[IC] totally normal school SoL no murder here no sir [aviaire & stone]

Today's Date:

Tuesday 8th of September, 2020

Today's Weather:

13°C, Cloudy

In The News:

A ridiculously angry review of Ready Player One.

Calendar:

08-09-20 : school begins

[Aviaire]

---

The sky was grey. So were the streets, paved stones covered in puddles from the rain the night before. The exhaust fumes were grey and the concrete buildings too. Greyest of all was the particular occasion - yes, after weeks and weeks of doing absolutely nothing in particular, the students of Harbour Academy for Gifted Adolescents & Youths would have to return to their desks for yet another semester. The building was small, but it was vast compared to the very few students attending it. There were never more than thirty people in each year. To begin with, attending the school was incredibly demanding. Hefty tuitions only subsidised by excelling in academics or arts - and even then, it was still expensive. Attending Harbour Academy was a luxury few could afford. Very, very few.

There was still some time until the school bell rang. Even so, it seemed like most of the students had already arrived in school, chatting idly while they still could. There was an awful lot to catch up on, and not nearly enough time. The instant that classes started again, it was work, work, work until four in the afternoon. That was, of course, disregarding the obscene amount of extra-curriculars that the students often had. That was the price of attending the prestigious Harbour Academy. On top of tens of thousands of dollars, of course.

The class of 2022 was passing the time in the yard, arranged in small groups across several picnic tables. There were even less than there had been the year before. They'd began their sophomore year with seventeen people. Only thirteen of these people had stayed another year. It wasn't unusual at Harbour Academy. At the end of the year, students had to take even more exams to determine their tuition fees for the next year. All it took was one bad day and suddenly you were paying thousands more than the year before. It was often better to accept the shame and just transfer. At the same time, students tended to join at the start of the year too.

"Are we getting three more this year?" Ella Weider asked. She traced the patterns of her water bottle, staring at it intently.

"Hmm? Yeah, but one of them is an exchange student," came the reply from across the table. Emma Tailler, skimming through a textbook less than an hour before her lesson started. She'd planned to flip through the whole thing before school had started, but she didn't think she could at that rate. "Axel, right? Then one of the other ones is the daughter of that musician. Andrew Pinkerton. And the other one, damn. Can't remember."

Ella laughed. "Don't worry, we'll find out soon enough. Anyway, that doesn't matter. A little birdie told me you have a date this weekend. Em, you gotta tell me..."

Emma's spluttering was quickly covered up by the splitting screech of the school bell. Her saviour. Red-faced, she rushed to her homeroom, while Ella quickly walked after her, laughing heartily. The rest of the class soon followed, taking their time to savour the time they had left.

There were already three people in the classroom as people began to file in. Their teacher, Mr Spelwel - the same as last year, an overly enthusiastic English teacher. Then, two new students. The chatting began to settle down as people began claiming their seats. There was sort of an unofficial seating plan with the old students. Since they had so many lessons all together, it didn't take long until everyone had their 'designated' place. Spelwel clapped his hands together, grinning brightly. Silence fell over the class.

"Alright, everyone! As you know, three new victim- er, students will be joining us this year! Unfortunately, our exchange student won't be in class until next week, but at least we have these two!" He gave them both a thump on the back. One of them, a blonde girl, grimaced at the contact. "Right, why don't you introduce yourselves? Give us your name and... a fact about yourself! You know, icebreakers. Then we'll go around the class and everyone else can do them."

The blonde girl flipped her hair and opened her mouth, about to speak. Then she hesitated, suddenly becoming bashful. "Porche. Porche Pinkerton. Um, it's nice to meet you all. I'm... a vegetarian." She dipped her head in some sort of greeting.

It was enough for Spelwel. "Fantastic! You next," he said, placing his hand on the other student's shoulder with considerable force. "Come on, don't be shy!"

[stone]

---

"¿Vas a estar bien?"

