Meeting And Pissing Off Sky

Sky

Theophania J-Lynn Rose Angelia Starblood and Donatello Avi Starblood were already the two biggest thorns in my side.

And we hadn't even started the new semester yet.

I had my two spells prepared for the school entrance exam. I was ready. I was going to help a flower sprout on stage, and then I would create a small light show. Sure, it wasn't exactly Beast Keeping magic, the track I wanted to sign up for, but it was sure to dazzle and at least slightly impress Principal Bump.

As I was trying to mentally prepare for going on stage, (I have extreme stage fright), a snowball smacked into the back of my head. I turned angrily to glare at whoever had thrown it.

Two other witches my age were tossing snowballs at each other. One was a boy with hair that was half black and half golden blond, who wore glasses and a short dark red cape on over his outfit of a black shirt and blue jeans. The other was a girl about two inches shorter than him with golden blond hair, who had a black cat-like tail with a forked end. She wore a sweater that looked hand-knit, and a pair of black knee-high boots over black leggings.

The boy looked like he was tossing snowballs with bored ease. He had his back to me and was standing strangely stiff as he twirled his finger quickly in small circles, snowball after snowball flying out at the girl. Each snowball he made was exactly the same size and all of them were perfectly round.

The girl, on the other hand, who was laughing and grinning, kept running back and forth to zigzag away from his snowy attacks. She dodged some of them, but not all. Whenever she threw a snowball back, it was a different size than the last, and they were lumpy and sloppily made. Probably because she was more focused on avoiding getting hit than casting proper spells. She was panting and breathless, as each snowball she threw missed her playmate by a mile. Another snowball hit me square in the face.

"Hey!" I growled. "Watch it!"

This caught both of their attention. It caught the boy's first, who turned to look at me. The girl threw one last snowball, which again, completely missed him, and hit me for the third time.

"Oh! Ha ha, sorry!" She trotted up to us, her tail swishing playfully, grinning widely.

Up close, I could see how similar they looked. They both had small horns poking up from under their hair, light purple freckles dusted across their cheeks and noses, and fangs. Their faces were practically identical, with the exception of their eyes. The boy's eyes were bright red. The girl's were blue.

"You two shouldn't be throwing snowballs around a school hallway!" I snapped angrily.

The boy didn't respond, only listened to my complaint. His friend, who I had to conclude was his sister, just laughed. "We were just practising for the exam."

"Correction. I was practising. You were making a game out of it." The boy replied coldly. "If you had been taking this more seriously, you'd have focused where to throw the snowball, and wouldn't have missed me."

"Maybe you shouldn't have been moving around so much then!" The girl growled at him.

"He wasn't moving at all!" I intervened.

The girl was about to respond when the principal came out of the auditorium. "Donatello Starblood." He called. The boy nodded.

"TJ, please, try to practise so you can actually pass this exam." He walked into the auditorium with Principal Bump.

The moment he was gone, she took to mocking him. "PraCtIsE sO yoU cAn pAsS ThE eXaM. Nyeh. I'm Donatello and I'm sOoOoOoOo great. My shit smells like roses."

"Just don't throw anymore snowballs." I grumped, walking away to stand further down the hallway away from her and focus on myself.

It didn't take long for Principal Bump and Donatello to exit the auditorium. He must have passed easily, with flying colours.

"Theophania J-Lynn Starblood." The principal called.

I glanced around. The girl from earlier looked incredibly nervous. She had been kneeling, a tiny, wilted flower on the floor in front of her. I watched as she stood shakily and followed the principal into the auditorium.

I would probably be next. I had to focus and not worry about her.

After what felt like hours, Principal Bump and Theophania J-Lynn exited the auditorium. The principal had snow in his hair and the girl's clothes looked badly burned. Even her golden hair was singed.

"One last student. Thankfully." Principal Bump sighed. "Sky Sunni."

Here goes. I stepped into the auditorium, took a deep breath, and performed the spells.

TJ

I took a deep breath, staring at the classroom door.

