Starry Days & Sunlit Nights: Volume 3 - Warm Winter

Chapter 2.6 - Under Her Skin

Juniper Mendoza waved at Jay meekly as he crossed a road towards a bus stop. After that, she got onto a train headed eastbound, towards the Dawn District.

All-in-all, today had been fun, and along with the past week was certainly a welcome break from everything else going on in her life. Tomorrow, after being closed for a full week, Marie Florence High School would resume its classes. That also meant Juniper returning to her position as the only real member of the Student Council.

She was not looking forward to that.

She never even wanted the position to begin with. For her, such a thing was merely what was expected of her, being the daughter of an influential Senator in America. She was used to it by now, and was usually capable of handling everything that needed to be done anyway, but at the cost of being devoid of spirit, acting like little more than a marionette.

So there was a reason she valued her friendship with Yumi, Kylie, and Jay. They didn't have any delusions or grand expectations of her, nor were they envious or bitter about all the attention and talent bestowed upon her. After being alone for so long, she finally found people she could feel comfortable with. Sure, learning to truly socialize as real friends took a while, but they were too encouraging for her to give in to her timidity.

After getting off the train, she hopped on a bus which travelled along the coast, overlooking the docks and surrounding coastline. Scattered along the vast blue were a number of fishing boats with their nets in the water. There were not many large ships in sight; the trading vessels and navy ships docked further up north, at the Midnight District.

Personally, Juniper didn't really care about those details too much, and frankly, she was sick of being surrounded by the salty fresh smell of the sea.

A walk later, and she finally reached her residence. A small manor in comparison to the surrounding houses, but fitting for someone as wealthy and renowned as her father—even if it was not his own residence.

"Welcome home, Mistress," a senior and junior maid greeted her at the door. The former sported a pair of black-framed glasses, while the latter had her dark hair tied up into a bun.

"I trust your trip went well," the senior maid added.

"Yes, it was fun, Annabelle," Juniper replied formally before heading straight up the stairs.

"Will you be having the same triple-sized portion for dinner?" the younger servant inquired.

"Yes, thank you, Rosalie," the teenaged girl answered.

For Juniper, the size of the house only made it feel more hollow than it should have been. She and the two servants were the only residents. While the raven-haired girl had known them for at least five years, she had hardly interacted with them, having always been too busy meeting her father's and society's expectations. What should be called home felt nothing like one.

Sparing some time to wash her face, Juniper looked into the mirror.

Golden irises stared back at her.

Up until over a couple of months ago, when she had gone missing in one of the Central District's less developed, forested areas, her eye color had always been hazel. What had happened for this to happen?

Recently, she had gone to multiple eye specialists about the matter, and all of them had the same diagnosis. They were completely natural. Such a thing was unbelievable, and a few of them would have preferred to risk testing on her, if not for fear of her politically powerful father.

The last doctor in particular had mentioned something curious, even if it was an off-handed comment.

"They remind me of a wolf's eyes."

Juniper grit her teeth and tore her gaze away from her reflection. A wolf. That was absurd. But she couldn't completely disbelieve it either.

But what if there was some kind of truth to that? What if she was some kind of mutant? She would let down everyone, and all her efforts, her selling of her soul to toil, would mean nothing. Her father's reputation would be tarnished. She would be imprisoned from all of society. Worst of all, she would never be able to see her friends ever again.

Jay.

Kylie.

Yumi.

That couldn't be. Not when she had finally found real friends after so long.

The thought of being confined for the rest of her life stirred a sense of primal fear. For a moment, her head began to feel hazy, and she staggered. She put a hand up on the mirror to support herself.

Breathing heavily, she started to calm herself down. Her father had been aware of her mutation ever since she had been found, and had not shown any signs of doing anything about it. In fact, he even funded her trips to the doctor. The fact that he had not shown a semblance of committing anything drastic was at least a small relief.

After wiping her face with a hand towel, the dusky-skinned girl with gold eyes left her bathroom, oblivious to the five parallel scratches on the mirror.