Chapter Text
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It’s one of those nights again..
..Those random pockets of the evening where Sandrone can’t get herself to fall asleep, no matter how heavy her eyelids grew or how strong she made her tea the hour before. The flavor still lingered on her tongue, a gentle warmness flooding against her chest.. and still nothing. She can’t do anything but daydream the night away, since she can’t necessarily dream-dream at her current state.
Sometimes, she does end up falling asleep by the end of it, and other times, she’s just staring at the wall until the morning sun burns right into her veins.
There was nothing better to do anyways. Unfilled worksheets gather up right beside the rest of the partially completed projects on her desk, her phone’s notification wall is piled to the brim with spam emails and missed calls from unknown contacts– she couldn’t fill her nights with anything other than what her ceiling could provide.
Either that, or whatever intriguing thing is outside.
Which, honestly, wasn’t much. Her window view was as shitty as it could get.
The fence blocked off the view of the night moon, and the lampposts never failed to burn right through her eyes and make her slim chances of falling asleep dead impossible. Occasionally, she’d see a bird or two lingering at her windowsill, but that was about it. Still, she pulls the curtain with tired eyes, glancing over the clear view of sad, industrial gray. The damp panels. A pile of broken furniture.
And.. something else?
Something.. no, no, Sandrone rubs her eyes, blinking hard before looking back out the window. She must be too tired, because it can’t be right. Right beside the dim collections of furniture of trash, was a stark presence of pale white. Someone was sitting by the maintenance door, and that someone had a pair of fluttering white wings.
If she was incapable of sleeping before, she definitely snapped awake now. Staring for a little longer, she notices the individual is actually a girl. A short girl who held her knees to her chest, adorning long, black hair with subtle pink accents. Not someone who should be on the roof of some cheap apartment complex, not someone who should be here at all.
I’m.. She blinks harder each second, that girl wasn’t going away that easily. I’m truly.. losing my fucking mind.
What was a girl like that doing here? Why was she on the rooftop so late in the evening? Why does she have.. those wings? There were so many questions left unsaid on Sandrone’s tongue, mainly due to there being absolutely nothing proper to be said. She watches the girl run her fingers through the ribbons on her arms, and slowly tilt her head upward.
Looking directly at Sandrone, reflecting the entire galaxy through her eyes. Her lashes flutter at the same moment her head tilts, as if shocked herself.
Her breath hitches.
Right on time, the alarm clock rings at 7:30– and right on time, Sandrone fights with half-lidded eyes to hit the snooze button.
Except, that’s not how it follows through this time, instead, she barely missed the snooze button and ended up knocking the entire phone off the nightstand. It hits the floor with a loud bang, and the sudden sound makes her fully shoot up from her bed. Sandrone’s breathing is heavy, and she feels the sweat against her clothes like she somehow fought a damn war in her sleep.
Sleep. She was sleeping.
So.. that girl was just a dream. Sandrone loudly exhales, gripping tighter onto her sheets. It felt so strangely real. She had complete control of her body, that stream of consciousness was too legitimate to just be one of those strange dreams. But it was, and honestly, Sandrone had a million better things to tend to than some weird angel girl from her dreams.
Classes were going to start in an hour, and she was stiff in her bed. She looks over to the uniform hanging off the doorknob, freshly ironed. Early morning sunlight poured into the entire room, undoubtedly bright and obnoxious to her tired eyes.
She really needed to get ready.
With her fist pressed against her cheek, she could already tell today was going to be an endless bore.
It was a new day in her homeroom class, a new day of listening to idle discussion and the rapid scribbles from students finishing their homework at the very last second, a new day of having to watch the instructor stand up from her chair and ramble about whatever news was written on that clipboard of hers for the rest of this period.
This has been her routine for two whole years at this school, and she felt like she was going to lose her mind. Twenty minutes in this room, and then seven more hours of walking around to other classrooms until she gets to take the bus home and repeat the cycle for the next four days.
She could only hum to herself and try her best to ignore everything else going on. That’s the easiest way to go about her school day. It makes the clock move somewhat faster.
Progressively, the classroom chatter quieted down, and students began to turn their heads towards the right side of the room. Sandrone doesn’t pay any mind to it, initially assuming it must’ve been another teacher or someone horribly late.
Her assumption is quickly buried away, at the very second she feels a light tap on her shoulder. “Excuse me.. is anyone sitting here?” A gentle voice calls out, clearly directed at Sandrone.
That voice was.. new. Sandrone pressed her lips together, prepared to lean back and silently accept the fact she was going to be seated next to some random student throughout this period. Then she looks up, and sees..
..There’s no way.
Sandrone digs her fingers into her palm. That girl looks exactly like.. No, no. “Nobody is. Sit before the bell rings.”
Normally, Sandrone never stiffened at the sight of a new student, in fact, she could care less about who could possibly be at this school. But, when that very student rings off the most horrid alarm bells in her mind, especially when it’s someone she allegedly saw in a dream.
It’s just peculiar.
The mannerisms, from the way she softly said her thank yous’ to the way she carefully placed a pen next to her perfectly aligned planner, it’s the exact mirroring of a model girl.
Her uniform was clearly fresh, coated with a soft scent of fabric softener. Her cardigan is a baby blue with small accents of white on the trims and buttons, her bowtie just a shade off with small hearts checkered throughout its pattern. Everything about her spoke gentle, proper, blissfully sweet.
A polite heart with a gentle aura, an angel, per say.
Exactly like the angel she saw in her dream. But that simply made no sense to her– dreams weren’t at all a reflection of reality and it’s impossible for this to occur under any timeline—
The bell cuts off her active thoughts.
