Delaroux here; thanks for coming back you guys.
I want to give another shout out to my dear friend and beta, Lyco Rogue. She's been a great beta and a wonderful reader of my story so far, and all of the mistakes I've made, I think, have been caught by her watchful eye. She's friendly, and a lovely person, and really appreciates my updates.
Love you, hun.
And now, moving on to the story- Here we go.
Three weeks passed with no incident, aside from Yael's sudden departure from HS 118. Echelon overheard people taking about things during class, but told them not to speculate and to continue working on their final projects. When asked if he had gotten Yael expelled, he refused to comment. This made him a hero in the eyes of most of the PD elective class.
The boys and girls of the PS 118 gang were slowly drifting into study groups according to their schedules to work for their finals, which were around the corner. Helga and Phoebe usually went to either of their places after school to study, and were sometimes invited to join Arnold and Gerald in their study group. Everyone was busy, and didn't really have much time to hang out. Not with finals in less than a month.
And therefore, nothing more happened between Arnold and Helga during this time.
"Silicon glue nozzles down. Stop all work and relax. Well done." Echelon intoned. "Class, we're going to take a short break before I dismiss you, so that we can all take a look at your finals. Leave them on the table in plain sight so that everyone can take a look at what you've created." He instructed, and everyone excitedly laid out their creations on their tables.
Everyone chattered as Echelon put on one of Benny Prasad's instrumentals. The smooth sounds of the guitar, harp, and bongo soothed them all, especially Arnold, who began to listen intently. Soon there was little conversation as they walked around the class.
Over the past few Practical Design classes, Echelon taught the students how to design user friendly furniture and to implement several design theories into their final artwork, which would be a computer presentation with images of what their house would look like, along with the design process and concept. The deadline was today, before their finals began. Most of the work was done in studio itself, since he hadn't wanted to stress them out too much.
The mock-ups were a practice for the students to get a feel of their own design. He had brought with him to class several weeks before a huge package, which revealed a stack of artcard boards when opened. He showed them how to use it, and then gave them each two bottles of silicon glue and a penknife, telling them to get started making small 1:50 versions of their house design.
One would have thought this was a tedious and finicky project, but the students took it in stride and had fun playing with the card forms. They hadn't done anything like this before.
The classes following were lively ones as everyone exchanged slivers of artcard in the hopes of finding the perfect structure for their mock-ups. Even Mikaelle and Danity got into it, excitedly constructing circular hot tubs and walk-in wardrobes.
As everyone walked around, they were highly impressed with what their friends had created.
Arnold, Ely and Jeramael's mock-ups had an enormous sound system, and Gerald had a rec room for his friends to just come and chill in.
Phoebe and Cassidy's designs both had an enormous library in it, except that Cassidy also had a conjoint gallery. Helga had a large gallery for poetry and visual arts as well, with a smaller library.
Aion and Sid both had basements, but for decidedly different reasons. Sid's basement was a bedroom, and Aion's was… also a bedroom, but it was clear who wanted to sleep in their bedroom, and who had other more interesting ideas.
Harold had a large kitchen, as some things never change. Patty, Stinky and Sisera wanted large gardens in their backyard. Patty had green fingers, Stinky wanted to keep a variety of animals, and Sisera wanted a place to paint in privacy.
Thyme and Lila wanted a beautiful sitting room for house guests. Eve wanted a nice set of guestrooms for the same reason.
Rhonda wanted a huge room to entertain people in. She'd even made a bar and a pool table to scale. Thad's design actually mirrored hers almost to a tee, something no one missed. Rhonda had a lavish room for all her material possessions, and Thad's mock-up even had that.
Relial had a simplistic design that no one could find fault with, aside from an empty room. When asked, he smiled and shrugged. "A room for the both of us." When asked who the other person in "us" was, he just grinned and shrugged again.
Park and Eugene's designs were different, but both surprisingly along the same theme – zen-modern. Park's mockup even had a rock garden. Eugene's had a very nice water fountain feature down the side of the house.
