Nature Calls, Spring

It was an early, crisp morning. The winter’s chill lingered in the air, and frost still clung to the bare tree branches. A cold breeze breathed over the parking lot of Ambrose High. The buses lined up against the curb opened, allowing students to begin their day. Puffs of white clouds drifted from their faces as they chatted among themselves. Some of the students were still waking up, yawning and moaning the whole walk to the doors of the two-story brick building. Plenty of smiles still lined the students’ faces as they saw their friends. One, in particular, coming from the visitor parking lot, outshone them all…

Vibrant emerald irises darted around the school’s landscaping, encouraging a grin as bright as the sun. The young lady looked ready to run about the grounds like a bumblebee, clinging excitedly to the arm of a tall, elegant man with long silver hair in a white dress suit. Her evergreen peacoat covered most of her outfit, but light-wash denim was just visible tucked away inside a pair of shin-high, brown leather boots. Her white-knit skullcap clung to her sandy blond, wavy locks bobbing down her back. The man’s smile expressed his joy at her excitement.

“Someone seems ready for their first day of school,” he mentioned with a hum.

“I can’t believe it’s finally here!” The girl squealed as she tried to hold in her enthusiasm, shaking from exhilaration. “Is this really happening?”

“It will once you walk through the door.” The man laughed warmly.

“You’re right!” She giggled, hugging her gloved fists tighter around his right arm. She released her embrace to grasp his white porcelain hand, dragging the elder closer to the entry. “Come on! Come on, Winter!”

As some of the students stared at the scene the two were making, the man called Winter laughed with a full heart as they sped up their pace. Neither of them minded the suspicious gazes. Today was a long-awaited milestone, and they wanted to bask in their shared happiness. Let the world look on as they celebrated.

The chime of the bell announced the end of homeroom, releasing students to their first class of the day. As students stood to leave, idle chatter arose among them—typical postvacation conversation. It was the first day back from winter break, and there was always something buzzing after a break…

“Can you believe two weeks went by already?”

“I know! Vacation’s never long enough!”

One of the students was just opening her black eyes as the rest of the room emptied. She had been resting her head on a puffy brown coat pillow and folded forearms, tucking her hands inside her long sleeves. The gray and black rings running up the sleeves stuck out of her evergreen T-shirt tucked into old denim jeans. Yawning wide and loud, she sat upright at last to get ready to leave.

“Dude, did we have geometry homework over break?”

“Man, I didn’t even take my books home last month.”

After putting her coat back on, the girl reached under the desk to grab her satchel bag. It had been resting against her shins during the morning announcements. Pulling the strap over her black crown, she stood from the desk to walk sluggishly toward the hall. Pausing, the student stared at the lockers across from the doorway.

“Where am I going again?” she muttered to herself. Holding in a breath, she glanced left and right, trying to regain her bearings. “First block,” she breathed with relief. “Take a left.”

She turned down the filling hallway, passing students chatting away at their lockers. For the most part, she didn’t seem to notice them, or perhaps she was drowning out the racket of their voices clashing together. Whichever the reason, a tap on her right shoulder made her flinch in surprise.

“Morning, Jay,” a tall, golden-blond boy said with a smirk. She looked up at his nearly six-foot height with a frown of disapproval. He didn’t seem fazed by her glare. The navy blue wool coat was unbuttoned, showing his heather-gray thermal shirt and denim blue jeans. His sea-blue eyes shimmered with patience and grace down at the grouch.

“Why are you so awake, Leif?” she griped in a low voice. “It’s not natural.”

“I know you don’t normally wake up till second block,” Leif stated pleasantly, reaching to pet the flat, black locks, “but some of us actually sleep at night. How much did you manage, anyway? You look pretty rough this morning.”

“What is this thing you call ‘sleep,’ Viking?”

Leif laughed at the last word as she rolled her head out from under his large hand. The girl made a fussy expression before returning to resting irritation. As disgruntled as she appeared, Leif smiled as if he knew she didn’t mind the contact. They continued down the hall together.

“You saw the sunrise again, huh? Have you thought about going to bed early to combat your insomnia, Jaime? I’m sure your aunt has mentioned it could help.”

“Bed before ten?” Jaime rumbled in her low voice. “That’s a joke, right?”

“Ah yes,” a third student chimed in as they passed a classroom, fluidly wrapping her arm across Jaime’s shoulders, “I remember staying up after midnight in middle school. Those were the days.”

“Chels…” Jaime hissed at the sudden appearance. The earthy-colored, layered skirts, cream peasant top, and black peacoat gave a mature contrast to the tomboy’s look. The vibrant friends sandwiched her, continuing their pace without a pause. Jaime was not awake enough for any of this. Closing her dark eyes, the grumpy teen tried to calm her racing heartbeat pulsing in her ears.

“What were you doing up after twelve a.m., Chelsea Kay?” Leif balked at the other girl, appalled at the admission. Hazel eyes glanced up from a similar height beside Jaime as they walked down the hall. Her copper-blond locks twisted up into a clip behind her, flowing down to her left shoulder.

“Watching late-night anime,” she said flatly as if he should have known. “I didn’t have the streaming service till last year. Now that we have to be up earlier, I can watch whenever I want, wherever I want. How else did you watch those shows we talked about in middle school, Lei?”

“Val always programmed the VCR to record during the week so we could watch together on Saturday morning. Frey and I still watch together on Saturday, but Ivory convinced Mom and Dad to get the box when Val moved out. He took the VCR with him to rewatch the old tapes.”

