Before the Angels Fall

Chapter 6~ First Day of High School

Nanae walked the gravel path to school in her white chemise and jeans. Her sneakers slapped the stone as she saw Stephanie and Cassandra. "Steph! Cassy!" she called.

They waved back, calling Nanae's name.

"Kurayami!"

Nanae turned. "Ariana!" she shouted back, waving her hand joyfully. A girl with light blue jeans and a black blouse waved back, and then shouted Stephanie's and Cassandra's names respectively.

Here comes that ignorant, naïve girl, thought Ariana, as she glanced towards Cassandra. Even though she thought those things, she kept a smile on her face and waved. Nanae came towards her as well as Stephanie and Cassandra. Ah, Cassandra. How much I despise you right now. Don't touch me. Okay that's good. Stay next to Stephanie. Don't come near me. Okay, okay.......dammit.

Cassandra stepped beside Ariana, a smile in her cheeky face. "Hi Ariana!"

Placing a fake smile in her face, Ariana replied, "Hi Cassandra."

"How was your summer?"

"Decent." Not really, because my thoughts included sadness and how the world isn't perfect.

"That's nice. Did you go anywhere?"

"Er...... Yeah." If you count my neighborhood and my room as a place. "Did you go anywhere?"

"Yep! I went to Europe and England and Canada....." By that time, Ariana was zoning out of the conversation, although she kept saying words of agreement and the occasional, "Cool!" And "Nice".

By the time Cassandra finished talking, the group reached the school. "I'm in homeroom B-104. What homeroom are you guys in?" asked Nanae.

"B-104. I'm in the same one as you!" said Ariana.

"C-106. Not even close," whined Cassandra. "How about you, Stephanie?"

"A-201."

The girls said good-bye and went to their homerooms. Nanae and Ariana quickly found their homeroom and sat down at adjacent seats in the back next to each other. Nanae, being bright and cheerful, would soon be moved up to the front. Ariana, being exceptionally smart and sharp, yet with a gloomy, desolate look to her, would stay at the back and barely participate.

The bell rang. Students filtered through the doors of their classrooms and the wave of students grew smaller and smaller. The teacher had not yet arrived.

Nanae and Ariana were holding a quiet conversation in the back, not bothering to talk to the other students. Other students were holding loud, rambunctious conversations of their own. Soon, the teacher walked in. She was a short, squat woman, with a sharp, long, hawk-like nose, a plump body, and freckled skin. Her pointy lips barely moved as she said, "Good morning class."

No one answered. She turned around, placed her huge bag on her desk and started to write her name on the whiteboard, and stated an introduction about herself.

"My name is Mrs. Smith. I expect this class to be one of learning and not of fooling around everyday. I enjoy teaching cooperative classes and my favorite subject is math, which is what I am teaching all of you, if you haven't noticed already."

That sent a slight chuckle around the class, but it didn't affect Ariana the slightest bit. What a stupid joke this class is, she thought.

"Now we will go in turn to introduce ourselves. Who would like to go first?"

Silence fell across the room. No one said anything. Finally, Nanae stood up and everyone's gaze fell on her, and Ariana looked sharply up at her.

"Please come to the front of the room."

"What are you doing?" whispered Ariana. Nanae only gave a small smile.

Walking to the front of the room, Nanae took the marker and started writing on the board.

"My name is Nanae Kurayami. I enjoy reading books and I love math." She finished writing, and showed the class her name.

Murmurs spread in the room. Obviously, the name "Kurayami" was known to them and it sent shivers down their spine. Ariana gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. This was the kind of reaction Nanae always got when she introduced herself. Always.

Dammit, thought Ariana angrily. Taking deep breaths, she tried calming herself down as Nanae walked back to her seat. The people nearest to her started scooting their chairs away from her, as though she would bite them any moment.

"Nice to meet you, Nanae," replied the teacher curtly. "Would anyone else like to go next?"

Soon, the whole class went except for Ariana. Standing up, she walked to the front of the room, eyes bored, and wrote her name on the board. "My name is Ariana Midnight. I like reading and writing stories." With that, she walked back to her seat.

"Alright. Let's begin organizing our things, shall we?"

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School was over for the day. Ariana went back home and was greeted by her brother Louis.

"How was school?"

"Boring as usual. Got Mrs. Smith."

"Ha. Sucks for you."

"Lucky you don't have to go to school. I find it to be a burden, waking up everyday and having to face horrible teachers. Today we just did introductions."

"Must have been boring."

"It was the worst." Ariana looked at her delinquent brother, who barely attended school and stayed at home only to play video games. He was exceptionally smart, the reason being he had his strengths in other areas.

"You planning on walking outside tonight?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"I would like to take you out sometime. Get out of this stinking house for a bit. That's all." He smirked.

"Sounds fishy to me, but that's a great idea," replied Ariana casually. "I'm going back to my room. See you in a bit."

Louis remained there at the front steps where they had talked and thought about when he had gone to school. Shaking his head, he said out loud, "Is my life really worth living? Should I continue it as it is?"

No one responded. The silence that ensued was only interrupted by chirps from obnoxious birds and the sounds of cicadas.