Extraordinary

Chapter 17: Another New Friend

So, as it turns out, Reece did beat those boys' butts. Bad. By the time we were done, the score was 30-10. And Peter was on the other team!

"That was awesome!" Reece yelled, pumping her fist in the air.

"Yep," I say, exhausted. Did I mention that my powers don't come with activeness?

"Hey, Aurora, where are we going now?" Reece asks.

"We're going to... ugh..." I pretend to gag. "Social studies."

"Aw, man! I hate social studies!" Reece says angrily. I silently pray her fists won't catch fire again. "This ruins the whole win in gym. UGH! Why do they have that subject?!"

"I have no idea," I say.

We walk to our lockers (which, did I mention, are also right next to each other [!!!!] ) and get out our stuff for social studies. Then, we walk inside.

We are met with total silence. Mrs. Koffman insists on quiet when we're waiting for the lesson to start. She claims that "too much noise hurts my ears". 

Meanwhile, she loves big parties.

How do I know she loves big parties?

It says so on her FaceBook bio.

You can learn a lot about a person from their FaceBook bio.

Trust me.

Anyway, Reece and I sit down in our seats in the back silently, since we don't want lunch detention for talking.

After about an eternity, Mrs. Koffman comes in the room from talking to the other teachers. 

No. I don't want class to start!

But, as if the universe was on my side, the class phone rings.

Mrs. Koffman sighs and picks it up.

"Hello?" she says. "Oh, okay. New student? Another one? Okay. I'll send one of my kids down. Okay. Okay. Bye."

Mrs. Koffman hangs up the phone.

"Does anyone want to pick up a new student from the office?" she asks.

Reece and I glanced at each other. "Another one?" Reece's eyes say. "Yeah. Let's do it." My eyes reply.

I raise my hand. "Reece and I would be happy to go." I say.

"Perfect," Mrs. Koffman says, then mutters, "Saves me some time for an actual lesson around here."

So, that's how me and Reece end up in the office. As we push open the door, we see a timid looking girl with straight blonde hair, almost white, and it has blue highlights on the ends.

I wish I had her hair.

She was clutching her lunchbox like it was a matter of life or death if she let go, and she looked deathly pale. She had on a light blue sweater and gray leggings, and there was a storm cloud clip in her hair, along with a matching necklace. She had a thin frame, and her expression was really afraid.

"Um, hi!" I say awkwardly to the girl. "This is Reece, and I'm Aurora. What's your name?"

"I'm Tempest," she says, looking down at her black leather boots, which are just like mine, except mine are brown.

"Oh, that explains the clip and the necklace! Tempest means storm, as you probably know." I say. "My name means 'dawn', since it's the name of the Roman goddess of dawn, or, if you want the up to date version, I'm named after Sleeping Beauty." I chuckle at this.

Reece half frowns. "Really? I didn't know that "Aurora" meant "dawn". What does my name mean?"

I screw up my face, thinking.

"Hmm... I think the name Reece in reference to a girl means 'enthusiasm'. Hey! A great way to describe you!" I explain.

"Oh. Awesome!" Reece says.

We realize we have both been blabbering on while Tempest has been standing there in silence.

We glance at each other again.

"Come on, let's go to class," I say. "Or would you like a tour of the school?"

"I'd like a tour. It beats class," Tempest decides quietly with a ghost of a smile on her face.

I think I've just made another new friend.