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Chapter 4: Everyone's Got To Start Somewhere

"Thank you so much for all of your help, guys!" you called as you pulled Snow, Irvine, and Serah into a group hug.

Irvine patted you on the back and replied, "Don't worry about it, [name]. We need to make sure that your first lesson is the best that it could be!"

"Yeah, anything for our little [name]. We'll be here whenever you need our help!" Serah chipped in.

Looking at his watch, Snow said, "Well, apart from right now, because it's almost the start of second period and you need to have a few minutes alone before your class arrives!"

Shocked, you started to run around the room, flailing your arms about, while frantically saying, "No, no, no! It can't be that time already... I'm not ready for this! What if the kids all hate me?! They're gonna hate me, and then I'm gonna lose my job, and then I'll have nowhere to live and then I'll be all alone again!"

Snow ran over to you and grabbed you forcefully by the arm. "[Name]! Stop it." He shook you gently to make you look at him before he continued talking. "Firstly, they are not going to hate you; the kids here are great. Also, Barrett would never fire you, he's always had a soft spot for former students! Oh yeah, and if you somehow did end up losing your flat do you not think that one of us-" he gestured at Himself, Irvine and Serah, "would take you in? Come on, we wouldn't dare see you living on the streets." He finished with a slight laugh as he hugged you again.

Walking over to where you were stood, Irvine tried to comfort you. "Yeah, little Ely would love to have her auntie [name] living with us! Maceida would love it too, you've always been like another little sister to her, you know that!"

Wiping the tears that had been brought on by your stress from your eyes, you replied "Thank you so much, both of you. I just guess it's so overwhelming being back here. It's all so strange, being back in the place I used to think of as my home after five years away..."

"Aww, don't worry about it. I felt the same way. Well sorta, it was only like two years away for me, but that's beside the point." Serah said consolingly as she rubbed your back.

As she was doing so, the bell rang to signal the end of the passing, and the start of second, period. Serah's head whipped to the side as the bell made her jump. This meant that most of her bubblegum pink hair flew into your open mouth, making you cough and splutter.

"Ack... eurrgh, Serah I can honestly... euck... say that I could have gone through.... ack... life without tasting your hair."

Giggling, Serah replied "Sooooory [name], but at least it tastes like my aaaaaamazing honey and lemon shampoo!"

She then grabbed Irvine and Snow by the hands and dragged them towards the door to your classroom. "Got to goooo [name], your class'll be here soon."

Irvine only had time to shout "Good luck, you'll..." before he disappeared around the corner, whereas Snow could only wave at you.

You laughed, before trying to compose yourself as you went over to your newly organized desk and sat down.

As you looked over your lesson plan, you saw a post-it note in the shape of a lightning bolt. On it was written: "Good luck with your first lesson. If you display the talent, patience and determination you showed in my lessons, you will be wonderful. You can tell me all about it during lunch. Lulu"

You smiled to yourself as you thought about your former teacher and how the first thing you had made was a small fireball. At this thought, you felt your left hand tingle and for the first time in over five years, you produced a ball of fire. This was a shock, because while you were recuperating, you hadn't been able to produce any form of magic because you had been far too weak and your body wouldn't have been able to cope with the stress.