"Avalon!"
To her relief, the first people Avalon was greeted by were her three best friends; Rae, the short, perky brunette of the squad, called out to her, waving enthusiastically. A grin spreading across her face, Avalon trotted over towards the group. "Hey guys," she greeted. Rae crossed her arms. "You didn't dress up like you promised!" She grumbled, sticking out her bottom lip for extra pouty emphasis.
"Wha," Avalon feigned that she was offended. "I'm wearing my good jeans! Rude."
The group chortled with her.
Amber, the rebellious ginger, standing at 5'4, stepped up to Avalon, bending slightly to grab the hem of her shirt and straighten it to read the words.
A huge grin spread and her emerald eyes rose to look into Avalon's proud face. "Nice," she approved, giving her a thumbs up.
"I know, right?" Avalon agreed proudly.
Timber, her final friend and the only male in the group, snickered at them. "Just had to broadcast your personality to everyone on the first day, huh, Ava?"
Avalon grinned and winked. "Naturally."
Timber rolled his eyes, then looked at her with sarcastic surprise. "Oh! But lookie here!"
He raised a hand and messed up her hair. "You did your hair!"
"Ah!" She slapped at his hands. "Jerk! Know how long that took??"
He only laughed at her failed attempts to swat him.
"Ahem." The two turned to see the other two, folding their arms and scowling at them. "Can you two stop flirting and hurry up? The bell's gonna ring any second."
Avalon and Timber only stuck their tongues out at them before following.
Avalon was grinning quietly to herself as they walked.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

Thankfully, Avalon had several, even though not all, classes with her friends. That had been her biggest concernー that she'd end up being on her own in a classroom.
She didn't really like people, so if she had friends with her, it wouldn't be so bad.
Things were off to a good start on her first day of school. Somewhere along the way... She came across a complication.
"Listen, I'm really not interested...."
Avalon raised her head when she heard Rae's voice from the other side of the room. She had to blink a few times in realization when she saw that Rae seemed to be talking to a kid she'd never seen beforeー and she had to admit, he was a very unique looking guy.
He stood at least a foot taller than her friend, who had to bend her neck back to look up at him, and he had straight, jet black hair that looked a little bit longer than Avalon's. He had a strong looking build, broad shoulders, and from what she could tell, more than likely worked out on a regular basis, maybe even played sports. His eyes were an electric maroon, an eye color she'd never seen before, and he was looking down at Rae with an amused expression, even though Rae seemed to be looking the exact opposite.
Avalon immediately sprung into action, standing and approaching them.
"Is there a problem here?"
The second she spoke up, the sharp maroon eyes turned to her, and for a moment, she felt her heart accelerate. Shaking it away without a second thought, she scowled up at himー gosh, he had to be at least 6'3.
"No, no problem," the guy replied nonchalantly.
Avalon looked him over, scowling, and this made him grin a bit to himself.
"My friend isn't interested," Avalon growled, taking her friend by the hand to leave. "You can go now."
A wide grin spread across the boy's face. "Oh, I see. Forgive me, I don't think we've been properly introduced." He bowed his head. "My name is Rune Clawe. Might I ask what your name is?"
At first, Avalon didn't say anything. After a long moment of silence, she quietly answered, "...Avalon."
"... Avalon," he repeated. "We'll be seeing each other again very soon."
Without another word, he turned and walked away.
Neither Avalon or Rae said a thing.