Name: Clare
Story: Moonsisters
Colors: Moonlight 3, Moonrise; Antique Brass 14, I guess we can't even pretend to be normal, huh?
Supplies and Materials: Canvas, portrait
Word Count: 7,626
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Notes: I think Charlotte's got it right. (I wonder if people will be able to tell what this comment is referring to.)

Mods, I still need a tag for Moonlight!


Angel dreams.

Four moons on the horizon. She can only see three, but she knows there is a fourth, in that logic that explains things in dreams. They are in the same place, and they are in a line, and they are circling each other, endlessly, endlessly.

Waxing crescent. Waning crescent. Full. Dark.

The moons come toward them. Her, and the three others by her side. (They are in the same place, and they are in a line, and they are circling each other, endlessly, endlessly.) The moons descend on them. The full moon descends on Angel, rests upon her head, falls into her, filling her with silver light.

—

Angel woke up with a gasp.

She was shivering all over, covered in goosebumps, the hairs on her arms standing so high that her nightshirt stood away from her skin. And that was how she knew it was a true dream.

But who were the others in her dream? Almost without thinking, she brought her hand to the necklace she always wore and clutched it tightly. The moons… even though all four phases of the moon had been represented in her dream, even though she had been the full moon and her necklace showed only a crescent, she knew it must be connected to this.

These necklaces, that she and her best friend Charlotte had both had as long as they could remember. Yes, she knew suddenly: Charlotte was one of the others in the dream, the only one to have been facing her, the dark of the moon.

She flicked the stone lightly with one finger. Within her crescent moon dangled a tiny crystal of clear quartz. Charlotte’s necklace was the same, but with a hematite stone. And there must be two others, two they had perhaps not met yet.

Angel closed her eyes and lay back against her pillow, though she knew she would not sleep again—there probably wasn’t much time before her alarm would go off for school anyway. School. Today was the first day of high school; she and Charlotte would be going to a whole new school, with people they hadn’t even met before.

That was why she’d had the dream. That was why it had come tonight. It was preparing her.

Preparing her for two new friends.

She grinned into the darkness. This was going to be wonderful.

—

Charlotte was not looking forward to the first day of high school.

As though she and Angel hadn’t always been social pariahs, for so many reasons. She was best friends with a black girl, Angel was best friends with a white girl. They didn’t dress like anyone else. They didn’t talk like anyone else. If they didn’t have their noses in books they were whispering to each other. Charlotte knew how other people hated that.

And sometimes she reveled in it. She loved the fact that even if she and Angel were just whispering about how many frogs they’d found in the woods that weekend, everyone would think they were whispering about them, and avoid the two of them for it. She loved that they were breaking social norms. She loved dressing differently from other people so much that she’d begun to build up a whole new wardrobe for high school, one that was full of black and silver and shit-kicking boots.

But it scared her, too. A lot of it was because Angel was so sensitive, the things people said to them could make her cry. And then there was the fact that it was just the two of them. The two of them against the world. And now, with high school, the world was going to get even bigger.

She showed up at Angel’s door that morning for school like always, though. She wore all black and combed her black-dyed hair out straight and pulled her crescent moon necklace proudly in front of her shirt. But her stomach still churned and her mouth still felt dry as she knocked on her best friend’s front door.

She was taken aback, then, when Angel bounced out the door with a huge grin on her face. “Charlotte!” she squealed, giving her friend a huge hug.

“Angel!” She hugged her back. “What are you so excited about? Just high school?”

Angel let go and bounced down the steps. “We’re going to make new friends.”

“How can you be so sure of that?” Charlotte followed Angel down. Then Angel turned to her, her dark eyes glowing with a particular light that Charlotte had gotten to know very well over the years.

“Oh,” said Charlotte. “We’re going to make new friends.”

“Come on,” said Angel, skipping ahead. “Let’s go find them.”

—

“I don’t feel well,” said Laura.

“Oh, sweetheart, it’s going to be all right,” said her dad. He took her hands. “It’s just your first day at a new school.”

Her first day of high school, her first day at school in a new town, her first day meeting any of these people. And it wasn’t like she’d been one of the popular girls at her old school—no, that was Amy. Laura was the left-out one, the one who was a little too weird for anyone to spend time with if they weren’t forced to by group projects. She’d thought about changing her look when she moved—at least, for a little while—but even if she’d had time to settle down and figure out what she wanted to do after moving, she didn’t think she could have managed it. People would always be able to tell she was weird underneath, even if she bleached her dishwater-blonde hair to a popular shade and wore tight shirts and short skirts in the most popular styles. Whatever those were.

