Welcome to Pyrrhia High

What's up, Popsicle Breath?

"Hi Winter," Moon smiled, a smile delicate and simple, but still super hard to resist. "Nice to meet ya, too."

We shared a small grin that, unfortunately, was interrupted by the teacher.

"Okay, guys." she said, twirling a strand of hair around her jeweled finger. "My name is Ms. Blaze. Welcome to music class, and today we're just going to know each other a bit. Let's have every student come up to the center, say their first name and hobbies, and then-" The next thing that came out of Ms. Blaze's mouth was my worst nightmare.

"-sing a song in front of everyone else." The teacher's teeth shone all too brightly as she simpered. "How about we start with you here."

She pointed to me.

It took me five whole seconds for me to be able to speak again. "Uh, ma'am?" I mumbled, breathing quickly. "Could you please have someone else sing first, so that ... uh ... I get an example of how to sing?" I tried not to cringe at how lame I sounded.

Ms. Blaze frowned at me for ten seconds straight. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

"Alright," she finally said slowly. "How about your friend?" she gestured to Qibli, who shrugged and went up to the middle of the class.

"My name is Qibli," he began calmly. "I like hanging out with my friends and singing. The song I'll be singing is-" He quickly typed something up on his phone. "-Treat You Better." The music started up.

"I won't lie to you," Qibli began with the background music. "I know he's just not right for you." 

My friend was a pretty good singer, but I zoned out until he was done. Moon and the audience gave a huge round of applause, and the teacher announced, "Next up, Moonwatcher."

Moonwatcher. So that's her full name. It's a really pretty name, full of wonder and thoughts and just downright beautiful. Both her and her name are beautiful-

Wait, what? What were you thinking, Winter? I mentally hit myself on the head three times. What'll your parents think of this? What will your siblings DO when they hear about this? Hailstorm and Icicle are such gossips!

Moon cleared her throat. "My name's Moonwatcher. I enjoy reading, drawing, and playing the guitar. The song I'll be performing is Safe and Sound." She turned to Ms. Blaze with a questioning look. The teacher nodded.

The black-haired girl walked off to the side and unzipped something, pulling out a guitar.

Moonwatcher sat down, placed the instrument down, and plucked a few stray notes before a soft, clear tune escaped her guitar. She opened her mouth, and a sweet melody came out.

"I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go,"

First line, and I was already tranced.

"And all those shadows almost killed your light."

When Moon got to the end of the song, I found out that my mouth was still open from shock, my eyes still glued to her. I quickly switched on my normal face, but both Qibli and Moon, smirking at me, had already seen it.

The next student got up to sing, and then the kid after her. Eventually, everyone had risen up from their seats, done an introductory, and sang. Well, everyone except one person:

Me.

"Well," Ms. Blaze began, looking down her nose at me. "There are no other students left, so it is your turn to sing now, Mr. Winter."

Running a hand through my white hair, I stood up and walked ever so quickly to the center of the class. "Uh, my name is Winter. I like to play sports, hang out with my friends, and uh, I'll be singing ..." I took a deep breath.

"The ABC song."

Everyone in the classroom exploded into laughter; even Ms. Blaze seemed to be straining from trying not to let out a single giggle. It was actually pretty relieving to have someone sing a nursery rhyme that stood out above all those other pop songs.

"A B C D E F G," I began, out of tune. "H I J K L M N O P."

Now, one student-Qibli, specifically-was even rolling on the floor, tears streaming down his face. Noticing Ms. Blaze's stern look, he quickly climbed up back to his seat again.

"Q R S T U V. W X Y and ..." I paused for dramatic effect. "Zebra."

Howls of amusement rose up from every person surrounding me, so loud I almost didn't hear the bell ring. Just as I was about to leave, Ms. Blaze suddenly tapped me on the shoulder. 

"You," she nodded sternly. "That was quite a ... distraction you put up in my class. While I'll let this slip today, it won't be easy next time. Understood?"

I nodded, and took off.

Moon and Qibli were both still in hysterics when we reached math class. 

"Dude, you totally went out of your box this time," Qibli snorted. "You're usually so prim and proper, I was expecting awkward silence." 

"Hey, I can be funny if I want to." I argued back, smiling slightly.

"Winter," Moon chortled behind her hand. "You seriously stole the show today."

Minutes later, we sat down in our seats, facing a grumpy Mrs. Kestrel, who's temper was as bright as her flaming orange-red hair. She wore a black-and-white striped dress that was three times too small on her.

"SILENCE!" she screamed, taking note of just the slightest whisper. "No talking in class, or else I'll be giving detentions on the first day of school. Now, we have a test to see if you all remember what you learned last year. Probably not!" Passing out long, four-paged packets to everyone, Mrs. Kestrel said, "I'll be in my office while you labor, er, work." With that, she slammed the door in our faces and disappeared into her office.

I sighed, thinking deep into the first problem of the page, when a thin, crispy sheet of notebook paper suddenly landed on my desk. It said,

Zebras are my favorite animals, BTW. -Moon

I looked up at her. She gave me a thumbs-up, before returning to her test. I wrote something back.

Mrs. Kestrel LOOKS like a zebra. -Winter.

It was incredibly hard for Moon and Qibli to keep from snorting out loud, but then they passed the note on to everyone else in the whole class, and they started laughing too. But sure enough, the door to Mrs. Kestrel's office slammed open.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU KIDS?" She snarled. "CAN'T I LEAVE YOU ALONE FOR JUST FIVE MINUTES?!"

Our hot-headed teacher snatched the telephone by her desk, quickly dialing a number. "Excuse me? Can I give a two-hour after-school detention to my whole second period class?" 

The other end of the phone said something, and Mrs. Kestrel turned even redder.

"What do you MEAN I can't give detentions to whole classes on first days? No, Asha. This is unreasonable. This is stupid. I hate my students, I ... ARG!" 

She whipped around at the rest of us students, exasperated. "You all are a bunch of stupid, mangy, slobbering ..." 

Mrs. Kestrel ran over to the last student's desk, picking the note up. 

"ZEBRAS?"