Art Room Muse

There's something going on with the art teacher, Mr. Bryant, and a popular student. Meeting in secret and staying late, a few other students grow curious and investigate.

11:41 A.M.

Discreetly, quietly, a door opens. Above the room reads the class number, 206, it is the art room. A girl emerges from the room. Lunch is nearing its end so there are are some students who leave whatever they are doing early to beat the inevitable rush of students that will fill the hall in the next four minutes when the bell rings. From just a glance, that this girl was unique was obvious to anyone with proper sight. Her hair was brown and long with a straightness that most girls and some guys would envy. Neatly cut above her eyes, her fringe was dyed red. There was no uniform mandate at this school, so the students were allowed to wear what they wished within regulations. An expression of her individuality, the girl wore sneakers, a skirt, a purple shirt and above that a red flannel button up that was currently open. The girl's name was Andrea Krizia, but as her forename was unremarkable, many just recognized her as Krizia.

With brisk steps, Krizia soon disappeared into the stairwell on her way to her next class. She had closed the door to the art room behind her, but not soon after she left, a minute before the bell rang, it opened once again. Not from the outside, but within and from within the dark classroom, emerged a man. A tall man, a handsome man with glasses, the kind who was markedly different from the usual old ladies who were known as the art instructor. Popular among the student body and respected by his fellow teachers, the name of this man was Matthew Bryant. Like the girl, he too was finishing his lunch break. After stepping from his room, his head turned, perhaps coincidentally, in the direction the young female had walked not long before.

And so, by chance, he did not see the shadow of another student slip behind a wall as he emerged. And neither did the girl notice the pair of azure eyes that had observed her leaving.

2:47 P.M.

School was basically over; In three minutes, the bell would ring, signaling the end of the lessons to the school day. Technically, the class wasn't over until then, but the students of class 10-2 were already packing up their belongings. A sophomore class, they were not as rambunctious as freshmen, but they were not nearly swamped with homework or tests that would score their aptitude for college just yet. In one corner of the class, a group of girls talked loudly among themselves. In that center was a girl with long and straight brown hair. It was Krizia. There was only a handful of students in that class numbering less than twenty. Amazingly, there was only a handful of girls numbering less than ten. They were the minority and so, naturally, they banded together and talked about numerous things.

“Did you see that episode of The Real World last night?”

“Yeah! When that fight broke out, I thought they were really going to cancel the series. I mean, didn't they just jump her?”

“I'm surprised SHE was the one who got beaten up. Wasn't it her dumb friend that was talking all that trash? And she didn't even try to help either.”

“If you get jumped by like, ten people I'm not getting beaten up with you!”

The girls laughed as they talked about the latest episode of some hot reality show popular among girls and boys right now. And then, as suddenly as they started talking about it, the topics switched next to fashion and naturally it lead to Krizia, as she was actually fixing her make-up.

“Got a hot date with your boyfriend, Krizia?” one girl asked.

Another chimed in, “You still won't tell us who it is, but c'mon, spill the beans already. Does he at least go to this school? What grade's he in?”

From fashion directly into the topic of a boyfriend. It was a topic that had become quite popular in class 10-2. The boys all turned their head towards the group of girls, as they too were eager to discover the identity of the guy dating the cutest girl in class.

“What are you guys talking about?” Feigning ignorance, Krizia stared into the small mirror of her make-up kit. She plainly stated, “I don't have a boyfriend.”

Her attitude made it clear that it was largely a delusion, this popular rumor of her having a boyfriend, but her staunch and quick denial was completely and utterly undermined by the smile and small laugh as she declared it.

“Uh-huh, we know you've been going off on your own these past few days to visit Lover Boy. The jig is up?”

“You guys are crazy.”

“Oh my god!”