Lorenzo's and Peapod's designs included conspicuously large offices; obviously both of them placed a high priority on their future jobs. Katrinka had a large patio and a barbeque pit for gatherings, and Nadine's had a large room with glass aquariums in varying sizes, obviously meant for the numerous rare insects she collected.
Overall, everyone had obviously come a very, very long way from designing toilet seats.
Echelon nodded at them all. "You don't have to bring your models home today, if you want to leave them in school. I know they're bulky. You can collect them after finals. The Hive studio will be closed to other students, but I will open it for PD students to have a place to study if they wish."
There was a loud cheer at this. Their own place to study!
Echelon eyed each project with a good mood.
"As a treat for coming such a long way from idiocy to a modicum of being real designers, your next lesson will involve studio photography." He decided. "I will provide your cameras, lights, tripods and other materials."
No one took offense at Echelon's words, but Helga lifted an eyebrow. "Don't we need those really expensive cameras for studio photography?" She asked with disdain.
"DSLR's, to be more precise." Phoebe piped up, nodding. "We might have to work with the different settings, depending on whether or not there will be outdoor photography."
"There will be both indoor and outdoor photography. But I will have an external professional instructor come in to teach you. It will be…" He considered his next words carefully. "… A surprise," He deadpanned, "Since you will all have finished your finals by then. I'm certain you will all enjoy it. I expect you all to do exceedingly well for your studies. I'm sure you can all excel, if you put your mind to it." Echelon informed them. The students smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
"Now get out of the studio while I grade your projects."
[Post-finals]
Echelon briskly entered the classroom. Everyone blinked, confused. This was their homeroom period, not their Practical Design elective slot. It was next on their timetable, though.
"Welcome back from your finals." He congratulated them monotonously. A loud cheer erupted from all of the gang, but the teacher looked highly irritable. "I assume from the noise level that Liam aside, who is currently setting up a variety of things for me in the Hive studio, you are all here. Settle down. I have a headache. Its reason will be made apparent later on in the lesson."
He waited till everyone had more or less settled down before nodding. "Good. Now you must be wondering why I'm not Miss Davin." He set his materials down, removing a tape measure from around his neck and rolling it up.
Most of the class responded on the affirmative.
"Yes sir." Lila replied for them all pleasantly.
"Well, she's pregnant and off to get married so that her baby won't be born out of wedlock." He replied blandly, with a dead bored look in his eyes.
Everyone's eyes widened in shock at his straightforwardness and bluntness. Helga though, was already used to it and bent her head down, deciding to take a short nap. She was sound asleep in seconds, having been tired out from mugging over her finals.
"What?" Rhonda seemed to be taking this especially seriously.
Echelon lifted an eyebrow at their response, which he found completely melodramatic and unnecessary. "Although come to think of it, if they had the baby first, getting married now isn't so much preventing the baby being born out of wedlock as it is taking responsibility for their actions..." He shrugged nonchalantly. "But what do I know, I'm only omniscient." He sighed at the blindness of the world.
The class stared at him, unsure whether to laugh or to cry at the absurdity in that statement.
"Yeah." He nodded without a trace of hesitation. "Today, you'll be with me the entire day. I've cleared it with your other teachers. And by the way class, I was notified in advance that today was bring-your-brat-to-school day for all faculty members. So I flew in a few... People, from Firnest." He gestured behind him at his chair that was pushed almost all the way under the table. "This is my goddaughter…"
The class blinked, not really seeing anyone, or any movement. Echelon waited for a full minute before he sighed.
"Okay, everyone hang on."
He walked around the table and pulled the chair out to reveal a beautiful little girl curled up on the large leather seat. She was dressed simply in a huge oversized hoodie and a pair of black tights tucked into pink sport shoes. He carried her up onto the table-top without any resistance. Her eyes were huge and unblinking as she woke up looked at everyone, shyly keeping quiet. "Her name is Trint Adali Conner, and I..."
"DAAAD!"
Echelon groaned in annoyance.
