Masked Truths: Book 1

Chapter 4: Introductions

Cassie's POV:

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I slumped into my chair and huffed. First class, let's go. A tall, lean man walked in the classroom. He had basic brown hair, rectangular glasses, a patterned shirt and dark blue jeans. A lanyard hung from his neck and his nametag was clipped on. He looked around the class with piercing blue eyes. I squinted at his nametag: Mr Mathew Dusk. Mr Dusk dropped the massive pile of books onto the table, making an extremely loud thud noise, which a few students jumped up at.

"Good morning class! I am Mr Dusk, your homeroom teacher." He spoke loud and clear, like all teachers do... or at least should. "Now, this session, we'll only be getting to know each other, since most of you will be in the same classes and need to know each other. Our principal has made a few changes to the curriculum, so we'll nearly always have group discussions and worksheets, or at least partners. So, instead of making a hassle and making new groups each time, we'll be making permanent table groups, and over the next few weeks you'll have turns with each other person in your table group in partner tasks. If you don't like your group, well, too bad." He explained and seemed out of breath. After catching his breath, he finally spoke again. "Any questions?"

A boy wearing a mask raised his hand. Mr Dusk pointed to him and nodded.

"Urm, what if we get into a fight with our group? Will we be separated?" The boy asked.

That's the same kid I bumped into... I realised with embarrassment.

"Ah, well, yes. If your group has a big fight, we will separate you guys." My Dusk said. "Now, I'll read out the groups. Lexi, Amelia, Brian, Brian- sorry, Brianna..." Mr Dusk droned on and on until he finally called out my name.

"Table 7 will be... Cass... Cassiopeia? Yep, okay, uhh.. Blaze, Aurora, Mitchell, Lilia, Adair and Nixie."

I stood up and walked over to the table, along with the other students. Will they like me? Wait, will they ha- No, Cassie, it's fine, you'll find friends, just relax. Once everyone had seated, it was really quiet, until a tan boy with kind of curly brown hair finally broke the silence.

"Umm, hi! I'm Mitchell! I'm 14 years old, and I like playing sports!" He chirped.

I smiled and gave him a small wave.

He nudged the girl next to her.

"Hey, you can go now." Mitchell smiled warmly.

The girl gave him a small smile.

"Hi, I'm Nixie, I'm turning 14 soon, and umm... I used to go to the same school as Mitchell." The girl introduced. She had smooth, blonde hair with a few faint brown highlights, a freckled face and her right eye was green, her left eye was blue. "Oh! And I have these rare eyes that are different colours from each other! Next person!"

It took me a while to realise that they were all staring at me.

"O- oh! Um, hi, my name is Cassiopeia, named af- after a co-constellation, and- I urm- you guys can ju-just call me Cassie for now a- and umm, I like books I guess?" I stammered.

I nearly whacked myself. Why are you being so shy? It's fine! Stop being so quiet! Nixie looked at me with amused eyes.

"Ne- next person?" It came out as more of a question than a statement, great job Cassie.

A bright-eyed girl began blabbering excitedly.

"Hi! I'm Aurora, but you can call me Aura and I love, love, love, LOVE animals and the colour pink! I hope to become friends with you all! Next person!" She chirped happily.

A quiet, dark-skinned boy decided to go next.

"Hi! I'm Adair, I love to cook with my mum aaand... that's just about it." He shrugged.

A girl with pale skin went next.

"Hey... I'm Lilia and I love baking and like Aurora, I love nature and animals." She murmured quietly.

"Huh, that's cool. My sister's name is Lily." The boy next to me murmured.

I hadn't realised that the kid with the hoodie and the mask was at my table. He sighed when all eyes were on him.

"My name is Blaze, I like to breathe, eat and drink water. Next person." He muttered blandly.

Mitchell snorted, that snort became a snicker, then it became a laugh, and soon enough, he was hooting with laughter, in fact, everyone was laughing!

"So-sorry." Mitchell wheezed, wiping away tears of laughter.

Mr Dusk shushed us crossly from the other side of the room.

"Wait, Cassie, isn't your dad Oliver Evans? The police officer?" Adair asked.

Shoot. I don't want to be popular.

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"Well! That's lunchtime kids!" Mr Dusk yelled over the chatter.

I sighed in relief. Saved by the bell! Students began to disperse, but as I was walking to the cafeteria, I couldn't help but think that Blaze was glaring at me...