Sora of the Moon

CLAIRE~5

I lied on my bed exhausted from the moving and all the new changes. I had tidied up my stuff and If what Hayley said was true, then tonight I wouldn’t be able to get the rest I needed. I also wanted to take a walk around the Academy so that I won’t get lost tomorrow. Maybe try to find my classes so I wouldn’t be late. I sure needed to take a bath too. The weather was still hot and I was sweating as hell with the clothes I was wearing.  I could have worn a t-shirt with a pair of shorts but I didn’t feel comfortable. Plus I didn’t own something like that. The phone ring distracted me from my thoughts. I was surprised that it actually had a phone in here. Confused I picked it up.

“Yes Claire? Hayley here. I totally forgot to tell you”.

“Did something happen?” I asked concerned.

“Yes, actually I have no idea what’s your size. Mind tellin’ me?”

I let out a sigh. Was that really it? I already felt bad for making her go all the way downtown for me.

“You really don’t have to…”

“Sush! Your size I said!”

“Medium. But reall-“

“Thanks. Also, a boy might come to our room. If I haven’t gotten back until then, please give him the baby pink papers I have on my desk, will you?”

For a couple of seconds I was distracted by some voices coming from the phone besides Hayley’s. She really had gone to a shopping centre.

“Love, are you catching me?”

I shook my head.

“Oh, yeah of course. Baby pink it is?”

“Exactly, you’ll see them no worries. Thanks a bunch”.

She said and immediately hung up.

Baby pink papers? I wonder what those were about.

I closed the phone and started feeling worry. What kind of dress would Hayley pick for me? I prayed not to be very sexy. As I was about to fall back to my bed, the door knocked. Was that him? I stood up rushing to the door.  I opened it and I froze.

“Excuse me is this Hayley’s room?” he asked looking kind of troubled.

I couldn’t believe it… That was Nathan, the boy I saw earlier bumping into Samuel. He was so much more handsome than I had expected him to be. Black, medium-length hair slightly covering his eyelids. Sharp angled eyebrows and his eyes. God his eyes… They were like I was starring at the ocean. I would totally sink in them, if I could. Such deep, vivid blue, so unique for someone coming from the East. His fair skin also. It looked so smooth and healthy. It was flawless. Almost like it was made out of porcelain. I felt my heart flatter and then I realized that I stared at him for too long without giving him an answer. I shook my head. How embarrassing.

“Ah yeah… sorry. I’m Claire, Hayley’s roommate. Can I do something for you?”

He didn’t answer. He just observed me curiously with those breathtaking eyes. He looked at me from head to toe and even though I was wearing my clothes and all, I felt exposed. Hesitantly I tried to catch back his attention.

  “Eh… sorry but is there anything you need from Hayley?”

His eyes opened wide in realization.

“Yeah. Hayley asked me to come here. She said she had some song lyrics for me… Do you perhaps know something about that?”

Oh but of course, the baby pink papers. Song lyrics huh… why does it even surprise me? I walked towards her desk and looked through some colorful papers. There they are!

“That must be it”. I mattered to myself smiling and returned to the door.

My eye caught his bandaged now arm. Yes… he was injured and this black blood… I hoped he was okay and what I’d seen I hoped it to be my imagination. I couldn’t help but ask.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Your arm earlier was… bleeding”.

He looked surprised.

“I tripped and why did your eye even caught that?”

He sounded slightly annoyed and I looked down. Was it too rude of me to ask? 

“Sorry, it looked just so painful”.

“It was just a scratch”.

Okay, that definitely was not just a scratch. It was open, possibly infected. Otherwise his blood wouldn’t look that dirty.

“Was it infected?”

He looked away taking the papers from my hands.

 “I should get going. Thanks for that” he said ignoring entirely my question.

I seriously need to learn when to shut up. He began to walk away but I stopped him, curious if Nathan was really his name.

“Is your name possibly Nathan?”

“Do I know you?” he asked turning to face me.

“No, Samuel called you like that and I thought of confirming it, that’s all. Also, I know this may sound weird but I have the urge to tell you… your eyes are beautiful”.

Yeah. His eyes were indeed beautiful and I really wanted to point that out. Possibly the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen on a man before and thanks to my job, I had met a lot of men in my life. But Nathan’s… there was something so captivating about them. I, of course, right after I said that, returned to my room without even waiting for his answer. I felt so embarrassed to say something like this to a man I just met. I could create a misunderstanding.

Okay I decided. I would take a walk in the Academy quarters then I’d take a shower and hopefully sleep a little. I took my room’s key and my phone and headed for the back yard.

