Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Phantagrande High School” Feower read as he got out of the car.

What a stupid name he thought to himself. What kind of idiot would name a school Phantagrande? What does that even mean? It’s not even a real word.

It didn’t matter in the end anyway though. It’s not like Feower was going to be here that long anyway. Based on his past experiences, of which there were many, he wouldn’t be at this school for more than a year before he moved away again. It was fine. It didn’t bother him. That was just his life as a foster kid. It didn’t matter where he moved, as long as he had his sister Tien by his side, everything would be fine.

At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

Brushing the thought aside, Feower knew he could survive a year in this stupidly named school. He’d been through worse.

“Hey, you coming? Or are you just going to stand there all day?” Feower heard Tien say from slightly in front of him.

“I’m coming.” Feower grunted out, trying to keep his annoyance in check in front of his sister.

As Feower walked towards the schools entrance he saw, sitting on one of the steps leading up to the entrance, a girl. Which wouldn’t have normally been unusual, this was a school after all, but it was what she was doing that made her stand out. She appeared to be lounging on the steps without a care in the world, eating something that Feower couldn’t tell what it was, but looked too sugary and sweet to be anywhere close to healthy and anywhere close to breakfast. She was short, with long grayish hair, wearing rugged brown clothes and on the shoulder facing Feower she seemed to have a patch that had an axe with three lines overtop it.

As Feower continued to look at her she turned to look at him as well and gave what he could only describe as an animalistic stare. Like she was warning him to not come any closer to her or he might be intruding on her territory. Feower felt a chill go down his spine and looked away before moving quickly up the last couple of steps to the schools main doors. As he reached them Tien was standing there, as if waiting for him.

“Brother, I know you’ve had problems in the past with school, but can you please try and keep the fighting to a minimum this year.”

“As long as no one bothers me they won’t get hurt.” Feower frowned.

Tien shook her head as the pair opened the doors. As soon as they did Feower felt a cacophony of sound barrel into him, almost knocking him back outside. The inside of the school was similar to many of the other schools Feower had been to, but so much louder. As Feower stopped just beyond the doors to catch his breath, his eyes caught a banner directly in front and overhead. It was black and purple and read “PHANTAGRANDE HIGH SCHOOL. HOME OF THE DRAGONS.” in big bold block letters with an image of a big black and purple dragon with large horns, massive wings and a large tail in the corner. Feower assumed that was their mascot.

Not only do they have a stupid name but they have a stupid mascot too. Feower looked away from the sign and at his sister, hoping she would be able to agree with his disgust at the banner. As he glanced at her, trying to catch her attention, he saw that she wasn’t looking at him but instead looking around the school, almost like she was searching for something.

“What are you looking for?” He asked.

“The front office. We need to go there first so we can get our class schedule.”

“I thought they already sent that to us in the mail.”

“They did, but yesterday they sent another letter saying that we needed to come to the from office because there had been a sudden change to our schedule and they needed to give us new ones.”

“Hmph.” Feower replied.

Stupid school. They couldn’t even get the schedules right. Just another reason to ignore everything here completely. As Feower stood there, waiting for Tien to figure out where they needed to go, he saw two girls setting up ladders on opposite ends of the banner. On the right was a tall girl with long white hair. She had on a blue jacket covering a white t-shirt, with shorts and long boots that stretched up to nearly her thighs. She was holding onto one edge of a banner as she climbed the ladder. The girl on the left was also tall with long hair but she was blond instead of pure white. Unlike the other girl this one also had what looked like feathers in her hair. She had on relatively normal clothes, a black jacket and shorts with a pair of detached legs running down the rest of her. To top it all off, this girl was wearing heels, which Feower didn’t think was the smartest idea when she was using a ladder. This girl was carrying the other half of the banner and as the two girls climbed the ladder Feower was able to read the new banner. “2 TIME DISTRICT CHAMPIONS IN BOYS SOCCER”. It looked like the two girls were attaching the banner to bottom of the bigger school banner so that it would hang under it.

Feower groaned. This school was competitive in sports, which meant he might be asked to join a team. That was the last thing Feower wanted to do. While he might be good at sports, he was naturally athletic, he didn’t want to join any teams. He tried that before and it didn’t work out well. He didn’t fit in a team. And, besides, he was gonna leave in a year any. No need for him to get attached to anything in the first place.

As Feower looked at the two girls hanging the banner, he noticed there was some kind of sticker or badge on the left girls jacket. It looked like a bow with two arrows over top it. Feower wasn’t sure what that meant, and didn’t care to find out, so he ignored it. No use getting caught up into mysteries at a place he didn’t care about after all. As Feower looked away from the two girls he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I found the office. It’s this way.” Tien said as she pulled at Feower’s hand dragging him with her.

The office wasn’t that far away it turned out, just on the other side of the entrance hallway. As Feower stepped through the office doors he felt blissful silence return. It was thankfully quiet in the main office, like the raging storm that was the rest of the school didn’t exist. Feower breathed a sigh of relief. He would have to hang out here more often.

“This way. I think we have to go to the front desk.” Tien called as she continued to drag him along.

As the pair approached the desk, Feower saw that someone else was already standing there. It was a guy, specifically a blond guy, who was wearing a red jacket, as much as you could wear a jacket that neither of your arms were in the sleeve. Glancing over the jacket Feower noticed, once again, it also had one of those badges on the shoulder. This one seemed to feature a sword with the letter V and two I overtop it. Did everyone in this school wear one of those Feower wondered. Or was it just a specific group of weirdos? As they reached the desk Feower the guy let out a huge laugh, presumably at a joke from whoever he was talking to at the front desk.

“And then I said ‘They don’t call me Seofun for nothing.’” He laughed again and wiped at his eyes.

Tien easily walked around the guy as if he wasn’t even there and spoke to the person behind the desk.

“Hello, I’m Tien and this is my brother Feower. We’ve come for our schedules.”

While Feower wasn’t trying to ignore the other guy, he did notice that he stood a little straighter after hearing Tien say their names. Feower tensed. He had seen that motion before. It was the motion of someone who knew who they were and Feower wasn’t going to deal with that this time. Feower, almost instinctively, moved to stand between Tien and whoever the guy was. If this guy was going to do something, he was going to have to get through Feower first.

“Take another step closer and you’ll regret it.” Feower warned, teeth clenched.

“Hey now. No need to be so hostile. We’re all friends here.” The other guy said, holding up his hands in mock surrender.

He had a smug look on his face. Feower wanted to punch it really bad.

“You’re very perceptive Feower. I see that you thought I was going to do something when I heard your sister say your names. And you were right.” Feower’s hands clenched into a fist. “But not in a bad way. In a good way believe it or not. I wanted to meet you personally and introduce myself and the school. My name is Seofon and I’m the president of the student council here at this fine school. I’d heard that we would be getting two new transfer students today and I felt it was my duty as president to meet you two in person before the first day truly started.” Seofon grinned and extended his hand towards Feower.

Feower somehow wanted to punch his face more. But he didn’t seem like he was going to harm them right now so he relaxed his fist. Ignoring Seofon’s outstretched hand Feower grunted as he tilted his head away in dismissal. As if to rescue him, Tien came up from behind him and shook Seofon’s hand.

“Hello Seofon. Excuse my brother. He’s not always this…unfriendly.” Tien said, glancing at Feower.

“Haha. No worries. The first day of school is difficult for all of us.” Seofon laughed again.

“I actually wanted to speak with you more than just to introduce myself. I have a question for the both of you. Though, truly, it’s more of a statement than a question.” Seofon coughed before continuing. “I have had both of you join the student council.”

Seofon gave another bright smile like he was waiting for the pair to thank him.

“WHAT?!” Feower yelled, unable to control his volume.

“Brother.” Tien hissed at him.

Feower was fuming but he lowered his voice before he spoke again.

“What did you just say you pompous buffoon?”

“Pompous buffoon? That’s new. I like that one. To repeat myself, I said that I had you both added to the student council.” Seofon said, stupid smile still stretched across his face.

“That’s what I thought you said. Now why would you do something like that without asking us first?” Feower asked as his fists clenched once more.

“Why? Because I know you two would be a great fit. I’ve seen some of your transcripts from your previous school and can tell both of you are smart students. Not only that but you’re both responsible, trustworthy, even if you’re a little hotheaded. I think the two of you would be great additions to the student council. And we just had two of the older members graduate so it’s perfect timing really.”

