Sora of the Moon

CLAIRE~2

The road was long enough to make Ian fall asleep in the backseat. I didn’t blame him, he was tired from yesterday’s match or his little adventure with the girl he was with, also injured. Phillip shook a glance at me. He looked quite concerned.

“But seriously Claire how’s that going for you?”

“Which one?”  I asked sighting.

He raised his shoulders.

“I don’t know, everything. How’s your dad doing? What about your night job? Did Ian stop with the illegal staff? Talk to me, you look troubled”.

Immediately my mind flew to all the problems I was trying to leave behind. Truthfully I was happy to walk away from all these but just the thought of them felt like a burden.

“Dad’s condition is getting worse and worse day by day. He won’t admit it but I’m smart enough to realize. With us gone I believe they would be able to economically breathe, if you know what I mean but I’m still worried. Also thankfully I did quit my job after you contacted us about Solas na Ghel and how we got accepted but boss was furious. I won’t be paid for my last performance and the money was a lot. But to tell you the truth, I don’t even care, new life, new me. Ian’s boss on the other hand was very supportive and also happy for him to be able to study martial arts at Solas na Ghel. He even gave him a bonus as an acceptance gift. I really am surprised at how good of a person his coach is, I almost can’t believe he is enmeshed in this illegal mess”.

“I see… this is good isn’t it?”

I looked out of the window to the green scenery that was passing by. Were we going up a mountain? When was the Academy located again?

“For Ian it sure is. I’m so happy that I won’t have to see him that injured ever again”.

“Now that reminds me, was that a hickey I saw on his neck?”

I jumped at his comment. I almost felt embarrassed for him.

“You saw that?”

“Well, it’s difficult not to see it”, he laughed.

God, his laugh. So vivid, so innocent. Every time I hear it, makes me fall all over for him. I was never going to be able to tell him, so although it made me sad, I wanted to leave the things between him and I the way they’re now.

“Excuse me Claire, but why the f**k does your boss treat you that way? Haven’t you had enough of him? I would advise you to call him right now and demand your money!” he started getting angry, his voice revealed it.

Usually he would speak in a low, calm tone but now it suddenly became fierce. Phillip when he got angry he was able to scare even the mountains.

“I won’t do it Phillip. Who knows what will he ask me to do if I oppose to what he says”.

“Damn it Claire, how can you be so irresponsible? Why accept anything that d**k tells you to do?” he took a sharp turn. 

“Because I’m afraid, that’s why. Have you any idea what kind of business does he ran?”

“I sure do. Does he expose prostitutes? Because I wouldn’t be surprised if he did”.

“Phillip!” I threatened.

“Yeah sorry, it’s just that it drives me so mad you know? I was opposed to this from the start and you know it”.

“Yeah, but I just couldn’t help it…”

“Never mind that. Let’s talk about something positive, tell me, what are you going to study at Solas na Ghel?”

I found myself smiling at the thought.

“Well, what do you think I’ll be studying?”

He smiled taking a glance at me.

“Oh is this a challenge Claire?”

Phillip knew everything about me so I thought of making him take a guess. It was fun from time to time and also I use to challenge him a lot.

“If you guess wrong I’m never forgiving you”, I said jokingly.

“Alright then. So, we’re talking about you so it must have something to do with arts”.

 I stayed silent and let him complete his sentence. His eyes opened wide and I understood that he came into a realization.

“You’re in the art department aren’t you?”

I smiled widely at him.

“There it is, that smile. That’s so awesome Claire! I’m so happy for you!”

“What about you?”  I asked opening a bag of snacks.

“Who, me? Music, of course”.

“I could have guessed. You’re a DJ after all”.

“I sure as hell am!” he said proudly stealing some chips from my bag.

“So, listen. We’re almost there. I have to ask you not to panic”, he said with a full mouth.

“Panic? Why would I-”

My eyes opened wide at the huge building that towered above our car. That building must’ve been ancient but at the same time so well maintained. The architecture that described it was medieval and kind of neo-classic. It seriously looked like a Scottish castle.

“What kind of place is this Phillip?” I asked impressed.

The Academy was surrounded by a forest and was isolated at the top of a high hill. I was right about travelling on a mountain earlier.

“It’s a place for very rich people. We’re so lucky to have won the scholarship”, Phillip answered thrilled.

“If it wasn’t for your relative Phillip…”

“Don’t even mention it”.

I turned to my sleeping brother and softly hit him on his leg.

“Ian, wake up!” I said loudly and he immediately jumped.

“What the hell Claire?”  he grumbled but as long as he saw the building he held his tongue.

“I know right?” Phillip said while pulling in on the parking lot beside a gothic gate with rails. The parking lot concerning the Academy was kind of remote but that didn’t matter to me. As long as we got out of the car a woman approached us.

“Mr. Wilson I presume”, the woman said standing next to Phillip, he almost jumped when he saw her.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s me”.

“Welcome to Solas na Ghel. I’m the headmistress, Jenifer Jefferson”. 

The woman looked so different than the headmistress I had visualized. She was wearing a pair of dark blue pants, white shirt and a bright red blazer with the emblem of the Academy seamed on the right as I assumed. A black crescent moon with the Academy’s initials next to it, SNG. A black tie completed the set. Her blonde hair up in an elegant bun was emitting severity. I looked away kind of embarrassed. She looked to be so strict, almost inapproachable. Then her thin lips cracked into a warm smile purging this strong energy away.

I helped Ian with the suitcases when her soft voice echoed again.

“Congratulations on winning the scholarship. You must be proud. And you two must be the Moon siblings”, she said looking over to us.

