The Stars

Chapter 3

Lelia

Reid surprised me. I wasn't expecting to meet my partner this early in the day. They had told me in my letter that I would meet them during the day at some point, but I didn't think that he would be the first person that I bumped into. My first impression of him that I had was that he's an interesting character. He was kind enough to pay for the food we just ate, no matter how much I protested that I could pay for myself, but he just smiled at me and shook his head. Telling me that he had planned on paying for it the entire time. 

His eyes had held a shock in them when I had told him that I was an A-Rank student, but then he just relaxed and smiled. Like he was happy and content with the idea. Almost as if he was glad it was me and not someone else.

We exited the diner and walked back to the school. Talking about what our class schedules looked like for the semester. We had a few classes together such as; Cooking 101, Math, and the Dojo at the end of the day. Otherwise out classes were very different. His were advanced like mine, but they were on different subjects. I had almost laughed when I realized all of them were near each other, so we would most likely end up walking together all of the time when going to out respective classrooms.

We didn't talk about our abilities. I particularly wanted to wait till later to explain mine. My ability was rare in people today. Maybe 1% of the entire earth's population could do what I can. It often caused problems when I was little. Then the problems continued to grow when I would battle in High School. Competitors often accused me of cheating in one way or another. Although, if they had been smart or proactive like I had been they would have realized that they could go onto any school's website and find out information on their opponents ability.

In every class I've had today all the teacher's talked about was their syllabus for each class. It was an easy day all around, but now it was time for the Dojo class and there was so much anxiety flowing through me that I felt like I might fall over an minute now. I was just standing outside the building, staring at the doors, wondering if I had the courage to walk through those massive, looming, doors. The building was tall and looked older than any of the other buildings on campus. It was made of concrete and raised so high into the sky that when you looked up it blocked out the sun. Just the size of the building made it more intimidating to walk through those doors that separated me and the Dojo. The thought of all my classmates in there was almost suffocating. I was almost positive that everyone in there would know who I am. The memories of junior year rushing back to me. How would they react to my presence? Would they point and laugh at me? Would they be nice to me like Reid has been to me? Or would it be a repeat of High School? Did anyone know the truth of what happened in that battle? Did Reid? And if he did know then why was he being so kind? 

My hands had begun to shake as they clutched the hem of my jacket. My anxiety felt tangible thinking about what would happen when I finally walked through those taunting doors. There was suddenly a tap on my shoulder. I had been so consumed in my anxiety that I had forgot that Reid was standing next to me this entire time. His face was almost unreadable, but when I met his eyes I could see the concern in them. Scolding myself quietly for forgetting that I wasn't alone I looking away from him momentarily. "Is everything ok Leila? If we don't head in soon we'll be late." His voice was softer than it had been earlier. It was like he knew that I was nervous and didn't want to spook me. A soft smile rose on his lips as his ocean blue eyes looked at me. 

"Yeah." I whispered out once I could finally look up. Staring into his eyes now had grounded me and gave me a calming sense. 'It's just like walking into the English building.' I told myself. I just had to do it one step at a time. No big deal. Even babies do it. Reid walked slightly in front of me and opened the door for me. The smile still resting on his lips. Once I took the last step inside I felt the blast of cold air on my face. I shivered slightly, not knowing if it was from the cold air or from my nerves. The layout of the Dojo was completely open. It was spacious enough for more than a hundred students standing. It kept in mind that there would need to be enough space for students to move around. The Dojo was split into sections, an area for each rank of students, my guess was so no one paired with someone too strong or too weak when doing combat for practice.