“I really don’t feel well,” she said. “My stomach is churning and I feel a little faint.”

Her dad frowned. “You do look pale.” He released her hand and put one of his to her forehead. “You don’t feel like you have a fever. It’s probably just nerves. Come on, let’s make some oatmeal for breakfast.” He started to lead her toward the kitchen. “If you feel worse during the day, though, you can call me. You have your cell phone, right?”

“Of course.” The new phone had been her only solace during the eighteen-hour drive here. “But I can’t let you come get me from school. You have to go to work.”

“My boss will understand.” He got out a pot while she found the oatmeal in the cabinet—he’d been at work for most of the week since they’d moved here, so she’d done most of the unpacking. They worked together to get the oatmeal started.

Laura didn’t answer her dad. She privately swore to herself that she wouldn’t call him at work no matter what. He didn’t need to miss work when it was just starting. It wasn’t as important if she missed school—nothing would happen on the first day.

After they finished cooking the oatmeal and brought it to the table (Laura put banana slices and brown sugar in hers; her dad put raisins and maple syrup in his), her dad cleared his throat and spoke again. “Are you sure you want to wear that to school?”

He hadn’t moved his head or done anything to indicate what he was talking about, but she knew immediately anyway. Her hand went to her crescent-moon necklace and clutched it. “Yes. It doesn’t matter. I might as well let them know I’m weird right away.” Now that her parents were finally divorced and she’d gotten to move away from Amy’s spoiled complaints, Laura was wearing her necklace every day. She didn’t know where it had come from, but she always wanted to wear it and never could because of the arguments it caused.

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” He ruffled her hair. “We’re in California now. I’m sure you’ll fit in fine, and make lots of friends.” Laura shook her head, but she grinned. It was nice of him to think that. “And maybe,” he added teasingly, “you’ll even meet a nice girl you can bring home to meet your papa!”

“Dad!” Laura rolled her eyes and blushed. Though they were in California. Maybe the people here would be more accepting. At least her dad was. That was a big part of the reason she had chosen to move away with him instead of staying with her mom and Amy. The divorce had been unpleasant, but at least there was no big custody battle: both girls knew exactly which parent they were going to stay with.

“Eat your oatmeal,” he said sternly. “You’ll need your energy for your first big day.”

She sighed and did what he asked.

—

Ivy stared in the mirror at her round, acne-spotted face, wishing she dared put makeup on, at least foundation. But her mom would spot the difference right away and shriek at her, insisting that she was a loose woman and bringing shame to her family. With a sigh, she picked up her comb. At least she could make her hair neat.

Once her hair was combed perfectly straight, she tucked her necklace into the top of her shirt and buttoned it up to the neck. That she could hide, at least. She would take it out when she got to school, though. And roll up her skirt an inch or two. Small rebellions.

She went down to the kitchen. No one noticed her. Both of her parents were deep in conversation with her older brother John, a senior at the same high school where Ivy was to be starting classes today. He was excited about the high-level math and science classes he was going to be taking, and so were his parents.

They didn’t worry about her classes nearly so much. Ivy’s strengths were in English and history; though she’d gotten straight A’s in every class since third grade, she didn’t blow her teachers away like John did. They’d tried to get her to skip a grade anyway, but her parents had never thought she was good enough. Ivy wasn’t sure if she was glad or not. It was hard enough for her to make friends, but if she was a year younger than everyone else in her grade, it might be even harder.

She began to pour herself some rice cereal, and John turned away from their parents’ conversation to roll his eyes at her. She smiled briefly back. He was an overachiever, but it wasn’t totally his fault that he was their parents’ golden boy.

Their parents shouted advice after them as they left the house to catch the bus. Most of it was for John, but their mother managed to get in a few choice barbs about Ivy’s appearance and lack of work ethic. As soon as they were around the corner, she glanced back over her shoulder to make sure they hadn’t followed, then untucked her shirt from her skirt, then rolled the waistband of the skirt. Three inches. Time to be a little daring, show a little thigh. Even if her thighs were ugly.

John barked out a laugh and clapped her on the shoulder. “Good for you, Ivy. Show a little backbone.”

“As though you ever do,” she retorted.

“Yeah, but they like everything I do. They don’t like what you do no matter what, so you may as well do things you want to do.”

She sighed and looked down at her skirt. He was completely right. “I’d like to minimize the screaming, at least.”