"Mama, se preocupa demasiado. Todo irá bien."

"Mmh. Diviértete."

James snatched his briefcase and flew out the front door of 219 Wade Street. He had a bike, sure, but the school was only a 20 minute walk away. He liked to walk. It gave him time to think. James considered himself quite good at thinking, but by no means was he an expert. Anyone who was a master at thinking went and lived on high-up mountains in China or Tibet or some other equally distant Asian country.

Harbour Academy for Gifted Adolescents and Youths, huh? He thought.

HAGAY was the most prestigious school in a town of prestigious people. Cape Cove was the home of a rapidly growing medicinal market, and where there was medicine, there was money. Not only were there doctors and high-paying patients, but also everything else a spanky-wanky new hospital town needed to sustain itself. Hotels, restaurants, playplaces like the cinema or that new bowling alley on 3rd Avenue. Cape Cove needed nurses, janitors, receptionists, accountants, people to fill the many jobs and duties in town.

Lawyers, too.

Well, soon there would be a new occupation Cape Cove could claim possesion of- mystery writer extraordinaire- but only if he could get his shit together and write something good for once.

James passed by some other teenagers walking in directions antithetical to his. Students of the other schools in town, no doubt. HAGAY only enrolled a hundred students spread over multiple years- around 15 or so per grade.

He stopped at the school gate. What a grey place! The architecture was incredible, but the color design was so odd- almost as if the architect was colorblind. It blended in so well with the grey Virginia weather that he had almost missed the damn thing!

"No sense losing my nerve now, ah?" James said to nobody in particular, which was good, for no other students were loitering at the entrace to hear him. He checked his watch, a gift from his late paternal grandfather. He was somewhat early.

"Might as well head to the classroom."

He showed his student ID to the guard at the gate and stepped inside. The courtyard leading up to the school was a good deal prettier than the entrance- soon the fall colors would come into a beautiful symphony of reds and oranges. James snapped a quick picture with his phone- the first of what he hoped would be many happy photos of the school year.

The halls were also mostly empty, save for an adult or two that rushed by James without a word. Last-minute preparations, no doubt. James could relate. He often procrastinated important essays until the night before the due date, a habit would have to work on if he wanted to succeed in the coming year.

As he entered the classroom, James noticed one other student- a blonde girl- already there, speaking quietly with a bespectacled man who he recognized as Mr Spelwel, his teacher. They turned as he entered.

"Ah, James, how good to meet you in person! I've heard a lot about you, and I'm excited to see how you perform this year!" Mr Spelwel stuck out his hand.

James shook it. "Likewise. I'll be in your care. I hope that-"

The screech of the morning bell interrupted James.

Mr Spelwel laughed. "That's alright. We can have a proper introduction once everyone comes in. I'm sure everyone will welcome you just fine. Here they come now!"

HAGAY's class of 2020 entered Room 201 like a flock of swans. Disorganized, wacky swans, but swans nonetheless. Each student carried themselves in a way that emphasized how they deserved to be in one of the top secondary institutions in the country. Several of them gave James looks that reminded him of the look a cat gives a mouse before eating it. He swallowed. Did cats play with their food before eating it? Did cats eat the mice at all? Or was that something that the portrayal from-

Mr Spelwel gave James a hearty slap on the back, nearly sending him sprawling. The thin teacher's frame certainly belied his arm strength.

"Right, why don't you introduce yourselves? Give us your name and... a fact about yourself! You know, icebreakers. Then we'll go around the class and everyone else can do them."

The blond girl was apparently vegetarian. He would have to remember that.

It was his turn now. Spelwel pushed his hand down on James's shoulder.

Easy now. Good first impression. These people have known each other for ages now, but that doesn't matter. You're not an outsider, you're just a couple years late to the party. That's like, not that much of a person's life, right? 1/40th the total lifetime of an average person, maybe?