“Why do you think we would join your stupid little council or whatever? We haven’t been here for more than 10 minutes and you didn’t even ask us beforehand.” Feower growled out, barely keeping his rage in check.

“Well, I’m asking you right now so that’s got to count right?” Seofon winked as Feower glared at him.

“Alright alright. You drive a hard bargain but I'll make you a deal. You come to one student council meeting, the one after school today, and if you don’t like it you can quit. No harm no foul. Can you do that for your buddy Seofon?” Seofon’s face scrunched like he was a child asking for another treat. Feower had (almost) never wanted to punch someone more.

Unable to respond, too caught up in his own anger, Tien spoke up for the both of them.

“Thank you for your generous offer. I’m sure me and my brother can make it to the meeting after school today. Right Feower?” Tien said, staring at Feower.

Feower just stood there, unable to respond.

“I’ll take that as a yes. High five?” Seofon extended his hand out towards Feower.

Feower glared at Seofon.

“Ok then.” Seofon said, retracting his hand. “It was great meeting you two. I can’t wait to see you after school.” Seofon walked away with a smug smile and waved as he left the office.

Feower’s fist tightened as he turned towards his sister.

“I hate that guy and I hate his stupid club that he signed us up for, without our permission I remind you, and I’m not going.” He growled out.

Tien shook her head.

“He may have been a little…eccentric but he seems like a nice person. He seemed genuinely interested in helping us so the least we could do is go to the meeting. He even said if we didn’t like it we didn't have to continue going.”

Feower sputtered for a few seconds trying to find a way to argue against her, to try to get out of this somehow. But nothing came to his mind so he just breathed out a sigh as he grunted his acceptance.

“Fine. I’ll go to the stupid meeting today. But don’t think for a second that I’m going to enjoy it and go again.”

“Fine. Whatever you say. Let’s just get to our first class, ok.”

—————

Feower sat down for his first class of the day. He wasn’t exactly sure what the class was, since he only looked at the room number and not the actual subject, but based on the writing on the whiteboard at the front of the class he assumed it was math.

Feower groaned. It wasn’t that Feower was bad at math, he was fine at it, it was just that math first thing in the morning was not his favorite way to start the day. Feower wasn’t sure how the seating arrangement was created but he was seated in the back left of the classroom, farthest away from the door. He didn’t know anyone around him since Tien was seated almost as far away as she could be.

As Feower waited for class to begin he saw a figure that he swore looked like a child enter the classroom. Feower blinked, making sure he wasn’t seeing things. focusing on the figure again Feower confirmed that it actually was a child, not just some kind of extra short teenager, that entered the classroom. This child was a girl and, while she was small, she had the energy of a much larger person, much more than the majority of the other students in the room if he was being honest. As she walked in she greeted everyone she passed by with the sam bright cheery enthusiasm, and even stopped to talk to the occasional student. A few of the people she talked to seemed to pass her something, which made her giggle with seeming delight as she left them. Feower was too far away to tell exactly what they were giving her, but they looked to be brightly wrapped packages with large colorful writing scrawled across them. Taking a second, he realized they were pieces of candy. Feower clicked his tongue.

Of course a child would want candy. Why is she even here anyway? This isn’t a daycare. It’s a high school. As the child sat down Feower thought he glimpsed a badge on her shoulder that had a staff with a the letter V overtop of it. Feower’s eyes tightened as he saw that badge. It was similar to the ones that, not only those two girls had, but also, more importantly, that one that idiot from the front office was wearing. He didn’t know what it meant but if it was associated with that guy it couldn’t possibly be a good sign. Just as Feower’s scowl was deepening from having to remember that idiot the teacher entered the room and called out to the class, silencing the room. “Hello everyone. Welcome. I’m glad to see many students I recognize, and I hope we have a wonderful year together. But also, I see a couple of new faces joining us this year. While I am always happy to see new face, that does leave me with questions about how everyone fares in terms of math. To make sure we are all on the same page, I need to know what level everyone is at when it comes to algebra. So I've prepared a little quiz to see where everyone is at.”

The class gave off a collective groan.

“I know I know. A quiz on the first day. I can already here the cries of worst teacher ever. But it’s for your own good. I need to know what material I need to definitely cover and what material I can do less of.”

The teacher picked up some paper on their desk and passed sheets of paper to the front of each of the desk rows.

“While some of you may be worried, you don’t need to be. This won’t be graded so just do your best.”

Feower looked at the quiz as it was passed to him. Nothing too difficult but Feower would have to remember exactly what he needed to do for some of these problems. As Feower worked, the only sound he heard for the first few minutes was pencils scratching paper. Feower expected this to continue for a while longer but, unexpectedly, he heard a chair squeak and scoot backwards. Feower looked up and saw, to his shock, it was the child. The child got out of her chair, took her quiz, and handed it to the teacher at the front.

Feower snickered. Stupid kid. Of course you are done already. You’re just a child so of course you wouldn’t know anything about this level of math.

Feower chuckled as he saw the teacher quickly grade the quiz. This will show you kid.

“Good job Fif. You got them all right as usual. Have a piece of candy.” Feower was stunned.

How did this child, who looked like an elementary school student, possibly complete everything on this quiz so fast and have all of it be correct? Feower couldn’t wrap his mind around what this meant. He tried to focus on the quiz in front of him but it was hard because he was so focused on what trick that kid used. There had to be something to it right? There can’t be a kid who was that smart right? Feower kept rolling it over and over in his mind as he struggled to keep his attention on the paper in front of him. After a few more agonizing minutes Feower finished. He walked up to the teacher and handed it over, his mind still racing. It took them slightly longer to grade his work than it did for the child, but it was finished quickly.

“Good job Feower. You must have had a solid foundation at your previous school since you got almost all of them correct.” The teacher smiled at him as he headed back to his desk.

Feower grumbled as he sat back down. How could he not have beaten that elementary school student? It didn’t make sense. Feower was willing to admit math was not his best subject but he thought he was still good at it. At least better than a literal child. As he sat there grumbling to himself, the person sitting in front of him turned around to speak to him.

“Hey buddy! I saw that you were kind of glaring at Fif over there. I get your frustration, but don’t be. Fif is some math super genius. She skipped like 4 grades because she’s so smart. So don’t compare yourself to her in math, or anything really. You’ll just feel bad about yourself.”

Feower, pulled from his train of thought, just stared at the guy in front of him. He was a big muscular guy with blond hair, a plain white T-shirt, and a kind of goofy innocent look on his face.

“By the way my name is Vane. I heard you’re one of the new students so I wanted to make sure that you are doing ok. Do you want to be friends?” Vane said as he stuck his hand out towards Feower.

Feower didn’t know what to do. This guy reminded Feower of Seofon, but less annoying and like he was being nice sincerely, and not trying to get one over on him. He wasn’t sure what to do so he slowly stuck his hand out and shook Vane’s hand. He immediately regretted it though, as his hand felt like it was in a vice as Vane’s closed around his. Feower winced as they shook hands, quickly pulling back as soon as he could, shaking his hand as he tried to return feeling to it. Vane looked pale.

“Oh I’m sorry. Did I use too much force? Lancey always says that I use too much force for handshakes. But I can’t help it. I’m just so excited to meet people it’s hard to restrain myself sometimes.” Vane pouted a little as he spoke.

It wasn’t unlike a dog that knew it had done something wrong Feower thought. An image of a golden retriever flashed in Feower’s mind at the thought. He chuckled a little. Looking back to him, it looked like Vane was about to continue speaking, but was interrupted by the teacher as they stood up.

“Now that everyone is done I would like to congratulate everyone. You all did better than I expected on this quiz. We are going to be starting further than I originally guessed.” The teacher clicked a remote and the projector flashed on.

“Since this is the first day and I made all of you take a quiz, I’ll just go over the syllabus and then we can be done for today.”

—————

Ding dong ding dong Feower heard from the school speakers.

“Ok class. That will be it for today. Welcome back and have a good rest of your first day.” The teacher called out amid the shuffling of chairs and backpacks.

Vane turned around and waved a quick goodbye at Feower as he bounded over to one of the other students leaving the classroom. Feower hadn’t been prepared for the amount of energy that Vane had, especially so early in the morning, so he was still trying to recover from that surge. Feower shook his head and headed over to Tien. He wasn’t here to make friends, he said to himself, just to survive the year. That’s how it has to be.

“So, what’s our next class?” Feower asked.

Tien pulled out their schedules and looked over them.

