A sleepy little foster brother murmered something incomprehensible as Melissa gave him a goodbye kiss on the top of his head. High schools in the area started much later than elementary schools, after all.

"Raymond! That was certainly not a proper goodbye!" Mrs. Reading scolded.

Ray let out a long-suffering sigh. "Bye, Mel. Good luck on your first day at Eclipse High," he recited. Mel smiled.

"Thanks, Ray."

But Ray had already fallen back asleep.

Melissa smiled fondly as she ran her hand over his spiky green hair. Mrs. Reading kissed her on the cheek. "Good luck, honey," she said. "If anything happens, I'm here, okay?"

"Okay," Melissa said, deflating. She really, really hadn't wanted to transfer, but when the mayor "recommends" something it basically means, "do it," even if she was a personal family friend and Mel's godmother.

She gave her parents big hugs and made her way to her dorm, named India Hall. Each hall was named after a different country, taking the five biggest countries based on economics and dividing the students into them. It was 100 people to a hall, and Eclipse had 503 students, so some dorms had extras.

She had dorm #123, and her dormmate was someone named Kylie, or something like that.

She pushed the door open, and saw a girl with black hair. She turned. "I'm Kylie, we're not friends and will not ever be friends, leave me alone and I'll do the same for you."

Though she wouldn't have put it so harshly, Mel privately agreed with the philosophy and said, "Sure thing."

The movers brought her luggage in, and she thanked them and sent them in their way. Methodically unpacking and aided by the meticulous organizing she had put into packing the boxes, she was done in one hour and collapsed on her bed, which had a purple blanket with a pink starburst on it. She missed her family already.

She sighed and decided to explore the campus, to make sure she wouldn't get lost tomorrow, on the first day of school. Picking up her schedule, she went to find her classes.

Period One: Advanced Social Studies. Room C-1.

She found the C-Wing and found C-1. Marking it in her memory, she continued on.

Period Two: Advanced Science. Room A-2.

Period Three: Advanced Band. Room M-3.

Period Four: Advanced Math. Room C-4.

Period Five: Advanced Language Arts. Room C-5.

Period Six: History. D-6.

Yes, she was taking all advanced classes.

Soon, she had memorized the path to and from each. Briskly walking back to her dorm, she was stopped by a girl who had four inches on her and shockingly pink hair. The girl smiled. "Hi, I'm Mina, and I'm recruiting people to help me plan the Winter Ball! Wanna join, new kid?"

Oh, right. The Winter Ball, the most elite festival in New Camelot, was hosted and planned by high schoolers. Don't look at Mel, it was a tradition reaching far back to before she was born. Eclipse was, after all, an almost ancient school.

Mel shook herself out of her thoughts, and she was going to say no, when she remembered . . . Ray would want her to help. Marcus would want her to help. She sighed. Stupid conscience. She didn't want to make friends!

"Fine," she growled. "What do you need?"

Mel flopped down onto her bed, groaning. Mina had proven herself surprisingly organized for someone so . . . all over the place, and had given Mina a list of four people she needed to check in with. Mina had assured her that she would take care of most everything else, but it seemed that these four oversaw the biggest parts of the ball.

Then Mina had asked for help decorating the ballroom, which proved to be a surprisingly athletic task. for one, a lot of dust had settled there, so she, Mina, and a handful of other people had spent the better part of two hours cleaning it form top to bottom, and Mel meant that literally. They had brought ladders in and cleaned the ceiling! Now Mel understood why the Winter Ball was such a success; Mina and her team really spared no expenses. Mel had developed a begrudging respect for the girl, even if her muscles hurt like Tartarus.

Anyway, it was time to sleep. Kylie was already snoring, and tomorrow was first day of classes. First stop after the school day was over: Jackie Smithson, China Hall, about food. It was going to be fresh and organic from her family farm. Though it was an odd thought, as Mel drifted off to sleep, she couldn't help but hope that Jackie wouldn't try and be friends with her.