“Ah, hey everyone! I’m James León. I like mystery and crime novels and writing!” He smiled and clapped his hands together. “I look forward to the coming year with you all!”

[Aviaire]

---

Awkward silence spread over the class. The only noise was of people shuffling uncomfortably in their seats. Spelwel grinned. "Fab! Alright, let's go around the class, one row at a time. Let's start with... Yam! Tell us your name and something about yourself."

"Oh. Okay. Um, my name's Yam Lee-" she began.

"No, no, no! You have to stand up. Come on, don't be shy."

Yam gave him a disgusted look and stood. "I'm Yam, and my favourite colour is blue." She promptly collapsed back into her chair.

"Great! Next is... oh, Herbert, you're actually in. Shame Samuel couldn't join you. You next."

"Wha..?"

"Yes, that's enough. Next..."

"I'm Mook, and I-"

"I'm Jackson! I have the highest Subway Surfers score out of the entire state."

"Sebastian. I play cello."

"My name's Seth! I've got a sister. We're twins."

"Emma Tailler, I have three pet dogs."

"I have art up in three different galleries. I'm Mina Mason, by the way."

"Elizabeth, but call me Ella. I like... horses?"

"Larissa."

"Morgan, and I used-"

"To be ginger," Herbert grunted from the front of the room.

Morgan hissed. "No! I didn't!"

"Moving on, moving on," Spelwel sighed. "Neu?"

"My name is Neu Ronald, and I'm the smartest person in this room," he said smugly. A lot of huffing followed.

"Wonderful. Now, moving on," Spelwel continued. He gestured for Porche and James to sit, then continued. "First, I have to give out some things...

[Aviaire]

---

The first few periods had passed uneventfully. To say that anything had happened would be wrong. Somewhere in the middle of it, Herbert had slipped off, and period three had gone by with only thirteen people. Not that it made a difference, every lesson was still silent. There wasn’t much talking outside of the girls giggling to the side of the room and the occasional discussion. Sebastian wasn’t much for conversation either, doing his best to ignore James’s very existence.

Then the bell for lunch had ran, and whatever power was keeping the class quiet vanished. The room dissolved into loud talking. Most notably was the pseudo-shouting match Ella and Jackson were having. Something about the best type of lollipop.

“Coca-cola! That’s the best one! Come on, it’s not a competition!”

“No, no, no, Jackson! Apple is way better.”

Everyone began to make their way to the canteen. Even Porche followed behind Yam, chattering about something useless.

James went with everyone else. His right eye twitched slightly.

Hey, isn’t everyone a bit too cold?

Then again, he was the new guy in a class that’d been together for ages. Still, a little welcome couldn’t hurt.

He listened to what people were talking about.

“Are you gonna help me with math? You said you were gonna. Please?” Mina whined, tugging on Neu’s sleeve. He shook her off.

“It’s not my fault you don’t have a work ethic,” he sniffed. “Let go, please.”

The last to leave was a group of four. “And then he pulled out his sword and it was like, wow! Then he stabbed the guy and it looked like he was dead, but he wasn’t, ‘cause he missed by a centimetre, and then-” Mook said, hands gesturing wildly. “He got up, and said a really cool thing. I forgot what it was, but it was super cool.”

“Isn’t this a spoiler?” Emma said. She sounded distracted. “I was gonna watch it.”

“It’s a pretty good film actually,” Seth replied.

“It wasn’t. You only remember it that way because we watched it at three in the morning,” Sebastian said.

“No, he’s right, it’s a masterpiece. Right, so. After that, the guy with the chainsaw runs in and it’s like-”

“Oh, are you talking about Tales in Terrorwood?” James cut in. “I watched that movie last year. That chainsaw scene was funny.”

Mook looked horrified. “Funny? Funny? That, my friend, was one of the best scenes in cinematic history.”

“Only if you ignore the irony set up by the director. The previous two scenes were supposed to show the absurdity of the situation, I think. You guys noticed that, right?” He asked the other three.

