The Realm Protectors - Chapter 6: Chapter 6

By the time we walk out of Rockin' Rosie's, we're all stuffed full of chicken, milkshakes, and laughter. Enya holds her stomach as she leans on Nile, laughing.
"You're a genius for that fries in the shake idea, Ci," She says to me. "I can't believe I thought it'd be gross!"
"It was gross!" Avani laughs. "But somehow it was good too!" We double over in another fit of laughter as we stop under the twinkling lights of Academy Avenue. I look around, taking in the sights of the brightly colored buildings that I missed on the way over here. Everything is cheery and beautiful.
"This place is amazing!" I spin as I look around. Enya smiles.
"We should go on a walk and burn off all these calories. You guys want a tour?"
Nikolina, Avani, and I all nod enthusiastically before Enya for us to follow her and Nile. Carter and Lyra take the back, talking about something.
"Academy Avenue was built shortly after the school, when the High Arches of the time realized that the students and faculty would need some place to buy all of their things." Enya speaks, waving at the buildings. "It started out as one ring around the school gates filled with shops, but then it evolved to include restaurants, arcades, roller rinks, a carnival... anything you could possibly think of!"
"Wow," I breathe. Fairy lights are strung from storefront to storefront, creating a web of twinkling lights above our heads.
"Soon the High Arches themselves took up residence outside the massive ringed city, and the capital of the Realm was established!" Enya points to a massive mansion seated on a rise beyond the seemingly never-ending rings of buildings. "There, the High Arches live and send out important broadcasts and hold meetings and such for the rest of the Realm's greatest minds."
"That's where we'll be someday," Nik mumbles. She looks pale in the lights, but not quite as timid as she did earlier. The darkness seems to pool around her feet in puddles, like a shadow guard dog. I take a little step away when one nips my ankles.
"The actual city itself is built in rings of houses, apartments, hotels, and other buildings around the main Academy Avenue area. The city gets less colorful as you go farther away from the school," Enya continues on. She points to a building to our right. "That's the bookstore, where students can purchase textbooks for school, as well as any personal reading books for themselves." The massive store takes up the space of five other storefronts, with huge windows that allow a view to the next street on the other side of the store.
"All of the fun stuff is in the second or third ring," Nile points to a building labeled Arcade to the left. "All of the school-related stores are in the first or second."
We continue on, Enya giving us more history and fun facts as we tour three or four rings around the campus. Nile, Faris, Carter, and Lyra pipe in with their favorite stores, memories, or helpful facts whenever we come across them. Lyra points out her favorite store, filled with crystals, candles, and different herbs for making smudge sticks and other things. Faris points out the salon, where lots of students go to get haircuts. Carter shows us his favorite music store, complete with an impressive vinyl collection.
Finally we arrive back at the school gates. The moon is high in the sky as we all split up and go to our separate campuses. Faris and I make our way over to where our campuses are.
"I can't believe there's a whole store for just records!" I giggle. "Where I come from, all types of music were sold in one shop!"
Faris laughs too, shaking his head. "I know, right? These people are, like, obsessed with Otherborn music. They probably have every record ever made!" We laugh as we come up to where the path splits and heads towards the air campus. Faris turns to me.
"I had fun tonight." He says.
"Me too,"
"We should all hang out more often," He smiles.
"I agree. That was so much fun." I look up at the stars. "I never had this much fun back home."
"Me neither." I look at Faris, his cheeks red from the long walk and the chill in the air. "Don't get me wrong, my parents were chill and let me do whatever I wanted, but I didn't have many friends to do stuff with." He rubs the back of his neck, ears tinged pink.
"I didn't have many either. Just a few close ones." I flinch when I think about Lex's voice and Faris looks at me sadly. "We, uh, had a fight."
He nods and turns back up to the stars. I look up and see a shooting star sweep by.
"They're beautiful," I whisper.
"Yes," Faris whispers back. "They are."
I look back down to see him looking at me and my cheeks burn a little.
