The next day dawned bright and early for the Gregory sisters.
Jessica rubbed her eyes and yawned, glancing around to see what had woken her up. Julia's alarm. Of course. The two girls always set their own alarms, both familiar with their own habits in the morning. Julia often set periodic alarms, so she was able to reach out and turn them off and have the illusion of getting more rest as she went back to sleep. On some mornings she would actually get up at the first alarm and take a shower.
Jessica, on the other hand, simply set one alarm in the morning. As much as she might detest the sound, she would always get up and start the day. The only times she was not quick to wake was when she was ill, which happened more than either of them would like.
Jessica turned over and went back to sleep.
Julia turned off her first alarm and did the same.
.:o0O0o:.
About an hour later, Jessica's alarm went off, signaling to both girls that it was time to actually get ready for the day. They dressed and gathered their things quickly before gathering in the kitchen. It was Tuesday. This meant that it was Jessica's turn to prepare their breakfast while Julia prepared their lunch boxes.
Despite coming from a wealthy family, both girls had been taught the skills necessary to live on their own. They were Gregorys, after all. In their family, it was traditional to spend at least a year living without the benefits of wealth before they were considered 'of age.' This was to give the family an understanding of the value of money and know what life was like outside of the lap of luxury. While one year was the minimum, more was always better, so Jessica and Julia planned on spending two years living in their small apartment that was within walking distance of Ouran.
Jessica was feeling particularly lazy this morning, so breakfast consisted of cheerios with bananas cut up over them. Nothing fancy, but they liked it all the same. The two girls made their way out the door after taking their respective medications and putting their shoes and coats on over their clothes, which, today, consisted of a tailored version of the male uniform. They made their way down the front walk of their second floor apartment, which looked something akin to an American Motel that the sisters had stayed in at some point in their youth.
Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs, they bumped into someone who had crouched beside the railing to tie their shoe.
"Oh, I'm so sorry"
"Excuse me, I didn't see you there!"
Both Julia and the other person said at once. The other person looked up and all three of them froze.
It was Haruhi Fujioka.
Jessica opened her mouth as if to speak but then stopped, realizing it was probably not in her best interest. When she had attempted to greet her beloved twin earlier that morning, all that had come out was a grotesque rasping accompanied by a sharp pain in her throat and upper chest. Jessica looked at Julia imploringly, trusting her sister to voice what she could not. Before the elder Gregory could so much as open her mouth, Haruhi spoke up.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, her tone devoid of suspicion.
"We live here," said Julia, now thoroughly confused. "What are you doing here?"
"I live here too." Both girls looked at each other, at a loss of what to do. They stood there for several moments before Jessica tugged on Julia's shoulder, pointing at her watch. The tableau unfroze, and the group relaxed, deciding that they would simply walk to Ouran together.
.:o0O0o:.
When they arrived at the school, the twins went one way and Haruhi went another. Jessica and Julia made their way to their first class: Introduction to Manufacturing. When they reached the classroom, they hurriedly exchanged their dress shoes for a hardier boot and placed their things in small lockers that were set along the wall. After reaching their seats, the girls pulled out their binders for the class and began their assignment for the day: drawing out designs for their first project.
It was only 7:35, and class wouldn't be starting for another ten minutes, so it wasn't really any surprise that there wasn't really anyone else in the classroom.
Because of the fact that they hadn't seen anyone in the classroom when they arrived, and their seat afforded them a direct line of sight to the door, they were under the impression that no one else was in the room, since no one had entered while they had been sitting. That impression was, unfortunately, mistaken.
Jessica had been working diligently on her design for several minutes when her concentration was broken by the arrival of a little paper flower as it landed neatly between the two girls. They glanced at the flower, at each other, and then to the rest of the room in confusion. Unfortunately, during the time they had been sitting there, several more students had arrived and sat down. The girls were left with no culprit, as none of their classmates were looking towards them for a reaction- it seemed like none of them had seen the arrival of the origami flower. They looked at each other and shrugged. Jessica, after several moments of ponderance, picked up the flower and tucked it behind her ear before turning back to her work.
In the back corner of the room, dark eyes closed under a furrowed brow. His plan had not worked.
.:o0O0o:.
