Hey gang! I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Guess what. This is the last part of orientation! Yay! Now we can finally get to the meat of the story. Starting next chapter, I will not be focusing on every character now that I'm starting to develop storylines amongst the students. Each chapter will most likely feature someone or something new from the last just to keep the story fresh and realistic as a high-school setting. Enjoy!
Date: Monday, September 6th; 1st day of school
Time: 7:48 a.m.
Place: Wawanakwa Academy Auditorium
After hearing the news of the new students arriving, the small group of eleven relocated to the school's auditorium, Chris and Blaineley naturally taking the lead. The walk was long and suspenseful completed with a whole atmosphere of blundering ambiguity.
Smith, who had seemed to be the only buzzing soul, adjusted her school sweatshirt. She rolled up the thick, dark long sleeves to her elbows before softly fanning herself and looking around. Her gaze settled on a certain boy sheltered in a thick overcoat, his purple hair nicely combed back out of the way as not to hinder his vision.
Now he certainly was a sight to see, she thought. He walked with hands stuffed inside of his pocket but held his head up high scanning the smallest details that only some sort of pedant would take notice of. She quickly turned her head away from him in mock fear that he could feel her presence. Besides, to Smith, mysteries were made to be explored. There was a certain wondrous method to the way that he conducted himself that spurred a basis of a desire to understand. She stalked closer to him as the group traveled together and smiled brightly allowing her blue-grey eyes to illuminate.
"Hey, I'm Smith!" she started.
She expected a similar response back but instead, he slowly turned to her, nodding at a lethargic pace as if he was taking account of her presence.
Smith's eager smile was easily replaced by a temptation of awkwardness.
"Uh… what's your name?"
The boy opened his mouth to speak, but showed hesitation.
"Eyrik."
One syllable. It wasn't much but at least it was progress. He must have been a selective mute. Of course this had to be true in the pervasive way that he carried himself about. Smith began to slow down, drifting a reasonable two paces away from him.
"So, are you excited?"
Eyrik looked at her for a while before answering, "No."
Excitement wasn't anything to describe his current disposition. But to place him under a category of hindrance wasn't exactly appropriate either. To describe Eyrik as a color, he would be a lukewarm purple.
Smith responded simply with an unimpressed, "Oh."
Eyrik continued to walk, this time, throwing his hood over his head. Smith watched him travel skeptically but didn't think much of it. Instead, she set her eyes on her next target. Adagio.
The teenage boy's green eyes resembled a glass, and as Smith walked closer to him, she could almost see herself in them.
"Hey Adagio," she smiled with a slight wave of the hand. His head turned slightly.
"Albert," he muttered, nodding his head in her direction.
Smith had been glad to see a familiar face from last year acknowledge her. Although he had definitely changed from when they had last spoke, he was still a friend- at least that's what she hoped.
"I-"
Her speech was quickly cut off as the group came to a halt at the front of the stage. Large bold wood outlined the platform of the stage, and the stairs connecting it to ground level went up to at least two feet.
Chris who was at the forefront, quickly whipped around to meet gazes with the students, exhaling loudly.
"Okay, guys," he started, "remember to smile, be friendly, and most importantly convince them that this is the place to be." He dramatically heightens his voice.
The students exchanged uninterested looks to one another.
Blaineley pinched the bridge of her nose, mumbling words of criticism to herself.
"Just know what you're doing and you'll be fine," she spoke, "Answer their questions, be quick, and be back here by... since we're starting later than we expected, how's 9:50 sound?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Good, okay."
Chris walked over to the large entrance doors of the auditorium as the guides sat themselves in the front rows.
Immediately the doors were open. A flow of new students rushed into the facility, some walking slowly to take in every detail, and others bouncing around the room with buzz. A deafening uproar of murmurs could be heard throughout the room. Blaineley adjusted her pant suit, and marched with power onto the stage and above the children, her heels clanking with each step. She clears her throat and speaks into a handheld microphone.
"Ech em, attention students." The excitement only grew as the cacophony in the room developed louder with her words.
"Attention. Students." she said firmly. This time a few were able to calm down but the vast majority continued conversing with their friends. Blaineley rolled her light blue eyes, tapping her red heels impatiently.
"I'll wait," she said into the microphone. Chris, who had been standing at her side, furrowed his eyebrows together, frustratingly. Then, a smirk easily replaced his frown.
"There's no time to wait," he yelled over her. Chris snatched the microphone from his hand, a soft smile on his face. He lingered for a few seconds before hollering,
"Yo! Shut up!"
A screech from the feedback that the mic was giving off echoed violently. The students all covered their ears from the frequency following a flow of complaints.
"Well, now that we finally have your attention, we can finally begin." Surprisingly, the students settled down into their seats, all staring straight into the eyes of the raven-haired man. Blaineley frowned, snatching the microphone back from Chris, quickly adjusting herself before the students. A fake smile plastered upon her face.
"Good morning students, and welcome to Wawanakwa Academy." A few claps and a cough surfaced from her words.