“If you want to keep cooler clothes at school, I’ll give you my locker combination so you can have extra space. I usually keep all my stuff in the physics lab easier.”

“Really?” She glanced at him, surprised, as they reached the bus stop. “I’ll think about that. Thanks.” Cooler clothes. What would those even consist of? The clothes this other girl at the bus stop was wearing? Jeans and a polo shirt were probably cooler than a wool skirt and button-down white shirt—at least cooler in temperature. Ivy wondered who the other girl was. Must be another freshman. She looked younger than Ivy, but maybe she was just small. The nearest middle school was in the opposite direction, so that was the only reason she would be on the same bus.

Before Ivy could get enough courage to ask, though, the bus pulled up, already mostly full of high school students. There were also a few adults on the bus, presumably going to work at the same part of town—maybe some of them even worked at the high school. Ivy felt bad for them. The students were loud and energetic. Ivy slipped into the first seat she found, and John sat next to her.

When they arrived at the school, John clapped her on the shoulder again. “I’ll help you out with whatever you need, Ivy, okay? And if anybody tries to give you trouble, just refer them to me.” He smirked and pushed his glasses up his nose. “I’m a lot more used to trouble than you are. I’ll take all of your beatings.”

Ivy couldn’t help laughing. Even if he was a skinny nerd to the rest of these high schoolers, he had the best older-brother protective instinct that she could wish for. “Thanks, John. I will.”

Someone shouted to him, and he cut across the yard to find them. Ivy took a deep breath and reached up to unbutton the top button of her shirt. She could do this.

—

Angel clutched at Charlotte’s arm as they turned the corner and saw the school in front of them. There were a lot of people there. More than twice as many as had been at their middle school, and that was just what she could see in the schoolyard. There must be more inside. Could she really handle so many people?

Charlotte gave her a reassuring smile. Yes, Angel told herself, she could handle it. She had her best friend—she would always have Charlotte. And she was going to find some new friends today.

Somebody shouted “Hey, queers,” at them as they walked through the schoolyard. Angel just rolled her eyes. She and Charlotte got called lesbians (or whatever synonym the insulter could think of at the moment) all the time. It was a stupid thing to be an insult and stupid of them to assume that just because they were holding onto each other it meant they were a couple. The only reason it bothered her was that she was afraid no guys would be interested in her because they thought she was dating Charlotte. That was a dumb thing to worry about, though, she knew. She was only fourteen. She had plenty of time to find a boyfriend, and the older she got the more mature they would be too.

Finally they made it past the crowded schoolyard and into the building. They were a few minutes early, obviously, but that was okay with Angel. “The auditorium will probably be easy to find,” she said. “Let’s figure out where other stuff is before we have to go there.”

“Good idea,” said Charlotte. She looked at a door they were passing on the left. “That’s the principal’s office, looks like. Not that we need to know how to find that.”

Angel grinned. “Are you planning on being perfect this year?”

“Me, perfect? No, I’m just not going to get caught!”

They continued walking through the first floor, looking at classroom numbers and noting where the music room was. Finally they ended up at the auditorium, which was just as obvious as Angel had expected, and starting to fill up with fellow ninth graders. Here they would get their classroom assignments and their schedules for the year.

Charlotte and Angel took seats near the back. Angel climbed onto the seat on her knees and looked around at the other freshmen. Would their destined friends look different to her? Or would they look familiar? She’d almost seen them in her dreams, after all.

“People are going to stare at you, you know,” Charlotte said mildly.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Angel sighed and slid down properly into the seat. “I don’t see anyone interesting. Can you reach out? See if there’s anyone whose mind you can touch easily?”

Charlotte sucked in a breath. “I don’t know. There’s a lot of people here. It’s going to get overwhelming.” She clutched her necklace.

“You don’t have to,” Angel said, patting Charlotte’s other hand. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll run into them eventually. Maybe they’ll be in the same classes as us.”

“Did you dream tell you anything about what they looked like?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t really see them. I just knew there were four of us. For the four phases of the moon.”

“Really?” Charlotte released her necklace so she could look at it. “I thought there were three. Maiden, mother, and crone.”

“There were four in my dream. The dark moon was one of them.”

“Oh, right. That makes sense.”

Someone on the stage went up to the microphone, and after a series of static squawks that made Angel slightly dizzy, they heard an announcement that all ninth graders were to move to the front of the auditorium and all other new students were to go to the back to receive their schedules. Charlotte sighed and stood up, grabbing Angel’s arm to pull her along. “Come on, let’s get started.”

