Everlight

Frozen hearts never shatter. Just like how we're told our spirits should be; never broken. Small moments like these, however, are exceptions. She had reached out towards her angel after learning that there's no place for her in this world full of monsters who couldn't care less about how she felt. She thought her angel would be... a guardian angel. She wanted to feel important, that somebody wouldn't dare go on living their life without her. She was wrong, however. Just like before, when everyone around her was the reason she told her superiors, "I give up." Everyone says that they deserve one more chance... but they don't.

They don't because they're the reason she ended up in that eternal fall, where the light never pierces the sky, where all the happiness is lost in the endless twilight... where the bright morning star goes out and the wind becomes frigid. That's where it all begins; Outside her childhood home. The street lamps glow a vivid white and the trees rustle from the freezing breeze. Except, the light wasn't bright enough to unmask who she truly was which made it easier for her to traverse through the night. She crept towards the driver's side door of her dad's Ferrawri F12 and opens it to swiftly jump in. She gently closed the door only to look out the windows and see everything she will soon know as a memory. None of those memories will be any good for they only bring great sorrow. It's the constant reminder of the pain that will keep her from ever going back here in both reality and her mind.

"Where will you go," she says to herself, "think... is there anything out there that's worth finding?"

She tried to reflect on what could possibly be out in the world, but nothing came to mind. It was only a second until she knew that she wouldn't know unless she tried. Almost hesitating and having second thoughts about whether or not this is a smart decision, she then remembered that nobody truly cared for her, what good would it do to be smart. It's not like anyone will even remember who she was within the next 48 hours. It didn't matter if a memory remained in that small little town since she didn't have any for it.

The girl turned the car on and aggressively backed out of the driveway, not even giving the house a last glance before flying down the streets of the monster world. She didn't care where she was going. She kept driving until there wasn't a sign of any civilization in sight. Where she would end up, she didn't know either. The stars above her were the only kind of guidance, but she didn't know how to read them. So just like before, she gave up. The growl of the Ferrawri was the last thing anyone in that town could have heard from her... but again, it's not like anyone cared.

She drove for miles and miles, putting a temporary end to her journey here and there to look at the horizon around her and trying to find anything that was 'worth finding,' but nothing fulfilled her empty soul. She kept weaving in and out of the road's lanes and merely hoping. Hoping something would pop up at her and say, 'Hey I'm something that will change your miserable life.' All of that would soon be cut short. She saw a sign repeat every mile for 50 miles that said "Monstropolis." She elected to make the turn and go over the seemingly abandoned-looking road that wrapped up and around a mountain. All it took was for one old tree to come falling ruthlessly down in front of the Ferrawri and make the girl crash into the large bushes just at bottom of the mountain road... where nobody could find her.

"The doctors and I will be monitoring your situation, but until then we expect you to attend Monsters University at least until you've figured out who you are. It's then your choice if you want to stay or not," Deputy Thompson explained.

The girl nodded. The next day she saw the archway that read Monsters University (Cause nobody has ever done that before). She glanced to both her left and right to see the two statues holding books and spears that gracefully decorated the entrance, and appreciated them. The university at least had some class. The sound of wings flapping distracted the girl however and her attention was brought to the sophisticated centipede monster that stood atop the statues.

"Are you the one the authorities I've been informed about?" Hardscrabble asked.

"Y-yes ma'am."

Hardscrabble flew down to the ground.

"Follow me," Hardscrabble said.

A few seconds of silence between the two passed as they sauntered further into the property. The girl found it odd that there was no introduction or... well anything. The further they went the more monsters came into view. Some of them were small, some were large. Everybody seemed to have their own identity and personality, which was something that wasn't relatable to the girl with no name.

"First things first, we need to know your name. We were never told your name," Hardscrabble remarked.

"I...I-um-"

"Oh, my apologies. I knew you had lost your memory. Do you remember?" Hardscrabble asked.

"No ma'am," the girl replied.

"I guess the only thing we can do is make one up. What would you like to be called?" Hardscrabble inquired.

The girl looked down to see the blacktop and her feet. What name would suit her, what name would she embrace so that she can create her identity? The girl tried to dig deep inside herself to try to find any memory that indicated her real name, but alas there was nothing in that hollow mind. It took her some time but she eventually came to a conclusion.

"Elise. I'll go by Elise."