“It appears that we don’t share our next class. I have art and you have theater. They both appear to be on the other side of the school though.”

Feower huffed as he let out a breath.

“Theater? Why am I signed up for theater? Acting like someone else? That’s pointless. I’m perfectly capable just being me.”

“You didn’t tell me what you wanted for your electives so I guess they choose one for you. You’ll just have to accept it for today at least. If you don’t like it I think we can still talk to the front office and change it.”

Feower rolled his eyes as he begrudgingly accepted what Tien said.

“Fine. Let’s just get there. The sooner it starts the sooner it’s over.” Feower muttered out.

Tien only nodded as they both headed out the classroom and towards the other side of the school. Right as the siblings left the classroom the overwhelming noise of the school returned. Feower gritted his teeth. Was the school always going to be this loud? Hopefully it was only because it was the first day. As Feower continued to walk, he caught wind of a voice that could be heard even over the din of the hallway.

“Please students. Pay attention to the signs posted. The left stairs are for going up and the right stairs are for going down. If everyone listens then we will have a much smoother and orderly hallway.”

Feower clicked his tongue and ignored what the voice was saying but he did wonder who it was that could speak so loud that they could be heard even over the roar of the hallway. As he rounded the corner and went into the central hallway of the school, Feower saw the source of the voice. It was a short guy with orange hair and a large orange mustache, one that stretched out far from his face, who was standing on what looked like a raised platform area located in the center of the junction of the main stairs. He didn’t look like he could be that loud but his voice cut through the din like a hot knife through butter and with a calm collected authority.

As Feower passed by him he spotted something on the guys arm. It was another one of those stupid badges that Feower had been seeing around. This badge displayed a vertical line with two bars, one at the top and one at the bottom. As Feower got closer to the badge he saw that it wasn’t just a vertical line but what appeared to be a spear.

“Hey you.” Feower had stopped in the middle of the hallway, near the guy who was yelling out orders.

“Yes, how can I help you?” The guy asked, his voice still able to cut through the din of the hallway even though he was speaking more quietly.

“I keep seeing those badges.” Feower motioned to the badge on the guys arm. “What are they? Are they supposed to be for some stupid fancy club or something?” Feower asked, not trying to hide the annoyance that seeped into his voice.

“You must be new here then if you don’t know what this badge is. This badge is the symbol of the Eternals. Each member has a badge to show their membership.” The guy said, as if this was a thing that everybody just knew.

“The Eternals? Is that some stupid nerd history club or something?”

“You don’t know?”

Feower glared at the man, who didn’t seem to notice or care.

“The Eternals is the official name for the student council.”

Feower froze.

The student council?

The STUDENT COUNCIL?!

The same student council that that buffoon Seofon was on and that both he and Tien had unknowingly and forcibly joined???

Feower was steaming. He wasn’t going to wear a stupid badge so that everyone in this stupid school could see he was a loser who was part of the student council.

“Hello? Are you still there young man?” The guy on the pedestal asked. “Since you seem to be new here, I will warn you that the bell is close to ringing and that you should get to your next class as quickly as you can. You wouldn’t want to be late on your first day would you?”

Feower, still unable to speak, was almost pushed over by Tien as she moved the two of them down the hallway.

“Badges?! Student Council badges?! I told you listening to that oaf and going to the student council meeting was going to be a bad idea. We don’t need to wear badges. That would make us look even more out of place than we already are.” Feower yelled, his rage barely in check.

Tien sighed. “We still have to go Feower. We said we would so we will. No getting out of it.”

Feower was about to speak when Tien gave him a look. He had seen that kind of look many a time before and Feower knew that there was no pointing in arguing with her when she looked at him like that.

“We’ll talk about it later.” Feower said, trying to save himself a little.

The pair continued walking down the hall, moving to the left and right occasionally to avoid students lingering in the hallway. The pair eventually reached an intersection.

“Ok Feower. I’m going to turn left here and you are going to turn right slightly further ahead and then we’ll meet up here after class is over.” Tien waved as she walked to the left, heading to what Feower assumed was the art classrooms.

Feower waved back and headed to the right. He had to walk down the next hall a little bit until he saw what the theater room. Or, at least he assumed that it was based on the random pieces of wood and various painted things in the hallway right outside the door. Approaching the door, which Feower noticed was located next to a large metal retractable door, he heard noise coming from within. Even with the door closed he could clearly hear full conversations and laughter. It almost competed with the normal din of the hallway. As he opened the door Feower winced as the noise from inside the room buffeting him with nothing in its way now.

Looking around, he saw a number of different students in there, stretching all over the classroom, talking, yelling arguing, laughing. After Feower took a second to recover from the sound, he looked around the classroom. Or, as Feower thought, the “classroom”. The room wasn’t a traditional classroom. First off, it was completely black. Like, completely. Walls, floors, everything was black. Second, the room wasn’t setup like a traditional classroom. There weren’t any desks setup, in rows or otherwise. There was just one long table in the middle of the room and a variety of other chairs setup around it. There was also a couch for some reason? Feower wasn’t sure what a couch was doing in a classroom but, if he was being honest, that wasn’t even that odd compared to the rest of the room.

As he walked further into the room he looked at the students spread out across the classroom. They looked like normal kids from what he could tell. Except for maybe one kid that he saw in the back corner. It looked like they were brooding? Feower wasn’t sure but they had like a mask or something obscuring their face? They were sitting in darkness so it was hard to tell if it was an actual mask or something else.

What a nerd. Feower thought. Who just sits in the corner brooding. He must be one of the theater kids.

Looking around, Feower wasn’t exactly sure where to sit since the room wasn’t normal. Shrugging to himself, Feower picked one of the chairs around the table so he at least had a surface in front of him. Sitting down Feower tuned everybody out, ignoring the rest of the people and noise around him. He didn’t want to or need to talk to anyone. He just had to sit in this weird class and get through it as fast as he could. As Feower thought that, the teacher walked in. Or more like, strutted in. The teacher was a young looking man with silver hair. He was wearing blue jeans and a shirt with some kind of Japanese writing and a bunch of different people on it. Feower wasn’t sure what that shirt meant or said but he knew it was nerdy so he knew this had to be the theater teacher. The teacher entered the room and walked to the front of the class.

“Welcome everyone…wow there are so many of you here. I didn’t think I would get that many this year. That’s super cool.” The teacher, realizing what he just said out loud, looked panicked for a second before steeling himself and clearing his throat.

“As I was saying…Welcome everyone to sophomore theater! For those returning, welcome back to the fold. And for those new students…” The teacher looked around the classroom and looked at Feower along with a few other students as if to emphasize he was talking to them.

“…You are about to be inducted into the glorious tradition of the theater! It is a tradition full of mystery, glory and, most of all, lots of acting! My name is Mr. Grimnir, but you can just call me Grimnir, and I will be your teacher, and director, for the year.” Grimnir looked back and forth for a second.

“It’s going to be really cool this year. We are all going to have so much fun.” Grimnir cleared his throat again. “So now, on this first day of class, I would like to start right away. While there are many ways to learn acting, one of the best ways is to just do it. So I say that we start off with an acting exercise. Let’s start with something established before we get into. How about…the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. That’s a classic. And who should play our fairest young lady and dashing young man.” Grimnir cupped his chin and titled his head in thought for a sec before raising his hand high in the air.

“I’ve got it! Our fair young lady shall be the ever shining Vira.” Grimnir said as he pointed towards one of the girls sitting on the couch.

As she stood up Feower saw that she was blond and wearing a nice dress. By all accounts she was very pretty. But that was slightly ruined as Feower saw the utter look of disdain on her face, like the entire world was beneath her and everyone else was just a bug to be squashed.

“Of course Grimnir, of course. I will gladly take the role of Juliet.”

“You are ever so helpful Vira. And then are dashing young man will be played by Seox.” Grimnir pointed to the back corner and the person Feower noticed earlier who was sitting there brooding.

As he stood up Feower got a better look at him. What Feower had originally thought was a mask was actually just the design of the jacket that had been covering Seox’s face while he was sitting. As he stood up it fell back, but only slightly. Not enough to see what Seox’s face or his hair looked like. What Feower was able to see clearly though was the badge on Seox’s shoulder. It was another one of those student council badges. This one featured a fist or something like that with the letter V and the letter I overtop it. Feower gritted his teeth. Another one of those stupid student council members.

