Chapter 9 - The HQ Appears

Lost marched into the cafeteria and took a deep breath. Halfway done school for today!

She wandered over to the lunch line and stared into space, daydreaming. Lost moved up in line without thinking.

"Hey! Lost!" a voice broke through Lost's daydream.

Lost turned around and saw Karalee standing behind her, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, hey," Lost said. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. What was the last class you went to?" Karalee asked.

"History. With grumpy ol' Mr. Greely," Lost said, rolling her eyes. "We learnt about this ancient tribe of warriors that were called Phantoms. They apparently attacked the explorers, Mira and Zios." Lost then grabbed a orange lunch tray from the counter.

"Ah. Sounds interesting at least!" Karalee said as she also picked up a tray.

Lost shrugged. "It was okay."

Lost grabbed an apple and piece of pizza from the lunch counter. After some contemplating, she grabbed another piece of pizza.

Grabbing a juice box, Lost turned around to look at Karalee. "Wanna sit together?"

Karalee nodded and Lost lead the way over to an empty table near the middle of the room. Sighing, Lost plopped down on her chair and closed her eyes.

"You tired still?" Karalee teased as she bit into a gooey piece of pizza.

"I guess so! It's been busy. Go go go, you know?" Lost said, opening her eyes and sticking her straw into her juice box. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a girl walk over to their table.

"Mind if I sit here?" the girl said, standing close to the table.

"Sure!" Karalee said.

The girl smiled and sat down next across from Lost.

"I'm Karalee! And this is Lostfairy," Karalee said, gesturing to herself and to Lost.

"Cool. I'm Pinpun. Call me Pin for short," Pin said, biting into a sandwich. Pin had her hair dyed purple and styled into a Mohawk. She wore a dark purple jacket and a bunch of lilac colored bracelets. A spiked necklace was around her neck.

The girls chattered and ate their lunches. After a little while, Lost looked at the big clock on the wall.

"I should go," Lost said, standing to her feet.

"Why? The bell hasn't rung," Pin said.

"I know. I like getting to classes early though. I get better seats that way," Lost joked. "Well, bye guys!"

"Bye!" Karalee called.

Lost wandered out into the hallway and headed towards her math class. She sighed happily. The hallways were so much more peaceful when they weren't filled with yelling students. Lost enjoyed herself as she strolled along through the halls.

All of a sudden, a loud sharp yell shattered the silence. Lost picked up her pace and turned around the corner when she saw a group of kids all huddled around something. A few kids wandering the halls stopped and joined the huddle.

Curious, Lost kept on walking towards them. As she came closer, she listened to some of the yells.

"Hit him! C'mon, do it!"

"Punch him!"

Is this a fight?

Lost turned to a girl who was silently watching. She was leaning against the wall, twirling her black hair with her finger. Her dark eyes stared intently at the herd of kids.

"Hey, do you know what this is all about?" Lost asked as she stood next to the girl.

"No. I wasn't here when it started," she said before looking up.

Lost nodded and wondered what to do. As she looked around, she noticed that a younger looking boy was bolting down the hall, away from the fight. Lost cocked her head and stared down the hall.

What was that kid doing?!

 "I'm Lostfairy, by the way," Lost said.

"I'm Purple. Purplestarclub," Purple replied.

All of a sudden, Lost saw an adult walking down the hall. He seemed to walk with such authority. The boy Lost had noticed before trailed after him.

The man pushed past the huddle and grabbed each of the boys who were fighting each other. Both of them had blood on their face and a scowl on their lips.

"What do you two think you were doing?" the man demanded.

"He started it!" one of the boys yelled, pointing at the other one.

"I don't care who started it," the man said sternly. "Now tell me. What were you fighting about?"

Lost turned to Purple. "Who is that guy?"

"He's part of the security team. Us students nicknamed them the HQ. Headquarters," Purple said. "They always stop fights and stuff."

Lost turned back to the HQ who was still talking to the boys.

"If neither of you will tell me why you were fighting, I'm going to have to take you to the Headmaster," the HQ said.

The HQ then started walking back down the hall, pushing the boys with his arms.

All the kids who had watched the fight were silent until the trio went around the corner. Then they all turned to the boy Lost had seen before.

"Why'd you have to report them?" a girl yelled at the boy.

"Yeah! Now they're in trouble and it's all your fault!" another student shouted.

