As Tess felt the girl's presence looming beside her, she couldn't help but tense up, her senses on high alert.
"Hi," said the girl with red dye at the ends of her hair who had popped out of nowhere on the other side of the bench. She kept an inhumanely large smile on her face after saying that one word.
The silence and her large brown eyes that stayed glued above Tess's head made her decide to put away the box. The body had a way of sensing danger and she was not at all impressed by her stealthy appearance.
"What do you want?" Tess's tone was blunt and unfriendly, betraying her distrust of the girl beside her.
The girl raised her brows and wandering eyes looked for someone else Tess may have been speaking to. The roleplaying she did in her head prior betrayed her. She turned from looking at her side to face Tess who never once budged.
"S-sorry, I um," she stuttered. "My name's Zinorra, but everyone calls me Zino," she spoke down to the bench.
Tess's eyes looked around to notice the other three persons were exactly where she last saw them. She then turned back to Zino, pretending not to notice the gap between them on the bench.
Zino asked, her voice wavering slightly as she looked up at Tess with a flickering smile that betrayed her nervousness.
Tess thought that maybe Zino was a loner, and like herself, wanted to be the opposite of what they once were and turn around their lives. The Mid-Sentry is one of the most important stages in life and making friends is crucial to surviving.
Tess smiled and said, "Nice nickname, sounds catchy. I like it. My name's Tess but most people call me Tee."
Zino's grin steadied as she leaned closer and nudged Tess on the shoulder. "So Tee, you like tea, ha?" she asked with a mischievous glint in her eye.
That predictable question made it clear to Tess she was right. Zino had little social skills and was threading on new waters. The thought made her smile.
Tess chuckled, realizing that Zino had little experience in socializing. But she found it endearing. She had always wanted a friend who would go out of their way to please her, and it seemed like Zino might just be that kind of person.
Unfortunately, all Tess's old friends were somewhat like herself, which was the complete opposite. But being new to a Mid-Sentry was the perfect opportunity to make new types of friends.
Even better, she had a feeling Zino would have to give away some of her stuff as she had too much luggage. What better person to be friends with than one who gives you free stuff. She chuckled and replied to give the impression it was Zino's question that was humorous rather than the evil thoughts she had in her mind.
"Not really. I think it has more to do with coffee."
Zino nodded her head as she said, "Interesting. Very, very interesting."
As she pondered this, her attention was drawn to the girl with the black hair who was approaching them. What in the…?
When the girl sat on the bench with them, Zino got frightened and moved away to squish Tess into her bag on the other end. She stared at the mysterious girl on the left side of the bench.
Tess couldn't help but feel a little grossed out at how close they were, except for when it came to Jeremy. But that was ironic, considering they had only been close a handful of times in the past two years.
Tess shifted her bag onto her lap, creating more space between herself and Zino, who looked like she was about to faint. The new girl's laughter broke the tension. Tess could only imagine it had to do with the dead-terrified expression on Zino's face.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare yah," the girl said.
Tess knew she was referring to Zino since she was not scared.
"Oh," said Zino, who relaxed and dropped her shoulders. "That's alright." She placed her closer hand on Tess's shoulder. "This is my friend Tess, and I'm Zinorra but call me Zino. You can also call her Tee."
Tess blinked a few times at the thought, Friend? She hadn't even spent an hour with that girl and they were now friends? Things are speeding up around there.
Tess shifted closer to the edge of the bench to see the new girl better. She gave a smile, and waved."Hi."
"Hi," replied the girl casually. "And the name is Szedra." She folded one leg over the other and moved both her arms over the back of the bench. Her expressionless face ignored Zino to lock onto Tess as she asked.
"So Tess, ready to be reprimanded on your first day of the Mid-Sentry?"
"Excuse me?" Tess blurted.
Szedra's still dark eyes blinked only once as she continued but in a slower drawn-out manner. "Hair dye is strictly prohibited in the Mid-Sentry. So are eye contacts."
"Yes, hair dye!" remarked Zino with the slap of a hand on her forehead. "That's what I came over here to ask you, Tess." She leaned closer to whisper to Szedra. "But after seeing those eyes I knew they weren't contacts."
Tess heard her every word.
"Huh?" sounded Szedra as she leaned forward to see Tess behind Zino.
Tess hoped that was not another odd conversation coming about her hair. "I'm not breaking any rules," she said plainly.
"Are you saying your hair is naturally paper-white and your eyes look like you're blind?" asked Szedra with knitted brows.
Tess swayed her hair out of her face and said plainly, "Yeah." She wondered if this girl was some kind of enforcer for the Mid-Sentry rules, or just a know-it-all.
Szedra stared at Tess for a good one minute before nodding and said, "Cool."
What? Did she just hear right?
Szedra shifted her gaze to Zino and said, "Speaking of breaking rules, your hair is too long and it's also dyed red."
Zino twitched and froze to stare at something in the distance. It was as if a horrible realization had hit her. She then laughed, "Ha ha ha," while slapping her hand onto her lap.
Szedra and Tess glanced at each other before looking back at Zino who stopped laughing. She continued to speak while proudly holding up her mirror to see the dyed ends of her hair.
"It's not my fault I got recruited early into a Mid-Sentry I never even applied to—I had absolutely no time to do anything about it so they're going to have to make an exception, humph." There were no spaces between her words and it took a while for both Tess and Szedra to finally understand what she said.
"You're fully homeschooled aren't yah?" asked Szedra casually.
"Huh?" Zino's expression changed with the rise of her brows. Her gaze shifted from Szedra to focus on something behind her, and then looked back at her. "Why? Is it obvious?" she asked.
As the conversation continued, Tess couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.
Szedra's eyes lingered on Zino, examining her closely, as if trying to uncover some hidden truth. After a moment, she shrugged nonchalantly and turned her attention to the horizon, her gaze fixed on some far-off point in the distance. "Not really," she said, her voice trailing off. "It's just that I've heard some pretty weird things about people like that."
Sybervirians had a habit of attacking loners during the night. Due to this, global curfew started from six in the evening where every sensible soul would stay at home under lockdown.
Online classes were normal for any schooling that needed to happen during the evenings. But for Zino, her entire education was online, a privilege afforded to the wealthy who didn't want to risk their children's lives sitting next to a potential Syb-victim who could mutate into a terrifying monster at any moment.
Szedra's silence was almost palpable as she began to count the numerous movies that portrayed people like Zino as "eccentric." The unsettling frequency of this trope hung heavily in the air until Tess couldn't bear the silence any longer.
"The reason my hair and eyes look this way is because of the extra Shinra I was born with. It's even more than the average Shinralite."
"I'm assuming we're all Shinralites," said Szedra in a tone void of any expression. "So that explains this early recruit thing."
"Yay, you guys are Shinralites too?" asked Zino in a high-pitched tone filled with excitement. "That's great. We have a better chance of surviving."
"More Shinra flowing through our veins means nothing," Szedra interrupted. "Shinralite or not, we all die just the same."
Zino folded her arms and frowned. "That's so pessimistic."
"No, it's called being realistic. So what does that mean for you, Tess? Are you a real Shinralite or a fad? How's your stamina and how different are you?"
Real Shinralite? Tess knew instantly the hidden question behind Szedra's words. She wanted to know if she had an ability, or as some call it, powers.