Winter Moon (Jelsa)

Chapter 6: Jack

"Hey, have you heard about the new kid?"

"What?" I glanced up from the class schedule in my hands. 

"The new kid, Jack," Rapunzel explained, taking a seat on the bench next to me. 

"What new kid?" I asked, meeting her gaze. She had vibrant green eyes and golden hair. A lot of hair. Around seventy feet of it.

"There's going to be a new kid in our grade, Jack," Rapunzel continued excitedly. "Also, she's supposedly only thirteen. Isn't that crazy?"

"Um, no. You're only fourteen, and you're in tenth grade with me and a bunch of other fifteen and sixteen-year-olds."

"She's thirteen, not fourteen! A whole year smarter than me and two years smarter than you," Rapunzel grinned. "I asked if she could be my new roommate since Samantha moved the-gods-know-where last year. North said 'yes' too! I can't wait to meet her!"

"The principal actually said 'yes' to something?"

"Stop making that face! You're ruining my mood."

Rapunzel's cheery attitude was starting to eat away at me. We may have been best friends but that sure didn't give me immunity to her endless optimism.

"Oh, I can't wait!" Rapunzel danced around me.

"What's the big deal?" I asked.

"I'm finally going to meet someone who's smarter than all these moronic classmates that I'm stuck with!"

"But I'm your classmate."

"Exactly."

"Punzie!" Merida and Hiccup, two of our other friends, dashed into view, shouting Rapunzel's nickname.

"North wants Punzie at the South Gate! The new student is going to arrive soon, and Punzie is supposed to show her around," Hiccup explained, beckoning for Rapunzel and me.

"Let's go," Rapunzel grabbed my wrist and hauled me to feet, and we dashed after Merida and Hiccup.

The South Gates were a hub of activity, students, who were arriving for the school year hurried back and forth, hauling luggage. Servants, clad in silver and gold, the school colors, hurried back and forth, checking names off for school-wide attendance. Towering above the hustle and bustle of the gates was the school. New Dawn was built in the Dawn Sector of Skyara, the capital city of the First Kingdom. The center of the school, the Heart, as most students called it, had all the important locations - the mess hall, auditorium, ballroom, commons, classrooms, and the Pavilion. The Heart was essentially an elephantine, circular tower that stretched to, well, the skies. There were four wings branching off from the Heart, connected by skybridges. The first was the girl's dorms, the second was the boy's, the third the teacher's quarters, and the fourth was the library. New Dawn was built with shimmering sunstone and luminous moonstone, gifted to the academy by the Elites themselves. There were three main entrances into this part of the school. Since the four separate wings formed a square around the Heart, the South Gate was in between the girl's dorms and the library, the East Gate was in between both dorms, and the West Gate was framed by the library and teacher's quarters, and the North Gate was essentially a bridge to the other half of the school where the younger students were.

"Jack!" Flynn nudged me, turning my gaze from the school.

"That must be it!" Rapunzel grinned from ear to ear, pointing at a carriage that had just rolled up. Principal North was standing next to it, beckoning for Rapunzel. 

The carriage was a little odd, but made sense if the student was coming from one of the outer kingdoms. The First Kingdom was the most technologically advanced, with skyships and groundships being the most effective way of transportation across land. 

The door to the carriage swung open, and a girl stepped out. She was about average height, arrayed in a simple gray dress. Her blonde hair had been swept up in an elegant braided bun, which was pinned at the nape of her neck. She had bright blue eyes that seemed to glow in the afternoon light.

She seemed weirdly familiar. Like I had dreamed about her once.

Rapunzel, the new girl, and North exchanged a few words before Rapunzel eagerly tugged the girl towards us.

"Everyone," Rapunzel announced, "meet Ella."