Stars Aligned

Chapter 1

"'The law is reason free from passion.' Does anybody know who said this?" I glanced around the classroom. I was utterly and completely lost. Why on earth were we even talking about passion? It's law class. My teacher, Professor Moonley, paced around the front of the room, hands crossed behind him. He wore the usual; a tight button-up shirt with the Libra zodiac stitched above the right breast, tucked into his black trousers with matching black dress shoes. His hair was parted deeply to the side and looked naturally brown but signs of age were visible from the gray hairs on the sides of his head and the crinkles around his eyes as well as the expression lines on his forehead. Finally, he stopped pacing. He faced the class and pointed to the assembled crowd. "What is the answer?" The whole class turned to face my area. Fortunately, the question wasn't directed towards me. It was for my best friend, Yallannie. 

   Shit, I thought. That was close. Hearing her mumble something incoherent, I glanced at her from the side. I didn't want to make her more nervous, a whole thirty-eight pairs of eyes were already fixed on her. "A-Ar-Aristotle?" She guessed. I saw her face more clearly, a red tint was evident on her dark cheeks.

   "Is that a question or a statement, Ms. Mora?" our teacher asked. 

 "Answer." She said quietly as she sunk in her seat. Moonley frowned as he continued his previous act. Going towards the blackboard, he picked up a piece of chalk and turned towards his students. 

 "That is correct, Ms. Mora." He returned towards the blackboard as he began writing Aristotle's name and contribution to Athenian law. She breathed out a low "Yo," and a couple kids around her chuckled and whispered words of congratulations. ___________________________________________________________________________

 "Bro, did you see me? I totally guessed. Wow, that's what happens when you're law ay-eff." Yallannie and I were walking on campus while we were waiting for the Virgo house to be free from lessons for that hour.

  "Of course I did, I was sitting right next to you." I said as I pressed my books against my chest. The weather outside was gorgeous for November in Greenland, and the light breeze felt cool against my bare skin and gently blew my long blond hair out of my face. My navy blazer rested on my shoulders and my navy booties made a soft click against the pavement. Yallannie wore a similar outfit; a black skirt paired with a gray shirt, however, her choice of footwear were gray Chuck Taylors. She tended to avoid anything with a heel— she felt too tall for life. I started telling her about how much I hated the history of law. She called me vacuous and I rolled my eyes at her. Finally at exactly 1:00, students fled the Virgo house. They all carried tan messenger bags with them, another book or two accompanying them. We watched out for our good friend, Laura, who stumbled out laughing with another girl. And I almost missed him, if it wasn't for Yallannie's good eye.

  "Look, he's over there. Do you see him? Of course you do." And, of course I saw him. He progressed over to the tall apple tree where he usually sat at his lunch hour. Alone, he sat on the grass and pulled out a paperback, along with a glasses case and a brown paper bag. I heard Laura's voice get louder but my gaze remained on him and how I longed to head over there and sit beside him listening to his voice as he talked about a peculiar subject. 

  "Umm, helloo? Nat? You with me?" My eyes focused on Laura and I apologized. She called me a flower and the three of us walked towards the Dining Hall where our friends from Scorpio and Capricorn House awaited us. The Houses were frantic, each and everyone chatted about their day. Yallannie and I were together for only half the day and for the rest, I spent it in classes with my friends from other Houses. Polina and Juan were already waiting for us in line to get lunch. They were discussing something, as I presumed from Juan's frantic hand motions, exciting.