Someone clad in a large hoodie and sunglasses ran into the room and barrelled into the short teacher. Echelon grunted and shoved at him irritably as Trint giggled softly. The class was in shock. "Get off of me, you imbecile." Echelon hissed, as two other men, dressed identically, entered the room.
"Wow, this is quite a class..." One of them said, adjusting his sunglasses and looking around the classroom. "So many fine young men and women interested in design; it's exciting." He was smiling rather cheerfully.
The other man sniffed disdainfully as his eyes roved the classroom. "Is that a… beanbag chair?" His eyes flickered back to the teacher and there was ice in his tone. "God Echelon, is this a design studio, really?"
Echelon sighed in distaste at the man clinging onto him. "These are her... Her numerous guardians... It's quite a class, Jericho, yes it really is, Alaine, and Slaine, I urge you, please, not to touch me excessively." He finally managed to get the boy off him and neatly stepped away.
"Aw, why you gotta be so cold, dad." The man seemed to be hurt, and pouted childishly.
"And not to call me dad." Echelon sneered condescendingly, but there was no real harshness in his words. "We're in a school, you fools. Unless you want to be suspicious and conspicuous, remove the sunglasses and hoodies." He ordered.
"But..." Icy-cold-tone man protested.
"Now!" The man hissed. "So help me God, I will have the security check you for weapons just for the hell of it." He narrowed his eyes.
Slaine sighed. "We're fucked either way." He and the other two men slowly peeled their sunglasses away. The class gasped, and the girls especially loudly. The men were gaping and Alaine looked extremely irritated.
"YOU'RE MODELS!" Rhonda screamed excitedly as she pointed at Slaine and Alaine. "You've been in Elle, Vogue, and Fevaricci! And those Japanese modelling magazines, Bubble Pop and Kimim-" She gushed on.
"You were in Men's Weekly two issues back." Eugene realized as he stated intently at Slaine. "And on the cover of FHM Men."
"And this month's Women's Weekly." Patty snickered.
Echelon frowned as Alaine and Slaine turned to glare at him. "Oh." He said in acknowledgement at their disguises, now pooled around their feet. "Sorry." He smirked, clearly not.
Jericho smiled rather happily. "I don't envy you two." He said rather unsympathetically.
Slaine grinned at Eugene. "Nice reading list." He turned to Alaine. "I told you our FHM shots were our best."
Eugene flushed bright red.
Alaine rolled his eyes passionately. "What the hell we were doing in Women's Weekly is what I'd like to know." He hissed.
Echelon turned to the men beside him, in a line now. "Everyone, this is Alaine Fortefrious. He is an interior designer and part-time model. He's drawn up plans for the house of Firnest's prime minister, and many other people in show business and Hollywood." Echelon indicated the most effeminate-looking and bad-tempered man of the three.
He was dressed in a white dress shirt with dark blue dress pants and leather boots. His most noticeable features were his pure white hair that was tied back into a high ponytail with a navy blue ribbon. He was beautifully petite and androgynous.
Alaine sighed as he stepped forward. "I wish people knew me more for my design work than modelling." He glared at all of them, particularly the ones who had spoken up earlier. "I prefer designing establishments the generic public can use though, like hotels and airports. Frivolous demands of the rich and famous aren't really my type of thing." He admitted carefully.
"Whose house have you designed?" Arnold asked, interested.
Gerald grinned. "You done anyone we know?"
Alaine thought about this for a bit. "My latest celebrity project was one of Johnny Depp's vacation homes, in Cleveland, Ohio." He said, narrowing his eyes as though trying to remember if that was.
"Wow..." Nadine was a huge fan of Johnny Depp. Peapod smirked, knowing this about her.
Then Alaine turned to Gerald and smirked. "And yes, I'm pretty sure I've done people you know."
Gerald groaned as he replayed his question in his mind, realizing how it could have been taken. The class laughed loudly at him.
Echelon cleared his throat. "Listen up. That's Jericho Conner. He's a doctor who specializes in optometry and works sporadically in the ER of Firnest's largest private hospital. He treats children for free in his home clinic. Trint is his younger sister."