Seth blinked. “I just thought their outfits were cool.”

“You what,” Mook gasped. “You watched the greatest film of the twenty first century and you thought the costumes were cool?” He pointed at Sebastian, narrowing his eyes. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you! I’ll make you take that back, even if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Strong words,” James said. “Still, I thought the movie was pretty good. It’s like The Room, you know? Cult classic.”

Mook opened his mouth to continue, only to realise the rest of the group had left. They’d arrived at the canteen, and were picking up their food. It was certainly better than listening to Mook prattling on. “Oh, they’re all gone. I can’t believe you, you know,” he said. “But you’re new, so I’ll let it slide. Hey, uh, do you wanna sit with us? Since it’s your first day and all. Seb won’t mind. Probably.”

“Thanks! It sucks being new- everyone’s already gotten their groups.” James assumed a theatrical tone. “I won’t forget this gift. You have my gratitude,” he said, quoting TiT.

Mook mimicked a curtsey. He looked delighted. “You’ll have my head, too,” he said, finishing the quote.. “Alright, go get some food and then come sit with us. We’re on the table in the corner, yeah?”

Then he left, leaving James. The food in the canteen looked pretty good, especially since it was a school. All of those tuition fees had to go somewhere. He took a chipotle wrap and some fruit, then headed to Mook’s table. On the way, he watched the other students in his class.

Ella, Jackson and Larissa were (predictably) sitting together. Morgan was on their table too, but he was lying on the table with headphones in, so he wasn’t really contributing to the conversation. They were playing Uno. Jackson was winning. Neu seemed to have given in to Mina, and was attempting to explain something to her. Her expression was blank. On the other side of Neu and Mina’s table were Yam and Porche, the latter still talking and the former looking like she wanted to be anywhere else.

Seems like I ended up with nice people, James thought. He sat down next to Mook and began to eat, content with listening to their conversation.

“See, Mook, you’ll die alone if you don’t get any new hobbies,” Sebastian declared, sparing a sideways glance at James. “I wouldn’t expect a girlfriend any time in the next five years.”

“You’re so harsh,” Seth said.

“You don’t get to talk, Seth. You’re skipping practice on Sunday, aren’t you?”

“It’s an important occasion,” Emma said. Seth flushed a little.

“Well, it’s not like that!”

“It is,” the other three replied in unison. “It’s a date,” Emma added.

“You’ve got such low standards. Do you even like her?” Sebastian said.

“I’m right here!”

James smiled. “How long’ve you lovebirds been together?”

The entire table looked at him like he was stupid.

“Oh right, he’s new, isn’t he,” Mook muttered.

Emma leaned into the table. “Strictly speaking, one day as of next Monday.”

“You’d be an awful girlfriend,” Sebastian said.

“Yeah, you’d know, Sebastian,” Mook laughed.

“Congratulations,” James said to Emma and Seth. “Where are you planning on going? I’m new to town, and I don’t really know any places.”

“Oh, we’re actually gonna go see Tales in Terrorwood Two: Yesterday,” Seth said. “Emma, you gotta watch the first one before then.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Emma said. Her smile was sickeningly sweet.

“Cool! I hear there are two theaters in town: Windberg Theater Family and Films and Animation Theaters. Are both good?”

“Windberg’s smaller, but it’s cheaper and the seats are fancy,” Mook said. “FA Theatres is like a regular cinema, though. Windberg for dates, FA for anything else.”

“And that’s why you’ve never been to Windberg,” Sebastian muttered, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

“I’ll keep it in mind if I meet a nice girl- probably not here at school. Everyone’s so cold!”

“They’re not that bad,” Emma said. “Everyone’s just a bit rocky to begin with.” She gave Sebastian a pat on the shoulder. “Have you talked to everyone yet? I guess not. But I can tell you a bit more about them if you want.”

“If you’re willing. Can I ask what’s up with that Neu guy? What died in his drink?”