"Anyway, my name is Ms. O'Halloran and I am Vice Principal here at Wawanakwa Academy. I think I speak for the whole staff when I say that we here are very eager for this upcoming school year. I know it'll be a great one. So-"
Blaineley continued on with her speech as if she had rehearsed it a million times before. She spoke with clarity and poise, never once missing a beat, but still managing to hold a tedious era. Nevertheless, Blaineley went on, smiling brightly the whole way through.
"And as educators we expect that your expectations for us will come up to par with our exceptions for you as studious and diligent hard workers."
From the front row, Samantha laughed aloud, disturbing the presentation unintentionally. Blaineley focused her eyes on her, her pupils dilating at the girl. The black haired teen smiled at the woman, shrugging her shoulders in the process as if to say, 'sorry, not sorry.'
Blaineley quickly looked up at the audience. She was losing them. A few flipped through their smart phones, while others leaned their heads on their fists, obviously uninterested. She sighed.
"And now, I would like to turn the mic over to your newly esteemed principal, Mr. McClean." A series of claps followed, and the woman couldn't tell whether they were excited to meet their principal, or if they were just happy with the fact that she finally stopped talking.
"Thank you, thank you," he smiled. The crowd had reduced their applause.
"You know, I was once young like you guys. Full of energy, valor, and hormones." He laughs, shining his pearly white teeth at the students.
"I really had everything going for me when I was young. And guess what, I still do! But you know what would have made my high school experience two million times better?"
A murmur rambled throughout the crowd.
"Having a kick-ass principal, like myself. That's what would have made my high school experience better. But, luckily, I'm here to impose my awesomeness on you guys in hopes that it will somehow rub off." He pauses.
"Don't worry. I know what you guys are thinking. Mr. McClean, do you really think that I, a pubescent teen could ever be as cool as you? Well the answer to that is no, but you can get close. You see-"
Blaineley rushed over to him, wrestling the microphone from his hands. She stood in place, a trail of sweat running down her face, and nervously laughed.
"Ahaha, Mr. McClean you jokester you."
Chris opened his mouth to interject but was silenced instantly.
"So, anyway, we don't want to take away much time from your student tours so let's get to it." Blaineley glanced at the tour students briefly before continuing.
"If the new ninth and tenth grade students would meet in the left corner of the auditorium towards the stage that would be great. The eleventh graders will meet across from them in the right corner towards the stage, and... the twelfth grade students will meet in the far left corner away from the stage. As soon as you are congregated, your student tour guides will meet you there shortly."
It wasn't too long until the crowd dispersed. Those new students who had friends in differing grades quickly said their goodbyes and separated into groups, stalking over to their appropriate spots. Blaineley walked down the stairs to meet the children, placing one hand on her hip.
"Okay, you guys know what to do, now skedaddle." Chris followed closely behind her, given the group an eager thumbs up, and the two pushed their way outside of the auditorium.
Kara was the first to get up from her seat, walking over to her friend Claira.
"Claira, you're still meeting me at the cheer booth for the activities fair after this right?"
Claira, who was preoccupied twirling a strand of dirty blonde hair nodded intently.
"Mm hm. Wouldn't miss it." she said.
Kara nodded.
"Good luck with your group," was the last thing she said to her as she made her way over to the right corner of the auditorium, following the rest who had naturally separated themselves from one another.
Guides: Liam, Adagio, Scar, Sam
Group: 9th and 10th grade
The group of four approached the chatting group of new tenth and ninth graders and stood there momentarily at the energy that they beheld.
Sam was the first to speak before them.
"Hey!" she yelled catching their attention. They all stared at her, mesmerized by what she would say next. She was almost taken a back at their sudden response.
"Okay, I didn't expect that to work," she whispered to Liam.
Adagio frowned, stepping forward in front of the large group of children. Might as well get the ball rolling.
"Hi," he started. He motioned to Scar to give him the contents involved in the introduction packet that Blaineley had given them. Scar obliged.
Adagio ripped open the packet, quickly scanning over with his eyes eyes as to what they were to say.
"Alright, so welcome to Wawanakwa Academy," he said plainly. "I guess we have to go down the line and introduce ourselves. I'm Adagio and I'm a junior this year." He motioned to the next person in line with a quick head motion.
"Samantha," she smiled, "but call me Sam. I'm a junior."
Liam smiled brightly, doing a little athletic pose before announcing, "Liam's the name; sophomore's my... grade."
Adagio simply rolled his eyes. 'What a poet,' he thought.
"And my name is Scar Lucif-"
A small freshman cut him off.
"Scar?! Like from the Lion King?"
Scar stared at the small kid, seeing a twinkle of innocence in his eyes, his blonde hair covering a single eye. He stuffed his hands deeply inside of his pocket.
"Uh, no."'
The kid focused his attention on his neck, noticing the Scar slashed across his skin.
"B-but you have a Scar right there, see?" he rudely pointed. Scar who had never really followed the story of the movie's franchise quickly shot one hand towards his neck and blushed in embarrassment.
