k-12: the shadows

♫

alexis

alexis stepped off of the bus with the other black-eyed girls, isabel walking along behind them.

the bus doors rolled shut, and as the bus began to drive away, the two black-eyed girls spun in unison to face alexis.

"thanks for helping out back there," the dark haired girl nodded. "my name is angelita."

"and i'm crybaby," said the bicoloured hair girl more quietly.

"and you two are?" asked angelita.

"that's isabel," said alexis, pointing to isabel,

"and that's alexis," isabel added, gesturing towards alexis.

"we're twins," both of them finished in unison.

alexis could feel isabel's confusion about the events that had gone down in the bus nagging at the back of her mind.

what the fuck was that?- alexis. explain.

it's fine, she mentally reassured her sister. i'll explain what i know later, okay?

she felt her sister agree reluctantly, and both of them turned back to angelita and crybaby.

"cool!" angelita grinned.

"i like your accents," crybaby smiled, revealing her tooth gap.

isabel and alexis exchanged glances; their english accents were heavy, and easily noticeable. they had grown up in and lived in england up until a few years ago.

a simple "thanks" from isabel was all they decided they had to say on the matter.

all the other students had already headed off to where they were meant to go.

"we have a little while to dump our stuff in our dorm rooms and receive our schedules, i'm pretty sure," angelita explained to the twins. "then it's off we go to lessons."

"i like your uniform," alexis complimented crybaby a little shyly.

her dress had been dyed a parma violet colour, and extra embroidery had been added here and there.

crybaby looked delighted that someone had noticed.
"thank you!"

the group of four wandered into the main hall. the large wooden doors slammed shut behind them, causing all of them to flinch.

a large sign by the spiral staircase facing opposite them read dormitories: this way ↬.

the furthest door down the indicated corridor, on the right, was labelled girls while the one faced opposite was labelled boys.

angelita took the lead and pushed open the girls door,

and was greeted with a pillow in the face.

"pillow fight!" the girls inside were shrieking in delight.

alexis looked at isabel, who shrugged. both twins headed inside behind angelita and crybaby.

there were around twenty low beds lined up throughout the room;

girls were perched on most of them, tossing pillows around while they shrieked and giggled.

one hit alexis in the back. she spun around, frowning.

then its thrower approached her.

"hi, i'm sorry about that," a girl with afro hair in bunches said lightly, picking up the pillow from the ground. "my name's celeste. nice to meet you." she stuck out a hand.

"alexis. nice to meet you too," alexis replied, shaking celeste's offered hand. as she did so, she felt a spark shoot up her arm, much as she had on the bus with angelita and crybaby.

celeste frowned, and her eyes flickered into black in questioning. alexis gave a small nod, and felt her own flicker black in reply.

celeste's face broke into a smile, and she embraced alexis into a warm hug. "welcome to k-12!"

alexis felt something tugging on her arm, and looked over to see isabel, looking slightly impatient.

come on, i want you to explain, she felt her sister think impatiently.

"this is my twin sister, isabel," alexis added to celeste before she was tugged away.

angelita and crybaby had already settled down on two beds in the corner, and were unpacking their belongings while chatting idly, away from all the pillow-throwing.

there were two spare beds next to theirs; alexis took the first and isabel took the second, meaning alexis was sandwiched between crybaby and her sister.

explain. now.

alexis rolled her eyes, but turned to face her sister. they linked hands, filling the gap between their bed with their presence, and began to communicate.

alexis. alexis what the fuck happened on the bus? what do you know that i don't? what's that thing you can do with your eyes? don't go off leaving me for better people, ally, you said we'd always stay together-

hey. hey, chill, okay? i'm not ditching you for anyone. ever. i'm not really sure what's going on, to be honest.

tell me what you know.

well...
when i touched th- the other black eyed girls, i felt something. special. didn't you?

no, replied isabel bluntly. i don't know if i can set balls of paper on fire with my mind.

well how about-

their communication was disturbed as the dormitory door swung open to reveal a redhead in a pale violet uniform, looking unnaturally pristine.

"stop this nonsense at once!" she barked. "i have your timetables here. take them, and piss off to lessons."

"yes ma'am," everyone mumbled in unison; those who were still clutching pillows dropped them.

alexis and isabel exchanged concerned looks before taking their timetables and shuffling off to class.