Why are they everywhere I am? It’s like they are following me or something. This has to be setup by that doofus Seofon. How else would I constantly be seeing all of these people everywhere I am.

As Feower glared at the other boy he saw that Seox had crossed his arms as he stood up, like he was posing or something.

“Of course Grimnir. It is my honor to play Romeo for you.” Feower heard snickers from behind him as Seox finished speaking.

“What a nerd.”

“Why is he always like that? Always so aloof.”

“Couldn’t he just be a normal person for once?”

This was all followed by hushed laughter.

Feower gritted his teeth even harder. While he didn’t like those badges or anyone associated with them, he liked bullies even less. Bullies were one of the worst people that Feower could think of. They were constantly picking on people that they thought were below them and they knew couldn’t defend themselves. It was the most cowardly and weak way to behave that Feower could think of. But while Feower had been focused on the whispering behind him, both Vira and Seox had moved to the front of the classroom and it looked like they were about to start.

“Ok. You two ready? On three. One. Two. Three. Action!”

“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” Seox recited.

Feower was immediately struck by the performance. It felt like he had been transported into a real live theater. No wonder Grimnir picked this guy. He was a natural. He looked dark and brooding before but now he seemed to slide right into the role of Romeo. Even with a script in his hand Seox was still impressive, the script mainly resting at his side. Maybe not everyone with those badges were bad?

They were all still nerds though.

Before Feower knew it, the scene was over and everyone was clapping. Feower, surprising himself, was also clapping. Feower wasn’t sure what he was doing, since he wasn’t going to make any friends, but he actually enjoyed that.

“Perfect! Bravissimo! Excelente! You two were perfect as always. That’s why you are my two star students.” Grimnir said as he stood up and came to the front of the room.

“Ok. So for our next fabulous performance I want something more energetic. Something snappier. Any suggestions class?” Feower saw several hands shoot up around him.

Feower clicked his tongue. Grimnir pointed at one of the people in the class.

“How about Who’s on First?” Grimnir beamed.

“Perfect. That’s a great skit. Very classic. One of my favorites. Let me grab the whole script from online really quick. Talk amongst yourselves until then.”

As Grimnir left the noise around Feower quickly rose to its previous crescendo. Feower, not knowing anyone, and not wishing to know anyone, just sat there by himself, trying to use out the noise around him. Almost unconsciously though, Feower glanced behind him, to the back of the room, looking to spot Seox. He saw him, still brooding in the corner, jacket mask over his face.

Feower, for some reason, and against his own better judgment, wanted to talk to him. He wasn’t sure why but it felt like Seox, even through his aloof exterior, was a little…lonely? Feower didn't know what he was thinking really but it just felt like that. As Feower was deliberating over whether to get up and talk to him or not, Grimnir came up back into the classroom.

“Alright everyone. I have the scripts! Now which of the two fabulous thespians here are going to perform this for us. 1…2…3…You!” Grimnir pointed right at Feower as he said you.

Feower paled.

“Um, I’m sorry. I can’t act. I haven’t acted before.”

Grimnir frowned a little.

“Well, you are in this class. This isn’t the sit around and watch theater class. It’s the theater class. So you are going to have to act at some point. And you might as well start sooner rather than later.” Grimnir smiled as Feower continued to be stunned.

“Don’t worry though, uh…”

“Feower”

“…Feower. I’ll pair you up with one of my best students so you don’t have to worry. Uhh. Seox. Will you be so kind as to assist me again for this performance.”

“Yes, of course.” Seox said as he stood up.

Feower frowned. Of course. As if this day couldn’t have gotten any worse. Not only I am about to embarrass myself in front of everyone, but it’s going to stand out even more because he’ll be up there.

Feower didn’t know what else he could do so he slowly stood up and walked to the from of the room. Grimnir huddled together with him and Seox as he handed them the script.

“Don’t worry about the performance. This is an easy piece and Seox will be there to guide you. Everyone knows you are a first timer so don’t be scared.” Feower nodded his head as he worked to maintain a straight face.

As Grimnir went to sit down, Feower gulped.

Ding dong ding dong. The bell echoed in the classroom as the noise slowly faded.

“Well, I guess that’s the bell. It’s too bad we’ll miss your premier performance. We’ll just have to try again another time.” Grimnir winked at Feower.

Feower let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding as he handed the script back and gathered up his stuff. As he headed towards the door he glanced at Seox who nodded at him as he left. Feower nodded back, more on instinct than anything else. Feower wasn’t sure what happened in that class…but he didn’t hate it. So that was something he thought.

—————

“Hello brother. You look a little happy. A good class?” Tien said as Feower walked up to her.

“What do you mean? That class was dumb, as is the rest of this school.” Feower said as he tried to get his face to become more neutral.

Tien just gave a sly smile.

“Your next class is gym, which is right behind us. My next class is English, which is back on the other side of the school.”

Feower frowned. “You would think they would organize these schedules better and not have you walk all the way across the school for each of your classes. Just more evidence of this schools incompetence.”

Tien chuckled. “Good to know you are still you.”

Feower waved his hand at her. “I’ll see you after class. Do you want to meet in the rotunda?”

“Sure. See you then.” She said, walking away.

Feower headed back the way he came, but this time he went straight instead of right, heading towards one of the big gym doors behind him. As he walked Feower wondered if he would see more of the student council members. He wasn’t sure how many of them there were though. But, based on all of his previous classes, he had to imagine there were at least two more. Feower didn’t want to meet any more of them…but then they also might be not terrible, like Seox, so maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as he thought.

As Feower reached the gym doors and entered the room, which was sizable for a gym he thought, he saw a number of students, mostly milling around the room or sitting and waiting. It looked like the teacher hadn’t arrived yet so there was nothing to do. As he entered, the first thing Feower did was scan everyone in the room, particularly their shoulders. He had to know if there were any more of the student council in this class. After a minute Feower saw no sign of any badges. He sighed in relief.

Thank god. I did not want to deal with another one of them. They were probably going to be another huge nerd. Seox was ok, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a big nerd as well. He just wasn’t obnoxious.

Just as Feower finished his look around the room the doors on the other side of the gym burst open.

“Students! I am your PE teacher, Coach Uriel! I am here to make sure all of you students meet the physical goal set by the school district! Don’t think this will be a blow off class! I will make sure every students does the maximum effort they can! I’ll make sure you leave in better physical condition then you were when you arrived! Now let’s begin!” Uriel clapped his hands together and waved students over to him.

“Everyone surround me so I don’t have to yell at you!” The students slowly meandered their way around Coach Uriel

“Good!” Uriel continued to yell.

“Now today we will start off with some benchmark exercises so that I know everyones base levels. This way I know where to start each of you. First is the mile run. Let’s head to the track!”

Feower had to take a second to recover after Uriel finished. While he had said that everyone needed to come closer so he didn’t have to yell, that wasn’t true. Uriel still yelled when they all were around him. It was like he couldn’t, or didn’t know how to, control his own volume. Feower hoped he would figure it out soon.

After he finally recovered, Feower followed the other students out of the gym and, quickly, out of the building entirely. It was a cool autumn day outside which Feower was glad for because the previous few days had been overly warm. Feower wasn’t sure how long it would take to get the to track that Coach Uriel mentioned and, since he didn’t know anyone, he had nothing to occupy his time. Or, at least, that’s what Feower thought. Shortly after he got outside he heard some yell at him. The person wasn’t yelling his name but Feower thought he recognized the voice.

“Hey buddy!” Fewer heard, along with the pounding of footsteps behind him that rapidly got louder and louder.

Feower didn’t have any time to react before the footsteps caught up to him and a hand clamped down onto his shoulder squeezing it to the point of almost bruising.

“Hey buddy! How are you doing? It’s nice to see you again.” Feower turned his head and momentarily thought he was looking into the sun before he realized that the sun was in the other direction.

After Feower’s eyes adjusted to the light he saw a familiar face. It was the guy from his math class. Feower didn’t remember his name but he did remember his overabundant enthusiasm and inability to control his own force. Before Feower could speak though he heard a second voice come from behind him.

“Vane you can’t just run up to random people and put your hand on their shoulder. Not everyone is as friendly as you. Are you ok?” Feower was asked as a boy with dark hair ran up to him.

This guy, while initially unassuming, had an air of authority around him. Like he was used to being a leader.

“It’s ok though Lancey since I know this guy! I met him this morning. We’re in the same math class!” Vane said as he beamed at the other boy.

