Interstellar Highschool

Several of the new students arrived all at once, nervous to get to their first lesson on time. Three of the initial four were humans, or human(likes), and all of them had different expressions on their faces. The very first was Celeste, with bouncing blonde hair and a 'heavenly' glow to her. She was living in the on-site boarding facilities, during and outside of term time. She would have no excuse to be late when she lived here, so she bundled into the classroom, flustered and nervous, and took a seat right at the front.

Next came Caoimhe, another human who would be boarding here during the week and heading home at the weekends. Caoimhe wasn't exactly human, though, which might explain the strange way she was staring around at the room. Huh, no life here... Except the bright white Celeste. "Hey there," she greeted the blonde, flopping down in the seat next to her and flipping her ginger hair over her shoulder. "Want some tea?" Somehow, out of her pocket(?!) she produced a flask of tea and began to sip from it. Celeste was baffled, but liked the girl's easy cheer already. "Yes, please."

The third student to arrive drew both of their eyes, as she was most definitely a non-human(like). Little Aditya, no more than 4'11", buxom and shimmering purple, wearing a pointed golden helmet, and lacking a nose, was 100% alien. Though that was an offensive term here. The bewildered blonde and entranced redhead intimidated Aditya with their stares, making her lower her gaze and slink nervously to the back of the classroom.

As the rest of the students showed up, so too did the ones who didn't want to be here. Another non-human(like) - no, a human(like) came in and sat right at the back, glaring coldly at anyone staring at her. She was tall, very tall, with flexible ears and a long, prehensile tale. Aaliyah did not want to be here one bit. No matter what school she went to, Earthen or otherwise, she got teased for her differences. It didn't matter what she did, everywhere she was shunned. So here she was, shunning herself so that no one would do it for her.

With green hair bouncing and swishing about, it was no wonder Kat got stares when she entered too. Everyone in this class seemed a bit of a weirdo. The sight of her cat ears and furry tale made Aaliyah's stomach flip somersaults. So there were others like her, too? That was amazing! Kat largely ignored everyone and went to curl up in a seat at the back, not next to Aaliyah. She was already not looking forward to this, seeing as she didn't speak much damn English...

One the last students to arrive drew eyes too, but in a good way. In strode a proud, dark skinned human, with long lashes and long braided hair, and her uniform heavily stylised. The teacher would not be pleased, but Efi sure looked damn good. Her gaze swept across them all, and even the ever cheerful Caoimhe felt a wave of self-disgust when Efi glanced at her. Something about this girl made her want to improve herself, but she knew she'd never be as good... The hell was this feeling? Satisfied that her dominance was asserted, Efi took her seat to the side of the classroom and waited for the snorefest to begin.

Caoimhe turned her gaze away from Celeste and her tea, and smiled up at the new comer with the Antipodean accent. "Hey there, 'course ya can," she said, getting out a few mugs somehow and pouring them each a cup of tea. "My name's Caoimhe," she greeted them both. Celeste turned the name over in her mouth a few times, trying not to mispronounce it. "I-I'm Celeste, nice to meet you both," she said quietly.

When Aditya sat down, she got a strange prickling feeling in her quills. She scratched her head, feeling confused, and then looked over randomly into the eyes of someone who was glaring most viciously at her. Oh, what was that about? It was so intimidating and came across as so mean, that Aditya felt her eyes welling up. It was her first day and already she wanted to go back to her adoptive parents. They'd told her to be brave and yet she was feeling very vulnerable.

Aaliyah's ears flickered as she looked over at Katherine. Huh, somehow she hadn't noticed the girl sat there next to her, probably because she was making herself look very small. But she greeted her nicely and looked like she could hardly harm a fly, so what was the harm in speaking to her? "H-hiya," she said back quietly. Her accent was so thick that it could be heard in even that one word. "I'm Aaliyah." She didn't try to smile due to her teeth, but she didn't look miserable or intimidating despite it.

Kat sat with her knees up to her chest and wrapped her tail around her legs, perching quite comfortably on her chair. Unlike Ruby, who was being subtle about it, she quite openly looked over and stared at the muscular, white haired girl beside her. What a handsome picture she was. Kat brazenly ate Ruby up with her eyes, staring most intently at her arms and butt, and nodded in greeting when Ruby met her gaze.