“Oh, him. Yeah, he’s a bit of a dick. But it’s not even like you can tell him he’s wrong, because he’s not.” Emma sighed. “He got full marks in last year’s tuition exams, you know.”

“I wish I was that smart,” Seth said.

“At least you have a personality,” Sebastian replied.

James nearly dropped his wrap. “Hey, that’s insane! I only did well in the humanities! A full score? Is studying all he does?”

“It’s not like he has friends,” Mook said. “I mean, I tried, but you can see how well that turned out. I don’t think I’ve seen him willingly talk to anyone except Mina. And that’s because she pesters him all the time.”

“To help with work, huh? How about that group over there?” James waved in the general direction of the group playing Uno.

“Imagine two people with the exact same sense of humour, then put them near each other for eight hours a day,” Sebastian groaned. “I can’t stand them.”

“Larissa’s alright though,” Mook added. “And Morgan’s just there because he doesn’t have any friends and they tolerate him. I’m pretty sure he lives with Larissa, actually.”

“Huh. They don’t look like twins, but you never know.” James paused for a moment, then counted the people in the class.

He frowned. “I know there’s that Herbert guy and some Samuel kid, but even then someone’s missing. I thought there were supposed to be 16 total, including me.”

“Yeah, there’s another kid. He’s foreign. Guess he’s just not here yet. He’s staying with one of the Juniors, but he’s our age so he’ll be in our classes,” Emma said. “I’ve talked to him a bit. Seems normal enough.”

“How have you already made friends with him? He’s not even in the country.” Sebastian grumbled.

“The wonders of social media. Not that you would know.”

James sighed in relief. “So I won’t be the only new guy. What about those two?” He gestured at Yam and Porche.

“Porche is new, so I can’t say anything about her. Yam? She’s not a bad person, she just doesn’t want to associate with any of us,” Emma said.

“Thanks for telling me all this,” James said. “It’s real helpful. I owe you one.” He finished his wrap. “What do you all usually do when you’re done eating?”

“Sebastian goes up to play cello into the sunset. The rest of us sit around and chat, you know, like normal people,” Mook said.

“Some of us have better things to do than third wheel.”

“Whew. That was a good one. In that case, I’m off to play some Uno.” James stood up. “Gotta meet everyone, you know?”

[stone]

---

He stood up and approached the other table, then leaned in. “Mind if I join? It’s been a long time since I’ve played.”

Everyone looked at him. Even Morgan glanced up from where his head was pressed against the table. Jackson shuffled to the side of his chair. “Sure, sit down!”

“You dolt, there’s a chair right here,” Larissa hissed, pulling out a seat to her left. “Come on, sit down.”

“Thanks! Deal me in, please.” James sat and accepted a hand of seven.

The table was oddly tense. There was very little conversation, except for the odd argument about rules and people calling out “Uno!”. Which James forgot to do on several occasions. Jackson seemed to be quite the stickler for rules - but only when it was advantageous for him. The silence broke when Jackson finally won, letting out a loud whoop.

“Ha! I won! I am the Uno master,” he declared, standing up. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a few cardboard shapes and passing them around. Ah, they were the letter ‘L’.

“Ah, I’ll take that L,” James said. “Do you do this every time you win?”

“He does,” Larissa said, before Jackson could continue. “Unfortunately, he always wins. Sometimes it feels like he practices.”

“You could practice too, if you had Uno on Xbox,” Jackson said.

Larissa stared blankly at him.

“...It’s a joke,” Jackson said after a moment of silence.

“That was fun!” James said. “Even if I got destroyed. You play a lot of games, Jackson?”

“Yeah! But no one else ever plays with me. I’m too good, y’know?”

“That’s because you don’t have any other hobbies,” Ella said.

“Hey, I mean, we all have what we’re good at. Some of us just gotta focus on that one thing, you know? Thinking of making it big in esports?” James asked, half-jokingly.