“I’m fine.” Feower said as he tugged his shoulder out of the grasp of Vane’s hand.

Vane didn’t seem to notice or, if he did, didn’t acknowledge it.

“I met this guy in math class like I was telling you earlier. I said that we were in the math class with that super genius girl Fif and that this guy was sitting right behind me and I told him all about Fif.”

The other boy chuckled. “Does this guy have a name by any chance?”

Vane thought for a second before his face turned cross. The boy chuckled again. “

I’m Lancelot. Nice to meet you. I heard you just transferred here.” Lancelot stuck his hand out towards Feower.

Feower warily stuck his hand out towards the boy, a little afraid from his experience with Vane. As their hands clasped together, Feower was surprised. The handshake was very firm and solid. Nothing like the overenthusiastic handshake that Feower had received earlier.

“Yes. I’m Feower. Nice to meet you too.” Feower said, almost on instinct as his hand broke from Lancelot’s.

“Feower. I thought so. I told you it probably started with an F Lancey.”

“Yes, yes you did. I’m sorry for ever doubting you.” Lancelot laughed a little again as he patted Vane on the arm.

“Feower, how are you liking the school so far.” Lancelot asked as the three of them continued their walk.

Feower was a little surprised. He didn’t expect Lancelot to start a conversation with him.

“It’s ok. It’s hard to judge based on the first half of the day.” Feower said, unsure what to really say.

Feower had just met this guy, and while he didn’t care about the people here, he didn’t want to be rude to this seemingly nice guy, so couldn’t be truthful and say how dumb he thought this school was.

“You don’t like it do you?” Feower was stunned.

How was he able to tell? Lancelot smiled.

“Don’t worry. It’s ok. I know that you can’t tell me the truth. You don’t even know me. It’ll get better though. You just have to meet people who like you.” Lancelot said as he looked at Feower with a knowing glance.

“Like me and Lancey!” Vane bellowed.

Feower looked away, unsure what to say to their genuine kindness.

“Don’t worry about Lancey. He didn’t read your mind or anything. Though it feels like that sometimes. He’s just good at knowing what people are thinking.” Vane whispered, or tried to, while holding his hand to the side of mouth, as if to block Lancelot from seeing it.

“That’s why he’s the captain and I’m only the vice-captain.”

“Captain? Of what?” Feower whispered back, unknowingly copying Vane by putting his hand to the side of his mouth.

“The boys varsity soccer team, the White Dragons. He’s one of the youngest captains in school history. He’s super cool and our team is amazing because of him.” Vane beamed as he said the last part.

“Vane. As I’ve told you before, one person does not make a team. It’s thanks to all of the people on the team that we are doing well. Don’t sell yourself so short.” Lancelot chided him. Feower felt like this was a conversation these two had had multiple times.

“I think he overheard us somehow.” Vane said, genuine surprise on his face.

Feower rolled his eyes as he glared at his hand, annoyed at how it had betrayed him. Feower leaned away from the other two as a silence fell over the three. Just before he was going to ask how long it would take to get to the track he saw it in the distance. It was a pretty big track, though that was only a guess on Feower’s part since he had very little experience with them. There were also two big goal posts, one on each side of the field, and a set of metal bleachers on the side closest to the school. As Feower got closer to the track he saw that there were already people there, but on the far side of the track. Feower couldn’t really see what they were doing but it appeared that they were running up and down a large hill for some reason? Feower wasn’t sure why someone would voluntarily do that. It seemed incredibly tiring. Especially considering how steep the hill was. Feower cringed as he sat down, imagining how terrible those people must be feeling right now.

“Alright! Now that all you students are here it’s time for the real deal! You’ll run four times around this track, which equals a mile. The time you get will be your benchmark going forward, so try your best! Now line up and, when I blow my whistle, start running!” Even outside Feower had no problem hearing Coach Uriel, which he wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse.

At least being outside dampened his voice so he wasn’t nearly as loud out here as he was inside.

“Are you a good runner Feower? Then you could run together with me and Lancey.” Vane said as he patted Feower's back.

“Don’t push him Vane. Let him run at his own pace.” Lancelot said.

Vane pouted a little as he lined up with the rest of the students. As soon as everyone lined up Coach Uriel blew his whistle. Vane and Lancelot shot off like bullets, while the rest of the group only managed to shuffle slowly forward. Feower, not wanting to be seen in the same light as the other students, started off at a medium pace. If asked Feower would say that he wasn’t physically unfit but he also wasn’t in shape of an actual athlete. It looked like he was better than the majority of the class, but not better than Vane and Lancelot who were speeding far ahead of everyone.

Feower rounded the first corner quickly which allowed him to get a better look at the people who were running up and down the hill. After glancing at them quickly and nothing immediately catching his attention he was about to turn back to the track when he spotted someone a little further down from the runners. It was a big guy, the biggest guy he had seen so far at this school, even bigger than Vane. And he was alone. He had long white hair that almost reached that ground, wore a long white cape and had a stark white face with red eyes. He was currently standing in the middle of the field, eyes closed, hands on the hilt of what looked like a sword but was slightly off. It was too straight and thin to be a sword. Feower wasn’t sure if they were sleeping or maybe dead. Right when Feower passed by him he opened his eyes and yelled out.

“AAAHHH” he yelled as he swung the sword in a downward stroke that shook Feower to his core.

Stunned, Feower blew out a breath as he stood still to recover. As Feower stood there he looked closer at the swordsman. He was standing back in the position Feower first saw him in, as still as a grave. The wind ruffled his cape and Feower spotted a badge on the shoulder. It was another student council badge. This one featured a blade similar to the one that he was currently holding and it had a V and three I overtop of it. Feower wasn’t surprised at this point. He seemed strange enough to be part of the student council. At that realization Feower wondered if that made him strange too. Seofon told him to be part of the the student council so that meant that Feower had to exude some strange energy like the rest of the people he had met did. Feower didn’t think he was strange though. He was a normal person right? He was certainly nothing like all the other student council members he had met so far. Nothing like that odd child or their obnoxious leader or this statue of a samurai.

“Did you want something young one?” The statue spoke, deep and gruff. He hadn’t moved or even opened his eyes when he spoke.

“No. I was just confused why someone would stand so still for so long. It doesn’t look like you’re doing anything.”

“The path to true strength requires dedication and willpower. Just because you do not understand why does not mean you are correct.”

Feower furrowed his brow. Who does this guy think he is calling me young one and lecturing me???

“Now you see here…”

“Hey you! Why did you stop running? Keep running! You can’t take a break while you’re running!” Coach Uriel shouted across the field, as clear as if Feower was right next to him.

Feower glared at the guy in front of him but started to run again. The rest of the run was, thankfully, uneventful. Feower was never able to catch up to Lancelot and Vane but he was able to stay ahead of the majority of the other students. Every time Feower passed by the blade guy he glared at him to show his displeasure. He wasn’t sure if the other guy even noticed though since his eyes were always closed.

Feower finished quicker than most of the students so after he was done he was told to go sit on the bleachers and wait for the other students to finish. Lancelot and Vane were already on the bleachers sitting and quietly talking with each other. They were really close to each other as they were talking, like they needed to make sure what they were saying was for their ears only. Feower was a little reluctant to interrupt them since they were so close and intimate. As he was looking for somewhere to sit Vane spotted him and yelled for him to come sit with them.

“Good job buddy! You’re so fast. You should join the soccer team. We would love to have you!” Vane said as Feower sat down next to him.

Feower waved his hand.

“Sports really aren’t my thing. I’ve been told I’m not a ‘team player’.” Feower said, using air quotes as he spoke.

“Really? I’ll admit I don’t know you that well but you seem like you’re a cooperative person.” Lancelot said.

“They say it’s because of my occasional emotional…moments. They aren’t good for ‘building team unity’.” Feower put his head in his hands.

“How am I supposed to stay calm when everyone else around me is stupid? Just because everyone else is wrong doesn’t mean I have to agree with them.”

Before Lancelot or Vane could respond the sound of a whistle pierced the air.

“Everyone is done so it’s time to go back inside! Follow me!” Coach Uriel yelled.

Feower climbed down from the bleachers and fell in with the rest students. He walked near Lancelot and Vane but they seemed to be caught up in their own little world and Feower didn’t think he should interrupt them. As he walked, Feower couldn’t help reflect on what he said on the bleachers. It was true, what he said. He did have emotional outbursts at times. They could be, and often were, rather pointed and direct. But they were for a reason. He just wanted to succeed in whatever he was doing and, when people got in the way of that, he let them know. What else was he supposed to do? Just ignore everything they did wrong or, even worse, accept their wrong moments and let everyone fail? That wasn’t good for anyone.

