Never Too Old for a Happy Ending

Eira
She sat in front of the dull school building, sketchbook and pen in hand. Eira was determined to avoid the dread of school for as long as possible despite the fact that she was there obnoxiously early. Her Dad had dropped her off five minutes before the bell rang, and she wasn’t happy about it. It didn’t take long for her to get her books, and she truly detested having to sit awkwardly around the people who would rather not have her there either. Her few friends wouldn’t be getting there at least until after class had started. Eira, however, had a bit more respect for school than that. (That and her parents would kill her if she treated her grades that way.)
But her pen work had succeeded in engrossing her. She had a sudden vision the second after she woke up, and couldn’t wait to begin drawing it. The vision was dark and eerie, but that’s what she loved about it. Her new black ink pens were the perfect job for it too. Each quickly drying scrape on the page had added to the horrific beauty of the illustration and to Eira’s excitement as well.
Needless to say, she really hated it when the irritatingly loud ringing signaled for her to get off her butt and get to class (before all of the seats in the back or close to the door were taken.) Eira groaned in misery. She blew on the ink so it wouldn’t smudge and closed her sketchbook. After shoving the much-loved packet of paper into her coffin-shaped bag, Eira made her way to class.

Kaida
Wheels grinded against the uneven pavement, making a rather loud and slightly annoying noise. Kaida shifted her weight on the board, causing turns and rather angry drivers. She smirked. School parents never liked her very much. Then again not many people in her small town liked her at all. There wasn’t much variety to the social classes.
Finally, Kaida stopped in front of the eyesore of a school building. She scanned the crowd of kids waiting for the bell for anyone she might want to make a conversation with. There was Eira, the goth girl sitting in the grass and leaning against the tree. (She was there earlier than normal.) Eira was pretty cool in Kaida’s book… but she had her sketchbook on her lap. That usually meant she was working on something and wouldn’t be willing to talk until it was done. Kaida wasn’t that good of friends with her anyway. She shrugged and looked for anyone else.
Ashlynn was asleep on the lawn as usual. It was a possibility she won’t be waking up until lunch. (It’s happened before.) Again, Ashlynn wasn’t one of Kaida’s friends, but she was cool to have a conversation with when she wasn’t talking to anyone else… if she was awake. Good luck trying to wake her up. She could’ve slept through a tornado, hurricane, earthquake, fire, and thunderstorm all at the same time without even showing a single sign of consciousness.
A motor overpowered the sound of the subtle chatter of the morning. That pretty much meant Quin had gotten to school later than usual. Kaida’s expression lightened. Quin would be the best to talk to at the moment. She wasn’t the most social person in the world (mainly because of her love of machinery) but she was okay when you managed to get a few words out of her. Kaida was about to skate her way over to Quin when the bell rang.
Her eye twitched in annoyance, but Kaida switched directions and made her way to the building. She had to shove her board into her locker, and she really didn’t need another detention for being late.

Ashlynn
‘Bells need to die,’ was Ashlynn’s first thought as she woke up to the obnoxious ringing. It was a lucky thing she had thought to get her book before taking a nap, or she’d be in trouble. She was having an amazing dream too. The guy was really hot. With green eyes and black hair, Ashlynn swore she was blushing in her sleep when he simply looked at her. He’d even asked her to dance. Needless to say, Ashlynn felt that her life was saved by the knowledge of how to control her own dreams, or she’d be tripping everywhere. (Much like in reality, but let’s leave that alone for now.)
With difficulty, she lifted her still drowsy body from the grassy floor. Only the slightest thought was given to the fact that her hair was probably a mess and her clothes most likely had grass all over them. Then again, that was normal. No one really cared about Ashlynn’s appearance anymore. It had become an old topic after the first month that anyone had known her.
After hiking her bag farther up her shoulder, Ashlynn made her way toward 1st period History (forget homeroom she wouldn’t be able to get there in time). A yawn escaped her lips after a few steps. Apparently she would be taking another nap in history.