—

After a series of boring announcements, the schedules were handed out (rather inefficiently, in Charlotte’s view—they had to go in alphabetical order, but the students were all in random places). Charlotte and Angel immediately looked at each other’s schedules, and Charlotte’s heart sank. They weren’t in the same classes. They had lunch during the same period, but that was probably for all freshmen.

“Oh, no,” said Angel.

“Will you be okay?” Charlotte asked quickly, squeezing her best friend’s hand. “We can try to get one of our schedules changed. There’s no reason for us to be in different classes. We’re in the same level for everything.”

Angel took a deep breath. “No, it’s fine. I can’t rely on you for everything, can I?” She smiled weakly.

Charlotte grinned back. “Hey, you know I’ll always take care of you.”

“It’s just high school.” Angel looked down at her schedule again and wrinkled her nose. “Jeez, I have bio first thing. That’s not even fair.”

“I have algebra first thing,” Charlotte said. “I think we’re even.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Angel’s smile seemed to strengthen. “We’ll be fine. Maybe our new friends are in our classes.”

Angel might be sensitive, but at least she was always optimistic. Charlotte nodded. “We’ll meet up at lunch, okay? Whichever of us gets there first should wait just outside the doorway for the other, so we can get in line together.”

“Good plan. I guess we’d better find our first classes.” There was an announcement to that effect, or at least Charlotte thought that was what the vice principal was saying; it was hard to hear the static-y microphone over the loud chatter of hundreds of ninth graders comparing their schedules.

“Right. Good luck. I’ll see you in a couple hours.” They hugged, then walked off in different directions.

Charlotte shivered, clutching her necklace in one hand and her schedule in the other. She was worried about Angel, but she realized as they walked away from each other that she should have been worried for herself as well. It wasn’t like they were never apart, but ever since they had been four years old and Charlotte had run across the street (despite her mother’s shouts) to meet the other little girl she saw playing there, they’d spent nearly every day together. Now they were going to be spending most of their days apart—and among crowds of other people, too. Neither of them had ever been big fans of other people.

Charlotte glanced around at the students she was passing or walking with on her way to the third floor to find her class. If they weren’t giving her a wide berth, they were looking away from her and muttering to their friends. Or staring. A couple were staring. She hardened her facial expression, but grinned inwardly. If this was how other people were going to react to her, she could live with that.

—

Laura tried to smile at a few other girls in the auditorium where all the freshmen were gathering, but all she got were hostile stares or turned-away heads in reply. She wondered if they thought she was flirting with them. This was California, after all; maybe everyone had gaydar. But there had to be other gay girls here, right? She’d heard someone flinging around homophobic insults in the yard. She couldn’t possibly be alone.

Not that it really mattered. She would be just as happy with straight friends as with gay ones, or girlfriends. Sure, a girlfriend would be nice, but she wasn’t looking that hard. Besides, she was only fourteen. She would probably have to wait until college to meet really cool gay girls. For now, her desktop wallpaper of Scarlett Johansson would keep her company.

She got her schedule, and sighed as she trudged her way to her first class. At least she didn’t have to walk too far to get to it… but was biology first thing in the morning really fair? She was never going to be awake enough for this. Maybe she could petition to get her schedule changed.

There were a few people already in the classroom when Laura arrived, including a skinny black girl sitting at the desk nearest the door and watching it alertly. She smiled when Laura came through, so Laura smiled back. She seemed friendly enough. Laura walked closer and gestured at the desk next to the skinny black girl’s. “Hey, mind if I sit here?”

“Uh—” The girl’s smile faded a little bit, and Laura’s heart sank. She shifted her backpack, ready to move away, but suddenly the girl’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute. Is that what I think it is?”

Laura looked down at herself, confused. “I don’t know. What are you talking about?” She didn’t have anything expensive or popular. Her phone was in her backpack, where the other girl couldn’t see it right now.

The girl reached for a delicate silver necklace she was wearing and held it up. “I think you probably should sit next to me.”

Laura bent down, trying to get a better look at the necklace without looking like she was trying to see down the girl’s shirt. Then her eyes widened, and she went slightly dizzy. Her hand automatically went to her own necklace. “Yeah… uh, maybe.” She shook her head at herself. It shouldn’t be that amazing that this other girl had a necklace just like hers—well, just like hers except that the crystal dangling from the crescent moon was clear, not pink. You could probably buy them anywhere.