Elise felt herself glow. She felt like she had accomplished something that felt impossible. Even though it wasn't something that tremendous, it was an acceptable first step to finding herself once again. Now, Elise wasn't a normal kind of monster and by normal I mean she wasn't just a glob that moved around like a slug, or some sort of circle that had long slender legs. Elise was more of a wolf, a purple wolf. The color of her fur resembled more of the flower called a Phlox which is a kind of bright purple. She also had a luscious mane that curled delicately down to her shoulder blades. The ends of her hair then changed colors like a gradient to an ultramarine blue. Elise had blue eyes and a slim hourglass figure. To top it all off Elise had to wear an old MU uniform (just a basic dress shirt with a logo and a skirt) from centuries ago as her clothes were ripped and torn from the crash.

"Hmm, I like that. You look like an Elise," Hardscrabble said while smirking.

"Thank you," Elise blushed.

"Well anyway, let's keep going," Hardscrabble instructed.

Hardscrabble took Elise around the campus rather quickly. She explained what each school is and does, where the dorms are, and pretty much all the basics to campus. The dean also proceeded to describe what kinds of things many of the students do around here. She said the monsters tend to talk and hang out at the on-campus coffee shops, play sports around the open areas along the paths, simply study in the library, or go off campus to do whatever their terrifying hearts desired. Hardscrabble then came up to the Scaring school, which was Elise's favorite building cause of its gargantuan size and detailed structure which included spyres and spikes. It made it even better when looking at the statues of monsters on both sides of the large staircase that was located in front of her.

"Luckily your first class starts in a few minutes along with the seniors. You have class every day except for weekends, so your lucky today's Friday. Also, this semester we're mixing the classes just as an experiment so hopefully you'll be able to learn something cool from them. Don't forget about your music classes though. I did hear you were double majoring (how original)," Hardscrabble said.

"Yes ma'am," Elise responded.

"Alright, I'll walk you in. I should also warn you, Miss Elise, that no students know of you and your situation so try not to be too embarrassed if you have to explain to them your situation. It would most likely help you to make some new friends anyway," Hardscrabble added.

Elise nodded nervously and proceeded to follow Hardscrabble into the intimidating building. She couldn't help but acknowledge all of the monsters gathered around the front of the Scaring School, as most of them were four times the size of Elise. It probably didn't help that someone so tiny was going into the same class as them, which hopefully wasn't a reason why some of them were staring at her as she was escorted up the flight of stairs.

Hardscrabble opened the door that slowly swung inwards and began her descent down another flight of stairs (for some reason there's a lot of stairs) to converse with the professor. Elise's thought process digressed because she noticed that the professor was an orange dinosaur, so Elise thought that was cool. Elise chose to sit dead center in the middlemost row and admired the classroom from the inside. The stained glass above, the overhead balcony, and the carefully carved pillars that lined the halls caught her attention. The floor was lined with red velvet carpet which would shine bright due to the windows that let the light shine brightly onto the rocky floor where Hardscrabble and the professor were speaking. Elise took out her notebooks and her bag filled with colored pens. She was more of an organization freak than anything else so that made her feel confident when she could finally just sit quietly and wait for class to start. Elise then noticed Hardscrabble coming back up the stairs.

"If you need anything, ask Professor Knight there, and he'll help you. Other than that there's nothing else I've got for you so give it all you got. I know you can," Hardscrabble said while holding her hands behind her back and exiting the classroom.

Only a minute passed before all of the scare students entered the room. Elise's heart dropped because she was terrified of having to introduce herself, and she felt like she couldn't make friends easily. Sure enough, her worst nightmare was coming just down the stairs.

"Johnny we have to go!" Chip screamed.

"Ok, ok, I'm trying!" Johnny replied.

"I seriously doubt that! The only time you ever try is when you're flirting with girls!" Javier yelled.

Chip, Bruiser, & Chet chuckled and shook their heads in disbelief. Johnny didn't even have anything to say, and instead just laughed while rolling his eyes. Javier, Chip, and Johnny immediately took the dangerous trek up those stairs for the millionth time in their lives. Chet and Bruiser headed back to Frat Row for their class wouldn't begin until a couple of hours later.

"Yo, I heard we're in a class with all the freshmen this semester amigos." Javier implied.

"What no way, will that even work?!" Chip hollered back.

