Homestuck Fanfic

I - Tess

My fingers tap incessantly on the handlebar of my bike as I wait for the light to turn, an unceasing frenzied tempo that matches the beat of my own heart. I have never moved before, so this is the first completely new school I will go to. Going from primary to secondary school was different; at least my friends were still there. Here, I know nobody.
A loud, discordant horn blast jerks me out of my thoughts. I smile apologetically at the impatient driver and, hitching my leg up onto the bike pedal, I swerve my way across the street and continue up the road. Before long, a big brick building comes into view. It towers above the houses, and I have to crane my neck to read the words "______ High School" across the top of it. I bring my eyes back down just in time to skid to a stop right in front of a telephone pole. Breathing a sigh of relief, I look around and spot a bike rack in the parking lot to my right, which is almost empty of any cars. I chain my bike to the metal arch that protrudes from the ground and head inside.
At the front door, a smiling troll woman with a name tag reading "Vice Principal ______" greets me. "Welcome to ______ High! What homeroom are you?"
I hastily pull out my schedule. "Um, 413."
She looks a little surprised by my accent."Uh, okay! Just take that hallway all the way down, turn right, and then take the second left, and you'll be there." She points me on my way.
Being fairly good with directions, it isn't long before I find myself in a large classroom with row upon row of desks facing a whiteboard that spans a whole wall. A tall man with a bald head and skin the color of my aunt's walnut wood is writing on the board in blue marker. There are already a couple kids here; I make my way over to a girl with pink-rimmed glasses and a golden headband.
"Can I sit here?" I ask quietly.
She looks up from her assignment notebook, which is covered in little hearts and flowers. "Oh my cod, you're British!" A smile bursts across her face. She pulls out a chair for me, then looks across the room and calls out, "Eridan!"
A troll with a patch of his hair dyed purple stands up and comes over to us. He looks a bit disgruntled, but smiles at the other girl. "What is it, Fef?" As he speaks, I notice he has an English accent as well, but it sounds much more high-class.
The girl, Fef, grins again. "Eridan, this is... what did you say your name was again?"
I didn't. "Tess," I tell her out loud. "Nice to meet you, Eridan and Fef."
She laughs. "Oh, it's actually Feferi. Eridan just likes to call me that. Lots of my friends do. You can call me Fef if you want, too!" I can't help but smile; she's so enthusiastic about everything.
"So, Tess, are you new in town?" she says brightly. Eridan sits down sullenly next to her; Feferi seems to be the talker of the pair.
"Yeah, we moved this summer. My aunt always wanted to come to New York."
"That's reely cool!" She says it strangely, dragging out the "e". I'm not all that familiar with American accents, but it sounds a bit off. As she continues on about how long she's lived here, how excited she is to be in high school, and so on, I tune out. As the room gradually fills with people and noise, my hand slips into my sweater pocket and closes around a small wooden cat. It was the first thing I ever carved, back when I was 9, and I carry it everywhere. My mind wanders back to that day; my aunt gave me a pocket knife for my birthday and I asked her if I could have some of the wood scraps from her workshop. When she handed me a rough block of wood from the floor, I could almost feel the cat's heartbeat inside it. I started to carve and-
My thoughts are interrupted by a loud commotion by the door. Standing quickly, I see a big, muscular troll who has a smaller girl with a green trenchcoat in a headlock. I run to help her but stop when I notice they're both smiling. I can't pick out any words; they're both speaking so fast. Another troll steps out from behind Green Coat Girl and walks over to the back of the room where we sit. I smile at her in what I hope is a friendly way and she takes a seat next to me.
I look the girl up and down. She has small, sharp horns and black hair in waves to her shoulders, and is wearing a dress and tall boots. Vines of black ink swirl intricately across her neck. She looks very anxious.
"Hey! I'm Tess. Are you new as well?"
She seems startled, then nods silently. I notice that her horns are lopsided; one is a little longer. She seems to shrink into herself as I watch, then pulls out a notebook and seems to relax as she flips through with the paper angled away from me.
I try again. "So what's your name?"
She looks up at me briefly and murmurs "Laarai" so quietly I'm not sure if I've heard right.
I'm not sure what to say next. Luckily, the bell for first period rings just then and within seconds the entire room is abuzz with motion and even louder than before. I manage a brief wave to my new friend as I take my first step out into the crazy, terrifying world that is my new school.