“I bet you don’t know where that came from,” the other girl said confidently. “You just woke up one night and it was around your neck.”

Laura sat down very hard. “How did you know that?”

“The same thing happened to me. And my best friend, Charlotte. Her necklace has a hematite in it.” The girl bent forward to peer at Laura’s chest. “What is that, pink quartz?”

“I think so.”

“It matches your shirt.”

“Yeah. I like pink.”

The other girl straightened up and grinned. She was practically vibrating with energy. She held out her hand to shake. “I’m Angel.”

Laura shook her hand gingerly. “Laura.”

The teacher came in and began telling the class to settle down. Angel leaned toward Laura and whispered softly. “Do you have fourth period lunch?” Laura nodded instead of answering out loud, not wanting to get in trouble for talking in class the first day. “Great. If we don’t have the same classes, meet me out front before we get in line.” She straightened up before Laura could say yes or no and began to (as far as Laura could tell) pay attention to the teacher.

Laura stared at her for a moment longer, mystified. What was going on? Was this some kind of magical destiny thing? It made sense. She did have magic.

Maybe she was making friends at her new school already.

—

Ivy was glad she had algebra first period. True, she wasn’t the biggest fan of that class, but she wasn’t bad at math. And at least she would be getting it over with. She looked around at the other students as she approached the classroom, trying to figure out what was cool. Maybe no one else knew what was cool, either. She grimaced and tried not to scratch where her skirt’s waistband itched her. She doubted even the best clothes could make her come across as one of the popular girls.

At least she could try to see if there were clothes she would like better than the ones her parents had always picked out for her. In the back of her algebra classroom was a white girl hunched over her desk, wearing all black right down to her combat boots, except a silver necklace. Ivy fingered her own silver necklace as she found a seat near the front of the class. It was a little severe, but she might be able to pull off something similar. The gothy girl raised her head and looked at Ivy, but Ivy looked away as she sat down.

The first day of class was always so boring. Ivy wrote down everything the teacher said that seemed relevant anyway. It was habit. She had to get good grades, or she’d get worse than neglect from her parents.

No one spoke to her throughout that class or her next class, English. Ivy thought she was glad. It was better than the private middle school she’d gone to where everyone was always in everyone else’s business. But it would be nice to have friends. Or have boys pay attention to her. She shook her head at that thought. Wasn’t going to happen. Even the boys who thought they liked all Asian girls weren’t interested in fat-cheeked, pimple-faced, tall, thick-waisted Ivy.

The gothy girl was back in her third period biology class. Ivy wondered if she had the courage to speak to the other girl. Probably not. Although they did have oddly similar necklaces… and the gothy girl was walking up to her.

“Hi,” she said with a smile that looked forced, though her eyes were bright. “I’m Charlotte. Are you new in town?”

Ivy shook her head, automatically reaching out to shake Charlotte’s hand, manners having been drilled into her from an early age. “No, I used to go to Saint Julia Billiart’s. I’m Ivy.”

“Nice to meet you.” Formalities dispensed with, Charlotte’s smile faded, but the tiny upturn of her lips that remained looked far more genuine. She reached for her necklace and jerked up the pendant. “Look familiar?”

Ivy didn’t have to bend down much—Charlotte was even taller than she was. Her eyes widened when she saw it. It was more than similar. It was exactly the same as hers except with a different color stone. “How did you know?” Ivy asked, looking down at her own chest to make sure her necklace hadn’t slipped out of her shirt. No, it was still safely tucked behind the second button, but she felt almost compelled to tug it out and show it to Charlotte.

“Malachite,” said Charlotte. “Cool.”

“I know,” said Ivy, unsure why she was feeling so defensive… except how did she know? “And yours is hematite.”

“Hey, we rhyme. That’s pretty neat.” Charlotte jerked her head back toward the seat she’d claimed in the back of the classroom. “Come sit with me. I’m sure we have plenty in common.”

Ivy shook her head slowly. “Are you going to explain?”

“Lunchtime,” she said. “You’ll meet my friend Angel. You do have lunch next, right?”

Ivy nodded.

“Good, then.” Charlotte seemed to take it as a given that Ivy would do as she asked. It rubbed Ivy the wrong way, but she still followed Charlotte to the back of the classroom and sat down just before the teacher started taking attendance.

—

Angel didn’t see Laura or Charlotte for her next two classes, but her third-period class was on the fourth floor, near the cafeteria, so she scurried over to the cafeteria doors as soon as her class ended and waited for the others. She didn’t have to wait long before spying Laura’s pink polo shirt; she stood on her tiptoes and waved, and Laura made her way over to her.