It was indeed big. New students coming and go, some of them dressed in the school uniform, others in ordinary clothing. One thing was for sure. They all looked so elegant. It was obvious that they were rich and then there was me looking so plain and odd comparing to them. I sighed. It couldn’t be helped. I walked behind the dorms to see another yard full of students and also a smaller building slightly close to it. What was that again? I had forgotten my map upstairs and didn’t really want to go back and get it. The stairs were a lot. It’s okay, I’d investigate it. Where’s the fun when I know where I’m going?  This building shared the same architecture with the others. It seriously looked like they were out of this world. I spotted even a labyrinth next to it. A labyrinth though? What was that about? Curious to see why there was a labyrinth there I approached it trying to ignore the stares I was attracting. This was so big. But still, why was there a labyrinth in the Academy?

I spotted a group of four people who were sharing the same icy blue hair walking in. That was kind of weird. Was it common for here to have so many icy haired people? Luna too. She had the exact same color. Curiosity took the best of me and I ended up walking in myself. Okay, it’d be my fault if I got lost. 

The group though, the one I followed, it had disappeared. That felt truly strange but I guess I might have lost them or they might be walking faster than me. Enchanted by the beauty of this place I found myself exploring the labyrinth instead of the Academy. There were flowers in every bush transforming the place into a fairy tale like scenery. Paths also were made out of stones. There was no one in here but why would they be? All students were busy with meeting their roommates, creating groups and maybe taking a good look of their new Academy unlike me who was drawn by a labyrinth in the back yard of the dorms. I continued exploring it but then I heard voices coming from behind a bush. Male voices. They sounded like arguing about something. I hid somewhere near terrified but that was probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. Of course they would think I was eavesdropping if I stood there doing nothing. But there was something on their conversation that caught my interest.

“I can’t believe you decided out of nowhere to return. What’s on your mind Ilay? Stealing Sora again? Well I have news for you, she is dead!”

Ilay? Sora? Who were those people? I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t be listening to this.

“How many times do I have to tell you Aaron? I’d never intend to steal Sora from you. It wasn’t me”.

“As if I believe you. You were the only one that knew where we were. I’m sure you killed her so that the anarchy will continue”.

“You’re speaking nonsense Aaron! Why the world would I want the anarchy to continue?”

“Ah yeah? And who killed her? Nathan? Impossible, his father would have destroyed him if he did something that reckless and thank the Sun, Nathan is still alive pissing me off”.

The irony dripping from his mouth was almost unbearable to hear. What relationship did those two have with Nathan?

“I don’t know what happened but I can tell you this. Sora is still alive. I can still feel her life power. I don’t know who or what happened eighteen years ago but she is not dead. Something’s up. That Eclipse Tribe though… that’s what concerns me. I never know what they have in mind”.

“None of us does and believe me I’m dying to know what really happened”.

There was a pause and I already had started losing my mind. What were they talking about? Eclipse Tribe? Anarchy?

“Should we torture Nathan?”

My heart stiffened. What did they mean by “torture”? They couldn’t possibly be meaning literal torture, right?

“And what makes you think that that bastard is going to talk?”

“You’re absolutely right Aaron. He is a persistent son of a b***h. He’ll never talk, no matter what we do to him”.

“Does he even have a weakness?”

The boy named Ilay laughed.

“He sure does. All of us do have a weak spot. The thing is that I don’t know his...”

“Yet”.

“Okay, hope that’s enough for you to understand that I didn’t lay a hand on Sora. I’m searching for her just like you and that’s why I disappeared. If I knew where she was, I’d have already brought her to the Sun Kingdom”.

“Can I trust you Ilay?”

“What kind of question is that? We’re brothers. We’ve building our trust since forever. You want Sora, I want Sora, we basically want the same thing. Why would I want to sabotage you? The decision will be Sora’s to make either we like it or not. There is no point fighting over her especially when she is nowhere to be found”.

A sigh followed.

“You’re right… Sorry for doubting you. Actually I’m glad you’re here Ilay. I swear with the other tribes swarming around this school, I really need my backup”.

“Don’t mention it brother”.

That was the last sentence before the sound of footsteps was getting closer to me. If I stay here, I’m going to be seen. I started running away but the guys noticed me.

“Hey miss are you lost?” I heard one of them shouting.

I need to answer, or else they’ll be suspicious. I turned to them and smiled.

“Everything’s fine just taking a run around the labyrinth. Journey got me all messed up. I needed to exercise”, I lied and heard them laughing.

“Way to go girl! You must be a freshman, care for a little school tour?”

I was about to accept but when I looked at their faces, one was extremely familiar to me. I wanted the earth to open and swallow me whole. I was so unlucky, why must it be him? After I turned him down too… All the things I’ve heard were so weird and hard to understand but now I didn’t care about any of these. One thing I was certain of and also terrified by…

If He recognizes me, I’m done.