Imperial High

MEI

I blinked, wondering whether I was dreaming.

I had stepped onto the bus, looking quite disheveled, so my plan had been to sit down in a corner and avoid unnecessary attention. I had been moving towards an empty seat, till something had registered in my mind and made me turn.

I looked around in wonder. The inside of the bus was almost double what it had looked like from the outside. Plush chairs had been arranged in such a manner that people would seat facing each other yet could look at the person beside them with ease.

I turned around again, trying to see exactly how big the bus was. I blinked then rubbed my eyes, sure that I was most certainly dreaming. Facing me was a bakery stall. An actual bakery stall. Rows of cream-filled pastries and sugar-topped snacks stared me in the face.

I was still staring at it when someone whispered beside me.

"Am I the only one who wants one of those delicious looking donuts but isn't sure if this is a dream or not?"

The accuracy of the question startled me as I had been looking at the section filled with scones and debating the chances I could go and get one. I turned and saw red. Literally. The person was wearing so much red, that was all I could see.

I stepped back, my eyes nearly tearing up from the visionary assault in front of me. Looking again, I could see that the problem wasn't nearly the quantity of the red but the quality. The red was unlike any I had ever seen before. It was so bright, it left afterimages in my mind.

I gave the person a once-over. Now that I had become used to the color, it was a bit easier on the eyes. The person was a girl. Her hair was the major source of the red, and I assumed it was dyed – that red could not possibly be a natural color. Her uniform had been tailored to have red highlights in some places and her shoelaces were red. They were all the same red color. On anyone else, it would have been disconcerting at best, gaudy at worst, but she managed to pull it off.

She stuck out her hand and grinned, flashing very white teeth. "Hi, I'm Katie. Nice to meet you."

I couldn't help but smile at her. She seemed to be one of those kind of people who could light up a room or cheer up someone just by smiling.

I shook her hand. "Hi, I'm Mei."

She glanced at my messy hair. "Nice style you got there. What'd you decide to name it, Bed Hair?"

I flushed and was about to tell her that it was an actual style when she laughed. "I'm just messing with you. I like it. The chopsticks add a certain...flair to it."

She pointed towards the bakery stand. "Is it just me or does something seem wrong about that?"

I shook my head. "Having a bakery stand in a bus is very weird, yes. But what's weirder is the fact that everyone seems okay with it."

She shook her head and pointed to a group of three boys, two of which looked very confused. "I'd bet those guys over there are just as lost as we are about all this."

She looked at me. "Let's go meet them."

As we headed towards them, we found our path blocked by a mousy-haired fat boy whose uniform seemed to stretch to accommodate his size.

He held out a poster, his hands shaking. "W-w-would y-y-you l-l-like t-t-to j-j-join m-m-y O-o-order?"

The poster looked like it had been decorated by a baby drunk on milk. What I assumed was meant to be a grey-bearded wizard with hands on fire took up most of the page. At the bottom of the page read:

Roel's Order

We accept all above the age of 13!

No misuse of abilities!