Chapter 3
I woke up to the gentle sweet, tender sound of my alarm clock. No it actually wasn’t my alarm clock, it truly belonged to the school. It was playing a soft violin and piano piece that made me want to fall asleep again more than get up. It was a wonder I woke up to it at all.
Denaé rolled over and sat up with a loud, exaggerated yawn, displaying two rows of sharp, spiny teeth.
“Good morning!” She sang, stretching. Denaé was the morning person. Amy and I hate mornings.
I heard Amy groan. “Five more minutes…” She mumbled. Denaé leapt onto her bed and patted her back. “No, come on sleepy head! It is going to take forever for you to wash that… goo off your face. So hurry up!” The “goo” she was talking about was actually a “deluxe peppermint face mask (nighttime edition).”
“I'm too tired!” Amy whined, pressing a paw to her forehead like a fainting princess. While Denaé kept prodding her friend, I slid out from my covers and quickly made my bed.
“Is today a full dress day?” I asked my friends. Denaé looked up. “No, I don’t think so.” She replied in her soft, sweet voice.
I swung open the walk in closet and looked down at my fur. I was all white with hot pink stripe-swirls dyed throughout.
“Hmm.” I looked at all our outfits narrowing my eyes at the selections. I pulled out my worn blanket and flower crown. There was nothing better than my usual.
I quickly got changed and had begun to brush my fur by the time Amy got out of bed. Denaé quickly fixed the covers and shoved the fox into the closet.
“HURRY!” She called. Since I was almost all ready to go, I brushed Denaé’s fur for her while she applied a quick, modest coat of makeup. Then we switched and she brushed my fur.
Soon Amy returned from the tiny room, mumbling about how it was too dark before walking to the washrooms down the hall to clean up her face.
Once we were all ready, we grabbed our backpacks and headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. We were slightly early, and not everyone was there yet. Some of the lunch ladies were carrying plates to the food assembly line, others putting out trays of pancakes and sausage.
My friends and I took a seat at one of the tables near the door. We stayed and chatted, watching as more animals slowly poured into the room and filled the rest of the seats.
The warning bell chimed, noticing the students that breakfast would be served shortly.
“So,” Amy began, pulling a pocket mirror from her backpack and flipping it open. “What classes are you guys taking?” She brushed her eyelid with her pinky, perfecting her glittery plum eyeliner.
I pulled out my phone to look at the time. It was 7:53. “Well,” I began. “I am for sure going to take science and English, I will probably take history and math because those are important for life. I also am taking first aid for my option.” I turned off my cell phone and slipped it into my bag.
Amy nodded and turned to Denaé. “What about you?” She asked. Denaé tapped her lip with a claw. “This is going to sound bad, but honestly I haven’t really thought of it much. I was going to for sure take baking and foods and probably fashion, but beyond that I was going to go with your courses.” She smiled. Amy grinned back. “Well, I am taking science, math, social, music and of course fashion.” She scratched behind her ear.
That was when the final bell rang. It was time for breakfast!
The bubbling sounds of voices died quickly down as Headmistress Marie stood at the buffet tables with her microphone in her hands.
“Good morning, everyone!” She began. “I hope you all slept well. I see some of you are late, which shall be tolerated this once, but please start going to your class when the warning bell rings. That is what it is for, to get you moving.” She glanced up at the animals who were sneaking into the room and sitting down at the nearest tables.
“This morning’s announcements are simply that if you have not yet signed up for all your classes, please come see me. I will be in the locker and study hall. Class officially starts today, and you will be given your textbooks and necessary school items in your classes as you go to them.” She surveyed the students as they watched her speak. “Between each class, bring your notebooks, textbooks and whatever else you acquired from your class to your lockers. You will be storing your school supplies in them and your personal supplies in your dorms. I expect you all to work hard keeping your lockers, and dorms, as tidy as they were when you first came here.” Marie began walking back towards the Meeting Hall. “You all may begin to get your breakfast.” All the students instantly sat up and began rushing towards the buffet tables.
“WALKING, children. You learned this in kindergarten!” She shook her head before disappearing into the Meeting Hall.
My friends and I stood up. We walked, slowly, to the buffet line. The three of us waited for about ten minutes before we got our food and sat back down. We ate quickly and went into the locker and study hall to help Denaé pick her classes.
After a while she ended up choosing fashion, music, science, baking and math.
While we were signing up with Headmistress Marie, the warning bell rang, noticing us that our first class was about to start.
“Here are the schedules.” Marie informed me and my friends. She handed us each crisp, white papers with gold trim. “Your school calendars will be emailed or texted to you shortly.” We nodded our thanks and went back into the grand entrance, huddled up together, peering down at the agenda.
“Ooh!” I tapped the paper. “We are all starting with science!” I said, excited. “I love science.” Denaé smiled at me. “I really hope we start with biology.” She whispered. Denaé was really into botany and medicine, especially finding medical uses for plants, which I found quite fascinating as well.
Suddenly the final warning bell rang. We all gasped. We were going to be late!
The three of us rushed messily up the stairs, map in hand. We ran into the West Wing and down a long hallway until we made it to a large door with a sign on it that read: SCIENCE CLASSROOM.
I reached out and slowly opened the door. Heat rushed out, and so did the fresh smell of moist air and plants. I stepped in first and my friends followed. The classroom looked like a jungle. Plants were everywhere. The floor was made of old wood planks. We walked over a bridge, an artificial waterfall to our left. Its warm steam rose into the air and swirled around us.
We ducked under some palm leaves to see a bunch of students sitting on rugs woven to look like a circle of vines. The teacher, a brown and white coyote in a white lab coat, was sitting behind a desk that was covered in moss and vines.
“Oh, welcome!” She called, waving at us. “We were just starting. Come sit, come sit!” We quickly sat down on the nearest mats and smiled at the teacher.
“In case some of you didn’t know,” she began. “I am Miss. Dexa the science teacher here at Silver Moon.” She pushed her glasses up her nose. Her deep blue eyes sparkled with excitement.
“I am very thrilled to be able to teach you all. Science is my favorite subject in the world and I hope I can help you all to appreciate it and to love it as much as I do.” She turned around and shoved some giant vines out of the way, revealing a whiteboard.
“We are going to start out the school year by learning some Earth Science.” She wrote on the board “Earth Science” and turned back to us.
“Earth Science is sometimes grouped in with Biology, when they are actually different. Earth Science is more focusing on the Earth and living things but in a more broad perspective.” She eyed us. “Biology is more focused on plants and animals and their details.” Dexa explained. “An example of Earth Science would be learning about weather patterns, climate and Ecosystems while biology would be cell functions, body systems and genetics.” She turned around and opened a dry erase marker, writing “Ecosystems” on the board.
Abruptly, a black and purple Arabian horse rushed into the room and sat quickly down. “I am sorry I am late.” She said, not really seeming all that sorry.” Miss. Dexa peered at her over her glasses. “Violet.” She began. “I will tolerate it this once, but don’t let it happen again.” Violet dipped her head, acknowledging that she heard and that she was sorry. “Now, does anyone know what an ecosystem is?”
That was when altogether the lights in the room suddenly flickered out and we were all left in darkness.
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The first sabotage has begun! Who would turn off the school lights and why? We won’t know until Isis goes to investigate…
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