At the Beginning

Chapter 1

"Where is that damn bus?" asked a teenage girl with dark brown hair, looking down at her watch.

Luna Rosela looked anxiously down the road and back at the book she had been trying to read for the past ten minutes. Itshook in her hands, as she feared she might have missed the bus on her first day at this school. It was 7:45 when she heard a pair of footsteps running toward her. She turned to see a blonde-haired boy hurrying down the sidewalk, muttering under his breath.

He wore a green cape just like Luna's and had stunning blue eyes that glared angrily at the ground. He suddenly stopped a few feet from Luna. A look of shock passed over his face, and then a small blush.

"Hello!" Luna said cheerfully while the boy just stood there, stunned. "You go to Bloors?"

It took a little bit for the boy to regain his composure and nod. "You must be new..." He had a slightly deep voice, but it sounded nice to Luna.

She smiled. "That's right. I'm Luna, and you are…?"

The boy blushed again, and his hair crackled. Luna looked at his hair oddly as he said, "I'm Tancred. It's nice to meet you."

Luna grinned. "It's nice to meet you, too." She paused, almost dramatically, before asking, "What time does the bus usually come?"

"It should be here by eight." Tancred rubbed the back of his neck nervously as Luna went back to reading her book.

"Endowed?"

"Huh?" Luna looked over at Tancred's face, which had turned a dark red for some reason.

"Sorry—guess I didn't make myself clear. Are you endowed?"

"Yeah, are you?" she asked. Her green, almond-shaped eyes looked up with interest as she adjusted her glasses.

"Yes." He gave a slight smile as a gentle wind came and lifted her hair up slightly. Luna blushed, then realized what his endowment was.

"You're can create storms, right?" she asked. Tancred nodded. She grinned and exclaimed, "That's so cool!"

"Um… thank you," Tancred said as a green bus came to a stop nearby. Luna walked to the bus with her bags in hand.

Tancred followed and helped her put her bags on the bus. She smiled at him, and they walked to the back of the bus. An African boy was waving at Tancred.

"Hey Tanc, who's this?" he asked as Luna took a seat in front of him.

"This is Luna. She just started here." Tancred took a seat next to Luna.

"Hey there!" Luna said, smiling at the boy behind her.

"Hi—it's nice to meet you, Luna. I'm Lysander,"

"It's nice to meet you too, Lysander." She smiled at Lysander again and pulled her sketchbook from her backpack. The cover was painted black with hot pink hearts and stars. Tancred watched her with interest as she took out a pencil and turned to the first page. On that page was an unfinished picture of a fairy: it looked amazingly real, even though it was done in a cartoon style. Lysander smirked at his best friend and this new girl. It was obvious that he had a thing for her.

Luna looked over at Tancred and smiled. "Do you like it?"

He nodded. "You're really good."

Luna's smile grew. "Thank you." Lysander noticed the small blush on both teens' faces and shook his head. It seemed like Luna liked Tancred back.

That's when they came to Bloor's Academy. Luna looked out the window, narrowing her eyes at the gloomy walls. The bus stopped and the students stood up, gathering their belongings.

A blond girl waiting by the bus frowned when Tancred caught Luna, who had tripped and nearly fallen while exiting the bus. Luna noticed the blond girl staring as Tancred asked if she was okay. She nodded as Lysander waved at the girl.

"Hey Em!" he called as Tancred picked up Luna's sketchbook. Tancred looked up in surprise at the blond girl, who was now walking over to them.

"Hey guys, who's this?" she asked as Tancred handed Luna her sketchbook.

She smiled. "I'm Luna. You must be a friend of Tancred and Lysander's!"

"I am," she said somewhat stiffly. "I'm Emma." She turned away, facing Tancred. "Did you finish that sketch for Mr. Spetinal's class?"

"Yup!" Tancred grinned.

"That's great!" Emma smiled brightly.
Why does this girl annoy me? Luna thought.

Lysander shook his head. "Anyway," he started; staring at what he was betting would soon be a love-triangle. "We'd better get to the art room." He turned and walked in long strides. Tancred followed with Luna walking a few paces behind him, having to do a little jog ever now and then to keep up. Emma walked behind them, glaring in anger at Luna's back.

As they entered the school, Tancred whispered to Luna that they couldn't talk until they reached the arch up ahead. She nodded. Above the arch, she saw an emblem with a bronze paintbrush and pencil cross together to look like an X. Passing underneath, they entered a common area. Two more arches led off to two other hallways. She guessed they were for music and drama students, since above them were two masks, one happy, the other sad; and two trumpets also crossed in an X.

"Safe!" Tancred cried, throwing his arms in the air once they were in the coatroom. A bunch of people turned and stared at him. Luna giggled softly as Lysander rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Come on, psychopath," Lysander said, walking on. "We need to go to sketching."

"I knew that," Tancred huffed as he followed the taller boy.

"Hey, wait up—I have the same class!" Luna yelled jogging to catch up. Emma went to a different room, muttering unintelligibly.

"Will you two slow down? Please?" Luna asked, falling behind.

"Sorry, Luna." Tancred said, slowing down a bit for her.

"What's the rush, anyway?" she asked, looking around at the other students.

"Mr. Spetinal doesn't like students being late, and we like staying on his good side." Lysander explained.

"Ah, I see." Luna nodded. "Yeah, good idea." She did another nod as they went into a large art room. Luna's jaw dropped at how big it was.

"Alright students, take your seats please," a tall, thin man with graying blond hair came into the room. Tancred and Lysander quickly went to a spot in the back of the room. The man frowned at Luna.

"Why aren't you in your seat?"

"Sorry, sir… I'm new, so—"

"Oh! You're Miss Rosela, right?"

"That's right, sir!" Luna smiled.

"I'm Spencer Spetinal, your sketching teacher," Mr. Spetinal turned to the class. "Alright, we have a new student here." He placed his hand on Luna's shoulder. "This is Luna Rosela; she just moved here from Italy,"

Nobody looked too surprised. "Luna, take a seat next to… Miss Powerstone! Will you raise your hand, please?"

A girl with hair dyed a bright red raised her hand. Luna nodded and walked over to the girl.

"Now, to begin our lesson…"