I stared into the cloudy morning gloom. “Hey, mom” I called to my mom from the back seat.
“Yes, honey? Don’t tell me you’re still upset.” There goes her bell voice. She always tried to sound whimsical whenever she was talking me into doing something.
“Why do I have to go to a stupid boarding school? Can’t I go to-to...? To wherever it is that you and dad are going?” My mom and dad are biologists and have been insisting on me going to some boarding school for a few years. It was one of those snobby, rich-people schools.
“It’s Madagascar, Ley. And besides, you’ll just love this school!” There she goes again with that bell voice. I’ve seen the brochures for it, and it was nice and all, Wrapped up in the Croatan forest of North Carolina. Beautiful climate, sunny days, nice city, good people, near a beach… I just couldn’t believe my parents wanted me to go there for three years! It’ll be my 8th, 9th, and 10th grade years… three years wasted.
I realized we had gotten to the airport. I reached for the door handle, but stopped. This would be one of the last times I would see my mom. I got out of the car. I tried to sound as happy as possible, “Bye mom, love you!”
“Love you too, L-“I shut the door. I didn't know whether to be happy about getting away from my parents, or upset about it.
I strolled out of the airport, luggage in hands. It was at least 15 minutes away from East Trinity. “Okay, so I’m supposed to be there by 5pm…” I checked my watch. It was 3. I got out the seventy dollars my mom gave me to spend on my birthday next week. “I guess I could do some birthday shopping...” I murmured. Now all I need is a tourist map…
“Need some help?” I turned to see who the source was. It was a guy that couldn’t have been more than a year older than me. Tints of red stood out in his shaggy brown hair. He seemed to eye my school jacket, bearing "E.T." embroidered in silver.
“Uhh… Yeah, I’m kind of lost. You have a map I could use?” He stepped closer, I could almost feel heat radiating off him. I looked up to see his face. I smiled.
“Yeah, right here.” He whipped out a map folded like a brochure and handed it to me so fast that I wouldn’t have seen it if I had blinked. “I’ve had to keep one handy because of all the tourists.” He chuckled “They need to get a tour guide; they’re really starting to annoy the locals.”
“So you live here in N.C.?”
“Yeah, this-“he made a waving motion with his hands “Is the best place I’ve ever lived at.”
“I’ve been hearing that a lot around here” I noted. He chuckled again. “Oh yeah, my name’s Leytala. Ley, for short.” I looked down to the map.
“Okay, Ley nice to meet you.” I could almost hear him grinning. “My name’s Az.”
“Az… that’s a weird name... I’ve never heard it before.” I looked up to face him again “What’s it stand for, A-Z are my ABC’s?”
“Good one!” He laughed “Hey, I’ve never heard Ley before, either.” I grinned and looked back down to the map. Maybe this place isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
I could feel his dark brown eyes burning a hole in my skull. I looked back up.
“Anyhoo, you’re not going to have to worry about me. The only time I’m going to be around town is on the weekends. So I’m not going to be a bother to the locals.” There was another downer about the school. You were almost never allowed out of the campus.
“Really?” I couldn't figure out what his expression was while he paused. “You’re going to be living here?”
“Yeah, my parents are making me go to some boarding school near here.” I paused, trying to remember the name, forgetting it was on my shirt. “East Trinity, I think.”
“Oh, well I have to go. Bye.” He said, as expressionless as a drone.He turned icily and stalked off.
“Well there goes the not-so friendly welcoming committee.” I mumbled. “What’s his problem?” Oh well, at least I had picked out a couple of spots to do some shopping.
“Hmm…. Maginkets, eh? That’s a weird name for a jewelry store…” Cracks flowed through the display window like veins. The interior was a dark purple. Creepy. “Oh well, mom always says you can’t judge a book by its cover...” I sucked in a lungful of air. Here goes nothing!