"Well, I should get going." I rub my upper arms, a little chilly in the night air. Faris shrugs off his jacket and hands it to me. "No, I don't need it–,"
"Take it," He says. "January winter months are warmer here than in the Otherworld, but it still gets chilly at night. Besides, it's white. That's your color too." I stare at him and start to push it away. "I have plenty more back at my dorm. They sell them on the Avenue." I huff and take the jacket, still warm from Faris' body heat. I blame the flushing in my cheeks on the cold as I slip it on.
"Thanks," I mutter. "I should get going. Enya said to meet at ten, right?"
"Ten at the school gates." Faris nods. "Sweet dreams." He turns and starts down the stone path to the air campus. I rub my hands together and keep walking towards the light campus. Flowers change from white to yellow as I head down the path and cross under the golden arch. The lobby is nice and toasty, and I grab a cup of hot cocoa from the cafe on my way to the elevator. I sip the steaming liquid and shiver at the warmth it brings me. I haven't had hot chocolate since the week before the gala back home...
"It's not home anymore." I mumble to myself. "It's not home anymore." Again. Firmer. The elevator doors open and I walk out, leaving thoughts of Lex, Andrew, and the Otherworld behind as I open my door and head into my dorm. Dawn and Apalla are already sleeping in their bunks as I start to change into my pajamas.
I ignore the urge to smell Faris' jacket.
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I wake up to the sun shining through the gauzy white curtains. Dawn is singing some obscure country tune from the shower, steam floating in through the cracked-open door. Apalla's slightly snoring from the other bunk, mouth open and drool running down her chin.
With a stretch I roll off the bunk, somehow landing on my feet almost gracefully. I yawn and stumble over to the closet. Dawn must've unloaded all of our clothes last night while I was out with the others. All the clothes are hung or folded neatly, and the empty suitcases are packed together in the corner. I go over to my very empty section of the closet and dig through my clothes for anything white and yellow to put together.
"I was plannin' on goin' shoppin' later," I jump when Dawn comes in. She has a fluffy white robe wrapped around her. "For more clothes to wear, ya know?"
"Yeah," I nod. I barely have anything white and gold. "Me too. I'm actually going around with a few friends of mine this morning."
"Oh," Dawn looks a little hurt at that.
"But we can go tonight too if you want," I say hurriedly. The last thing I want to do is get on bad terms with my roommates. "I can show you around the Avenue." Dawn smiles again at that and nods.
I finally find the yellow romper I was looking for and bring it with me to the bathroom along with some undergarments. The mirror is still fogged up from Dawn's shower, so I wipe some of it off while I turn on the water and wait for it to warm back up. I take off my pajamas and stare at my reflection in the mirror. Between my collarbones is a little golden sun about the size of a quarter. It must've appeared during my Testing and I had yet to notice. I trace it with my fingers and it warms slightly under my touch. Looking down at my hands, I imagine that well of light in my mind and dip the tips of my fingers into it. A ball of light appears in my hands, bright but not painful on the eyes. I toss it up in the air and catch it like a ball. Up and down. I smile to myself and let go of the well in my mind, making the ball disappear.
The water is nice and warm when I hop in the shower, quickly washing my hair and body before stepping out and drying off with a nice fluffy towel. I slip on my undergarments and the romper before turning to the mirror, adjusting it until it looks good. Twenty minutes later I step out of the bathroom, hair swept up in a bun with little strands falling to frame my face and a sweep of light makeup.
"I'm headed to the dining hall to get breakfast," I call to Dawn, examining the campus map. She responds with a noise from the closet. I slip on some white Vans before grabbing the stack of papers and envelopes on my desk and heading towards the door. After a second thought, I grab Faris' jacket too and slip it on quickly.
The air is crisp and cool as I step outside onto the light campus, and a light breeze blows the strands of hair away from my face. The smell of fresh laundry and popcorn wafts from the jacket, making me think of Faris. I shiver and wrap the jacket tighter around me before heading out onto the stone path to the main campus. Not many other students are up yet, but there are some that pass me on my way to the dining hall. I see Avani headed towards the doors and I jog over to her.
"Hey!" I wave. She nods and waves back, her energetic roommate bouncing alongside her.
"Hey Sunshine. You know Gemma," Avani motions to her roommate, who's hair is fluffed up like a crown around her head.
