Rhapsody

The library was a large room with whitewashed walls and grey, commercial carpet. On one side was a row of desks with computers set on top, on the other were shelves of books, organised according to category from References to Fiction, and in the centre were a small collection of tables and chairs. The librarian’s desk was set in the back next to a laser printer and a photocopier. Fluorescent lights glowed from the ceiling as they did throughout the school while students milled through the room, sitting at the computers, the desks, walking through the aisles and queuing at the librarian’s desk, where a dower old woman who bore a badge reading Tracey Sherman, Librarian, checked out books and sat thumbing through a gossip magazine while eating a Tupperware container full of left-over’s.

Gavin pulled Luna across the room, oblivious to the constant stares. Why did humans have to gawk so much? They arrived at a table towards the back of the group, where a pretty young girl with Mediterranean skin, shoulder length, curly brown hair, tinted sunglasses and a knowing smile sat, her hands clasped on her lap, closed books piled on the table next to her. Gavin began to tiptoe, a cheeky grin turning up the corners of his mouth.

“You know you can’t sneak up on me, Gavin.” She giggled, her head never moving to look at them. Gavin laughed, plopping down in the seat on her left. Luna stood somewhat awkwardly, her uncertainty plain in her blue and green eyes.

“Well, you can’t blame me for trying. Not my fault you’re all psychic-y.” He joked, waving his fingers. The girl continued to stare into space, laughing with him; there was a tone of something strange in her laugh, Luna couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

“So who’s your friend?” she asked, acknowledging Luna’s presence without looking up. She reached slowly to remove her sunglasses, and Luna stifled a gasp. Her eyes, though obviously a deep brown and framed by thick, long lashes, where milky and clouded; she was blind. Chuckling, the girl extended her hand.

“It’s okay. You can stare, if you want. I’m Ruby, Ruby Walker.”

“I’m Luna Addams.” Luna responded, squeezing Ruby’s hand. The girl smiled.

“Ah, the new girl, is it? You have a nice hand shake. Not too firm but not too loose. I can tell you must be a strong person.” Luna’s mouth turned up sheepishly. Gavin watched the exchange mutely, grinning happily as his new friend sat down at the table with them, instead of standing stiffly behind the chair.

“You’re from the Deep South, right Luna?” Ruby asked, her clear, sweet voice conveying her curiosity. Luna nodded, and then all of a sudden remembered that Ruby was blind.

“Oh, uh, yeah, I am.” She stuttered, embarrassed at having forgotten so soon. Ruby and Gavin chuckled.

“It’s fine if you’re a little put off. I was born this way, so it’s never really bothered me.” She explained, her tone understanding and kind. As though it happened often, it seemed.

“Okay ladies, enough talk, we have work to do.” Gavin insisted playfully, pulling out a pile of books from his bag. Ruby reached over and pulled one of the books from the pile next to her, flipping the cover open to reveal the first page. It was plain white, covered in little raised, patterned bumps; Luna recognised it as Braille. She and Gavin opened their own books, French, their shared class. She shocked Gavin when she began to read the book in near-fluent French. He laughed loudly.

“Sara is not going to like this!” he crowed; both girls joined in the laughter, especially when sour looking Ms Sherman told Gavin to be quiet in a firm but demanding ‘make another noise and heads will roll’ tone of voice. Giggles and whispers from their table were all that could be heard from that point on.

Study seemed to fly by. Luna had never laughed so much in an hour. She had never had friends before; the only children in the Underworld were other Reapers, and despite the variation in physical age, they all acted like adults, serious and melancholy. None of them ever had time to even talk; they were all so obsessed with doing the job Roger had given them upon their reincarnation into the species.

As they left the library, Luna was astonished at the amount of students all flocking in the same direction. Each had the same hungry, excited look on their face.

“Ugh, Joy to the World, the cattle are loose. Talk about mind like a sheep.” Gavin groaned, rolling his eyes.

“It’s Cheese Pizza Day. What do you expect?” Ruby joked, tapping her walking cane on the linoleum floor.

“Come on,” Gavin chuckled, the little group moving in the opposite direction to the crowd.