Second period: Physics.
Just as the twins had settled down in their seats and begun taking out their supplies for class, a blonde blur swept through the room. Tamaki, in his enthusiasm, rushed towards the unsuspecting twins at the back of the classroom. He honed in on Jessica and wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm so sorry, my darling daughter! I never meant to cause harm to my delicate flower! Would you please forgive me?" He continued babbling on in the same fashion for a while longer, with Jessica growing more uncomfortable in his arms. Finally, Jessica could take it no longer and she shoved her classmate off of her person and huddled down in her chair. Tamaki was heartbroken and slouched into a corner. He was…. Cultivating mushrooms? How strange. Well, It was certainly a unique hobby.
"What exactly did you think was going to happen?" Asked Julia, giving the blonde a droll look. "You nearly killed her yesterday and she doesn't even know you- of course she isn't going to want you hanging all over her." The rest of the people in the class gasped and immediately began whispering to each other.
Tamaki had almost killed someone yesterday?
What was going on?
.:o0O0o:.
Third period: Homeroom
When the time for homeroom came around, the Gregory sisters were granted some reprieve. Tamaki had decided to take this time to call a quick meeting of the host club.
"Alright, men!" He declared, slamming a fist into his hand with determination. "We have a problem. Jessica and Julia Gregory will not join our club. We need to figure out why and get them to join so we can make sure they keep Haruhi's secret!" Tamaki said, somehow forgetting that he was the reason that the twins had run out yesterday.
.:o0O0o:.
In every subsequent class, at least one member of the host club would bombard the twins with requests, demands, or threats to join the Host Club.
In history, Tamaki threw himself in front of the girls, begging them to come to the host club.
In Japanese Literature, Kyoya spoke to them, glasses flashing and little black book in hand. Sadly (for Kyoya, at least) the Shadow King did not have sufficient information on the girls, so he could not blackmail, coerce, bribe, nor manipulate them.
The next period was one that the Gregorys did not share. In her music class, Julia was irritated to see Tamaki sitting at the piano at the back of the room. She ignored all attempts he made to talk to her, concentrating on the lecture the teacher was giving. While it was an informal class, she didn't want to miss any of the information.
Jessica, on the other hand, had her Art class that period. She cheerfully put in her headphones and got to work on her project, a simple clay pot. She didn't even notice when Mori wrote a note on a paper towel and passed it to her, she simply used it to wipe her fingers clean of the brown smears.
The twins met each other in the courtyard for lunch. Luckily, they were several minutes ahead of the rush, so they were able to pick a good seat in the lunchroom. They were left in peace for that period, since the host club was mobbed the instant they stepped into the room.
The next period served as a reprieve to both girls, since none of the members of the Host Club were in Julia's Dance class or Jessica's Jewelry class.
Julia stepped lightly into the dance room, leaving her belongings by the door. She quickly surveyed the class, before heading over to a free spot by a tall brunette along the far wall. She waved at the girl, who returned the gesture tentatively.
"Hi, I'm Julia," she greeted, smiling before settling down into a stretch.
"Miyoko, nice to meet you," the girl responded in a tone that suggested otherwise. Used to that sort of reception in a new ballet class, Julia was unperturbed; she mentally noted the girl's name and turned away, looking for friendlier faces. By that time, the rest of the students had arrived and seated themselves in various clumps around the room. Some girls shot curious glances at her, and a couple went out of their way to introduce themselves, but most of them ignored the new student in the corner.
The heavy thud of a door closing caught everyone's attention, silencing the quiet chatter which had previously filled the room. A tall, sharp-looking woman had entered, and was striding over to the barre in the front of the room. "Greetings," the woman said briskly. "I am Miss Zykova, for those of you who have not taken a class with me before. Now, let us begin."
.:o0O0o:.
When Jessica stepped into the Jewelry classroom, she was somewhat disappointed to see that her usual spot had been taken by a gaggle of giggling girls. She sighed and retrieved her materials from her locker before glancing around the classroom. There, in the back corner! There was only one person sitting at the table meant for four. Jessica plopped down and began laying out her materials.
"What are you doing?" Came a low voice to her right. Jessica glanced over and saw a somewhat hunched figure in a black cloak. The voice was male, but she didn't know much more than that, since the hood hid the speaker's face.