They chatted about uninteresting classes for a few minutes, until Angel saw Charlotte making her way through the crowd. And there was another girl with her! A peace seemed to settle on Angel. Now there were four of them, just as in her dream. She knew things were going to go right now.

Charlotte hugged her when they met, then said, “Ivy, this is my best friend, Angel. Her necklace has a clear quartz stone. Angel, this is Ivy. Her necklace has a malachite stone.”

Angel grinned. They all had their necklaces out now, where they could all see them, but they were so small and delicate it probably made sense to introduce each other that way. “Laura, this is my best friend, Charlotte. Her necklace has a hematite stone. Charlotte, this is Laura. Her necklace has a pink quartz stone.”

“Cool,” said Charlotte.

“It’s technically called rose quartz,” said Ivy.

“I like that even better,” said Laura, reaching up to hold her necklace. Angel wondered if they all had the same habit. “Did you all wake up one day with the necklace appearing?” she added. “You didn’t know where it came from, it was just there?”

Charlotte nodded. “It was our fifth birthday.”

Laura’s eyes widened. “You’re a twin, too?”

“What? No!” Charlotte grinned. “Angel and I have the same birthday. We both woke up with the necklace on the same day. July 5th.”

“That’s my birthday too,” said Ivy.

“And mine,” said Laura. “But my sister never got a necklace…”

“There’s only supposed to be four of us,” Angel said, a bit disquieted. She looked through the crowd that was disappearing into the cafeteria, searching for someone who looked like Laura. “Where’s your sister? Maybe she’s just different…”

Laura shook her head. “She’s not here. She lives in Ohio with my mom. I just moved here with my dad.”

“Oh, that explains why we hadn’t met you before,” said Charlotte. “And Ivy used to go to Catholic school.”

“What’s that about there being four of us?” Ivy asked Angel. “Does it mean something?”

Angel shook her head. “I don’t know. I had a dream. Uh… maybe we should get our lunches and then find somewhere to sit and talk. I don’t really want to be standing in the hallway.”

“We’re allowed to eat in the auditorium,” said Laura. “That might be less crowded. Besides, I have to go down to my locker on the first floor. My dad made me a lunch.” She smiled a little, obviously glad that her father cared enough to make her a lunch but a little embarrassed.

“Good plan,” said Charlotte. “We’ll meet in the auditorium, find a quiet place to sit, and explain things to each other.”

“I hate waiting,” said Ivy. “But I am hungry. Let’s go get in line.”

—

Laden with trays, Charlotte, Angel, and Ivy made their way down the steps to the first floor. Back to the auditorium. Charlotte shouldered the door open and looked around while she held it for Angel and Ivy. From across the room, Laura waved to them, looking even tinier than she really was from here; she was sitting in front of the huge windows, where there was a wide space.

Charlotte grinned as they approached her. “Nice choice.”

Laura smiled but looked shy. “Thanks. I thought there was just enough space for the three of us, plus we can see outside.”

“If there’s anything interesting to see,” observed Ivy, but she hauled herself up to sit by the glass. Charlotte set down her tray and Angel’s, helped Angel up, then climbed up herself.

It did fit the four of them very nicely—Angel and Laura had more space on their side, but they were smaller. Charlotte wanted to start eating, but she and Angel were sort of the hosts, so she figured they should be the ones to start explaining. “Okay,” she said. “So we all have our necklaces, with different stones in them, but otherwise identical, and the way they came to us was sort of… magical.”

“Definitely magical,” said Laura.

“I guess you should tell us all about your dream, Angel,” Charlotte said.

Angel nodded and swallowed a gulp of milk. “It’s hard to explain the way it really felt, but basically, there were the four phases of the moon, and four people. I couldn’t see the rest of you, but I knew you were there.”

“The moon has three phases,” said Ivy.

Angel shook her head. “Not in my dream. There was a waxing crescent, a waning crescent, a full moon, and a dark moon. The new moon, when you can’t see it—when the glowing face of the moon is completely turned away.” As she spoke, her hands danced in the air, describing the different shapes.

“And did we do anything?” asked Laura.

“We just stood there and the moons sort of descended on us. But we were all together, and I could tell we were all meant to be together.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve had a few dreams like that in my life. The first one was on the night before my fifth birthday, the same day I woke up with the necklace. The moon was my friend.” She smiled a little. “I usually know what they mean when I wake up. They always have something to do with my life. I knew to the minute when my little brother was going to be born, though nobody believed me.”

