CHAPTER TWO:
FRIENDLY INTRODUCTIONS
STARTING A NEW SCHOOL was always a horrible experience. Knowing no one, getting lost easily— it was something that most had gone through, and Gemini Tempest most definitely hated the whole ordeal.
She wasn't alone as such. Aero Tempest had also started Beacon Hills the same day, yet her cousin happened to be more liked than herself. He didn't necessarily care though, he shrugged off anyone that attempted to socialise with him and rejected any girls that made a move on him. He wasn't obsessed with popularity like most and preferred just to stick with Gemini; he didn't like to admit his familial love for her, but he really did hate the people that disliked her.
The hatred spiralled from Jackson's friends rather than the pretentious boy himself— he was more bothered about the damage on his car than whoever did it. Gemini would have paid for the damage, but they took it too far and she didn't. Why should she after being harrassed by them? Nevertheless, they didn't realise that she really couldn't care less about the rumours either, if people disliked her, so be it.
Regardless, she had better things to do than worry about her popularity. Books sat piled up on the floor beside her as she bit her pen, her eyes scanning over the words in a book in front of her, barely understanding anything she read. The school library was huge: books were lined up on shelves everywhere you looked, people had their heads buried in paper, earbuds blocking out the outside world as they escaped to their own fantasy. It was a comforting atmosphere to sit in, the low conversation quiet enough to study, but loud enough to feel unjudged and secure.
Currently, Gemini chose to sit without any music blocking out the fracas of teenagers. It wasn't as if she could do anything else anyway, Aero had stolen her earphones that morning after dropping his in the sink while washing dishes the night before.
She scribbled down sentences in her notebook that she felt had any sort of importance, but it didn't help her feel any less clueless. Why couldn't mother just tell her? Apparently trying to search about her family's history in a school library was a lot harder than she had expected.
"You found a dead body?!"
A voice sliced through the calm ambience, attracting all eyes towards the source. Gemini almost immediately connected her gaze with another girl's, who she recognised at once.
Luna McCall, the girl with the benignant personality. Everyone knew Luna, and everyone loved her, excluding Gemini and Aero. It's not that they disliked her, but neither of them had even spoken to her before, so they certainly didn't love her. Gemini wasn't against doing so though, Luna seemed nice enough not to believe any of the harsh comments circling the halls of Beacon Hills. And, unlike most, when their eyes met, she sent a smile Gemini's way. A genuine smile which tugged the corner of her own lips up.
A few minutes passed before Gemini was interrupted again, this time by the same soft voice talking directly to her, "Hey, it's Gemini, right?"
She looked up, simultaneously slamming the open book she was reading shut. Luna's eyes flickered down to Gemini's hands, her eyes narrowing with curiosity as the sudden action surprised her. Gemini cleared her throat, painting a smile onto her lips while nodding, "Gemini, yeah. You're Luna McCall?"
"That's me. I like your name, by the way. It's very... unique. Tempest, it's French or something?" Luna gestured to the chair in front of her, before pulling it out and sitting as Gemini nodded.
"Something like that." She answered. The conversation dried up quickly, neither of the girls knowing what to say. Rather, Gemini not knowing what to say; Luna was too busy reading the book title Gemini had to notice the silence. Her hands were obscuring the full title, meaning Luna could only see half a word, Super. Super-hero? Super-stition? Super—, "Not to be rude, but why are you talking to me?"
Her thoughts were interrupted by Gemini's voice, making her eyes snap back up to hers. Luna shrugged, she didn't even know, "I don't... I don't know. I think, I think I wanted to get my own opinion of you, rather than rely on everyone else to tell me what you're like."
"You mean you wanted to see if I was a bitch or not?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant. I didn't think you were a bitch. I don't think you were a bitch. Everyone else—"
"Luna. I'm messing with you. I don't care if you think I'm an angel or the worse person you've ever met."
"Oh." After a moment of the two just looking at each other ( and Luna being slightly intimidated ), Gemini let a smile hijack her lips, causing Luna to smile back. The panic about upsetting the new girl washed from her stomach, a short chuckle releasing the anxiety. She leant forward on her elbows, resting her chin on her palm while gesturing to the book on the table, "What are you reading?"
"This? Oh, nothing. Just... Just digging around." Gemini said, leaving Luna with the vague answer. She nodded slowly, narrowing her eyes at the girl; she was unusual, it was weird. Gemini wasn't at all what Luna had imagined, maybe the rumours did contort what she thought of the girl prior to meeting her, "You've got a brother?"
"Yeah, twin actually. He's on the Lacrosse team... I think," She thought— honestly she wasn't sure if Scott and Stiles were still on the team, their skills, to say the least, were not the best. Regardless, Luna was proud of them for even trying out for the sport. It was something she herself just couldn't get interested in, no matter how many matches she went and watched with her mother, "You do too, his name's Aero, right?"
"Cousin. He just lives with me," Gemini said. Intrigue crept into Luna's mind again, and she had to hold her tongue from asking 'Why?'. Too soon, too personal. So, instead, she nodded silently, playing with the hair tie sat on her wrist. Gemini's gaze wandered over to the ticking clock on the wall, before cursing and quickly packing her stuff up, "Fuck, I'm sorry, I've gotta run. I promised I'd help Aero with his Maths— we've been here a couple of days and they're already mounting the work onto us. This makes me feel really shitty, but I promised."
"Hey, no, it's okay. Totally alright," Luna reassured Gemini, who threw her bag onto her back, picking up her phone with a short smile.
"I'll see you later... or not, whatever."
"No, I'll see you later," Luna smiled at her, and, just before she started heading to the exit, she spoke again, "Gemini? You're not a bitch."
Slightly stunned by the nice comment, Gemini nodded gently. It felt different, being complimented rather than ridiculed by other students. Maybe wanting to dislike Luna wasn't as possible as she originally thought. Waving as she walked backwards, Gemini attempted to conceal the happiness crawling up her throat, "Thanks. You're not too bad either."
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AUTHOR'S NOTE !
you have NO idea how close
i was to making this a luna x
gemini fic instead omg
do you guys prefer short or
long chapters? even though
they're most likely going to
be inconsistent lengths
anyway, i wanna try to keep
it at a length you're all happy
with reading
but yeah, gemini's getting a
soft spot or luna, gemini's
getting a soft spot for lunaaa
( UNEDITED , 1277 words )