𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐛𝐢𝐞 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝

[67]

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙢𝙣.

Within Gravesfield high, Luz sat at her desk as she stared at the egg-shaped palisman in her arms, beneath her desk. A glum look was painted across her features, and her teacher's voice drowned out in her mind.

"Foes vanquished, he trod the shores of his fatherland, family by his side, finally at peace," He read aloud. "This epic ends with the homecoming of not just a man, but a hero."

Mr Sandoval shut the book, smiling as he sat on the edge of his desk. Luz smiled cynically, scoffing as she didn't meet his gaze.

"Hero?" She smiled sadly. "Everywhere he went, people ended up suffering."

"It does get a little bleak, but no one said his mission would be easy," Mr Sandoval smiled. "And when you take into account the ripple effects of his actions..."

"Who cares about the ripple effects!" Luz slammed her fist on her desk with a frown, her actions causing some of her classmates to look back at her in surprise.

"He was just a pawn in someone else's game!"

The Latina placed her foot on her chair, rage and regret filling her as she clenched her fists, a glare forming. She huffed, standing on top of her table.

"A-And he was never smart enough to realise it! If his friends and family knew about his mission, they'd know that their lives would never have been in danger if it weren't for him!

"They sure hate his guts, and it would be better if he literally never existed!"

Luz hissed her words out before halting, glancing as she noticed that all eyes were on her, Mr Sandoval's smile gone and now into a surprised frown.

–––

The bell rang as students would flood out of their classrooms. Along the hallways were banners strewn with the words 'Go Wolves!', and bat decorations hung from the ceiling to get students into the Halloween spirit.

Luz walked out of her classroom with her head hung low, a frown on her face as she tucked her book under her arm. She walked by the art room, peering into the class as she spotted a new set of rules along the wall.

No taxidermy.
No spiders.
No snakes.
No animal parts.
No fireworks.

The elderly art teacher who stood by the doorframe wearily watched the girl as she held her mug shakily. She narrowed her eyes before taking a long sip of her drink, Luz frowning before letting out a sigh.

The Latina walked off, reaching her locker as she entered her combination. She pulled the door open, revealing all sorts of creations of King and Eda, ranging from doodles to a paper mache mask of King's skull.

She frowned at the sight, missing the two very much before placing her book in her locker. As she closed the locker door, she was met with the smiling faces of two people, the Latina gasping in shock.

"Hey, you're Luz, right?" The first spoke, their hair in a ponytail as they held flyers in their hand, leaning against the locker next to Luz's.

"Uhm..." Luz hummed in confusion.

"Nice to meet cha!" They grinned. "You were right in class, we read about too many crusty old dudes. Gimme books about crusty old women!"

"I used to know one," Luz smiled in reminiscence before turning her attention back to the two other students.