Reina entered the room where all of her soon-to-be classmates were! She whistled cheerily.

Ever since the day she’d first come here and witnessed the gathering, she couldn’t wait until it was her turn! She had asked Wynn why she couldn’t go, and the Headmistress replied by saying she needed to be older.

Well, here she was, 14 years old and ready to take the world by storm!

Reina tried her best to navigate around the crowd, but there were just so many people.

“Reina! Hey! Over here!”

Reina perked up at hearing the sound of her newest friend and dashed over to Felicie.

“Felicie!” She hi-fived her and then noticed the little girl next to her. She had her hair up in a bob cut and was blind.

Felicie noticed where she was looking and started. “Oh! Sorry, this is Angel!”

“Hi, Angel! I’m Reina!” Reina waved. Angel only grunted and crossed her arms in response.

Reina tried not to let that get her down. Maybe she is just having a bad day? Today was stressful, after all.

“So, what happened?” Felicie asked, her eyes glittering. “Headmistress Wynn herself came to get you!”

Reina opened her mouth to tell her everything, but Wynn’s warnings came to mind. “Uh-!” She frantically scrambled for a feasible explanation. “I got in trouble but then a frog came so she let me go?”

Felicie cocked her head. “Huh?”

“You’re lying,” Angel stated bluntly. Reina panicked.

“How did you know?!”

“Hey, what’s the racket over here?”

Reina and her friends turned around to find a group of boys heading their way. The lead guy flicked his head back and gave them a look.

“The name’s Robert, ladies. Can I ask what yours is?”

“Sure! My name is R-!”

Angel put out an arm, stopping her. “Don't talk to them, Reina. They’re lowlife scum.”

“What” Reina looked at her in confusion.

Robert’s face steamed, and the people behind him didn't look too happy either. “Why you little brat-!”

Felicie got up in between the two. “Hey! Were you going to attack her, hm?”

Robert stood up to his full height and stuck his chest out. “And what if I was, girlie? What are you going to do, cry for Mommy?”

Felicie clenched her fists. “Why you-!”

“And you!” Robert turned his attention on her!

“Me?” Reina squeaked, jumping up in shock.

“Yeah, you. What’s the deal with that eyepatch? You want to be a pirate or something?”

“Ah!” Reina immediately reached up and tugged on the eyepatch, making sure it was secure. Once she checked, she let out a sigh of relief.

“You made me worry! Don’t joke about that!”

Robert raised an eyebrow. “What’s the matter with you, kid? Slow in the brain or something?

Felicie growled. “Shut up! And she’s not a kid, we’re all the same age here!”

Robert adopted a shocked expression on his face as he took a step back.

“Oh, my apologies. I thought you were a kid, you know, because you’re small. Guess you’re just a midget.” He and his cronies burst out in uproarious laughter.

Reina’s mind went blank. “YOU-!”

“Enough!” Everybody turned to find a trio of upperclassmen making their way over. “You should be disappointed in yourself! Fighting on the very first day!”

The one who had spoken was a well-developed girl, with blond curls. Another was a brunette and wore her hair with bangs. The last one was the shortest and had glasses.

“Ah-ha!” Reina triumphantly pointed at the short one. “She’s short too!”

The looks her friends gave her made her rethink her choice of words.

“Reina!” Felicie hissed, her face horrified.

“Idiot!” Angel smacked her on the knee.

“Ow!” Reina moaned, clutching her ankle before looking up.

The ‘short one’ was furiously wringing her hands, with a vein bulging.

“Well, then. I was here to help you but maybe I should just devour you!” She lunged at her and Reina shrieked, scooting backward.

“Woah!” The other two girls each caught her by the arm and held her in place. “Sorry about that!” the blonde one said breathlessly. “She didn't mean it. She’s just sensitive!”

“Yes! Yes, I did mean it!”

“Let’s get out of here, man!” one of the cronies said in hushed fear.

Robert nodded, his gaze locked on the squirming figure of the short one. “Yeah, all right!” He glared at them. “this isn’t over!” he shouted before running after his friends.

“Yay!” Reina flung her arms up in the air. Angel let out a long-suffering groan.

“What about this situation could make you so unbearably happy?”

Reina smirked. “We’ve got our first rivals! Our school life has officially begun!”

Felicie shook her head. “I like you, but you need to get your priorities straight.”

Angel nodded, pointing at her. “Yes, thank you-“

“We made an older student our enemy! We’re on the path for greatness!” Felicie yelled.

“Yeah!” Reina shouted. For a second there, she had been worried about Felicie!

Angel slapped her face. “I cannot live with this.”

The brunette giggled, drawing the three girl’s attention towards her.

“You remind me of me. You got spunk, kid!”

Reina beamed. “Yes! I like you!”

She was so nice! What was her name? She must be new because she hadn't seen her around before. Then again, it had been about 3 years ago.

“What’s your name?” Reina asked.

The brunette smiled. “I’m Olivia, that over there is May, and the monster is Lana.” May gave a small wave and Lana wailed.

“Hi!” Reina chirped.

Olivia patted her on the head. “Anyway, I think we should leave now. You guys are going to be going on your tour pretty soon, and that’s epic. Meanwhile, we need to take care of this beast.” She stuck a thumb out at Lana.

Reina laughed sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”

May shook her head. “No problem. She’s always like this.”

The trio turned and left, with May scolding Lana as they went.

“That was fun!” Reina exclaimed, looking at Felicie and Angel.

Angel shrugged. “Eh, I don’t really care.”

Felicie on the other hand nodded emphatically. “I know, right?”

Angel groaned. “How can you two be so cheery all the time?”

Felicie swung an arm over her shoulder. “It’s a talent.”

Reina did the same on the other side. “Yep.”

Angel grunted and shoved both arms off, causing the owners to laugh.

Reina was happy. She already had a whole bunch of friends, and it was barely evening!

“Hey, girls.”

An older male student walked up to him, holding a trackpad.

“Sorry, but I need information on you.”

Reina narrowed her eyes and backed away. “Okaaaayy. Kinda weird there, buddy.”

He looked confused. “Huh?” Then it caught up to him what he said and he blanched. “Oh, no! I’m so sorry, not like that!”

Reina burst into laughter. “I’m just kidding, you’re funny!”

He sighed in relief. “Yeah, sorry about that. So, may I?”

Reina nodded. “Sure!”

Felicie grinned. “Why not?”

Angel didn’t show any emotion as she said, “I don’t care.”

“Okay! So, orange hair, um, red eyes? 11 years old, right?” he checked to make sure.

Reina nodded. “Um, no. I’m 14.”

He did a double-take before silently erasing the ‘11’ and scribbling in the correct age. Reina decided not to make it a big issue. She knew how short she was, and how young she looked.

“Great! Blonde hair, and gray eyes. 15?”

Felicie gave him a thumbs up.

“So, black hair and blind, 15 years old, am I right?”

Angel waved him away.

The boy nodded, typed something else on the trackpad, then put it away. “Okay, thanks! You girls are the last ones, so just follow that group, all right?”

He pointed toward the center of the room where a bunch of kids mingled and left.

Reina grabbed Felicie and Angel's hands and started dragging them toward the group.

“Well? What are we waiting for?”