This man seemed the most pleasant and sane of the three, with kind eyes and a brilliant smile. He wore a long sleeved form-fitting turtleneck in a dark forest green, and black jeans that tucked into classy-looking sneakers. His glasses glinted on the edge of his shapely nose. His jet black hair hung over his eyes, and Trint giggled as he tried to blow it out of the way.
Jericho stepped forth with a smile. "It's tough juggling my priorities between my job and everything else I do on the side, really, but I'm still pursuing a diploma in professional photography though. It's very fun, and I do a lot of Slaine and Alaine's photo-shoots." He admitted. Trint held out her tiny hands and Jericho obligingly picked her up with a smile. "And I love my little sister." He added.
Trint squealed delightedly as he carefully lifted her so that she sat on his shoulders.
"Aww." Phoebe cooed softly.
Patty smiled. "That's really sweet." She commented.
Trint giggled as Slaine blew a raspberry at her.
Echelon gestured to the last man of the three. "And that's Slaine, the cause of my aforementioned headache, and the bane of my existence. He's a professional asshole." He deadpanned. The class erupted in laughter as Slaine glared at them all playfully.
Slaine had fiery red hair and a grungey sense of style. Arnold knew now what Helga was talking about as he took his appearance in. He had on a white T-shirt that proclaimed, 'HATERS GONNA HATE' in bold print, with a jacket made of strips of cloth, seemingly held together with safety pins and prayers. His jeans were ripped and laced up the sides, and he had on combat boots that were laced in the tidiest fashion compared to the rest of his get up. His accessories altogether probably weihed as much as Trint herself.
"Dad!" He protested.
"Alright fine. You all already know he's a model. He's also an exceptional pickpocket and a paid... Mostly paid... computer hacker."
Park's eyes widened. "Cool…" He whispered, impressed. The Asian was interested in technology, and as a gamer, SUPER interested in hacking.
Lila and Phoebe gasped. Illegal-ness! So much illegal-ness!
"Wicked." Lorenzo smirked. Katrinka blushed at how attractive he looked.
"So he mostly gets paid?" Sid asked, before thoughtfully adding, "Sir?"
"Believe me kid; modelling aside, he has no fully legal profession." Alaine replied the boy. "Even if he's helping one person, he'll be screwing the other quite significantly." He added in a bored and slightly accusatory tone.
Jericho laughed a little nervously at what they were saying about his friend. "Slaine's talents are... Unique that way." He admitted cautiously.
Seeing his nervousness made Alaine and Slaine laugh. Echelon's lips quirked upwards in a small almost-smile. "And he's entitled to citizenship in ninety eight independent states and countries across the world because the government is highly indebted to him." The teacher added.
"Even if he's playing the field and ultimately working for himself." Alaine reminded them all.
Slaine was impressed, not to mention utterly content, with his introduction. "Thank you, thank you." He smiled at them all. He looked insanely attractive.
"So that's all of them, and Slaine," Echelon held out a hand with a poker face. "Give me back my cigarettes."
The class gasped as Slaine laughed and retrieved the box out from his front pocket with a grin. They hadn't even seen his hand move, there wasn't even the slightest flash of suspicious behaviour.
"Whoops! Sorry, you know? Force of habit..." He said with a mock apologetic look.
"I see." Echelon snatched his cigarettes back and lifted an eyebrow as he kept them in his own pocket. "Well, if that continues, I might have to hit you very hard. You know," He smiled rather wistfully, "force of habit."
"Pass!" Slaine remarked comically, and he pointed with a wide-eyed gasp of happiness. "And look guys, it's Helga! IT'S HELGA!"
Trint's face instantly brightened. "Where? Mom!"
"MOM?" The class' response was unanimous.
"WHAT!" Rhonda screamed for the second time. Phoebe covered her mouth with shock.
"Oh my." The Japanese girl breathed.
