The Great Gulon Incident

Chapter 1

"Keefe, you have fifteen minutes until your first day of school starts. Let's go over the rules again," his dad said in a patronizing voice.

Keefe, lounging on the couch, groaned. Why? Again, seriously? Why?

"What's number one?" his dad asked, pacing the room's carpeted floor.

"Do well in classes," Keefe grumbled.

"Correct. Two?"

"Make connections for later in life."

"Three?"

"Be the model student."

And so they continued, for ten horribly long and boring minutes. There were fifty rules. Fifty. Finally, though, it was time for school. Keefe had already had a tour, so he knew where to go for his classes. He was nervous, but mostly excited. For the first time, he had a chance to be his own person. Make some progress in his life without his parents hanging over his shoulder. Maybe even make friends.

 The possibilities were endless and Keefe was thrilled to start his journey.

When Keefe finally escaped the lecture, he headed towards the vortinator to get to the leapmaster. Keefe fumbled to get his cape on as he walked. He had to think. There were two paths to show himself at Foxfire. One, to be the model student his father hoped for or, two, to be himself. Keefe pondered his choices. If he was the model student, he could likely make his father proud - possibly even be the top of the class. Meanwhile, if he were himself... well then, his time at Foxfire would be quite a joy. Plus, the thought of displeasing his dad made him smile. But a chance to prove himself... the thought of finally pleasing his father was inviting too.

Keefe kicked the ground in frustration. School would start in 5 minutes and he had to decide, fast.

 But three minutes later, Keefe was no closer to knowing which option was best. Unfortunately, it was time for his first ever day at Foxfire. He reluctantly decided to play things out and decide as he went.

When he stepped into the Leapmaster, his dad was waiting for him. How he had gotten there ahead of him, Keefe didn't know, but he didn't exactly care at the moment.

"Remember the rules," his dad said in a dangerous voice. And he left. No, "Goodbye, son," no, "I love you," not even a, "Good luck,". He just left. Who even knew where his mom was?

Keefe jerked toward the leaping crystals, ordering himself not to care. "Foxfire!" he yelled, forcing confidence into his step and a smirk on his face.

He'd just decided. He was going to have a great year.

In fact, he was going to play this game Keefe style.

 The light consumed him. Keefe stumbled out of the light so suddenly he almost lost his balance. He took a moment to catch his breath, then drew in a breath as he looked up at Foxfire. Even though he'd seen it before, it was still breathtaking. Keefe couldn't help staring at it in awe. Beside him, he noticed another boy around the same height as him, doing the same thing. Keefe suddenly felt shy. Was he doing the right thing, not obeying the rules his dad set for him? Then, Keefe remembered all the things his dad had done to him. That made up his mind.

Keefe held his breath and marched towards the boy.

"Hi. I'm Keefe," he greeted, pulling his hand out. The boy took it and shook.

"I'm Fitz," the boy said, looking Keefe in the eye. Keefe noticed that Fitz had the most brilliant shade of teal eyes.

"So, what level are you in?" Keefe asked.

"Level 2. You?" Fitz answered.

"Same! That'll be nice," Keefe responded. It was then that Keefe noticed he looked pretty nervous.

 "Yeah, it will," the boy said. He smiled slightly.

Marveling at the great structure, intricate designs and carvings on the walls, and glittering crystals everywhere, they walked into Foxfire with a stream of other prodigies that had just leapt onto the lawn.

Finally, they all gathered into the main hallway inside the large glass pyramid that was Foxfire, where a tall, beautiful woman with dark brown hair and an overly cheerful face greeted them.

"Welcome, prodigies," she called excitedly, "to another year at Foxfire! Or, for some of you, your first year!" Keefe got the distinct impression that this lady was not one to be messed with.

He immediately started planning pranks.

"We know this year will be an amazing one, as have every other! For you level ones, my name is Dame Alina, and I am the principal of Foxfire."

How dumb did she think they were? They'd literally had a tour the day before, where they had been told exactly who she was. In fact, she was one of the "rules". Never mess with the Principal.

He started planning more pranks.

 This was gonna be fun. Keefe smiled widely. Fitz nudged him.

"What are you smiling about?" he asked.

"Hmmm?" Keefe said distantly. To start his pranks off, there had to be a grand one. Something big. Maybe an explosion?

"Hellooo? Keefe?" Fitz interrupted, waving his hand in front of Keefe's face. Keefe snapped out of his plans and turned to Fitz.

"What?"

Fitz shook his head. "Never mind. C'mon. We better get to our lockers," he said, pulling Keefe. Keefe let himself be dragged along. When they reached the lockers, Keefe absentmindedly leaned forward to his locker.

"Hey!" Fitz yelled, "Keefe, that's my locker! Please do not lick that!" Keefe gave a start and realized his locker was two down. He smiled sheepishly at Fitz and said, "Sorry." Fitz cracked a tiny smile.

"Just don't do it again," he said. Keefe grinned and licked his own locker. The taste of Mallowmelt coated his tongue. While Keefe walked to his first class, he let himself get dragged away into the plans of his first and greatest prank ever in Foxfire's history.

 But he soon found that that wasn't exactly the best idea. Within five minutes, he found himself lost, in the middle of a random hallway, in Foxfire. On his very first day. Ugh.

After a minute or two of wandering the halls, with no other options, Keefe helplessly called his Dad on his imparter. It was embarrassing and overall horrible, and his dad's rude words (as he grumbled that he would call the principal to find Keefe,) cut deep. But Keefe brushed them away, reminding himself that this was what he wanted. He wanted his dad to be mad. Mad Dad! Yippee!

Ten minutes later, a teacher found him and led him to his first class. But whether it had been on purpose or not, he still caught attention when he walked in, personally escorted.

Perfect.

(A/N: AHHHHH ITS OUT ITS OUT ITS OUUUUUT! How do you guys like this so far? And since Elly always does this:

Word Count: 1091

Also, I forgot to mention, we each wrote a few paragraphs each.

I think this might shape out into a good story, since Elly's such a great writer. I'm thinking of her as my mentor. She taught me so much, and I'm so grateful I got this experience. Ok, I'm blabbing around too much, and you guys probably don't even WANT to read this, so bye for now!

P.S. Look out for the second chapter soon and comment and vote!

-Vera )