a whole new world [open]

Astrea skips forward, hopping up two steps at a time as she enters the school. She feels a little out of place, surrounded by flaming hair and glistening fins and all manner of monster, but she knows in her heart that this is where she belongs; one hand lightly reaching up to touch the silver crescent moon on her forehead. At home she'd hidden it with a simple glamour, or else she'd claimed it was jewelry, or a tattoo, or some other lie that made even less sense in the moment.

It's something small, sure, but in this world it's a mark of belonging all the same.

Monster High is a school, yes, but to Astrea it's also a promise. A promise that she can finally drop the glamour, let go of the veil of secrecy, and live authentically as herself.

Just as soon as she figures out where, exactly, her first class is.

"Philosophy of Screamplay Structure," she reads off her schedule, looking up to study each of the nearby doors intensely.