"You ready for school today?" Juniper asked.
We were on my porch in the early morning, with the stars still out and the moon with looking down on us, matching the color of my bike.
I stared at my schedule and looked at the classes that I would have for the whole summer.
Schedule for Idaline Cyprus
1. Beg. Herbology - Prof. Haley
2. Beg. Potions - Prof. Risma
3. History of Tsunachi - Prof. Aleza
~~~Lunch~~~
4. Weapon Learning/Training - Prof. Agro
5. Tsunachi Learning/Training - Prof. Magia
6. Training - Prof. Coda
***Every friday at seven PM all of the students gather at the courtyard for astronomy - Prof. Chandra
"Is Beginning Herbology easy?" I asked her. "It's my first class," I added.
Juniper looked up and thought about it.
"Yeah, I'd say so. It's a bit confusing at first, though. But for today you'll probably just get to know the professor and your classmates," She answered.
"Okay. I trust that answer," I sighed with relief.
"You nervous?" I nodded in reply. "Why?"
"I mean... who wouldn't be? The first day at a school like this, I might make a fool out of myself," I said, leaning against the rail.
Juniper just laughed and walked over to me, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"What?" I looked up at her.
"You don't need to worry about that," She reassured me. "I remember my first day. My classmates were as nervous as I was. You don't need to sweat it. If it helps, just think of it as a first day at a regular high school," Juniper suggested.
I smiled at the thought. The first day at Prior High was one of the most memorable ones. People were running around in the courtyard, getting back together with friends, making new friends and just being crazy teenagers or as normal as we could get. The atmosphere was uplifting and, along with Zoey and Jack, it felt like we were celebrating each other's return.
"Alright. What time is it?" I asked her.
Juniper walked off the porch, hands in her jeans pockets, and looked into the dark sky.
"About five o'clock. Shall we go and wake up our neighbors?" She suggested with a mischievous smile. With her contagious smile, I nodded, as she held up an air horn.
We walked over to their house and entered, considering Izzy wanted to keep it unlocked for me and Juniper to come in anytime.
It was dark except for the emergency light above the front door. We entered the bedroom and all I heard were soft breaths. I flipped on the lights and neither of them budged. They had separate beds on either side of the room.
Turning to Juniper, I nodded at her to blow the air horn.
She held it up high and pressed the button, the sound ringing out all throughout the house.
Nico shot up and looked around frantically as Izzy just rolled onto her side, not even bothered. Juniper and I were rolling around on the ground, laughing at Nico.
"Girls, not funny," He grumbled, crashing back onto the pillows.
"Don't you dare go back to sleep, Avalon," I warned him but he didn't listen. I grabbed the air horn out of Juniper's hand and put it right next to his left ear. "I'm warning you," But he didn't so much as flinch so I let out a short burst.
He jerked up again and shoved the horn away as I laughed.
"Alright, I'm up. I'm up," He muttered, clearly annoyed.
"You sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure,"
"You really, really sure?" I teased him with a smile. But all I got was a tired glare.
"Alright, alright. Let's go Juniper," But when I turned to her, she was talking to Izzy. The little brunette seemed to be having trouble getting up out of her bed.
"Izzy, I know you don't want to get up but you have to. I got up, Ida got up and Nico is in progress," Juniper said, gently. I walked over to Izzy and held out my hand.
"Come on, Iz. Food's on the way," I said to her. Izzy's eyes shot open, wide awake, as she grabbed my hand and pulled herself up.
Juniper just stared at me in amazement.
"How did you do that? I already mentioned food," She said.
I just shrugged.
"We'll be at the Academy, guys," I said to them. "Come on, Jun. Let's go," We exited their house and walked over to the side of mine, retrieving my bike. Juniper stood on the pegs again while I took the wheel all the way to the courtyard.
***
"Doing that makes me feel better," I said as we walked my bike over to the bike rack.
"You've done pranks before?"
I nodded in reply.
"All people do at least once in their lifetime," I said, while chaining my bike.
"So, what are the times for the classes?" I turned to her as we walked over to the front of the Academy. Some early birds were just lying down on the grass, relaxing.
"Breakfast starts at 6 in the morning and ends at 6:55, first period starts at 7 and ends at 7:55, second period starts at 8 and ends at 8:55, third period starts at 9 and ends at 9:55, fourth period starts at 10 and ends at 10:55, lunch is at 11 and ends at 11:55, fifth period starts at 12 and ends at 12:55 and sixth period starts at 1 with school ending at 2," She listed.
"Well, that is a very on point schedule," We lied down.
"Yeah. It leaves you five minutes to transition to your next period," She explained as we both looked up at the brightening sky.
I took out my schedule and looked at it again, seeing a row of asterisks at the bottom of the page.
"We have Astronomy on Friday?" I asked Juniper. She nodded.
"It should say on there. It's at 7PM. The lessons are very interesting actually. Learning about the planets, stars and constellations," She explained.
"Cool. Although my friends back home already taught me the main constellations," I smiled, thinking back to when they taught me.
"Well, you'll also learn the whole history that goes with the constellations," She said.
I closed my eyes and inhaled.
"I guess that's interesting," I said, staring up at the stars.
"Ida!" Izzy screamed. Sitting up, I saw her running at full sprint toward me. And she literally jumped toward me for a hug. She can definitely take hugs to the extreme.
"I can see you're awake," I grunted, feeling the pain straight in my gut. Nico laughed softly and I looked right at him.
"What are you laughing at?" I shot my glare at him.
"Nothing, nothing," He waved it off.
"Anyway, good morning, sleepyheads," Juniper smiled at them as Izzy got off me.
"Yeah, about that. Thanks for the wake up call," Nico muttered, slightly annoyed.
After about fifteen minutes of talking about the anticipation of school, rush hour started to kick in with people bustling into the courtyard from all directions.
All four of us went to the Academy Cafe, but sat inside, since Juniper suggested it'd be quicker for us, since we had Herbology first. Apparently it was at the Greenhouse in the Garden as in the mysterious door tucked away in the corner of the plants. When we ate, all of the Cafe was dead silent.
No one in the room, except for a few outbreaks, said a word, probably either scared to death, nervous, excited, or tired for the first day of classes.
I'm pretty sure we could all hear the ticking of the single clock hanging high on the wall, echoing eerily every second. To some it was probably a menacing object determined to torture them. To others it was the countdown to a beautiful new beginning of happiness and wonder.
To me it was neither. I was more in between.
At one point, everyone was staring at the clock, waiting for the bell to ring.
And when it did, we all waited for the ring to end.