Crescent High

Chapter 8

I heard noise outside my room during the night. It was my first test the next day, and I panicked, not knowing how I was going to do. The sound of soft breathing comforted me; I knew I wasn't alone in this, and I drifted back to sleep. The peace only lasted a couple of hours though, before I heard commotion again. There was someone there. For the rest of the night, I slept uneasily, tossing and turning in my bed.

When I woke, Megan was already awake, slipping on her boots. She waved for me to come over, and I made my way to the seating area, still in my pajamas. We sat down, and Megan grabbed a bag, reaching into it.
"I asked my parents to send me this," she told me, and produced a phone out of it. "And it's for you!"
Holding it out, Megan offered it to me, and I took it, gingerly. Thanking her, I turned it on, and left it while I got dressed. The uniform of the school was purple - a white shirt, and a plaid skirt. It had a Japanese style tie, and knee high white socks, with black loafer shoes. In all, it was a very nice uniform, and it was really comfy.
By the time I was dressed, the phone Megan gave me was turned on, and I started to set it up before breakfast. The phone was one of the newest models, and I was really grateful to Megan for getting it for me.
A yawn sounded from the other side of the room as Rose climbed out of bed. She sat down at the dressing table next to her bed and started to brush her hair, deftly plaiting it and throwing it over her shoulder. My hair was in anime style pigtails, to match the uniform, which looked like something from out of a TV show.
Rose gasped when she saw me, and ran over, squeezing me in a hug. She practically squeezed all of the air out of me.
"Can't breathe," I murmured, and Rose let go, heading over to her wardrobe to get dressed. After a few minutes, we were all sitting on the chairs in the corner of the room chatting. Only now did I start to take in the pastel purple walls and plush ivory wall to wall carpet. A small lampshade was hanging from the ceiling, illuminating the room in a soft glow. I felt right at home - it was so much like my room back in Westfield and I loved it. I let out a quiet sigh of content and relaxed, as Rose opened the door to Reef.
"It feels like you're always here," she giggled, and led him through. Reef's uniform looked like ours, but it had the purple plaid as trousers instead, and a more manly shirt.
"I bought breakfast," Reef cried, and I realized that we hadn't gone to the dining hall, and, we only had half an hour till our first test. I wolfed my food down, and we all left the room, Megan closing the door behind us.

📚

The hall was empty except for us, and it looked completely different to the day before. There was a large ring of chairs and benches surrounding a single table, which had nothing on it. On the chairs was purple velvet cushions, and the chandelier, which was not lit the day before, had about 50 twinkling candles bathing the room in light. As we sat down, more people started to enter the room, and look around. Before long, all of the seats were filled, and still people kept coming in. They were second and third years, and headed up the stairs to a balcony overlooking us. We sat for about ten minutes before Tallulah walked in with the kids from yesterday.

"So, this is your first test," Tallulah called. "I remember when I was in this position and was being spoken to." She flicked her long platinum-blond hair behind her shoulder and smiled at us. "One by one, as I call your name, come to the middle of the circle on the star and chant these words 'Lux et luceat'." With that, Tallulah started calling names, first was Alexis Boriale, a brunette girl with emerald green eyes.
She closed her eyes and her voice rung out loud and clear through the room as she chanted the words. Around her, a golden glow began to shine, and a gasp came from a first year. Alexis's eyes snapped open and her mouth gaped as she realized what she had done. Walking back to her seat, the next name was called out - Max Bilmoz - and he made his way to the circle. Confidently, he started to chant, but nothing happened. Max tried again, and again, but nothing happened. Deflatedly, he trudged back to the bench he was sitting on and more names were called. It was going in alphabetical order, and there were about 200 first years to be tested. It would take ages to get to me! Time after time, people tried and failed to replicate what Alexis had done, until, one boy - his name was Kenny Coradis - spoke the words. Slowly, he started to shine, but with a bronze colour. Now, more people started to succeed, and soon, it was Reef's turn.
He walked to the circle and stood, looking up at his sister. The chanting began, and as soon as he had stopped speaking, he too began to glow with light, blue, like his hair. I could see his sister smile, and Reef smiled back as he walked back to his seat.
"You did it!" Rose cried, and high fived him with a grin on her face.
"I felt some sort of power flowing through my veins as I said the words, then it just kind of happened," Reef explained. "You just need to believe." It was really good advice to use, and I hoped I would do a bit better.
More people went up, and quite a few succeeded in creating light. Tallulah opened her mouth to speak.

* Sorry it's been so long since I've last updated. Now I'm on summer holidays, I should be able to write more. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the uniform. I put a picture of what it looks like at the top. *