"Principal Carh, this is Amethyst Wishbone." Natasha smiled at the cheerful principal sitting behind the cluttered desk in the main office. She then gave Amethyst a gentle nudge forward, giving her a chance to introduce herself.

"Hi." Amethyst smiled. "I'm Amethyst. Natasha's hosting me while I attend school here."

"How kind of her." Principal Carh nodded at Amethyst, then motioned for her to stand by her. "Let's set up your schedule, shall we? Natasha, you can take a seat."
"Thank you," Natasha said, plopping down in the hard seat across from the desk. She caught snippets of their conversation as she fake-flipped through an upside-down magazine.

"Art..." "Creative..." "Writing..." "Natasha..."

Natasha stopped reading altogether when she heard her name and strained her ears to catch more.

"Same...class..." "Don't...have...to..." "Fair..."

"Natasha." Natasha jumped when Principal Carh called her name. She quickly shut the magazine and popped up.

"Yes?"

"Please show Amethyst to her homeroom, which would be..." Principal Carh glanced at Amethyst.

"The same one as yours." Amethyst finished.

"Here are your hall passes." Principal Carh passed Natasha two slips of paper, then shooed her out.

"So what classes did you pick?" Natasha asked calmly when they stepped into the hallway. Amethyst consulted her schedule, then rattled off the classes with super speed.

"Poetry, watercolor, ballet, art, French, and drama. Oh, and I have a couple advanced classes that Principal Carh wanted me to at least try out since you're in them as well. I wanted to be with you in more of my electives but I'm not a huge fan of the ones you have," Amethyst added, glancing down at her feet. Natasha tried not to feel hurt. She knew it wasn't personal, but would it be so hard for someone to make a sacrifice for her, just once?

"That's great," Natasha managed as they approached room 219. "Okay, this is our homeroom. I'll introduce you to Mrs. Floris."

Natasha pushed the half-open door all the way open and led Amethyst over to the middle-aged teacher standing in the back of the room, watching another student present at the front of the room.

"Hi Mrs. Floris, this is my guest, Amethyst."

"Amethyst Wishbone, it's great to meet you." Mrs. Floris reached out her hand and the two shook. "You're going to love staying with Natasha!"

"Oh, I do, Mrs. Floris," Amethyst told her. Natasha blushed.

"Well, why don't we sit you next to Amethyst?" Mrs. Floris offered. Before Amethyst could respond, she called out, "Ivy, please switch to the seat in the back by Cara."

A brunette with piercing blue eyes stood up and glared at Amethyst.

"Fine," she muttered as she picked up her supplies and dropped them on a desk in the back of the room.

"She doesn't have to-" Amethyst started, but Mrs. Floris waved her off.

"It's alright Amethyst. Natasha, take good care of her."

"Will do, Mrs. Floris," Natasha said as she and Amethyst made their way to the front row.

"I hope Ivy isn't too mad," Amethyst whispered to Natasha, who bit her lip and looked down.

"She's a bit of a snob," Natasha admitted. "Just try to stay out of her way. She can't do that much damage."

"I'll try," Amethyst replied quietly. Natasha smiled, then pulled out her planner and motioned for Amethyst to do the same. She quickly wrote down the dates on the board, then focused back on Gianna Eliose, who was talking about an art show she was helping organize.

"We'll be showing plenty of art, so if you think you're an artist, feel free to submit a piece," Gianna was saying. Natasha glanced over at Amethyst and was shocked to see that instead of writing in her planner, Amethyst was scribbling on a piece of paper with her pens that she was supposed to be using for color-coding.

"What are you doing?" Natasha hissed. Amethyst smiled and kept going. Finally, she dropped the pen and passed the paper to Natasha. In just a couple minutes, Amethyst had sketched what looked like a (very) rough draft of the Mona Lisa. Natasha was shocked.

"How did you even remember what it looks like?"

Amethyst just shrugged. "I'm an artist, remember?"

"But-but-you got the colors right and everything!"

"Thanks, I think." Amethyst blushed, but she was smiling.

"You should totally be part of the art show," Natasha encouraged. "It would look incredible on your resume, especially if you won!"

Amethyst looked a little upset.

"Is that all it means to you?" She asked. "That it would look good on your resume?"

Natasha was confused.

"Well, I mean, it would, right?"

"Natasha, you should do things because you enjoy them, not because they make you look like a better person," Amethyst cried.

"Natasha, Amethyst." Mrs. Floris appeared by their corner. "I understand that you're new, Amethyst, but please refrain from talking."

Natasha felt her cheeks burn. She was certain everyone was staring at her.

"I-we-are so sorry," she muttered, not meeting Mrs. Floris's eyes.

"Just don't do it in the future," was all Mrs. Floris said before turning and walking back to the back of the room.

Are Natasha and Amethyst on the verge of a fight? Will Amethyst get Natasha in trouble? You'll have to read Chapter Eight to find out!

 ~ writesthetic