“I have a power, too,” said Charlotte, anxious to keep the others from being too freaked out by Angel. “I can read minds. Just a little bit,” she added quickly as Ivy turned to her, eyes narrowed with annoyance. “And I try not to if I can help it. I mean, would you want to be in everybody’s heads all the time?”

Laura laughed. Ivy’s lips twitched into a smirk. “No,” she admitted.

“My mind-reading is stronger with my family,” Charlotte continued, “but it’s strongest with Angel, and I think with you two, too. Ivy, in class I was just sort of trying to be receptive, not peering into anybody’s mind, but some of your thoughts came through loud and clear. I heard you thinking about my clothes and your necklace, and that’s how I knew you must be one of the new friends Angel had dreamed about.”

Ivy’s hand had crept up to clutch her necklace. Charlotte realized she was doing the same thing. “I have a power, too,” Ivy said softly.

Charlotte’s heart leapt up. She’d thought their new friends must also have power, but she hadn’t been able to be sure. “What is it?” she asked eagerly.

“I can sort of heal… people. Animals. Any kind of cut or bruise, I can heal up faster than nature would. I don’t know about other injuries. I’ve been afraid to try it on broken bones in case I would heal it up the wrong way, and I know it doesn’t work on fevers or bad teeth. At least not on me.” She grimaced and her mouth worked—probably remembering whatever bad tooth she’d failed to heal.

“That is so cool,” Laura breathed. “You all have awesome powers. I wish mine was that awesome.”

“I bet yours is pretty awesome too,” said Angel cheerfully. “What is it?”

Laura shrugged and looked down at her sandwich. “I can move things around. With my mind, I guess. It’s called telekinesis.”

“That is really awesome!” Charlotte exclaimed. She would have said it even if Laura hadn’t been worried about her power not being very awesome. “I would rather have that than what I have. I could throw things at people who are rude in movie theaters.”

Laura giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. “I did that once. It didn’t help, but it was funny.”

“Totally worth it,” said Charlotte. “We should go see a movie together sometime.” Now that the introductions and explanations seemed to have been made, she dug into her cafeteria burger.

“But what do we do with all this?” Ivy asked, frowning. “Why are we together? What do the necklaces have to do with it?”

“My telekinesis is stronger when I have the necklace on,” said Laura.

Angel nodded. “I don’t have true dreams unless I’m wearing my necklace to sleep.”

“Same for me,” said Charlotte around her mouthful of food.

“Oh.” Ivy touched her necklace. “I guess I never noticed. But why do the four of us have to be together? Are we supposed to do anything? Summon Captain Planet or something like that?”

“They used rings,” said Charlotte. “But maybe we are supposed to summon a moon fairy or something.”

“I don’t have any answers,” said Angel. “I just know we’re supposed to be friends, and somehow the four of us together make a whole.”

“I don’t really care what the reason is,” said Laura. “I’m just glad to have friends. I was afraid I wouldn’t make any here.”

“Angel and I have just had each other all our lives,” said Charlotte. “This is going to be pretty paradigm-busting.” Three friends? She didn’t even know what to do with that. She and Angel were over each other’s houses all the time, or went to the mall or the park. Maybe they should alternate or something. She shook her head at herself. That sounded too complicated. “Maybe you should all come over my house after school,” she said. “I think my parents will be okay with that. We can hang out and talk more… or just, you know, hang out and be friends.”

Ivy shook her head. “I have to go straight home. I can’t be out after school.”

“I could call my dad, but I don’t think he’d want me going somewhere on my first day of school,” said Laura. “He’s kind of worried about me, alone in this new city.”

Charlotte grimaced. “Maybe this weekend, then? And we always have school. We should just talk whenever we can. Try to get to know one another.”

“And you think we’ll figure out why here, why now, why us?” Ivy asked her.

Charlotte shrugged. “Who knows what we’ll figure out? Maybe it’s just luck that we’re together now. Maybe whatever powers are in charge of us didn’t know when you would switch schools or when Laura would move here. Maybe we have time to prepare for whatever’s coming.”

“You think something’s coming?”

“You do.” Charlotte would have been sure of that even if Ivy’s certainty hadn’t been pounding out of her mind like a heartbeat.

“I do,” said Angel. “I think we need our strength. We need to be prepared for something.”