...The conversation carried on for the next few minutes, ending with the period. In the end, Krizia adamantly denied that there was a boyfriend accusing her friends of being a little crazy in their persistence. When the conversation came to a close, a single girl broke away from the group of girls. As she hadn't made any sort of remark about the television show or about Krizia's boyfriend, it was clear that she wasn't interested in those sorts of topics. Or maybe there wasn't enough time to break into the discussion. Instead of heading towards the door, however, she bee-lined straight towards the desk of another student, to the only girl who refused not just the company of her fellow female classmates, but also the invitations of the boys. This girl's name, everyone knew, was Alouette Calm. And for the girl who approached her, Madison Clementine was her name.

“Yo, Al, don't leave yet. Let's go home together.” the girl, Madison, said as she approached the girl who had already stood up. This was not a spur of the moment decision, she had approached the girl knowing she would leave the moment she could. They were not a part of any clubs or sports teams, so they didn't need to stay behind as some of other girls and boys in their class did. Most were on athletic teams, their class was filled jocks. The girls joined the track team to stay in shape, the boys joined the basketball and football teams to have fun. Alouette and Madison were the two who did not partake in sports teams. For Madison, this was not due to a lack of interest. The very image of a 'tomboy' she had short brown hair and though she occasionally wore shorts, she preferred shorts and short sleeved shirts. What she also preferred was more exciting things than running or volleyball, but there were no martial arts teams or girl baseball or football teams at that school. If she ever stayed behind after school, it was to catch up on work that she had missed.

For Alouette, she was simply uninterested. Her weight remained consistent thanks to a consistent diet and quite frankly she had no interest in undressing around others to be involved in sports. Even changing into gym clothes, she picked a rather hidden locker. While Madison was no slouch in the looks department, Alouette had the second spot as the most beautiful girl. Her hair was long and black and her skin pale as moonlight. Her eyes twinkled like azure stars. The only thing preventing her from taking first place was the gloomy, 'dark-side-of-the-moon' atmosphere that swirled around her. “Just leave me be” was the message she usually displayed to others, though never spoken. Even now, as she turned her surprised gaze onto the girl who randomly approached her, she implied resistance.

“Okay...” though suspicious and clearly taken aback, she gave into the harmless request. She waited by her desk as Madison, with a shout of, “Cool, thanks!” went off to her desk and collect her things. In the passing of time, her gaze coincided with the teacher's who looked equally surprised. 'When did she make a friend?' that thought was clearly etched into her expression.

“Okay, let's roll!” With an orange book-bag firmly secured to her back, Madison returned to Alouette's desk and patted her on the shoulder. Leading the way, she marched out the front door.

“Whoa!” the man on the other side of the door reflexively grabbed the shoulders of the student who had nearly rushed him over. “It's the end of the day, but still got plenty of reserves I see, Miss Clementine.”

“Yo, Matt!” the boisterous girl responded. “I've got endless reserves. You know, anytime, anyplace, anywhere.”

“Hahaha...” the art teacher laughed. “You realize that 'anyplace' and 'anywhere' is a little redundant. Oh...” his cheerful tone diminished somewhat as he noticed the girl standing directly behind Madison. He retained his pleasant smiled as he greeted her, “Hello, Alouette, are you two leaving together?”

His greeting was definitely for the girl, but the addressed did not respond as she should have. She failed to return the teacher's smile, holding her stern expression tighter than the man's belt. Whether he was genuinely curious about the plans of the two girls, the resistance to such a simple question was surprising. Rather than answer, Alouette merely stared at him with those large, azure eyes of hers.

“What are you doing here? This isn't your classroom.” came the eventual response. It ignored the teacher's initial question and changed the topic of the conversation. It would have been fine if it had been said jokingly, but in a bluntness that was very 'Alouette,' it held a few thorns.

The art teacher's smile darkened some, but he maintained his maturity in his response. “Well, I was here to find Miss Krizia. I' m collecting students that need to make up work for my class. Is she still in?”

“Yeah, she's here,” Madison spoke up, sensing the tension between the two. She pointed back in the classroom where the girl in question was preparing her things, presumably to leave. Excusing himself, Mr. Bryant made his way over to his student.