“Where are we going?” Luna asked, confused. Shouldn’t they at least head to the cafeteria for food or something? That was what usually happened, right? Luna wondered if she should turn back and follow the other students.

“Don’t worry about food, Luna. My Aunt Vera always makes too much for me to eat; we can share.” Ruby smiled. How had she known...? A little, knowing smile was set into the girl’s face, but Luna shook it off. No reason to get excited over nothing.

“As for your question,” Gavin chimed, “we eat lunch in the parking lot. Away from the sheep, you know?” he made an exaggerated sheep-noise, and the girls laughed. It seemed the more comfortable she grew, the less Luna noticed the looks all the passing people gave her.

The parking lot of Rosemore High School was a large rectangle, the asphalt dotted with cars ranging from shiny new models to old rust-buckets. A warm breeze blew through the trees lining the school; the sky was clear, the sun shining brightly, white, wispy clouds dotting the crystalline blue. They weren’t alone; little groups were also outside, sitting on their cars instead of inside the school.

“Once in a while I wish it would rain.” Gavin mused, staring at the sky, “All we ever get is sunshine. Even in winter.” Sighing, he smiled when Ruby placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. She seemed to be able to sense where people where, even without her sight.

Luna followed her friends down the small flight of stone steps, Gavin helping Ruby the whole way. Gavin led the way over to an old white Toyota HiLux on the right side of the lot. He unclipped the catches on the back, flipping the panel down before putting his hands under Ruby’s arms and lifting her into the truck bed.

“Want a lift?” he asked Luna, arms out ready to lift her next to Ruby. Luna shook her head, smiling. With her right hand only, Luna pushed against the metal of the truck, jumping onto the bed as agile, swift, and graceful as a cat. With wide eyes, Gavin shook his head in disbelief, lifting himself up onto Ruby’s right.

The three friends talked and laughed while sharing the large lunch consisting of left over pork slices and a tub of homemade gravy, fruit salad, sandwiches chocolate filled rice balls, and sushi that Ruby’s Aunt Vera had made.

“Why does your aunt make you such a big lunch?” Luna asked, chewing slowly on a piece of Teriyaki chicken sushi dipped in soya sauce.

“Well,” Ruby answered, swallowing a mouthful of fruit, “my family’s heritage is Greek, and Greek people typically are big eaters. One of Aunt Vera’s hobbies is cooking big meals to take down to the hospital and local charities. She always makes too much, and ends up giving me the leftovers.”

“All the leftovers,” Gavin emphasised, popping a piece of gravy covered pork into his mouth.

“She means well. She thinks I’m too thin,” Ruby replied. Luna chewed thoughtfully on a dumpling. What would it be like to live with someone as eager to feed people as Ruby’s Aunt Vera? Roger and Luna ate like birds; Luna would probably offend Vera with her inability to appreciate so much food.

“Hold on.” Ruby exclaimed suddenly, holding up her hand.

“What is it?” Gavin asked, placing the lid over his friend’s moderately empty lunch box. Luna gazed at Ruby, eyes wide. Was something wrong? After a short silence, Ruby turned her head towards the entrance to the parking lot.

“Someone’s coming,” she said, her voice a breathy whisper. Luna frowned as Gavin demanded to know who it was, craning his neck to see over the cars. There was nothing but the idle chatter of the other students, which soon died away into silence and curious stares, and the wind rustling the leaves.

Suddenly, Luna heard something faint, a steadily growing roar. It was getting louder, closer, and sounded like engines. That assumption turned out to be correct as a gleaming black car came screaming around the corner, skidding dangerously across the lot to park crookedly in an empty space towards the middle.

“Oh, it’s them.” Gavin sighed, his voice annoyed. He rolled his green eyes and slid further back on the truck bed, legs dangling lazily. Luna didn’t have time to wonder whom he meant; the doors of the car swung open, and her eyes widened. Three of the most beautiful people she had ever seen stepped out as a black motorbike parked in the space next to them.

From the inside of the car emerged two boys and a girl. The girl was gorgeous, statuesque with a body to die for, clad in tight, hip hugging leather pants, a white button up shirt underneath a figure hugging black, under-bust corset and spiky black heels. Dark chocolate hair curled gently around her, reaching the middle of her back, her dark eyes and European features, coupled with stark, moon pale skin gave her an exotic, ethereal quality.

