Miza was listening to her choreo teacher explain their senior capstone to them. It would be a significant part of both their final grades for senior year and the foundation of their professional portfolio, especially if they were going to school for music and dance. This is the second version of the spiel she had heard today since she was in both music and dance. In the music and dance department, the three capstone options included a senior performance, an internship/professional group development, or building a structured portfolio. They were required to start in their junior year to make sure that they had the base research and experience hours to complete the requirements. The local fine arts college at the university partnered with the high school to oversee the programs provided by the school.

Honestly, she didn't know why she was bothering. At Donnie's insistence, she was doing usual teenager stuff, like preparing for life after high school, which her teachers felt was musically related. Don't get her wrong. She was super excited. She loved this, but as a future ruler, she thought she should have chosen a more practical specialty. Val and Donnie had been adamant that she choose something based on her interests.

"You are here for the experience. All of your years prior to rising prepared you for what you need to do. Have a little fun."

It felt like that was all the guys were telling her to do. Have fun in the middle of a crisis. She couldn't lie that hearing about the options available excited her for the new adventure until Valon cleared their return home. Realizing that for the hundredth time today, she was dwelling on this, she vowed to make a more conscious effort to enjoy the rest of her time here. J said he would chat with Valon about being more open with what they knew and were planning. That must mean that at least they were not clueless as to what was going on. It couldn't be that bad. Right?

"It's ok. If I'm going to be here, I'll just throw myself into the rigor of it all." Miza thought to herself.

Miza was having trouble deciding which avenue she wanted to take. She knew that her final presentation was going to have a performance, but she was unsure which option she wanted to use to showcase her skills. You know, just in case she couldn't go home for a while. She had taken music and dance because she had found the idea of being a music artist fascinating. Miza was aware that she could kind of sing and dance because she had performed in rituals and dances growing up, and that only increased when she became the Goddess Incarnate. She never had thought she would be good enough for a career in it.

During her school interview, when they asked about her interests, she mentioned fine arts because she drew and painted but also liked dancing. They arranged a voice audition just to test it out. The audition was to determine where she was and to help gauge a tentative timeline of where she would need to be to complete the program. They had told her to select five songs and then scheduled her to visit the following week to perform her selections. Miza performed some of her favorite songs that she would sing growing up that she had found on her dead mother's old MP3 player and some newer ones that she had while growing up. 'Doo Wap (That Thing)' by Lauren Hill, 'If I Die Young' by The Band Perry, 'My Girl' By the Temptations, a rendition of 'Savage Daughter' by Wyndreth Berginsdottir, and 'Lost Boy' by Ruth B.

She was pleasantly surprised to know that her performance blew away the testing committee. She was enrolled in voice class sophomore year so that they could start coaching her through the rest of puberty and help her perfect her craft. Her first semester was spent being trained. She participated in the school choir as well to help with other voice skills and get used to being on stage. The second semester she was allowed to travel to competitions.

The staff in the music department was excited by her progress and dedication. While she didn't want to get anybody's hopes up, she was thrilled with school last year and was looking forward to this year. So much so that when Donte met with the Head Mistress and the Department Director to give them a rough exploration of the risk and potential limits they would face because she was living under an assumed identity. The school was invested and wanted to develop her talents even just to have an example of how they support their students in their portfolio.

"Alright now, everyone. All of your junior-level teachers in this department will give you 30 minutes a day this week to research and start planning. Go ahead and break out."

Miza walked over to her black cactus leather backpack to grab her laptop and a notepad before taking a seat at the floor-to-ceiling windows at the back of the room. The nice thing about this school is that it is in a wooded area. Prairieview itself was a city surrounded by trees and mountains. Her nest was staying in a luxury housing development that was surprisingly only a few miles from the school. There were three high schools in this city. The Preparatory school she attended, a Catholic Private School on the other side of town, and a public high school near the city center. If she walked a few miles through the trees, she'd reach the outer walls of the development. Her attention was drawn to the laughter to her left as a group of girls approached her. She smiled at them as these were her friends that she had made since enrolling. Though, friend was a loose term for them. She only really liked Renee.

