After a few minutes of homeroom, filled with kids chattering with each other, the first class bell had rung. But as they left, only Balin and Matt were asked to stay behind.
"Okay Balin, so first of all, welcome back. I can't express that enough." smiled Mrs. Briggs.
"Thank you, Mrs. Briggs." replied Balin kindly.
"Anyway, since you're back AND new to this side of school, I'd like to let you know that you won't just be writing notes in your books." the teacher continued. "You'll be having your very own school laptop, for research purposes."
"Oh my gosh!" gasped Balin. "A laptop?"
"That's right." Mrs. Briggs giggled at his surprised expression. "So if you'll just follow Matt down to the library, the IT mates should get you all sorted out with one."
"Yes, Ms." replied Matt.
"But before you go, here's your timetable. Five periods a day as usual." Mrs. Briggs continued, handing him a time-table with elective classes. "But there's a catch, you can choose any courses that you'd like. As long as one of them is Maths."
The two little boys chuckled hearing that, even though they knew she was serious.
"Cool. Thank you, Ms." Balin said as he gave her a hug.
"Oh. Hehehehe." chuckled Mrs. Briggs as she patted his head. "Also, let me or any other teachers know if anyone's causing you trouble. I did notice some eying from the Caster twins back there."
"Yeah..." sighed Matt in concern. "Just don't bother with them. They've been suspended two times already."
"That's right, and you know what that means. Two dots away from expulsion." added the teacher, before waving goodbye to them. "Now go on you two, have a fun day."
...
SCHOOL LIBRARY...
The two walked to the huge two-story school library, where Matt lead an excited Balin to the IT room as he held his elective list.
"Hmm. I wonder, I wonder what courses you're thinking of choosing." his best friend smirked quietly.
"Ooh, it's a hard one." pondered Balin, a little cheekily. "What classes are you in?"
"You tell me!" Matt shot back, giggling at his innocence.
"Um... I'm thinking of Maths..."
"Smart move." interrupted Matt cheekily as his BFF continued speaking.
He then spoke about the other subjects he considered doing, each relating to his hobbies from Earth and Hell, including Music.
"Music, eh?" said Matt. "You finally have the confidence."
"I think so." replied Balin. "I haven't even performed in front of my new friends yet."
"Either way... I think we might have a couple of classes together." Balin's BFF continued to be cheeky. "Lunch and recess."
"Oh, Matt!" Balin laughed until he opened his eyes to a beautiful sight.
A/N: Imagine 'The Best Part / Interlude' by Meghan Trainor is playing over this next part.
Balin fell into a trance seeing his primary school crush, Amy Floùrest walk from her friendship group with her schoolbag around her shoulders.
AMY FLOUREST was one of Holy Water School's prettiest girls. She was around 8 years old, with hair the colour of full-cream milk wrapped in a ponytail, skin as bright and clean as the sun, and was about Balin's height considering she was around the same age as him.
"Oh. G'day." she greeted walking towards him. "You must be Balin Johnson, right?"
"Uh, I... I..." Balin FLUSHED.
He was so head over heels for this little girl, he mustered his fear of what to say to her and just nodded his head.
"Oh, you are? That's good." she continued speaking with a sweet smile. "It's just that, the whole school is talking about you. I'm so happy you're doing okay, and it's nice to... have we ever met before?"
"M-M-Met? How should I know?" chuckled Balin nervously, still trying to play it cool. "I mean, I mean, no. I don't think so. We have gone to this school for a while, but uh... nice to meet you, Amy."
Balin then wanted to hold his hand out for a shake, but he kept lifting it up and down, knowing that he wanted to wait for her to make the first move. Chuckling at this behaviour, Amy gladly shook his hand first, taking him by surprise.
"Then it's nice to meet you too." she said. "Gotta run, I'm off to French class. Ancestry, am I right?"
"Hehehehehe..." Balin had no idea what the fuck that was as he chuckled. "French is my favourite too."
"I thought it was Italian..." Matt was about to finish speaking until Balin shushed him.
Amy then giggled a little 'see you later' before walking off ...and starting to have a crush herself.
Balin then breathed in and out, feeling like his first brush with Amy was 'a little bit of a' success. He was very modest that way.
"Well how about that?" Matt grinned at his best friend and patted his back. "C'mon, let's get you that laptop."
As the two got the boy his laptop from the IT department, he then slid his new timetable of chosen classes into his schoolbag, before walking off to start the first two.
MATHS:
As his teacher was drawing the Pythagoras Theorem problem on the whiteboard, Balin was drawing all of it in one of his notebooks, before the teacher started lecturing the class.
"Now class, 5 is A-squared and the other 5 is a B-squared. Can anyone solve the hypotenuse?" he asked kindly, as Balin then raised his hand. "New kid?"
"7.07." the boy replied.
"Correct." the teacher then looked into his math-book with a proud look. "Impressive, and on your first day back."
