Hapaxanthous [Long Hiatus]

Day One

Hotaru looked great with the Lakeside uniform on. The uniform was a nice blend of green, navy blue and black. The skirt was dark green and covered black stockings. A navy blue jumper hid a white short-sleeved shirt from sight, as well as partially covering a dark green tie, a tad lighter than the skirt.

The teenage girl wondered if the exterior was enough to hide how nervous she was. Not only that, but her mind wandered back to the earlier conversation with her mother. Hotaru's trust for her began to waver. Why hadn't she told her earlier? Perhaps she could've calmed and prepared herself for a crazy year...

The gears in her mind worked furiously. How did Oceanside College get an entire case against them? What could they have possibly done that was so bad and resulted in them shutting down... perhaps permanently?

*          *         *

Hotaru let her mind wander as she packed her school bag. She made sure to include all the folders she could possibly need, along with a dictionary. The dictionary was as heavy as ever. "Never mind that," Hotaru voiced her thoughts.

She slipped a watch on before she forgot and slung her bag over her shoulders. A quick peep in the mirror and Hotaru prepped herself up, adjusting the collar of her shirt. "Dammit!" Hotaru tore the bag off her shoulders and reached for a coat hanger, which had a black blazer. How could she have forgotten? Surely a teacher would've bitten her head off, had they noticed.

Hotaru picked up her bag again and adjusted her uniform for the umpteenth time. Perfection was everything, after all... Her hair spiked up and felt wild under the confines of her bag.

The holidays had pampered her hair and just about tamed it. Hotaru had forgotten how irritating the black locks could be. She imagined it cut, wispy and shoulder-length. Basically anything could suffice.

Irritably, Hotaru tied her hair in a plait. She grabbed the hairspray and smoothed out her locks, slinging the rope-like hair down her left shoulder.

  *          *          *  

"Homeroom... LY4." Hotaru confronted her map. Her finger traced the route she'd have to take. "Stairs, stairs, and some more stairs." she mumbled in annoyance, following the map. Hotaru stumbled into a crowded building. It felt as if the lockers and walls were closing in on her, little by little.

A few meters away, stairs spiraled up into the heavens. Hotaru ascended them, trying not to bump into the crowd that was descending. Each step burned in her calves and thighs. Her heart pounded. The first floor.

Green banners adorned with serpents and the word Fidi in big, bold letters. Nope. More stairs materialized in front of Hotaru. Adrenaline began to course through her veins like a tidal wave. People pushed and shoved, fighting for dominance over the stairs.

The next and last floor was decorated with many navy blue banners and fabrics. Wolves and moons were a recurring theme, along with the word Lykos. Hotaru exhaled and slumped down onto the floor, a rock thrown into violent waters.

Here too, students fought their way around, but overall, this was nowhere near as bad as the stairs. The stairs; Hotaru reasoned; had been the gateway to Hell itself.

Hotaru stood on her tiptoes, trying to find the Homeroom LY4. It was impossible to see over the crowd of heads. Next time, Hotaru would have to be much, much earlier. She rolled up her left sleeve to glance at her watch. It was only 8:30 AM. In fifteen minutes, the bell would ring for students to go to their lockers.

Fed up, Hotaru shoved her way through the crowd. Soon enough, a huge 4 written on a navy blue door came into view and Hotaru sighed. What did they say her Locker number was again? "Locker 1268..." After some more violent pushing, she stumbled across a set of lockers. Well enough, 1268 was one of them. Unfortunately, it was a bottom locker.

Hotaru pulled out a paper and read her code to herself. "3, 16, 21." After a lot of fiddling, the lock came undone, allowing Hotaru to shove her bag into the locker. Looking at her timetable, she noticed that after Homeroom she'd have Period 1 English, Period 2 Math, Recess, Periods 3 and 4 Drama, Periods 5 and 6 Science.

Sighing, she grabbed her books for Periods 1 and 2. For English she'd need to include a novel. Hotaru purposely pulled out a thick Classic novel, Little Women specifically. She didn't want to seem stupid, after all she was quite clever and had already prepared herself with the required novel for the semester.

Grabbing her books and then locking up the locker, she fought her way into her Homeroom. The teacher was quite short, with olive skin and long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. Hazel-green eyes gazed out at the class.

Looking around, Hotaru noticed that there weren't many students seated, leaving many free seats. She decided to take the third desk to the right on the second row. She plonked her books down.

The teacher, whom Hotaru identified as Mrs Miller. She addressed the class. "Today after Homeroom, we will be having a School Assembly. Be your brightest and make sure your uniform looks satisfactory."

  *          *          *  

Hotaru found herself trailing a pair of Year 12 students who where carrying a beautiful navy blue flag with a majestic wolf depicted on it. Hotaru was in a crowd of Year 7s and a small assorted group of other year levels.

The two house captains looked pretty together. The male, Ryan, was tall and seemingly had ginger-ish hair... and was admittedly hot. The girl who proudly held onto the flag was Monica, a girl who had a few blood red highlights, which blended in nicely with her hair and weren't that noticeable.

They trekked across the Stadium, across countless rows of seats, to the front of the Stage, where they all spread out in one line. "A welcome to our new Lykos students!" a male voice announced, probably the principal. The students made a sharp turn and walked back to their seats.