As soon as I walk through the doors, I can feel every eye in the room land on me. Even the teacher. Middle-aged, human, salt-and-pepper bobbed hair. She turns and smiles, motioning her arm in my direction.
"Welcome! We're so glad you could make it." She says, motioning me to her, and I nervously walk over. She then turns towards the class of twenty-three, her hand resting lightly on my shoulder.
"Everyone, this is Cassie Vakarian. She's new to the Citadel, so I expect everyone to be welcoming." She turns to me, still with her smile. "My name is Mrs. Michaels, but I go by Mrs. M. Would you mind telling the class a few things about yourself?"
I turn a bit towards the class, meeting eyes with every student already seated. The class looks to be fairy diverse, but with a fairly even number of each race, with a couple exceptions. Humans, Asari, Turians, Salarians. Even a pair each of Krogan and Quarian, which I wasn't expecting.
"Um... I'm from Earth, I have two younger brothers... and we have three pet Varren, which actually make very good pets despite their stigma." I say the first few things that come to mind, aside from my whole memory thing.
"Huh, very interesting!" Mrs. M says with an intrigued look before motioning towards the students. "Thank you for sharing. Please, take a seat so we can continue with the lesson."
I nod and move to an empty seat towards the wall, sitting down and waiting patiently for the teacher to pick up where she left off.
Not even ten seconds after I'm seated, I can feel a faint buzzing come up behind me. I glance back to see a little holographic drone no bigger than Fletchers fist floating just inches away. I look away and try to ignore it, but it starts hitting me with some kind of pellet through the gap between the seat and the back of my chair.
It's starting to get annoying, but I continue to ignore it... But then it zaps me with a light shock, and I shriek a little. Everyone turns to look at me, even the teacher, but when I turn around to look at the drone, it's gone.
"Is everything alright, Cassie?" Mrs. M asks, and I lock eyes with a smirking greenish-blue Salarian kid towards the back.
"Yes, Ma'am. My foot just slipped out from under me. Makes me glad I was already sitting." I say as I turn around, already planning for the next time he tries the drone thing again. The teacher nods before continuing where she left off, talking about the history of the Citadel.
Sure enough, the buzzing returns, and while the teacher is looking away, I pull up my Omni-tool. Just a few clicks, and I've easily taken control of the drone and turned it back on him. I don't even need to turn around this time.
"Oh... Oh shit... Leave me alone, leave me alone...!" I hear him frantically whisper, and the kids around him begin to giggle mockingly. I smirk and place my hands innocently on my lap just before the teacher turns around.
"What's going on back there?" She asks just in time to see the Salarian kid get shocked by his own drone.
"Ouch! W-what's happening to it?!" He yells as he stands up and begins to try and get away from his own drone. The other kids bust out laughing while the teacher, with a couple taps on her own omni-tool, makes the drone disappear.
"You got what you deserve, Alero. What did I tell you about making drones to annoy the new kids? Looks like someone knows how to hack and decided to turn it back on you. Now sit back down, and don't try that again." Mrs. M waves him away, and the kid apparently named Alero sits down, seemingly defeated. He glares at me, and I find that I'm very pleased with myself, despite the fact it seems I've already gained an enemy.
The rest of the class goes by without any issues, and soon, we're dismissed to go to one of our electives. I stand up, and before I even take a step away from my desk, Alero walks by and forcefully bumps my shoulder with his. It knocks me into my desk, the corner hitting my hip. I inhale sharply from the pain and bend over a little, my hands over the hurt area.
"Watch yourself, new girl." He says as he walks by, chuckling. I bite my lip to keep back the tears, genuinely concerned that the sharp corner didn't break the skin through my pants. He walks out, followed by a couple kids that appear to be his "posse".
"Are you okay?" I hear a soft voice ask from behind me. I turn around and look at who spoke to me. A petite Quarian girl stands a few feet behind me, hugging a tablet to her chest.
"Y-... yeah... I think so..." I wince as I stand upright, heaving a sigh. "Thanks."
"Alero's a jerk." She says before holding out her hand towards me. "Kamani. You can call me Kam."
"Cassie," I say as I shake her hand. "Nice to meet someone who doesn't seem to be out to get me, for whatever reason."
"I'll bet," She says with a giggle. "I don't know why, though. I mean, why people would be out to get you."
"You must not recognize my last name, then..." I say softly as I walk towards the door with Kam next to me.
"Oh, I do recognize it. I just don't think it's a reason to hate you." She replies, and I actually find her opinion comforting.
"I appreciate that," I smile. "I really do. I wish people wouldn't treat me different just because of it..."
"Well I promise I'm at least one person who won't. I know I won't be the last, either." She says as we walk out the door and into the hall. "What's your next class?"
"Engineering," I say as I check my omni-tool. "Crap... why do I have a feeling he's in that class, too?"
"He is, but don't worry. So am I." Kam says with a grin, the glow in her eyes lighting up a bit more. Maybe because she's happy? I'll have to ask Tali next time she's over.
"Good. I don't know where it is, anyway." I laugh a bit, and Kam hooks her arm through mine.
"Good thing you have me!" She exclaims happily as she leads me to our class.
One friend, one enemy. Pretty eventful first hour, if I don't say so myself.