Hina
Patiently, Hina sat in her chair with all of her supplies for geometry set neatly on her desk and a book opened in her hand. She had been waiting for the bell to ring even before the teacher had gotten there. There wasn’t much point in sitting in front of the school for the bell to ring. School was there to learn. Socializing could wait until lunch. Besides, there wasn’t anyone awake enough to talk to at 8:00 a.m. She found more excitement in her novel.
Students filed into the room after a minute or so. None of them spared Hina so much as a glance, and she was glad of it. It was now June. School would be done soon. The subject of Hina’s early behavior had died out several months before. Rustling next to her desk signaled the arrival of Hina’s friend Fayette. Not looking away from the well read, yellowing pages of her book, Hina spoke, “Tired?”
All she got was a grunt for an answer. That pretty much confirmed Hina’s guess. Fayette was much like her in many ways, but when it came to mornings, she was more stubborn to the fact that 15 year olds needed more sleep. Hina would have agreed to the idea of a petition for school hours beginning later… but she also knew that Fayette didn’t consider sleeping until midnight. Finally putting her bookmark in its place, Hina turned to see her friend lounging in the chair.
Hina would deny this of course, but it was all she could do not to laugh. Fayette’s usually neat hair was disheveled in its braided bun and her clothes were a mess. Her sudden snort earned a glare from said-girl. A wave of a hand showed Hina’s apology. Fayette rolled her eyes.
“Just because you can get up in the morning, doesn’t mean everyone else can,” Fayette growled feebly.
“I’m sorry… but, you just look so…” Hina’s laughs broke up her sentences. Another roll of her dull teal eyes signaled that Fayette was not amused.
“I’ll fix my hair later when I’m awake,” she replied indignantly.
“Whatever you say,” Hina surrendered. The teacher then stood and began the lecture.

Quin
After making sure that her bike was safe from anyone to get the idea of stealing it, Quin marched off to class. Her book was already in her bag and she figured that there was enough time to get to homeroom without being late. She was up for most of the night before working on her motorcycle so she had woken up later than usual.
As she stepped into the school building, Quin’s light-hearted mood disappeared. She hated school. Not because of the learning or the teachers, but because of the constant eyes that were always on you. There were no great friends of Quin’s at school. Only a few acquaintances that would talk to her once in a while if there wasn’t anyone else. In dismay, Quin pulled her braid from behind her back to fiddle with it. Her head down, Quin made her way awkwardly to class.
No one paid much of a glance to her. Apparently the students hadn’t planned on torturing her that day. But she was acutely aware of the whispering. That was never innocent. Whispering among her classmates always meant gossip (Or so she figured.) Quin suddenly felt pity towards whatever poor soul they decided to judge harshly that day. However, Quin knew her place. If she tried to defend whoever it was, they’d both be tortured. (Not to mention she’d probably make a fool of herself if she tried with nothing to say and having no clue as to who she was defending… and the fact that they weren’t even talking about somebody, just the answers to their algebra homework.)
The door to English was like the gate to sanctuary to Quin. In class, there was at least a little protection. Her heart at ease once more, Quin joined the class.

Fayette
The fact that she hadn’t gone to bed until two in the morning had worsened Fayette’s hatred of mornings. Hina’s laughter at her appearance hadn’t helped her mood either… nor did geometry for 1st period. It’s not like she didn’t do well in the class, (in fact she did well in all of her classes) it’s pretty much just the most annoying subject in the curriculum and Fayette was never in the mood for it.
Her teacher droned on and on and on. Fayette’s eyes began to droop. She would be awake by next period though. Then she could put her hair back to the way it was supposed to be. The thought of fixing her clothes came slowly to her thoughts as well. Finally, Fayette allowed herself to take a small nap. She was in the middle of the classroom, behind a particularly tall guy, so the teacher probably wouldn’t notice. Then again, her teacher probably wouldn’t care either. Fayette was one of the few people who actually did her homework. There was no need to worry about whether or not Fayette paid attention if she understood the subject anyway.
The teacher had started saying something about the dimensions of cubes and spheres and whatnot when Fayette had finally fallen asleep.