Feeling proud of himself as well, Balin then wrote the answer in his book, like everyone else did.
...
ENGLISH:
Balin's next class was English, where his first assignment was to study the music video and lyrics of 'Oh Canada!' by Missy Higgins.
As the class watched along, the little boy couldn't help but hum to the melody of the song in secret.
"Alright class, I want you to find the techniques used in this song." the English teacher said. "Once you do, explain how they're used to reach out to the intended audience."
...
LUNCH TIME...
Balin was gonna grab something from the tuck shop using the lunch money Loona gave him, but decided to leave it for another day as he walked past it.
"Hey, Balin!" Matt called out to him. "What're you up to?"
"Hi Matt." Balin waved back. "I'm just gonna have some lunch in the music room. Again. ...Like I usually do. Fame, am I right?"
"What? No. You're welcome to come sit with us." Matt then pointed to his friendship territory close by.
So with that, the boys walked with each other to their little friendship circle. This group included 5 boys named James, Frank, Darius, Whitey, and an Aboriginal-Australian student named Jerry. It also included 4 girls named Roxanne, Luann, Ash, and Samantha.
"Balin, so nice to meet you." said Frank. "Now you've gotta tell us about your time away, we're dying to know."
"...If you'd like, that is." added Jerry.
"Of course. I'd be happy to." smiled Balin, as he cleared his throat. "I ran away from my foster home a few days after being separated from my mommy and daddy. I wanted to see if anyone else in my family would take care of me, but I didn't want to upset them. So over the next few days, I was homeless, until Loona found me and took me home. So I've been living with her since the end of last month."
"Is this Loona person your new mom?" Roxanne then asked him.
"No, no, Loona's like a teenager of some sort." replied Balin. "Besides, my mommy's still out there. ...Somewhere." he then lowered his head in sadness and Matt saw it.
"We're really sorry to hear this, Balin." he rubbed his leg in sympathy, while the others apologised as well.
"It's okay Matt. It's not my fault, and neither is it yours." Balin looked up at his best friend with a small smile.
"Sounds like she's a really cool girl." said James. "Can we come over to your new home for a playdate sometime?"
Balin was about to shout 'NO!', but then decided to remain as calm and collected as she was.
"Well, uhm... Loona's kind of a... complicated girl." Balin explained sheepishly. "She loves me, but she can get a little... angry or scary at times. So there's a chance she doesn't like a lot of visitors from time to time. Unless they're family. Also, we live pretty far out of town, so sorry guys. But hey, I can still come and play at your places. Right, Matt?"
"Oh, sure. Like before Loona took you in." his best friend replied. "My fam's been missing you anyway."
Balin then sighed in relief having done that. Again, if these kids were to learn that Balin was being in the care of demons from the 'fiery depths', they wouldn't believe him or would run around the school screaming their lungs out, worried the imps would possess them or Loona would eat them.
His school friends were confused, since Balin always loved to play at their places, but alas, they knew it was nerves from coming back strong. So they were content and respectful of his decisions.
Soon, the bell rung, and the group split up for their next class. Except for Balin and Matt, who ironically had that class together after all.
AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL DAY...
While the kids were picked up by their parents and a lot were walking down to the McDonalds and KFC nearby, Balin tried to whistle as he waited for Loona.
He wasn't really the best at whistling, but anything was better than wandering off.
As he waited, he then heard some strange noises nearby.
*Rustling*
Balin slowly turned his head to see the noise turned out to be some rustling bushes from behind. He felt like the wind wasn't that strong of a breeze today, so he curiously but carefully walked over to see what it was.
*Soft growling...*
As he got closer, he heard some soft, quiet, and feminine growling sounds from behind said bushes, making Balin shiver in a bit of fright.
But as he moved away, he remembered the tone of that growl and saw through the bush for a peak... and saw nothing at all. So quickly, he leaned over the bush to see a small sound machine was all that was there.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, before he knew it...
"Grr-RAWR!"
His eyes were gently covered with two human-like hands wearing sleeveless gloves.
"Hello..."
Balin knew who that voice was.
"LOONA!" he exclaimed, running into her for a hug.
"Awww." she chuckled in her quiet voice as they were in public, yet she returned the hug and petted his head. "Sorry if I scared you, bud."
"It's okay." replied the boy politely. "What a way to pick me up from school. I loved it."
"I'm really glad." Loona grinned at the boy's kindness. "Now let's get you back to you-know-where."
Balin was just about to grab Loona's hand as she extended it out to him, until Matt arrived.
"Balin?"
"Yeah, Matt?" the little boy walked up to his best friend.
"I just want to say this real quick before you go, um... it was great seeing you again." he cleared his throat. "I hope we can catch up sometime soon, whether it's my place or someplace other than yours."
Loona did tilt her head in a little confusion, but then shrugged knowing what he meant.
"Anything for a 'best' friend, Matt." smiled Balin.
The two then did their secret handshake, which made Loona giggle and Matt look up having heard her.
