Lily and Mist were almost at school. "We should hurry if we don't want to be late." Mist said.
"Yeah." Lily agreed. "I mean I feel like we would have been on time if not for someone needing to check their list."
Mist bumped into her sister, "Well if you hadn't kept asking about it, it might have been faster you know?"
"Oh whatever, let's just drop it I guess. Anyway I'm really excited that you'll be at our practice."
"And I'm excited to see what you have for your performance."
"I can't wait until I get to see yours. It sounds so…" Lily's voice drifted and she stopped walking. Mist stopped and looked at Lily. Lily looked down as she brushed her hand over her forehead and down her face.
"You okay Lily?" Mist asked, concerned. Lily blinked twice then looked up.
"Oh, um, yeah." she responded and started walking again.
"Are you sure?" Lily nodded. "Then what was that?"
"Nothing, I just thought I saw something on the ground." She explained.
"Okay." Mist halfheartedly accepted the answer. "Do you remember your parts for your song?" Mist asked changing the subject.
"I think so." Lily answered uncertainly.
"Well it looks like almost everyone is there." Mist said looking at the crowd of kids gathered together waiting outside the elementary school building.
"I hope everyone makes it today." Lily thought out loud.
"Don't worry Lily; I'm sure we'll be able to practice without everyone." Mist reassured her.
"I know, but what if we change something?"
"Then you can teach it to them Saturday before practice."
"Okay." Lily said walking over to the group of kids. Three of the kids waiting noticed Lily and ran over.
"Hey Lily what took you so long? You were a whole," the green skinned girl paused to look at her watch. "Two minutes late!" Lily sighed and was about to speak when one of the other kids beat her to it.
"Is that your sister?" the red boy asked excitedly.
"Yeah Apple Bob. This is my big sister Mist." Mist waved. "I told you she was coming to help remember?"
"Um no."
"You told us that?" the other pale skinned girl asked. Lily sighed.
"I told you yesterday, you remember right Gumdrop?" she asked pointing to the girl in green.
"Of course I do. I actually pay attention when you're speaking." Gumdrop smirked at the other two.
"Hey! I pay attention! It's Marshmallow who ignores what's right in front of her nose!" Apple Bob argued.
"I do not… do that thing she said I do..." Marshmallow mumbled not willing to interject into the conversation.
"Okay guys if I'm really a whole two minutes late then we should probably stop arguing and get to work." Lily pointed out trying to quickly settle the dispute. Mist chuckled at their little argument.
"Well at least I pay attention to the teacher." Apple Bob mumbled under his breath.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Gumdrop asked.
"You never pay attention in class."
"I do too!" Gumdrop argued as Lily sighed behind them.
"Well then how do you explain your grades?" Apple Bob taunted.
"My grades are no worse than yours!" she countered. Lily stepped forward to interject.
"Guys, maybe you could help each other learn to pay attention. You are friends." Lily told them hoping that would be the end of it. The two fell silent for a moment and Lily walked back to Mist. As Lily left they continued their little dispute in quiet whispers.
"Are you guys always like this?" Mist asked jokingly nudging her sister. Lily shrugged.
"No not really." she paused, "Well, Occasionally." Mist snickered and looked up noticing the teacher walking from the school building. Marshmallow noticed the teacher as well and began trying to get her friends attention.
"Fine then, how about I help you learn how to listen to the teacher." Apple Bob teased.
"You're the one who never listens to the teacher."
"Guys." Marshmallow quietly tried in vain to get their attention. They ignored her and continued. "The teacher is coming." she tried to inform them. The teacher reached the group of kids and noticed Mist standing with her sister. She walked over to them smiling.
"Hello, I'm Mrs. Sweet Cheeks. Lily told me all about you." she said shaking Mist's hand.
"I'm Mist, although I'm sure Lily told you that." the teacher chuckled slightly.
"She also mentioned you were leading the older group's dance as well. We're grateful that you came today and we hope you can help fix up some things."
"Well that is what I came to do so I'm ready when you are." Mist confirmed. The teacher stepped closer to the crowd of kids.
