As It Once Was

It was the beginning of another school day for everyone except for one. Miyuko walked down the empty middle school wing hallway with the principal, her heart pounding in her chest. This was her first official day at her new school, a daunting experience that filled her with a mix of excitement and anxiety. She had never been to a large school like this before, and the unfamiliarity was overwhelming. Their footsteps echoed down the hall as they continued to walk in silence. “Mrs. Pauley?” Miyoku asked, her voice trembling slightly as she continued to fidget with her hands.

The principal, Mrs. Pauley, looked at her with dark blue eyes. “Yes?”

“How many other students will be in the classroom with me?" Miyoku asked, her voice tinged with a hint of desperation. She was hoping her answer would be under twenty. Classes had already started, and the last thing she wanted was to make a grand entrance, drawing unnecessary attention to herself.

“You will be the thirty-second addition to the class," Mrs. Pauley answered.

Thirty-one? Plus, a teacher!? That’s too many people! Miyoku thought to herself as they approached her classroom. “I have already informed your instructor, Mrs. Ruby, about your coming. Go on; everyone is expecting you.”

Miyoku faced the door; she saw a young female teacher with tied-back blonde hair, wearing a white dress shirt and a long red skirt, standing at the front of the room, talking to the class. She slowly opened the door, which caught everyone’s attention. Mrs. Ruby turned to the door and smiled once she saw Miyoku slowly walk in. Mrs. Pauley closed the door behind Miyoku before disappearing down the hall.

Miyoku stood beside Mrs. Ruby, facing the class. The weight of the room seemed to press down on her, making it hard to breathe. She was the thirty-second student in this class, and the thought of introducing herself was overwhelming. “Miyoku, why don’t you introduce yourself?” Mrs. Ruby prompted, her voice filled with gentle encouragement.

Miyoku froze at the sight of her classmates; she was too afraid to speak in front of everyone andcouldn’t do it. “I get it," Mrs. Ruby began as Miyoku looked at her. “It’s your first day at a new school, and you haven’t had a chance to meet anyone yet. You can introduce yourself to everyone when you feel up to it." She then looked at the class and pointed to an empty seat by the window in the back, “Your seat is right over there.”

The students quietly watched as Miyoku made her way to her seat, slipped her backpack off her shoulders, and quietly placed it on the ground next to her seat. Some of her new classmates turned in their seats to look at her as if she didn’t belong.

“Pay them no mind," a voice whispered next to her. To her right sat a boy with messy brown hair wearing a white dress shirt, black pants, and a dark red blazer. “My name’s Ryo, by the way. It’s nice to meet you!”

Miyoku looked at the front of the room; Mrs. Ruby had already begun a math lesson. She wanted to respond to Ryo but feared getting them both in trouble. Instead, Miyoku reached into her bag and pulled out a red notebook. She opened the notebook and began writing something on the first page. Once done, she gave the notebook to Ryo, who took it from her and began to read what she had written. In return, he quickly scribbled something on the first page before returning the notebook to her. Oh! I get it; you don’t like to talk! That’s alright, we can communicate like this.

Did this guy not get the hint that she didn’t want to talk right now? Again, Miyoku wrote a message in more significant, bolder words, LETS TALK LATER. She passed the notebook along to Ryo, who quickly read the message and nodded with a smile before scribbling down his response.

This response took him quite a while to write. Once done, he quickly reached over and placed the notebook with his message on her desk while Mrs. Ruby turned her back to them. A few of their classmates had noticed and watched them from the corner of their eyes. Miyoku wanted to avoid the attention they were drawing. She didn’t like the idea of getting in trouble on her first day. She ignored Ryo’s message for a while before looking down and skimming through what he had written.

“Alright, and hey! Since it’s your first day here, why don’t you sit with me and my friends during lunch? I’m sure they will like you! It’s hard to make friends here since everyone has such high standards. My friends and I are not like that. We will get along just great! There are six of us, each with our unique personalities and interests, and we are all at different grade levels, which is quite incredible when you need help with homework. Please consider stopping by later."

The message seemed genuine and not just some fake buddy-buddy message. At first, Miyoku wasn’t sure, but then remembered she didn’t have friends. Maybe accepting Ryo’s offer would be a good idea. She quickly scribbled down a sure before sending the notebook back to Ryo. His eyes lit up the moment he read her response.

