Fashionably Late

Matilda was reminded of several other famous works of literature involving a kid going to a magical school. This particular school felt more Westbridge than Hogwarts. Just walking to her dorm room, she’d passed nervously by several demons, accidentally walked through a ghost, and caught an uncomfortable glimpse of some kind of elf and an honest-to-goodness alien making out in an empty corridor. She’d tried her best not to gawk, but Tilly had never seen magic practiced out in the open, much less been confronted with the existence of extraterrestrial beings and several pieces of conflicting evidence towards various religions on her way to use the bathroom.

She looked positively giddy, and the other students were taking notice. She definitely wasn’t the first fish out of water to come through the gates, and she wouldn’t be the last. A few students sniggered and whispered about her, but most smiled sympathetically. They’d all been that kid before. A boy with horns held the door open for her as she left the dorms. A cyborg eyed her aura warning bracelet uncomfortably as she passed him by.

She was half skipping, half walking down the steps, towards the seating near the statue in front of the high school. She had just dropped her luggage in her room. She’d kept her staff, which attracted less odd looks than you might have expected, as did the wide-brimmed wizard’s hat she sported. She hadn’t yet had time to change into her uniform, so she still had on the clothes she’d been wearing when she left Michigan an eternity ago: A black leather jacket over deep V-neck jersey t-shirt, a red and black plaid-lined pencil skirt, a pair of plain black leggings, and some comfortable boots. Most of it was stuff she’d picked up thrift shopping, save for the hat, and looked worn but comfortable. One man’s trash, after all…

She plopped down on one of the stone benches, laying her staff across her lap neatly, and pulling a pocket watch from her jacket. It was old, the kind you had to wind up every morning, but it rarely gave out under duress from her magic, so it was worth the inconvenience. She was… Several minutes late. And these were several minutes for late Tilly, who tended to show up ten or twenty minutes after the specified time on principle.
”Oops.” She mumbled, glancing nervously around for the guide she was supposed to be meeting here.

To her surprise, it looked like her guide only just got here. Well, that was a relief. Maybe lateness was the key identifying factor in the supernatural community. That would certainly make her class schedule a whole lot less stressful. The boy who called her name had hair the color of evergreen needles, and was currently making a mockery of his school uniform, as far as she could tell. Was the dress code here not too strict, or did he not care?

His choice of greeting inclined Matilda to the latter, though she kept her mind open. He floated over to her, looking like he couldn't care less, and cared a lot about letting everyone know that. Sure, she knew this was still a high school, but she expected someone to be a bit more… Energetic? This was a school for freakin’ wizards, aliens, and vampires, for crying out loud! Was this just normal to them?

She stopped herself, realizing that she’d been sitting there looking stupid for just a moment too long while she’d been pondering that. She blinked quickly, recovering with serene grace.
”Me Matilda. You Tarzan?” She grunted. She’d pause for a beat, then, realizing she was probably making an ass of herself, quickly added: ”Uh, yeah, I’m Tilly. Pleased to meet you!.”

She thrust out her hand to shake, only she was sitting and he was floating, so she ended up dropping her staff in the process, emitting a blast of sparks in the process. She doubled over, scooping the stick up clumsily, crossing her arms over her chest to hold it steady and standing up, clumsily offering one of her hands in an awkwardly offered handshake. ”Oops! My bad!”

Well, he could take a joke, at least. That was comforting. She’d been about to say as much when her staff nearly turned the two of them into Flambe de Frutas. He didn’t seem too hot and bothered about their nearly-avoided immolation, though he float a ways away as precaution. That might have been a bit concerning if Tilly had stopped to think about the implications of it, but alas, who had the time?


He seemed quite a bit more cheery now that they’d survived imminent death together. Matilda smiled meekly, laughing along as he approached again.

”I’ll do my best.” She grinned as she offered her hand. She hesitated for a moment as he rejected her handshake but offered a fist bump, but went with it after just a moment.


”So I dunno if this is a rude question here, but uh… What are you, if you don’t mind me asking? I was thinking ghost at first, but my hand didn’t pass through yours, so now I’m a bit stumped.” She inquired, trying her best to be delicate, but it was all she could do to restrain her curiosity just enough to be what might be construed as polite. She couldn’t lie, she’d been eagerly awaiting this for ages. It was all she could do not to bombard the rather uninterested-looking air-floaty-boy with questions.


”So, Diego Tarzan, what’s next?” she’d ask, passing her staff back to her off hand so that she could move around a bit easier.

She was relieved to find that her question was not as rude as it sounded. One wonders what would possess her to ask in the first place if she feared that her question was too impolite, but there you are.
”Oh, cool. Me too.” She replied automatically when Diego explained his powers. She blinked once, then put up a hand to correct herself. ”To the whole, uh, being a human with powers thing.” She added hastily. ”Not the controlling wind and flying thing. Not yet anyways.” There was a glint in her eye when she said that last part.

Some part of her wanted to play it cool and ask Diego to show her what he thought was cool, but to be honest, at the word library, her fate was sealed. She’d heard about this place and its immense arcanum. She had dreamed of taking a look of all the old tomes and spellbooks the place had to offer, so it was with no alternation that she nodded quickly with a big stupid grin on her face.

”Mhm! That sounds great!” She beamed.

”Oh, most certainly.” Said Matilda sweetly. There was just a touch of pride in her voice, bordering on smugness, but not quite reaching it. When he inquired as to her ability to learn new things, her grin only grew wider still. ”Stop learning, start dying!” She said sagely, as if that cleared everything up. It was clear it was something she’d said a thousand times before, the sort of mantra one learns as a child and never lets go.

Seemingly oblivious to Diego’s amusement, she followed him eagerly to the library, asking occasional questions as she went, mostly about the buildings they passed en route. When they reached the building, Tilly couldn’t help but be awestruck. She’d never seen facilities as pristine as those offered by Starlight Academy, and the prospect of a place where she could find any and all information that her little heart could desire was enough to leave her starstruck. For a moment, she just stood there, staff in hand, like a Wizard of old, discovering a lost treasure trove of knowledge. She likened it to the library of Alexandria, standing here for anyone to access, freely.

Once again, she’d been standing there, lost in her thoughts, when Diego spoke again. She blinked dreamily, lazily turning her head towards him, half-listening. ”I didn’t bring a tent.” She mumbled, blinking once more and glancing over to him, now fully sober. ”Wait, you aren’t coming?”