The Shifters: Katrina

As I got to my feet, pushing myself out of bed groggily before getting ready for the day, the answer to my own thought hit me.

Right. The end of the festival. I'll have to say goodbye.

With that in mind, I dressed in nicer clothes, a bodysuit made of shifter material underneath a violet halter top and black jeans, a black jacket resting beside my slip-on shoes by the door. My hair fell down my back in loose chocolate curls, and I had the decency to put on a layer of foundation, some lip gloss, and dark mascara to compliment the blue shade of my eyes. After grabbing the key to my dorm, I slipped on my jacket and shoes and made my way out of the building. Tents that had been set up for extra guests at the festival were already taken down, and several pop-up vendor shops were gone as well. A small sense of sadness touched at my heart as I wandered toward Coraline's building, wishing the festival could go on forever. I'd been told that relationships between compounds were shaky, and that travelling between them was rare when it wasn't time for the festival -- unless you were moving from compound to compound like Rowan's family had.

Outside Coraline's building was Tyree and Shae, the two of them chatting about something casual as they waited for whatever. I approached them without caution, a question on the tip of my tongue.

Shae beat me to it. "Katrina! Finally, you're here. Everyone's waiting to say goodbye," she said, her voice cheery and upbeat despite the goodbyes we were facing. I raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as they led me inside. We walked up to the same floor as the meeting had been on, the door to the large conference room propped open. Tyree led us inside, and I was shocked to see Coraline, Koren, Kami and the rest of my friends including the foreign ones inside.

"Um, guys? What are you doing?"

Luke turned to me first. "Staying is what we're doing!"

My eyebrows shot up, my eyes shooting to Coraline for confirmation.

"The other compounds have requested for their young representatives to stay here and send reports to their homes about you and your progress. They decided to have the younger ones stay because they can recieve some of Iluita's training to further their own abilities, and they'll probably get along with you better than anyone older."

My eyes passed around the room. I recognized each person. The foreign ones stood out to me; Luke, Rowan, Dani, Anna, Chloe, Emma, Liam, Wyatt and Talia. Representatives that were assigned to stay and watch over me.

"So they're lounging around all day?" I asked incredulously.

Talia, the one who disliked me the most, rolled her eyes. "No, you doofus. We're going to your school and living our own lives too. Just with a monthly report thrown in. No one wants to spend their lives chasing after someone like you," she rambled, her voice taking on more venom with each word. The adults in the room flinched from her anger, and the rest of the people my age looked pissed.

"Thanks for the explanation," I said, gritting my teeth. "It's appreciated."

Alisa, who was also in the room, piped up in that moment. "It's why Luke came with us to see your classes. He was getting the layout of the school."

I gave Luke a sidelong glance, only to earn a smirk and a wink. "Aren't you glad we're staying?" He teased, his playful tone leaking into my mood and making me grin as Shae, Tyree and I came to join the clump of shapeshifters.

"I am," I admitted, "I think I've taken a liking to you guys."

Talia scoffed while Anna, the young girl, offered me a friendly smile. I returned it, only to see Coraline eyeing me. She cleared her throat, everyone's attention passing to her.

"Since everyone here is moving in to the dorms, we figured it was time to give you a roommate and adjust your position as well, Katrina."

I perked up, glancing at the girls from other compounds. My possible roommates were Chloe, Anna, Dani, Emma and Talia.

Please don't be Talia, I prayed.

Coraline must've been a guardian angel. "Three empty dorms are on the fourth floor that you and the five foreign girls can use. Dorm number six is Emma and Talia. Dorm number seven is Chloe and Katrina. Dorm number eight is Anna and Dani."

We nodded, committing the list to memory. Chloe looked my way, our eyes locking. She was a raven from Odanost, and seemed like a mature, cool-headed girl. Coraline turned back to light conversation, and I walked toward Chloe.

"Hi," I began, "nice to see you again. I'm glad you're my roomie."

Her tone was soft and gentle when she spoke, and I noticed a pencil case and book clutched in her hands. "You seem like a good person too, so I'm glad you're my roommate."

I frowned. "You sound young. Not as young as Anna, but young."

She smiled. I had to admit that Chloe was pretty, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes on the verge of being gray. "I'm fifteen. I was raised to be an ambassador," she explained. "It's an interesting job, but I enjoy seeing the world."

I kept the shock out of my expression. Chloe may have been young, but her soft spoken nature was accompanied by maturity and a surprisingly happy presence. When she smiled, I found myself grinning as well.

"Sounds like an important job," I confessed, stuffing my hands in my pockets. "Coraline would never trust me with something like that."

"Well that's a lie," she replied just as softly, but her tone was flippant. "We all know that you're going to be important in the history of our race. You're unique, even if you're also a little rash and reckless."

All I could do was blink, wondering if it was an insult or a compliment. My confused silence was broken as an arm swung around my shoulders, jostling me. Luke was beside me, a wide grin on his face. I shoved him off, ignoring Coraline's chastising shout that followed. We continued to play around, my mood brightened considering I wasn't losing any of my new friends. It felt good to grin, to have my worries pushed away by the presence of others.

And thankfully, I held onto that feeling.

The next day, I wasn't woken up as early as I would've liked. I woke up by chance, giving me a twenty minute window to get to my first class. I had my new schedule in hand as I ran across the front yard of the dormitory to get to the school, my hair wet from a shower. My t-shirt was twisted over my shifter's bodysuit, one of the three buttons on my jeans undone. I briefly fixed my clothes before climbing the stairs to the third floor, bursting into M. Crim's elements class right before the bell rang. Running my hand through my wet hair, I took my spot next to Tyree and grabbed the notes she handed me, the ones I'd missed. Alisa was still in front of me, her tattoo exposed for the first time in a while. It was the head of a snake, posed as if it was about to bite. The strange part of it was the flames. They were inside its throat, and burned through its eyes and the edges of its mouth. It depicted a scene of pain, the fire killing the snake from the inside. That was a shocker, considering she wasn't that violent, but what shocked me more was when the entire group of foreign shifters waltzed into the room. This continued to be a shock. In second period, my water class with Master Ryu, Liam and Talia were also new students to the class, and they were the only two foreign shifters who controlled water. Third period was history, and they were all in that class as well. Fourth, a shifting class with Coraline, had everyone but Rowan in it since he was the only foreigner without his animal side. Fifth was fire control, and this time, Rowan was the only outside shifter in my class. The most of them controlled earth and air, meaning I didn't share elemental abilities with them. Finally, I had hand-to-hand combat with Victoria in the gym, and they were all present. I mostly stuck to my usual, sparring with Sonya or working on my own in my classes.

To say I was conflicted would've been an understatement. The work and grind kept my mind working, helped it clear, but the new presences kept me antsy all day.

Thankfully, my friends had just the remedy for that.