Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 2

Luna stumbled out of the classroom, hurrying to zip up her bag before someone walked into her. She shuffled through the overcrowded hallway, hurrying to find her brother. In her hurry, she bumped into someone, a girl with hair the color of pure gold and eyes a deep blue. Her skin was fawn, paler than Luna's, and her face was smooth and free of makeup. The girl was tall and slender, standing a fair bit taller than Luna. She looked frail, like a flower waiting to wither at any moment. Almost too delicate to touch. Everything about her was small, small nose, small hands, small lips. She was the kind of girl Luna wanted to look like. Effortlessly pretty, but doesn't even notice it. Luna cracked a small smile.

Luna began apologizing, a sinking feeling of guilt consuming her. She realized it was the same girl she had seen in the courtyard. The girl smiled a small uncomfortable smile, reassuring her that it was all right. She looked lost, as if she had stumbled upon the school by accident and was trying to learn the way the world worked.

"Um..." She started softly, her tone gentle. "Could you tell me how to get to Mrs. Greenfield's class? It's my first day here and I'm kind of lost," she laughed sheepishly.

"Oh, sure! I have her class now actually. Come on, I'll walk with you." The girl turned to follow Luna out the hall and down another. "I'm Luna, by the way."

The girl seemed to be trying to curl in on herself and disappear entirely. She looked startled at the sound of Luna's voice. "I'm Lily-Rose."

A thick awkward silence stood between them. "So..." Luna started, trying to strike up a conversation. "Did you move here recently?"

"Yeah, I guess. Something like that." Her voice was light and gentle, unsure as if she were afraid of saying anything wrong.

Luna couldn't tell if the girl was incredibly shy and reserved, or if she just didn't want to talk to Luna in particular. She was trying to come up with something to say when Lily-Rose spoke.

"Is the teacher nice?"

Luna let out a sharp laugh. "I wish she was, she's a total nut-case."

"Oh."

"What other teachers do you have?"

Lily-Rose started to list them off, reading them off the paper schedule in her hands.

"Ms. Mareon's really nice," Luna said in response. "I think she used to be like a kindergarten teacher or something. Mr. Smith's okay too, I guess."

Lily-Rose nodded.

They reached the classroom, Mrs. Greenfield was greeting students at the door with a sharp glare, the kind that could vaporize anyone who made eye contact with her.

Lily-Rose slipped into the desk directly behind Luna, her doe-like blue eyes widening as she prepared to take in any information from the teacher.

Luna sat in her seat, the one right by the window out-looking the single tree in the center of the courtyard. She had picked that desk for only one reason, the smudged name that was carelessly scrawled into the corner.

The teacher began her lesson, droning on about whatever the lesson was on, but Luna's mind had slipped from the lesson and back out the window, drifting far away from her body. Her gaze immediately fell back to the desk, the words "Harper Evans was here" staring back at her in large looping letters. Harper and Luna had known each other all their lives, living right next door to one another. Their lives had been intertwined since before she could remember, before everything changed. As much as she missed Harper, she was also jealous of her. She got to keep her old life, staying in the sunlight. They had kept in contact even though they were taught to believe they would never see one another again; they still had hope. They texted when they could, and even before that they had left letters for one another on their front porches.