Hecate's Academy

Chapter 2

 Jacqueline opened up his locker. He packed his books and schedules onto the shelves. He looked at himself in the mirror hanging in his locker, one of the few decorations he had in the compact space, He was unsurprised when he saw a reflection of himself staring back at him. Normal looks, maybe even a bit on the attractive side, but he never got his hopes up. He glanced at his baby blue hair, a bit messy but otherwise plain. The mirror grew some frost on its surface and Jacqueline finally pulled away. He sighed and closed his locker door and to his surprise there was a petite girl leaning against the neighboring locker. "Why hello there!" she said happily. Jacqueline stumbled back in surprise and he managed to get a good luck at her. Light pink hair, big beady eyes, light gray skin, and 6 arms... wait a minute... 6 arms?! He stumbled back even more. Who was this monster?! What did she want with him?!

"D-do... Do you need something?" despite his attempts to be brave they could both hear the terror in his voice.

"Want? I don't want anything... except to be friends!" her smile still persisted. Despite her grotesque features she was actually quite attractive.

"F-friends..? Yeah right... like you'd want to be friends with a coward like me..."

"It's true you are a coward, in fact you're even scared of a petite girl who you could easily overpower." He frowned, not exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Wow thanks for the encouragem-" he was cut off.

"But... You can always overcome fear with enough courage." She winked at him. "Plus you have a locker next to me so we should get well acquainted."

"B-but what If I don't want to...I mean, you can't blame me for being s-scared of you. Just look at you!"

"How awful! Judging a girl by the way she looks! You're going to make me cry!" She turned away from him and pouted.

"A-ah! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! We can be f-friends!" He felt a twinge of guilt.

"R-really?" She turned back around with fake tears in her eyes. Jacqueline nodded. The girl jolted up and gave him a surprise, 6 armed hug. He squirmed a bit in her arms.

"Y'know most guys would feel very lucky getting hugged by a cute girl."

"Yeah well most guys wouldn't want to be hugged by their biggest fear... no offense." He gave her an awkward pat on the head. "What's your name, anyway?"

The girl let go of him and brushed herself off. "I am Annette Spindelle, It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Annette did a short curtsy.

"Pleasure to meet you too, I'm Jacqueline Froste." He managed an awkward smile.

Annette laughed a bit. "Jacqueline? Isn't that a girls' name?"

Jacqueline turned red. "H-hey... It's not that girly... B-besides! If you don't like it then just give me a nickname or something."

Annette clasped her hands together. "I have the perfect idea! From now on I will call you Jackie!" She smiled.

Jacqueline blushed a bit. "S-sure... whatever you think fits."

The bell rang and they each said their goodbyes and were on their way. Jacqueline was happy he made a friend, even if she was a terrifying creature made of his deepest darkest fears.