The inside of the store was dark. Very dark. It was only lit by a few candles that were dotted among the room. I drew in another lungful of air. It smelled like incense. The lady standing behind the counter reminded me of the gypsies you sometimes see in movies. I walked down an isle that was labeled by a paper with the word “ring” scrawled across it. A lot of the rings looked like they should have been in the renaissance section of a museum. One glinted in the dim light. I stopped to look at it. It was much more modern looking, like it belonged in the 18th century instead of the 17th or 16th. The deep blue sapphire was encrusted in the light, pure silver the ring was made by. It was surrounded by swirling engravings. The sapphire was almost the shape of a raindrop, I noted. "Ah, you like the ring of Okeanos don't you?" I turned to see who it was. It was the old chubby lady that was behind the counter a minute ago
" Uh... Yeah I guess..." The ring enraptured me; it was like I was supposed to have it. I stared into the dark blue eye.
"For you, it will be fifty dollars." Fifty dollars? I looked into the raindrop. Well, mom always says to never turn down a deal...
"I'll take it."
"Wise choice, young one. This ring was destined for you." Okay, you can cut the yoda crap now...
"Here" I handed her five tens and took the ring. She smiled and flipped back her long black locks of hair.
When are one of these taxis going to stop...? I was standing outside of the store trying to catch a taxi. Maybe if I'm lucky a bus will come by, and then I can catch a ride to school by that... I fiddled with my ring. Boy, that lady in there was really weird. I looked across the street and peered into one of the windows. Maybe I can hang around in there while I'm- Some one came out. I realized who it was right away.
"Hey!! Over here!" It was the guy from the airport. Az, I think. He stopped walking and turned. I waved. His eyes popped out, but he turned to walk again. Suddenly, he stopped and looked over at me. His eyes flickered to the ring I put on and then to me. He had a mixed expression of bewilderment and smugness. He turned and chuckled darkly.
The school looked like it should have belonged in a fairy tale, not North Carolina. It had multiple buildings; they were all centered on one circle in the middle of the campus. This really does look like a college campus. My mother had told me how the school used to be a college, but was remade into a boarding school for teens. I walked by the cafeteria, around the circular grove, and straight to where the office was. These people have a weird way of laying out their schools… The inside of the office was very small and cozy. It had creamy colored walls, and reminded me some how of a cabin in the woods. I crossed the room to talk to an old lady sitting behind a desk. She mumbled something and pointed to a poster on the wall. Not much of a talker. It was a map of the school; all of the buildings were labeled with things like “Science” or “Library” and other school related rooms. One of the buildings was labeled ‘Girl’s Dorms’. That must be it. It had a list of people’s names on it along with what room number they would live in. I looked down the A’s for my name. “Let’s see…Afen, Agan, ah Aglaia! Room 125. Hmm.” I studied the map again. On the opposite side, there was one named ‘boy dorms’ I looked down the list, this time looking at first names instead of last. I found two names that were even close to Az, one of them was Azaria Vulcan and Enzi Baldormero. It’s probably Azaria. His room number was 253. Another name, maybe 3 lines down shared the same number. Griffin Ziorah. “What kind of messed up names are these?” I muttered, “Ziorah? And Azaria? Who comes up with these names?”
“Look who’s talking, Ley.” Great, more unfamiliar voices. But this one wasn’t totally unfamiliar.
“What? How do you know my-“I turned to the source.
“He chuckled again “Weird seeing you again, isn’t it?”
“Listen, Az. I don’t know how you keep finding me, but I don’t put up well with stalkers!” I growled, “And you best be backing off, buddy!”
“Whoa whoa, there, Ley!” He faked a scared face, “I’m not following you around, we just keep ending up at the same places, is all!”
“Shut it, Vulcan!” I growled “And besides, you acted like you hated me when you walked out of the café earlier, too! What’s your problem?”
“Oh, getting feisty now are we?” Teasing, now.
“What, is this all a game to you?” I thought I knew the answer.
“No, no! It’s just-” I glowered at him.
“Well? What is your problem?”
“It’s just that-” he sighed, “I-” He struggled “I can’t tell you.” I was about to quietly yell at him again. We were in an office after all. “You’ll find out what it is soon enough, anyway. I’m probably in trouble already, anyway…” He trailed off. I glowered again. “Look, the least I can do is show you how to get to the dorms.” He tried to sound as if nothing had happened, it didn’t work.
