White flowers of all kinds were arranged accordingly on long tables. Lilies peaked through the mounds of hydrangeas and hibiscus flowers, up above wisterias were precisely placed across a long wooden pergola, glowing up as the luminous moon appears in its place. Little teacup candles float in clear bowls filled with water in the gaps between the flower arrangements.

Everything in the room seemed to glide with the wind as if being on a cloud — in fact, it was on a cloud. A fluffy cotton candy bottom was where the tables with lilies and the hydrangeas and hibiscus flowers stayed, where the pergola stood with the wisterias hanging down. The stars lit up the whole open room, revealing the glistening skin of other beings. 

They wore long white gowns as they glided across the room never touching the cotton candy below them. Their wings, some big and some small, all appeared to have the same appearance, smooth and white. They seemed to be in a rush, but their faces said otherwise. They were cool and collected, relaxed as they moved with quick, smooth motions to put the finishing touches on the tables. 

Ever watched them down below all seeming to weave around each other with purpose. Her attention was brought back to the mirror as one of Ever's best friends, Dalili, pushed little daisies in the thick, golden locks of her braided hair. Ever placed the braid over her shoulder and it hung down past her breasts, the ends softly touching her inner thigh.

"Why, don't you look absolutely beautiful Ever," Dalili's hands were placed on Ever's bare shoulders giving her a gentle squeeze.

Ever looked at herself in the mirror, admiring the long locks of braided hair with daisies intertwined. She studied her doll-like face — her eyes were big and full of silver, and her lips were plumped and red standing out against her pale, smooth face. Her cheeks matching the color of her lips made her look like she was constantly cold, but it was quite the opposite as her body was always so warm to the touch. 

She looked at Dalili in the mirror and saw a soft smile given. Dalili was tall and elegant, her hair was long like Ever's, but it was a chestnut brown. It hung in long waves down her back, shining and flowing effortlessly. Her eyes stood out against her dark hair, they were a light blue and were always the first feature you noticed about Dalili. She was kind and smart too and Ever had always thought she would amount to great things, maybe even becoming one of God's special angels. Oh, how Ever wished that one day she would become one of them too, but wasn't as confident as Dalili was. Ever's thoughts got interrupted as the wind chimes and musical tunes danced into the room.

"It's time," Dalili glided towards a gown in Ever's room. She unhooked the white gown and brought it over to Ever.

"Quickly put this on and meet me downstairs, we will go in together."

Ever smiled at her and she returned it, making her way out the door to which Ever was now left behind with the gown in her hands. The fabric felt soft and smooth against her hands and she gazes at the expensive fabric. She then let out a sigh and turned to the mirror giving herself one last look over.

"You can do this," she whispered trying to get rid of the nervous pit in her stomach.

Realization hit as Ever would no longer be in this world until her responsibilities were fulfilled and the thoughts of not fulfilling them lingered in the air, taunting her. Everyone seemed so sure of themselves that they wouldn't fail, but Ever always had that small voice in her head as if preparing her for the inevitable. Although she knew these were ridiculous thoughts that probably would never happen (probably), she still couldn't shake off that feeling of doubtfulness. Ever decided to try and shake them off one last time and then put on the gown in a swift movement and glided out the door towards her waiting friend.

Dalili and Ever linked arms as they drifted towards the ceremony where the other angels set up those long tables for the students of the Angel Academy. All around were beaming proud parents all ready to see their little angels grow up and accept a responsibility they once had, deep down hoping to not see their little perfection fail. 

Ever scanned the room in search of her parents till her eyes laid on familiar ones. Her mother's hair was tied up in an elegant bun with a few golden pieces falling out framing her graceful face, her eyes were a soft, light blue. She had soft, gentle features while her father had more defined and stern ones. His hair was a dark brown and he still looked young as ever, and so did her mother. Her parents' eyes noticed their daughter's and they both gave Ever a smile. The nerves Ever were once feeling came to an ease almost being nonexistent now. Seeing her parents' warm smiles made all the doubts and fears melt away. She gave them a small wave before getting pulled in an opposing direction by Dalili leading her to one of the long, white tables. 

