Rainbow

III

☀︎

It's been one week after graduation and I'm officially 18.
And right now, all the graduates (including me) of the HTC and the STC are at Tempestas.

Not officially working.

We're being shown around the place before we start working from tomorrow. Dawn is so excited she's buzzing beside me.
The Helios and Sinvulas are in two separate lines and two mentors are guiding us. Till now we've been together but one of the mentors takes the Sinvulas to the Rain department while we head on to the Sunshine department.
We're taken to a room where we see a Helios much older than us providing sunlight down on a place marked with 'Africa' on it's 'place board'.

The mentor starts explaining what a place board is. Apparently, it's put there so we don't mess up and give sunlight when its nighttime or rain is on schedule at that place.

We continue to see the rest of the building.

★★★

Not long after, we meet back with the Sinvulas, they look just as excited as us. I try to peek into the Rain department, and honestly, it doesn't look that bad.
Before turning my attention back to our mentors, I catch a glimpse of bright blonde hair around the corner but before I could peek any more, our mentor called out,
"Now! Helios and Sinvulas, introduce yourselves to each other! You must work in harmony for the weather to be just right! And please be nice!," he says, looking specifically at the Helios.
"You have 20 minutes. Get your gloves from the basket right here," the guide says gesturing to the basket of gloves held by his partner, "Put on your gloves, please! We don't want a horrible phenomenon happening, do we?" He chuckles at his joke and waits for us to laugh with him.
We don't.
He stops.
"Your time starts now." The female guide, who's much more serious than him, says.

I go grab a pair of gloves and put them on.
Nobody comes to me so I go to them. I'm the first Helio to introduce myself.
"Hi! My name is Aelia, what's yours?" I ask a timid looking girl.
"Um hello, my name is Noelani." She says, not looking at me but rather at the ground.

I put out my hand for her to shake and I could've sworn she flinched. I almost draw my hand back but she takes it, still looking at the ground.
"Are you scared...of me?" I ask in almost a whisper.
Her lack of answer angers me to the point of cursing out my kind.

"I want to be your friend." I state. I hear audible gasps from the crowd but I hear my male guide cheering me on. She finally looks me in the eye.
I smile at her, hoping it'd decrease her worries and it does. Her eyes stop being cautious and she finally smiles at me too. I would've hugged her, but that's contact too, so we settle with shaking our gloved hands.

"What the hell? Aelia is making friends with those losers?" A hear a voice way too familiar behind me. Elaine. She's all bark and no bite.
I turn back sharply and a glare is enough to shut her up. I'm fact, I glare at them all. I know what I said about not defending the Sinvulas but this isn't acceptable, we're supposed to work together, not bully each other.
My glare must have done the job cause' they all start talking to the Sinvulas too.

Noelani is introducing herself to other Helios, and even though I just met her, I'm glad I stood up for them. I decide to introduce myself to the others but I turn back and I almost walk into someone.
"Hey, I'm Astor." He introduces himself and holds out his hand.
I take his hand, "Hi Astor, I'm Aelia."
"Aren't you the one I saw la-"

"Alright! We're running a little late, so we'll need to cut your time short! We'll look forward to seeing you at Tempestas tomorrow, young Helios and Sinvulas!" The loud announcement of our guide cuts off whatever Astor was saying.
A girl who quickly introduces herself as Audra drags Astor away.
Before leaving the building he turns back at me and waves goodbye. I wave back.

It wasn't long before Dawn came to find me and we walked home together.

★★★

I had fun today.
I had fun standing up for them. It wasn't a big mighty act of bravery and courage but I'm happy nevertheless.
And tomorrow, I'll be officially working at Tempestas.
As a trainee.
But it's Tempestas! Who cares if I'm a trainee?
One day, I won't be a trainee and maybe one day, I could even train some other young Helios.

The whole walk home with Dawn, I had a huge smile on my face. I couldn't contain my happiness any longer. I made friends with a Sinvula. Being friends isn't breaking the rules, we just can't be anything more than friends.

"Are you even listening to me?" Dawn's voice breaks my train of thought and she knows from the look on my face that I was not listening.
She sighed, "I said, we're here."
I look at the sidewalk splitting into two, I have to go right and she has to go left. We were never one of those besties who practically lived right next door.

We bid each other goodbye and go in separate directions.
Before my mind can wander off to a world of its own, I spot Noelani, the Sinvula I made friends with.
I run over to her, just to say hi....and maybe a bit curious to see what she was doing in this part of town.
"Hey Noelani! Remember me? Aelia, from earlier today."
I could've sworn she flinched at my name.
"Oh hey..." she says back, still recovering from shock.
I backed away a bit, maybe I came on a bit strong. "I'm sorry did I scare you?"
Her face suddenly changed, "You know, you don't have to keep being nice to me right? It's fine, I don't mind you using me to seem nice, just don't act like we're friends."
And with that, she walks away.

Leaving me with more than a lump in my throat.

{Author's note: Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed this chapter in which Astor and Lia meet (if you can count that-)
I'll keep writing, and you'll get a chapter tmrw, if it's possible, I'll try to do one today, but don't hold your breath.
Anyway, tell me what you think of this chapter, if you find any grammatical errors or mistakes, please let me know so I can correct them!
Thank you for reading! And if you voted, thank you for voting! And if you commented, thank you for commenting!
Have a good day/night!}