“Hey buddy. Watch out!” Feower heard Vane shout.

Still lost in his thoughts, Feower couldn’t react in time as he slammed directly into the person crossing in front of him. Feower wasn’t moving fast but he still toppled over as he collided into the other person.

“Hey watch it you-“ Feower was in the middle of saying before he saw who it was that he had hit.

It was the familiar face of Seox. Except it was not so familiar this time as Seox, instead of his previous hard demeanor and stiff motions, had a shifty nervous demeanor and his motions, while still stiff like before, were jittery and nervous rather than calm and collected.

“Umm sorry, excuse me, I’m sorry. It was my fault. I wasn’t looking.” Seox muttered, barely audible.

Feower wouldn’t have been able to tell it was Seox if he wasn’t looking right at him. And, even though he was right in front of him, he was barely able to see him as is. Seox was looking almost straight down, not even making eye contact with Feower or anyone else. Seox rushed past Feower right after he spoke, moving quicker than Feower would have thought he’d have been able to after being knocked down.

“Bye then” Feower called out, unsure if Seox heard him.

“Did you know that person?” Vane asked as he reached his hand out towards Feower.

“I’m not sure. I thought I did.” Feower said as he grabbed Vane’s hand and used it to help stand back up.

Looking over his body, Feower didn’t see any major bruises or scratches from the fall. He seemed fine. Feower hoped that was the same for Seox. He left so quickly that Feower wasn’t even able to see if he was ok. He’d have to catch him later and ask.

“Hurry up you three! We still have more work to do!” Coach Uriel shouted from within the doors to the school.

“Guess we should hurry up. Don’t want Coach Uriel to get any more mad at us.” Lancelot said as he patted Vane’s back.

Feower nodded as he followed the pair, still mulling over his unusual encounter with Seox.

—————

Feower was exhausted. After getting back from the run Coach Uriel didn’t let up as he paraded them through an avalanche of exercises. He made them do push ups, curl ups, pull ups, so many different types of ups that Feower never wanted to go up again. As Feower pulled himself up for the last time Coach Uriel blew his whistle again.

“Good work today everyone! We have a lot of room for improvement though! Be prepared to break those records this year! Now, it’s time for lunch. Go eat!” Coach Uriel said as he blew his whistle again, supposedly to dismiss them but Feower thought it was just so he could blow it again.

Feower, wanting to escape as quickly as possible, dragged himself out of the gym and towards where he thought he had seen the lunch room earlier. Feower thought for a second to find Lancelot and Vane before he left but he didn’t want to bother them. Even if he sat with them he would just be a third wheel and that was the last thing Feower wanted. He wasn’t sure exactly how far away the lunchroom was so he just kept walking until he found it. Eventually, after both longer and shorter than expected, he reached the lunchroom. It was already bustling with the rush and noise of students eating and conversing.

Looking over the lunchroom from the top of the stairs, Feower spotted the food area in the back. There looked to be multiple lines for different types of food though Feower couldn’t tell what they were from this far away. Feower, unsure what to do, scanned the room to see if he could spot Tien. She would know what to do better than him. Unfortunately, after a few seconds of surveying the room below, Feower failed to find her. Maybe she had a different lunch period than him. He groaned. Of course she would. But even if he was wrong and she was here, it didn’t matter if he couldn’t find her so he gave up and headed towards the nearest lunch line. That line, which was moderately long but not the longest line, appeared to be for sandwiches.

There were a number of different sandwiches before him. PB&J, chicken, grilled cheese, and some vegetable wrap that Feower wasn’t exactly sure qualified as a sandwich. He was only able to look for a second though as he was almost pushed down the line by the people behind him. Feower grabbed the first sandwich he saw, a PB&J, and moved down to the end of the line as he swiped the lunch card he had been given this morning by Tien before they left for school. As soon as that was done he darted away from the line and looked around for a seat.

The cafeteria, while not super crowded, wasn’t empty by any stretch. As he tried, and failed, to look around for a seat where no one else was sitting he spotted a lone figure near the back. They had a dark jacket on and were hunched over their tray, as if they were trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Seox? Feower thought. Feower, curious if he was right, headed over to that table. As he got closer he could see that he had been correct, it was indeed Seox, but instead of being hunched over a lunch tray, like he had thought, he was instead hunched over a notebook of some kind, writing in it at a furious pace. Feower, now at the table, stood in front of Seox, waiting to see if he would notice him. After a few second it became clear that Seox wasn’t aware of anything that was going on outside of his notebook. Feower tried clearing his throat, hoping that would catch Seox’s attention. When that too failed, gave up and pulled out a chair sitting across from Seox, who was still oblivious to Feower’s presence.

“Seox?” Feower asked, seeing if that would grab his attention.

When that also failed, Feower decided it was time for more direct measure, waving his hand in front of the notebook to try and grab his attention. Almost immediately Seox reacted, leaping back, nearly falling out of his chair.

“Are you trying to sit here? I’m sorry I’ll move.” Before Seox could get away Feower called out to him.

“It’s ok. Do you want me to move? You were here first after all.” Seox paused halfway out of his chair but only for a second before he continued scrambling out of it.

“You don’t have to move, I will. I’m sorry.”

“I insist.” Feower said, voice deeper and more forceful than it had been before.

Seox gulped and shook a little, but stopped tryin to run away at least. Feower, unsure what to do now, began to eat his food as if nothing had happened and they were just two normal guys, sitting at lunch together. Seox, seeming to sense Feower wouldn’t move again, returned to writing in his notebook once again. But now, instead of pure focus on his notebook, Feower noticed Seox occasionally looked up at him, as if to confirm that he was still there. Silence fell between the two, the only noises being the cafeteria around them and the scratching of Seox’s pen against paper.

“What are you writing there?” Feower asked as he pushed his tray to his side.

Seox jumped a little, surprised by the conversation.

“Um, nothing.” Seox said, as he continued to write.

Feower grunted.

“Clearly you are writing something. So what is it?” His voice came out icy and cold.

Seox paused, his face scrunched up.

“Um, it’s an original play. I’ve been writing it for a theater competition next year.”

“Can I look at it?” Feower asked as he reached out towards the notebook.

Seox, with an unexpected swiftness, pulled the notebook away.

“Um, no, sorry. It’s not um finished yet so I don’t really want anyone to see it or anything. Very work in progress. Not something fit for regular peoples consumption.” Seox squeaked, his voice fast and high like he was scared or anxious.

“Ok I guess. That’s fine.” Feower tried to take a bite of his sandwich to have a reason not to talk but he realized he had already eaten it.

After searching his tray to see if there was anything else he could eat instead, and finding nothing, Feower looked back and saw that Seox had disappeared. Feower looked around and he saw what he thought was Seox go into the library. Curious why he would leave so suddenly, Feower followed him into the library. Entering the library, Feower felt a wave of cool air, calm and peace wash over him. It was like he walked in an oasis in the middle of this desert of a school. Cooler, quieter and calmer than any other place he had found yet. He could get use to it in here.

There was even classical music playing floating in the air. From where he came in, Feower saw a small set of chairs at the entrance and then a few stacks of tall bookshelves, obscuring Feower’s vision of the other half of the library. To the right of the bookshelves there was a long counter, with a woman sitting in front of a computer, scanning books and typing. She had long blond hair, was very pretty, and had on a white and pink dress.

“Hello. How are you doing today? Can I help you with anything?”

“No. I’m just…passing through.”

Feower didn’t want to say he was looking for someone because that would be weird and like he was creepily following Seox, which he wasn’t. He just wanted to know why he left so suddenly. That was it. Nothing else beyond that.

“Are you perhaps looking for Seox? He came in shortly before you and went to the other side of the library. He looked a little stressed so please don’t disturb him if you could.” The woman smiled at him but Feower wasn’t sure if it was caring or forceful.

“Ok. Thanks.” Feower said, a little weirded out by how many mind readers there were in this weird school.

He passed through the tall bookshelves to the other side of the library and saw an open area with a few tables and chairs setup in two rows, and a set of stairs leading to another entrance at the top, like the library was set in a basin from the rest of the school. The classical music was louder here as Feower saw the source of it. It was a small girl, playing a harp that was a lot bigger than her, in the corner that was created by the large ascending staircase. She was unassuming and Feower wouldn’t have noticed her if she hadn’t been playing the harp. Looking at her a little more closely, Feower found that she too, unsurprisingly at this point, had a badge with a harp and the letters I and X over top of it.