“Did you say VCR?” Chelsea gawked as if the teenager had just spoken in a different language.

While the two continued their conversation, a boy in a gray-washed denim jacket and blue jeans pushed himself between Leif and Jaime. As he passed, he pulled Jaime’s right forearm away from the others. She opened her tightly closed eyes to see her rescuer. Her chest tension eased at the sight of the purple-to-blue ombre dye job in the shoulder blade–length hair. The short spikes along his shoulders and stud-trimmed hem framed random patches of rock instruments and band logos.

“Chatty Cathys as ever.” A gruff voice spoke up as the boy let go of Jaime’s arm. The jingle of his wallet chain drew Jaime’s weary attention to his hip. He glanced back with a groggy face of his own. “They are way too happy for eight a.m.”

Jaime glanced back at his steel-gray stare just before he sped up to reach the end of the hallway. A door leading outside awaited them. Leaning into the glass panel door, he held it open for her to pass through, revealing the moto-style zipper with intermingled spikes and studs on his chest.

“Yeah,” she replied softly, “they really are.”

“Ready for algebra, Jay?” The young rebel called after her.

“Am I ever?” she retorted quickly, exiting past him. She didn’t wait for him, continuing onward. He smirked after her with cynical satisfaction.

“I feel you there, pal.”

On the side of the building, a row of portable classrooms sat at an angle, running along the whole side of the school and out toward the fields. With so many options in the curriculum and students filling them, the school board had chosen this over renovating the old school. While they eased the classroom size to manageable numbers, the thin walls made for poor insulation during extreme temperatures. Fortunately, the teachers had pooled their personal funds to bring in heaters and fans to compensate for the students’ discomfort. Winter was the worst of it, though, having to wear hats and gloves during class.

As students exited the main building to head for their respective portables, Chelsea and Leif hurried out before the newcomer closed the door in their faces. They smiled sheepishly at him in greeting, but he just waved to them before following Jaime. The four vastly different teenagers were familiar and friendly to some degree, and their heading showed they shared the same first class today.

Jaime entered a portable toward the back of the row. Walking toward the second column near the exit, she dragged her feet to the second-before-last desk. Dropping into the seat, she placed her satchel against her shins, before folding her arms on the desk to lie down again. Her friends smiled at her when they reached the doorway.

“At least she’s not late today,” Leif said with a positive grin. He reached his long leg over the sidebar of the desks in the first row to sit at his desk next to Jaime. He set his pioneer pack down next to the seat in the aisle.

“She almost blew her top with you two talking over her head,” the second boy stated flatly, walking toward the desk behind Jaime. He tried to avoid disturbing her as he passed. Setting his backpack on the floor behind his desk, he slouched, as if getting ready for a nap himself.

“Oh my gosh!” Chelsea paused at the desk in a row on the other side of Jaime, covering her mouth in shock. “She did take a while to bounce back last year! How could I have forgotten? Oh, poor Jaime. I’m so sorry…”

As she dropped her button-covered messenger bag in her seat, the two boys glanced at her saddened expression. Leif smiled back at her, sympathetically. Chelsea’s sweet, bubbly nature often clashed with Jaime’s muted one, and she could be her own worst critic at times like these.

“Don’t let it eat you up, Chels,” he said softly. “You know she’s already let it go by now.”

“Totally,” the other said, waving a dismissive hand in the air. “You know Jaime hates grudges.”

Chelsea glanced between her friends for a moment. Her remorse morphed into relief. Smiling brightly again, she hummed with gratitude.

“You’re right. She’d be the first to tell me I was worrying too much.”

“Right,” the groggy youth said as he settled back into his napping position, “so take good notes ’cause I think Wolfe is almost here. I’m still recovering from break too.”

“Jake…” Leif and Chelsea groaned back at him.

After Chelsea settled in her seat, the portable door opened, and a tall, lean, authoritative man walked into the room. His face was serious, and his posture was straight and disciplined; and yet his youthfulness seemed to balance out his presence for the students. The briefcase in his hand was weathered, but it was well cared for. He wasn’t alone, though, for behind him was a bubbly new student, hugging a textbook against her evergreen peacoat.

“Good morning, slackers. Time to wake up,” Mr. Wolfe spoke in a commanding yet familiar tone. He glanced toward Jake and Jaime as he walked to the front of the class. “That would be you, Aarons and Johnson.”

Jake sighed heavily, sitting upright at last. Jaime didn’t sit up, but she did open her black eyes to follow the path her teacher normally took to his desk. Noticing the new face behind him, she tried to think whether she had seen this person around town.

The new student quickly noticed the eyes glued to her. Instead of shying away, she smiled even wider. Lifting her gloved hand from the book, she waved pleasantly to Jaime, mouthing a silent “hello.” The teen blinked in surprise at her joy, sitting upright out of curiosity.

“As you can see,” the teacher continued, setting his briefcase on the desk, “we have a new student joining us today. She will be with our class for the remainder of the year, so I’ll give her a minute to introduce herself to you before we start back up.”

“Thank you ever so much, Mr. Wolfe,” the girl gushed, practically singing with gratitude. She curtsied to the teacher before turning to face the class. Glowing with excitement at the students, she seemed to be getting a feel for her peers. After the brief pause, she curtsied once more before speaking. “Hello, everyone. My name is Flora Nature, and I have just moved to Moonshine. I’m so excited to meet all of you, so please don’t be shy. I hope we all get along, swimmingly.”

Wanna know what happens next? Spring available for purchase January 2023!