Fire Emblem: High School Years (High School AU) - Junior Year

Chapter 1: A New Start

Chrom

Jeez, I hit a huge growth spurt over the summer. I'm almost taller than Dad! I thought to myself as I adjusted my collar, straightening out my blazer. My freshmen year, my blazer felt too big for me (or at least looked like it in pictures). Now that I was nearly full-grown and packed on some muscle, the uniform fit quite nicely.

"Just gotta fix my hair and I'll be good to go..." With one swipe of my hand, my navy-blue mop fell in its usual place. "There. Perfect."

Then, there was loud pounding on the bathroom door. "Chrooooom! Hurry it up in there!" My younger sister, Lissa, shouted.

I sighed as I fixed my cuffs. "You already had your turn!"

"But my hair isn't cooperating and I need to curl it! Stat!"

So much for a quiet first day of school morning. "I'll be out in a second!" With a quick once over, I decided my appearance was good enough. I barely had the door open before Lissa rushed in, pushing past me and slamming the door shut. "She's so weird..."

"I heard that!"

"Good!" I chuckled. I should head down for breakfast, soon. We still have to do our Skype call with Emm. Before I went downstairs, I remembered that my phone was still in my room. As I was taking it off the charger, a picture on my desk caught my eye. Every year, my friend group and I took a picture together on the first and last day of school. Seeing how it has changed throughout the years made you think about time and all of its effect.

However, there was one person I was unable to take my eyes off of: my best friend, Anna. In this picture, we were smiling as if nothing was wrong. I held her close with one arm, her blue-dyed ends matching my hair.

A few months ago, we ended the school year on an awkward note. We tried to forget since then, mostly going back to our normal dynamic, but there was still air between us that was not the same. I loved her, and not just as a friend. We made it clear on multiple occasions that we would wait. One day, there would be a sign that signaled us to move forward in our relationship.

But as the days passed, I wondered if I even wanted a sign.

...

"So, how does it feel to be an upperclassman?" Emm asked.

I sighed, adjusting the volume on the computer. "It still hasn't sunk in, if I'm being honest."

She huffed a laugh. "I feel ya. You'll get used to it soon, trust me," she said.

"What about you? This is your last year of school!"

Emm covered her ears, pretending not to hear me. "Ahhh! Stop it! I don't want to think about that!" She exclaimed. "It feels really weird, though. Even though I still have to student teach before I can graduate, the fact that I'm almost done with formal university is so weird."

Before I could say anything, the screeching banshee that was my little sister came barreling towards me. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU STARTED THE CALL WITHOUT MEEEE!" All I could do was sit to the side as she pushed me away.

"You were taking forever in the bathroom! I've already finished breakfast, slowpoke!" Her hair was done up in her usual pigtails. I didn't understand why exactly she needed to curl her hair so desperately, but I've learned to not fight it.

"On the topic of time kicking our asses..." Emm began, "how does it feel to enter 8th grade? This is your last year of middle school!"

...Oh, yeah, Lissa will be a freshman in high school, next year. We haven't gone to school together since elementary!

Lissa shrugged. "I dunno. I honestly feel kinda indifferent about the whole thing," she said. "I honestly just want to get out of middle school. It sucks."

I smirked. "Wait until high school comes. It'll bite you in the butt!"

Emm glared at me playfully. "Don't scare her, Chrom! She's still a baby!"

"No, I'm not! Shut up, you two!" Lissa groaned. "And seriously, it'll take a lot more than words for Chrom to scare me."

"I'm driving us to school."

Lissa flinched. "Oh...right. You have your license."

Something else that happened over the summer was that Anna and I both got our drivers licenses. So, er, yeah. Pretty big deal.

"Have some confidence in your brother! I'm sure he's a great driver!" Emm teased.

I pulled my keys out of my pocket, twirling them around my finger. "What do you say, Liss? Should we head out early so I can show off my amazing skills?"

"Oh, um, I..." she gulped. "Oh! Would you look at that! I got a text from Sakura! Gotta go!" And with that, she took off.

I rolled my eyes. "That girl..."

"Is she really that scared of you driving?"

I shook her head. "No, she's just living in her favorite state: denial. She doesn't want to accept that she'll be driving soon." As I spoke, I checked the clock. "Oh, speaking of, we should get going. The gas isn't going to waste itself!"

Emm giggled. "Okay, then. Good luck!"

"You too!"

All right, Ylisse High, time for my third year. What challenges await me this year?

*****
And we're off! I'm soooooooo excited to start posting this installment of HSY! I have a feeling it'll be a fan-favorite... 😉 Anyway, have the Lowell family being dorks. And holy crap, I can't believe this is the third time I'm writing this. Time needs to slow down. Ahhhhhhh. There was some truth about me in this like getting my license over the summer and constantly living in denial. Fun times. Yeah, that's all I got. Thank you so much for reading and look forward to reading more!

P.S. In case you didn't know, I post this series every Sunday. See you next week!