Ryans, Oliver, Hunter and Tate
The Ryan kids arrived at the school. Ivan was a bit miffed, as it was Friday. They were going to school for one day that week, and then it was the weekend! Seemed ridiculas.
At any rate, upon arrival, they split up to go into their separate classes. Yvette noticed a familar face and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Oliver, right?" she asked.
Oliver turned and grinned.
"That's me. You're... Yvette Ryan, right?"
"Yep. How'd you know my name?"
"It was on the paperwork."
"Oh. What else was on the paperwork?"
"Ahh, just stuff."
Meanwhile, Ivan had recognised Hunter and Tate.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," Hunter replied.
"You're umm... our guide from yesterday... Oliver's friends right?"
"Yep," Hunter replied. "I'm Hunter, this is Tate."
"Hey," Tate replied, her blonde hair becoming brown.
"And you like brunettes."
Ivan laughed.
Libby stepped into her class and quietly took a seat.
Avery
Avery turned to the new person in her class.
"Hi, I'm Avery," she said softly.
Libby
Libby looked up and smiled.
"Hi," she replied. "I'm Libby. I just moved here yesterday."
Avery
"Oh cool."
Avery smiled back.
"I've been here for a few weeks now."
Libby
"So I guess you know your way around then? I'm worried about getting lost," Libby replied with a nervous giggle. "My power is Bubbles, what's yours?"
Avery
"It's pretty easy to find your way around after a bit," Avery reassured her. "I'm a telepath."
Libby
"Cool," Libby replied. "Well, that's good to know. Hey, what are the teachers like here? Are there any monsters I should know about?"
Avery
Avery thought for a minute.
"Um... not really. The teachers are pretty nice, but I guess if you get in trouble a lot they stop being nice."
Libby
Libby nodded.
"That's good," she said. "There were a couple of really mean teachers at my old school. I'm glad there aren't any here."
Avery
"Oh where did you live before here?" Avery asked.
She looked up and copied the last few notes off the board.
Libby
"Toronto, Canada," Libby replied. "What about you?"
She chewed on the end of her pen.
Avery
"Tulsa, Oklahoma."
Avery tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I guess you're here with your family?"
Libby
"Yeah," Libby replied, taking down some more notes. "Mom, Dad, two older siblings, three younger... oh and my other older brother, Mitchel. But he doesn't live with us any more. What about you?"
Avery
Avery looked up at the board and wrote a few more words.
"Nah, my family's still in Tulsa, I'm here learning from Tanya. But I was at home a few weeks ago."
Libby
"Oh okay," Libby replied. "You're getting taught by Tanya? Wow! I bet that must be really cool."
Avery
Avery nodded.
"It's hard sometimes, but I really like it. Plus, it'll help if I ever want to... I don't know, go really far with it."
Libby
Libby studied AVery for a moment.
"That's cool... aren't you really interested in going far with it right now though?"
Avery
Avery shrugged.
"I'd like to, but I guess I'm just worried like if I do all this training, and then it turns out that I'm not good enough."
Libby
"Yeah, that would suck," Libby nodded. "I don't have to worry about that though... I'm training myself."
She grinned broadly.
"Now see, I would be in real trouble if I don't live up to my own expectations."
Avery
Avery giggled.
"You'll have to show me your power after class."
Libby
"Yes, yes I will," Libby grinned.
She loved to show off.
"I'm especially handy when your soft drink has gone flat too."
Avery
Avery giggled.
"Cool."
Libby
"Yeah, I think so too," Libby grinned.
Soon the bell rang for their next class. Libby started to pack up her books.
Avery
Avery packed her stuff and followed Libby from the room.
"What have you got now?"
Libby
Libby checked her schedule.
"Yuck. Maths. What about you?"
Avery
"Same," Avery replied, wrinkling her nose as she led them to the maths room. "Then I should probably go check in with Tanya."
Libby
Libby nodded as she found herself a seat.
"Okay," she replied. "So, if your family is in Tulsa, where are you staying?"
Avery
"I'm staying here, with Tanya."
Avery sat down and pulled out her maths equipment.
"It was pretty scary at first, but now I don't mind so much, not being with them."
Libby
Libby nodded.
"How many siblings do you have?" she asked.
Avery
Avery counted for a second.
"Six," she answered. "Three older brothers, one older sister, one younger brother and one younger sister."
Libby
"Cool," Libby said. "We both have six siblings. I have two older brothers, an older sister, two younger sisters and a younger brother."
Avery
"Cool," Avery said happily.
She wrinkled her nose as the teacher set them a maths exercise.
Libby
Libby picked up the text book and started opening it to the appropriate page.
"Argh, I hate maths," she complained.
Avery
"Ugh, doesn't everyone?"
Avery thought for a minute.
"Actually, a few years ago, my brother Zac said it was his favourite subject."
Libby
"Oh eww," Libby replied. "What is he? A nerd or something?"
Avery
Avery giggled.
"He is a dorkus malorkus. But he doesn't like maths anymore, he says."
Libby
"Okay, so reformed nerds are dorks?" Libby giggled.
Then she bit her bottom lip in an attempt to hide her grin as the teacher looked in their direction.