“I thought you wanted to go into engineering?” Larissa said. Jackson slapped her on the shoulder.

“She just doesn’t understand the hustle. I have a thousand hours in Fortnite. I’ll be damned if I don’t enter at least one competition.”

“Ah. I don’t play many games myself- just some more chill ones from Nintendont that don’t need much investment,” James said.

“Oh, Fifteen Apartments came out recently, didn’t it?” Ella said. “I thought you’d be playing that right now. We were gonna get you it for your birthday, but you’ve probably bought it already.”

“Damn right. I’m gonna stay off tomorrow to play,” Jackson said.

“Don’t do that,” Larissa said.

“Make me!”

“If you stay home and focus all of your energy, you might make it big on the internet,” James said rather unhelpfully. “Streaming is apparently growing a lot.”

“See, Larissa! J- j...“ he trailed off. “This guy gets it.”

“James León. It’s Jackson, Ella, Larissa, Morgan, right?” James pointed at each.

“Now you look like an idiot,” Ella muttered, elbowing Jackson.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m too busy being an Uno god to learn names.”

“Hey, it’s fine. See, I got a trick to learn names. I look at the person, see if they’re like a book character I know, then build an association! See, for Ella, she reminds me of this one murder mystery I read, and there’s a character in there named Ella. Simple.”

“I don’t read nearly enough for that. Oh, but there are a lot of game characters and stuff, right? That could work,” Jackson mused.

Larissa cleared her throat. “You really ought to-”

youtube.com/watch?v=6Tv6gQgj0VQ

The entire group groaned. Even Morgan lifted his head to make a pained noise.

“To class, then,” Larissa finished, quickly picking up her bags and standing. Jackson slumped further into his chair while Ella patted his back. Hard. “Get up, you idiots.” Larissa pulled on Morgan’s collar. “You too.”

James grabbed his bag and stood. “Back to class!”

[Aviaire]

---

“Hey, Neu, mind giving me a hand on differentials?”

“Not another- I’m busy, so can’t you find someone else to harass?”

“Agh, alright.”

James went to Ella. “Is Jackson around? I need math help and he seems to do okay in class.”

She shook her head repeatedly. “Don’t ask him for help. I love the guy, but he’s useless, you know? He kept derailing. I ended up doing worse on that test than I did studying on my own.”

“Ah. Attention span of a fifth grader. Got it.”

James went to his normal spot at the Semookstian table. Emma was off somewhere. Just the boys today. Shame. Emma usually answered questions in class.

“Guys… I need a hand with differentials and nobody else is being helpful. Mook?”

Mook grinned. “Sebastian’s good at math,” he said, giving him a hard pat on the back. Sebastian flinched from the force.

“No, I’m not,” he said.

“Please..? I lost track after the third example problem… I just need a bit of explanation…”

“I can’t help you. Don’t know how.”

“Seb, don’t be like that! You’re so good. You helped me with all that stuff last year. You can help James too,” Seth chimed in.

James smiled. “Just a few problems. You can lord your superiority over me too.”

Sebastian looked around at the table. He stopped on James, blinking a few times.

“Yeah, okay.”

James pumped his fist. “Thanks. Knew I could count on you.”

The tutoring went alright. Sebastian was a surprisingly good teacher. He got a little irritated whenever James didn’t get something, but he went over things the best he could. It was almost like a completely different person. James eventually figured out what the hell he was supposed to do, and finished the set.

“Oh man, thanks! Math isn’t my strong suit at all… I only got 20% on the mathematics portion of the entrance exam..” James leaned back and sighed, his hand aching from writing so much.

“Twenty? You’re either rich or a god of English,” Sebastian muttered. “Anyway, don’t mention it. Seriously, don’t, or Mina’s gonna start annoying me to help her. Let’s head back now. Seth said I could copy the Chemistry homework off him, and I haven’t done it yet.”