Eira
Notes were so dull. Eira had given up on them five minutes after class had started. Instead, she pulled out her sketchbook and continued to work on her drawing. A lock of black hair had fallen from her headband that was brushed away. Her science teacher had given up on telling Eira to pay attention. There wasn’t much of a chance that Eira would end up becoming a scientist when she graduated. (In fact there was no chance at all.) Anyway, Eira did well enough in science to pass that year, so there wasn’t much worry anyway.
But Eira’s mind was nowhere near science. Her whole being was focused on the picture. She was almost finished. Just a few lines here and there… add a shadow there and there… give that gargoyle a bit more definition… the tower window had someone in it that needed to be a little darker… and done!!
Eira lifted the pen work from her lap to look over it and smiled. It was perfect for a pen sketch. Maybe she’d come back to it eventually and remake it into a charcoal, or even a painting! Anyone who knew Eira long enough knew that was a rare occasion. She’d only done a painting once a year at most, and Eira felt that this particular drawing meant something.
Absently, Eira softly pressed her fingertips on the center of her work. Or, at least, she tried to. Eira’s hand melted right through the picture. Her eyes widened, and Eira tried to pull her hand back, but it wouldn’t budge. It felt like her hand was caught in a thick, sticky substance. She tried over and over to get her hand free, but the struggle only made the picture pull her in farther.
“Um?”, was all she could get out before the pen-work jerked Eira so suddenly, her entire arm was submerged. “Uh, a little help over here?”, she asked a little perplexed. No one looked her way. Eira looked around confused. “Can you guys hear me?”, her voice cracked with growing panic. Still, no one acknowledged her. “People?! Help!!” Eira screamed. But screaming wouldn’t help her. She could see that.
The drawing pulled harder on her arm. Eira started screaming, but they were muffled when her head was pulled through. Soon followed were her booted feet, and then she was gone.
And still, no one acknowledged a thing.

Kaida
Rumbling was heard throughout the hallway as the books fell out of Kaida’s locker. She groaned in agony. Not only was she running late, but the lockers just had to pick that day to be jerks that week. First, her skateboard wouldn’t fit, so she moved her books around and managed to shove her skateboard back in. But within the course of the shoving, Kaida had wedged the book she needed between her skateboard, the bottom of the shelf, and the two other books on the side. So after taking all of it out again and getting her book, she was so close to leaving to class when all of her stuff fell out again.
I think it’s safe to say that Kaida wasn’t having a good day.
Angrily, she began shoving books back into the metal traitor. The books finally decided to cooperate and go into the locker without resistance. Kaida then picked up her skateboard and slid it into the metal casket. However, a strange thing happened when she did. The skateboard went farther back then it should have.
Kaida raised her eyebrows. She kept pushing the board back until she had to step into the locker to go further. Somehow, she managed to fit into the cluttered rectangle. The lockers should’ve only allowed a little over a foot into the exterior, but Kaida put her arm through it at least a yard.
“The hell?”, she muttered.
Lowering her skateboard to her side, Kaida stepped beyond what should’ve been her locker’s exterior. She kept on walking and the metal chamber went on. Rows and rows of books were cemented against the narrow walls. Kaida’s body shouldn’t have fit into the cabinet, but she found the locker widened as it went along.
Finally, the floor beneath her black combat boots went from hollow metal, to crunchy dirt. Kaida stared down at the floor, hoping to actually see something for it was irritatingly dark. Only now did Kaida look back to where she came from. She couldn’t see the door. That scared her a little, but not enough. Kaida’s lust for adventure was much larger than her fear. So she kept going.

