The youngest of her class and yet one of the more experienced in combat, Aryana watched attentively as the basic skills of self-defense were taught to her class, most of whom could either fly by levitation or winged flight.
Sitting up the back to avoid the more hostile looks, she played absently with one of her feathers before she copied down the notes on the whiteboard.
Aryana heard the door swing open suddenly, and her eyes travelled to the front of the room, where a new girl muttered apologetically to the teacher and turned towards the class.
Firstly, she was struck by the golden beauty of Andromedea, who's hair curled semi-perfectly around her neck in little ringlets, which is far more than any other girl Yana had ever seen. Her own black hair was as straight, stiff and unmanageable as a wooden plank.
Andromendea stepped carefully down the aisle of desks, her eyes downcast as she felt the numerous pairs of eyes on the back of her head, inspecting her, judging her and then the panel of girls along the front row had assessed her and the verdict was an automatic outcast.
The walk of shame, as Aryana called it. She had had to pace it at least three times that day in different classes. There were six periods a day, and this was the last period.
When she had collected her schedule from the front office, the list had read,
All classes are approx. 55 minutes except for early classes. You must be puntual to every class, and a demerit will be awarded for every unexplained late class (with a note or through the teacher Comm. network). Five demerits awards a tuesday afternoon detention (for one hour), and another five results in a Saturday detention for two hours. In and out of school suspensions or expulsion will be given by the Head of School for repeated offenses. Other details are in the back of your school diary.
SCHEDULE for MONDAY, week A:
- Before school classes (7:10) : N/A
- Period 1 (8:45) : English
- Period 2 (9:36) : Biology [1]
Recess (10:39)
[*]Period 3 (10:59) : Biology [2]
- Period 4 (11:51) : Art [1]
Lunch (12:43)
[*]Period 5 (01:23) : Art [2]
- Period 6 (02:14) : Self Defense
School ends : 3:05
- After-school classes (3:15) : Computing Studies
The golden-haired girl was looking at her.
"I -- I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Being new herself, Aryana smiled nervously up at Andromedea, not looking directly at her eyes, afraid that the other would see the fear and insecurity in her.
"It's all right," Andromedea said, smiling a little. She already liked Yana, despite her apparant clumsiness. "I was wondering if I could sit there." she gestured to the desk next to Yana's, which was in fact the only free one in the room.
Yana blinked. Was she asking
her? She hurridly gathered the stray pens that had somehow rolled onto the other desk, and swept them into her pencil-case. "Sure, I mean, you needn't ask . . . ."
The teacher had paused to let the click of pens and murmur of talk die down, and now he continued. "When the assailant grabs both of your arms, you have a few choices to make. The easiest escape maneuvre is to twist your elbow into his or her stomach, and slam dig your heel into his or her shins. This will put him (or her) off guard and you straighten your left arm quickly, twist inside and underneath it, using your knee as a lever between you and the assailant. Don't be afraid to strike hard, with either a closed fist or the side of an open palm. Push out with your knee and if possible, tangle a scarf, purse, jacket or any material around the assailants eyes . . . ."
~~~~~
The bell rang shrilly in the air, and the clatter of lockers suddenly pushed into her thoughts. She found herself the last to leave the room, carefully gathering her books and slipping them into her shoulder bag. She avoided looking at anyone else and slipped out silently, unnoticed by the gaily laughing girls who chattered incoherantly about the trifling happenings of the day.
Aryana again inspected the little sheet of paper in her hand, which read simply
Computing Studies, Room G32. She scanned it again, then unfolded a map of the school. Locating the room, she was surprised to find it was
underneath the sportsfield.
'Under?' she thought, refolding the sheet and descending a set of water-stained stairs hesitantly. Buses were pulling away now, and the school seemed almost deserted. She rounded a corner and found the way in, a miniature set of stairs that went under a bricked arch into a sort of tunnel.
Once away from the upper world, she heard the humming of a dozen machines, a familiar sound to her highly-sensitive ears. The hall was dim, not dark, and ran under the field quite a distance to an emergency exit at the other end.
A door opened on her left, and she heard voices and the soft hum of at least twenty computers.
Yana stood in the doorway, her wings tucked obediently behind her as a woman hastened towards, her. Probably just out of college, she had the fresh look of someone who loved to teach and was excited about doing it -- a change from the dreary teachers of earlier. She had a warm smile and a bright eye. "You're Aryana, right?"
"Just call me Yana, or my friends call me Yani or Na-na," she responded shyly, in her thick accent.
"I'm Kariana Lennard," came the reply. "Daniel, help Yana to get started, would you?"
Daniel was a short, brisk kid with bleached hair and sharp grey eyes and a skeptical look to him. "What do you know about computers?" he asked quickly.
"Not much."
"All right. Do you know how to hack?"
"No."
"All right, do you know how to create simple programs or systems?"
"No . . . . "
"Can you install a hard drive?"
"No. Am I supposed to?"
"Well . . . do you know
anything?"
"Sure, I know word processing and scanning stuff . . . . " she motioned with her hands a little. He frowned.
"There's an empty computer over there," he said, and she took her seat resignedly as he faded into the background, content with finding no answers and telling his friends she was a 'hopeless person with computers'.
Aryana logged in with a little difficulty, then heard someone clear their throat behind her. She swivelled her chair to see a kid about her age with blondish hair with a hint of fibre optics about it, and eyes that constantly changed color. He levitated a dropped pen onto a desk and came over. "You seem to be having trouble," he said, a little puzzled.
"I saw a computer only twice before I was fifteen," Yana replied, baffled with the controls. "I never touched one."
He looked a little grim. "Okay, let me show you the basics."
~~~~~
An hour later, when the class had filed out, she smiled gratefully at Kariana and groaned a little. "Man, I learned more in this lesson than in self-defense?"
Kariana looked seriously at her. "You've done very well, for a beginner. I think you shall catch up within two weeks, with regular classes. Every other day, why don't you stop by? These computers are the high-tech and are specially equipped to help beginners. When you've gotten good enough, we'll send you to the next classroom, which has specialized hard-ware, etc."
Warmed by the faint praise, Yana smiled shyly and felt that she would enjoy Computers most of all of her classes.
BW...you've seen my profile pic on IM..I look like that) she has curly blonde hair a little past shoulder length, brown eyes, and is 5'11". Her skin and hair is naturally glittery, and she can breathe in outer space just fine, as well as endure extreme heat. She has a big smile, but she has a temper that is like a time bomb, and when you cross her, you'd better watch out. Cause' you're toast. 
