A Written Destiny ||A Music Freaks Fantasy AU

Chapter Two: The Summoner's Hall

"Star, are you okay? You look down."

Star glanced up to find her mother looking down at her in concern.

"Oh, I'm... fine," said Star. She absentmindedly started shredding her bit of toast into small pieces.

"You don't seem fine," Hailey eyed the bits of toast and sat down next to her. "I can tell something's on your mind. Do you wanna tell me?"

She sighed and popped a bit of the toast in her mouth. For a moment, she chewed on it, trying to think of why she was so upset. Then she swallowed and drained her glass of milk, finally thinking of an answer.

"I guess I'm just wondering why I'm so terrible at singing," she said slowly. "Wondering why I, the daughter of two incredible singers, share none of their talent. Everyone expects me to have some sort of musical ability... But yet I don't. Sure, I try, but sometimes I don't want to...

"Singing's never been my thing. In fact... Writing has. Creative writing. I've always wanted to be an author. I love storytelling, and... well, I'm not too bad at it.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be an author just because I'm good at the subject," said Star quickly. "But the actual main reason is because... I want to inspire others. I want to build a fanbase where people can make friends and get along... I want to be an inspiration to people, you know?

"But... as of now, all people want me to do is sing. And they probably won't care if I become a boring author."

Hailey closed her eyes for a moment, looking as if she was thinking hard. Then she opened them and leaned forwards.

"As long as you know what you want to do," she whispered, "as long as you follow your own dreams - your own destiny, nobody's expectations matter. Don't let all the judging and pointing get to your head. Continue writing and follow your dreams." 

"I supposed you say that," Star heaved a sigh. "But you don't understand my passion for writing. It's something I want to do - but I also don't want to disappoint anyone by not singing..."

"Oh, I think I understand your passion for writing well enough," said her mother, standing up. "I've read your Boy With Bad Luck fanfiction."

"What?" Star spluttered, looking up. "How did you find -"

"Oh, it was lying on your desk one night and I thought I'd take a look," said Hailey casually. "It was really good, actually."

"I can't believe you read that," she muttered, and her mother laughed. But behind her frown, Star's heart suddenly didn't feel as heavy. Maybe she should be more confident in her writing...

++++

Well, whatever she had told herself about being confident that morning had clearly been false. Because now, Star was hiding. Hiding away from all the students that wanted to question her and talk to her.

She scribbled furiously in a notebook she took story notes in. She was currently planning out a fantasy novel she was starting to write, using the Hero's Journey as a reference. Star was sitting in the corner of a dark hallway, the only light source coming from a flickering lightbulb above her.

She hated it here. The 'Summoner's Hall', people called it. She wasn't sure why they called it that, but it was incredibly spooky. Pieces of garbage littered the floor, cobwebs hung from the ceiling, and she could've sworn she saw a spider the size of a salt shaker scurry by.

Alright, PERHAPS she was exaggerating.

But she couldn't help it. Her thoughts seemed to narrate every single thing in her life. Transform something as simple as a bird flying by, to a five lined paragraph. Her brain was typing out a book of its own. 

But she'd rather be here than in a crowded hallway with questions and whispers thrown at her. It was just her and her imagination, roaming about lands with kings and queens, and a knight in shining armour, riding his horse to protect his damsel in distress.

Suddenly, she heard a faint rustling sound coming from the front of the hallway. She put down her pen.

The noise sounded again. Footsteps tread quietly down the carpet floor, barely reaching Star's ears. She stood up, slightly scared. Was it a body of the undead? A ghost, maybe?

Don't be silly, Star. Ghosts float, they can't make footsteps. Not that either of those creatures exist anyway...

Her heart beat faster in anticipation.

But it wasn't a zombie nor a ghost that came out. It was a human girl.

With the poor lighting and light shadow over her face, it wasn't surprising how the girl immediately reminded Star of a black cat.

She had sleek, black hair pushed to cover one of her eyes. The rest of it was tied in a low ponytail that draped over her left shoulder. Bright, traffic light yellow eyes peered from underneath her hair, sweeping over Star as if inspecting her. She wore a simple black sweater and pants.

Strangely, she seemed more surprised than Star when she saw her.

"What are you doing here?" they asked at the same time. The girl glowered at her for a moment.

"You first," she insisted.

"I just... wanted to get away from people," said Star vaguely. "You?"

She ignored this, and folded her hands behind her back and started pacing around Star. "So this is the Alabama-Simpleton girl... Interesting."

She spoke as if Star wasn't even there. She then looked up and said,

"I'm Laura. Laura Willow." she paused and then continued, "I didn't think anybody ever came in the Summoner's Hall. I especially didn't expect you to be here." 

"Well, yeah, I suppose," shrugged Star. "Why do they call it the Summoner's Hall, though?"

Laura's eyes flicked upwards. "Oh, you don't know? Another surprise. Well, it refers to my mother, Sadie. Sadie Willow. Sound familiar?"

Star racked her head for information, but couldn't draw anything out. "No, sorry."

They stared at each other for a moment, summing each other up when Star finally spoke up.

"So... The hall refers to your mother as the 'Summoner'. But since she doesn't go to this school now, would that mean it's 'your' hall?"

Laura giggled in response. She turned her back on her and was just about to leave, when she swivelled her head and said, "Duh."

She then strode down the wide hallway, and Star watched as she disappeared from sight.

That had to be the most unsettling 'duh' Star had ever heard.

A/N: Yes, the Summoner's Hall. It's back. I mean, this is a sequel to A Bittersweet Love, so I suppose that makes sense.

And I'm terribly sorry for the delay. What - it's been like, three days?

I blame school.