Ashlynn
To her credit, Ashlynn really did try to stay awake. She figured that since it was the last few weeks of school, she might as well try to make it through a class without a nap. That wasn’t going so well. Her head kept dropping and her eyes just didn’t want to stay open. Finally, she decided to give up. A thud sounded throughout the room when Ashlynn's head slammed into the desk. No one looked her way. They were used to it. Hell, it happened practically every day.
Her eyesight was slowly only able to see darkness. The dream came earlier than normal. Sure, Ashlynn knew that dreams only enveloped about ten seconds before you wake up (Tsuki: it's true), but this seemed to come as soon as her bronze eyes were closed.
At first, there wasn't anything. Ashlynn wasn't even sure if it was dark or light. There was nothing. Not even darkness. Then, Ashlynn slowly began to register this and caused her imagination to grow light around her feet. Somehow, it tired her. She found that strange. It was a dream, she shouldn't have been tired. But that thought didn't stay for long. She began the growth of light and shadow within her dream, and it continued without her say.
As the world was created around her, Ashlynn began to notice a few things. The first: she was in a village that looked to be from a time period right after the Renaissance and maybe during Columbus' time. Second: it looked to be about dawn, so no one was around. Third: this was the same way her dream started that morning. Finally, the fourth was that she could actually smell the dusty road she was standing in. She thought she was imagining it at first and began walking, but then she tripped on her ever-so-very-graceful feet and plummeted to the ground.
"Ow," she grumbled, and then stopped. "Wait a minute," she spoke to herself, "ow?"
That was when she started to panic.

Hina
‘It’s so hot!! The AC must be broken again’, Hina thought whipping away a little sweat from her brow. The teacher continued to drone on and on. She was rather annoyed at it really. Finally, Hina couldn’t take it anymore.
“Excuse me Mr. Kennelly,” she asked with her hands raised, “can I please open the window?” The teacher nodded at her and continued to lecture. Hina rolled her eyes and stood.
On her way over to the five foot long window, Hina felt a strange sense of… she didn’t even have an explanation of what it was. It seemed like gravity was slowly pulling her over to the window: natural… strange… creepy. When she got there, there was a sudden warning. A random feeling in the back of her mind that told her to leave the window alone. Hina looked back to the class. They were all either talking, asleep, taking notes, or not even there. (Fayette had gone to the bathroom to fix her hair. Even the teacher started laughing at it.) She might as well have been invisible.
Hina suddenly became angry. Why the hell should she be worried? She was just opening the damn window!
She soon found out why.
When she pulled the window to let some air in, Hina found that there was no screen. She stared through the gaping whole and was surprised to find, not the school yard, but some strange white and grey vortex. Her breath caught in her throat. Hina was about to slam the window closed, but found that it was stuck on its slider. She yanked and pulled at it with both arms, but found that it was no use whatsoever. Then there was that same pull.
It was like a flash back of Nightmare before Christmas. Only it wasn’t wind that roped her into the strange space bending vortex, but while Hina was trying for all that she was worth to shut the window, vines grew out of the white swirl. Hina only noticed them too late. Out of the corner of her eye, the blonde haired prodigy saw vicious, black, red thorn shrouded, plant appendages. When she whipped her head toward the frightening threats, Hina could only stare at the menacing, red tipped, points. She couldn’t move. The vines circled around her body and began pulling. It was the oddest thing in the world because when the thorns touched her skin, they didn’t hurt. They sort of felt like they were protecting her and gently pulling her into some unknown world. It was like she was falling asleep. You never know what kind of dreams you’d come across, or even if you’d dream at all. It was all a mystery.
So Hina fell into the vortex, not knowing where, why, how, or what she was getting into, nor when or if she’d come back.

