Work Text:
Chapter 1
Junia sits in the cold classroom, snow falling outside and turning the floor and trees white. The room is quiet—there are only a few people around. She likes arriving early. Maybe it's too early, but Junia hates being late. If she can't stand it when other people are late, why would she become one of them?
She checks her math homework one last time. Her math teacher is... a lot. And not in a good way. Passing his class feels almost impossible. He wants the notes done in a specific way, in a certain order, with specific colors. It's exhausting.
Junia looks up when the classroom door opens slightly. Her eyes meet another girl's—someone she's never seen before. The air suddenly feels heavy, awkward. They both look away as the girl walks in, searching for a place to sit. Still, Junia can't help but glance at her again. New people aren't common in town, so she immediately catches her attention. There's something else about her, too, something Junia can't quite explain.
The classes go by, and Junia keeps stealing glances at the new girl. She can't help it—she's curious. Later, she learns her name: Genesis. It feels nice to finally put a name to that face. Junia didn’t mean to notice her again, but she did. For some reason, Genesis was hard to ignore—not because of her beauty, as cliché romance movies would say, but because of her absence from prayers. She avoided them as if they hurt. That was new.
Junia had never seen anyone refuse to pray. People used to say they’d pay in hell for ignoring the Savior. This new girl was different, and that only made her even more curious. What was her deal? Why was she so impossible to ignore? Her orange hair, unlike anyone else’s, caught the sunlight streaming through the window, glowing as if the sun itself had claimed it.
Junia wants to be her friend, but how could she start a conversation with someone she knew nothing about? Everyone in town knows each other since…always! It’s the first time she has met someone new.
After two classes, Junia decided to talk to the new girl. It shouldn’t be that hard - just a friendly hello and maybe talking about where she's from or something like that. However, she had no idea how to start, and her brain went blank. She turned to her side, where the other girl was sitting.
“Hi, my name is Junia, I wanted to talk since we sit almost next to each other, you know?” She said, hoping she didn’t sound as stupid as she heard herself.
The other girl blinked, then a small laugh escaped her. It wasn’t mocking, that’s a win.
“Hi yourself,” Genesis said, trying to keep her voice down, trying not to draw even more attention to both of them. But there it was, the awkward silence that inevitably comes when you meet someone new; it lasted for a while before one of them dared to speak.
“So, Genesis, where are you from?” Junia asked, and the amused look in the other girl’s eyes made her relax a bit. It was reassuring to know she hadn’t sounded that bad.
“I’m from a big city; it’s quite the change of scenery,” she said as she leaned on the chair, letting the tension go as well.
“I guess it was. Such a big city must be nice. I bet you’ll miss the beach,” Junia teased, testing the waters as the conversation kept its rhythm. Her words came out faster than she meant, but too late to take them back.
“I didn’t use to go so often, but sure, I will miss it.” Junia was a bit confused by her answer. Who lives so close to the beach but doesn’t visit it often? Must be personal preference.
But she knew something, Genesis was funny to be around, and maybe she could be her friend.
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“Don't slouch,” Junia heard her mother say at dinner, her gaze fixed on her. Junia adjusted her posture without a word. “No guy would want to date you if you keep slouching like that, Jun.”
She knew better than to argue. So she simply obeyed, tuning out the petty little comments her mother always made. Tonight was quiet; her brother had left for college last year, leaving just her and her parents. The soft click of forks against plates mixed with the muted background of the TV reporting the day’s news.
“Speaking about news,” her mother said as she looked at her father, “Did you hear that Judith Kingsley’s granddaughter is here? She moved after the accident with her parents, poor soul; she must be so confused and influenced.”
“Ah, yes,” her father said, “I heard she’s going to school now. I think it’s a bit too fast.”
“Genesis? She’s in my class, is something wrong?” Junia asked. She didn’t know what could be wrong with that sweet girl from her class; she was friendly when they talked, even with the… weird repulsion to the morning prayer.
“Yes, Genesis Kingsley…her family is going through a difficult time, but don’t worry, it’s such a heavy topic for a young lady like you.” That just confused Junia a lot more, but she decided not to push the topic; it’s none of her business.
Junia continued with her chores after dinner; it was her turn to wash dishes tonight, so there she was, standing in front of the dishwasher, and she couldn’t help but think about Genesis. She wants to be her friend so bad, and she’s a peculiar girl; she doesn’t look like anyone she's ever seen, while Genesis’s ginger hair gleamed in the sun, her own dark hair stayed stubbornly in the shade.
Junia really likes going to school, going to class means seeing her classmates, art class, being outside, and now, she has another reason: Junia has to befriend this new girl, no matter how weird she looks…and maybe that last thing was a little rude.
The moon was now showering the town with its soft light, which meant it was time for Junia to sleep; her parents usually didn’t let her stay up late, but she had lots of homework to do today. She was exhausted, and she couldn’t wait to get to bed as soon as possible. The fact that it’s a cold night is not playing in her favor, but she has a last chore to do.
“Night night, Astro,” Junia said as she refilled her hamster’s food plate. She would rather not be woken up in the middle of the night by an angry “starving” little hamster; she liked her eight sleep hours, and it’s already late.
To Junia’s luck, she never had a single problem sleeping, yet.