Avery
Avery put her head down and pretended to do maths until the teacher looked away.
"Basically yes, but he's getting married soon. I don't know why she agreed to marry him. He's a dork."
Libby
"Maybe she's a dork too," Libby grinned.
Her pen made vague marks on the page.
Avery
Avery giggled.
"Probably. And they'll have dork kids."
Libby
"And so begins a new generation of dorks," Libby joked. "Maybe we should start a organisation: Society for the Prevention of Breeding of Dorks."
Avery
Avery coughed to cover her giggles and put her text book over her face when the teacher turned around, and pretended to work.
"Good idea. I think all of my older siblings will breed dorks."
Libby
"Yeah, same," Libby agreed. "Well, except Mitchel. He's cool. Sometimes."
She grinned broadly.
Avery
Avery grinned.
"My older brother Ike is pretty cool."
Libby
"Cool. Mitch gave me a ka'millian for my last birthday," Libby told her. "His name is Mr Snuggles. He likes to be a parrot but at night he likes to change into something soft and furry and sleep next to me."
Avery
"Aw cool!"
Avery grinned.
"My brother Tay gave me a fuzzle when his had kids. She's so cute, her name is Jade."
Libby
"Awesome!" Libby replied, her eyes glittering. "Fuzzles are so adorable. I'd love to meet her later, if I could..."
Avery
"You sure can."
Avery grinned.
"She can be shy sometimes, but she gets really excited once she knows you."
Libby
"Cool," Libby smiled. "And I'll introduce ya to Mr Snuggles."
"Ahem, girls?" said the teacher. "This doesn't sound like work to me..."
Avery
"We were talking about the maths," Avery said, looking innocent and twirling a lock of blonde hair around her finger, widening her eyes.
The teacher smiled and shook her head, then turned around to write some more theory on the board.
Libby
"Nice save," Libby grinned.
She sighed and looked at the work.
"Maths is so evil."
Avery
"Thank ya," Avery said, smiling.
She tapped some numbers into the calculator, resisting the urge to throw it across the room.
"Yes, maths is clearly the subject of the devil."
Libby
Libby nodded.
"Yes. We should have an exocisim, obviously."
Avery
Avery put on a heavy Texan accent.
"I have exercised the deeeemonnn!"
Libby
Libby giggled.
"You have exocised the maths demon," she grinned.
Avery
Avery nodded and grinned happily when the bell went.
"Lunch!" she said, packing her stuff up.
Libby
Libby packed up her things as well with much enthusiasim.
"Yay," she agreed.
She waited for Avery, then started out the door.
Avery
Avery put her bag over her shoulder and followed Libby.
"Blah, stupid maths."
They walked to the caf together.
Libby
"Yes," Libby agreed. "Very stupid."
Libby looked around the caf.
"Brought yours or buying?" she asked.
Avery
"Buying," Avery replied. "You?"
She headed over to the end of the line.
Libby
"Same. We haven't had a chance to stock up on food at home yet," Libby replied. "Of course, if the food here is any good..."
She grinned.
Avery
Avery grinned back.
"Yeah, it's pretty good."
She got her lunch and waited for Libby so they could pick a table.
Libby
Libby bought her lunch, then joined Avery.
"Hmmm, so where shall we sit?" she asked.
Avery
Avery nodded towards a free table and went over to sit at it.
"Here seems good."
Libby
"Okay," Libby replied, sitting down. "Well, I have to say... this is rather different to school on Earth. I've never seen a pond with a fountain in the middle of a caf before."
Avery
"Same... I was homeschooled up until this, so it's all pretty new for me."
Avery unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite.
Libby
"Oh were you?" Libby asked. "Cool. My parents thought about that... but decided it was too much effort. They just make sure we know our Dathrian and Dathrian history and that's about it."
She shrugged and ate some of her lunch.
Avery
Avery nodded.
"I think our mom thought of it as a way to be closer to us all."
Libby
Libby nodded slowly.
"Question is... did it work? I think my parents would like to be closer, but y'know."
She shrugged.
"Don't always - say who's that guy over there?"
Avery
"Yeah, it worked, I guess."
Avery shrugged.
"I don't know..."
Libby
LIbby frowned, watching him.
"He's pretty cute... do you recognise any of his friends then?"
Avery
Avery looked over again.
"Ummm... the one with the spikey blonde hair, that's Daniel, and the one with the brown spikey hair is Millsy."
Libby
Libby chewed thoughtfully.
"Wanna go invite ourselves over?" she asked cheekily.
Avery
Avery grinned.
"Sure."
She stood up and picked her stuff up and went over to the table.
"Hey Avie," Millsy said, looking up and giving her a cheeky smile.
"Hey guys, this is Libby... mind if we join you?"
"Sure..."
Libby
Libby sat down next to the cute guy who Avery hadn't been able to name.
"Hey," she said.
Avery
"Hi," he replied. "I'm Josh."
Avery perched herself on the seat next to Millsy and they started to chat about whatever 13 year old aliens living on a space station talk about these days.
Libby
Libby joined in the conversation with Josh and Daniel. By the end of lunch they all seemed to have become friends.