After some extra medical procedures that were avaible shortly after getting my new fangs (good ones!), my attention turo w about school. Despite the good general good vibes from getting my fangs in (those extra medical procedures gave me some immense relief and euphoria), there were some less good vibes, like getting used to mouth guards at night, biting my face during the day, and fling every time I thought a sudden rainstorm htning bolt was gonna go off.

  I got dressed quickly the m of the big move, hating how poundy my heart felt already. 3WMB said poundy heart could be a lot of things, especially for a new i. Maybe I could viel to let me stay home and take the rain to school. But I knew I couldn’t miss this. When I was ready, she was still by her mirror toug up her blush.

  Stel put on the same b old pop song she put on every m whe up. I hoped I’d win the mental dice roll and not have it stu my head all m.

  “Pleaaase don’t be afraid, all the clouds in your head will fade awaaay, it’ll be a sunny daaaay…”

  While Stel finished her makeup, I triple checked my bags and suitcases. I finally decided on the perfect lineup for things t in my luggage the night before. I made sure to keep a Raina Starlight book in my backpack. And the rest of my colle in my luggage. I felt hopeful as I said bye to my room, promising I’d be back soon.

  “I thought we should have been out the door by now,” I said.

  “Shut up.” Stel said.

  I walked around the hallway stomping a bit, knowing I was being a brat.

  “Alright, let’s go already,” Stel said once she finished. “Once you’re orain I’ll have some pead quiet around here…”

  “You’ll miss me as soon as I leave,” I said.

  Stel pulled me in for a hug.

  “You know it,” Stel said. “No long goodbyes though, I don’t want you to see me bawling and then you’ll start g…it’d just be a mess.”

  I yawned as we stepped into the elevator.

  “You know, when you’re at Rising Shards they won’t let you sleep in.” Stel said.

  Stel called for a cab whe outside and helped me get my suitcases in the back seat. As soon as we were seated, we sped off across the busy LE streets.

  I couldn’t sit still by the time we got to the station. I looked at my ticket again. I was on the fourth train, the yellow li was already b, which meant I ared awkward waiting time.

  “Alright, like I said, no long goodbyes,” Stel said, grabbing me in another bear hug. “Love you, yonna rock it there.”

  “Thanks Stel,” I said, hugging her back. “I love you too and stuff.”

  “And then you’ll be back before you know it for Safe Silver,” Stel’s voice trailed off. “OK, get orain, I feel a cry ing on.”

  “Alright, enjoy the pead quiet!” I said.

  I waved as I headed toward the train, the a little homesick so I ran back for one more hug, which made Stel start bawling so she told me I had to get orain immediately. I fought back tears myself leaving her. She looked really proud of me as she watched me take the st few steps onto the train, so that was nice.

  I felt floaty as I dashed for the empty seat, pnting myself by the window. The train was already full of other i that must have been from other towns farther away. I saw a lot of other kinds of i right away.

  The train was taking students to both Rising and Falling Shards, as both the girls’ and boys’ schools had the same principal and a joint orientation day. All of us had the fangs but some got their own little quirks (that I read about in the long-titled books). A guy in front of me was scratg up the back of his chair with a cw. A girl to my right was pining that the seats weren’t made for tailed i. A boy was bragging about the differeween having the pointy up i ears versus the pointy side i ears but agreed with the girl he was debating with that both were better than having regur human looking ears.

  To try and fight off my anxiousness, I relied on my trusty ay buster book series and started reading again. At the very least, reading about Raina Starlight gave me some calm time. I tried to force myself to not think of Jeans in regard to Raina Starlight books, but I couldn’t.

  We were just leaving the city to a suburb, but it was the farthest I had been on my own. Rising Shards was in a town called Sky Cy. It didn’t take long for the train to arrive.

  Sky Cy seemed like a cute little vilge in parison to the LE. It even had a sign on the way in that said, “The Cutest Little Vilge in Exoun,” and I hadn’t seen any other cute little vilges iate so who was I to judge? I almost wasn’t used to how small the buildings were pared to home. Every single one looked like a little shop, until we were past the sign that read “The Cutest Little Shop Distri Sky Cy, the Cutest Little Vilge in Exoun,” and once we were past that we were into a forested area. There was a gentle beauty to all of it that was never present bae. The train rolled to a stop in an out of pce looking station just past the beach.

  There were a bunch of students stretg out on the beach, so there was no rush t gage inside. After holding back my stronger emotions with a tactical g of my eyelids, I took a deep breath, a myself lie ba the sand. For a while, I just listeo the gulls above me and the waves, gradually drowning out the chatter behind me.

  A few notes pyed out from the speaker system in the school. A friendly voice came out after.

  “Do I talk into this part? OK, seez. Students! This is…and uh…oh! It’s time for the big opening ceremony for this bad boy. Faculty, if you’d do me a solid ahe first-year kids to the seats, that’d be awesome.”

  I figured the awkward man speaking was new like me, so I gave him a pass for his shaky delivery.

  We all had to get into a line and hand off gage after sing our wrist bands, which had been synced up with the school’s work so the movers would know whi t them to. I felt like such a burden making someone else bring my stuff up. I tried to offer bringing my stuff up on my own, but they wouldn’t let me. The staff led us into the first building I stepped into at Rising Shards, the auditorium. It felt like I had entered a ritzy theater as I walked through marble hallways with fancy fountains and statues. I passed under curtains to ehe seating area, which had absurdly fortable seats. After the cramped trais, I kicked back with the leg rest and wondered if they’d notice if I took a nap.

  The school answered that questiohe speakers bred out anticipatory music. It felt like a tdown for a band or a movie reveal or something.

  “WELE TO…RISING SHARDS!” A deep voice said, loud enough to make me plug my ears. Some cheers followed. This felt like a band mixed with a roller coaster now. The anticipatory music kicked up, and it felt like it had to be building to something huge.

  What I thought were curtains on stage was actually just video pying on a ginormous s. A swirling image repced them as the music reached its peak. I got giddy in my seat, ready to see what excitement Rising Shards was going t us. The s went bd the lights went out and I held my breath in waiting to see what was .

  “We all live in the world, but all of us are different,” the narrator said as that video popped up on the s. “Upon reag puberty, some find themselves going through another gey ge.”

  I was a bit stuhe same video. Once more, cheesy graphics swooped by and shots of people just going about their lives and the popsicles and the shopping and books. We had to watch the whole thing again. Even on a giant s with bsting speakers, that video still sucked.

  “hat a movie am I right people?” The voice from before came out from the speakers. “Up , please follow the instrus on your power blockers and go to the room they tell you. Oh, and, we will find you if you go to the wrong room.”