Hedgesville, West Virginia
Harbinger Academy
Wednesday, August 21, 1996
11:12 AM

“I got hooked up with a guy named Shanyuan,” Jennie said at the lunch table. She stared down at her tray of food, trying to hard find her appetite to eat the hamburger and fries. “He had to sit beside me in class. And looked really pissed off about it.”
“Oh well,” Rem remarked, chewing into his sandwich, “could be worse.”
“Shanyuan,” Reiyl whispered, drawing his fist to his mouth, “sounds familiar.”
“Then Ashlee got matched up with Kasei,” Jennie stated, stirring around the applesauce in the upper part of the tray with her spoon, “and she wasn’t too happy about it.”
“That‘s kind of funny,” Rem chuckled, glancing over at Jennie with an amused look, “I don’t really see those two getting along.”
“That worse thing,” Jennie said as she put down her spoon, “ was when that redheaded guy showed up at the beginning of class.”
“Rowen?” Rem choked out as he dropped his food.
Jennie watched as the hamburger bounced from the table, hit the bench, and rolled across the floor. She glanced up to see Rem eyeing her with disbelief.
“He came in and terrorized Kasei and I,” Jennie stated, pressing her hands against the top of her thighs. “Kasei tried to fight him off, but got his hand broken.”
“That probably explains why he didn’t show up for any of the classes I have with him.”
“Same here,” Reiyl mumbled. “Maybe he ran off.”
“I think the teacher insulted him,” Jennie said. “They acted familiar though.”
“Which teacher?” Rem questioned.
“Mrs. Dashiell. Ashlee’s aunt, right?” Jennie said. Her eyes were on Rem, wondering if the name would ring a bell for him.
“Ah, her,” Rem said with a laugh. “Allard was one of my dad’s best friends in high school.”
“Oh,” Jennie said, perking up slightly.
“They always got along…or so I’ve heard,” Rem replied, leaning against the tablet, “but they don’t really talk to each other anymore.”
“Maybe they have better things to do. People do grow up,” Reiyl stated flatly. Jennie and Rem gave him a sullen expression from across the table as he returned the looks with a baffled one. “What?”
“Nothing,” Rem mumbled with a heavy sigh, “anyway, Allard is always picking on Rowen. Last year she had him standing out in the hall with a bucket of water on his head.”
“Wish I could’ve seen that,” Jennie laughed. She could imagine the surly redhead with a bucket on his head, trying to keep his balance while trying not to spill the water. “That would‘ve made my day.”
“Yeah,” Rem snorted, “so where to after here?”
Jennie stilled as she turned, reaching into her backpack and grabbing the sheet Rem had given her at the beginning of the day. “Weapons study? What exactly is that?”
“Choose a weapon and learn to fight with it,” Rem said. He began to munch of the remaining portion of his meal while out of the corner of his eyes he could see the puzzlement in Jennie‘s eyes. “What?”
“Why do you need to learn how to fight with weapons in school?” she asked.
“Tradition really,” Rem said. “But for those who come here from Mid Caven and plan on going back, weapons study is a good class to expand on. Our world isn’t very...advanced.”
“Eh?” Jennie questioned.
“Mid Caven is what you would consider a feudal world filled with magic,” Reiyl said. He leaned forward to look Jennie in the eyes. “There had been a time when we possessed the ability of technology like Earth, but now we have no true knowledge of it. We have gone backward in time with the past war.”
“Oh,” she whispered, feeling awkward with what he had said. She looked away from the cat demon, turning to look at Rem. “So what weapon should I learn to use?”
“That’s a good question,” Rem said as he took a drink of his milk.
“What are you talking about?”
Kasei stepped up to the table, taking a sit beside his older brother. Rem and Reiyl became deathly quiet while the younger boy blinked.
“What?” he questioned.
“Come on, guys,” she mumbled.
“Jennie and a weapon,” Rem said abruptly.
“Oh,” Kasei cringed, thinking about it for a moment. “Something a human girl can handle. Longswords and spears would be too heavy.”
“True,” Reiyl whispered, tapping a finger on the tabletop.
“How about a full tang!” Kasei said, waving his arm in the air playfully. “I could help her learn how to use it.”
“No, that wouldn’t suit her,” Rem muttered as he looked to Jennie. “Have you used a weapon before?”
“Not really,” Jennie said. Her eyes lit up as she glanced at Rem. “Wait, does a bow count?”
“Yeah,” Rem stated with a glum appearance.
“Well, I used to play with my archery kit in the backyard,” she said with a smile. She almost felt giddy at the revelation. “I was pretty good at hitting the target.”
“She could always try a dagger,” Reiyl said, ignoring Jennie‘s excitement. “It’s not too heavy and it would be simple to use.”
“Daggers are lame,” Jennie mumbled, tilting her head to the side with a pout of her lips.
“Don’t say that to Riley,” Rem said, nudging her in the side. A bell rung overhead making Jennie stand up abruptly with her tray in both hands. “Sit down, moron. That was for the kids still in class.”
“Oh,” Jennie said as her cheeks reddened.
“You’ll see a few pass through the cafeteria, heading to their class,” Rem muttered. Soon after he said that, a group of students came wandering into the cafeteria, walking across the room to the other side.
“There’s Janiston and Mirage,” Jennie said, pointing to the two who were walking together and talking. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Mirage stare at a girl who strolled past him, noting his eyes were following the movements of her body. “He’s disgusting.”
“That’s Mirage for you,” Rem said with a shrug.
Eating in silence for the rest of the period, Jennie thought about what Rem had said about weapons study then looked to Kasei who was chatting happily to his older brother while Rem listened in and commented every now and then. Reiyl and Rem had looked mad at Kasei when the boy had sat down. She didn’t understand why.