"Of course! We met yesterday at the Welcoming Ceremony," I remember. Poor Gemma was getting a little bothered by Avani's other roommate, if I remember correctly. "How was your day?"
"It was alright," Gemma smiles. "Vermont got a little snappy with me, but it was okay after she went to bed. Avani told me all about the fun adventure you all went on last night!" She laughs. "We should all go out to that diner sometime. I'd love to try a milkshake!"
"Of course!" I reply. "It would be fun!"
We head inside and head over to the breakfast counter, where a few students are lined up. Soft chatter and the smell of breakfast fills the room. I take a deep breath and sigh, my mouth watering at the smell of bacon and cinnamon rolls. When we get up to the counter I grab a bacon breakfast burrito and a box of cinnamon roll bites, along with a cup of apple juice. I follow Avani and Gemma into the seating area. A group of girls in greens and browns call out to Gemma and she smiles.
"I'm gonna go sit with them. Is that okay Avani?" Gemma asks, a little timid. Avani looks a little shocked at the request but nods enthusiastically.
"Of course, go," She says. Gemma beams and shuffles over to the table of girls.
"Ci! Vani! Over here!" We turn at Enya's voice and see her, Nile, and Nik, and Faris at a table in the corner. We head over there and sit down. Faris eyes the jacket as I grab a cinnamon bite.
"Oh, do you want it back?" I ask.
"No, no," He replies hurriedly. "It looks better on you anyways." His ears are pink as he turns back to his stack of bacon and hash browns. Nile elbows him and mutters something that makes Faris choke on his food before going red. I stuff the cinnamon bite in my mouth and tune into Enya's conversation.
"I'm thinking we start out at the school supply store, and then maybe we can head over to the mercantile for some dorm snacks and drinks." She says to Avani and Nik. "If you get hungry after supper and you don't wanna walk all the way to the Avenue or the Plaza, your best bet is dorm snacks." Avani nods.
"Hey Enya, what are some of the best places to get clothes?" I ask. "My roommates and I are going to need some new stuff."
"Oh there's tons of great stores to go to," She waves at Carter and Lyra as they enter the hall. "Larry's Mercantile is a great place to find anything, but there's some other great boutiques on the Avenue too. I'll show you some and you can bring your roomies later."
After we all finish breakfast, the eight of us head back outside and to the Avenue. We use the north entrance this time instead of the west, which takes us straight out into the school supply district. We head inside a store marked Supplies, etc and look around at all the school supplies.
"Everyone got their lists?" Enya asks. "I have to stop at some more stores with Nile but this northern area of the first ring is where all the school supply shops are. If you need anything, it'll be in one of these shops. Let's meet right out here in an hour and I'll take you guys to the boutique district."
We nod and Enya and Nile head back outside, Carter, Faris, and Lyra following them. Avani, Nik, and I look around at all the school supplies.
"Okie dokie, let's take a looksie." I say, pulling out my supply list. "Simple enough. Notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, all that fun stuff. Oh, and we need laptops."
Nik looks around and points to a shelf on the right side of the store. "The notebooks are over there,"
We spend the next hour combing through different supply stores until we meet back up with the others in the middle of First Street, each of us with a bag full of supplies.
"Find everything okay?" Enya asks us. "No problems using the student cards?"
I wave my gold student card, the fantastic little device I used to purchase all my school supplies. "Nope. But, how much money do we get off of this thing?"
Enya shrugs. "There's not really a limit. Just remember that you have to pay it back after you graduate." She waves us to follow her and we head down Alley One to Second Street. The storefronts all boast the hottest new fashions, mannequins of all sizes, colors, and genders modeling in windows. Some shops are color-coded to the specific colors they sell, some stores sell all colors for one gender, some stores sell shoes or hats or jackets.
"This is insane!" I gasp. "How do you pick where to go?"
Enya shrugs. "Everyone has their own style. Just go crazy and look everywhere."
"Let's all meet back here in another hour and we can go over to the Mercantile." Carter says. "Ready, set, go."
I head into a store filled with white and gold clothes of every kind.
This is gonna be fun.