Daughter of Luka (LGBT+)

Eight 🌑

"Yeah. I'm Ophelia," I explained. 

"Well, be careful, Ophelia. Not everything, or everyone, at this school is exactly as they may appear upon first glances," she told me. 

I had no idea what she meant by that, but I gave an understanding nod of my head regardless. 

"See you around, I hope," she said. 

"You too," I said. 

She then walked away and it was only after she was out of sight that I realised how much of an idiot I was. I hadn't got her name. 

I pushed that thought out of my brain and reminded myself that I had somewhere I needed to be, if I didn't want to get on the bad side of Mr. Z, that is to say. I had already failed to hand in my homework. I feared that it was only a matter of time before he became completely and utterly fed up with me, and I had only been at the school a few days! 

"Saved you a seat," a voice spoke, as my eyes scanned Mr. Z's class, now fairly empty. I supposed not many people wanted to attend the extra maths session. 

I turned to find that Uma was sat in a seat nearby. I managed a smile and went to sit beside her. 

"Thank you," I said, "Didn't known I could depend on you," I breathed. 

"Well, let me advise you on something, here. It's important, especially in this school, that you know who your friends are." 

I gave a nod. Teenagers could be assholes, for sure, but I had a feeling there was something else underlying what Uma had just told me. 

Uma took off her jean jacket and hung it on the back of her chair. 

"It's so hot today," she said. 

"Tell me about it," I replied. 

"Then again, I'm always hot," she added and then her eyes widened in the realisation of what she had just said, "I mean, in the literal sense." 

"And in the appearance sense too, I might add," Uziel said, as he went to sit at the desk next to ours. 

Uma turned to him and, though I couldn't see her face, I imagined that she rolled her eyes at him. 

He grinned, moving his dark hair out of his eyes again. Damn, the boy could really use a haircut.

"It's true, though," Uziel said. 

Uma turned to me with an expression of mild annoyance.

"Can we please just change the subject?" she asked me, with a slight pleading look in her eyes. 

"I feel like this autumn is lasting forever," I said. 

Uma raised an eyebrow at me, out of interest. 

"I mean...I've lived with my dad for a while now but time just feels so stretched out of late, as if a million and one different things are going on. I went into the forest yesterday and found this kid there, Fenn," I blurted, sooner than I could stop myself from doing so, "I mean, I like it here, don't get me wrong, and it's fun being in a new place, but it's also mildly terrifying-" 

Both Uziel and Uma's eyes widened at my comments. I wasn't sure which part of my ramblings had struck a chord, but they seemed visibly concerned. 

"You were probably dreaming," Uziel said, which caused Uma to whack him with her Calculus for Dummies book. "Hey!" Uziel complained. 

Uma just slammed the book down on Uziel's table. 

"You need this more than I do. Please, please, stop speaking for a second," she pleaded, before she turned back to me. "Don't go to that forest." 

"Why not?" I asked. 

"You heard me. Don't go there," she said. 

I frowned at this statement. If there was one thing I absolutely hated, then it was being told what to do. 

What made it worse was the fact that this wasn't even the first time that I was being told this, either. What did everyone have against that forest? It was a perfectly fine forest, in my opinion! 

I exhaled in frustration and leant back in my chair, observing as Mr. Z walked into the room and quietly greeted us. He then began to write equations for us to solve, up on the whiteboard. 

I decided to get to work, only turning back to Uma after twenty minutes or so. 

"You know what, these aren't so hard!" I said, as I turned over the page in the Calculus for Dummies book. Turned out I had needed it more than both Uma and Uziel had, but it helped things make sense. "I'll be a maths genius in no time." 

Mr. Z caught my gaze with a smile that said 'that's the spirit'. Either that, or he was finding it somewhat funny that I believed I could actually do this correctly. 

He stood up from his desk and made his way over to mine and Uma's and then picked up my answer sheet. 

As he read, his eyes brightened with amazement. 

He placed the paper back down on my desk after he had written a large 'A' on the front of it. 

"I did it?" I asked in my own astonishment. 

"See what a little effort can do, Miss Amarilla?" he asked me, with a kind smile. 

After the maths class, I walked out into the hall with a beam upon my face, which I sent in Kate's direction. 

She grinned back at me and quickly made her way over. 

"How was it?" she asked me. 

"Great!" I said, as I held up my shiny red 'A'. 

"Well done, you! Let's go and get some cupcakes to celebrate. I'm starving," she said. 

I nodded approvingly and the two of us set off for the cafeteria. 

Once seated, I turned to Kate with a more serious expression. There were a lot of questions on my mind. 

"Have you ever been to the forest?" I asked her, as I set my cupcake down on the table. 

Kate glanced towards it for a second and then back up at me. Her expression became one of curiosity.