"Now, now! He didn't do anything wrong!" Lost said, without thinking.

Everyone stared at her. Lost shifted her feet. The bell rung and Lost sighed with relief. Finally, the crowd went their separate ways to their classrooms.

Lost rushed down the hall towards her math class, shaking her head. That was enough excitement for her.

* * *

Lost hurried into English just as the final bell rang. She quickly scooted into her seat and let out a sigh. Math had gone late because she had to ask Mr. Graham some questions about a problem she had in her math quiz.

Ms. Liza stood in front of the class room, with hands folded in front of her as she watched the students with her bright curious eyes.

"Alright!" Ms. Liza announced. The whole room's buzz of chatter instantly stopped.

 "Today, you will use this whole class time to work on your report on something that needs changing in Jamaasian High. Remember, this is your last time to work on it before it is due!" Ms. Liza said. "Now! Let your imagination run wild!"

Lost got her notebook out of her backpack and started writing her report. She stopped suddenly and quickly reread what she already had written. Was it good enough?

"Don't doubt yourself," Ms. Liza said gently, standing next to Lost's desk. "I'm sure it's wonderful."

Lost nodded and watched Ms. Liza move back to her desk.

I wonder how she knew I was doubting my report...

Lost shook her head slightly and began writing again.

* * *

The bell rang throughout the whole school. Lost quickly snapped her notebook shut, shoved it into her backpack, and stood up.

All the students in the class dashed through the door and into the halls. Lost walked slowly up to Ms. Liza's desk where her teacher was scrawling something down. Lost cleared her throat.

"Yes, Lostfairy?" Ms. Liza said, smiling.

"Um, I just wanted to thank you for helping me get past my doubt," Lost said shyly.

"Ah, you're welcome," Ms. Liza said. "Now you better run along! The last class for today should be starting soon!"

Lost nodded and ran out into the hall. The halls were not nearly empty and everyone was laughing and talking.

Pulling her backpack open, Lost reached past the books and grabbed her beat up schedule.

Lost beamed when she saw what her last class was. Art! Glorious art!

Lost dashed up the stairs, taking two at a time. She bolted down the hall and threw open the door at the end of the corridor.

Taking a deep breath, Lost stepped into the room. A couple of students glanced up at her and then went back to chatting.

"Lost! Hi!" a girl yelled from behind Lost.

Lost whirled around and saw Snowyclaw, the cheerleader who greeted her yesterday.

"How are you doing? Don't you totally love this place?" Snowy said cheerfully.

"Yeah, it's awesome," Lost smiled.

"And art is literally the best class!" Snowy said.

"Hey, I love art too!" Lost exclaimed.

"Yay! I have another friend who loves to draw as well," Snowy said, looking around the room and then peering out into the hallway. "Oh! There she is! Artymis, c'mon!"

A girl, who's name was supposedly Artymis, rushed down the hall and ran over to Lost and Snowy. She wore a white headband with little mini antlers. She also wore a light blue jacket and a blue necklace with spikes. White bracelets finished the look.

"I can't wait to start painting!" Artymis said to Snowy, ignoring Lost.

"Me too! Let's go get seats," Snowy said. They both walked over to two empty desks and sat down.

Lost followed and sat down behind them. As she put her backpack down, Lost looked around the room.

There were paint brushes everywhere. There all sorts of paints, brushes, and canvases all scattered around in the room on shelves and on tables. There were huge splotches of paint on the floors in bright colors. The air smelled like paint.

The door closed and a young woman walked into the room. She wore a pink skirt and a fancy purple shirt. The woman's hair was dyed purple and was styled in a cute pixie cut. Lost noticed a single earring in her ear that was a golden bell.

"Hello! I am your art teacher, Ms. Peck," Ms. Peck said, beaming. "In my art class, we are all allowed to be our artsy, creative self. In my art class, we are going to have the most fun time ever."

She sure is enthusiastic.

"So! Today, we are all going to get our creative juices flowing by all painting the same thing. But, in our own unique styles," Ms. Peck said, reaching down and grabbing a rose in a pretty vase. "So, let's start by painting this rose."

Ms. Peck walked around the room, handing out a couple of different sizes of paintbrushes and a palette with a variety of paints.

Lost stared at the beautiful yet complicated rose. She then stared at her paints. Lost sighed softly.

This will be fun.