Toy

Chapter 2

The students applauded once again and remained seated until the Princess got up from her throne and moved off the screen. Everyone filed out of the auditorium in an orderly manner. Once outside, they started chatting excitedly and clustering in small groups.

Tiptoeing and stretching her head above the crowd, one girl with thick orange hair falling down to her waist in straight locks caught up to a pair strolling away from the auditorium, "Leon! Erin!"

They whirled around, "Ophelia! Where were you sitting?"

She laughed, "Second row from the top, far to the right!"

"No wonder we couldn't see you!"

Erin had shoulder length voluminous brown hair that curled toward the ends. She stood a head shorter than her brother and half a head shorter than Ophelia.

Leon's yellow hair was was rich and just long enough to partly cover his ears.

The three of them wore dark-blue pants and a white shirt underneath a dark-blue blazer. The stripe of a private donned their shoulders. Cadet caps were optional, but the girls were both wearing them.

"I was watching you guys from the back," Ophelia confessed with a playful smile.

"Oh, spying on us!" Erin teased.

"No!" She protested in embarrassment.

The siblings laughed. "So, off to weapons training?" Leon asked.

"That's right, and you guys have navigation?"

"Yep. Let's go—we'll walk you to class!" Leon was trying to encourage her since she was going by herself.

"No, it's okay! I don't want you guys to be late!"

"Don't worry, there's plenty of time."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

The trio had become friends one day during middle school when Erin decided to invite Ophelia to have lunch with them. She noticed that Ophelia appeared to be rather reserved and guessed that it was because of her unusual hair color. It made her popular with the guys on one end and hated by the girls on the other. Erin knew what that was like because her brother went through the same thing. Having taken care of him before, she felt bad Ophelia seemed to have no one to take care of her. "I'm surprised you haven't accepted any offers the boys made you—you're not exactly making your situation any easier by rejecting all of them. You need someone to protect you!" Erin advised back then, but when she saw that her words made Ophelia only sadder she reassured her she would do her best to take care of her. Ophelia did all she could to try to get into the same class with them, but it just didn't work out. She was still brooding over that when the thought of school clubs cheered her up.

"We're joining clubs today, right!?"

"Of course!" Erin and Leon said simultaneously and laughed.

"Which ones were you guys thinking about?"

"Well, Leon only has the pilot club on his brain," Erin chuckled. They were approaching a fountain from the main avenue lined with young maple trees.

"I'm still a little scared, but I do want to try it!"

"Cool! Trust me, it won't be as scary as it sounds!" Leon encouraged.

"I hope so," she smiled nervously. "Oh, did you guys find a fourth member for our club?"

"I'll definitely find someone by the end of the day, don't worry."

They turned right at the fountain to walk down another avenue leading past the club building toward the weapons range. It sat on the border of an evergreen forest.

"They don't even have to participate—we can just take their key and tell them to be off!" Erin laughed.

"I would kind of like that," Ophelia confessed. "I want only the three of us to be in the club."

"Okay. I'll think up of some off-putting name then!" Erin smiled conspiratorially.

Ophelia ginned. "I can't imagine what sort of a name would keep people from joining a club."

"Right, I think it's almost impossible..."

Leon considered the matter as well.

     "See you guys at lunch, thanks for walking me! I'll do my best to come up with a repulsive name!" Ophelia waved goodbye to them and ran off into the weapons range. The Principium was right in front of the fountain so they had to go back. It was a four story, circular building whose exterior walls were made purely of reinforced glass. Students could always catch a refreshing glimpse of the campus or a tree; the Princess said it stimulated learning.