"Boys and girls we need to get started." she yelled out. Various mumbling and whispering could be heard as the kids got into some sort of line; an extremely disoriented, crooked, and malformed line. Lily joined the 'line' with her friends. The teacher sighed at their attempts and motioned for Mist to come over. "We have a guest here to help us get ready for the games, so I want you to be respectful and all to be on your best behavior okay?" her question was answered with many different positive answers and a few hopefully joking 'no's.
The teacher sighed but continued as Mist arrived next to her. "Which means listen to her because she's in charge. Miss Mist needs to see the performance so I want all of you to get to your spots." All the kids began to rush around trying to get to their designated spots in a chaos. "Boys and girls! Remember what I said about practicing as if this were the real thing!" she called out into the ruckus. Some of the kids slowed down and began to walk coordinately while others just got really nervous or crazed even more.
Mist was happy that Lily and her friends were in places and not adjoined in the disarray. Mist winced as a kid got trampled on. She looked at their teacher to see if she had noticed. The teacher looked extremely disappointed in the chaos. She sighed and walked over to the stereo with Mist following. "Um is this how it's supposed to go?" Mist asked trying to comprehend the children's disorder.
"Not exactly." the teacher answered uneasily. Mist glanced back at the kids who had mostly gotten to what looked like a formation of some sort. There was a line of girls in the back, a few groups of kids on each of the sides (including Lilly's friends), and three kids in the middle. "We had a substitute yesterday so they might have changed something." The teacher told her as she turned a few switches and pushed a few buttons. "Ready?" she asked yelling to make sure they could hear her.
After hearing a yell in response she flicked one more switch and some music started. "We can sit there." the teacher whispered to Mist pointing at a few benches. Mist followed her to it watching intently for any movement. All the kids were standing looking down waiting for the cue in the music. The music started quiet, slow, and almost dreamy.
Nothing happened until about sixteen counts when the music had a dinging sound click on. At the first ding on of the groups of kids on the right of the center stepped forward one foot, looked up smiling, and stepped the other foot on the second ding. The third ding they lifted one hand and on the forth the other.
The group to the left repeated the action as the rest of the group stood still until the eighth ding. On the eighth ding the music drowned out from cheery to electric guitar. Two of the kids in the middle began striking fake guitars as the kids behind did a lot deterrent things.
It looked completely disorganized and Mist began to wonder if it was improv for this part. On the fourth count the boy in the center pause his 'guitar' and in a deep voice yelled into a mike louder than necessary making Mist wince. "Griffons!" and after four more counts, "We're griffons!" then the beat changed as he passed the mike to the girl with purple and black hair next to him who dramatically grabbed it after abruptly stopping her own guitar moves.
They say that is can be hard
To be unique
The words were held too long and didn't fit really Mist realized as the girl continued.
But they don't know
You aren't weak
The groups of kids around her were now clearly free styling except Lily's group, the one mirroring it, and the line in the back. Mist now understood what Lily meant by ballet moves not fitting the music as she watched them slowly doing arabesques.
You know yourself
Don't be a fake
Cause if you do
You just might break
Suddenly there was an extremely loud pounding noise coming from the speakers making Mist wince and after the fourth cover her ears. Each of the kids hit their legs to the beat. After nine pounding noises Mist was sure shook the field the mike was handed to the light blue skinned girl in the center.
We are griffons here
She started singing extremely high. Mist was guessing this was who her sister had told her about.
Proud each and every year
We will soar up high
Be careful to not die
Mist blinked at the lyrics she could hardly understand. Suddenly the music changed again like a record scratching as they passed the mike yet again.
Yo we're coming out tonight
We're gonna give you a fright
Cause we'll scare you all
But we don't bite
Mist recognized this as the rap and looked around at the different groups. Although there was a rap going on the dancers in the back were still using slow graceful movement.
Our song does
And that's what matters
Just be careful cause
Your heart could shatter-s
The kid awkwardly added the s on the end for the rhyme. The music began to change again with rapid dings. Once the dings stopped and the mike was passed back to the blue girl she started to sing extremely high again.