Javier and Johnny shrugged their shoulders which made Chip feel a little disappointed since he was expecting a completely different answer. How would they know though? This is literally the first time that this has happened. They all took their turns holding the door open for each other and looked around to see their class for the semester. Everybody was speaking to the monsters sat right next to them, so nobody noticed them stand gloriously at the top of the steps. The three students studied those around them and nobody really caught their attention.

"Hmm... looks like we've got another boring class" Chip surmised.

"Yeah, it looks like we'll just have to pick a random spot. How about those seats right in the middle?" Javier suggested.

Johnny and Chip supposedly agreed as they were already making a b-line for the seats. Coincidentally there were 3 seats open, so none of the brothers had to sit a mile apart. There are always those kinds of people who like to scream across the classroom with someone they know, and the ROR brothers are a flawless example of that. Unfortunately, nobody in the class knew they could act like that. Johnny entered the row first to find out he was sitting next to, in his mind, an attractive purple wolf.

"May we sit here?" Johnny questioned.

The purple wolf blushed and nodded while displaying a nervous posture. Johnny looked at her a little more closely as he made himself comfortable in the cushioned seats.

"You ok? You look like you've seen a human," Johnny asked.

The purple wolf turtled a little bit, making it clear to Johnny that she's absolutely terrified.

"Dude, we literally haven't even been here for a solid minute and you've already coerced this nice girl?" Chip inquired.

"Coerced? Are we in an AP English class Chip? Who speaks like that?" Johnny joked.

The wolf giggled under her breath hoping that they didn't see or hear that, but they definitely did because they turned their heads to look at her.

"I think he means that you come on a little too strong amigo" Javier hypothesized.

Johnny could feel his cheeks burn and became furious. He finally found a girl that interested him and then his friends go ahead and embarrass him like that.

"Shut up, I refuse to agree with that and you know it" Johnny replied.

Javier and Chip laughed in response before turning their attention to Professor Knight who was beginning his lesson. He began class like he always does. He mentions his name and specifies that everyone in this class isn't scary because they don't actually know what scary. Johnny, at random moments, would look over to see how the wolf sitting next to him was doing. He would catch her looking down at the desk and thinking that everything horrified her. How could someone so easily scared be in a class like this? Professor Knight began with a simple review for the seniors but for the freshman this was new. He asked about what the properties of a basic roar were. As to be expected, the seniors answered every question thrown at them.

Soon enough, the class was over and everyone began chatting about whatever came to mind. The ROR brothers stayed in their seats for a couple of minutes to let the crowd leave and began discussing this years scare games. It's only a couple weeks away so it made sense to them to figure out who they're up against this year, and what to do against them. The discussion itself would sound vague just by listening to it and that's exactly what happened to Elise as she became bored listening to them go on and on about something she had no idea existed. Johnny also became a little lethargic and decided that it was his cue to go get some lunch.

"See ya around freshmen?" Johnny asked while putting out his hand.

Elise grabbed it and shook it firmly as if she was making a deal with someone. She smiled at him and saw the three frat brothers take their time leaving the classroom. Once outside they lined up side by side as normal friends do.

"Johnny I'm not gonna lie, you were acting a little awkward around that girl," Chip claimed.

"Yes amigo, you didn't really have that charm with you that time and it was noticeable," Javier pointed out.

Johnny growled and didn't dare look over to them. He agreed that he had never been like that around somebody, and couldn't figure out if there was something wrong, or if he actually has feelings for her (even though he had just met her).

"Let's just go get something to eat... I'm starving," Johnny concluded.

Chip and Javier looked at each other, worried that they might have pushed the wrong buttons. They know that when Johnny gets frustrated, he can lose his temper.

"Lo Siento mi amigo..." Javier said.

"It's ok I guess, I didn't even know her name."

Later that day Elise found herself roaming around campus for the second time that day. She had successfully moved into her dorm with basically nothing other than bed sheets she had bought and books on scaring. She thought it was lucky that her alleged roommate would never be home due to the fact that she works all day, goes to class, and then parties over in frat row. Elise was once again alone. Nobody, not even her, would know that that's what she wanted before her world tumbled off the road.

Elise thought about Johnny multiple times. She's the first student she has met since losing her memory and wondered why someone like him would even talk to her. Elise knew she wasn't particularly scary. However, what bothered her the most was knowing that nobody knows she had lost her memory.

-TheGhostOfOurHearts