Quin
The bell had rung a few minutes earlier for first period to end. Quinn trudged through the halls. That’s what she always did. She either strode, as if to get through as quickly as humanly possible or trudged, to not draw attention to herself. Today she chose the latter. Quinn noticed the absence of a few people while she was in the hallway. For one, the person next to her locker wasn’t anyone she’d recognized, but they seemed to know her well enough. When she thought about it, Quinn couldn’t remember anyone else being her locker neighbor. It was so odd, because she could’ve sworn that they were goth, but the boy who stood next to her, grabbing books was a baseball player, and not to bad looking. Quinn found her face heating up at the sight of him. He simply laughed at her behavior then looked at his watch and said:
“Oh crap! I’m late!” (Tsuki: I just completely gave that one away, if you don’t get it, watch some of those movies again.) Then he ran off and disappeared down the hallway.
Quinn shook her head in dismay as she walked to the classroom. There wasn’t anyone left in the hall, which was really strange since Quinn was usually earlier to class than anyone else and the bell hadn’t rung its warning yet. She began to speed up. Why? If you asked her, she wouldn’t know the reason either. It’s just that… you know that feeling when something’s watching you? That’s how Quinn felt at that moment.
If you thought that was creepy enough (which Quinn definitely thought it was) the feeling grew. It then turned into a premonition that something was about to happen. Her breathing began to become shallow. The shivers that sporadically started making their way along her spine were starting to really freak her out. Then she started to run. Now, Quinn wasn’t much of a runner, but when you feel like you have hell biting at your heels, that can make you go pretty damn fast. Then after a few feet, she stopped.
There wasn’t any rhyme or reason as to why; she just suddenly …stopped. Seconds went by with Quinn just panting. She still felt like some sort of ghostly feeling of dread was creeping along her back, but she just couldn’t make herself move. Noticing this, Hina willed her foot to take one more slow step.
Then the ground fell from beneath her feet.
All around her, pieces of the tiled floor began crumbling into a circular hole. Quinn began to fall with them. She screamed as her booted feet lost their balance and her entire body plunged into the dark hole. Once she was fully submerged, the tiles began to move on their own and reassemble itself into the original, orderly flooring. But Quinn still fell. Before her sight was completely blocked though, she could’ve sworn she saw the baseball player that was next to her locker. He was smiling. Then it was gone.
Once she realized that screaming was useless, Quinn looked around her. It was all solid rock. Roots sometimes appeared here and there. Then it slowly got stranger. Random items started popping up below Quinn. She didn’t understand it. Here she was, falling and probably several hundred feet below the surface by now, and she was seeing books, chairs, tables, food, lights, and even a lit fireplace at one point!
Quinn didn’t like this place. It was too confusing. And she just kept falling.

Fayette
In the bathroom, Fayette didn’t mind taking her time with her hair. She hated that class anyway, and envied Hina who could ace any kind of test without trying. And… really, Fayette was never one to back down from an excuse to avoid her peers. She was like that. She’d never really gotten into any kind of group fads or drama. She thought it was all just silly and childish.
Her thoughts were disrupted when the bathroom door opened and two younger girls, about junior high age, walked in. They were laughing and conspiring over some book about vampires and how they thought the main character was “really hot”. Fayette rolled her eyes.
It’s all silly and childish.
Making no attempt to have an honest conversation with them, and they did the same in return, the two walked out after a minute or so while Fayette was busy working on her hair. So stupid, she thought. She didn’t see the appeal in believing or hoping for things that don’t exist. Yes, Fayette was rather judgmental.
Finally done fixing her disheveled appearance, Fayette was about to do one more look over when she noticed something strange about the mirror. It didn’t look any different from before, but… it just seemed… wrong. Not acknowledging her own advice, Fayette reached out to touch the mirror. It felt like water.
In fear, Fayette was about to retract her fingers but, they were stuck tight to the liquidized reflection glass. Soon not only were her fingers engrossed into it, but her entire hand was somehow pulled through the mirror. She didn’t even feel it pull her, but it somehow managed to end up that way. It was sort of like when you’re jumping in the waves at a beach. You don’t mean to, and you don’t notice it happening, but you somehow move away from where you originally were.
Then, her arm was through, and then the shoulder. Fayette began to scream. She pulled with all she was worth, but being the not very athletic girl that she was, it made no difference. Her head went next. It was surprisingly refreshing though, Fayette realized. It was like sliding into cool, fresh water on a hot day. When her entire body was in the mirror, she just kept falling. Nothing was happening that she could see, but Fayette could feel a sort of change envelope her entire body. It felt like she was being squished, then when that feeling was gone, she felt like something out of her back was growing. She shivered.
Not being able to take any more of the strange happenings, Fayette looked behind her and almost fainted at the sight. She had wings!