If I can make it to Arduo

Chapter 1

My life rolled along drearily, I lived in an average small town and went to an average school so I could bring average grades home to my average parents. Even my name was average, Tod Charles Barker, TCB my friends would say... If I had any friends. The only thing that separated me from the rest was my art, I would sketch anything I could find that was abnormal or different from the oh so painfully average life I was living. It was usually just strange flowers I would find or the occasional weird bird that could sit still long enough for me to draw the major details, the rest I would fill in later. My classmates used to marvel over my shoulder as I added intricate details to spider lilies or peregrine falcons in my sketchbook, and I felt special in the thought of being slightly less average than the flock.

But the day came when I made the mistake of working on a sketch of two toddlers at a playground, one human and one Chime, laughing together in the grass at a little toad they had found. The usual onlookers took one look at the tiny black horns I was shading in and turned up their noses in disgust. The rumor spread like wildfire and out of nowhere no one wanted to watch me draw anymore. That was sixth grade, a few years later I was starting the second week of my junior year in high school. Before beginning class, Mr. Johnson, the home economics teacher stood to address the class. He was a meek old man with thick rimmed glasses and thinning hair who always frowned like he had eaten something foul. I don't think my classmates noticed he was shaking as he cleared his throat to make an announcement.

"W-we will have a new student today." He squeaked. My peers didn't seem to care, but I was thrilled at the idea of a new person in my world of monotony that knew nothing about me and that I knew nothing about. It made my head swim. He opened his mouth to speak again but closed it upon noticing that no one was paying any mind to his words. A sharp knock at the door, and the principal, a skeleton of a woman with yellow teeth and a sour milk attitude swung it wide open to enter our classroom with only a wrinkled scowl to offer. The room quieted.

"Well, come on then!" she snapped in an aged voice that seemed to spew dust.

A graceful figure crossed the threshold into our space, and every movement, sound, and breath stopped. Her school uniform was crisp and clean, like the rest of us, but the similarities stopped there. She walked with a sense of dignity about her as her long, dark hair swayed just past the tops of her legs. Her golden eyes were piercing, yet at the same time soft and inviting. She wore a slight smile that bordered on curious on her soft featured face. The most noticeable of all, were the golden crescent moon charms dangling beside her face from a pair of twisted black horns.

Mr. Johnson stumbled over his words, "h-how ab-bout you take a seat over there?" he pointed in my direction. Vacant seats surrounded me; no one wanted to sit near a Chime sympathizer. She nodded and quietly took her seat next to me at the back of the class. Her polished dress shoes clicking quietly against the floor as she walked. I smiled at her as she sat down, but was unnoticed when she opened an ancient looking book and began reading. The principal left the room after a few grumbling words to our teacher and sighs of relief were heard all around. I stole a few glances at her and noticed a faint black mark on her wrist covered by a gilded bracelet. It looked like letters but I couldn't make out what it said.

A few weeks went by just like that. She sat quietly next to me and I tried my hardest not to stare as I pretended each day not to be falling head over heels for a girl I had never spoken to. Everything about her was new and interesting, every little detail of the way she moved, the way she looked, the way she held those dusty old books like forgotten treasures, the way her hair seemed to float around her horns and the way her eyes always seemed to be smiling even if her lips held a frown. I adored her, and I didn't even know her name.

One day with shaking hands I finally got up the courage to write her a note. I tried my hardest to make my writing presentable, I must have re-written it twenty times. Heaving a heavy sigh, I placed a neatly folded square of notebook paper on the edge of her desk. Join me for lunch? (Room 102) –Tod

She noticed the note before I could pull my hand away, and glanced at me suspiciously. I tried to hide my embarrassment as I went back to sketching as if nothing had happened. My ears were burning, my throat felt dry, I was terrified. I heard the sounds of the paper being unfolded but I refused to look as my heart threatened to beat it's way out of my chest. She tapped her pencil on her desk and and I dared to look at her, smiling my friendliest smile in hopes to show her that I had no bad intent. The horned girl's eyes sparkled as she gave a tiny nod as she returned to her book before the teacher could glare at us. I sighed in relief and attempted to calm my nerves. It had taken almost a month forme to make first contact, but I did it.