Willowherb

September 4th, 2014

Siten, Washington

8:13 am

Tuesday

"Mr. Winchester. Mr. Winchester? Easton Winchester!?"

The third time Ms. Gray called his name, he finally snapped out of his long-lasting trance. He had been studying this one girl across the room. Not in a creepy way, he was just an artist and sought inspiration from the people around him. He blinked a few times to get his eyes working correctly again.

"Y-Yes, Miss?" he stammered.

She gestured to a boy seemingly around his age. He had dark brown skin, jet black hair, yellowish brown eyes, and red oval glasses. His hair was messy and entirely out of place. The first thing about him that Easton noticed, however, were his ears. They were pointy.

"This is Morgan Ives. He will be your peer counselor until you get used to the school."

The elf-eared boy smiled, "I'm assuming that is my cue to show you around the school? I assume a lot so don't come after me if I'm wrong."

Easton returned the smile.

"Sure," he said, getting up from his seat in the office and following Morgan.

The second they stepped out of the room, Morgan was speaking again.

"So, I know it's my job to show you around the school, but, how about you meet my friends first?"

Easton had no time to say no or yes before Morgan took his wrist and dashed down the hall. They landed in the courtyard in some secluded area between two buildings. About seven or eight people were standing around and talking.

"Hello, guys, gals, and non-binary pals. I would love to talk more but we have ourselves a noobie. Easton, Royals, Royals, Easton!"

They were already staring at him. He smiled shyly and lifted his hand in some sort of greeting. Immediately, a tall boy in a lot of blue with unexplainably messy black hair walked up to him.

"Why hello, there, East. I'm Royale Hoziere. Are you a fre-" he cut himself off. "Okay, no offense, but what the hell is with your eyes?"

"Oh, shit! Of course, I forgot my fucking conta-"

Before he knew it, Royale Hoziere was right in front of him, hands on his jaw, looking straight into his eyes.

"No way! You have Alexandria's Genesis!?" he nearly yelled. "And their Willowherb?!"

"Okay, please step away from me and answer some of the questions that are intensely floating in the air right now," Easton said, backing away and pushing Royale off him. "First, what the hell is Willowherb?"

"It's a color. Well, technically it's a flower but the color came from the flower-"

"That is not helping right now. Anyway, second question. Is Royale your real name?"

"Of course, not! Who names their kid Roya-"

"Not helping again!! Third, who the hell are all of you?" Easton finally asked, gesturing to the rest of the group.

Royale looked back at them. "How did I seriously forget all of you existed? Anyway, they'll introduce themselves," he said, moving out of Easton's way.

A girl stepped forward in his place. She had light skin, platinum blonde hair that looked nearly white, and pale brown eyes. Her hair was wavy and was cut just below her chin. She was wearing loose black jeans and an olive green tube top with puffy sleeves.

"That was an interesting interaction," she said, looking over at Royale. "Anyway, I'm Melissa Gonzalez. But, Mel is the preferred name."

Another girl emerged from behind her. She had tan skin, reddish brown hair, and light gray eyes.

"The name's Montigue. But, Monty is better."

Easton looked down at her hands.

"What's with the gloves?"

She was wearing black fingerless gloves that looked like leather.

"It's a style choice, what do you care?"

She had a light Colombian accent. All she was wearing was a white crewneck tank top and black wide-length jeans. She was short but her figure was all curves.

"She may look innocent but she can and will knock you out with just a punch," Morgan whispered from next to Easton.

He did a short hum. "Good to know."

Next, a boy with dark gray hair (in a mess of curls), light turquoise eyes, and lightly tanned skin stood in front of him.

"Atlas, but call me Rainee," he said, running a hand through his hair.

"Nice to mee-"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, 'nice to meet you' and everything, but this is taking way too long."

A girl with red hair (pulled into a long ponytail), brown eyes, pale skin, and a lot of black clothes interrupted them. She had on a dark gray jacket underneath a black t-shirt, topped off with a black toque.

"Gen, we have time. Class starts in ten minutes and, do you really expect all of us to actually show up?" said a girl with straight jet-black hair (cut just above her shoulders) and bright amber eyes. Her skin was light and completely clear.