Liam cut in. "Okay, okay, that's enough. Let's save all the questions for the tour." As the students got up from their seats, Scar stalked over to Liam.
"Hey thanks for getting me out of that," he said. It wasn't long until he realized that the body builder wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying, but instead was flexing his bicep in admiration.
"Hm? Yeah no problem," Liam mumbled, never taking his eyes off of his bulging muscle. Scar sighed, following behind and decided to take residence next to the other two.
"Okay," Samantha spoke.
"First thing's first, this is the ninth grade hallway. Here is where the general vicinity of your english, math, history, and science classes will be. They try to group the freshman together so you guys don't get lost or get corrupted by upperclassmen influence or some shit like that."
Adagio almost smiled at her tone, looking at some students who appeared taken aback by her swearing.
"What? This the first time you heard a..." he pauses for dramatic effect. "curse word?" he said to them.
Grace who had been among the crowd, looked down to her shoes. She had never been one for swearing like a sailor and felt a little uncomfortable around it. She just hoped she wouldn't be picked on for her inexperience. She raised her hand, a little hesitantly. Scar noticed her, pointing to her hand.
"Question?"
She let out a soft grin.
"Yes. What kind of math course will the ninth grade class be engaging in?"
Adagio shrugged, leaning against the wall.
"Freshman Standard is Algebra I, but more advanced levels include a bit of Geometry and Algebra II. At least that's how it was my freshman year."
Grace nodded, satisfied at the answer. She knew she was great in that subject, so she looked forward to getting back into the groove of things. She hoped that she had been accepted into the advanced math program. She looked forward to it.
Another hand was raised amongst the group, and Matt eagerly swooshed his hand around to get the older kids' attention.
"And English?" he asked, "What's the curriculum basis surrounding that in regards to the tenth grade?" The boy placed his hand on his chin and thought.
Liam answered, drawing attention away from his own bodily figure to focus on the boy who asked the question.
"We'll have to study a bunch of literature and take up an independent reading project. There are also some literary analysis involving the books we read as a class. And we'll have to write essays involving these works of literature... and all that crap."
Matt smiled satisfied, not with Liam's lack of enthusiasm, or brain cells, but at the news of an opportunity to thoroughly study other author's works in full. He had tried to do it on his own many times, but never had the complete focus to finish his studies on a single novel. His mind would always wander to the next piece of art that caught his attention. But he figured that class, was a good excuse to study in full. Matt nodded.
"If there's no other questions we would like to move on," Liam pressed.
"If there are no other questions-" Matt interrupted.
Liam nodded. "Right." Scar led the group down the hall and made a right turn crossing over into the North Wing of the building. He stopped walking when he led the group through a set of open doors, labeled 'Cafe'. The facility had tiled walls of blue and white, and a clatter of long rectangular tables scattered amongst the floor. Amongst the door, an assortment of empty aluminum pans plans organized buffet style.
Samantha started to speak, "So this is obviously the cafeteria," she began. "Over there," she pointed to where the aluminum pans were set up, "is where you can buy lunch for the very affordable price of $3.99." Her tone mimicked that of a commercial salesperson.
Adagio interjected. "Although I strongly advise you just leave for lunch. The food here isn't worth it." He fiddles with an unlit cigarette in his hand, balancing it between his right pointer and middle finger before stuffing it inside of his pocket.
Rickie propped up his red circular glasses, to show his round brown eyes.
"What's wrong with the food here?" he asked.
Adagio shrugged, "It's just-"
"It's the worst thing your taste buds could ever experience!" Liam leaped. He continued, "Don't put yourself through that pain." There was a silent pause.
"Well that sums it up nicely," Samantha smiled.
Guides: Kara, Albina, Eli, Eyrik
Group: 11th grade
The 11th grade group had noticeably been a much smaller group from the 9th and 10th grade students, but still decent in size. The four stood amongst the students, watching as they talked. Albina frowned, thinking of a way to calm the students down. She exchanged a glance with Kara. The two hadn't really clicked as friends, but in this moment they shared the same exact thought.
"Hi guys," Albina said, hoping that her words would catch their attention. When the murmurs settled down she smiled.
"Okay then. So we are going to be your tour guides for today. The student orientation packet that our vice principal gave us said that we had to introduce ourselves to you so that's what we're going to do," she spoke all of this while a smile remained on her face.
"I'm Albina, and I'm a senior this year." She looked to the other three as to who would go next.
Eli, Eyrik and Kara looked at one another, each one waiting for the other to go. When the three realized that none of them were going to budge, this happened.
"My name is-" two voices started at the same time. Eyrik looked up at the other two who had spoken simultaneously, keeping his mouth shut.
Kara met eyes with Eli, immediately apologizing out of embarrassment. "Oops, I'm sorry. You can go." she smiled.
He looked back at her with the same sincerity, "No, I'm sorry. You can go first."
"But I-" Kara started. Eyrik shook his head slowly back and forth.