Both the girls sat down in the middle of one of the white tables, both scanning the room of familiar faces as they watched their classmates find their seats. Ever felt a seat moving next to her, she turned to face who decided to sit next to her. Her face lit up when she saw another good friend of hers, Jake, taking a seat beside her with all smiles. 

"Hey there, Ever! Mind if I join you?" His light blue eyes crinkled at the sides when he smiled. 

"Not at all, Jake! How are you?"

"I've been better, " His eyes focused on his feet now. 

There had been rumors that his oldest brother, Brad, became a fallen angel a couple of years ago as he hasn't returned to Heaven for some years now. Usually, when you get done with your first mission you would come back to Heaven to celebrate with your loved ones, and then you would have your next one, but in Brad's case, he still hasn't come back when all of his classmates did. So, the rumors started to circulate around the angels that he became one of them. It was hard on Jake and his family back then, and it still seems to be hard now. 

Ever placed a hand on his shoulder, he looked up at her with a face freshly flushed with light pink. Ever thought he was cute and always had a crush on him ever since they became friends freshman year at the academy. He was blonde, his skin reminded her of summer, and he was funny, and sweet to her — all the things that made Ever swoon. 

He gave her a small smile, "I'm going to miss you, Ever. This time is hard right now because — well, you know about my brother. He still hasn't come back and I hear all the rumors. I know the whispers being said about him — about me."

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His smile faded and he hung his head down in shame. 

Ever lifted his head with a light touch, staring straight into him, she could feel his face getting hot again, "Jake — you don't know what happened to Brad. He could even still be down there being the best angel anyone has ever seen! Don't give up that hope and you certainly do not worry about yourself. You won't let anyone down, including yourself, so don't ever doubt yourself."

Tears were forming in his eyes, he pushed her hand aside lightly and pulled her face into a soft, gentle kiss. Ever was surprised and shocked at the gesture, but melted her lips into him as she knew that she always secretly wanted him, but didn't realize that he wanted her too — until now. 

He pulled away from her, smiling at the interaction, "Man, you don't know how long I've been waiting to do that." He let out a chuckle and so did Ever. Their laughter mixes to make one smooth melody. 

Jake tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, admiring her beauty, "I would pick all of the days to make a move right before we leave — I'm sorry, Ever."

Ever smiled, "It's okay, Jake. It will just make something to look forward to when we get back."

"Try not to fall in love with a human for me, okay?"

Ever giggled, "You don't know how long I've been crushing on you."

Dalili poked her head out of Ever's way, "Honestly Jake, you have nothing to worry about."

They all laughed and Jake's hand found Ever's giving her a tight squeeze. He didn't let go and Ever was glad that he didn't. They just fit so well together. They have been friends ever since he sat next to her freshman year. Her crush developed as time went on, she wasn't the only girl though. Jake had many girls swooning over him because not only was he good-looking, he was really sweet. She was just glad that he made a move even if it wasn't at the perfect time. It will make Ever, even more, determined to fulfill her mission, so she had to come back to Heaven to see Jake again. She didn't want their short love story to end here. 

All three were reminiscing their times at the Academy and wondering what type of assignment would be given to them. They all knew that it was going to be an easy task, but they were prepared for this task, to begin with, being paired with a human, being their guardian angel, and leading them towards the light. The difficult tasks come later depending on how good and quick you were with the other ones. Sometimes they were even asked to become one of God's right-handed angels where they go deep into the dark, slowly destroying demons for good. Ever wasn't sure if she wanted to take that path, but sometimes you don't have a choice. 

As the sounds of chatter continued to fill the big, open field of clouds, harmonizing creating a lovely tune to a bystander could mistake for a charming song, another tune slithered its way into the chatter causing the harmonized chit-chat to slowly disperse. The tune could be heard more strongly now and all the attention was brought to the right side of the room. Jake's hand found its way to Ever's thigh, squeezing her, smiling at her. He didn't move his hand from that spot as he turned his attention back to the right side of the room and Ever was glad that he didn't.

