A New Year

The sun shined brightly down on the valley of Cherdan. There was a bustle in town as it was the first day of school for the youth of the county. Valora was excited for her first day of high school, eagerly brushing out her long wavy hair that flowed its way down to her hips. The raven colored locks made the blue in her eyes stand out on her pale skin as they curled and framed her face. Once the knots were brushed free she swiftly tied half of her hair up and pinned a hair piece over the tie in her hair. She gave herself a look over in the mirror, making an adjustment to her cover.

In the mirror she saw a blooming young woman dressed in dark washed jeans, a dark red tank top with lace decoration, and a black, light weight cover that fell to about her knees in the back, and to her mid-calves in the front. Around her neck was a choker made of black lace and adorned with a red jewel. She twisted in the mirror to see her profile, admitting that she filled out her jeans and tank top quite well, though she also had to admit it was mostly because she had yet to lose all of the weight she had gained when she was younger. She was shapely at least, not overly overweight, but not in shape either.

Leaving the mirror she grabbed her bag, slung it over her shoulder and headed out the door. Birds were chirping and the smell on the air heralded the coming of fall. Valora inhaled deeply as the slightly chilled air brushed against her face. Fall was her favorite part of the year. The temperature was perfect and the smell in the air was calming and made her feel at home. Not to mention Halloween was her favorite holiday as it gave her a reason to dress up and wear costumes that she otherwise could not wear in public without being ridiculed.

As she continued down the road to the bus stop, she couldn't help but skip. She couldn't wait to get to school, she loved learning new things and enjoyed the free time she got with her friends. During the summer they all had their own lives, some had jobs, and others had camp. It was rare that Valora got to see her friends, but at school she got to see them every day. The only issue were the other students. This was made plain as she climbed onto the bus as it arrived in front of her. She tried to head towards the back without tripping over bags or legs. Most of the kids didn't sit still in their seats and they enjoyed gossiping and causing chaos. Balled up paper was thrown around as well as insults. The bus was loud and frankly, quite annoying. Valora sighed and pulled her earbuds from her bag once she found a seat and listened to her music on the way to school.

Once arriving, she got off the bus and went to the office. She had never received her class schedule and thought maybe the office would be able to print one for her. As she walked through the halls the pungent scent of fresh paint filled her nose and ruined the nostalgic feeling she had that morning. Her shoes gripped on the freshly waxed floors as she continued to the office. It made sense, the building had just been renovated this summer. She hadn't seen it before the renovation but from what she heard from the other students, the office was now larger, as well as the library. She was going to be able to see at least one of the two rooms for herself today.

A bell rang as she walked into the office, a few other students already in the room. An office administrator looked up from her computer and motioned Valora over, "Can I help you?"

"Oh, yes. I never received my schedule."

"Alright, your name?"

"Valora Belfey."

"Have a seat while I work on it for you."

"Thank you." Valora turned and sat down to wait. She looked around her to take in the new room. For a freshly renovated office it did seem relatively small. She glanced back at the office administrated whose face seemed troubled at the moment. Was it really that hard to pull up a schedule? The lady looked up and motioned Valora back over. "Yes?"

"It seems we don't have you in our system. We will need to sit you down with a counselor in order to get you added in. Go on into the back for me, someone will help you there."

"Oh, um thanks, I guess." Valora moved around the counter until she was walking through to the back. Oh. Now she saw the results of the renovations. Behind the dividing wall were about six desks spaced evenly from each other. An elderly gentleman stood from his desk to motion Valora over to the chairs in front of his desk. Valora moved to the desk and sat in one chair, placing her bag in the other.

"Alright, so it seems there was a little slip up. Valora, was it? I'm going to ask you a feel questions to get you in the system, then once you are in we can create your schedule."

Valora nodded, "Sounds good to me."

It was at least an hour later and Valora was quietly sitting in front of the same desk as the counselor worked on her schedule. She had been reading a book when she heard a small voice from behind her, "Ohayoo."

"Sorry, he means 'Good Morning'. He tends to resort to the home language when he is nervous."

"Yuna…"

Valora turned to look over her shoulder, looking through the curtain of her hair so as not to be obvious. There was an Asian boy with blonde hair and glasses sitting just a bit too straight in his seat and an older girl with brunette hair talking to the counselor behind Valora. A small smile grew on Valora's face. She hadn't expected to find an exchange student from Japan. She had always enjoyed the Japanese culture and language, she had even signed up to take the Japanese class offered in the library.

The boy seemed to shiver a bit and glanced over his shoulder before looking around the rest of the room. Once his eyes found Valora, they widened. Turning back in her seat, Valora's face burned a bit red as her had brushed hair from her face. Hopefully he hadn't caught her staring, or worse, smiling at him like a creep. While she waited for her schedule to be fixed she overheard the rest of the conversation, finding out the boy's name in the process. "Nisei," she thought to herself, "such a beautiful name."

A chill ran up her back that felt like she was being watched, causing her to turn around to try and see why she felt that way. Nisei was sitting in his sit, staring right at her, his eyes meeting hers. Her eyebrows knitted together for a bit before she turned back in her seat, unsure of why he was staring at her. A few moments later, the counselor had finished working out the kinks in her schedule and she was sent on her way to her homeroom. As she was almost through the arch way she tried to steal another look at Nisei, only to find that he was looking at her again. She hurried through the office and headed to her homeroom, unsure as to why he kept staring at her.