"Jesus Christ, someone just go!" Albina interrupted. For someone who looked so innocent, she sure was a character. The two blushed lightly, as Kara straightened herself out, stepping out and clearing her throat. She smiled sweetly adjusting her golden blonde hair over her left shoulder.
"I'm Kara, and I am a junior this year."
Eyrik went next, mumbling quietly so just enough people could hear.
"Eyrik; senior." He shuffled back into line after speaking, but still held an upright gaze.
A voice from the back obnoxiously blurted, "What?" There was thick laughter that admitted from the crowd but Eyrik seemed unfazed by this. He barely batted an eye.
Eli stepped forward, charismatically smiling to distract from the laughter.
"Hi guys, I'm Eli and I'm a junior."
Albina smirked after the introductions were over.
"Alright, upperclassmen power," she said.
"Well shall we begin?" the brunette didn't wait for an answer before leading the way.
The four started in the West Wing of the building where the self proclaimed 'elective hallway' was located.
Kara began, "So this is generally where we have all of our choice elective classes for all grades." They traveled farther down the hall.
"Here to your left you can see the drama, computer science and cooking rooms. To the right," she gestures, "we have wood shop and art," she mimics in a tourist guide like voice.
A voice from the group spoke up.
"Excuse me, does this mean that elective classes will be a mix of younger and older students?" Gyro asked.
Eli looked to him, shaking his head.
"Yeah. Since electives aren't considered academic curriculum, the school board is free to group together students of different grade levels," he answered.
His friend Jordan walked closely by him. "And what about the grading rubric? I suppose that would carry the same standards as the other classrooms?" he raised a curious eyebrow.
Eyrik simply said, "Yes."
Albina elaborated, "Well, I don't know how it was in your past school, but here we're graded on a simple A-F except E scale... although I never knew why they skipped the E..." She began to get lost in thought before a cough brought her back to reality.
"Anywho, an A plus is 97-100, A is 93-96, A minus 90-91, B plus is 87-89, B is 83-86, B minus is 80-82 and so on so forth. Fail a class for the year, and be doomed to repeat the grade, or even worse... summer school," she laughed.
A few of the students exchanged words and obvious hand gestures until she began speaking again,
"But really, it's pretty chill here. Not too difficult, but not too slack-ish. It depends on the teachers you have, to be honest. Just hope that you don't get Mr. DelGercio for junior lit. That man made my life a living hell."
Eyrik gave her look that in itself was a response, 'Don't you think you're going a little too far?'
Albina clamped her mouth shut, continuing to walk. The group had now been led outside into the athletic field, where a few students had already started up a game of touch football.
"This," Eli started, "is our athletic field. It's where we usually hold sports practices and games, as well as marching band comps and I believe pep rallies. Or after school, when no one's practicing, I think it's just used for hanging out."
Jordan smiled quite interested by the mention of sports.
"What kind of teams do you have?" he asked.
"Football, as I mentioned, soccer, tennis, basketball, cheerleading, baseball and volleyball." Eli answered.
"Hm, they any good?" Jordan continued.
"Well, I'd like to say we're all pretty top-notch. I mean I know our cheerleading, football, and soccer teams all made it to their own variations of the championships last school year."
A gloved hand rose amongst them, and Eyrik couldn't help but raise a curious eyebrow in her direction. Eli pointed over to her, signaling that she may speak.
Forsythia separated herself from the others, standing with poise and confidence, not a single misplaced strand of hair on her head.
"And what else is there? Are there any more... tasteful activities available?" she asked.
Kara started to speak.
"Well, I-"
Albina quickly cut her off. "Well, let's go inside so you can take a look for yourself."
The question ended there.
The group traveled back inside through a small door leading to a different building from the one that they exited from.
"This is the music hallway," Kara said. "They keep, band, orchestra, dance, and chorus classes here. I know Mr. Jen also holds Glee Club rehearsal down here, and I think there are separate after-school activities for orchestra and band but I never really investigated much."
The students stalked around, some entering to visit the band room, while others went into the orchestra and chorus rooms. They quickly came out and met their guides back in the center of the hallway.
"Although you must be warned, a lot of- overly enthusiastic band kids eat in this hallway during lunch so I wouldn't spend too much time here unless necessary if I were you," Albina snorted.
Eyrik nodded in agreement.
"Alright, kiddies, ready for our next stop?" Albina questioned.
They all stayed silent, still congregated in a messy blob.
"Okay, let's keep it moving then."
Guides: Dove, Smith, Claira
Group: 12th grade
Dove, Smith, and Claira met their group in the far left corner of the auditorium away form the stage. The three girls smiled at each other brightly.
"Hey y'all. What's the haps?" Smith announced amongst the 12th graders. The smallest group out of the three exchanged glances, all being older than the three.
"Alright," a bold voice answered. The students laughed. Dove nervously smiled.
"Well, hi," she held up a generous hand. "I'm Dove and I'm a sophomore this year."
Smith grinned, "I'm Smith and I'm a junior."
Claira finished off. "And I'm Claira, I'm a sophomore."
