LOST IN THE REEF ~ Wings of Fire / Anemone / Human AU

Chapter 2 - Tamarin

"I left my bag in the maths classroom," Anemone told Tsunami that afternoon when they were running for the bus.

Tsunami swore. "Shit, Anemoneee! Do you at least have your goddamn phone?"

Anemone stopped dead and stared at her muddy shoes. "No."

"Shit." Tsunami turned around and waved to a fiery redhaired girl. "Hey, Peril! Can you grab Anemone's phone for her? She left it in A009!"

"Do I get your lunch tomorrow if I do?" Peril shouted back.

"Whatever! Sure!"

"On it!" Peril ran off, and Tsunami grabbed Anemone's hand, dragging her off to the bus stop.

"What about my phone?" Anemone demanded. "Why are we leaving? Isn't that girl going to get my bag? Aren't we going to wait?" She twisted around, searching for Peril's flamey hair in the crowd.

"No, you can get it tomorrow, when I see Peril in the morning before school," Tsunami answered, leaping onto a bus. A kid smashed Anemone against the door and she gasped in pain, shoulder throbbing. She staggered onto the bus, flopping onto the nearest seat beside Tsunami.

"But I need my phone," she protested.

"Too bad. This is real life, Anemone. Deal with it. Don't be a brat. Wait, how did you leave it in the classroom if you had all your other classes throughout the day?" Tsunami narrowed her eyes at Anemone, who squirmed.

"Dunno?" she offered.

"You ditched," Tsunami said in a low tone. Anemone winced.

"Maybe . . . ?" More like she'd cried in a corner all day, hiding from everyone else.

She expected Tsunami to be annoyed, but instead her sister looked proud. "My little sister skipped class! Wow, corrupted already." She patted Anemone on the back. "Good job, sis."

Anemone didn't feel like it was an accomplishment.

~~~

"How was school?" Coral asked as soon as Anemone walked in the kitchen looking for a snack. Her mother's eyes had that hungry look, as if ready for Anemone to say that it was terrible and she was right all along.

Anemone forced back a groan. Time to lie to her own mom.

"It was great!" she said brightly. "I loved it so much. Everyone was super nice. It's a great school."

If Coral didn't believe her, Anemone wouldn't have been surprised.

~~~

The next morning, when Anemone walked in the school gate alone (since Tsunami was off probably making out with Riptide), she felt like she was about to throw up.

"Hey, brat." Viper stepped out in front of Anemone, who blinked up at her.

"Um. Yes?" Anemone wasn't sure what to say. She could see Viper's friend – or enemy – Flame behind her. They were the two people she definitely did not want to mess with.

"What's your deal being here?" Viper was probably only a year older, but she was far taller. "Why don't you just get back to where you came from?"

Flame cackled. "Yeah. Or go die in a hole."

Anemone swallowed, hoping she didn't look afraid. She just couldn't deal with this. She was not going to be their victim.

"I don't know," Anemone replied, her voice silky smooth. "Maybe you should go back where you came from. I hear the garbage dump is lovely this time of year." The words were out of her mouth before she could take them back. Not that she regretted them. Viper had gotten as good as she'd given.