“No.” I was fuming. I wasn’t going to take a ten minute walk with some body that had ticked me off three times in one day.
“Come on, Ley. I’m really sorry for how I acted.” He was desperate “Please?” he breathed.I could feel my heart melting.
“Okay.” I whispered. I wanted to say no, but part of me screamed to go with him,“I’ll go.”
I stared at the ceiling from my bed. I blinked, fresh memories flooded back. Az had taken me to a more secluded pathway in the forest. The walk took around twenty minutes, much longer than necessary.
“‘7 brave warriors had magical powers, each one special.” His voice matched the elements of the story “One, had control over fire. His name was Agni, a real god of fire.” He made it sound so real. “I’m supposedly related to him.” He grinned, “Because people say I’m such a hothead.” He paused for a second and shook his head, ‘There were others, Melusine, a fairy that had turned into a human that had power over water. Avani, she had total control over earth. She could make earth quakes, mudslides, and if she was helped by Agni, she could create volcanoes.” He took a breath “Vayu was a controller of wind. The last warrior was Ameretat. She could control plants, and some animals. She was a wood elf, but was changed into a human like Melusine. She was also the most beautiful of all.” He gazed down at me at his side.
“What?” his eyes sparkled back.
“Oh nothing.” He chuckled, “Back to the story. There were two more warriors, but much more powerful than the others.” He turned to look at me again. “Have you ever heard of Ying and Yang?”
“Yeah, I think so.” I gazed at him “Why?”
“Because in this story, they’re the most powerful warriors.” He chuckled again “It was said that Yang was the good half of the universe, while Yin was the bad half. They balanced each other out, and if they weren’t balanced, the universe wasn’t. Anyway, Yin decided to try to overtake Yang, throwing everything in the universe into evil.” I rolled my eyes, and he looked over, “What is it? The story too scary for you?”
“No. This story is far from scary. I was just thinking that the world is already devoured by evil.” I looked away. He responded with a smile.
“Well, don’t worry. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He took my hand in his. His grasp was warm and comfortable. I slipped away, pretending to be interested in something on the ground nearby. “Anyway,” he said from behind, “The five warriors sided with Yang, but Yin was too powerful. So, they decided to pass their powers through the generations, hoping that whoever gained those powers would be stronger than them. They enchanted items with their powers, so that when the right person came along, they would gain those powers.” He walked faster now, trying to catch up with me. “They were ordinary objects. Rings, bracelets, any kind of jewelry, really. But some passed their powers through just by heredity. When all of the objects were woken, the ancestors of the warriors were awoken, too.” He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him while we walked. I didn’t struggle; his warmth was comforting during the chilly summer evening. We were out of the forest now, and I could see teenagers bustling in and out of a couple of buildings. One of the guys, a shorter black haired one, came up to us.
“Hey, Az! What’s up?” Az let go of me to high five him.
“Nothin’ much, Griff! Long time no see!” They were obviously good friends, but that was the only thing I could tell.
“So, you finally got yourself a girlfriend?” he nodded to me, “What’s her name?” He was talking like he didn’t even know I was there.
“Oh, yeah.” Az scratched his head, “Griff, this is Ley. And she’s not my girlfriend.” He was stuttering.
“Sure...” He raised an eyebrow. “My name’s Griffin, nice to meet you.” He shook my hand. He must have been Az's roomate I saw on the rosters earlier.
“Hey-” He punched Griffin on the shoulder “She’s new here. I was just showing her around because I-” He stammered “had felt sorry for something I did earlier...” He looked ashamed. Griffin raised his eyebrow again.
“Whatever, Az…” He looked back to me “You might want to stay away from Az, he’s dangerous.” Az punched him again, harder. “Ow! Okay, I get it! You don’t want me here! Jeez.” He looked at both of us, tilting his head. “Well bye-bye now, lovebirds!” He waved and walked off. I looked up at Az, raising an eyebrow.