With our eagle wings
Everyone here sings
The lion's tail will prevail
We're on a trail we cannot fail
With everybody here
We are filled with cheer
With all of the joy
We'll beat every girl and bo-y
She held the o longer going even higher before the music changed back to the electric guitar feel. The kid with the deep voice proceeded to do the 'Griffons!' part again. Meanwhile in the back the ballet girls started to mess up.
"What are you doing?" one girl whispered under the music.
"I thought we were doing chaine turns."
"No it's arabesque now."
"That's not an arabesque." they continued to argue no longer in sync. After the boy finished the 'We're griffons!' all the kids snapped their fingers together eight times. After the eighth one of the kids said 'blub' almost fish like. Mist was confused as they continued. They had eight little screeches like baby eagles and then one big roar as the kid screamed 'griffons!' into the mike.
The music continued in the same way as when the deep voiced kid yelled griffons into the mike except this time the girl with the black and purple hair had the mike.
There is no such of a thing
As being overly unique
This time the girl was speeding over the words to fit them in time. Mist could think of a lot of different words that would fit better.
And you can really just ignore
Anyone who says you're not
If you aren't part of our school
Your future's looking bleak
Cause you aren't taught
At Griffon's Pride
The music continued as the mike was passed to the boy with the deep voice again and he did the 'griffons!' and 'we're griffons!' again. The music then changed to some country like style with a banjo which really didn't fit at all for a few second until it changed again. It was a lot smoother music. The group mirroring Lily's had a mike in hand and began to sing.
We're griffons here united
But we're not all the same
Their voices were kind of bland as they sang.
We're griffons here united
As we win the game
The griffons we will respect
As we beat you all
We griffons are awesome
You will surely fall
The kids pretended to fall for a second or two until the music drastically changed and a disco ball was randomly turned on. The girl in the center with the high voice had the mike again.
Ohhh!
Griffons!
She sang extremely high as some other kid in the back who had a mike said 'disco'.
Oh yeah!
Griffons!
She spun and tossed the mike to the girl with the black and purple hair again.
We're here to show you
What griffons do (and disco)
The kid in the back somewhere kept singing.
We're here to crush you
All the way through (and disco)
We're gonna treat you
To our cool song (and disco)
You better learn it
And sing along (and disco-o-oo)
Cause we're gri
She started putting he hand out.
Gri
The kid next to her followed.
Griffons!
The one with the deep voice finished while popping out from behind them.
Griffons Pride!
They all shouted. The music went back to the electric guitar. The kid with the deep voice continued his routine with saying 'Griffons!' but the other girl still had the mike. She yelled 'We're griffons!' with him while pretending to strum a guitar and flinging the mike in Lily's direction.
Lily jumped back to catch it but bumped into her friends as the mike hit the ground emitting a piercing sound. She stumbled to pick it up as the music calmed and it was her cue.
When you believe in yourself
There's a lot you can do
She sang as her friend Gumdrop played a xylophone. Gumdrop hit the key wrong making Apple Bob elbow her and glares sent their way.
But when you believe each other
There's more to come through
As soon as Lily let go of the note the music switched back to its electric guitar and the blue girl with the high voice somehow had a mike again. Mist figure she missed the hand off when she was watching her sister.
Griffons!
Everyone sang out.
Griffons!
They repeated.
We fly!
Really hi-gh!
The girl with the mike held the note higher and higher before everything stopped. All the kids let out a breath but stayed where they were including the kids in strange poses. Mist turned after a few seconds to look at the teacher when suddenly the kids screamed, "Griffons!" with a jump one last time.
That was when they finally started to walk towards the bleachers. Mist turned to the teacher who such an astonished face Mist almost thought the surprise had looked fake. "Um." Mist started but stopped when the teacher spoke.
"Wooooow, they changed a lot." she said in a strange way, stretching out the wow. It sounded faker then her expression almost as if she was faking the disbelief.
The kids each grabbed some water from their backpacks that had been placed on or around the bleachers. Lily went to her sister as the teacher got up to talk to one of the girls about a broken microphone.
"Wasn't it awesome?" Lily drawled out sarcastically.
"Uh…" Mist frowned. "...It was unique?"