Alouette felt a nudge in her arm as she watched the man walk away. She turned to find Madison giving her a strange look. Not that the look itself was strange, but a look that implied that she was the one being strange.

“What's up with you? He's a teacher, you know?”

“I've never seen a teacher like that,” said Alouette as she began walking away. Madison followed alongside her, continuing to give her that look.

“What's that suppose to mean?” she inquired.

“What's what suppose to mean?”

“What do you mean 'what'? You just said you didn't know a teacher like Mr. Bryant before. He's our art teacher, you know? We had his class yesterday...”

“I remember,” said Alouette. “I know he's our teacher, but I never said anything like that.”

“Huh!? But I heard you. You just said that.”

Alouette glanced at Madison to her side and repeated, “I don't know what you're talking about.”

Alouette didn't think any of the students she knew went back the same way she did. In truth, there were two stops on the bus line near the school she attended. The one she used, whether arriving or leaving, was hardly every busy. Most of the time it was empty and of the two it was the 'first' in the way of going home. Arguably, it could also be considered the closest. Despite that, it was not as busy as the stop that came next to it. Whatever the cause, Alouette had never once seen Madison there. The reason came as an unprompted revelation from the girl walking beside her.

“So, how far do you live, Al? I have to take two buses. It's why I'm always late in the morning.”

Alouette turned her head slightly in the direction of her classmate. It wasn't as though they were complete and total strangers. They had spoken a word or two to each other before, but it was only ever a word or two. When it came to group work or sitting arrangements, they were separate. Alouette simply worked with whoever she shared desks with while Madison preferred the company of her friends. Even during lunch, they didn't eat near each other. And so, even though the girl freely explained why she was late, Alouette had never noticed when she came in.

“Hmmm.” Pretending to think about that, Alouette pursed her lips and looked forward. It would be another minute or two before they reached their stop. And then they could go their separate ways. “It's a single ride for me. It takes about a half hour.”

“I see...”

The brown haired girl fell quiet and also focused her attention forward. For a time. She opened her mouth as she turned towards the raven haired girl again. “You're not much of a talker, huh? Why don't you talk?”

“I talk all the time.” Alouette countered. “If people would just listen, they'd hear me a lot more.” She turned and met eyes with Madison. “You hear me just fine, right?”

“I hear you now 'cause I'm talking to you-”

“Exactly.”

“But when other people talk to you, you don't give them the time or day. Like with Mr. Bryant. He said 'hello' to you and you completely ignored him.”

A fair argument. Even Alouette couldn't deny her actions. She wasn't the kind of girl whom everyone ignored. She was the girl who ignored everyone. The girls in her class would invite her to sit with them at lunch, some might even ask her to play a game. Frequently, she might accept, but even with such inclusion, she kept to herself. Nevertheless, Madison had never been among those people who invited her.

“Do things need to only be said with words?” Alouette frowned as she asked with a serious expression. “We have body language and things like that for a reason after all.”

“Yeah, but...but you know, there are some things that you have to say, right? Some things...that only words can say.”

“By that standard, there are also things that words can't say. Words can lie, be misleading, but your body is mostly honest.”

“...And these are the kinds of thoughts that go through your head, huh?”

Stopping, Alouette glared sharply at her classmate, not in anger, but reproachfully. “Look, my point isn't that that I don't like talking. I just don't like talking about useless things. It's just...fluff.”

“So what do you like talking about then?” Having stopped as well, Madison continued their conversation with her arms crossed.

Well, obviously, it meant things that had a point to them. Whether it was an actual debate about a topic or an actual conversation about a valid opinion...those were the kinds of discussions Alouette preferred to have. Certainly, she cared very little for television shows or anecdotal stories. However, rather than plainly state that, she asked a question of her own.

“Would you be interested in talking to me if I told you what those were?”