“Uh, that’s Griffin for you! He’s kind of…” He thought for a second “He’s kind of weird, at times.” I wasn’t buying it. “Don’t believe what he says, Ley. He’s a crazy dude.” I rolled my eyes and started to walk again. I heard people talking around us, about us.
“Ley, you alright?” I sat up.
“Oh, yeah. I’m fine don’t worry about me.”
“Really?” She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t believe you.”
"Why is it that you think every body I've met here is weird or there's something wrong with them?" I sighed "You and that Griff-"I paused "his name's Griffin, right?" She nodded "You and that Griffin kid seem to think there's funny about me just talking with Az!"
“Ok, ok! I’ve just never seen anyone-” She paused, “Anyone normal hang around Az. Besides, Griffin only acted like that because-” She looked lost in her thoughts "Well, it's an inside thing. You won't understand." She shook her head, "At least not for a while."
“Yeah he is kind of weird.” I agreed “But I’m not sick, or anything. I was just tired from that 4 hour flight, and that long walk I took.” My excuses weren’t working "And I was thinking... Thinking over things."
“Wow, this is better than I thought it would be!"She chuckled "We've never had a soap opera like this happen before. You're quite the character, Ley."
“Ugh! I give up! You’re not going to lose an argument; I can see that, okay? Jeez.” She smiled an evil smile. "But I'm going to figure out what you're talking about!"
“That you will. I'm sure of it.” She sat next to me "Sooo... Anything... Happen?
“What? No! I’ve only known the guy for a day." This was why I hated being a teenager, because every body thinks of every thing as a dating game "And besides, he insisted on me to walk with him.” I shuttered, and not because I was cold. “He’s not really my… my type.” She laughed.
“Your type?” She giggled. “No, no. Definitely not your type!” I frowned. “Because Leytala Aglaia doesn’t date!” She cackled, “No, no! She’s an innocent 13-year old!” She teased
“Oh please just shut up, Persais! You’re really starting to annoy me!” I went over to my closet to rearrange my stuff, again.
“Okay, okay.” She lifted her hands “I surrender!” She stifled back a laugh, “I won’t make fun of you and your boyfriend anymore.” That was it. I grabbed something out of my closet. I threw the high-heel shoe at her. She simply stepped to the side, faster than I thought possible. “How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“That.” I pretended to dodge something. “How did you move so fast?”
“I’ve got talent, is all.” She grinned.
“Mmm.” I didn’t buy it. “I saw Az move really fast like that, too. I don’t believe you, Persais. Ever since I got here, people have acted really weird.”
“Oh that’s just your imagination, Ley. After all you’re tired, remember?” She was right; I had been tired all day. She waved her hand, “Just don’t worry about it, K? It’s almost lights out anyway.” She sat down on her bed. I nodded, too tired to talk. We glanced at the digital clock simultaneously. 9:30, half an hour until we had to go to sleep.
“Well, I’m going to go to sleep.” I yawned “First day of school tomorrow.” We both retreated to our separate bunks.
I bustled from my room, to the showers, to the bathroom, and back to my room around 20 times the next morning. “Man, first days are stressful!” I kept telling Persais, whenever she was unfortunate enough to be in my path.
“You get used to them after a while at this school, trust me.” She had a simple outfit on. A brown tee shirt, blue jeans, a belt with a big loop on the front tied around her torso, and a pair of tennis shoes.
“You think this top looks good?” I was trying to figure out which one I should wear, a lacy blue short sleeve shirt, or a bright pink one.
“Relax, nobody cares what you wear, honestly. You look fine.” I rolled my eyes.
"Oh great! Now my roommate acts like my mom!" I looked up to the ceiling "Why does this keep happening to me?"
"Oh you drama queen!" She rolled her eyes "First, you throw a shoe at me for talking about Az, and now, you think I act like your mom! I give up!" She headed towards the door, "I'll see you at school!" I heard the door slam. Maybe I should have apologized to her...
"Oh well," I grumbled "I guess I had better get going." I grabbed my backpack and purse.
I made it into my first class of the day barely on time. Apparently, teachers here put the exact number of chairs in their room as they have students, because there was only one chair left when I got there. "Rule number one, get to classes early" I grumbled. "And rule number two-" I saw who I would be sitting by "Oh, never mind, I've already broken both rules."