Lily sighed. "That was sarcastic. It stunk and you know it."
Mist sighed. "We have a lot of work to do."
Mist walked back to her high school smiling. Sure there was still a lot to finish up but at least they now had a plan to make the performance great. She walked inside and looked around. Not many people were there yet so she went to her locker. She opened it and put her lunch in. She closed the locker and turned to see three high schoolers waiting. Gilda, Giovani, and George. "Um, can I help you?" Mist asked. Gilda scoffed.
"Seriously?" Gilda rolled her eyes.
"Haven't you already gotten enough praise?" Giovani mocked. Mist blinked.
"What are you talkin—"Mist was cut off by George.
"You know exactly what we're talking about." he said taking a step forward. Mist took a step back bumping into the wall of lockers.
"The principal's wasn't enough for you?" Giovani taunted.
"The principals what?" Mist asked in confusion.
"Praise! Attention! That's all you ever want!" Gilda yelled. Mist looked around to see if anyone else was around or heard them.
"You just had to go to the elementary students as well." George remarked.
"That's all you do. Just act like you're perfect so everyone likes you." Giovani stated. Gilda stepped forward and Mist looked down thinking.
"Newsflash, no one likes you. And no matter how hard you try no one will."
"Yeah, so you should just stop trying." George finished. Mist looked back up at them. She sucked in a breath and pushed past them, calmly walking father into the hallway.
"I'm not gonna let you tell me what to do and I'm definitely not trying to get attention. I don't care if no one likes me I'm just trying to help people." she stopped and turned to look at them. "And just so you know I didn't go to the elementary school for 'praise', it was for my sister." she turned back around to walk away just as Gilda spoke.
"Oh, Lily?" she taunted. Mist turned her head to see them walking closer. Gilda smirked knowing they had Mist's attention again.
"It makes sense that you had to help her seeing as she can't do anything without someone there." Giovani remarked walking in front of Mist.
"What?" she said incredulously.
"Kinda pathetic if you think about it." George commented.
"She is not pathetic!" Mist shouted angrily. Gilda rolled her eyes ignoring Mist.
"Such a frail little flower." Gilda said putting her hand together mockingly.
"If only you had more time to watch her." Giovani added. Mist looked a little surprised at this comment.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mist asked slightly surprised looking towards Gilda.
"Oh we're talking about her mysterious illness." Gilda answered watching Mist face turn from angry to concern. "Flowers fade you know." Gilda added making Mist look horrified.
"You should probably try to spend as much time as possible with her seeing as you don't know how much longer she'll be here." George suggested with fake sympathy. Mist's expression was now defensive.
"Lily is not going to—"Giovani cut Mist off making Mist angrier.
"Oh but since you don't know what her illness is you can't say that. For all you know she might be dying." Mist opened her mouth to speak but Gilda beat her to it.
"She's already wilting and you can't do anything about it."
"Knowing her she probably won't even be able to make it to the games. Meaning you'll stay behind and we would have to rework the dance without you." George commented. "It doesn't really matter though seeing as nobody cares."
"You three are out of your minds! Lily is fine! Nothing is going to happen to her as long as I'm around!" Mist yelled.
"Oh but you forgot. You're not around." Gilda explained mockingly. "Well, not around her at least. So in theory something could happen to her right now."
"She's fine; I was with her just a little while ago." Mist said reassuring herself more than telling them.
"Yes, but just as I said you don't know what the illness is. For all you know anything could happen in an instant." Gilda reminded her.
"I'd watch her closer if I were you." Giovani commented. Mist was fuming with anger and breathing harshly.
"Just a little longer and she might—"Mist cut George off this time.
"Just stop! You guys don't know what you're talking about! My sister has been fine for a long time! We're just being careful so we don't re-awaken any virus and illness she had! You guys are crazy! Saying rude things about me is bad enough but you do not talk about my sister like that! My sister is not pathetic and she is not dying! Nothing is going to happen to her and there is no way you three are making me believe that! Now leave me alone!" Mist shouted as a single tear slid down her face. She turned sharply and walked quickly past them. Gilda smirked.
