Otherworld

1 - Portal

     The day is bright, the sun casts golden brilliance upon the foliage below. A girl sits staring just inside the classroom window, lovingly watching the rustling leaves. With a shift of a cloud the sunlight catches her chestnut hair and makes her look like she's glowing.

    If she hadn't been caught releasing the dissection frogs into the campus pond she wouldn't be here. Detention sucks, she should be out in the trees, running, drawing and singing her heart out to the towering plants.

    The door bursts open. A short girl walks in, the attitude in her step yelling that she doesn't want to be here, and she probably doesn't. Morgan may be a snappy little loner, but she always has a reason for acting the way she does.

    Morgan flips her hair over her shoulder with a twitch of her head. The startlingly white hair, her natural colour, falls against her nearly pitch black skin. If she shaved her hair she could go as a shadow for Halloween.

    The girl with Chestnut hair, Violet, smiles at the thought. Violet has always thought Morgan is the most beautiful girl in their grade.

    Next to come in is Iggy, an adorable boy with bright hair just a little more red than a pumpkin. He is covered in freckles, head to toe. But those features aren't why Violet is so interested in him. Iggy has condition that makes his skin look absolutely stunning, it's called vitiligo but V can never remember that. He has a splotch of lighter skin on the left side of his face that goes from his hairline following the side of his nose and cheekbone.

    Then, his eyes. She'd only seen them up close once, his right eye is a rich dappled green like the sunlight filtering through the leaves outside. His left is a clear baby blue sky with a splash of fiery rust orange.

The vulturelike man at the desk in the front of the room sneers. His too perfect teeth are just asking to be punched as he begins to speak.

    “Well, well, well.” The whistled W’s are grating on Violets ears. “Morgan Marlowe Firth, Ignatius Aiden Flint, and Violet Diana Darrow.” He enunciates the t’s like a steriotypical villain.

    Mr. Greyy clears his throat and straightens the three files on his desk. “Miss Firth, this is your second time assaulting Tommy Cox, thankfully his nose isn't broken and he should be okay to play in the game in two days.” He drawls slowly, “buuut.. I'm afraid I will have to call home for you and your mother will be brought in for a meeting with the principal tomorrow.”

    “Tommy deserved it, he was torturing Madam Piña again.” Mo tries to defend herself, but Mr. Greyy still looks bored.

    “Madam Piña is a fish.” He growls with a roll of his dull brown eyes.

    “Ignatius, you set your lab station on fire, for the eighth time. Though, since we still can't prove it or figure out how you did it, detention is the best we can do.” The vulture of a teacher grimaced.

    When he finally turned to Violet, her heart is racing. “You have been sent to me many times, all for minor reasons, until now.” He glares softly at her, as one of the only non-jockstraps he likes, he knows she is ashamed. “Stealing and releasing the school's frogs, the very day before they were to be prepared, I am very disappointed in you.”

    Violet dips her head to hide her smirk, playing it off like she's sorry. Getting on Mr. Greyy's good side has to have been one of her best decisions. At first is was a strategy, he always does detention, but when she found out he's a fairy nut she started to actually enjoy talking to him...even if his voice is the single most annoying thing in existence. She even confided in him that for the longest time she thought that she was a fairy. V is allergic to iron after all, and she's always in the woods.

    “Now if you'll excuse me, I have a phonecall to make.” Mr. Greyy looks down his beak of a nose at Morgan.

    Morgan turns dramatically towards Violet, “What was that?”

    Violet squints and tilts her head in confusion.

    “He just went was easy on you!” She exclaims with waving arms, “What's your secret?”

    “I’m nice to him, I spent the time to get to know him, I pay attention in his classes, and I don't threaten to drop out whenever I get homework.” Violet says steadily, keeping constant contact with her nearly black, blue eyes.

    Then there was a pop somewhere inside of her, and the back of her neck felt tight. The moment later the feeling was gone.

    Suddenly, Violet could feel a sort of presence in the room, welcoming and beconing. Before Morgan could say anything back, Iggy curses and points in the back of the room.

    Against the wall is a spinning rose gold void, sparking and spitting. Violet stands up from her seat while Morgan steps backwards.

    Violet feels compelled towards the golden portal. She gets within a step from it before Morgan realizes she's not going to stop and grabs her arm.

    “Where do you think you're going?” Iggy asks coming up next to the girls.

    “I don't know yet, but that cat seems to have the same idea.”

    Morgan and Ignatius look at her like she's crazy until a black and white tom leaps into the portal from the closest desk.

    “PISTACHIO!” Iggy shrieks and jumps in after the cat, knocking Morgan in with him.

    Violet laughs and walks a step into the portal, and the change is immediate. She feels supercharged… and weird. She kicks her shoes of, only to find hooves, and when she goes to touch her head, she has small curvy horns.

    The door opens, and Mr. Greyy stares at her startled. Violet gestures at him with her finger, before jumping backwards into the portal, “I knew it.”