Feower rolled his eyes as he tried to drown out the music coming from here. It took a conscious effort from him though as the music felt even more peaceful and soothing this close to the source, almost willing Feower to sit down and relax. As he tore his eyes away from the student council girl he looked around trying to see if Seox entered here. Feower was unsuccessful, failing to see anything that would led him to believe Seox here. Feower involuntarily sighed and then caught himself, berating himself a little bit for it. He didn’t need to sigh over a weirdo that didn’t want to talk to him and left out of nowhere.

“Young man. It’s almost time to return to class.” The librarian said

“Thanks.” Feower said as he glanced at the harp girl before walking up the staircase and coming out in the front hallway near the main office and the rotunda.

At least he was near the rotunda so he could hopefully catch Tien and find out the rest of his schedule. Just as Feower walked out the door he heard it open up behind him again and a figure rushed by him. They wore a dark hoodie with what looked like a skull design on top.

“Seox!” Feower yelled, louder then he meant to.

He had been in the library the whole time? Then how come Feower hadn’t seen him? He was sure he looked everywhere. It was like he had melted into the shadows or something. But before Feower could follow him, the bell rang and the hall began to flood with students coming from every door and direction. As he was looking for Tien Feower felt his phone vibrate. Pulling it out he saw a text from Tien with his schedule and the message “Sorry, I have a different lunch from you so I couldn’t come meet you in the rotunda. Here is your schedule. I’ll see you in the rotunda after class and before the meeting. Make sure you meet me there.”

Feower grunted but didn’t respond back, fighting the current of students as he headed in the direction of his next class.

—————

It had taken him a bit longer than he thought to get to the classroom, with the sheer number of students flooding the halls in this school, but he made it eventually, and before the bell rang too. Looking around for a seat Feower found that the room was not set into rows but instead groups of tables, 4 or 5 per group from the look of it. Feower didn’t care where he sat so he picked the group right next to the door, a group of 4. He picked the seat on door side but not directly next to the door itself. As he sat down he saw other students filtering in, no one he recognized though. Feower made a sigh of relief. Maybe he would finally be able to ignore everyone in this class and just coast to the end of the day. Just as Feower thought that a voice interrupted his thoughts.

“I guess here is as good as anywhere else.” A voice said before sitting down diagonally from him. This guy had red hair and wore a nice white shirt with red accents on it. He looked around the room as if he was surveying his own personal kingdom. Feower bristled at the idea. This was almost directly followed by another guy walking in, head in a book, and, without any words, sat down in the chair next to Feower, head never leaving the book. They had extremely faded blue hair, almost white at this point, and wore a t-shirt with some people on it that Feower didn’t recognize but seem oddly similar to the ones he had seen on Grimnir’s shirt earlier. This guy was also wearing a blue jacket with large white angel wings across the back of it. What a nerd Feower thought.

As students continued to shuffle into class, no one sat at the 4th spot at Feower’s table. Feower hoped it would stay this way. The less people he had to deal with the better. But just as the bell was almost about to ring Feower, being so close to the door, heard a conversation between two guys as they lingered outside. Glancing over Feower saw one guy with short brown hair and a white shirt with a brown jacket came to the door, accompanied by another guy.

“Thanks for showing me to my class Lucifer. I really appreciate it.” The first guy said, Feower nearly hearing the blush spread over his face as much as he saw it.

“It’s always my pleasure, Sandalphon.” The second one, Lucifer, said.

“Can we walk home together today?” Sandalphon said.

Lucifer smiled. “I’ll be waiting in the garden.”

Sandalphon made a small smile and blushed again as he entered the classroom, unfortunately sitting directly across from Feower. Feower blanched. This guy was hopeless.

“What are you looking at huh?” Sandalphon almost barked at Feower.

Feower was taken aback for a second. The guy had shifted, on a dime, from romantic and hopeless to barbed and glaring. Feower quickly recovered and glared back at him but didn’t have time to send a barb back as the bell rang and the teacher stood up from his desk. This teacher, unlike the others Feower had seen around the school, was an impossibly old man, short but with a very long beard and bald except for a ponytail on his head. Feower thought he belonged in a nursing room rather than a classroom. To only further accentuate that he was old, he wore what looked like a robe of sorts.

“Hello everyone. My name is Mr. Estarriola and I will be your world history teacher this year.” As he spoke Feower saw one of the weirdest things he had seen all day.

It looked like, while Mr. Estarriola was talking, he hadn’t opened his eyes. Feower wasn’t sure what to make of that, probably just another weird thing about this weird school, so he ignored it for now. One student in the back seemed to notice to and tried to take advantage of it as they threw an eraser right at Mr. Estarriola. Feower grit his teeth but before anything else happened Mr. Estarriola’s hand moved to perfectly catch the eraser in mid air.

“Thank you young man for giving me an eraser on the first day. I always love gifts from students.” He said, staring directly at the student who threw the eraser.

Feower blinked, realizing that Mr. Estarriola’s eyes were not as closed as he thought they were.

“With that out of the way, it’s time to begin class. As this is the first day I’ll let you off easy and give a small introductory assignment to refresh your history knowledge.” Mr. Estarriola began to pass out worksheets to each group of tables.

Looking at the sheet, Feower grumbled. You needed to sort various historical events by date. History wasn’t exactly Feower’s strongest subject so he wasn’t looking forward to this.

“As this is the first day you may work with the other people at your table. I’ll give you about 30 minutes. Good luck.” Mr. Estarriola said as he slowly walked around the room.

Feower groaned. The only thing he hated more than work was group work. Sighing, he looked up at the rest of his group, who seemed just as apprehensive as he did about working together. The silver haired boy to his left, who had yet to take his eyes of the book in front of him, glanced at everyone, sighed, took out a bookmark shaped like a sword from his jacket pocket, placed it in his book and closed it. The red haired boy just smiled at the rest, and the brown jacket boy scowled.

Sighing Feower was about to open his mouth when “8, 3, 5, 7, 10, 2, 1, 4, 6, 9” book boy said, before he reopened his book and continued reading like nothing had happened. Looking over his own paper, Feower slowly came to the realization that he was correct on every single one of them. Who was this kid? Another nerd? Why was this school full of nerds and weirdos? Would he ever be able to escape them?

“As expected of my table. Of course I have good subordinates here to assist in these matters.” The red haired boy said.

Feower rolled his eyes. He hoped the rest of the class passed as quickly as the answer did from book boys mouth.

—————

Ding dong ding dong “Good job students. Congratulations on finishing your first day. Just 185 more school days to go.” Mr. Estarriola laughed as the students packed up around him.

Feower let out a deep sigh of relief. The day was done and now he could just leave this stupid school, go home and relax. Thinking what he would do at home, Feower was interrupted by the vibration of his phone. Tien He thought as he pulled out his phone.

“Don’t forget we are meeting in the rotunda before we head to the Student Council Meeting after school.”

Feower almost fell back into his chair. How could he have forgotten this stupid thing he was forced to do, against his will and without him agreeing to it. That idiot leader better not give him any of his smug smiles or he’d be tempted to wipe them off his face with his fist. Fuming, Feower stomped to the rotunda, hoping he could whatever this meeting was about over with fast. As he headed into the hallway connected to the rotunda he spotted the back of his sister. Rushing to meet up with her, he noticed only too late that there was a figure in front of her. Before he could turn away they called out to him.

“Hey buddy. How was your first day? Everything and more I hope.” Seofon called out to him.

Feower groaned. He was hoping he would have had at least a minute of peace before he was forced to see this guy again. Reaching his sister Feower was gonna tell him how he really felt, but then he caught his sisters eye. Not wanting to push her any further he pulled back.

“It was…fine” Feower said through gritted teeth.

“Excellent. Glad to hear it buddy.” Seofon said, clapping Feower on the back.

Feower moved quickly out of the way, dodging any further attempts at touch by him.

“No time like the present I always say. Let me guide you to the student council room. Right this way, my fair lady and gentleman.” Seofon said, as he made a dramatic pointing gesture with both his hands in the direction they needed to go.