To which the girl answered, “Yeah, sure, probably.” confirming Alouette's suspicion that it was true; the girl had a streak for saying redundant things.

But as for how she should respond to that, Alouette wasn't quite sure. After going so far as to invite her out to walk home together, there was no way Madison would say “I don't want to talk to you.” Rather, wasn't the opposite the reason for the invite in the first place?

But even so, she was at a loss. Honestly, someone to talk to might be nice, but there was no way of knowing whether they'd even become anything like a friend or shared any interests. After giving it some thought, Alouette came up with a response.

“Alright, you can talk to me whenever you'd like. I don't really mind. What I like talking about...is whatever I find interesting. Come to me with an interesting topic and I'll talk to you about it.”

It was a skill to turn a boring conversation into a fun one. People like Krizia could do that, make a conversation about make-up seem funny or entertaining. Alouette wasn't that kind of person. If someone asked her about make-up, she'd just answer them and move on. She wouldn't give her honest opinion and talk about it. That answer gave her some leeway.

Alouette doubted that, after today, they would find themselves together again. It was the first time since Junior High that she had been asked to walk home with anyone. So, while it was a refreshing break from the monotony, it wasn't a huge shake-up of her daily life.

Alouette assumed that they were going two different ways on the same bus line, but that was incorrect. Nothing more was said between them up to that point and although they got on the same bus, Alouette sat in a single seat and Madison sat in another.

But even so, as Alouette gazed out the window, her mind returned to the final words Madison had said to her shortly after they had started walking again.

“Hey, so...what's up with you and Mr. Bryant?”

Mr. Bryant was the art room teacher. He had a certain rapport with the students that made him seem more like a friend than a teacher. It was the kind of relationship one might expect from the gym teacher than the art teacher. His class wasn't particularly difficult. In fact, it was a lot easier than others since it didn't rely on actual thinking. There were hardly any discussions about the history of a particular artist or the importance of a certain style of drawing. It was always, “This is what we're drawing today.” followed by a brief description of what that actually was.

Beyond abstract lines, Alouette didn't have any particular talent in drawing. Growing up, it took her a while before she started to properly color in things without going over the borders of the image itself. On proportions, shading techniques and so on, Alouette was probably called out the most for her mistakes in art. That was one reason why she didn't like him. The other-

“Why don't you come after school and practice?” Placing his hands on her shoulder, the art teacher leaned in close behind her and whispered in her ear.

He was often patting kids on the shoulder, but that one time the girl felt something other than just a teacher's concern. Alouette ignored his request and ever since then remained guarded whenever she was around him, thus creating their current situation.

Neither his words nor his actions were an indictment. And she didn't hate him or spite him enough to bring up that one instance to someone else. It was just art, she didn't care if her skill level caused her to fail. After all, she was bad at it. At the end of the semester, she'd ask to have her class changed and that would have been the end of that.

11: 25 A.M

The ringing of the bell signaled the beginning of lunch period. Almost instantly, the halls were flooded with students leaving their class to get a seat in the cafeteria or an early place online. Among those crowds, Madison was a little slow in leaving class since she was finishing up the last bit of her work. After she handed it in, she found the other girls in her class swarming near the entrance. At the center of it was Krizia.

“Sorry, I have something else to do.” said the girl at the center of the storm. “It's important.”

“Meeting with your boyfriend is more important than hanging out with your friends now, huh?” said one girl. Usually, in jest, this time, it was said with a tinge of bitterness.

“Really? You guys are still hung up on that? I don't have a boyfriend. How many times do I have to tell you that?” Krizia replied with obvious frustration.

“Fine, so we can come along with you then right?” suggested another girl whose name was Genevieve.

“What's with you guys? I'm with you in every single class. I see you every day, you can't leave me alone for one period?”

A tactful deflection. Indirectly shamed, the will of her protesting friends deflated faster than a popped balloon. With a smile Krizia then reassured them, “Don't worry about it, okay? I'm just a little busy right now, okay? We'll hang out later when things calm down okay?”

