Rising Shards

A few days of snow led to a big thunderstorm the night before we had to go back to school. It was still drizzly as we pulled up to the parking lot of Rising Shards, a spot I had grown a bit more used to. I took the train when I first got to the school, but generally if I needed to go anywhere outside after that I’d just ask Stella to get me.

“Don’t kick that box when you get out,” Stella said as I finagled over the box at my feet. “And remember to either text or post something a lot this week so I know you’re good.”

“I will,” I said, standing up to the light mist of rain.

“And if you try to post something pretending you’re OK when you’re not, I’ll be able to tell so just let me know if you’re still feeling last week, alright?”

I nodded. “It’s raining so I’m gonna get inside. Love you and stuff.”

“Love you too,” Stella said. “Take it easy this week.”

“I’ll try,” I said. “And then next week, right?”

“Yep! Next week your school library experience will improve tenfold.”

I felt a bit melancholy watching Stella drive off after she dropped me off at school. It helped a bit knowing she was bringing more stuff to her new apartment, which was a lot closer than the one in the city. Having her nearby made me feel less homesick already. Plus, in a week, Stella would start her job at Rising Shards at the library, so I would really only have to be away from her for a bit longer.

The arriving students were immediately directed to the auditorium for an assembly. I wished I could go to my room first, partially to unwind the anxious feelings of returning to school and partially because somehow just walking from the parking lot to the nearest building got rainy, snowy mud on my shoes, and having a bunch of students with rainy, snowy mud on their shoes stomping onto the nice carpets of the auditorium seemed like a bad move.

I scanned through the bustling hall of students, hoping to not sit by strangers in the auditorium. For a few minutes, I shuffled around awkwardly, not seeing any friends or anyone I knew. I got a text from Oka that just said, “Water fountain,” so I went on a hunt for the nearest fountains in the building in hopes Oka would be there. By my third water fountain, I was starting to lose hope (although I was very refreshed and hydrated from them) and assumed Oka had accidentally texted me that. As I rose wiping my face with my sleeve (the third fountain was a bit splashy), someone jogged my way.

“Sorry, I should have been more specific!” Oka said. “Were you going from fountain to fountain too? I thought about saying which fountain to meet up at, but then I couldn’t really find any defining features for them so—"

I rushed to hug her, and she didn’t hesitate to hug me back. I immediately felt so much better being held by Oka and being able to hold her again. Texting was nice during the week, but I needed the physical contact after everything we went through that Fang Moon Web weekend.

“I missed you,” I said quietly.

“I missed you too,” Oka said. “Lots of hugs this week.”

“Lots of hugs,” I said.

With some specific texts describing the location of the water fountain we were by, we quickly regrouped with Lillia and Kalei. Lillia somehow looked pristine despite the rain outside.

“Lillia, how did you walk here without getting mud on your shoes?” I asked.

“Very carefully.” Lillia said.

“Why are you so obsessed with the mud?” Kalei asked. “It’s mud.”

“I just really feel bad for whoever has to clean the carpets,” I said.

“I guess we should get going to this thing,” Oka said. “Don’t want to get stuck with the bad sticky seats in the corner.”

“Your dad tell you anything about this assembly?” Kalei asked.

“No,” Oka said. “I did try to snoop a bit.” She struck a pose and did her best imitation of the voice of a character she had recently fallen in love with and had talked a great deal about to me over the phone the past week. “Well, I am just an average teenage spy after all. You gotta do what you gotta do, even when you’re sneaking or perusing the high school sporting event fields for—"

“Why are you quoting SpyYasmey?” Kalei asked.

“Because it’s a great show?” Oka asked. “And I just marathoned all of it last week?”

“I forgot how long her catchphrase was.” Lillia said.

“And I didn’t even get to say all of it,” Oka pouted.

“Why’d you marathon SpyYasmey?” Kalei asked.

“Listen, we all dealt with the last few weeks in our own ways.” I said.

We managed to get normal, non-sticky seats just before the assembly started. Principal Penteldtam Kilander, Co-Principal Berin Kilander, and Vice Principal Soleri were all on the stage. I was glad to sit by Oka, Kalei, and Lillia, but looking around I felt a pang of sadness knowing I wouldn’t see Aira and Laenie nearby like I normally would have.

“So, welcome back everyone,” Berin said, forcing back a cough or a hair in his throat mid-sentence, throwing off his momentum immediately.

“Guess sucking at speeches runs in the family,” Kalei whispered, prompting an elbow from Oka and Lillia, despite all of us having to hold back our laughter like Berin held back his cough. He handed the microphone to Mr. Soleri as he went off into a corner to clear his throat, which echoed painfully.

“We all went through a great ordeal during the recent Fang Moon web excursion,” Soleri said. “But believe us when we say we will come back from this stronger, as we do every Endoran raid.”

Soleri handed the mic back to Berin, who had almost fully recovered from his coughing fit. Soleri hadn’t been a big fan of me in the first half of the semester to say the least, but I hoped with all the work the staff would have to do dealing with the lost students that I’d be off his radar for a bit.

“Sorry, there was popcorn at the faculty meet and greet, and a kernel got, anyways—the good news is we’ve already got some returns, and some new Cani on waiting lists have joined our school as well.” Berin said.

I was curious about what he meant by ‘some returns,’ but he didn’t elaborate. Or rather, he wasn’t able to, as Penteldtam took the mic next.

“Alright, that’s enough of this,” Penteldtam said. “Boring stuff done! Mantorvel, cut the mics and hit the lights. And hit the piano keys, too.”

“Oh god, Mantorvel?” Berin said as a lone spotlight fell on Penteldtam, putting Berin and Soleri in the dark. “Did we not get the restraining order for that guy—"

A very tall man sitting at a piano nestled on the side of the stage slammed on the keys before beginning some gentle notes.

“It’s….time….to sayyyy….” Penteldtam began singing, making Kalei burst out in laughter instantly.

“Rising SHAAAARDS, you’ll never knoooowww what you mean, to me…Rising SHAAAAARDS, I hope you’ll never be sued, again, like those kids did, fifteen years ago…”

Berin and Soleri gave up trying to stop Penteldtam after some attempts to wrestle the mic away from him, but in the end the principal was able to get a full song out about Rising Shards being a great school and how cool it is not to go to Wildfire Hearts. Halfway through the song, 09 got up and left. Her head was low and her arms were crossed. I understood the feeling; if Stella randomly burst out in song in front of the whole school, I would have had the same reaction.

“Just remember…you are always…my schooooooooolllll…” Penteldtam finally finished, receiving a more polite reception than I would have guessed.

“Alright, well that was. Sure, whatever.” Berin said. “Thank you all for coming, and of course check in with your advisors, your counselors, and even us if you have any questions or concerns about last week.”

Penteldtam shoved him aside.

“Oh, and uh. Speaking of checking in,” Penteldtam said. “I need to see. Let’s see on my notes…it’s a little smudged. I get pretty sweaty when I’m singing. Uh, I need to. Ah, here we go, Kalei Koridia, Lillia Cadence, Oka Ohri, hey, I know her, ha! My niece. And Zeta Faleur. All of you go to my office right around now please.”

It was pretty embarrassing to get called to the principal’s office in front of everyone, but at least it was with my friends. I didn’t get the vibe we were in trouble, but I also had to consider the possibility.