Feower grumbled but didn’t say anything as he followed along, Tien at his side. Seofon kept chattering along the way, but Feower ignored him, not caring to listen to any more nonsense from him unless it was absolutely necessary. Eventually Feower felt a tug at his side as and, looking to his sister, she motioned that they had arrived at their destination. Sighing, Feower shuffled in. Looking around the room, which was organized like an amphitheater, with multiple layered levels of seating, it seemed the three of them were the last to arrive as all the other members Feower had seen were already seated. Contrary to his expectations, they were all seated apart from each other. He thought they would be closer. Seofon certainly made it seem that way at least. Shrugging, Feower picked a seat close to the door. Would make it easier to escape when this whole thing ended he thought.

Seofon stood at the from of the room, standing in front of a small podium.

“Thank you all for coming today. I would like to bring this first session of the Phantagrande High School Student Council, aka The Eternals, to order. Now, as we have two new members today I would like everyone to introduce themselves and their roles here at school.” Seofon looked around, seemingly looking for a volunteer.

As silence crept over the hall Seofon cleared his throat.

“Lets go in number order. Anre, you begin.”

The small orange man from the hallway stood up.

“Hello, my name is Anre and I’m the Vice-President of the Student Council.”

Nodding Seofon looked at the girl Feower had seen hanging up the banner.

“Hello, I’m Tweyen, Captain of the girls Soccer team. Go Dragons!” She cheered as she sat back down.

Feower heard mumbling as the next person stood up, the girl from outside the school.

“I’m Threo. Do you have any food Seofon?”

“After the meeting Threo.”

“Ok.” She said, sitting back down and, from what Feower could tell, went to sleep.

Following that, Seofon looked over to Feower, motioning at him. Begrudgingly Feower stood up.

“I’m Feower. I don’t want to be here.” He could feel Tien roll her eyes without even having to look.

Sitting down he glared at anyone, daring them to say anything.

“Oooh, oooh, I’m next, I’m next. I’m Fif, I’m 12 but I’m here. Does anyone have any candy?” Fif yelled out.

The stone statue man tossed something over to her.

“Thanks Grampy!” Fif yelled as she unwrapped the candy.

“I’m Seox. Member of the theater.” Seox said, confident and calm.

Feower turned, shocked at the voice he heard from Seox. What was he? Was he nervous or confident? Anxious or calm. He couldn’t pick up a solid vibe on Seox.

“That brings us to me, your glorious and illustrious leader, Seofon.”

Seofon nodded at the stone statue next.

“Eahta” Was all he said before he sat back down.

“Niyon. First Chair Orchestra member.” He heard as the faintest whisper coming from the girl he saw in the library.

“And I guess that leaves me as last. Tien. Twin sister to Feower. Thank you for welcoming us to your school. It’s great to be here.” She said as she sat back down.

“Thank you everyone. Now, to the agenda. First order of business is…introductions…so glad we finished that already.” Seofon laughed.

Feower noticed he wasn’t the only one who seemed to be exasperated at the mans antics. He was glad there were some people he could agree with here.

“Second order of business…first day in review. Lets go to Anre first as our hallway monitor and safety manager in chief.” Seofon gestured to Anre.

Feower groaned. This was going to be so boring. Maybe he should follow the lead of that girl, Threo, over there, whole seemed to still be asleep. Glancing over at his sister, he knew if he did that he would never live it down. So, instead, he came up with a different plan. If he had to pay attention while he was here, why not just not be here? Everyone had to go to the bathroom right? And he didn’t know this school. He could easily get lost looking for the bathroom. And if it lasted the whole meeting? Well, how was that his fault. So, doing just that, he slipped out as quietly as he could, hoping no one, or Tien at the very least, would notice. Just in case someone actually did come out looking for the bathroom Feower decided to stay on the opposite side of it. Turning the corner he sat down, closing his eyes as he waited for time to pass. Feower wasn’t sure how much time had passed but he eventually heard someone come up next to him. Feower already knew who it was so without even opening his eyes he knew what to say.

“I’m sorry Tien. You can get as mad at me as you want, but I couldn’t stand sitting in there listening to them going on about whatever stupid business report they were doing. I’ll even apologize if you want me to. Just let me sit out here for a little longer.”

Tien didn’t say anything. She must have been really mad. All Feower could hear was a sliding sound as she sat on the ground next to him.

“I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do, but I would like it if you came back inside.”

…

That wasn’t Tien.

Cracking opening his eyes, Feower saw not the familiar face and figure of his sister, but instead the face of another person entirely. The last person he would have expected to see.

Seox was sitting next to him.

“What are you doing here?” Feower grunted, a little more bite in his words than he would have liked.

“I simply came out here to see what are newest member was doing. It’s not best practice to skip out on your first meeting.” Seox replied, his voice calm and collected like when Feower first met him.

“Well, maybe I don’t want to be part of this club. No one even asked me if I wanted to do this in the first place.” Feower paused. “Besides, it’s not like it matters. I won’t be here long enough for it to make a difference. I’ll just leave at the end of the year anyway.” Feower sighed.

Seox was silent for a moment. And just as Feower thought the would leave it alone Seox began to speak.

“You know, I thought the same thing when Seofon invited me to join last year. That it was stupid and I had better things to do with my time. I didn’t have your backbone though so I stayed, even though I hated it in the beginning. But over time, as I kept coming, I realized that, it wasn’t so bad. The people were nice, no one was going to yell at me for doing something wrong or being awkward, I could say what I felt rather than what I thought I should. It was calming. The most calming place I had found, besides being on stage.”

Feower sat frozen, unsure what he did to deserve this kind of explanation. But he didn’t dare interrupt.

“I know you hate Seofon, and we kind of all do, he’s goofy and ridiculous and talks to much. But, secretly, he’s a great guy, even if he doesn’t show it all the time. And, he knows what makes a good person for this group, even if they don’t know it themselves.”

Feower stared at him.

“I know, I know. You must think I’m crazy. But, he’s not wrong. Even about you. And, at least this time, I know he’s right too because, deep down, I can tell you’re a good guy.”

Feower squinted at Seox.

“I can tell because you came to talk to me. A random stranger you barely knew. Even after my, less than accommodating conversation, you still looked for me. I appreciated that, even if I couldn’t tell you then. So I think you’re a good fit for this because we need those kind of people. People who will go up to people they don’t know and talk to them. Make them feel seen. They’ll appreciate. I know I did.”

Feower sat stunned. He didn’t know what to say. No one had ever talked to him this way before. They mainly said he was menace, if they even talked to him at all. They never said he was nice, or comforting. He wasn’t sure how to respond.

Thankfully Seox didn’t ask for a response. He just stood up and reached out his hand.

“So will you come back with me. At least for the end of the meeting?”

Feower, hesitantly, stuck out his hand.

“If you want me to…I guess I can try. But just this once.”

Seox laughed. “Ok, just this once.”

—————

Entering back in Feower looked over at his sister. Either she hadn’t noticed he was gone, or she didn’t want to bring it up now. Feower wasn’t sure which was worse.

“And that brings us to our final order of business. Feower, as one of our new members, and being completely new to the school, how would you describe your first day here at Phantagrande High School?” Seofon asked, pointing at him.

Feower stood up. Tien turned around stared at him, her eyes burning a whole in him.

“When I got here today, I thought your school was…kind of dumb. I walked in and there was so much going on and it was a mess everywhere. And then Seofon randomly said I would join a group I didn’t even know existed and was never asked about.”

Feower could feel his sisters gaze intensify further.

“But, even as I was determined to hate everything here, over the day I met people that forced me to reevaluate what I thought about this school. And so, despite everything, I can’t say I hated it. I’ll come back tomorrow…I guess.” Feower didn’t know what to do next so he nodded and sat down.

Feower saw Seofon smile, but not the cheap tacky smile from when he first met. This seemed to be softer and somehow more real. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all?

“Well, I’m glad to hear it. That means what we’ve been doing here, under my glorious leadership, is working. Lets keep up the good work everyone.”

Feower groaned. No, he still hated him.

“Alright, with the last piece of business wrapped up, I officially adjourn this first meeting of The Eternals. Lets have a good school year everyone.”

—————

“So, was that the worst thing you’ve ever experienced?” Tien chided him as they walked out of the meeting room.

Feower sighed. “Yes, it was.”

Tien rolled her eyes.

“But I’ll go to the next one.”

Tien gave him a questioning look.

“Someone convinced me it was important. So I guess I’ll keep going.”

Feower smiled. Maybe he wouldn’t exactly be happy to leave this school just yet.