And with that, the 'issue' was resolved. Madison sort of envied that ability to just talk one's way out of something while smoothing over hurt feelings. It was like a steamroller smoothing out pavement. Even so, with that speaking ability, it still wouldn't be enough to convince 'her' to be more friendly. As for 'Her' she was...

“Oh, she's still here?”

It was that dark haired, mysterious girl, Alouette. She was usually among the first to leave the classroom, but for some reason, she had stayed behind up to this point. As the swarm of girls cleared away, her unique presence became obvious once again. Her cold icy eyes were staring at the back of the departing Krizia.

Those two really are a lot alike. Madison had thought so before, but seeing them now, she certified it again. Alouette was a transfer student, sort of. She transferred in pretty early, about a week after school started and it didn't take long for her to show up everyone else. She was a quick learner and it only took one explanation for her to get something. On the other hand, Krizia was much the same with a more sociable demeanor. Whether or not they were actually friends, though...for some reason they seemed to avoid each other. Like the sun and moon, she thought.

“Hey, Al, what's up?” Madison approached the aloof girl and greeted her. She was met with a rather intense glare. “What are you talking to me for?” is what that look implied.

“Nothing...?” As if unsure of what she meant by the question, Alouette gave an unsteady response.

“Are you going to lunch today? Want to sit together?” she knew that she would probably be denied, but she had to at least try.

“Sorry, I'm not going to the cafeteria today,” Alouette replied quickly.

“Oh, well, alright. Are you going to the library then?”

Other than the cafeteria, that was the only other place Madison could imagine that she would want to go. A quiet place for a quiet person, that sort of stereotypical scenario. Alouette, however, hesitated in giving her answer. She looked down the corridor for a moment and then, settling on some idea, quickly moved to end their conversation.

“I've got to go so...I'll see you.”

Without waiting for a reply, Alouette quickly walked off, disappearing behind a corner that led to a different flight of stairs.

That was weird; too weird, even for Alouette. Curiosity filling her, Madison stealthily followed after the girl. The halls that were so busy with students, in only a few minutes, had become empty to the point of seeming to be abandoned. The staircase was equally devoid of activity. A few crude handmade posters were taped to the landing, advertising the upcoming student council election.

“We have a student council?” That was the first time Madison had even heard of a student council in this school. There were track teams and soccer teams, a book club and even a few monitors who footed paperwork from the main offices to different classrooms. And yet, she had somehow had never heard of that in the two years she had been attending this school. But could Alouette be a part of some club she didn't know about? It seemed unlikely. The only way to figure that out would be to find out what she was up to and with that conviction, Madison stepped into the third floor's hallway.

“Oh?” As she emerged from the hall, she spotted a familiar figure disappearing into a room. She recognized that distinctive fashion sense as belonging to her classmate, Krizia. That room she was heading into just now, wasn't it the art room?

“What are you doing?” Behind her, an angry voice suddenly yelled and the speaker grabbed her shoulder. Taken by complete surprise, Madison turned her head around and came face to face with a pale as stone face and expression.

“Alouette!” Madison angrily yelled the name of the girl who appeared in front of her.

“Did I scare you?”

“No! You startled me.” With her nostrils flaring, Madison corrected the girl in front of her. It was such an out of character move that she didn't quite know what to say. “What are you doing?” she asked when she regained a bit of her composure.

“I'm not doing anything.” said the girl in black dismissively. “Why are you following me?”

“I'm not following you...”

“No? Oh, well I thought you were, but I guess that makes sense. You wouldn't be so obvious if you were, right? So, in that case, what are you doing up here? Did you come for supplementary lessons in art too?”

“Supplementary lessons?” The term was so strange that Madison thoughtlessly repeated it.

“Yeah, supplementary lessons.” And the girl in black repeated what she said. “With the art teacher.”

