For Forever

Skie - Return

It was kind of weird, when she thought about it. 

Her first year, Skie had watched the school grow closer through the window of the car with apprehension. This year, as soon as she and Raven made it through the gates, she let out a breath that she hadn't known she was holding.

"Made it." 

Skie turned to glance at her sister and could see that the tension had gone out of her shoulders as well. She bit her lip as a thought occurred to her.

"Something on your mind, Ky?"

Skie smiled despite the thoughts bouncing around in her mind. Despite the differences she'd had with Raven when they were younger, the two had grown a lot closer, especially after the disaster that the summer had been.

"Is it bad that this feels more like home than our house?"

Raven let out a short laugh. "Trust me, I feel the same way. It makes sense."

Skie let out a long sigh. "Well, whatever it is, I'm glad to be back."

"Me too."

Skie smirked. "You're glad to be back at school or you're glad to be back with Hazel."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Watch it, brat." The grin on her face told Skie she wasn't serious, and Skie giggled a bit as Raven parked the car.

Within a few minutes, the two sisters had their bags and went their separate ways into the halls. Fortunately for Skie, being head girl the last year had gotten her quite used to all the hallways, and she found her new dorm with no problem.

"Skie!"

Skie set her bag down just in time for Danielle to pull her into a hug. Skie hugged her roommate back, trying to ignore the way the tips of her ears grew warm at the contact.

"How are you? How was your summer?" Dani was grinning as she pulled away.

Terrible. My father spent the whole time arguing with my mother and belittling me for things I have no control over. "It was pretty good. How about you?"

"It was nice! Thanks again for coming to my competition, it meant a lot."

Skie felt herself blush again. "No problem. It was cool." Dani had asked her and Hannah to come to her dance competition in July, and Skie had been impressed by how talented her friend was. She looked like some kind of fairy princess doing that dance.

"How are you feeling about school starting again?"

Skie snapped back into the present. "Pretty good, I think. It's really weird that we're in high school now."

"It is weird, but I think it will be alright." Danielle sat down on the edge of her bed and considered for a moment. "Did you and your parents figure things out with the school?"

Skie sighed and sat on the edge of her own bed, twisting a strand of her hair around her finger. "Yeah. I have to meet with Headmistress about that, I think. It's probably all the same things from last year." She looked at the floor.

"That's good. And you don't have to be embarrassed about it, you know that, right? It's ok that you have accommodations." Dani's voice was gentle, and Skie looked back up.

"Thanks Dani." Her voice got caught a bit in her throat, but Danielle clearly heard as she pulled Skie into another quick hug.

"I should actually go figure that out now." Skie spoke as she let go, feeling just a little flustered. She's such a good friend.

"Good luck!" Danielle grinned as Skie hurried out of the room. She turned in the direction of the Headmistress' office, but before she reached it, she heard a familiar voice call her name.