Jessica, still unable to speak, smiled brightly and pointed to her metal file in explanation.
"No, I meant what are you doing here?"
Jessica cocked her head in confusion.
"Haven't you noticed? No one ever sits with me. They all avoid me." The man didn't sound angry or particularly upset at his words, treating them like simple facts of life. Jessica realized that simple, nonverbal cues were only going to get her so far in this conversation, so she pulled out a piece of paper and began to write.
'Why are they avoiding you?' She began, sliding the paper over to her table-partner.
"They fear being cursed." He responded.
'Cursed?' She began to slide it over to him before drawing it back and scribbling another sentence. 'Who exactly are you?'
"My name is Nekozawa Umehito. I am the leader of the Black Magic Club." Jessica raised her eyebrow in incredulity.
'They have that kind of club here? I thought they would be a little too… Posh for that here.'
"Yes, well, the school needs to cater to the students' wants as well, since we pay so much to come here. They'd hate it if we were to take our business somewhere else."
The two probably would have continued their paper and voice conversation had the teacher not walked by and realized that Jessica wasn't working. (Neither was Nekozawa, but the teacher didn't dare point that out.) They both quickly went back to work in companionable silence before Jessica slid one last note to Nekozawa.
'I'll listen if you want to continue talking.'
.:o0O0o:.
Next period: Math 3.
It was the last period of the day. Finally. Honey and Mori, in a last ditch effort to get the girls to come to the club, asked once more. Julia shook her head. Honey utilized his secret weapon: his puppy dog eyes.
Waiting.
Waiting.
His eyes were starting to water from how long he had been holding them open.
Why wasn't she caving? This always worked! Any other girl in the room would have been blubbering to him, saying of course they would come to the Host Club. Anything for Honey!
But not these girls. The only response he got was Julia saying "I'm sorry, but no."
Honey was floored.
He was about to turn on the water works, since no one had ever been able to resist tears (No one had ever been able to resist his puppy dog eyes either, but that fact was ignored.), but the teacher came in and began class.
Ahh, math. Julia sighed. Math was, at least, consistent. Unlike her sister's health or the behavior of her classmates, she could always predict what math was going to do. After 45 minutes of what some might have called torture, the bell rang to signal the end of the day. The two girls had packed up their bags and were talking when Honey and Mori came over.
Jessica was just about to shoulder her backpack when it was taken out of her hands by a giant of a man. He was the one that Julia had been talking to earlier, wasn't he? The one that-!
The one that was currently sweeping her off her feet, in the most literal fashion imaginable. Jessica's feet were knocked out from under her and she was suddenly in the air and moving. Not 'flying through the air with the greatest of ease' like an acrobat at a circus, despite what her stomach might be trying to tell her. Mori had come up behind her and scooped her into his arms, bridal style, and she was now laying very uncomfortably in his grasp with her bag clutched to her chest.
Julia knew that Jessica was less than happy, and could see that Honey was about to do the exact same thing to her, so she turned around and waved her finger at him threateningly. "Do not even try it, little man." She said, nearly growling at him. He grinned, pleased that he wouldn't have to force the second year to come with them.
Julia followed her sister and Mori, knowing that this would not end well.
Jessica was uncomfortable.
Jessica was very uncomfortable. She could feel her chin start to wrinkle in distress, the way her throat started to close up. There were tears prickling in her eyes. She couldn't hold it in any more.
She whimpered.
It was more of a sob, really, with how wet it was. A cry of distress. It happened far too often for Jessica's liking, but whenever she was uncomfortable and wasn't able to fix the situation or escape it, she would start crying. It was embarrassing, really, but it was simply how she dealt with those kinds of situations. How her anxiety dealt with those situations.
She looked up at the giant holding her in distress, whimpering again.
The giant looked down at her.
A corner of his mouth tilted up.
A smile? A smirk?
The giant winked
Jessica closed her eyes, made herself as small as she could, and pretended that none of this was happening.
*/ sorry, would have updated sooner, but jules was taking her time with the dance class bit.
How do you like it so far? Are there bits you like? Bits you hate? Something you want to see?
Feel free to tell us in a review! /*