Arnold was too shocked to comment. Gerald tried to shake him out of his catatonic shape with no success. Nadine gasped loudly as Trint ran up to Helga and shook the blonde awake, who quickly recognized the young girl.
"Wha-" She looked up in utter confusion and waited for the world to register before her face broke into a full on grin. "Hey doll! You guys! God, I missed you all to pieces!"
"And thus, I have ascertained someone was not paying attention in my class." Echelon deadpanned.
"Mom, Slaine was being mean to me on the plane."
"In case no one heard us earlier... MOM?" Thad yelled loudly, and Helga laughed.
"She calls me that. I took care of her a lot when we were in Firnest." She turned back to the young girl. "How was he mean to you, Tri?"
"He tickled me till I screamed." Trint complained, bundling herself conveniently in Helga's lap. It escaped no one's attention how easily Helga's arms cradled the small girl. It was obvious she was very used to taking care of the little girl. "It was embarrassing." She covered her face dramatically.
"Aw. Alright come here." Helga whispered something into Trint's ear.
Trint grinned and stood up, walking back to the front of the class.
Slaine suddenly feared for his life.
"Helga, what did you tell her…" His eyes widened as the little girl jabbed her elbow against his inner thigh and yelped loudly. "ARGHHHHH! MERLIN'S BALLS!" He screamed rather poetically. "ALAINE, SAVE ME!" He reached out weakly for the petite man's help.
Alaine smirked. "No. This is pretty funny actually."
Jericho cheered for his younger sister and the class laughed.
"Hold him down!" Harold yelled, like a boss.
Stinky pounded his fist in the air. "You get 'im, girlie!" He laughed.
Echelon kneaded his forehead. "We are having a class!" He exclaimed, making all movement cease. "What are you three doing here anyway? I told you to proceed to the studio when the lesson started, which isn't for another twenty minutes." He glared.
"There was no porn in the staff roo- I KID I KID." Slaine cut himself off as Jericho dutifully covered his sister's ears and Alaine looked dangerously close to killing him. "We were uh. Bored." He said lamely.
Echelon looked at his class.
"Jericho will be teaching you all studio photography. Alaine and Slaine have a shoot, and the presence of these two hooligan models and one adult being in the school has been legalized by the principal."
"Hey!" Alaine took offense.
Jericho just smiled, taking no offense.
Slaine took a little offense, but then again he couldn't really defend himself.
"Alaine and Slaine will be having a shoot for next month's issue of V.E.R.V.E, and I'd appreciate it if everyone was… Open-minded." Jericho said with a little chuckle.
Alaine rolled his eyes gain. "VERY, open-minded." He emphasized, glaring at Jericho for the first time.
"They'll handle it. It's just a job." Slaine shrugged.
Alaine and Jericho shared a look. The redhead probably hadn't read the modelling project brief yet.
"All the cameras are in the studio." Echelon told them. "If you take good shots and take the assignment seriously, I'll let you have them. Not much use for me." Echelon added.
The class was speechless, including Helga. Echelon was so crazily unorthodox it was insane.
Nonchalantly, he continued. "Liam has been tasked with explaining all that has happened there to the rest of the students who are probably waiting in Hive. So we should get moving. But before we do, I'd like you all to pair up to the best of your abilities now." He turned to the three men and spoke to them in a business-like manner while waiting.
Trint bounded over to Helga and held her hand.
Helga absentmindedly let her fingers curl around the little girl's fingers as Arnold walked over to her, smiling.
"Be my partner?" He asked, looking worried she'd say no.
She nodded, still speechless.
Arnold smiled in relief and took her hand softly.
She felt gooey inside. 'This is THE best day of my life.'
Echelon, Slaine, Alaine and Jericho looked over at the pair. Jericho smiled and nodded, and Alaine said something no one could hear. Echelon agreed, and Slaine made a vague kissing motion.
Arnold and Helga modelling in the next chapter ;)
Please tell me if you think I'm writing the story WAY too much on my own characters ): I tend to get carried away sometimes…
REVIEWS ARE MUCHOS APPRECIATED (: And I will write faster, promise!