An awkward cough surfaced from the audience as the three girls exchanged glances.
"Well, then..." Claira trailed. "Let's get started then." The small group of teens stood from their position as Smith led the way to the gymnasium. They stopped, surfacing over a hard, wood floor; sneakers squeaking on the terrain.
"So this is the gym-" Dove started. "Here is where we- obviously hold our P.E. classes. I believe the classes are distinct from each other in terms of grade level, right?" She looked over to Claira who simply nodded in agreement.
Dove smiled, continuing on with her presentation.
"Every grade takes two marking periods of gym, but the other two differ from grade level. The freshman take one marking period of health and one marking period of project adventure which is our outside course. Sophomores have one marking period of project adventure, and one marking period of Driver's Ed."
Dove set her hands slowly down at her side.
"Juniors, I believe have one marking period of project adventure and sex-ed, and seniors... you guys, have one marking period of health, and one marking period of CPR." She smiled sweetly.
"Any questions?"
A hand raised from the crowd, and Dove was eager to call on it.
"Yes, you in the blue shirt?" she called out. A bookworm ginger girl emerged, fixing her bold rimmed glasses
"I suppose the changing rooms will be segregated male from female?"
Dove nervously grinned, adjusting her floral skirt. "Oh yes, of course."
Caught in between the mix of things, Nahliel rolled his eyes in exhaustion, looking down at the wood floor and sloshing his sneakers around. As the three female tour guides spoke, he couldn't help but think of his early morning experience at the park this morning. How could he be so distracted as to forget the fundamentals of meditation? Always remember to breathe, he reminded himself. His emerald green eyes scoured the gymnasium for something appealing to visually feast upon. His line of sight landed on a flickering light. Not interesting enough. Then he was sure a few kids down, one of the taller jocks was giving this kid a wedgie. Nothing negative. But then, his eyes landed on something that really caught his eye. The girl from the park.
Nahliel widened his eyes. What was she doing here? As the group moved to a new location, he cautiously snaked his body around to meet her.
"Excuse me, excuse me," he murmured pushing his way through. He finally reached her, walking along her side.
"Hello?" he politely started. The girl didn't hear him. Instead, she was humming to a tune, a big pair of headphones over her ears. Nahliel tried again, waving a hand in front of the girl.
"Hello?"
She slowed down her pace, removing her headset from over her ears. The two met eyes.
"Oh hi!" she smiled, "You're that guy from the park. Funny meeting you here."
Nahliel mustered a small smile.
"Yes. I apologize, I didn't get to thank you for helping me out back there. I didn't quite get your name..." he trailed off, placing two pale hands behind his back.
"Oh, how rude of me," she bubbled. "My name is Shann with two n's. Shann Tone." She held out a hand to him, "And you are?"
Nahliel looked down to her hand, focusing on it as he walked. He would've seen the giant post in his way if he were paying attention to the way that he was walking. A series of gasp surfaced as the sound of Nahliel's face colliding with the hard metal made a huge Clank sound. Shann stopped her pace, covering her mouth with her hands.
Claira halted. "My gosh, are you okay?" She asked, concern lacing her voice.
He quickly got up, brushing off his pants calmly as if to play down the incident.
"I'm fine, thank you. Ojiichan ga itteita: Mindfulness isn't difficult, we just need to remember to do it." A light blush overtook his cheeks.
Shann chuckled lightly, as the two walked following the group.
"You know, I never knew what that meant. The thing you said- the ojiichan thing. What does it mean?" she said.
Nahliel grinned, stuffing his hands inside of his pocket.
"It means, 'Grandfather said this'. He was always a scholar when it came to zen."
Shann nodded slowly.
"That's really cool," she smiled, "I... still didn't get your name."
Nahliel shot up, a little embarrassed at his forgetfulness. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Nahliel Tsumabuki."
Shann repeated his name softly to herself. "Nahliel Tsumabuki. Well that's a mouthful to say," she laughed, "Did you ever adopt a nickname?"
Nahliel looked at her confused, arching his dark eyebrows. "No."
"Oh- it was a joke." she said, grinning awkwardly.
"I- I knew that- I just." He decided to stop there, sighing and hanging his head downwards. "Right."
Shann genuinely laughed, looking at him in the most inquisitive of ways.
She suddenly smirks. "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship, Nahliel."
Time: 9:50 a.m.
Place: Wawanakwa Academy Auditorium
After all three tour groups met back at the auditorium at 9:50 and a finishing speech from Ms. O'Halloran, the students were free to roam the school. They were given their homeroom elective classes for when school would begin in full swing at 11:00.
A voice echoed from the reassembly of adolescents.
"So, what do we do for the rest of the morning?" a student questioned.
Chris smiled, his green tie illuminating against the dark colors of his suit. He locked eyes with the student.
"Well, in a short while we have an activities fair for you guys to check out for any after school activities you are considering joining."
A stampede of murmurs surfaced and the students turned eagerly to one another.