"Ms. Aglaia, please head to your seat, please." That was my new Science teacher, Mr. Alvis. I rolled my eyes while I walked down to my seat in the back.
"Hey Ley." He snickered at his rhyme "Nice seeing you here, isn't it?"
"Oh shut up, Griffin." I put my face in my hands " Oh just kill me now." I heard him laughing.
"Don't worry, I'm not as bad as Az is." Everyone turned at the sound of his name.
"Wow, he's really popular around here, isn't he?" I whispered.
"Uhh... Yeah, you could-" He scratched his head "you could put that way... I guess."
"Okay, this school is getting weirder by the minute. I'm not going to be able to stand this for much longer!" I was trying to be quiet so nobody could hear me.
"Oh don't worry about that. You'll understand every thing sooner or later." Hopefully sooner. I rolled my eyes.
"Can't you all just tell me what's going on? If it's important then I should know by now!"
"Oh, it is important, but I still can't tell you anything." I scowled at him. He seemed to find that funny, "You're such a drama queen, Ley!" He laughed, "Really, you'll figure it out soon enough! And besides, from what I hear, you're pretty smart, so you have an advantage." I decided it would be better for his face if I ignored him for the rest of class.
I jumped when I heard a loud "Riiing!". I could hear Griffin laughing at me as I gathered my stuff together. I had to hurry to get to my next class, math. It was half way across the campus, so after a couple of minutes, I practically broke out into a sprint.When I got to the building the math room was supposed to be at, I couldn't figure out which door led to it.
"Need some help?" I nearly started to swear as I turned around, but stopped when I realized it wasn't him.
I smiled, "Oh, yeah. Thanks." He had spiked blonde hair, but looked my age, not older, like Az did.
He smiled back, "Yeah, I heard you were new around here, and I noticed you were looking for the math room." His pale blue eyes had a hopeful sparkle in them.
"Oh, thanks." I managed to say. Every guy here seems to think I'm utterly hopeless. "My name's Ley, by the way."
He smiled and nodded, "Mine's Xi." I almost rolled my eyes. Why is it that two of the three guys I've met here have nicknames that are barely one syllable? He pointed towards a door near the end of the building, "That's where we're heading." We're? I have math with him? Well, it could be worse. Xi seemed nice enough, so I walked with him to my class.
That class turned out to be a nightmare. The only familiar face in there, not including Xi, was one I wanted to avoid for as long as possible. My teacher, Mrs. No-one-knows-how-to-pronounce-her-name was very mean and strict. The tension in there was unbearable. I got a seat next to Xi, luckily, but there were a bunch of other guys fighting for the other spot next to me. For all I cared, they were a bunch of dogs. But, one fought harder than the others, and that one turned out to be Az. They looked over at each other, and then looked like they had been stabbed. Well, this will be interesting. Xi's eyes turned ice cold, and he sat up looking frozen. Az looked like he was about to stab someone, and it looked like that someone would be Xi. Half of class I was concentrating on not laughing at their expressions, I always had thought pain could be funny. I didn't pay much attention to our teacher, since she was lecturing us harder than Mr. A had. I decided I would call her Mrs. V, since her last name was hard to pronounce, and it started with a "V".
The bell rang shrilly, reminding kids that they still had a long time to go until they could leave.I stood up, checking my schedule. Xi was already going towards the door, but Az was hanging back at the table. I hurried to catch up with Xi, so he could show me where the L.A. room was.
"Oh, it's just over there." He pointed across the campus lawn towards a small, cottage-like building. "I have that class with you next." He looked at my schedule still in my hand. "But, I don't have anymore with you, so you're on your own after that."
I smiled at him as we walked together, "Don't worry, I don't mind. You've helped me a lot." We walked in silence for a few minutes, until I broke it, "Why were you and Az acting weird in Math?"
He sucked in a breath, and didn't reply right away. "I guess you could say that we don't get along."
I shook my head, "But why don't you get along?"
He smirked, "It's complicated."
"I think I can keep up."