I immediately lowered my gaze in respect.

“Yes, I’m Claire Moon, and this is my younger brother, Ian Moon”.

She laughed lightly.

“You guys, it seems as though the Academy was made for you to attend. You see, Solas na Ghel stands for moonlight in Celtic Scottish. So, far from that, it’s good you three are early, you see today is a very busy day for me. New students are coming from all over the area but I really want to look after you to be honest. So, mind following me?”

We looked at each other as Mrs. Jefferson opened the gates for us. She gave us a friendly wave telling us to come in. My eyes were stuck at the flower arch over the gate as I walked under it. So beautiful with all those vibrant colors the roses had. I could even spot blue and yellow ones besides purple, red and pink. The scenery that unveiled in front of me was as if it had jumped out off a fairy tale. The Academy was parted in three huge buildings with one of them being the main of course. The front garden was full of students all dressed in the same school uniform. I could discern girl groups along with boy groups and also some couples here and there but there was a special group of six that caught my attention. There were three guys and three girls sharing the same golden hair that literally shined when the sunlight touched them as well as their skin. It was literally sparkling. At first I thought it was my imagination and I rubbed my eyes but that didn’t seem to be the case. Maybe the sun was just too bright and their skin very light-colored. I felt Phillip’s playful jabbing and I turned to him. He leaned over.

“Your brother seems to be the girls’ centre of attention”.

I was kind of surprised to hear that but it ended up being true. Indeed the girls’ gazes were all over my brother. I wouldn’t blame them, he was so cool looking after all, especially for his age and he did kind of stood out. His dark hair came in perfect contrast with his blue eyes and he was tall comparing to the other guys that my eye was catching. He did wear a leather jacket too that looked totally odd for this place.

“So as you see there are three buildings that constitute Solas na Ghel. The main building is dedicated to the fine arts such as music and painting and because of the space art studios need, that department seems to have taken over the bigger building. There is also where my office is located. The second building is dedicated to other departments that need the laboratories such as medicine and physics  and is the location of the infirmary too along with the library because of the students that study literature. Some of your lessons take place in that building too so make sure to pay attention to the numbers and names of your lessons. A stands for a class in the main building, B stands for a class in the second building and C stands for a class in the third building. So the third building concerns Mr. Moon the most because that’s where the department of martial arts belongs. Fields and gym are also there if anyone is interested. Most importantly, your dorms. Your dorms belong on a separate building in the back area of our Academy. It’s impossible to miss that building, it is only meters away of our greenhouse”.

“Excuse me, do we get to have a map maybe?” Phillip asked troubled.

Mrs. Jefferson laughed.

“Actually yes you do. We understand how difficult and chaotic our school can be for our freshmen. Almost everyone gets lost on their first time here. It’ll be on your desks along with some other papers. So, as I was saying…. dorms next to the greenhouse. Your roommates must’ve been informed about your arrival. I’m sure they’ll be excited to meet you. So, if you’d excuse me I’ll be taking my leave I just had a text that we had new arrivals”. She looked at her phone.

“Your dorm supervisors will be taking it from here. Samuel, Luna, please take care of them and I’ll be back as soon as I can”.

“Most certainly Mrs. Jefferson”. A male voice echoed and two really strange looking students approached us.

I was so impressed with the size of the Academy that I didn’t realize when we had reached the dorms. I wasn’t paying attention to anything and I wanted to hit myself. I’ll get lost. There’s no way I’m not getting lost. I’d already forgotten how we got here. The girl named Luna was so short compared to the guy next to her. She had icy blue curly hair that I couldn’t tell if they were dyed or not and really light blue eyes that matched her hair. On the other hand the guy had black hair and dark grey eyes. He looked kind of scary if I wanted to be honest, but still so handsome. Also his eyes had a funny shape. Was he from Asia or something? Both of them were dressed with the school uniform of course.

“Name’s Samuel if you hadn’t figured it out already. I’ll be taking the guys. Luna, you take the girl”, he said kind of fiercely and I stiffened. The girl rolled her eyes before turning to me.

“God he is so persistent. Hi, let me help you with the suitcase”.

She said with a warm smile taking the case from my hands. The moment our fingers touched she flinched.

“Oh God… please no…it couldn’t be…” she murmured frightened.

I looked at her concerned.

“Is something the matter Mrs. Luna?”

She forced a smile.

“No, everything is fine. What was your name again?”

“Oh, I didn’t really say. Name’s Claire Moon. Nice to meet you”.  

“Claire Moon it is? I like it”, she said and turned to Samuel.

“Why are you still here? The guys must be tired!”

“Shut up Luna, will you?”

She clicked her tongue annoyed.

“I’m sorry guys about his attitude”.

Phillip smiled reassuringly.

“No, it’s okay we understand. It must be pretty busy today. First day and all”.

“Follow me!” Samuel said but it sounded more like an order.

“What’s his problem?” I heard my brother mumbling to Phillip.

Then another guy ran out of the dorms hitting Samuel’s shoulder.

“Hey! Watch it Nathan!”

“Bite me Samuel!” he responded furiously and walked by me.

For a brief moment his eyes met mine. He also looked like he was from Asia but the color. The color was blue. Vivid blue. I thought my heart stopped for a couple of seconds. For those seconds time for me had frozen. I was feeling captivated by his glare even though it was scary. He didn’t pay much attention to me but he sure tickled my senses. Who was he? Did Samuel called him Nathan or did I mishear? Whichever was the case I found myself following him with my eyes. He was holding his arm tightly as if he was hurt but the weirdest thing about his injury was the blood dripping from it. It was black.