldn't help feel bad for the poor girl. She felt how he felt, only ten times worse. As the day went on, he occasionally saw her, sticking out like a sore thumb in a sea of black. She looked scared, and was obviously very out of place. Lloyd didn't realize himself staring, until Antonio did.

"Woah, Earth to Lloyd, did you catch feelings for someone already? That'd be a new record for someone," Tony said, laughing with Lopaka.

"Love is a very serious thing, nothing to joke about, I should know, with all of my experienc-" Keith started to babble, but Lloyd cut him off.

"Jeez, I zone out and suddenly I'm in love with someone?"

"Just sayin', man. And Keith, what experience? Kissing your arm at night? Making out with your pillow?" Lopaka joked, staring at the smaller boy, who was his roommate.

"Lopaka, I do not! You take that back you jerk! I have never done that, ever, in my whole life." Keith protested, going on a signature squeal-y rant. Lloyd watched as the girl put her books away, shut her locker, and scanned the halls. She then walked away, out of sight. He felt bad for her, and wanted to help her out. That's it! Maybe he could make another friend, and learn how to talk to a girl! He'll talk to her sometime after history, or before, whenever, and be her friend. He headed to his homeroom class, with the teacher who taught choir, Mr. Nord. Mr. Nord was a young man, very effeminate and flamboyant. He loved to show his classes clips from musicals and musical television programs. Thankfully, Lloyd wasn't forced to take a music class he didn't want to. The room began to fill with familiar faces: Lia and Margaux from history, Stella from English, and thankfully Lopaka. One other girl, and three other guys were in the room too, but Lloyd did not know them. Lia was a tall girl, with light blonde hair and tanned skin. She had a bright white smile and blue eyes, and she was quite skinny. She was known for being on the cheer team with her two older sisters, Brittany and Whitney. Margaux was a smaller, petite girl, with a waifish figure and very pale skin. She had shoulder length chocolate brown hair, and light brown eyes. She seemed to be a quieter girl, keen to the arts. Stella was an average sized girl, with mocha colored skin, dark brown eyes, and curly dark brown hair. Stella seemed a little out of it, sticking to the walls of the room. She preferred to talk to the older kids.

"Welcome back everyone, and welcome to our little family, Lloyd! Today, our sister homeroom will be joining us, and by that, I mean my wife will be joining us with her homeroom!" Mr. Nord said, smiling. Everyone looked around at each other; wife? Mr. Nord wasn't gay? Before anyone could ask a question, Mrs. Nord brought her homeroom into the music room with her. It seemed fitting, as apparently Mrs. Nord, formerly known as Miss Cascio, was the band teacher. They had eloped over the summer. In came a bunch of freshmen, five boys, including Keith, and five girls. Surprisingly, the scared girl from biology was in that advisory. Everyone sat down at tables, and she had sat down alone. Lloyd swallowed, and sat down across from her. She looked like she had just seen a ghost.

"Hi, my name is Lloyd, you're Lyra, right?" he said, offering his hand. She stared at it, looking less scared, and more confused. She slowly nodded. He awkwardly took his hand back, using it to scratch his head.

"I'm new here, too." he confessed, trying to get her to break her silence. She looked at him, and nodded again, pursing her lips.

"I came from Darkley's School. What school did you come from?" Lloyd asked, and she paused.

"St. Juliette's School for Girls," she responded, finally, loosening up a bit, but still refusing to look him in the eye.

"Hey, you can talk!" joked Lloyd, smiling at her. She giggled quietly, and suddenly, Lloyd's heart jumped into his throat. Aw jeez.

"Well, I'm um, going to go now, if you need a friend or something or yeah, just, you can find me, I go to school here," Lloyd blurted out, getting out of his seat, and then tripping over the leg of the chair. Lyra stood up fast, looking at him bewildered. Yep, he had just made a total fool out of himself.

"Lloyd," she said, "I'd like to be friends,"

"Oh, that's cool, me too, I have some others if you want to come with us," he said quickly, excitement clear on his face. She winced a bit, looking scared again.

"Or not, you don't have to, that's cool, no worries, yeah," he said, quickly, "I'll um, see you around, I guess,"

He walked back quickly to Keith and Lopaka, looking like a complete mess. He put his head down on the table and groaned.

"You're hopeless," laughed Lopaka, patting his blond friend's head. Keith continued on a rant of how calling someone hopeless could possibly trigger a depressive episode, as Lloyd replayed himself falling on his face in front of the new girl. This year sure is gonna be something.