When we reached the door, the L.A. teacher quickly ushered us in.
Language Arts has never been one of my favorite subjects. I'm good at it, I just don't like it. All you ever talk about in there is poems, writing, punctuation, blah blah blah. I didn't listen the entire class, even if the teacher thought that we didn't need to be properly introduced to her, and that we start learning right away.
Lunch today was very weird.
After I got through my related arts class, gym, I finally got to eat. The gym teacher, Mr. Poe, told us about how East Trinity has amazing athletic teams, and that he "Would be so proud" if any of us joined any. I supposed I should do swimming, but you never know with me, I can change my mind at any point and time.
The hot aroma of hamburgers and hot dogs instantly filled my lungs. I hoped the school food here was good. It's not like I can pack my lunch. It felt like it took an hour to get through the line, probably because of a bunch of idiots acting stupid and holding up the line. I couldn't help myself from calling them names, it was just an old habit, probably because most people are stupid compared to me. I thought, wanting to hit myself in the head just for thinking it. It's not nice, I would always tell myself, to call people names, even if they're not as smart as you. That's me the goody-goody girl. The one who's afraid to do anything without some one to help her.
I shook my self out of the deep thoughts, as I realized I was through the line. I scanned my card and the lunch lady waved me to go on.
Shockingly enough, there were barely any seats left when I got out of the lunch line. I scanned the cafeteria, trying to find a good spot. I walked towards the one next to Persais, thinking she saved it for me. She turned and waved to me, and as I got closer, I realized there was someone behind me. A short petite blond girl with stunning green eyes brushed past me and took the spot, sneering at my stunned expression. Fuming, I went to find another seat, and then becoming even more ticked off as I finally sat down. Griffin and a few other guys jeered at my misfortune. I shot them my most sinister look, hoping they would get the message. Xi, who was sitting next to me, patted me on the shoulder saying, "Don't worry, you'll get used to them."
It's not them I'm upset about. It's the fact that I can never seem to stay away from them." I shot Az a glance, who was sitting next to Griffin, You might be part of the problem I thought, hoping he might be able to hear my thoughts.
"What was that?" Az said, cocking his head to one side and looking at me.
"What do you mean? I didn't say anything." I said assuringly, thinking that he might actually be able to read minds.
"Oh." His eyes widened "Never mind, then." Griffin started laughing, as if it were some inside joke. I narrowed my eyes as I stood up to leave. None of them took notice, except Xi. Whom I was beginning to think of as a faithful Golden Retriever.
The day went on as normally as most first days do, with a few exceptions.
By the time I had finished Social Studies, which was a class I was thankfully free of both Az and Xi, that they had never gotten along. Both Az and Xi had gone to this school for quite a few years, and that both were very popular.
Girls would pass me in the hallways, cackling at some joke told about me, even though I couldn't find a reason why. I presumed that they were jealous. Jealous because two of the most wanted guys suddenly like me on the first day. That I was the "new girl", so I shouldn't be getting as much attention as anyone else.
I was thinking about these things as I walked back to my dorms, already dreading the rest of the year. I recognized some of the very few girls that hadn't made fun of me. Ones that probably weren't boy crazy like everyone else. Leyla, who was in my math social studies and math class, offered to walk with me to my dorms. I politely said no, mostly because I already knew where they were, and that her dorm was exremely far from mine.
Shortly after I got into my dorm, I was joined by Persais, who was chatting with some of her friends on her way back. I felt like she was the only real person I could talk to.
"But why do they have to like me?" I kept asking Persais. "I've never done anything to them that would make them like me!" I kept telling her.
But she always would answer the same way every time.
She would ignore me.
After three weeks of me pestering her about things like this, and being hissed at in the hallway, se finnally gave up.
"Just shut up, Ley. I don't know why, they just do! Okay? Normally Az would never like someone like you-" She looked over at me as we walked back to our dorms. "No offense, but seriously. I don't know." She walked off quickly, leaving me behind on a dusty path that lead to our dorms.
I didn't want to linger, because I was afraid of meeting up with anyone I didn't like.
Persais13 Community Member 
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