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"Sara," Allyson said, "why don't you throw the back-to-school party this year? You totally have a house to die for."

"I also live in a gated community. That would be excessively complicated. Besides, I would not be allowed to." She rolled her eyes at the suggestion.

"Girl, you've got to live a little. We are juniors now." Renee said teasingly.

"I am not really down for the party scene enough to attempt to disrupt my family's evening for a bunch of teenagers to get drunk and be foolish," Miza told them.

"God, you are so boring. Renee, how do you even deal with her." Allyson accused.

"Ally, don't be rude." Miza snapped at the girl.

"Ally, stop it. You know her family is super private. Besides, school just started, and I don't know about you, but I still haven't decided what I am doing for our senior project. Like should I play it safe and just graduate, or like should I put in real effort." Renee mused.

"I am pretty sure all of the projects require effort, Nee." Miza giggled at the deflection.

"I mean, yeah, but like, how much do I want to do? Ugh, I am way too stressed about this, and it's only day one." Renee mused.

"Don't stress yet. The teachers are just having us brainstorm. We have like two years to finish. Just pre-plan and get some ideas on paper." Miza said gently.

"Sara is the ultimate mom friend," Heather said. Miza winced at the comment on her nature. As their Goddess incarnate, it was pretty typical for her to dote on those around her, but she tried not to make it too obvious.

"Ok, Heather. Since we are attempting to voluntell people. Ally, let's have a slumber party at your house. Your dad is a terrible chaperone. We can enjoy the last real chance to eat junk before these extra dance classes murder us. Heather can sneak booze for those of you who just can not. And you can invite some of the boys. No need for a rager."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Ally said as the girls plopped themselves around Miza with her laptop in her lap. She was jotting down notes as she talked, super into the project planning. Speaking of the boys, what about that hunk of a brother of yours?"

"Brother?" Miza scowled.

"Yes! Tall. Blonde. Angelic. Green eyes. Muscles. Sexy." Ally purred. "You should get him to come. Or at least stay since he so diligently drives you everywhere."

Miza stopped writing and silently bristled at Ally's implication that she invited one of her mates to a house party so that she could do Goddess knows with him. But what could she do? No one knew what was really going on.

"I mean, I can ask him if he wants to stay, but you have really got to stop hitting on Chris. It's been like a -" Miza was cut off as the teacher crouched by their group.

"Girls, you only have 15 minutes of planning time left, and I only see one person doing anything. You might want to take your futures a little more seriously than parties and boys." The teacher said with disappointment.

Miza sighed with relief, dodging yet another conversation with her school friends wanting to hook up with her boyfriend.

~

Miza sat in the car as Justin drove them back to their house from her slumber party. He was currently upset that she didn't mention that boys were invited. Valon cleared the girls' houses last year after running background checks. One of them always dropped her off for sleepovers and then rotated checking the perimeter while she was there. They were currently at odds because of her desire not to have to watch Ally flirt with him, but of course, that was not a bigger priority than her safety.

"You guys ran checks on the boys we hang out with." Miza reminded him.

"What makes you think I want you alone with random guys any more than you want random girls flirting with me." Justin retorted.

"J, it's not even like that. Besides, I am currently ignoring a guy who is supposed to be a mate. What would I want with these other high school boys? Come on, Babe. Don't tell Val or Don. Don't make this a big deal when my friend just wanted to flirt." Miza urged.

"Fine." He sighed out. Miza smirked and popped over in her seat to give him a peek on the cheek. "So it's Saturday. What's the plan? Are we training or resting? I really hope resting."

"Sorry, Darling," he said with a sympathetic look before he rolled down his window so that the gate guard could confirm his identity and buzz them through. Val and Donnie have called a huddle."

" A huddle?" She said incredulously. They drove in silence for a few minutes.

"I talked to them like I said I would." He stopped the car in their driveway and then turned to her. He pulled her hand to hold it in both of his before bringing it to his lips. "Please don't be mad at us. Remember that everything we are doing is to keep you safe." He asked her.

Yeah, She did not like the sound of that at all.

~