Efi flicked her braids back over her shoulders and swept the room with her eyes, taking everyone in. Jeez, everyone in here was such a cutie. Everyone took her attention in some way or another. But it was definitely the pair of tall, gorgeous, dark skinned twins that drew her attention most. Especially since one of them was looking at her too. Efi smirked playfully back at the girl.

"A lil," Caoimhe admitted with a shrug. "To be honest, I'm just happy to be somewhere new. Never thought I'd be able to afford to come here. Oh!" They all looked up at the girl who was suddenly towering over them, smelling of fruit salad and success. "Sure, gurl, sit down," Caoimhe invited, pouring another cup of tea into a new mug. Celeste shuffled over and smiled warmly up at the tall girl.

Ah, was that a threat? Aditya didn't know why such a simple phrase could make her feel so frightened, but she shrank down into her seat and looked around for an escape route. The weather was nice? But they were in space, there was no weather out here! Aditya saw that a seat had come available next to one of two tall, dark skinned ladies, and she quickly got up from her seat and moved away from the scary Dazi.

"Nah, not really," Aaliyah replied. She noticed Katherine's face go red when she said it like that, and realised her conversation was probably a bit too abrupt. Katherine came across as quite soft, so she would have to be nice to her. "H-how 'bout you?" she tried, putting her chin in her hand.

Kat tilted her head at Ruby, pretending she'd understood what the white haired girl had said. Something about her tail? She swished it around a bit and grinned at Ruby. "Kat," she said.

Celeste was used to bright lights, as she was always emitting her own, but Roxanne's pearly whites were blinding and she squinted slightly. All three other ladies at the table suddenly felt quite inadequate next to this tall, affluent looking beauty. "Ahh, man, I hope there's some kinda botany class," Caoimhe admitted to the others. "That's what I most wanna do. What 'bout y'all?"

Aditya snivelled a little, then wiped her eyes with her hands and told herself to buck up. What would Corlock and Kyun say if they could see her being such a pushover?! Really, she just missed them though... The tall one with dark skin and hair greeted her much more warmly and calmed down her fluttering heart in an instant. "N-no, not really-a," she said. "Just seemed a it angry-a... My name is Aditya, who are ya?" No need to beat around the bush with this one, if Aditya made a friend then people who didn't like her, like the first girl, wouldn't be an issue.

Aaliyah always thought of herself as a good judge of character, even if it was just seeing the negativity in everyone. It was so strange but... She could see Katherine starting to open up like a flower as they interacted. How could that not melt Aaliyah's steely heart? "Me too," she agreed with Katherine, even smiling a little bit in the corner of her mouth. "Hey, what's your first class?" Maybe they were in the same lessons together.

From Kat's slow blink, it was clear she really did have no idea what was being said to her. Maybe it would be best for Ruby to tell her her name clearly too. But why was someone who couldn't speak English here to begin with?

"Really?" Caoimhe asked, putting her chin in her hand and looking at Quinn after her statement. This one seemed like fun. Celeste perked up considerably when Roxanne mentioned the choir and her love of music. "Do you think there will be a good choir?" she asked, her eyes sparkling. "I, too, love to sing."

"N-no, it's fine ya," said Aditya with a shake of her head. "So, ahh, what is your first class ya?"

"Hmm... Same as me," Aaliyah commented, checking out her own diary. She didn't know how to feel about this class. On the one hand, it could potentially be quite boring, but on the other hand she was excited to learn new things about unknown worlds. "Well, at least it ain't math?" she attempted to make a joke.

"Rrrrruby," said Kat, rolling the R all over her tongue and testing out how it sounded. She seemed to like it, and grinned at Ruby. They didn't get a chance to talk more as their homeroom teacher walked in. She was a buxom, pink-skinned lady with dark eyes and even from the back, they could smell her candy scent.

And so, after that, they all went off to their separate classes. Vanessa, Efi, Ruby, Kat, and Roxanne had maths, while Katherine, Aaliyah, Caoimhe, Quinn, and Celeste had galactic history. Celeste was only paying a little bit of attention, as she was more interested in going to the choir later with Roxanne... Dazi and Aditya were the only ones who were in the art class. Aditya didn't know anyone in here, apart from the incredibly angry girl, who she was trying her best to avoid. It was quite a lonely experience because of it, though she did enjoy beginning her art scrapbook for her end of year project.