"Silence please," Chris yelled from the stage. The eruption naturally settled down to a reduced buzz.
"Right, well. That's all we have to say for today. We will now dismiss you in an orderly fashion. I-"
Chris had barely finished his sentence, when the students rushed out of the auditorium in a hurry. He turns to his vice principal a frown visible on his features.
"So much for acting like a responsible principal, right Mildred?"
Blaineley tensed, her shoulders rising up to her ears.
"I told you, it's-" Her body suddenly relaxed, as she threw herself down on a chair sitting on the stage. She reached the back of her hand over to her forehead and exhaled deeply.
"Oh, just forget it."
Time: 10:05 a.m.
Place: Wawanakwa Academy Activities' Fair
"So, anything here that catches your eye?"
"Nothing yet."
Sophia had been traveling around the small fair, her feet trekking in circles on the slightly wet turf. Grace, who had been traveling with her followed not too far behind at a similar pace, each booth arrangement catching her specific eye.
Sophia stopped in the middle of the field and turned over to the blue eyed girl.
"I'm sorry I had to drag you along with me." Sophia's hand shot over to rub her arm nervously. "I just didn't want to go alone."
Grace smiled brightly, reassuring the other girl. "It's no problem at all. I- I actually get kind of nervous myself. I'm not too expert at making friends."
The two continued to walk stopping over at the math team booth. Their presentation consisted of a neatly printed overview of their club, with numerous colored operation signs surrounding the title in gold that read, 'The Genius Gophers'. The older boy at the booth offered the two a grin, propping up his glasses upon his nose.
"Good afternoon," he hesitated, "Would any of you two ladies be interested in joining the Math Team this year?" His offer ended in a crooked smile.
Albina came up next to him behind the booth, smoothly sliding her hands on their table set up.
"Tex, don't be so nervous. Remember, they're just girls." she teased, placing a single hand on her hip. Grace and Sophia looked to each other and then back at Albina. She grinned, pushing the sign up sheet closer to them.
"So how about it girls? You looking to be a math nerd?"
Grace suddenly lit up, grabbing the pen from the table and quickly scribbling her name in black ink.
"I would love to join. Math is kind of my forte," she smiled. Albina smirked back. "Very cool." She looked over to Sophia.
"How about you girly?"
Sophia apologetically grinned, pushing a strand of brown hair behind her.
"I've never been the best in math," she said, "I'd just hold you guys back."
Albina frowned, her eyes shifting between the two girls. "Well, suit yourself." she shrugs. The two move on to the next booth.
"So what are you interested in Sophia?" Grace asked.
Sophia thought for a moment.
"Well, I was thinking something along the lines of an art club, or cheerleading."
Grace mockingly stroked her imaginary beard.
"Hm, oh I think the art club booth is set up over there. Come on!" She grasped Sophia's risk pulling her along to the small, and colorful booth. Behind it, Smith, Dove and Samantha stood.
"Hi girls!" Smith smiled as the two approached.
"Interesting in joining art club?"
Grace softly pushed Sophia forward. "My friend here is," she said.
A small blush brushed over Sophia's cheeks. "Hi, I'm Sophia," she smiled softly.
Dove spoke up. "How do you do? I'm Dove, this is Smith, and that girl on the end over there is Samantha."
Samantha looked up from the knife that was currently occupying her line of thought. She looked at Sophia in thought.
"Hm, I remember you. You were in my tour group this morning. You're a sophomore right?"
Sophia nervously smiled.
"Freshman," she corrected her. "Uh, I'm interested in art."
Sam smirked at her. "Well, you've come to the right place my friend. This is Wawanakwa Academy's highly esteemed art club." She placed two hands behind her head, propping up her feet on the wood in front of her.
"We're currently missing a few members who went to go represent some other club, but you get the gist."
Dove politely pushed the sign up sheet in front of her. Sophia took a moment to sign.
"Well, I hope we'll see you at our first meeting of the year," she beamed.
Sophia didn't say anything but simply nodded, walking away from he booth.
Grace smiled. "Well that went well...Oh, look what's over there!" she pointed.
Meanwhile, Jordan and Gyro traveled together, roaming from booth to booth, sign up sheet to sign up sheet eager to look for something they could both join.
"Come on, Gyro. Why can't we just join soccer together?" Jordan whined. He curiously eyed the sport's booth and watched as a variation of boys and girls approached them, many stopping to scribble their signatures. He wanted to be one of those people.
Gyro laughed sarcastically at his friend. "You know sports really aren't my cup of tea. Besides," he examines a pamphlet from the healthy living club and immediately scrunches up his nose, "Nothing here really appeals to me."
Jordan sighed, throwing down his light backpack.
"Come on, we've visited the photography, glee club, math team, and the student council booth, and you're going to tell me that not a single one of those things caught your interest?" The teenage boy was livid.
Gyro shrugged, putting down the pamphlet that he held inside of his hands.
"Not really, no." He then turned to Jordan and grinned. "Don't worry about me. Let's go visit some things that you want to do. We can finally go to that soccer booth that you've been staring down for the past twenty minutes," he teased.