The bell rang and Charlotte scrambled off the ledge and to her feet. “We’d better hurry if we’re going to get rid of our trays before class. I’ll see you guys later… tomorrow, I guess, if I don’t have more classes with you.” She helped Angel down and waved goodbye to Ivy and Laura as they walked off.

—

Laura hastily packed the remnants of her lunch away and into her backpack. Her head was pounding with all this new knowledge. Above everything, she was relieved to find out that she wasn’t the only one with strange psychic powers and glad to find new friends so easily and… well… magically. But Ivy’s questions had been good ones. Why were they together? Why were there four of them with these necklaces and powers?

She and Ivy walked together to the trash can. Ivy hadn’t gotten a tray from the cafeteria. “What class do you have next?” Laura asked her.

“French,” said Ivy. “On the second floor.”

“Oh, cool, me too,” said Laura. She was glad to have classes with Ivy as well as Angel, even if the other girl was kind of quiet and seemed unhappy. Laura kept thinking of Ivy as older than her even though she knew they were all the exact same age. That was weird, too.

“Did I see you at the bus stop this morning?” Ivy asked abruptly as they climbed the stairs together.

“Maybe?” Laura tried to remember who else had gotten on the bus with her. She knew there had been a few people, though she hadn’t paid much attention to them. “Were you there with a guy? I heard you talking, though I don’t remember what you were talking about.”

Ivy nodded. “That must have been you. I mean, me. I was with my brother, John. He’s a senior. I wasn’t sure if you were going here since I thought you looked younger than me.”

Laura grinned. “I was just thinking that you seem older. But I guess we’re the exact same age.”

“I wonder if that’s less weird for you than it is for me, since you grew up being the exact same age as someone.” Ivy pushed the door open to their classroom.

Laura shook her head. “I’m not sure. I mean, sure Amy and I are the same age, but she always made a big deal out of being twenty minutes older than me. We can’t all have been born at the exact same time of day, right? So some of us must be a little bit older and younger.” She found a desk that had an empty seat next to it and they both sat down.

“That’s probably true,” said Ivy. “I don’t know what time I was born.”

“I was born at six in the morning.” Laura grinned. “My mom likes to complain about it.” The teacher began to call them to order in French, and Laura shut her mouth quickly, shrinking down in her seat. She hadn’t even noticed the teacher come in. If she didn’t start paying more attention she was going to get in trouble on her first day of class. But she was so happy to have friends now…

—

Ivy tried for the rest of the day to think through the problem of having four people, all born the same day, all with the same necklace and different psychic powers, discover each other and become friends. At least, she was pretty sure they would be friends, if only because the other girls were so insistent on it. Ivy was a bit nervous about it herself. What if they didn’t like her after all? People didn’t. She’d had friends sometimes at St. Julie, but never for a whole school year at a time. Either she got tired of them or they got tired of her.

During the final period of the day, when anyone who didn’t have a special class or a club had study hall, Ivy went to the computer lab and started looking up information about the moon. She found a lot of detailed explanations about how the phases worked, when the moon rose during different phases, and how it affected the tides, but nothing that was interesting that day or coming up. They were in the middle of the cycle, just after a full moon. There was an eclipse coming up in a couple of months, but there was nothing unusual about that, and the next solar eclipse wouldn’t be for more than a year.

She tried searching psychic powers, but recoiled from the results in horror and disgust. Just a bunch of woo-woo nonsense. To think people believed… well, she did, didn’t she? She’d never thought of her healing abilities as psychic powers or magic before speaking to Charlotte, Angel, and Laura this afternoon. She’d just seen it as something she could do. But she knew she could do it, and she believed the other girls, even though the only evidence she’d encountered was Charlotte’s mind reading, which could have been explained away. But why would they lie? They wouldn’t. Maybe the four of them weren’t so special after all.

But all her searching revealed nothing about groups of people with different powers, or matching necklaces helping powers, or anything like that. She found some interesting stuff about the supposed magical or healing powers of the different stones, but she’d memorized all the information about malachite years ago, and nothing she found seemed interesting enough to share with her friends.

Friends. She was already thinking of them that way. Maybe they would stay that way after all.

And how bad could the screaming get, after all? She would go home today like she’d planned to, but maybe this weekend she would go out. If she needed an excuse, John would probably cover for her. He’d be glad she had friends. And Ivy knew she could keep her grades up even if she went out with friends some days instead of reading or poking around on the internet.

Maybe she’d learn something new, too. It was certainly worth a try.