Queen Of The Ventils

XII

I never thought somebody else's first day at school would be this terrifying.

This was it. The moment of truth. The sink-or-swim test for Lunalis. This was her first day of high school. I'd woken up a few hours before the sun rose, unable to sleep. I was imagining all the horrible things that could possibly go wrong today.

Lunalis somehow getting her choker off and destroying the school. Replacing arms with tree branches. Turning the classrooms into forests. Growing poisonous mushrooms that made you experience such wild hallucinations you get scared to death. There was no end to the horrors that could happen.

After I couldn't possibly stall for more time, I decided to wake her up. Gently rapping on the door, I tensed, waiting for something huge to jump out and rip my face off. I was pleasantly surprised when I didn't feel my limbs disconnect from my torso.

Opening the door, I found her curled up in my sister's bed, softly snoring. I gently nudged her shoulder with my hand. She didn't move. "Lunalis, it's time to get up," I said, shaking her side. She still didn't respond. Leaning down by her ear, I started, "Lu-"

"Step away from me before I surgically remove your windpipe," she whispered, a claw-like nail pressing into my skin. I nodded and complied, taking a few giant steps back. "I-I was just coming to wake you up," I stammered, nervously touching where her hand had almost shredded my skin moments before.

"Why," she asked, yawning and stretching her arms. "The sun's barely risen. Is something wrong?"
"No," I said, though I had silently hoped an asteroid would crush the school and I wouldn't have to endure the stress of keeping her from killing someone. "It's your first day of high school."

"I don't want to go," she whined, flopping back over and covering her face with a pillow. "None of us do," I said. "There's a reason it's called Prison Education. But it's either you don't go, or you reveal yourself to the world when the police wonder why you aren't in school. It happened to me, chances are it will happen to you."

"Ugh," she groaned, rolling out of bed. "I wish I'd never even heard of the word human."
Just wait until you meet Señor Uhl, I thought. Then, out loud, "Come on. We need to leave now or we're going to be late."

"I don't care if we're late," she snapped, sitting on the bed and crossing her arms. I growled at her immaturity. I bent over so I was eye-to-eye with her. "If we are late, we will get detention," I said slowly. "If we get detention, we stay even later at school. So, the later you are, the later you stay. Is that clear?"
Her eyes widened and she squeaked, "Crystal."

I don't think I've ever seen somebody move so fast under the threat of school. She zipped around the Mothership, collecting the things I told her she would need for today. She snatched up her backpack, which was all white, and dumped her supplies into it.

Finally, pleating her hair into a braid and tying it off with a hair tie, she grabbed my arm and my bag and sprinted out the door. "Okay, what now," she asked, panting, her face red from running around the house.

I took my bag from her and slung it over my shoulder. "Now, we start the walk to school," I said, gesturing for her to walk beside me. "I might be leading the way, but I still don't trust you to try and kill me," I explained to her confused look.

"Smart," she said. "You're starting to think like your species is supposed to."
"What's that supposed to mean," I asked.
"Oh, nothing."

We continued walking, out of the cul-de-sac, up the hill and over the bridge. "Wow," she marveled, peeking over the railing. "That's either the biggest Karil track or the smallest canyon I've ever seen!"