Mmmm…some new faces. Let's see…Mika, Justin, Cody…oooh. Who's she?
Another girl walked into the classroom. She stood in front of the teacher's desk, speaking quietly and pointing at what looked like her schedule. She was wearing dark jeans with a black and red corset top, and had long dark hair. A silver key hung on a chain around her hips.
"Alright. Go sit behind Miranda." The teacher said.
"Who?"
"The redhead." She nodded and took her seat. There was, after all, only one redhead in the room. "I want all of you to complete the Review Questions at the end of the first chapter. They will be due on Friday. Miss Bad Hand, work with Miss Chavez, and I'll find you a book after class." The girl in front of Miss Bad Hand twisted around in her seat.
"Welcome to 1st hour Trig," she said, plonking her book down on the desk between them. "I'm Miranda."
"Kristina." She murmured, inspecting her partner. She had green eyes, glasses, and long red hair. She was wearing a t-shirt with Gaara on it.
"You're a junior then?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I am. You?"
"The same. Did you just transfer here?"
"Yes. This school is so big that I got lost."
"Join the club. I've been here a year and I still get lost. You'll know enough to keep from missing classes in a week or so."
"That doesn't sound like math, ladies." Kristina jumped. Miranda rolled her eyes. The teacher, Mr. Erikson, was standing right beside Kristina's desk. She wasn't sure what startled her more: the fact that's she hadn't seen him until he spoke, of the fact that a small man who resembled a frog had appeared beside her desk.
"Just giving Kristina some hints on navigating the building." Miranda explained.
"Mmm." Mr. Erikson wandered away. Both girls started giggling.
/Later that morning/ Kristina got to her 3rd period class early and took a seat as far from other backpacks as possible. After being chased out of several seats in her last class, she'd decided that sitting away from existing groups was safer. Other students filed in. Suddenly, someone dropped a heavy textbook on Kristina's desk. Startled, she looked up into blue eyes and messy blonde hair.
"Give the teacher the book number after class," he murmured, and left. Kristina blinked. That had been…random.
"That was Cloud." Someone behind her said. "Junior, single, has an unhealthy obsession with motorcycles, and rarely talks to people he doesn't know. You know him?" Kristina turned to find Miranda sitting behind her. The redhead grinned.
"No, I don't. He just brought me a book."
"Odd. Anyway, don't tell Joelle. She'll be jealous."
"Who?"
"Joelle Blais. Junior, friend of mine, and is completely enchanted by Cloud, who, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be aware of her existence. There she is." Miranda gestured at the door. The girl who walked in had shoulder-length hair in reddish-brown waves. She was wearing a pleated denim skirt and a blue corset. And she was grinning.
"I almost walked right in to Cloud!"
"Good morning to you too. Joelle, this is Kristina. Kristina, Joelle."
"Hi."
"Oh, are you new?" Kristina nodded. "Welcome to the school then."
"I hear that you've got your eyes on someone named Cloud." Joelle nodded, her face taking on a dreamy expression.
"He's the most gorgeous guy ever."
"Don't you dare start." Miranda grumbled. Joelle didn't, and they spent the rest of class taking notes.
/Lunch/ Kristina had been given directions to meet Miranda and Joelle in the Library Courtyard. The courtyard in question was one of a number of grassy areas furnished with benches. This one was generally quiet and peaceful.
Joelle was already there when she arrived, and Miranda could be seen running out of another door on the other side of the courtyard.
"You two are gonna love this!" she called. "I think they're coming this way!" Joelle scooted over to make room for her.
"Who's coming?" Kristina wanted to know.
"Shh…you'll see." Sure enough, the sound of yelling could be heard, coming closer. In a few minutes, a trio of young men shot around the far corner of the science wing, with a fourth in hot pursuit. What really caught Kristina's eye was their hair; all four had silver hair, with the length varying form short and slicked back to…was his hair really hanging down to, possibly past, his waist?
The first three were running, laughing, and losing ground. The one behind them was brandishing a yardstick and yelling. All four ran out of sight.
"What did they do now?" Joelle asked.
"Put his hands on one of those things that produces static electricity- they've got one in the Physics Lab- and turned it on as high as it goes. It ended with him a frizzy mess, and now he's on the warpath."
"Who was that?" Kristina breathed.
"Which one?"
"The last one."
"Sephiroth, chasing his brothers. He's a senior, and kinda quiet. People say he's dangerous, but I've never seen him fight with anyone other than his brothers." Miranda explained. Kristina nodded.
Lunch passed quickly, and soon Kristina was back in the halls, escorted by Joelle. Their mission? Get Kristina to the Art Wing without Joelle being late to class. This involved taking a route up to the third floor, halfway across the building, down to the second floor, and take a right. They were making good time when Joelle led Kristina down another set of stairs and around a corner. Someone was coming around the corner from the opposite direction.
Kristina dodged in time, but Joelle ran straight into a tall blur of back and red. Both hit the floor in a scatter of binders and notebooks. One notebook caught Kristina's attention. The doodles on the open pages at her feet were a familiar as her own. She turned quickly, saw exactly who Joelle had collided with, and leaped at him with a shriek that sounded something like "Vincent!"
To Joelle, sitting in the floor with her knees together, Kristina was hugging a total stranger and…being hugged back. Whoever she'd glomped was giving her a rather awkward hug. "Um…'stina…what's going on? And who's he?"
Kristina seemed to have momentarily forgotten Joelle's presence, but answered anyway. "This is Vincent Valentine. We grew up together," she explained, releasing him. "What are you doing here?" Vincent shrugged.
"Someone decided to transfer me here for the Art program. I wasn't expected, so I'm staying in there until they iron the bugs out of my schedule." He nodded at a door down the hall.
Joelle nodded vaguely, not sure what to make of him. A perfect example of dark elegance, he was wearing dark jeans and a black sweater with bloody angel's wings on the back. His eyes were crimson, almost hypnotic. "You're a junior?"
"Senior."
"And you're actually going to take an Art class?" Kristina asked, teasing.
"I think I will. The teacher is interesting. Are you?"
"Mmhm. That's why I'm down here. Thanks for the help, Joelle."
"Sure. I'll see you in 6th!" Joelle got t her feet and vanished. Vincent watched her go.
"New friend?" he asked, kneeling to collect the armload of things he'd dropped.
"Yeah. Her name is Joelle. She's in three of my classes, and Miranda is in two."
"Derived from 'admire'. Shakespeare created it for one of his plays."
"Come again?"
"Her name. Miranda."
"Sometimes you worry me." Kristina muttered, shaking her head.
"I try. Get going, or you'll be late." Kristina nodded and moved for the door. "There's a nice little coffee shop near where I'm staying…want to meet after class, maybe bring those friends of yours so I can meet them?"
"Sure. Where should we meet you?" Kristina asked, surprised that the rather anti-social Vincent wanted to meet her new friends.
"The back gates."
"Any particular reason you want to meet them?"
"Just to be sure I approve of them. I don't want you hanging around with the wrong kind of people."
"Define wrong."
"Jocks, for example. Like the pigheaded, charcoal-for-brains football players I tangled with this morning."
"You weren't fighting, were you?"
"Of course not. Merely insulting them with words that involved multiple syllables, such as underdeveloped throwbacks from the Cretaceous Period."
"Too true." Kristina giggled. "But Joelle and Miranda aren't like that."
"Good. Then you have nothing to worry about." Vincent said. He gently pushed Kristina through the door. "I'll see you three at the back gates after school." The door closed, and Vincent headed off down the hall. Kristina stood very still for a moment, wondering what Vincent would have done if her friends actually fell under his definition of 'the wrong people'.