"Nobody cares about your opinion, Al."

"Can we just stop interrupting each other for a second and let each other explain yourselves?!" Easton finally spoke.

They all turned to look at him.

"I'm Emoris," said the boy who spoke about 'Al'. Golden-brown hair and hazel eyes were the only discernable traits of his.

"I'm Al," said the other girl. "Or Ali, whichever you prefer."

"Her real name's Alice," said another girl that seemingly came out of nowhere. She had light long sandy blonde hair (that went almost to her waist) and pale brown eyes, plus light skin and a freckled face. "Emerson, by the way."

Easton was still trying to process every name and trait that he found of the people.

"Okay, so, it's Royale, Morgan, Mel, Monty, Rainee, Gen-"

"Or GG."

"..Or GG, Al, Emoris, and Emerson. Is that correct?"

They had all ended up in a circle around him, looking like they were about to perform a ritual.

"Indeed it is, my friend!" Morgan exclaimed.

"Welcome to the group, Willowherb," Royale added.

Easton found himself staring at Royale. He didn't know how or why but, he found some sort of timeless, practically stunning element to him.

"What's your..real name?" Easton asked, finding himself hesitant.

The entire group went stone-faced and silent. Okay, looks like we don't talk about that, Easton thought. Just then, the bell rang, stunning him. He flinched and immediately stuck a hand into his pocket, pulling out a small piece of paper.

"Uh..do any of you guys know where Room 62 is?"

Gen suddenly smirked.

"Looks like you're with me, Winchester."

. . .

Royale

Just seconds after Easton left, Royale's mind was all over him. He couldn't seem to get the boy out of his brain. Already, he was trying to memorize him. Fluffy, wavy light brown hair that fell adorably over his face, clear, light skin. Gray rectangle glasses, a fashion sense that made him look like a stylish child. A gray sweater t-shirt on top of a light gray and black striped long-sleeved shirt with light blue jeans and black Converse. And those fucking eyes.

He reminded Royale of someone else..

Easton

He sat down in Algebra Two with Gen in the back of the class. There were probably only about twelve other people there for whatever reason. The room smelled of smoke and weed.

"By the way, you might have to get used to there being next to no people in class because ninety-nine percent of the time, most of the students are getting either high or tipsy in the bathrooms," Gen said next to him. "Or they're just straight-up skipping."

"Well, then."

The teacher was already droning on about the lesson, not bothering to introduce Easton to the class.

"So, how did you end up in this hellhole?" Gen asked him, leaning slightly to the right to hear him better.

"My father just wanted to have sort of a fresh start after my mother died. So, he looked at towns near us and went to the one that was farthest away but still in Washington."

"Wait, your mom's dead?"

"Yeah, but I don't give two shits. She..wasn't the best parent," he said. "Or person in general."

"Is there something you would like to share with the class?" the teacher said suddenly.

Easton looked forward and sat upright immediately.

"As a matter of fact, there is," Gen spoke. "How are your boyfriends doing?"

The teacher made a face of fury but continued talking about the lesson. Easton looked over at Gen.

"Did you just..?"

"Indeed I did. Anyway, why wasn't your mom the best?"

Easton sighed heavily, trying his best not to recap what happened in the past. He gripped his desk lightly, tears barely welling up in his eyes. He ran his hands through his hair, holding it tightly, leaning his head down, and clenching his eyes shut.

"Dude, you okay?" Gen said, reaching an arm out hold his hand.

Easton sighed again.

"Y-Yeah..I'm fine. I just...don't like to talk about it," he mumbled, looking over at Gen with a smile.

She pulled her hand away from his. "If you say so."

Gen

What's wrong with him? she thought. What the fuck is wrong with him?!

-------

Hello, my devils, angels, and everything else! How are you? Anyway, the first chapter is finally over! It was absolutely traumatic to write but I tried my best!

See you in the next chapter!

- Psyche

P.S

There is a playlist! Literally, just look up 'willowherb' on Spotify and it will most likely come up!