Freshman

Chapter 1: The Class

My hands were sweating, my mind was racing, and the clock was ticking as I raced to the 7B's classroom.

I had been clambering up and down the stairs for the past—I don't know—twenty minutes? This was all just simply to find my new and unfamiliar classroom. The instructions to get there were easy to follow when I heard it in the School Head's Office, but once I left, I felt like a lost puppy looking for his doggy bone in the Sahara. I looked at signages on doors; if there were any,  directories on walls; that only led to the fire exit, and even Google Maps to guide my way in this excavation; now that's just a huge exaggeration.

I wonder how Skye's first day was turning out. Will he be fine without me?

The fact that my parents told me to never talk to strangers on my first day here in this satrange and unfamiliar place, made me a little hesitant on approaching anyone. It's been half an hour already, maybe it was safe to ask for some actual directions from at least one stranger, right?

"Excuse me," I tapped a girl's back. "I was just wondering if you– oh my God!"

She hadn't changed a bit since the last time I saw her, except for her hair though. What was once a perfect example of Rapunzel's long and gorgeous hair straight out of a fairy-tale, is now a layered shoulder length voluminous hair-do. Come to think of it, it was sort of like mine, but less crappy looking.

"Aria?" She winced.

"Loreigne?" I blinked.

"Aria!"

"Loreigne!"

We pulled each other into a tight, wistful, and ardor hug. It's been months, no– probably already a quarter of a year since we last saw each other. After graduating grade school, we weren't able to communicate through anything. It was a three month vacation of isolation, fun, and, as they say; ¹hakuna matata. Yeah, it was a pretty long summer, but it was definitely worth it.

"I missed you so bad!" I exclaimed. "It's been months! Where's Lay? Is she your classmate? I've been really addicted to anime lately and I think you'd be pleased to know why. Are you listening to me? Oh my God! Please talk!"

We were both too overwhelmed to talk, but unlike me, she kept herself composed and sober at all times.

"First of all, I thought you were going to a different school," she frowned. "Second of all, I missed you just as badly, and finally– no way! You watch anime?"

I shrugged. "It's a new thing that I've come to love."

"What's your section?" Loreigne asked giddily. "I'm in class 7D."

"I'm in class 7B," my smile depleted with a sigh. "We aren't in the same section, huh? Wow, damn, that's a bummer."

"Tsk," she looked sullen. "I was really hoping that we'd be classmates."

I sighed. "Me too...."

[Loreigne, from class 7D. A long time friend since forth grade.]

"Is Lay here?" I perked up. "Are you guys classmates?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's been pretty chill and awesome so far. Hope we make this year better than the last year."