A group of six friends, with her possibly being the seventh edition. What would this group be like? Miyoku hoped it was different from any of the groups at her previous school. Everyone had high standards, and someone would have to be perfect to have a good group of friends. Unfortunately, being an outsider in a small community and school led to her having no friends. It was a painful reality, always being alone, but she had learned to cope with it and found solace in her own company. She had learned that she could work better alone than with a partner.

When lunch came around, Ryo was quick to find Miyoku in the hallway, putting her belongings in her locker. She had brought her backpack to class and didn’t have a chance to go earlier when she first arrived. He stood beside her and waited eagerly for her to finish. Miyoku shut her locker door and turned to Ryo, waiting for him to lead the way.

“Are you ready? This way!" Ryo shouted as he led the way to the high school wing. Miyoku felt intimidated as she walked through the crowd of high schoolers. There were a lot of them. There were too many of them crammed into the hallway. Eventually, they reached the end of the hallway, where Ryo pushed open a door and held it open for Miyoku, who had fallen a bit behind. The sun shining outside was bright and nearly blinded her as she stepped outside.

Picnic tables were scattered within a fenced-off area for students to sit outside. There were a few trees towards the back with a table underneath each. From what Miyoku could see, it seemed as if those were the only shady tables. “Over there," Ryo pointed to the right back corner, where a small group was gathered around a table. “That’s our spot during school hours. If it rains, we have our own special spot in the cafeteria or, as we like to call them, meeting spots. It always feels like we’re gathering for a meeting or something," Ryo explained as they began walking toward where the group was.

A girl with light green shoulder-length hair and a small ponytail over her shoulder noticed them approaching. “Oh! There’s our Ryo! And he has a friend!" the girl exclaimed, catching everyone in the group’s attention. They all looked at Ryo and began to greet him and Miyoku.

“Everyone, this is Miyoku. She’s the new girl in my class," Ryo said as he gestured to Miyoku, who stood silently. Too many eyes were on her at once.

“I heard something about a new student coming to our school. Why so late into the school year?" asked a boy who looked about a year older than her. He had fluffy light brown hair and wore circular black glasses.

“Sage, people move. It happens a lot," responded a boy sitting across from him with crossed arms. He had short blonde hair and wore the same uniform as the boys named Sage and Ryo. “I’m Kai, by the way," he said as he looked at Miyoku.

“Introductions would be nice, everyone," began a boy with short pale blue hair who sat next to the girl, “I’m Merlin, and I’m the oldest in the group here.”

The girl with light green hair next to him spoke after him,“I’m Rosa, the second oldest. Merlin and I are both sophomores, so we can help you with schoolwork that may have you stumped," she said with a smile.

The boy named Sage spoke next, “I’m Sage, a seventh-grade student. I’m sure our classes will work together often, so you’ll see Kiyoshi and me a lot. Speaking of, where is Kiyoshi?”

Everyone looked around for the kid named Kiyoshi. “I think he said he had something to- “Ryo began before a voice behind him cut him off. Sorry, I’m late!”

A boy who looked to be in the grade below Miyoku and Ryo dashed across the grass. He had medium-length, light turquoise hair and wore the same uniform as Ryo. “Who’s this?" Kiyoshi asked as he reached the group. Ryo stood behind Miyoku and placed his hands on her shoulders, which startled her. “This is our newest friend, Miyoku!" Ryo exclaimed.

“Ryo, I’m sure our new friend can introduce herself," Sage sighed.

Merlin looked at the young boy named Kiyoshi, “Is everything alright?" he asked, looking slightly worried. Kiyoshi shook his head with a small smile, “Everything’s fine. I worked up until the bell and had to wait a while before I could get to my locker. That’s all.”

Rosa and Merlin momentarily looked at each other as if they were trying to agree. After a few moments, Rosa smiled at Miyoku, “Today is your first day here, correct? Where are you from?" Something about Rosa’s caring smile made Miyoku feel at ease.

“I’m from the outskirts of Remi. My parents moved here for a business opportunity," Miyoku responded.

“Wait, you’re from all the way from Remi? That’s quite far," Sage began before facing Kai, who sat across from him, “Isn’t some of your family living there?”

Kai nodded, “Yeah, they’re due for a visit within the next month or two. I don’t remember what my dad told me. They should be coming up here to visit soon.”

