Blood Feather

Hate-Fear Relationship

"Kill you? I sure feel like killing you right now. That's actually a really good idea, unlike your little escapade earlier." The taller, beautiful girl's facial features scrunch up and her nose flairs with rage. Sweat sheens on her glistening forehead as she literally towers over the smaller girl despite their height being almost the same. Lucy shrinks more and more as her knees bend, shaking all the way, though she hates herself for the intense fear she can't help but feel.

It doesn't take long for her to reach her physical snapping point and collapse to the ground, unable to shrink down any further. Fortunately, the beautiful girl named Doe doesn't continue to threaten her and instead offers her hand to her, glaring at the younger girl when she shows signs of hesitation at her offer. The smaller girl eventually does take her hand, and Doe pulls her up.

Lucy's fear becomes laced with confusion as Doe brushes her off and fixes her collar. She wants to ask Doe 'what's going on?', having assumed that Doe is Moose's ex-girlfriend or an overenthusiastic fan and he used her as an excuse to ward her off, but doesn't want to break the peaceful silence, unsure of whether Doe's reaction would be peaceful or violent.

Doe adjusts Lucy's hair, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and patting down frizz at the top of her head, then nods to herself, satisfied. Then her eyes move down to look directly into the girl's face - more specifically, at her odd blue eyes. Wrinkles form between Doe's eyebrows she frowns at the odd eyes, her lips purses slightly. The varying shades of light blue eyes look strange to her, like there's something wrong with them. They shouldn't look like that.

Unable to stand the close distance and Doe's stare boring into her cornea, Lucy finally speaks cautiously. "Um-"

Doe's entire body ripple with shudders as her face shows an expression of mortification. What have I done? Stupid OCD! She curses herself for tampering with the girl's appearance to make her look more proper when she was supposed to be mad at her, and slaps her forehead. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot!!

Lucy, full of confusion at Doe's inner struggles and frustrations leaking out, decides to stand there quietly with her hands clasped together. Maybe take a few steps back. Maybe more than a few.

Doe removes her anguished hand from her forehead, notices her inching away, and suddenly becomes self-conscious and defensive. "What are you doing? Forget that- stupid question. Get back over here." She crosses her arms and glares at her.

Lucy, hating herself for being pushed around, decides to stand her ground this time, despite having no grip on the situation whatsoever.

"No, not until you tell me what the hell is going on around here." The girl decides not to ask if the students are on drugs (she's mainly concerned about Doe's behaviour at the moment).

Startled by the girl's sudden defiance and fierce eyes, Doe actually considers telling the girl everything, but quickly cuts it to a minimum. She harrumphs, annoyed by the girl's lack of cognizance and her sudden urge to reveal the entire truth she knows.

"Fine, I'll explain it to you, and I'll even answer whatever questions you have, within reasonable limits, but only if you promise to stay away from Moose. Got it?"

Lucy rethinks her view of Doe's relationship with Moose. Perhaps she does have a close romantic relationship of some kind with him. Frankly, she would be more than happy to stay away from the weirdo with a host attitude, but in doing so she would also lose her guide.

"Alright sounds like a deal to me!" Lucy gambles her chances on Doe.

Doe wiggles her fingers in a 'follow me' action. "Then we should go somewhere more suitable. Unless you want to stand in front of the schools the entire time."

Lucy covers her eyes as she squints in the general direction of the sun at a slanted position to the schools instead of being straight behind it as she first assumed. Perhaps there is some sort of bend in the path she did not notice. She knows how easily her skin burns, especially without sunscreen, and agrees.

"Okay, sounds fair to me."

***

"Do you want one?"

Doe dangles a bottle of some strange beverage in front of Lucy sitting on the bench with her back facing the general direction of the entrance she came in. The label on the cap says 'Mountain Dew' but it doesn't look like any carbonated drink the girl has ever seen before. The bottle has a narrow mouth leading to a round bottom, similar to the sake bottles used in olden day Japan. However, the bottle itself is clear, with semi-transparent rainbows dancing across the surface with every swoosh of the clear liquid inside. There are no labels on it, save the cap. The drink looks far too suspicious for the girl to take, despite it coming from a nearby vending machine. She shakes her head, and Doe shrugs, taking a sip from the strange phial.

"So, I suppose you'd want to know about the school first." Doe nods to her right, also Lucy's left. She looks at the collection of exotic and prominent buildings, having a feeling of wonder, disbelief and confusion at the same time.

Doe sighs, unsure of where to begin. The school is a sort of a second home to her, and everything about it is natural to her, but surely she could not understand that so easily. She has to be careful in her wording and descriptions, as to not confuse the girl or give her the wrong impression.

"The school was created for international students, and the headmaster decided to model each building after famous buildings in countries around the world. Part of it is still a work in progress, but the main purpose is to link international students together before they are sent off to their designated country."

"Designated country? They don't go back to their home country?"

Doe sighs again. "You really weren't told anything, were you?"

"Told what? All I know is that I received an admission letter on my doorstep one day telling me to come to the school everyone in town wants to get into, but I never applied for. Well here I am, the next day! And I can't even leave or anything unless I get permission from the principal of this place!" The girl spills out, irritation drowning out her curiousity after being thrown around for the past hour.

Doe stares at the girl, thinking it's not possible. To invite a student from the community outside without-

She gulps, wondering what the headmaster is really thinking, ordering her to greet the new student and helping her integrate into the school environment. At the time, she assumed it would be another student from an exotic country who needs help adjusting, but to actually invite a normal student, from the very same community!

"Listen," she whispers in a low voice, cautious of their surroundings. "What you just told me, you must never ever tell anyone else. There are students who went through much more than you can imagine to get in here, and if they hear you did nothing and received an invitation to this special school. They will tear you apart- break into your mind, make your every day here as horrible as hell, and get away with it. You must never let anyone know, understand?"

Lucy nods, some inborn instinct telling her Doe is speaking the truth.

"One more thing, don't use your real name here. None of us use our real name here. You can keep silent all you want, but the instant anyone knows your real name, you might as well be dead. Understand?"

Lucy nods again, now fearful of the ominous possibilities Doe speaks of with a dark shadow casting over her beautiful jade green eyes. "But, what will my name be?" She thinks about the attendance sheet the teacher in her old school had.

"Something that suits you." Doe smirks, amused by the idea. "Feather. Your name is now Feather. One who is not worthy to be referred to as a living being. Welcome to Michael Junior High, outsider."