Blaze stood in front of the large acheimy. Ivy crawled up its brick exterior, and cherry blossoms and other flowering trees lined the path to the main building. Sunset City was home to this prestigious academy. Going from middle school to college classes. Blaze fiddled with her bag as she stood there. She's never been to South Island before. Mainly because of the language difference. Yes, she knew English, but she wasn't even close to being fluent in it. (I didn't want to write the whole last chapter's dialogue in Japanese...) She was lucky to be able to understand it well enough to pass the tests. Blaze watched as groups of students walked around, their blue and gold uniforms differing between each student. Some had their jackets unbuttoned, some had shorter skirts, and some had black boots instead of the flats. It was strange to see for Blaze. She was used to strict dress codes and uniform policies. "一日中ここに立っているわけにはいかない。(I can't just stand here all day.)" Blaze said to herself before she started walking to the entrance of the main building, a map in her hands. As she walked, she could feel people looking at her and hear them whispering. Blaze stopped as a group of dolled-up girls walked up to her. Each of them had a pin on their jackets that was a set of blue and gold pom-poms. They were all so beautiful it was intimidating. One of them smiled and spoke. She was very cheery and spoke far too quickly for Blaze to be able to grasp what she was saying. Blaze took a step back and spoke, trying her best not to mess up her words, "My English isn't good. Can you say that again, please?" "A foreign exchange student? That's cool!" The quick-talking one squeaked, slowing down her speech. Another one spoke, her voice deeper than the one prior, "We were just coming over to say hi. What's your name?" "私の名前はブレイズです。" After a moment of awkward silence, Blaze tried again, this time remembering to speak English. Her face burned with embarrassment. "My name is Blaze." "Ooo, that's a nice name!" one of the other ones smiled. "What language were you speaking before? Maybe Silver knows it! Oh, he's a sweet little guy; he might be able to help you out! Common! Let's find him!" Before Blaze could say anything, the cheerleaders dragged her around the campus trying to find whoever this Silver guy was. After a while, they stopped by a White hedgehog who also had one of the pins. "Silver!" The fast-talking one called, getting the hedghogs' attention. Blaze couldn't understand the rest of their conversation. They were using too much slang and were speaking much too fast. The white hedgehog walked over and smiled, putting out a hand, "I'm Silver. It's nice to meet you, Blaze." "Hi, nice to meet you." Blaze shook his hand. People here seemed so friendly... well, at first at least. By her class before lunch, she was getting tired of having to be introduced in front of a group of 20 or so random students that she wouldn't remember the names of. Blaze was sat down in an empty seat in the back. A group of guys were seated around her. They each had a pin with a gold football. Blaze could feel their eyes on her. Not only that, but they gave off creepy vibes that made Blaze want to be as far as possible from them. One of them whispered something to her that she could hardly understand. Blaze looked over and raised an eyebrow, "What?" They spoke again, this time slower, asif she were stupid. Blaze hated how it worked... She turned her head away from him as his groupies chuckled at the inappropriate question that he asked. As Blaze tried to pay attention to the teachers' yammering, he spoke again, still using that mocking slow voice, "Hey, answer my question, pretty kitty." "この変態バカどもは…(These perverted idiots...)" Blaze muttered under her breath. "What did she say?" The one who was sitting behind her asked. The main one shrugged. "I said question like that inappropriate," Blaze responded. After a moment of them snickering, she realised that she had messed up her grammar. She sighed, "You know what I meant." "Not really. I mean, I was too distracted by that accent." The group laughed. Blaze pulled her arms closer to herself. She felt like she was trapped in a corner. "Boys! Shut up back there before I send you to detention." The teacher snapped. Soon, mercy was given when the bell rang out. Blaze got up from her seat and quickly grabbed her things befor hurrying out of the classroom to get to her locker. But with her luck, they were quick to catch up to her. Blaze tried to dodge them, but they blocked her path. The seemingly leader of the group stood in front of her. He was much bigger than her. She tried to slink past him, but her way to the rest of the hallway was blocked, so she tried to slip through he space between the lockers and him. Big mistake. Blaze's fur puffed up, and her heart was racing as he pinned her to the wall. A sinister grin on his face as he spoke, "Not so fast, Pretty Kitty! We aren't done!"
"Leave me alone!" Blaze demanded, trying to get free. "그녀를 내버려둬라, 바보들아!" A familiar voice called. Blaze looked over to see Silver storming towards them. He looked angry. "Hey! It's the school's femboy!" One of the jocks laughed. "Ha, so funny. Not as funny as it would be if you were expelled, though." Silver chimed. The mood changed at that moment. Silver continued, "Aren't you dating Heather, Brian? (random ahh names) So why are you bugging Blaze? I give you three seconds before I go tell her. You know how she is when she's mad." Brian stepped away from Blaze, fear in his eyes. And with that, they left. Blaze looked over to Silver, completely shocked. Silver smiled, his vibe for earlier returning. His voice was worried, "Are you ok? They didn't hurt you or lay any of their dirty hands on you, right?" Blaze shook her head before giving a low bow, "Thank you." Silver smiled, "It's nothing. Hey, do you want to join me for lunch? They're serving popcorn chicken in the cafeteria." Blaze blinked, confused, "Popcorn chicken? Is that... chicken with a side of popcorn?" Silver burst out laughing, "No! It's like mini chicken nuggets. You'll see." Blaze smiled as she followed Silver. The two chatted as they went down the hall. Blaze liked how patient he was with her whenever she couldn't remember the right words. Before Blaze realised it, they were making plans to hang out after school later this week. Blaze walked into the motel room that she would be calling home for the next who knows how long. Her suitcases were neatly set beside the bed. The room was cramped and smelled strange, but it wasn't too bad. Though she would need to get a job before she got kicked out. Her parents were kind enough to give her enough to give her money to last at least a month if she spent it right. Blaze ploped down on her bed, her mind wandering. If Silver hadn't gotten rid of the bullies, then where would she be right now... Her mind kept returning to that topic, no matter how much she didn't want it to. The next few weeks were calm and otherwise nothing out of the ordinary. Her English improved with Silver's help. He would invite her over to his house often, whether it was to help her study English, share notes, just have dinner, or just because he wanted to have her over. She enjoyed it; his family was really supportive of anything and enjoyed her presence. Many times that Blaze came for dinner, it was Silver's parents' idea, not his. That place felt more like a home than Blaze's actual home did. That didn't mean she didn't miss it at times. Silver was lying on his bed, swinging his feet in the air as he was going through his notes for a class that Blaze was struggling with. Mainly because the teacher was too fast to understand. Silver looked over to Blaze and smiled, "Hey, Blaze. I was wondering where you've been staying these past weeks since you transferred here. Do you have family that you're staying with or what?" "I'm living in a motel." Blaze simply answered. "Oh? How are you paying for it?" "I've been trying to get a job, but no one wants to hire a 16-year-old who struggles to understand customers..." "Oh...." Silver thought for a moment before an idea lit his eyes. He grinned, "Why don't you stay with my family and me? We have that guest bedroom which hasn't been used for a fat minute!" "You want me living with you?" Blaze asked, confused. It felt like only yesterday that she got here. "Yeah! Ooo, let's go ask my parents!" Silver said, flipping off of his bed and heading towards the door, "Come on!" "O-ok!" Blaze said, getting up and following the hedgehog.