Everyone rushed back to their proper seats, the usual shift that followed like clockwork. A few people stared in their direction as they passed, catching a glimpse of the new girl. She paid no mind to the glares, pushing up her white-framed glasses and pressing the pen to the planner page, titled first day with a small heart beside it.
That’s the moment Sandrone realized, she was paying more attention to her than she should. She leans forward against her desk, trying to wash away all her confusion down the theoretical drain that was the back of her mind.
She always told herself that coincidences were always just coincidences. An aspect of daily life that she simply ignored– until it arrives to her in the form of fluttering lashes in her peripheral vision.
That girl, she paid attention to every word the teacher said, writing down every upcoming event and exam on her little planner. Kept her back straight. Actually paid attention to every relevant thing around her. She did everything that Sandrone never bothered doing. Like the most perfect individual that she presents herself to be.
Not the girl who was sitting on the top floor of an apartment complex. Not the girl with large, white wings attached to her back and an eerie set of eyes. Just a high school girl in a new school, genuinely just trying to make due.
Sandrone shifts in her seat, staring out the window.
Maybe it really is a coincidence..
“Hey.” The very same girl she was thinking of brought her straight back to the surface. This time, she was sitting up from her seat, gripping tightly onto the bag that dangled by her knees. “It’s the end of homeroom. You should begin packing.”
Time passed.. scarily quicker than usual. Huh. “Right.. thanks.” Sandrone says, picking up her phone, tapping at the screen. One thin line lingers at the corner of her screen, a result of this morning.
That girl’s words were accurate, it was already a minute into their passing period. She should’ve been out the door thirty seconds ago, her first period was a long distance from homeroom. I’m going to be late either way.. eughh.. She slowly stands from her seat, still feeling the presence lingering beside her.
“Do you need something?” Sandrone says, bluntly.
The new girl was still standing there, holding a thin folder in her free hand. “I don’t mean to be a bother,” She starts talking again, her voice direct and immediate. “Do you happen to know where the biology room is?”
Sandrone takes this chance, truly examining her face. A tranquil expression is what she wears, with a calm gaze and a gentle pureness throughout. And her eyes, a soft purple, nothing like the pair that held everything and beyond.
Not the ones from her dream, Sandrone finally relaxed her tense muscles. She can get this girl to her class, use that as an excuse for being late to her current class, then move on. Forget about all of this by lunch time. “I’ll lead you. Show me your schedule.”
She obliges, turning her folder over to show the poorly printed paper showing her schedule, small in its font but otherwise readable;
SCHEDULE NAME: Columbina Hyposelenia
20## - 20## DOB: January 14th, 20##
[] HOMEROOM
[] BIOLOGY W/ INSTRUCTOR: - - - - - - - -
[] HISTORY W/ INSTRUCTOR: - - - - - - - -
[] MATHEMATICS W/ INSTRUCTOR: - - - - - - - -
[] SELECTED ELEC. W/ INSTRUCTOR: - - - - - - - -
Columbina.. even her name is.. angelic. Sandrone stares at the paper, watching as the pages blur and unblur from her own shock. “Right. We have the same first period.” Sandrone says, pushing back the folder. “Actually.. we have mostly the same schedule..”
That girl, Columbina, softly smiles at that. “Is that so?”
Her composure was neat, proper, and even then, something was off about it. Like she was unsure of something, unsure of Sandrone. She stares back. “Yeah.” Sandrone says. “Keep up the pace. It’s a long walk from homeroom.”
“Thank you.. ah..” She pauses for a moment, trying to find a word that couldn’t arrive on her tongue.
A name, perhaps. “Sandrone..” Sandrone mutters, nudging her head to the side. “Let’s get going. Don't hover over me too much–”
“Wait, Sandrone.” Columbina interjects suddenly, raising her hand to the trim of her cardigan. “Would it be alright to also ask you to lead me around the school? Just until I could go around on my own.”
Sandrone really just wanted to let this girl slip into the crowd. Just like everyone else, just another unmemorable face that she watches blur past her every single day. Among the hundreds, not the common sight that she was making herself to be.
Columbina was making that really hard to accomplish.
Looking towards the door, she parts her lips. “Sure.”
Sandrone impatiently waited for that final bell to ring, and when she did, she remembered that her trip home would have to be delayed, too.
After all, she had the new girl to lead around. So, standing on the other side of where she should’ve been, she watched as Columbina sorted the worksheets in her folder by order of class period.
When Columbina finally looks up from her folder, she slowly closes the page. “Thank you, Sandrone. I appreciated your assistance throughout today.”
She bites on her tongue, furrowing her brows. “It was nothing. I don’t need any thanks.”
Truly, she just wanted to go home. Forget about all this. Forget Columbina.
There’s a lingering silence despite the noisy crowd around them, a moment where their eyes are drawn together, a moment where something clicks. That feeling of familiarity that she couldn’t shake off the entire day she spent alongside her.
She watches Columbina nod. Flashing that gentle, serene smile at her again. “See you tomorrow, Sandrone.” Columbina says, like they were old friends, just before taking her leave.
This was what Sandrone wanted. To watch Columbina finally walk away, to finally make the run towards the bus and get home. Drink her tea. Indulge in her new project. Forget about this damn girl before she goes insane.
On top of having her mind plagued like this, she had to let that girl follow behind her like some sort of lost kitten looking for its way home. She sat beside her at lunch and even followed her to the bathroom when Sandrone was just trying to splash her face with water. At some point, she even bumped into her.. that seemingly poised girl being so clumsy was something that Sandrone couldn’t even remotely predict.
Forget it. This won’t even be relevant later. Sandrone audibly tsks before tugging at her bag, pulling her phone out of its spot in her pocket. When she reaches for it, she grips onto something else. Soft, bristled. Huh.. she flips to the back of her phone, and feels her heart drop.
It’s a white feather.