“Just a bit of both. My folks aren’t crazy rich, and I looooove Lit. Thanks so much. I uh, won’t talk about it around Mina.”

Sebastian smiled slightly. “No problem.”

---

The library. A place to read, to study, to…

To gossip.

“But he’s kinda cute, right? Like, you know, in the way that a stray cat is cute,” a girl said, much louder than was acceptable. Her chair creaked as she swung on it. Mina Mason, the girl. who was barely clinging onto her place at HAGAY. Despite that, she wasn’t studying at all.

James grabbed a book and sat down to read for a little. He wasn’t super close, but Mina was being rather loud and he couldn’t help but overhear.

“I don’t see it,” Porche sighed. “I really, really don’t, Mina.”

“I liked his old hair way better,” Emma replied. “But his jawline, I gotta say…” The rest of the table nodded vigorously. Except for Yam, who watched them with mild interest, head in her arms and lying on the desk.

James got up and moved behind a bookshelf, trying to block out the noise. Unfortunately, the study room wasn’t very large; he couldn’t escape their chatter.

“Okay, Emma, we can’t all be dating total catches,” Mina whined. “Bit short, but it’s your fault for being tall.”

“There aren’t enough people in this school,” Porche said. “The boys in our class just aren’t it, honestly.”

“Seb’s good looking. Mook too, sort of. He just reminds me of a ferret,” Mina said.

James could see it. He kept on looking at the book, but hearing gossip was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

“Mook’s not really my type,” Porche said. “Good point about Sebastian- Seb, though. I’d go for that, but he seems like kind of a pain.”

Mina nodded. “Yeah, and dating your friend’s ex is a no-go. Gotta pass on that ass.” Emma broke down into laughter.

“Mina- Mina, I told you to stop telling people that!” she cackled. “We were seven!”

“And you broke up when you were nine, which is old enough for it to count. Jeez, people our age can’t even stay in a relationship for that long.”

“Oh? Aren’t you the player, Emma?” Porche said. The table dissolved into giggles.

“Leave me alone,” Emma said, but she wasn’t angry. Quite the opposite, she was struggling not to laugh. “We never did anything but hold hands. I swear!”

“Date a man for two years, break up with him, and then go out with his best friend? You fiend!” Porche gasped in mock horror. “Absolutely horrific.”

“How could I ever atone?” Emma grinned. “Oh, I have pictures of Seb as a kid. He’s super lanky now, but he was worse before. Hang on, let me find them.” The table quieted in anticipation, then began to laugh even harder.

“Awful, awful,” Porche gasped. “I can’t believe that. I’m never going to be able to talk to him again. Hey, what’s the exchange student like?”

Elise swiped across a few photos. “Here.”

“Ohhhhhh,” Mina said. “Finally, some good fucking food.”

“Cute, but not really my type,” Porche said. The other two looked at her like she was an alien. “Leave me alone. I said he’s cute, that’s enough.”

“What is your type, then?” Emma asked.

“Hmm… dark hair, dark eyes, all that.”

“Explains Seb. The other new kid’s kinda like that, isn’t he?” Mina said.

“Yeah, but the rest of him doesn’t do a lot for me, y’know?” Porche replied. “That sounds kinda mean. Whoops.”

James snorted softly from behind the bookshelf. Thanks.

“Oh, Porche! What if he was in here too? His poor feelings!” Emma laughed.

“No, no, that’s not what I-” The conversation stopped in favour of laughing once more. Yam turned her head to the bookcase, chuckling a little. James could see her through the gaps above the books, long dark hair covering most of her face. He smiled and gave a small wave. She winked in return before sitting up properly.

“He’s probably in the canteen,” Yam said to Porche. “Don’t worry about it. It’s just us in here.” She slumped back down into her seat, but didn’t look back at James.

Yam Lee, huh? Seems like a funny girl, James thought. I’ll have to thank her later for all this tea. The book sat on his lap, abandoned. He picked it up and continued to “read.”