Very first class. Very first day.

I should just walk in. I should be fine. Why am I nervous? Why am I worried right now?

Why can I hear my own heartbeat?

I clutched the stack of books tighter to my chest, trying to calm my nerves somehow.

It's just Beast Keeping. It'll be fine. It'll be easy.

I shook my head, and finally managed to force myself to walk into the classroom. Don hadn't chosen this track. He was in Abomination and Potions, and I had chosen Beast Keeping and the Bard track. Which meant if I fell behind, he wouldn't be there and let me cheat off him.

It was probably for the best... I mean, we had both also gone into the Healing Track (at the insistence of our father), so at least I wouldn't be without my twin all day, all the time. There would be at least a little overlap.

"Hello! Welcome to your first lessons in Beast Keeping." The teacher greeted us warmly. "Please, everybody take a seat."

There were three rows of tables, each table having two chairs behind it. I sat down at the table by the window, and the very middle between the teacher's desk at the front and the noisier kids at the back. I glanced over at the student sitting next to me. She was the girl from the hallway during entrance exams. The one I had hit with a snowball or three.

She didn't seem thrilled that I was sitting next to her. I struggled to remember her name.

She was shorter than me and was kind of chubby, but in a cute way. She seemed very huggable, if she liked you. Her skin was a warm and rich brown, that reminded me of a forest in a way, like pine cones and acorns, and hazelnuts. I liked hazelnuts. Her hair was cropped short and a bright blue colour that matched a bright morning sky.

Sky. That was her name.

I wondered what shade her lipstick was called. It was a bright red colour that both stood out against and accented her face beautifully. She had cute little squirrel earrings and a small studded nose piercing. I glanced up at her eyes, which were a dark brown, almost black colour, with specks of lighter yellows and browns, like bits of precious gold and copper...

Wait... Her eyes...

Were looking directly at me.

And I had just been staring.

I felt myself blush and quickly looked back up at the teacher as Sky glared at me.

"Sorry," I mumbled, not sure if she heard me or not. It probably didn't matter.

"I know it's the very first lesson of the year, but I'd like to start the year with a project." The teacher was saying, as the entire class groaned in frustration. "I know, I know, but think of it more as a fun experiment. Everybody, I hope you're happy with the person you're sitting next to because they are going to be your partner for this project."

Great. A group project on the first day of the first class. Not only that, but my partner was a girl who probably still hated my guts.

"I'd like one person from each table to come to my desk please."

Well, since Sky was beside the window and I was technically in the aisle seat, I stood up to head to the front. At her desk, she handed out small, crocheted bags of various colours. I got a pink one with a yellow button holding it closed.

Once everybody had sat down, the teacher then told us to open the small bags. We did, to reveal a tiny porcelain doll in each one. Every doll was different. Ours had long black hair and a plain white nightgown on.

"For the remainder of our first month together, every one of you is a parent!" The teacher grinned. "The dolls all have recording spells placed on them, each one has unique needs and wants, just like real children and beasts. The care and keeping of beasts and demons is not to be taken lightly. These are creatures that depend on you, and they need you to be responsible, respectful, kind and caring."

I barely listened as the teacher instructed us to take turns keeping the dolls safe, to focus on working together and keeping our differences from preventing us from provided the best possible care we could to our dolls.

"I'd like you to start by talking to your partners about what your strategies are going to be, and agreeing on a name for your doll."

I glanced over at Sky. "So..."

Sky sighed. "I guess we're stuck together for this."

"No hard feelings about earlier?" I asked, hopeful.

"Fine." Sky rolled her eyes. "But I'm going to be the primary caretaker of Charlottina."

"Who?"

"Our doll." Sky hissed at me. "Her name is Charlottina."

"I think she looks more like a Samara or a Morgan, but... sure. Her name can be Charlottina." I gave in. If I just agreed with Sky and let her be the primary caretaker like she wanted, then maybe I could get a good grade on this project, and we could settle our differences?