Hestadil One-Shots

Meaningless Drivel, Mindless Automatons... and Her

Today was the first day of kindergarten and Hester couldn't be more... disappointed.

She'd expected to learn about the world, but all she'd found was shaped and numbers she already knew.

Meaningless drivel and mindless automatons doing just as they were told.

Especially that small golden-haired boy over there.

Tedros, she believed his name was.

She immediately removed him from her thoughts and dismissed the blond girl sitting beside him (Sophie? Really? Could she have a name that was more basic?).

The girl next to her was interesting.

She had dark hair and her eyes were down cast as she subtly (well, not very subtly to be honest) glared at Tedros. She had bug eyes and sunken cheeks, but at least she wasn't a sheep like the rest of them.

She ignored the rest of her classmates.

All except a rather rotund girl that sat next to her.

She had bright brown eyes and a bubbly, excited air to her.

She held out a chocolate covered hand for Hester.

"I'm Dot!"

Hester eyed her hand with disdain.

"Hester," she said simply, barely shaking the other girl's hand for a moment before she let go and wiped the chocolate on her dark clothes.

She supposed this girl would be easily manipulated and could be her friend, if she was strong enough she supposed.

But the girl was already smiling shyly at a girl across the room. She had long pigtails that made her look more like three than five or six. She had big doe brown eyes and looked like she wanted to come over and at by them.

Hester glared at her darkly and she spooked like a rabbit, looking away.

Dot frowned and glanced at Hester, but the black-haired girl ignored Dot's gaze.

There was a small dark-skinned girl that had already started an argument with Sophie.

She wasn't sure what it was about, but it didn't really matter.

If she fought against Sophie, then Hester liked her.

She would later find out the girl was Nicola and was a year younger than them.

But she didn't have time to worry about that as the door swung open and in stride a girl that seemed to juxtapose her in every way.

She had long white hair, contrasting her short black hair, and vibrant blood red eyes that were the exact opposite of Hester's black that seemed to reject all color. Her skin was pale, paler than seemed natural and Hester had never seen anything like it.

She strode in with an air of confidence, the only thing about her that seemed to match Hester's own exterior.

She eyed the room with a disgusted look until her eyes landed on Hester.

Their gazes met.

Like cold glacial ice meeting burning and scorching fire.

Neither broke the eye contact, but the albino stalked toward Hester's small child-sized table.

She sat down beside Hester and for a moment their loud, rambunctious classmates seemed to be silenced.

"Anadil," she said curtly.

"Hester," she said just as simply.

They shook hands like professional business owners, but their hands stared connected for a long moment and Hester felt an electrical current pass through the two of them.

The girl's skin was as frigid as her gaze and Hester's was as heated as the fire within her soul.

They sat in the back of class, muttering to each other about their classmates and snickering at each other's wit, a rare talent for children their age.

The teachers acted like commanders and the children like robots, willing to walk off a cliff if told to.

But Anadil wasn't like that.

She was... different.

Hester wouldn't remember much about her first day of kindergarten, but she would remember three things.

Mindless drivel, mindless automatons... and her.

~

Through the years, they watched their friends find love.

Dot finally admitted how she felt to Kiko.

Hort had gotten over Sophie and was most likely making out with Ravan at the moment.

Agatha and Tedros had, unexpectedly, gotten together.

Sophie had been jealous at first until she realized she'd had a crush on someone else the entire time. Nicola Woods. It had taken a whole year, but she'd finally won the girl over after many a trial and error.

Now it was just them, standing on their own at their freshman dance.

As a slow song started to play, they both looked at each other.

Memories danced in their heads, going to the best of the slow song that surrounded them like a romantic haze.

Hester remembered pranks they'd pulled together.

Anadil remembered Hester tutoring her so she wouldn't fail history.

They remembered laughter and tears, triumphs and failures.

But as they closed the distance between their lips, there was one thing that both thought of.

Their first day of school.

They remembered meaningless drivel, mindless automatons... and her.