The Spiritguard

 After all of the formalities are taken care of, such as measuring how tall I am and how heavy I am, I am ushered into a small room in the back and all of my information is stamped onto an Identification Card. The woman sorting all of this out tells me that this ID card is essential, and I'd have to pay big bucks if I ever lose it. Not only that, but she mentioned something about me scrubbing down the entire barracks clean to make up for my infallible messiness.

 I wonder if she says that to everyone, or just to me. It's probably just to me, because I notice she eyes my shorts and t-shirt with a level of disdain. This woman is put together well, that's for sure. She takes her job more seriously than our Instructor did. She's wearing a little lilac hat and her long, shimmering, pale blonde hair is neatly brushed out of her face. She's wearing a dress, and it matches the hat, with deep violet trim around her collar and the cuffs of her sleeve. She wears glasses, and they shine in the light coming from the window to our left. It is the only window in the room, and the rest of the walls are cluttered with bookcases, shelves, and cabinets.

 I watch as she uses a special stamp to mark the card, and then she hands it to me. Back when I was being measured up, they had handed me my uniform, which is now sitting on the chair next to me; for whatever reason, I decided not to sit when I entered the room but rather I've been standing the whole time. I can't help myself, though. The Vitarine elixir has my nerves all jumpy.

 "Make sure you don't come around here in such an outfit again," she advises. "We take things very seriously within the Spiritguard Headquarters here at Arcona Village, and if you can't abide by our rules, you have no place here. The only reason we're not kicking you out is because it's your first day. Let me tell you this now, Mr. Felice. When you are in training, you are in your uniform. When you are not training, you are either in your uniform or something respectable. Not your pajamas."

 "My apologies," I say, mostly with sarcasm. She doesn't seem to catch the hint of malice in my words, though, and smiles at me.

 "Just don't forget, Sigmund Felice. I'll see you tomorrow."

 "Uh- tomorrow?" I ask. I thought she was just some lady who worked in the card office.

 "Why, yes," she smiles again. "I'm going to be one of your two Instructors, after all."

 I know what that means. I can't be a jerk to her, because I'm going to be seeing a lot of her. Immediately I throw a giant, stupid grin on my face and hold out my hand.

 "I had no idea!" I blurt out as I shake her hand. "I didn't catch your name, Miss."

 "Ms. Borden," she declares, "But my students call me Bella."

 I nod my head and say "See you tomorrow, then, Miss Bella." On those words, I'm tired of sucking up to her and I walk out of the room with my uniform and my ID card.

 I walk past someone who is waiting outside the door, and I suddenly remember there's a line to meet the illustrious Bella Borden. Oops. I shouldn't have taken so long.

 I notice Lance is in the lineup, and I tilt to the left and go down some hallway I've never been in before. I don't know how to get out of here, because the only way I know was in Lance's direction, and I wanted to avoid him if possible. So I cruise down the hallway and thankfully I find a door leading outside rather quickly. I know Kael went in before I did, so he should be out here somewhere. I look around the bright courtyard and I quickly spot him. He's sitting on a bench by himself, and he looks a little bit mopey. I walk over to him and ask him what's wrong.

 "You know, as far as my height goes, I'm the shortest possible to get into the training program," Kael mumbles as I sit down next to him. "And as far as weight goes, I'm only two pounds over the bare minimum."

 "There's a minimum?" I ask.

 Kael looks at me and nods. "Yeah, there's a minimum." He stands up and jerks his head back toward home. "Shall we?"

 "Yeah, why not," I say. I notice the other kids are all sticking around the courtyard and introducing themselves to each other. They're making big old friend groups in anticipation for tomorrow. I'm not much of a people person, and Kael is too shy to go up and introduce himself, so we act like the loners we are and start off.

 As we're walking by, though, I notice there is one girl in particular who isn't joining in on the festivities. She's also standing there on the edge of the crowd, opposite us.

 She's the one I noticed earlier. The girl who is wearing the tattered clothes and looks like she just came out of a storm. Kael and I are walking, but I stop when I notice her.

 Kael turns his head. "What's up?" he asks. I subtly point over to her.

 "Why don't we introduce ourselves?" I suggest.

 Kael looks over in the girl's direction. "Of all the people…I-ok. Sure. Why not."

 I lead the assault, marching ahead of Kael who is meekly pattering behind me. As I reach the girl, she turns her head up from the ground and looks at me with surprise.

 As her eyes make contact with mine, I find myself lingering for a moment to take in her features. The first thing I notice, as always, is her hair. It is big, flowing, and yellow. Despite the condition her outfit is in, her hair looks perfect, and her bangs are pushed back with a honey-yellow clip to keep them from getting in her eyes. The next thing I notice is her skin. It's a light, peachy color, similar to Kael's, but the difference is her skin is perfectly flawless. It almost seems to shimmer in the sunlight. Her lips are full and a soft pink, her nose a small, gentle slope on her face…

 "Hello?" she says. Just then, I realize I've been really creepily staring at her. In my defense, I do that to everyone. I really like to stare at people and take in all their features. It helps me remember what they look like down the road.

 "Hi," I reply sheepishly, realizing I probably just gave this girl the creeps. My eyes meet hers as I say my greetings, and I notice their rich, vibrant color. Her eyes are a light, light gray…but there's some other color in there as well. Almost like…a tint of purple.

 "What's your name?" I shoot out, and suddenly I notice Kael standing next to me. "Oh," I say. "I don't want to be rude. This is my best friend Kael. I'm Sigmund. It's nice to meet you."

 "Kavella," she says dispassionately. As pure as her eyes look, I can detect some sort of shadow lingering within them. I know immediately she's not from Arcona Village. Even though Kael and I don't spend too much time with other people our age, I at least recognize them. With those eyes and that hair, she's clearly from somewhere else. I wonder what brought her all the way here to Arcona Village to join the Spiritguard. From the look in her eyes and the sadness in her voice, I can tell there is something there she's not letting on.

 She looks up at the big clock situated on top of the Spiritguard Headquarters and nods her head. I look too. I see it's almost two…time passed a lot quicker than I thought.

 "So, uh," Kael stammers. "Seems like we're going to be teammates of sorts, eh Kavella? Want to get something to eat with us?"

 "I have to go," she says, and suddenly walks off. Kael and I watch awkwardly as she proceeds out toward the edge of town. There's nothing out that way. Is she...is she going to go hang out in the woods?

 "Strange, huh?" Kael says. I just watch her, and I don't reply. My mind is full of questions, and I don't think they'll be answered for quite some time. I hope I get to talk to her again tomorrow, when the training actually begins.

 "Anyway, let's get lunch?"

 "You mean breakfast," I smirk, and away we go.