Unfortunately, Celeste was just as bad as Quinn at galactic history it seemed, so the two of them just kind of bumbled their way through it. It was kind of fun. Aditya had shuffled as far away in her seat as possible from Dazi, but then she spoke and it made Aditya stop, perking up a bit. How strange... Aditya still didn't really feel comfortable around this girl or even trust what she was saying, but she had such an honest way of saying words. Plus she was no longer frowning, and looked much less scary for it. Come to think of it, looking at her now she realised how fluffy Dazi was. She didn't know what to say in response just yet so she only nodded.

"Ahaha, already?" Caoimhe asked in a gently teasing tone. "But I guess we live here now, hope the food''s good." She'd only just arrived to live here in the morning and had a packed lunch, so didn't get to try any of the school food. Aditya pursed her lips slightly and looked to the front of the class where the teacher was speaking to some other students. They'd all been introduced to one another at the start of the class, so supposedly Dazi had forgotten. May as well jog her memory. "Adi... Aditya."

Aditya didn't bother to correct Dazi because it was the silliest mistake to make, especially when she'd already heard her name. She just slipped back into silence again for the rest of the class. The day carried on in the same way until lunchtime, where everyone who had met in the morning went and sat together for lunch. Aaliyah had been worried that she and Katherine might get ostracised, but Caoimhe and Quinn insisted that they join them so that was good. Some of them had home-made packed lunches from their parents or guardians, while the others had to make do with the school meals. But thankfully, they were delicious. Aaliyah was looking at her plates like she had no idea what they were, especially the wobbly pink thing that smelled sweet. "Aww man, I love ma mama's food but that looks way better," Caoimhe whined while looking at everyone else's plates. Aditya had her own food too and was happily tucking in. It looked protein rich.

"What d'you get?" Caoimhe asked Quinn as she dug into her very vegetarian meal. Celeste, Kat, and Aaliyah were all stunned by the meal that the twins pulled out. It looked better than any food any of them had ever had in their lives. Kat almost gave into her animal instincts and snatched it, but she kept her cool next to Ruby... "Sm-smells good," Aaliyah commented to Katherine, looking at the lunch both of them had gotten. Aditya caught sight of the paw in the corner of her eye and thought she'd not seen right, so she just took a bite of her lunch before stealing another brief glance. Oh, it was! She couldn't help taking another, longer glance to make fully sure that she had seen right.

"Ya made this yourselves?" Caoimhe asked, impressed that this wasn't a mother's cooking and instead their own. So not only were they beautiful, and probably smart too, but they were also great cooks? Wow. Celeste was intrigued about trying it but didn't want to ask... Funnily enough, Kat also had just meat products. She leaned over Ruby slightly and gently nudged her, smiling at her food choice. Aaliyah also took a bite of the main part of the meal, and it was okay, so she continued to eat while watching all the others and Katherine. Aditya wasn't good at reading other's faces, especially not Dazi's, and the ears flattening looked a bit angry to her. Oh dear, the angry side of Dazi again. Her bottom lip pouted slightly, and she turned away to eat her own lunch.

Celeste smiled and took the tiniest forkful. "Oh, it's really good," she murmured, glowing slightly. Kat grinned in return and the two settled into their lunch together. There was something so pleasant about the way that Katherine was enjoying her food. It made Aaliyah feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She watched Katherine with a soft expression on her face, not really paying attention to what she was eating herself. Aditya looked a bit surprised by Dazy's scooting, but when she asked, her answer came like a reflex that she couldn't stop. "The Paw of the Precious Alliance ya," she whispered. It was the symbol of goodness and hope in her favourite childhood TV show.

"Mm, no thanks," Caoimhe murmured. "I'm a veggie. Smells great, though." Celeste looked a little guilty and quickly swallowed what she had eaten. She was vegetarian too, but the food enticed her so much that she'd forgotten herself. Why was she so led into temptation...? Aaliyah flushed a bit and looked away. "N-naw. Ya just look real happy," she mumbled, embarrassed. "Ya," Aditya murmured, looking down into her lunch. She didn't want to get too excited in case Dazi, the very serious and very scary girl, didn't actually know much about the show other than surface level things.