Up in front towards the right was a graceful-looking angel, her hair was pinned up in a classic hair-do as her long gentle fingers stroked the golden harp in front of her. The tune that was flowing out from her fingertips was a well-known one to the angel students as it was their Academy's song. Now the chatter was completely mute and all that could be heard was the song which filled their everyday lives. The attention broke off as the harpist finished her musical piece. The room filled with applause as the harpist stood up and bowed, prideful of her talents. As quickly as the claps engulfed the room, so did the silence following right after. It was time for the ceremony to officially begin and the nerves and excitement could be seen dancing around the open room.

A faint glow from the back appeared and in it was the Headmaster, herself, floating freely slightly above the white petals on the ground. Her wings were huge, extending out almost touching the tables beside her as she glided. She passed each of the four tables beside her in her own long, white gown, her hair long and black filled with golden sparkles, which made up the faint glow around her. She was an older angel, but you couldn't tell as her skin appeared just as youthful as the younger angels around her. She had been the headmaster for centuries now and within that time has made the fallen angel rate almost completely disappear. She instilled goodness and loyalty in every angel that joined the academy, teaching them about the dangers of the other world below them — Hell — a place no angel wanted their mind to wonder about. 

It was a place full of misery and despair and any angel would be a lunatic wanting to go there, but of course, there will always be a fallen angel somewhere trickled within the others — unaware that they were. Ever watched the headmaster slowly make her way up to the podium, eyes glued to her as if she was the only angel in the room. She was one of God's trusted ones, her responsibility of teaching the young angels how to fight evil and to instill good in others. She has had her long past of fighting demons head-on and being able to turn just about anyone back towards the light. 

The Headmaster reached the podium, her wings tucked back inside her back as she greeted the teachers sitting behind the podium. She turned around to face the students and parents eagerly waiting for the ceremony to begin. 

"Welcome everyone!" The Headmaster's face lit up showing off her perfect, stainless teeth. Her arms rose beside her as she extended out her luscious, white wings that grew longer than her arms. They seemed to shimmer against the moon above her. The applause rose once more and she seem to take it all in with a prideful smirk. Her hands came down and the applause followed with her.

"We are all very excited for our new class of angels here at the Angel's Academy. With all of their hard work and dedication, this class without a doubt will all succeed at fulfilling their missions. These students have shown the great power of loyalty and compassion. They all know how to spot evil and get rid of it without damaging those around them. Each student is well equipped with the knowledge that these teachers behind me have provided. So without further ado let us begin." She turned her back away from the podium and began to move her hands as if about to perform some magic which plastered confused looks on the students' faces. 

Ever looked around the room and all of the parents seemed as if they knew what was going on. Ever looked at Dalili and she seemed to be more in a thoughtful state than a confused one. "I think we are about to go to our missions — right now." Her face never leaving the sight of the Headmaster's direction, eyebrows still furrowed. 

Ever gasped at such a thought, she wanted to say goodbye to her family, her friends, to Jake. She wasn't ready to just jump into her mission — not yet. Ever's eyes met Jake's, his expression was just as confused as hers. 

"I don't understand what's going on," Jake's eyes pulled away from hers to study the image in front of him. 

"It looks as if she is opening the portal to the human world now instead of waiting another day. I don't understand why though." Dalili lifted her pointer finger to her lip and continued to sulk on this idea. 

Ever could feel her hand trembling at the idea that they would just jump in like that. Her eyes searched for her parents and they met hers. She could tell that they knew she was nervous and scared, her mother gave her a reassuring smile and her father gave her a nod. I guess if they knew about this and weren't scared then she shouldn't be. Her mother could be seen mouthing she loved her and this made Ever relax a bit and she mouthed that she loved her back. 

The portal appeared in thin air forming a pitch black hole looking slightly out of place in their world. This was the first time she has seen the portal as they usually gather students the next day to go into the human world, but here it was right in front of her eyes. It looked a lot more frightening than she imagined it to be, but since her parents didn't seem so taken aback by it she told herself that there was nothing to fear. The Headmaster turned her attention toward the confused students once again, "Let us begin!"