Chapter 4: Sapphire Second
There were seven of them. Five boys, one girl and an older woman with unkempt hair, who sat slouched at a large desk at the front of the room. She perked up as soon as she saw Mr Payne’s awkward smile.
“Ms Thorburn,” he adjusted his glasses, “Students of Sapphire class, I would like you to meet your new classmate,”
He beckoned her further into the room. They were all staring at her, not that she could blame them. One of the boys was peering at her over the top of some device his fingers were drumming on. Two others were whispering to each other, giggling. The lone girl was smiling, but gripping the hand of her boyfriend, while his black-rimmed eyes were staring at her. At the back of the room, a solitary figure wrapped up in layers of clothing watched everything unfold from behind messy hair.
“This is Phantasia Celeste,” said Mr Payne.
She managed an overenthusiastic wave, but stopped when she noticed the looks she was getting. Mr Payne chuckled and continued.
“Phantasia comes from far away, so I hope you’ll welcome her and help her get used to your lively antics.”
The lone girl shifted closer towards her boyfriend. “S-so where are you from?” she asked.
Phantasia had to think fast. She couldn’t tell them the truth.
“The north!” she said, before breaking out into a giggling smile.
As Mr Payne took Ms Thorburn aside for a secretive chat, Phantasia turned her full attention to her new peers. She gathered as much information about them as her faerie senses would allow, and was overwhelmed by the complexity of it all. So many different elements and emotions, running untamed and allowed to intermingle! How these people managed to deal with each other on a daily basis was beyond her. For a few moments there was an awkward silence as she stared at everyone, but then the lone girl came over, dragging her boyfriend behind her. He was a lanky boy with wavy ginger hair, who wore tight fitting clothes and chains that rattled on his wrists. The girl was shorter than Phantasia, and had dark hair with a red fringe. It looked like it took her a long time just to get dressed in the mornings, what with the amount of straps, ribbons and buckles that adorned her elegant dress.
The ginger boy held out his hand, which Phantasia took, remembering back to her lessons in human etiquette. “I’m Joel,” he said, his face split by yellow-stained teeth.
“I’m Kaori,” said the girl, dragging her boyfriend back, “Your hair is amazing, I’ve never seen anything like it before! If you don’t mind me asking, where did you have it bleached?”
Bleached? Phantasia thought for a second. She didn’t understand what they were talking about. “It’s all natural,” she laughed, only noticing the couple’s bemused looks when it was too late.
“Y-you’re albino?” said Joel, leaning forward to study her eyes, “Woah, I thought they might be contacts or something. They’re natural too?”
“Guess I’m just one of a kind!” she said, laughing again. Laughing put people at ease, according to Queen Thetis, but Joel and Kaori’s auras were fluctuating.