“Okay, what is that? Actual lessons?” Madison was confused. With the way she spoke, it seemed as though Alouette was trying to hint at something, but the words she used were pretty normal. She was being weird, weirder than usual.

“Let's just say they aren't the kinds of lessons that I would take or suggest someone else take. Not unless you mind long hours.”

Alouette laughed and when she did Madison confirmed that the girl was being deliberately vague about what she was saying. A brief moment of time lapsed in which the two simply stared at each other, implying and hinting about the subject with their eyes. Madison got none of it.

“What are you talking about, Al? I don't get it.”

“Aww,” the girl in black made such an expression. And then she shrugged. “Your favorite teacher and your favorite student are engaged in some rather 'extracurricular' activities.”

“What?” Madison almost couldn't believe the choice words that came from that girl's mouth. Before she could ask, the girl began explaining on her own.

“They've been doing it rather vigorously lately. At first, they'd only meet after school. I had to stay late one day and I saw them going into a class together. And lately, they've been doing it every day at lunch. I always knew Krizia was a hard worker, but...that's some stamina.”

Chuckling, Alouette continued to use somewhat vague terms to describe the relationship she had become aware of. All the while, her azure eyes never left Madison's face, taking in every small facial twitch. Her lips were upturned into a rapturous smile.

“Okay, well...” Madison turned away from that face and looked instead towards the door of the art room. It was closed. Alouette wasn't saying it in so many words, but she figures this was the 'boyfriend' everyone was so obsessed about. “Shouldn't we do something then?”

“And what should we do?”

“I don't know, like tell another teacher or something?”

The smile that Alouette wore transformed into a doubtful frown. “Why not just let them do what they want? Things like this never remain secret for long. I mean, we already discovered what they're up to. It'll be funny to watch how this plays out.”

“Funny? I can't believe you're saying that.” Madison scolded the girl and shook her head. She began to walk towards the art room when a hand grabbed onto her shoulder.

“Hold on there, Madison,” Alouette said with a serious expression. It was the first time she had openly said the girl's name. It worked in getting the girl's attention. “I don't think we should just interfere in something like that.”

“Okay, so?”

“So, maybe you should talk to Krizia first? Remember Newton's Third Law?”

“Um...” Why was she suddenly being asked a physics question? Madison only bothered to think about it because she knew the answer. “A body at rest will stay at rest?”

“What?” Alouette furrowed her brow, obviously, it wasn't the answer she was expecting. “No.”

“That's wrong? What's the point anyway?”

“Well, first of all, that's the law of inertia, his first Law. His second deals with momentum. You know, force equals mass times acceleration, the change of momentum with time and all that?”

Madison shook her head. Sure, she had heard all that stuff at some point but was it really necessary for a high school girl to know, by heart, the details of some scientific theory. Ignorant of those thoughts, Alouette continued no less deflated,

“Well, the third law is: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. And my point is that if you go opening Pandora's Box, you'll get the same result.

“Wow, a scientific reference and a mythological one. You know, you're pretty smart Al, but I'm not as smart as you are. I'm just an idiot so I'm going to go help set my friend straight again. If she needs a wake-up slap so be it.”

Having said that the short haired girl resumed her march on the door. Flummoxed that her descriptive speech was unsuccessful, Alouette lamented behind her,

“And it was just getting good too.”

When she arrived in front of the door, Madison grabbed the handle and effortlessly pushed the door open.

BANG!

It opened with such force that the wood made a loud sound that could be heard deep in the halls of the third floor. Madison marched in, Alouette following behind, and declared,

“Krizia! That's....enough?”

Her voice deflated faster than a puffer fish that had the air sucked out of it. What she expected to see was two people engaging in secretive acts inside a dark room, but what she saw instead was a couple of people sitting in a cluster of desks, their expressions of utter shock were directed towards the pair at the door. The teacher himself was also at one of the desks, participating in the activity.