The boys were opposites, and yet still similar. Both had snowy skin, stood over six feet and both were ripped with muscles. One had dark blonde hair, hazel eyes and a goofy grin as he came and slung his arm around the girl’s shoulders, while the other was dark haired, with icy eyes as cold as the colour and muscles bulging under his t-shirt.

“Celeste sure knows how to dress,” Gavin commented, whistling low.

“No wonder Jonah bows to her every whim,” Quipped Ruby, her lunch now packed safely in her bag. The new arrivals all stood around the motorbike rider, talking and laughing. The rider reached up, and Luna gasped softly when he removed his helmet, stepping off the bike.She gazed in wonder at his wild mop of chin length, flaming red hair, snowy white skin, strong, chiselled features, and the deepest of sapphire blue eyes in the world. Underneath his leather jacket and dark jeans, it was obvious that his tall body was lean and muscular; he was the most amazing creature she had ever seen.

Gazing at the group, Luna felt a sharp tingle slide down her spine. A strange sense of foreboding flooded her mind, like her body was warning her against something. Where these people dangerous? They seemed harmless enough, but the young Reaper knew above all things that looks could be deceiving. Her very existence was a sham to her new friends.

With a single glance in her direction, Luna felt her heart stutter when her bicoloured eyes locked with the boy's sapphire orbs. It seemed to last forever and a day. Finally, the boy looked away at the call of his friends standing by the stairs, following them into the school. The sun highlighted their pale skin, and Luna could see under their white complexions, thin webs of blue veins, as though their skin were somehow transparent.

“Who were they?” Luna asked, curious. She had never seen people so unbelievable.

“Celeste Valentino, Jonah Farrow, Brodie Maguire, and the one on the bike was Max Aldridge.” Gavin replied, sliding off the truck bed and landing with a soft thud onto the tarmac, “They moved here about a year ago from living in Europe somewhere. They live together in an old mansion down in Cloudtree Grove, no parents, just the four of them.”

“They’re all...” Luna trailed off, unable to find the right word.

“Gorgeous.” Ruby interjected, “I don’t have to see to be able to tell you that. Not to mention dangerous.” Luna frowned, cocking her head to the side.

“How do you mean?” she asked, confused. Gavin sighed.

“They may look harmless enough, but those guys are bad news. They do what they want, when they want.”

“Terrorising people, breaking and entering, cutting school, vandalism, and that’s only the beginning.” Ruby explained, adjusting her glasses.

“They’re not a crowd you wanna get mixed up with.” Gavin added, lifting Ruby off the truck and placing her gently on the ground.

“Why do you think they act that way?” Luna asked, jumping down next to her friends. Gavin had handed Ruby her bag and cane and was clipping up the flap on his truck.

“Who knows? All I know is that we’re going to be late for English.” Ruby said, her tone conclusive, closing the conversation. Luna held her tongue, though a million questions threatened to spill forth. Thinking about the four who had just left, she felt the same sharp, ominous feeling shoot through her body. There was something off about the whole group, and Luna knew instinctively that she should avoid them at all costs, without really knowing at all what was so wrong about them.

Although they had the same subject, Ruby and Gavin were in a different English class to Luna. They promised to meet her at their final class, mathematics, and assured her everything would be fine; Luna wasn’t so sure.

Following her map, she managed to arrive at her classroom on time, just as the teacher, Miss Korby, a dark skinned woman with long black hair tied up in a braided bun and kind, dark eyes, was calling the class to order.

“You must be...” she trailed off, sliding her manicured finger down the class list on her desk, “Luna Addams. I’m Miss Korby, welcome to the class.” Miss Korby placed a gentle hand on Luna’s shoulder, guiding her into the room.

As she gazed around the room, her eyes landed on some familiar faces that made her want to walk straight back out. Sara and her gang sat in the middle of the room, the four girls split up between two desks. Directly opposite them on the other side of the room, slouched down in his chair with his feet resting on the desk, his flaming hair swept back messily from his angelic face and his cerulean eyes gazing absently out the window, was none other than Max Aldridge. And his desk was the only one with an empty seat.