The next day, Mirya got up before the sun.

Lorelei had left a note downstairs on the table that said:

I had to go run some errands and I won't be back before you have to leave for school, but Wyatt and Haisley will come to pick you up. You're lunch is in the bag at the entrance. If you want breakfast, there's some food in the farthest cabinet.

-Lorelei

Mirya set the note down. She wasn't really hungry, so she just waited on the back deck, staring at the sky as it brightened into dawn.

There was a knock at the back door right as the sun's rays lit the top of the tower in the city.

Mirya quickly headed inside, opening the door to see Wyatt and Haisley standing there, waiting.

"Hurry, or we'll be late!" Wyatt exclaimed when he saw her.

"Actually, it's fine if we're late," Haisley muttered. "Because that makes it less time for people to ask questions about my hair, the scar on my neck, and your arm," she pointed at Mirya's arm, and Mirya glanced at it, covering the still-red scar with her other hand.

"I bet everyone will think you two are cool!" Wyatt pulled a purple rock from his pocket, then shattered it on the ground, shouting for Mirya and Haisley to hurry up before they all jumped into the swirling abyss.

School... wasn't what Mirya had expected. It was a HUGE building in the center of an island, surrounded by trees. As far as she could see, it was all ocean around them.

"Where are we?" She muttered.

"Decros. It's the school for every Ith in Cetey. Every. Single. One." Haisley answered.

"So... a lot," Wyatt added.

"Okay," Mirya nodded.

As they made their way up a path that lead straight to the school, everything was quiet- well, mostly everything. Mirya could here a LOT of voices from the school yard, though they weren't very loud yet.

Stepping out of the shelter of the trees was like stepping into a sonic explosion of noise. There were Iths everywhere. Ones not much older than six, and ones that looked to be almost adults.

Annika and Waylon were waiting for them.

"Hey, you made it!" Waylon said, walking over to them.

"We did," Wyatt nodded. "I'm gonna go talk with my buddies," he glanced at Haisley, "Don't let anyone judge you, okay? I think your hair looks great."

"Kay," Haisley agreed.

"So," Annika said once the two bays had left. "We have a few minutes to talk before we all have to go in, but how 'bout we show you around?"

"Sure," Mirya shrugged. "Thanks."

"No problem," Annika smiled. "Let's go inside."

"Would you mind if I stuck with you two?" Haisley ran after them.

"Of course! Though I thought you'd want to go find your other friends..."

"I-" She sighed, then whispered quietly, "What're they gonna think?"

"Nothing bad, I assure you."

"Well, I think I'll just stick with you two for now."

"That's fine."

Annika gave a tour of the school- not the whole thing, just the area she and the older grades were in.

The locker room was a huge hallway lined with lockers. Farther down the hall, it turned around a corner, leading to the hall of rooms, which was laterally a hall lined with doors that lead to different schoolrooms.

"Hi Annika, Haisley," a voice behind them made them all turn to see a tall Ith. Probably one of the teachers.

"Lady Kelilah," Annika and Haisly dipped their heads as Haisley spoke.

"And who's this?" She asked, pointing at Mirya.

"I'm Mirya," Mirya stared into Lady Kelilah's eyes- notably amber.

"The new student," she noted. "You're lucky to be in my class. And so is Haisley- though Haisley does get into trouble a lot."

"You do?" For some reason, Mirya could NOT see Haisley being naughty.

"Hey, not everyone is who they seem," Haisley looked at her proudly.

"I guess not. By the way, what happened to your hair. Did it get cut or something?"

"I- Umm... sorta?"

"Not good enough," Lady Kelilah circled around her. "And what's this?" She brushed her hand across the back of Haisley neck. "And this?" She pointed at Mirya's arm. "Scars? From what?"

Luckily, a bell rang, filling the air with soft music, saving the three of them from having to answer.

"Well, time to go to the lockers!" Annika ran off, Mirya and Haisley following.

All of the students were already in the locker room, and it was loud.

"Hi Annika!" Another teen walked over to them. "How're you? I didn't see you earlier, where-" she broke off, seeing Mirya and Haisley. "Who's that, and what happened to Haisley's hair?"

"Hi, Meara. This is Mirya. She just moved here. And what happened to Haisley's hair isn't really any of your-"

"Okay, okay." Meara pulled her blond hair into a ponytail. "I don't even really want to know. But you'd better hurry. Our class starts in, like, two minutes."

"How was your first class?" Wyatt asked as the group of Mirya, Annika, Waylon, Haisley, and Wyatt headed over to a lunch table.

"It was... weird," Mirya admitted.

"I thought that too when I first came here," Waylon opened his lunchbag and pulled out a fruit.

"Do you have any homework?"

"A little. But only just enough that I could finish it right now if I wanted to."

"You should do it now. You won't have time later." Annika concluded.

"Why won't I have time...?

One word.

"Adoption."

"Well, I'd better do it then." The word had shocked her more than what she showed. But now wasn't the time, so she opened her book, and a slip of paper fell out. She fumbled to grab it, but Waylon was quicker.

Before she could say anything, he was reading it.

"This is really good!" He exclaimed when he was done.

"What is it?" Annika grabbed it, then read it outloud.

Mirya wanted to disappear.

"Echoes and whispers in the forest
Where the shadows dance and play
The trees stand tall and proud
Amidst the cool and gentle sway

A chorus of birds, a stillness of light
The wind rustles through the leaves
The sparkling of the sun, the falling of the night
The forest glimmers with ease

Where the secrets of the world lie hidden
And the night sky seems so far
The secrets of the forest are ever bidden
In whispers and echoes, in star

Where the owls hoot and the wolves howl
It is here we can find solace
The beauty of the forest, so powerful and loud
In echoes and whispers, we find peace."

"Wow! That is really good!" Wyatt agreed.

"No, it's not," Mirya snatched it out of his hands, tucking it in her book again. "I got bored at school in the human world, so I wrote it."

"It is really-" Haisley was cut off by a shrill alarm.

They whole school went into chaos, and one of the teachers entered and yelled,

"Evacuate school! Fire!"

The next chappie will be more interesting, I promise.