Making a Splash

The Transfer Student

It was a normal sunny day as Lily made her way to school. It was already April with the second half of the school year underway. The town of Malenia that she lived in was on the small side, so there weren't any buses to drive kids to the high school. But she didn't mind too much. The school was nothing more than a fifteen minute walk from her house. If anything, it made for a nice bit of exercise.

Lily brushed the bangs from her shoulder-length red hair out of her eyes as she walked along the street. A few blocks to her left was the shoreline for the beach. If there was one thing she loved about her hometown, it was the fact that it was so close to the ocean where she could go for a swim whenever she wanted. Even though it wasn't summer yet, the water was warm enough to take a dip and swim around.

As she arrived at the front gate of Malenia High School, Lily took notice of some of the students that were still spending their free time before homeroom started. Teens were in their own little social groups, chatting away and gossiping. Lily herself wasn't one for gossip. Most of the time it was nothing but rumors and lies. Sure she didn't really fit in, but that didn't bother her. It was better to be unique than to be in some stereotypical category in her eyes.

There was one other student however that also seemed to be alone. Lily looked ahead of her and saw another female student with long silver hair. She didn't recognize her, and although Lily didn't know every single person in the school she found it odd that she had never seen a girl with such a unique hair color so far in the school year.

The silver-haired girl looked around, seeming to be unfamiliar with the school. Eventually, she walked inside. Lily followed suit and began making her way to her homeroom class.

Just like the town they were in, Malenia High School wasn't very large. There were only three homeroom classes for each year. Lily herself was a freshman.

Finally, Lily arrived at her classroom and took a seat at her desk. Ten minutes passed as she played one of the gaming apps on her smartphone before the bell for homeroom rang. Just like clockwork, her homeroom teacher Ms. Nowitski walked into the room and stood at her desk.

"Before we begin, class, I have an announcement to make." Ms. Nowitski told the students. "We have a new student starting today."

Various whispers of gossip began spreading around the room. Questions like "Is it a girl or a boy?" or "Do you think they're cute?" spread like wildfire. Lily herself was naturally curious as well, but didn't let it show.

Ms. Nowitski looked towards the door. "Please, come in."

The door opened and the new student walked in. It was a girl, and Lily soon recognized her as the silver haired student she had seen at the front gate. With her appearance known, even more gossip began to spread around the room.

"Please introduce yourself." the teacher said.

The silver-haired girl greeted her new classmates with a polite bow. "My name is Marie. It's nice to meet you."

Ms. Nowitski pointed to the empty seat in front of Lily. "You can take the empty desk over there."

Marie nodded and walked over to the desk. As she locked eyes with Lily, she showed a shy smile and greeted her with a discrete wave. Not wanting to be rude, Lily gave a nonchalant wave back before Marie took a seat.

"Now then, let's begin." Ms. Nowitski said as homeroom officially started.

Hours passed as the school day went on. With the school being as small as it was, word of the new girl spread like wildfire. Lily tried to ignore it as best she could and simply focused on class. But no matter where she went, Marie was the talk of the school. It wasn't too shocking, given that someone transferring this late into the school year was strange to say the least.