Wings of Fire As Humans

Not So Bad-Moon

Moonwatcher Black, better known as Moon, was sitting outside principal's office, while the last details of her enrolment were finalised. She should have been commencing Year Eleven at the school she'd been at for the last few years, in the city, however at the last minute, her mother had announced they were moving to this seaside town of Pyrrhia. Moon knew why this was. Her father had just come out of jail, and her mother didn't want him to find them, but that didn't exactly make moving schools easier. Also, she was going to be really late to class, because of this meeting, and because her mother had been late getting here. Suddenly, the door opened and her mother and the principal stepped out.

"Goodbye, moonbud," Secretkeeper came over and put her arms around Moon, "Have a wonderful day," Moon hugged her back, worrying about what would happen after her mother left. Would her teachers like her? Would anyone be friendly? Finally, Secretkeeper let go, and left. Moon watched her leave, wanting to follow her.

"Well, welcome to Pyrrhia High, Moon," The principal, a tall woman with long purple hair who looked in her thirties, said, "Call me Indigo."

"Is it normal to call teachers by their first names here?" Moon asked.

"No, that's just me," Indigo replied, "But I feel friendlier and less like the terrifying headmistress if you call me by my first name. Also, I got married over the summer, and I'm not used to being Mrs. Shoalwater instead of Miss Deep just yet." Both laughed a bit, "Anyway, I hope you'll really enjoy it here. Your form class is 11B, with Mrs. Battle, who is an absolutely lovely teacher, and you should be alright, I hope"

"I should be fine," Moon said quietly, hoping that it was true. Indigo stopped in front of a classroom and knocked on the door. The teacher came over.

"Why, hello, Mrs. Shoalwater," Mrs. Battle said, "And you must be Moonwatcher?" she said. Moon nodded.

"You can just call me Moon," she said softly.
"No worries," Mrs. Battle said, "And you're not the only new student this year. Besides, I know this class will make you feel welcome. Your seat is here, beside Kinkajou!" She guided Moon towards her desk.

"OH MY GOSH! HI!" The girl seated beside Moon gushed, "I'm Kinkajou! I'm so excited to meet you!" Moon could tell that Kinkajou loved bright colours, as all of Kinkajou's things, from her pencil case to the pom-pom earrings dangling from her ears, were in a variety of vibrant shades, particularly neon-yellow and hot pink.

"Hi, I'm Moon," Moon touched her glasses self-consciously, "It's nice to meet you too."

"What subjects do you have?" Kinkajou said.
"Maths Methods, Lit, Human Bio, Modern History, Chemistry, and then they're making me do music and sport as well," Moon replied.

"Yeah, they make everyone do music and
sport," Kinkajou shook her head, "Not that I mind. Also, it's a shame, we've got basically no subjects together except Human Bio. However, you've got all those smart subjects so maybe you and Qibli will have a few subjects together, so he can help you out."

"Who's Qibli?" Moon looked around the classroom.

"The stupidly tall one with dreadlocs and the earring," Kinkajou said, "The one who's just heard his name and trying to figure out who said it." Moon saw pretty quickly who she was referring to, as the boy in question twisted around in his seat, to see them. He shot her an kind smile.

"Hey Qibli," Kinkajou said, "This is Moon. She's new, and it sounds like she might be in some of your classes."

"Nice to meet you, Moon," his tone was confident and warm, "If you need a guide, I'm right here. I specialise in knowing how to get around here, remembering birthdays, getting things off high shelves, picking locks, making dreadful—I mean awesome—puns, playing drums and putting on a one-man performance of Hamilton."

"Right," said Moon. She already liked and admired his friendly confidence.

"Who's your deskmate, Qibli?" Kinkajou asked.

"His name is Winter," Qibli said, before lowering his voice, "Let's just say that he's not the friendliest person I've ever met." Winter, hearing his name, turned around to glare at them with ice-blue eyes, before turning back to face forwards. The hatred in his cold glare took Moon's breath away.

"He might not be the friendliest person ever, but I think he just might be the handsomest," Kinkajou breathed, starry-eyed.

"What about me?" Qibli asked, pretending to look offended.

"You're fine," Kinkajou said, "But Winter...OH MY GOSH, MY HEART!" Moon did have to agree that Winter with his white-blond hair, blue eyes and cheekbones (she had no idea why she'd noticed his cheekbones, but they were very good cheekbones), was very attractive, but then Qibli was too, in more of a friendly, casual way, with his warm dark eyes, freckles and wide smile. Moon also couldn't help noticing a long scar slicing diagonally across Qibli's face. What could have caused that? It looked like it must have been pretty painful. At this point, the bell went for classes to properly begin. Moon checked her timetable to discover that she had biology, so she and Kinkajou walked off together.

"This year should be so much fun, right!" Kinkajou bubbled, "Also...WINTER, my gosh, who let him be so attractive. Those eyes! Also, his cheekbones! I know what I'll be dreaming about tonight!"

"Slow down, Fruitgirl," Qibli said, coming up behind Kinkajou, "You've only just met him. But I concede: he does have excellent cheekbones." Phew, Moon thought, I'm not super weird for noticing his cheekbones. His cheekbones are just that good. She'd only just met them, but she already liked Kinkajou and Qibli. Maybe starting at a new school was going to be better than she thought