"I wouldn't lie to myself if I were you. It's only going to make losing her harder." Mist just kept walking quickening her pace until she couldn't hear them. People were about to arrive soon but she still had a little while before her class started.
She turned and walked straight into the girl's restroom. She put her hands down on the sink and looked at herself in the mirror, rubbing the tear away. But as she started really thinking about what just happened more came. She began to think to herself that maybe Lily wasn't safe here after all. She felt a gripe in her stomach. The school might have been built to help people with disabilities and illnesses but that didn't mean they could do anything about it. They moved here to prevent her from getting hurt but maybe Gilda was right. There wasn't anything they could do if Lily got sick again.
Mist shook her head wiping her tears away. She refused to let herself believe that. Mist would do anything for Lily. There always has to be a way and Mist knew she would find that if it came to it. She smiled to herself as the tears stopped. Lily was strong and Mist would protect her no matter what.
She rubbed her eyes splashed water on her face. After a moment of cleaning up she dried herself up. She looked in the mirror to make sure no one would know anything was wrong. She tried not to show her emotions unless they were happy. She couldn't give anyone else an excuse to bully her right now seeing as she still needed to calm down a bit. Mist put on her 'normal' expression and noticed her eyes were a little red from rubbing them. She shrugged to herself. There wasn't anything she could do to fix that except wait for it to go away.
Mist looked up at the clock and noticed she still had a little time before school really started. She decided to go to the library to study until class started because not many people go there that early in the morning. She was hoping that no one would notice her until she looked and felt normal again.
She walked to the library and looked around. To the left of the library was Storm Chaser who was normally quiet and never really talked to anyone so Mist was good there. Ahead of her was Day Break who had volunteered to help organize the library. So he would probably be too busy to talk even if he wanted to. Half Court was sitting in a chair trying to study extremely fast because he never gets anything done the night before. There was no way he had time to bother coming over and the only other people were Eddie and Margret. They never really talked to her much and they didn't really have a purpose to her right now so she was totally in the clear. Or not.
Eddie and Margret spotted Mist just standing near the front of the library and decided to walk over. Mist didn't want them to notice her but it was too late so she smiled hoping they wouldn't see she had been crying. Unfortunately luck really wasn't on her side today. Eddie looked sympathetically at Mist. "Are you okay?" Mist nodded almost afraid to speak not having used her voice since she cried.
"You sure?" Margret asked, concerned.
"Yeah." Mist answered glad it came out normal. Clearly they didn't get the answer to their question.
"Um, were you crying?" Eddie asked trying not to be rude. Yep they totally noticed. Mist didn't want to say yes and it wasn't like she could say no. One thing about Mist was that she tried her best not to lie. She always strived to tell the truth. But if she said yes then they would ask her why. She really didn't want to talk right now.
"Uh kinda…" Mist answered warily. "But I'm fine now." she added.
"Why were you crying?" Margret asked sweetly. Mist thought for a moment if she should tell them. She felt like she could trust them. They might even be nice like Lily said and Lily did really want her to make a friend. But that's when she remembered. Trust was not something to give out freely. Even if she wanted to be trusted she never wanted to trust. Not again. Not after what happened. At least not for a little while. The only people she could trust were her family.
"It doesn't matter." Mist tried to finish the conversation when Margret put her hand on Mist's shoulder.
"But it does matter to you. Come on, you can tell us. It's not like we've never gotten sad before." Mist wanted to trust them. Maybe finally even make a friend. But how could she? Right now? The information was kinda personal and she really didn't want anyone involved. Besides Mist barely knew them. On occasion they talked but other than that it was just school.
"You don't have to if you don't want to." Eddie added after a moment of silence. Mist just wanted to walk away but she kinda wanted to tell them. It was almost as if she already did trust them. Almost. But sadly enough it wasn't enough. Mist's defensive instincts kicked in and told her to get out of there.
"It's kinda personal." Mist finally said. Margret took her hand off Mist's shoulder and stepped back.
"Okay." Margret said accepting the answer. "Just remember if you wanna talk we're available." Margret said looking at Eddie who nodded.