"But a job opportunity here? That’s interesting since West Point is a bit smaller than Remi," Merlin said as his voice began to trail. Sage reached for a book beside him and placed it on the table to make more room for everyone to sit. Miyoku sat next to Sage while Ryo took the seat next to her. “Tell us about yourself; I’m quite curious now," Kiyoshi began as he sat beside Kai. All eyes were now on Miyoku. “Oh, I guess I don’t know where to start," she said nervously. She didn’t like this at all.

“If you want, we can ask you questions; in return, you can ask us anything. Don’t feel pressured to answer Everything; we don’t want you to say anything you don’t want to," Rosa said with a caring smile. Miyoku liked the idea; this way, she could get to know her new friends as they learned about her. “Ok, yeah, let’s do that," Miyoku responded.

The lunch period flew by fast. Miyoku learned a bit about everyone; Kai knew of the school Miyoku had gone to and looked disgusted his face the entire time they were on the subject. He knew of the clicky private school Miyoku had attended before transferring to this school here. He also knew of the small, tight-knit community that wanted nothing to do with people who were not related to anyone in the community. She learned Kai was a freshman with a younger and older sister with the same white hairstreak. His sisters dyed this strand the same color as their hair, claiming they were not Kai’s sisters.

Kiyoshi seemed like a gentle and friendly soul. He liked to collect things that brought him good memories, and he trained a pidgin, Lumi, to carry messages to his friends. He even seemed fixated on a particular black stray kitten that he’d wanted to touch for a long time. The cat was described as having silky midnight black fur with amber eyes. However, the rest of his friends had never seen the cat before.

Rosa was undoubtedly the motherly figure in the group. With her caring smile and soft voice, it was hard to see her as anything else. Rosa enjoyed sewing and baking and wouldn’t hesitate to help anyone with homework or anything else. Her parents were mainly away during most of her childhood, which caused her to step up and take on a parental role for her younger brother.

Merlin didn’t seem like the kind of person who liked to be at the center of attention. From what Miyoku learned, he steps in when Rosa can’t and often plays sports with Ryo and Kai. He seemed like an older brother to the two, even though Ryo had an older brother who was away at college. It appeared Kai and Ryo were envious of how he played basketball.

Sage is a nerd and enjoys nature and history. He has a book full of pressed flowers that his mother gave him when he was young. Since then, Sage has continued to collect flowers and plants with Kiyoshi and Rosa’s help. He mentioned a photo album the group started assembling about a year ago. He also enjoys flexing his knowledge about history at Merlin and Kai, for he was taking a high school level history class and was scoring a better grade than the two, which caused a debate between the three about who had the best grade.

Ryo was forced to go last since he knew Miyoku better than everyone else. He liked playing sports but didn’t like watching them on TV, which made sense for someone with lots of energy. He was always eager to make friends and formed this friend group.

After the bell rang, everyone stood up and gathered their belongings. “I have track practice after school today, so I won’t be walking home with you guys later," Kai said as he stood up and stretched.

Ryo frowned, “Oh! That’s Today? I thought that was tomorrow. Dang, I was looking forward to playing some basketball later.”

Merlin ruffled Ryo’s hair, “How about tomorrow night?"

"Oh! I have an idea!" Rosa began as her eyes lit up. I have some glow-in-the-dark fabric spray paint you guys can spray on your shoes. I thought I was buying regular spray paint but bought the wrong kind. Feel free to have it if you want.”

Sage smiled, “That sounds fun. Can I join, too? The teams will be even then.”

Kai smiled at Sage and gave him a thumbs-up, “Of course, little man. That’ll ensure we don’t have to ask random strangers to join. Kiyoshi, you should come along too.”

Kiyoshi jumped at the sound of his name, “Oh, me? I’m not into that kind of stuff. I’ll sit on the bench and watch, though. Miyoku, Rosa, are you two going to be free tomorrow?”

Rosa shook her head, disappointed. “I’m sorry, but I must watch my neighbor’s dog this weekend. She has some medical issues and can’t be left alone." She then turned to Miyoku. “You should go. I’m sure you’ll have fun.”

The thought of going sounded nice. She liked everyone and wanted to get to know the group better. Plus, she didn’t have plans this weekend. As she thought about the offer, she realized they considered her their friend. Thanks to Ryo, she had found a group of friends. “Sounds fun; I’d love to come.”