Jordan smiled, nodding a gratitude of thanks towards his friend and rushing over to the booth. Behind it, Scar stood, a wide grin on his face.
"Hello," he eagerly went to shake Jordan's hand. "My name is Scar Lucifer Xaren, and I can see that you're interested in joining the boys' soccer team this year."
Jordan smiled shyly.
"Wow, cool name," he said genuinely. "And yes, I'm interested." Scar pushed out the sign in sheet towards him, and jutted a pen out in his direction.
"If you can sign here that'll be great," the boy with multi-colored hair spoke. Jordan took his time to sign his name on the piece of paper, shortly handing the pen back over to Scar.
"Tryouts begin next week. On behalf of the team, we hope to see you there." He does a fancy gesture towards Jordan, and he couldn't help but shuffle away awkwardly.
Gyro stood there, a few feet away from the booth as his friend came back down to join him.
"So, how did it go?" Jordan stood there thinking for a minute and then looked back up to him.
"Well. The guy there was kind of weird, but I think I'm really excited for this season." Gyro smiled generously, draping a friendly arm around his shoulders.
"Then I wish you good luck my friend." The two continued to walk.
From across the fair, one could hear an anxious shout from behind a booth.
"Join cheer! Join cheer!" a feminine voice invited passerby's. Kara stood there alone, waving colored pins in the air, hoping to catch an interested person's attention.
She sighed as flocks of people passed by, not even looking in her general direction. Kara pushed down the pin that she was holding in her hand, crossing her arms below her chest. "This is hopeless," she said to herself. Her head peaked up when she saw her friend Claira jogging over to her, bringing a pair of pom poms over.
"Hey," she breathed, slightly out of breathe, "Sorry I'm late. I guess I just got caught up in talking to Dove and Smith."
Kara nodded understandingly. "I'm just glad you're here. At least I don't have to feel too awkward watching absolutely no one sign up."
She gestured to her blank sheet and Claira's smile was replaced with a frown.
"No one's signing up?" her shoulders sunk.
Kara exhaled, looking at her friend as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. Last year, we had to get three sheets because of the number of girls who wanted to join! And now, absolutely nothing." She removed her hand from her face, looking her friend in the eyes.
"You already know that most of our team graduated last year. We need new people to fill in the spots. What if I let you guys down?"
Claira weakly simpered and gripped the taller girl by the shoulders.
"Kara, you're not letting anyone down, trust me. You're going to be a great captain." Kara smiled lightly.
Claira suddenly coughed awkwardly. "Not trying to be a stickler here or anything, but do you think this shortage of people might have anything to do with what happened last year wh-"
Kara held a hand up and shut her eyes tight. The last thing she wanted to hear about was what happened last year. All anyone has ever been talking to her about over the summer was what happened last year. The thought made her sick to her stomach.
"Can we not talk about it Clair?" she pressed. Her words were urgent and desperate and her eyes were pleading.
"Too soon?" the other girl shrugged.
Kara looked away momentarily, nodding her head at the girl and hoped to bring up a new subject.
"So... why'd you bring the pompoms?"
Claira brightened up, propping herself on her tippy toes.
"Ooh, I just thought that maybe if we were having a little trouble getting people to join, then we could show them what cheer is all about, if you get my drift."
"Right here? Right now?" she raised a curious eyebrow.
Claira nodded vigorously, the soft summer breeze running laps inside of her blonde locks.
"Yep. And I know you're definitely not one to back away from a challenge." Claira said. Kara smiled, taking the pom poms from Claira's grasp.
"You're right." She paused momentarily. "Hey, I think I see Bree over at the Drama booth, maybe I can get her to come join."
Kara rushed off across the field, without waiting for a response, but as she was running all caught up in her thoughts, she ran into a tall figure, making her plummet straight to the floor with a gigantic 'Oof'. She rubbed her head, slowly getting up from the pain and emitting a groan. As she opened her eyes, she met gazes with that of a boy's.
"I'm so sorry," they both said at the same time. There was an awkward pause between the two as they both stared at each other with concerned faces. That is, until Kara burst out into a fit of giggles. The boy followed her lead, holding out a hand to help her up and letting out a few laughs of his own.
"Wow, we've got to stop doing that," he chuckled.
Kara grinned subtly at him, taking in his deep hazel eyes and resting her hands at her lap. He had definitely looked familiar, but she couldn't quite match the face with the name. "Sorry, I'm kind of a klutz," she blushed.
He looked back and grinned positively, abruptly offering his hand.
"Um, Kara right? I believe we were in the same tour group this morning."
She hesitated, before shaking his hand. "Yeah." She mentally face-palmed for sounding so air-headed. Her voice naturally had a tendency to squeak whenever she was flustered.
"I'm Eli."
The two released their grips. "Nice to meet you, Eli. I-"
"Kara!" she heard an excited squeal from her cheer friend Bree who had just spotted her and was waving her over.