"You don't have to deal with things alone. Sometime you just need a friend to talk to." Eddie finished and the two turned giving Mist her privacy. Mist sighed in relief as they walked away when she realized something. He used the word friend. Were they trying to be friends with her? Did she just shove away her opportunity? Lily probably wouldn't be very happy. But just then she felt like maybe trusting wasn't so bad. Maybe she really should try to make a friend.
Before she could think any more about making new friends a memory reminded her of the exact reason she didn't want friends in the first place. No one wanted to be her friend she told herself. But the sad part was that those words didn't seem to affect her much anymore. She really didn't care. Having no friends gave her more time to do things and she wouldn't have to be paranoid all the time about losing that friend. Having a friend would be nice but it wasn't a necessity.
Mist sat down and opened her backpack. She reached in and took out a folder of facts to memorize. She figured she might as well work on them seeing as the friendship games were just around the corner and she wanted to be ready.
Mist was sitting in her history class staring down at the paper in front of her. Their teacher had sprung a pop quiz on them and Mist had been so busy with helping Lily that she didn't get to study much. Her mind was racing as the teacher handed out the papers. She was really hoping she would do well but was second guessing herself. The teacher finished handing them out and everyone waited. "Okay you may flip them over in three, tw—"he was cut off by the door opening. The teacher turned to look at who it was. A woman walked up to him and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and looked towards Mist. "Mist Glider please come here."
"Um, yes sir." Mist's heart raced as she wondered why she would be called. She carefully stood from her seat, pushed it back into the table, and walked to the front ignoring everyone's watchful eyes. The teacher gestured for Mist to go to the woman. Mist looked at her and she motioned to follow. Mist sighed in relief that she wouldn't have to do the quiz.
She followed the woman wondering what she was being called for. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong that she knew of. It could be about the games. Maybe a test for the game participants or costume malfunctions. Transportation? The dance? Maybe the events were released? Mist's thoughts raced through her head at a million miles an hour. She looked up at the lady. "So, where are we going?" Mist asked. The lady stopped walking and looked at Mist sympathetically which confused her. Why was she looking sympathetic? Was something wrong? Maybe they somehow found out about Gilda bullying? Although Mist kinda wanted that, she also wanted to deal with things herself. If she wanted help she would have asked for it.
"You know about the school's program to help disabled or sick kids go to school. Your sister was enrolled here for the safety and protection." Mist's eyes widened as she guessed where this conversation was headed. "Lily fainted in the middle of class with a high fever." Mist's jaw dropped in shock as tears began to form. "She was brought to the hospital and I came here to tell you." Mist stared at the lady tears threatening to fall. "I can bring you to her with your permission." the lady finished. Mist nodded unable to speak and they both walked out of the building. The lady showed Mist to the passenger seat and started to drive.
Mist strapped in and stared out the window. She hoped it was just a normal fever. Maybe her sister had finally become a normal kid. Every kid gets a fever now and then. But the fear of reality crushed the hope. Now that she thought about it this felt like last time. But this time it was faster. At least last time Lily had told them she wasn't feeling good in advance. Hopefully it wasn't going to be like last time. Thinking of it terrified Mist. The doctors said she barely made it last time. Mist's mind went back to what happened in the morning. All the stupid things Gilda, Giovanni, and George had said.
"Such a frail little flower."
"Flowers fade you know."
"She's already wilting."
The voices a faint memory whispering their way back into Mist's ears. She closed her eyes trying to shut them out. It couldn't be like last time. It was supposed to happen slower. She was with Lily that morning and everything was fine. Right?
"For all you know anything could happen in an instant."
No, that couldn't be right. It wasn't meant to be that way. Nothing was going to happen to Lily as long as she was around.
"But you forgot you're not around."
"But I will be."
AN:
Was the performance really that bad? Should Mist become a professional song writer/choreographer? Was there really a substitute? And what is going to happen to Lily?
Don't find out next time on, "The Quest for Magic".
I hope you liked this chapter. If you want to hear the song we will post it Sunday or Monday. The next chapter will feature what happened to Starlight.
Thank you bluecatcinema for our first review! We would love to have you continue reading. Also to everyone who is reading thank you for the views!
:P
