Chapter 1 - Meeting

          Rainy was an understatement. That day at Kadic, the sky was midnight black, and the rain was even flooding the sidewalks. Most students had already gone inside. It wasn’t required to, but the other students must think that rain melts your skin or something. There was only a single pair of wet footsteps echoing across the Kadic campus that afternoon. Aurora Kirkland lifted her head up, letting the rain fall on her face, but being careful to not let the water run into her sea green eyes. The wind had blown her once neatly combed tawny brown hair all over, scattering across her shoulders and in front of her face. She sat in the school garden, completely hidden by the brush and the flowers. She preferred rainy days, mainly during the weekends. She could stay outside, and yet be all alone, without a care in the world, other than a cold the next day.

           Consumed in her thoughts, Aurora didn’t notice another pair of footsteps slowly approaching where she sat. The footsteps approached at a slow, almost sluggish pace, not gaining Aurora’s attention until the person making the footsteps was standing right behind her. She suddenly turned around, only to come face to face with some girl she had never seen. She had jet black hair, the same color as her eyes. Her skin was quite pale, and her eyes had a slight slant to them. Aurora could only assume she was Asian. The girl seemed a bit older than Aurora. Her body was more developed, and her voice had a more mature tone.

           “What are you doing out here? You’ll get sick if you stay in the rain.” Instead of looking at the girl, Aurora turned her gaze to the sodden ground, not to be rude, but out of a shy habit. “Don’t know. I just like it out here…” The girl put a hand on Aurora’s shoulder. “Why don’t you just come with me? You should get into the shelter. It wouldn’t be good if you got ill.” Aurora stood up, and did her best to try and smile. “Alright. I guess it wouldn’t be so bad.” The two girls, both soaked to the skin, ran to the main building, to the shelter of the pavilion. The girl had a big smile on her face, and Aurora had a small, shy smile on her face, still a bit confused.

           “I’ll introduce myself. I’m Yumi Ishiyama. What’s your name?” Aurora smiled, and then sneezed. The rain had gotten to her. “I’m Aurora. Aurora Kirkland.” Yumi nodded. “It’s nice to meet you. I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new?” Aurora shook her head. “No. I’ve been here since the beginning of the term.” Yumi looked almost shocked. “You have?!  God, I need to pay more attention from now on.” Aurora laughed. “It’s not a big deal. Most people say that. I’m just really quiet, is all.” Yumi smiled, and nodded, as if she understood what she was going through. “How about meeting me here a bit later? I’ve got some friends I want you to meet.” Aurora nodded, and Yumi smiled at her. “Alright then. Meet me here after lunch, okay?” Aurora nodded again. “Okay…”

           For once, Aurora was on time. She waited under the same pavilion, looking around everywhere for Yumi, only to find herself surrounded by other loud students, none which looked even close to her new friend. It wasn’t long until she noticed a small dot of black approaching from the swarm of color. Aurora smiled, and ran over to her. “Sorry I’m late! This crowd is such a pain to get through.” Aurora nodded. Those were her thoughts the first day of school, when the crowd almost left her flat as a pancake. Yumi grabbed her hand. “Come on! The others are this way!” Aurora followed, grateful to have an excuse to leave the crowd of people.

          Yumi brought her to a small area around the back of the cafeteria. There, some kids were sitting on a bench and chatting. One, the only girl at the table, had pink hair and dark green, almost black, eyes. The one boy sitting to her left had gravity-defying yellow hair, with a purple patch in the middle. His black eyes were staring into space, along with the eyes of yet another boy, this one with tawny brown hair. The only one that seemed focused was this one boy with blonde hair and glasses. Unknown to Aurora, she started blushing. Yumi noticed, and had a slight smile on her face. “Don’t tell me you like Jeremie.” Aurora blushed a bit. “Who?” Yumi motioned towards the blonde. “Him. Little Mr. Einstein over there.”

           Jeremie suddenly turned to face them. “Were you talking about me?” Yumi smiled. “Well, now you know Jeremie. That odd one over there is…Odd…and the other boy is Ulrich….oh, and the girl’s name is Aelita.” Aurora nodded, and then looked at them with a shy little smile. “Hello. I’m Aurora.” The four of them smiled back at her. Well, Odd was more grinning than smiling, but still. “Nice to meet cha, Aurora.” Ulrich nodded in agreement. “Yeah. So, how long have you been here?” Aurora sighed. “Since the beginning of the semester.” Jeremie looked puzzled. “Really? I’ve never seen you around?” Aurora sighed again. “I’m used to hearing that…” Aelita smiled. “Anyway, we’re glad to meet you. It’ll be nice to have another friend.” The four of them stood up. “How about you come hang with us tomorrow? Besides, we have some more friends for you to meet tomorrow.”

           Aurora smiled, and happily nodded. “Sure. Sounds good!” The others smiled, and waved as they left to go back to the dorms for the night, or in Yumi’s case, back home. Aurora just smiled, and slowly made her way to the dorms, happier then she had felt for years. She had friends. And maybe, just maybe…she had someone to love again.

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