I nervously put the last of my books in my locker. We were going to be sorted today, meaning we pass, fail, or for a lucky few, excel.

It might help for you to know a little bit about myself, well, here Ya go. My name is Alexia, or Ali, Alex, Lexi ect ect ect, Lourdes. I'm a student at Kwami Scholar Education and Battle Strategy, or KSEBS. And like the school name suggests, I have a Kwami. Her name is Crystal. She is a swan by the way. I can transform if your wondering, but just on school grounds and with teacher permission, I.e. assignments and other things like that. And I kinda sorta don't have a weapon, we get those at the end of the year, unless you fail, which usually only one person does, but in a small class of only ten this year, I have 10% at failing, 80% at passing, and another 10% at excelling.

I finger my last textbook, Kwami's of History. I have always admired that one. It has the record of all kwami's seen at this school, and will get newly updated with mine once I graduate. I won't be able to see it. They show their stats, special move, weapon, powers, and Kwami holder. It's like a yearbook, but nobody signs it.

I tug it out and flick through the pages to find a young picture/drawing of my mother. She was in battle position, holding her axe by the handle, with two hands and facing it down, and glaring to something beyond the page, like she was staring into my soul. She was transformed, kinda obvious, her white and light blue feathers protruding from her gloves, like mine, look as straight and fine as ever. Same as the ones on her boots. She was, is, the holder of the Heron kwami, who is a good friend of Crystal. The other drawing, complete with water color and other things, showed her smiling, laughing, with Sharon, her kwami, while sitting on the marble infused concrete bricks that are the walls that make up the schools' wall's and the surrounding areas of the quad area. It also showed a picture of just Sharon, of course.

She looked so young in these pictures. Of course she did, she was my age back then. But now she teaches a special education program for some of the few failed, there lucky because she only picks one of the four classes that graduate that year to save and let them try to get back their Kwami back so they can graduate the year later.

"Look, Crystal, it's mom and Sharon. I can't wait to see them at the assembly tonight, what about you?" I say to Crystal as she stops shoving in another textbook.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Let me just," she interrupts herself with a grunt as she wedges the book into place. "Yeah, I'm pretty excited. I hope we excel, I don't want to be separated from you." She says with a few tears brimming in her eyes

"Don't worry, we won't." I promise while hugging her to my cheek.

The bell rings over as the intercom turns on. "Graduates of class Scarlett, please head to meet Madam Lourdes in classroom 185" The principle says.

I take a shuddering deep breath. "That's us, let's go meet mom, shall we?" I say as Crystal nods as we head off, pushing the textbook away after clearing everything of mine out of it first as we head off to do who knows what.