“Right,” Porche replied, sounding uncertain.

“Wow, that’s more words than I’ve ever heard you say before,” Mina said.

“Maybe I just felt like talking,” Yam mumbleed into her arm.

“Well, don’t stop,” Emma said. “Come on! Who’s the best looking guy in the class?”

Yam paused to think. “That foreign exchange student. Let me sleep now, okay?”

“Really coming out of your shell,” Mina cooed. “His name’s Axel, right? That’s hot.”

“Careful, careful, don’t want Blue getting jealous,” Emma said.

“Blue?” Porche said.

“Oh, right. Neu. ‘Cause every time he leaves the house he doesn’t wear anything but blue. Like, I see him around town sometimes and he’s only ever in a different colour when he’s in school,” Emma said.

Mina rolled her eyes. “Please. If he could make me spend time with someone else, he’d pay for it. I just harass him for tutoring. I think he plots my murder in class, you know.”

“Well, if you die, we’ll know who did it,” Porche said. “We’ll avenge you, I swear!”

“Maybe I should ask him too,” Yam said into the table.

“Oh, what did you want it for?” Emma said. “If it’s maths, I can help, you know. I’m pretty good! If you’re free Friday, you can come over to mine or something. I’ll teach you some stuff.”

“Seriously?” Yam said. “I’ll text you later. Thanks.”

“If you need help, Porche, I can do that for you too. But not Mina. She’s a lost cause.”

“I’m fine for now,” Porche grinned. “But thanks anyway. I’m sure I’ll need you soon.”

“You’re so nice, Emma,” Mina moaned. “No wonder you’ve got a boyfriend. But I can’t believe you’re ditching me for your date.”

“Sorry, sorry! I told you, we can go on Monday instead,” Emma said.

“Not a problem,” Mina replied. “I’m not mad. Have fun, yeah? It’s about time.” She turned to Porche. “They’ve been making heart eyes at each other for months now.”

“You poor thing,” Porche laughed. “Third wheel!”

“Sometimes it feels like I’m thirdwheeling Seth and Seb,” Emma groaned. “It’s so hard to get him on his own! It’s only when we text that it’s just us.”

“Bros before hoes. You gotta respect him,” Mina said.

“I can’t even be classed as ‘hoes’ like this!”

“Don’t think about it too much,” Porche advised. Emma slumped into her chair, Yam-style.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“Think about more important things. Like… we have Chemistry next! And I’ve done the homework really shittily,” Mina said.

“We had homework?! Oh wait, I’ve done that,” Porche sighed. “Let’s get going, come on.” The girls began to rustle around with their bags.

James grabbed his stuff and ducked out the door, trying to avoid being seen. He stepped back and tried to make it seem like he was just passing by the study room. Porche gave him an apologetic look as they walked out, but none of them said anything. Yam lingered in the room, having told the others that she was looking for a book. Once they’d walked off, she slipped out, giving James a small wave.

“Thanks for the save there, Yam.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Not like they were gonna notice you. Forget about what Porche said, okay? Then we’re even.”

“Oh, no problem. If I took everything that was said about Mexicans to heart, I’d be turning myself in for drug crimes I haven’t committed.

Yam blew air out of her mouth pretty hard. “I get that. Anything else you wanna praise me for, or have I gotta go to Chemistry early?”

“You do a great job of not committing to conversation! I can feel the responsibility just sliding off you,” he joked.

She rolled her eyes. “Something like that.”

“Alright, let’s get to class.”

Yam nodded, sliding off of the wall she was leaning on, slowly making her way to the classroom. The way she walked was unusual, but it seemed intentional - not that it was how she normally moved, it looked more like she was just having a bit of fun, staring at her feet as she placed them right in front of each other.

James followed her to Chem. Interesting girl. Definitely one of the types to sit and watch the rowdy social interactions, then go in with a sly comment or two. One that lived for their own amusement.