Wings of Fire as Humans: Jade Preparatory Academy

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Moonwatcher Clearmoon

A/N: This one might actually be one of my favorite chapters. I'm not quite sure why, other than that Moon is cool.

Moonwatcher Clearmoon got up early. It was six in the morning when she hopped out of bed.

A little impressed with herself for being able to wake up without an alarm, Moon took a pair of boring black leggings that would hopefully help her blend in. Maybe it would even help her Winglet ignore her. She chose a nondescript black shirt that matched, and then went into the bathroom to shower, change, and put on her makeup.

Moon hated makeup.

She hated the way her hand shook as she applied it, the way it clung to her face like she was the cliff, and it was the person about to fall off. She hated how no matter how hard she tried at night, she could never get it all off. Most of all, she hated her guilt whenever she wore it - like she was betraying herself by altering her body.

But she hated the way she looked without makeup more, so she was stuck.

Moon sighed, packed her things away, then headed into the main Jade 9 common room. It was empty. She made herself a bowl of cereal and ate it as fast as she could - which wasn't particularly fast, considering it took her seventeen minutes. Then she checked and rechecked her bag to make sure she had everything.

Pencils? Check. Erasers? Check. Computer? Check. Phone? Check. Earbuds? Check. Map of the school? Check. Textbook and notebooks for all the classes she had before lunch - Foreign Languages, Science, and Language Arts? Check. More books thank she could ever possibly read in a day but needed because she didn't want anyone to talk to her? Check.

When Moon put on her backpack, she realized she could barely lift it. She sighed as she hoisted it onto her shoulders. If Jade Preparatory Academy didn't teach her anything, at least it was going to make her stronger.

Moon headed out of her dorm and down the steps. Since she was only a freshman, her dorm was only one level above the classrooms, and she only had to go down one level. She wandered the halls for a few minutes, following her map and trying to find her way to Kestrel Peregrine's classroom - the homeroom for all grades of the Jade Winglet.

She was examining her map when something bumped into her. Hard.

"Hey!" a cold voice said from behind her. A boy, blonde, Glacee, and shockingly handsome stepped in front of her. "Watch where you're going!"

Moon stared, and she was unable to respond for a moment. This was . . . the first time she'd spoken to someone without her mother there. Moon stood frozen, and the boy waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello? Noctu?"

Moon couldn't remember what the question was, or if it was even a question, when another boy, an equally handsome dark skinned Ramil, knocked the other boy out of the way. "Sorry, my friend's a little cold. I'm Qibli, by the way, and this is Winter. Jade Winglet, Grade 9. Class B. What about you?"

Moon stared and blinked. Half of her mind was thinking about how odd it was that two boys from such different statuses were friends, even at JPA, but the other half of her mind was stressing out about how this was the first time she'd ever spoken to a complete stranger - Fatespeaker and Deathbringer hadn't counted, and they'd mostly done the talking for her. After what felt like forever, the boy repeated the question. "Who are you?" the Ramil asked, and Moon could have been imagining the annoyance in his voice, but she didn't think she was.

"Me?" Moon squeaked, and she was impressed with herself for being able to get even that much out.

The blonde boy sighed exasperatedly. "Yes, you! Who else would he be talking to?! Me?"