The next morning found Mel scribbling down copious notes in Social Studies, taught by a Mrs. Carlson, a short old lady who meant well but for some reason really annoyed Mel. Eh, whatever.

She wasn't behind in any of her classes because she had studied during the brief break she had had while moving in and getting the Readings' furniture in order, and all of her teachers were pleased with her. Mel felt warm inside whenever one of them praised her.

Everyone else would check out the new kid, decide she was boring, and then be done with her, which played perfectly into her boring-nerd-who-blends-into-the-background style.

This was because Mel had a secret, and it most certainly wasn't small.

Flashback

"Melissa?" came the soft, sweet voice of the mayor of New Camelot. A five-year-old Mel squealed and ran into the mayor's arms. At the time, she hadn't known of Celeste true standing; just that she was a family friend, sometimes Mel's tutor, and very fun.

"Auntie Celeste!" Mel exclaimed, but then she sobered. She had never seen the grave look on Celeste's face now before; in fact, the mayor looking like she was feeling any negative emotion was a rare, rare sight. "Auntie Celeste?"

Celeste sighed. "Mel, I want you to listen to me, and to listen well. This is a burden no five-year-old should bear, but I feel . . . it inside of you, the most powerful case I have felt in ages. So know this: should I ever go missing, take this bracelet." She carefully placed a platinum-chain bracelet in Mel's hands. "It will help you in your time of need. Find the charms, and it will help you. I have hidden them in places that no one will find excepting you, in case I ever go missing. Okay?"

Mel understood. Though she did act like a normal five-year-old, she was smarter than her years even then. "Okay, Auntie Celeste. Can I tell Mommy and Daddy?"

Celeste eyes crinkled with sadness. "I'm afraid not, little one," she said as her voice dropped to a whisper. "Only when you find the others can you tell, and only them."

"Who're the others?" young Mel asked.

Auntie Celeste sighed again. "You will know when you meet them."

"But what is it, Auntie?"

". . . my most educated analysis, with all means of science and technology in mind, is that it's magic . . ."*

"Miss Reading!"

Mel snapped out of her flashback and flicked her eyes towards the teacher. "Yes, Mr. Murphy?" she asked respectfully, twisting her bracelet to cover her annoyance.

"When did World War II start?" he fired at her.

"September 1st, 1939," Mel said evenly.

Mr. Murphy blinked, but then sighed and nodded. "Please try to pay more attention in class next time, Miss Reading."

Mel voiced her assent, and soon she found herself walking out of the classroom. After she dropped off her stuff at the dorm, she set off to find Jacqueline.

"Hello. My name's Melissa, and I'm part of the organizing committee for the Winter Ball. I understand you're in charge of the food?"

The six-foot tall girl smiled. "Sure am. What can Ah do ya for?"

Mel tried to ignore the obvious breach of grammar and plastered on what she hoped was a friendly smile. "May I sample some of the things you're planning to make for the ball? And I want to know all the foods you're going to be making."

"'Course, but most of mah things are at mah family farm, a few hours from here. We can go there, if ya want."

Mel sighed. She absolutely hated long drives, but it was a necessity this time. "Sure."

Jackie, as she had insisted upon being called, smiled. "Great!"

So they took buses until they got to Jackie's farm, Sweet Apple Acres. "We grow all sorts of things, but our main export is apples," Jackie explained as they walked through the gates.

As they walked, Mel reflected on the day and yesterday. Both girls - Mina and Jackie - had ignited something inside her when she had spoken to them, a small spark.

Mel was not a fool. She knew that this meant something, that it meant something big, but what? The charm bracelet burned against her skin, calling her.

You will know when you meet them.

Three out of six.

Three more to go.

Author's Note

Ray is Spike and Marcus is Shining Armor, just saying. So, how do you like my take on the Humane Six? I was thinking that instead of what's shown in the link in the long description, Pinkie would be a mix of all races, since she's a jack of all trades. If you don't agree with my choices and are going to hate on me because of that, you are welcome to leave anytime.

To the rest of you, hello and welcome.

*A quote from the book series The Land of Stories. It's a great read and I totally recommend it.