The activity that was drawing. There were dozens of colored paper some were blank but others were covered in flashy lettering that read, “JOIN THE STUDENT COUNCIL”, in block letters with flair from each individual artist displayed from paper to paper.

Were this a sitcom, this would be the part where there would be dozens of laughs, but every single of those glares were filled with, and righteously so, with anger at having their peace so disrupted. Among them, was Krizia.

“...I see we have two new volunteers...” standing up from his chair, the teacher spoke first. It was an olive branch before all out war, an injection of epoxy before the dam broke, rain cloud before a wildfire erupted...

“I told you not to go jumping to conclusions...” Alouette said quietly behind Madison.

In no mood to respond, Madison raised her hand and laughed awkwardly, wryly. “Ahaha...yeah, right, Al? We...came to help.”

“Humph...” was the response that came in behind her.

5:00 P.M.

“Well, that was...tiring.”

It was long after school had ended. Those with work to finish up had long gone home and even some of the teachers had gone home as well. The few students that remained were of the group assisting the student council in making the posters for the upcoming election. That group had finally disbanded allowing Madison to finally voice her complaints.

“I told you they were doing this all the way into the evening. And yet you had to go and include us both in helping at the end of the day...” To her side, a girl in black commented. Her expression one of sourness than weariness.

“Well, it's not like we had a choice...after barging in like that...we could've got into trouble for property damage.”

“Oh please...” Alouette sighed. “Don't lump me in with you. You'd make an excellent cop with your talent for busting down doors. For the record, I told you not to do it.”

On that point, Madison couldn't mount an argument. She couldn't, but, “You still came with me...and if you had just told me from the beginning without being so...provocative that wouldn't have happened and I would be at home napping by now. It takes me two hours to get back home! It's five now, that's seven and then homework at eight o'clock and then bed! Alouette! Give me back my free time!”

“Ngh? What are doing...? Don't grab onto me...!”

“...When did the two of you get so buddy-buddy?” Watching the two horseplay in the halls, a popular brown haired girl was also walking with them. Her eyes were filled with a tired sort of curiosity, like watching the antics of her younger brothers.

“It was yesterday...” said Madison. Her headlock attempt having been fended off, she slowly paced around the dark haired girl looking for another opening.

Alouette was too busy to respond, remaining on alert like a cat, watching the girl around her. Nevertheless, Krizia smiled.

“Well, it's nice to see you loosening up for a change, 'Al'”

Alouette cut her eyes in the girl's direction. “...Not you too?” When was it that everyone assumed it was okay to start calling her that? She hadn't called out anyone because it was mainly just one person and it started yesterday, but it was becoming an actual thing it seemed.

“Gotcha!”

“Sloppy.”

Telegraphing Madison's movement, Alouette dodged the girl's attempt at another headlock and instead grabbed onto her arms to keep her from trying it again. It wasn't fun or anything, she just wanted it to stop. Krizia, again, observed and remarked,

“Well, whatever. Just don't hurt yourselves...and keep it a secret will you?”

“Why? You're going to be running in the election right? It sounds pretty cool. Are you going to get up and talk about how we students are not taken seriously?”

Krizia smiled and closed her eyes as though she had been completely figured out. “Something like that, but I'd like to make the announcement myself so please don't go...stirring up trouble for me like that, okay?”

“No problem,” Madison promised.

“I was never interested in the first place,” said Alouette. Why there was so much commotion about a 'council' that had no actual input anyway was beyond her. It was just more work.

After Krizia left, Alouette released the girl she captured after making her promise not to try anything. Stretching her arms, Madison commented, without much thought behind it,

“You two really are a lot alike...”

“What are you talking about now?” Exasperated, Alouette couldn't just let that accusation go unanswered.

“I just mean that you two are pretty good people is all.”

“Uh-huh...” There was no way she'd buy that half-baked excuse, but Alouette chose the mature option and gave an appropriate half-baked response. There was no need to know what the girl was thinking.

She was much more interesting to just observe, after all.