A/N: this chapter loosely takes place pre-sequel
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Ella got to her class, Starbeaks cup in wing, at the same time as always: early enough, but not too early that there wasn't any other bird in the giant room. This class, Engineering, was an absolute bore from beginning to end, not even the professor wanted to be there. Said professor would often times go on unrelated tangents about how he got fired from his previous job at the apple store. However, this wasn't the first or last time that she had to take a class that was completely unrelated from her major, so whatever.
The one thing that really stood out from this course specifically was not any topic or anything relating to it, but a bird. One of her classmates. Silver.
Not in a good way, though. She was kinda annoying, if Ella was being honest, and she was brutally so.
Like, 'constantly-interrupting-the-professor-to-correct-him' annoying. Like, 'giving-a-two-hour-presentation-when-it-should-be-five-minutes' annoying.
She fiddled with the lid of her empty cup, already having drank all of her black coffee (how it tasted didn't matter, she just needed to be awake). Again, Ella didn't care for this class, but she at least tried to pay attention, which sucked whenever Silver had to share her input on the current lecture and kept going on, and on, and on. Ella wanted to do well, not just in her classes, but in general. She wanted to succeed. She needed to succeed. She studied as much as she could, all while balancing her job, her personal life, working out, going back and forth on her thoughts on being single, dealing with her tiring mom, and the exhaustion of maintaining pure white feathers every day.
And then there was Silver, who was the youngest in the class, seemed like she knew more about the subjects than the professor himself, was always seen with these immaculate braids, and made it all seem effortless. She seemed happy.
That's what really got to Ella. It was almost... It was unfair how perfect Silver was.
Not that Ella thought about Silver that much, or anything.
When the professor walked in, clearly not wanting the class to start as much as his students did, Ella tore herself away from her thoughts and became alert to her surroundings, totally ready to learn, but also she just so happened to realize that Silver wasn't present.
Not only would Silver always be the only bird to earnestly say good morning to the professor while the others would mumble it— if anything—, but she would always be one of the first students to be seated. That should've been Ella's first indicator, but again, she didn't think about Silver that much, so. Silver also had the tendency to sit right in the front, much to the professor's annoyance, but there was also a few occasions in which she would sit differently in order to spark a conversation with whichever bird was already there. Silver never did that to Ella for some reason, not that Ella cared or wondered why or anything. They'd never spoken to each other before, so it didn't matter.
Moving her long-empty cup to the side, Ella placed her notebook on the table, reaching for her favorite purple pen to take notes. Writing the current date on the side, the pen ink had a light glitter to it, which Ella found to be much more interesting at the moment than anything that the professor was talking about, but she shook her head quickly. She needed to pay attention.
Not even two minutes later, the door opened, along with the arrival of a bird that Ella would recognize from a mile away. Like, who wouldn't? Those eyes, those braids. Speaking of which, of course Silver could use her braids as propellers because of course she was the only non-eagle who could pretty much fly. She's perfect.
Not as a compliment, of course. More like, we get it, you're perfect.
Landing in front of the professor, Silver rapidly talked about how she was sorry for being late, how she has the papers to excuse herself, how now she was sorry for interrupting the class to talk about how sorry she was, how she was helping her brother or something, Ella didn't care. Though, of course Silver was the type of bird to come late only because she was helping someone. She's an angel. No, Ella wasn't bitter, she was just pointing out the facts.
Ella's eyes widened as Silver walked towards her. She scanned the room, looked to the side, and was hit with the realization that there was no other empty seat than right next to her.
When Silver took a seat, Ella gulped. When Silver locked eyes with her, Ella felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest.
"Good morning!" Silver said to her, and only her, grinning and briefly closing her eyes to complete the expression.
"...Hi..." Ella briefly forgot how to speak.
"Did I miss anything? Like, I know I'm not that late, but still." Silver's eyes went for Ella's notebook page, which was completely blank aside from the date. "Oh, I guess not, but thanks anyway!"
After that, Silver was completely glued to the lecture. She was talkative, but always kept it relevant to the topic of the day.
Ella did not do that.
Ella's logical brain, the one that kept yelling at her about how she needs to pass this course no matter how boring it was, seemed to have shut off. She couldn't tear her vision away from Silver.
She wondered how long it must've taken for Silver to grow out her headfeathers to that length, she wondered how Silver always kept them styled so perfectly, she questioned how the braids... sparkled. Silver's braids were sparkly and she didn't notice until now. Ella always liked how Silver had a tinge of pink to her feathers, especially near the tips of her fingers. Ella now also noticed that Silver was capable of writing with both wings at the same time, all while reading and talking. She was... impressed.
Before she knew it, the class was over. Seeing her classmates begin to walk out made her come to her senses and realize that she was resting her head on the palm of her wing this entire time. Looking down, she was struck by how she didn't take a single note. She frowned at herself with slight worry. What was happening?
Beginning to pack her stuff, Ella froze when a familiar voice spoke to her.
"Hi, again!" Silver said, as cheerfully as ever. She was now standing, about to leave, but apparently couldn't go until she said something to Ella. "Is the something on my face, by any chance? I mean, you stared at me for the entire lecture. Not that I'm mad! If anything, I'm glad that you didn't say anything so that I wouldn't miss any of the information that's gonna be on the test! That's sweet!"
...
Staring? Lots of info? A test?! Sweet?! All too much all at once, but for some reason it made Ella's face burn.
Ella swallowed, attempting to come across more as her aloof self. "Nothing's on it and also, I wasn't staring." A 'don't flatter yourself' was up next, but she suddenly felt as though it was too mean. Again, what was happening?! "Just zoning out, that's all. This class is boring."
Silver loved this class, did saying that make Silver feel bad? Silver's face didn't appear all that upset. "Is it really boring to you, or do you not understand it?" She asked, more curious than anything.
"What's the difference?"
"Well, understanding it can make it tolerable, at least! And I love talking about engineering, so I can help you!"
"I..." Ella blinked. "Really need to pass the test... so yes."
"Great! I'm usually at the library after this class, so just stop by and visit me whenever you want! Oh, and remember the test is on Friday!" With that, Silver walked out of the room, Ella now being the only student left. Maybe. There was always a few that were asleep.
Ella was still sitting there, attempting to process everything that just happened. And, so far, her only takeaways were:
A) She's so nice, and B) What just happened?