"So you're the Matt Sanders the little guy's been jazzed about." she spoke to him, kneeling down to his level. "You've got such a damn good best friend, sport."
"Uh-huh? ...And you're Loona?"
"That's my name." Loona gently ruffled his golden brown hair. "Don't wear it out."
Soon, a few other kids noticed her and whispered to each other:
"Is that the girl who rescued Balin?"
and...
"It is! It is!"
"Well, I also wanted to tell you thanks on behalf of our other friends..." his BFF continued. "Thank you for looking after this one."
Loona didn't know whether to smile softly or nervously, considering there were lots of kids who looked like they fell head over heels for her body. Until she heard some of them complimenting her, rather nicely, making her slowly smile... softly.
"Well thank you all for your kind welcome." she announced quite kindly. "I mean, I knew I couldn't leave Balin out there. My mind kept saying I had to do something before he could get hurt, so... I did something, to help."
Balin then nodded to her, telling her she was doing a good job with his hand on her thigh.
Soon, Loona started hearing some of them say 'She's so pretty!' 'She's so beautiful!' and 'She's so sexy!', making her roll her eyes with a grin.
"Okay, lil' charmers. Raise your hand if you're whispering. Don't be scared, I can hear you." she giggled, as a few kids raised their hands right away. "Okay... which of you want a hug? Or a kiss?"
Balin then widened his eyes like a cartoon character hearing her ask that, while a lot of little boys got excited fast.
"Okay, fine... Straight line! Chop-chop!" she clapped and kneeled back on her knee.
The little male kids soon followed her orders very easily, as she began giving kisses on the cheek to each kiss that walked up to her, like a kissing booth.
As this happened, Balin was as surprised as Hell, having not expected this coming from Loona. Until...
"Well, well, well." smirked Buzz. "Caught ya in the nick of time!"
"Come here, kid." Leni grinned seductively. "We have some business to discuss."
The twin terrors arrived from up next to the group with their posse of friends.
"No. I'm about to go home with Loona soon." said Balin nervously. "Please. Leave me alone."
"What's wrong?" asked Loona, before seeing the two 10-year-olds. "Who are those two blockheads?"
"Ugh. Buzz and Leni Caster." replied Matt in frustration. "The meanest brother-sister duo in school, all because their mom is a theatre actress."
"That's 'LEADING' actress to you, mate." Buzz interjected rudely.
"I don't want any trouble, but I'm not scared of you." Balin calmly warned them. "So please, just go away."
"What? You not happy to meet us?" cooed Leni in a harassing tone. "Why don't you ditch this posse and get some milkshakes with your REAL new friends?"
"And bring Foxy over there with you too. Or else!" Buzz loudly laughed.
Loona growled like she was about to go feral on them.
"HEY! No way in, uh... Heck, I'm going anywhere with you!" she snapped. "Now you better leave him alone AND go away! Or else!"
"Make us. Mommy." Buzz teased her more.
This made Loona crosser than ever, until she calmed down and told Balin to stay with Matt, before walking up to the twins in her usual grouchy mood. She stood tall, towering and growling over them as she showed her teeth and saliva. The two tried walking away from her backwards, but she continued following them until she eventually cornered them against a wall far away from the other kids.
"Now STAY AWAY from my KID!" she barked. "GET OUTTA HERE, you little shits!"
Buzz and Leni immediately ran away as fast as they could.
"That mom of his is crazy!" Leni thought in her head, as she continued to pant and run with her brother and her friends.
"Sorry about that." Loona nonchalantly said, returning to the two boys. "Had to give them a talking-to."
"No problem, Ms. Loona." replied Matt. "They're idiots."
"Mm, duh." she shrugged. "So, wanna grab some KFC before we head back?"
Balin then nodded to her as he took her hand and walked away from the school with her.
"See you later, Matt!" he waved to his best friend, and Matt soon returned it as they left.
...
"So, how was your first day of school, pal?" she asked Balin.
"It was really great, Loona. Thank you."
"By the way, other than my house? What was that all about?"
Balin then flushed, feeling a little sheepish about that one little lie about living in Hell to his friends.
"Let me guess... I don't like visitors? I'm angry and scary?" she teased him softly. "Do I scare you?"
"Uh...? No?" replied Balin. "How did you know I said that?"
Loona then pointed to her human-like ears. She could practically hear him from Hell as he told his friends all that.
"You heard me, didn't you?"
"Oh yeah. But hey, it's okay, Meal." she then smiled to him. "Tell you what, I'll make an exception for them, one at a time. They are your friends after all. Play-date or sleepover, I'll be down with that. Understand?"
"Okay, Loona." Balin smiled back. "I understand."
"Good boy." she softly said, rubbing his head. "Come on. After this, we'll head down to I.M.P for a little bit."
The two continued walking to the KFC down the street for a little celebratory 'Meal.'
A/N: See y'all in the next chapter.