She looked back at the boy, furrowing her eyebrows together. "I- I have to go," she mumbled.
Eli nodded as she began to walk past him. He quickly turned around to face her before leaving the scene himself.
He cupped a hand near his mouth to heighten his volume.
"I guess I'll be seeing you around then?"
Kara turned around momentarily and sweetly smiled, her green eyes glistening.
"I sure hope so," she said before jetting off.
Eli softly grinned to himself, his hands stuffed inside of his jean's pockets before walking over to join the football booth. He waved over to Liam, who was busy playing with his phone.
"Hey. How're we doing with recruitments?" he asked rhetorically, grabbing the sheet to see for himself. A decent amount of names were written down, almost filling the first page.
"Pretty well, I presume?"
Liam looked up from his phone, uninterestingly looking at the other boy. "I guess, I wasn't really paying that much attention." He shrugged and began to tap some more on the touchscreen. He looked around, seeing that one significant person was missing
"Hey man, have you seen Adagio around? I could've sworn that if he wasn't at the art booth, he would be here."
Liam again nonchalantly shrugged. "Haven't seen him since orientation." Eli sighed, taking a place behind the booth. They were short on men, so he would have to find out about his best friend's whereabouts at a later time.
Shann dragged Nahliel around the activities' fair, bouncing around from club to club.
"Ooh, this one looks nice," she pointed in the direction of a booth. It's title in bold letters reading, 'Glee Club.' The two approached the booth as a very smily girl greeted them.
"Hi, I'm Erin. And we," she gestures to the display, "are the Wawanakwa Keynotes! We're the Glee Club on campus. Are you two interested in joining?" Shann and Nahliel looked to each other.
Shann smiled, "Wow, swanky name," she said.
"So what do you guys do? Just belt out show tunes?" A dramatic gasp erupted from the members and a tall, skinny blonde boy stepped up to them.
"No, we do not just belt out show tunes! Glee club is a fierce, competitive club. We sing to the death. This is not in any way a game. It is life." The boy closed in on the two. Shann grinned nervously.
"Uh, sorry to have offended you, but I don't think I'm really interested." She scurried off to find another booth worth her interest and looked at Nahliel who still stood there. She turned back.
"You coming Nahliel?"
He nodded swiftly at her.
"Yes, please just give me a second." He takes the pen off of the glee club table and signs his name as slot number eleven.
"When is your first meeting?"
Erin, the bright and bodacious red head from before adjusted herself before answering, "Next week. Tuesday after school. We hope you can make it."
Nahliel nodded boldly before jogging off to join Shann.
"What else do you want to see?" he questioned her. Shann simply smiled, laughing while dragging him off to the drama club booth.
Time: 10:41 a.m.
Place: the Student Courtyard
Serene wasn't nearly a strong enough word to describe the scenery surrounding the peaceful courtyard. As most of the students were distracted with some kind of orientation like activities, Adagio found this the perfect time to just breathe. He leaned against a tree, pulling out an unlit cigarette from his pocket, and quickly setting it to fire. He took a long drag before exhaling, pulling himself more down the tree, his pants soaking in the damp grass.
"God, I needed that."
Eyrik who was sitting from a tree branch above him, squinted his eyelids to watch the boy. He had certainly been a watch subject of his since he had first come to this school as a freshman. It was Eyrik's sophomore year. Back then, he noted he had been a lot happier, and more content with himself. But of course, these last three years he had someone else by his side. He continued to watch.
Adagio took a moment to stare into the sky, throwing his head up dramatically and meeting with the blinding rays of the sun. He groaned, letting his head down lower and took another drag of his cigarette. He knew he couldn't go back there. At least not yet. He assumed that people would have already heard rumors about what had happened over the summer, false or true and he didn't want to burn up under their inevitable looks and pity parties. He was over that stage already. Far over it. People would ask him questions about what happened, that was for sure. But he didn't want to answer any of their curiosities. What did it matter anyway? He was gone for good and nothing was going to bring him back.
Eyrik shifted in his seat on the branch, now staring directly at the movement of his limbs. His hands were trembling and Eyrik could tell that he was hurting too much emotionally for his physical body to take.
Adagio quickly whipped out his cell phone from his pocket, clicking a single button to make the screen light up in his face.
No New Messages.
He had at least expected Eli to give him a call, of course worried about why he wasn't at the fair, doing some kind of football, art club, drama or student council related activity. Last year, he would've jumped at the chance to get involved, but now in this very moment, he needed to relax. If he didn't, he would certainly explode. Adagio's gaze followed over to a nearby, clear brick wall located near the courtyard. He made a mental note to himself that he would have to paint over its blandness one of these days.
But for now, he just waited. Waited for his best friend to call and scold him, waiting for the bell to ring, waiting to pass out, waiting for something to happen. He just waited.
Hey guys. So as you noticed, not everyone got a feature moment to shine in this chapter. Don't worry if your OC didn't get as much time to shine as the others. I did that on purpose because I plan to focus on them more in the near future. So anyway, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are very much appreciated. Until next time!