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Like I said last time, this is a bit of a shorter chapter, but one of my favorite OCs is introduced and I hope you love her as much as I do. Side note: I'm (ideally) posting an atla fic later today, and I'm not saying you have to read it if you're into atla, but... ;) Anyways, I hope you're all doing well and staying safe during this time of quarantine - remember to wear a mask if you must leave the house! Enjoy the chapter :)

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"Are you coming to the game tomorrow?" Rayla asked eagerly as she slid into her desk next to Callum's. "It's not against a big team, so I can't hold it against you if you don't want to or didn't plan to go, but..." She offered him a small, almost bashful smile. "I would really appreciate it if you came."

Callum chuckled. "So… what I'm hearing is you missed me during your away game?"

Rayla made a mildly disgusted face. "You have no idea how hard it is to be surrounded by obnoxious amounts of testosterone in such small areas. It's enough to make me claustrophobic." She rolled her eyes. "At least you talk about something other than how you're trying to hook up with some girl in your history class."

"That's only because I already managed to hook up with a certain girl in my history class," he teased, satisfaction rushing through his veins when he saw his girlfriend blush at the comment. "But come on. Be fair. There's no way that's all they talk about."

"True," Rayla admitted with a sigh. "Sometimes they talk about trying to hook up with the girls in their science class. Or even the boys in their math class! I guess they have a thing for nerds."

Callum snorted. "You know what? Good for them." If society had progressed to the point where football players, the most stereotypical macho-y, masculine men, could talk about how much they liked guys - nerdy guys - without shame, then surely that was a sign of tremendous growth. He pulled his binder out of his booksack. "It's great to know that they're not ashamed of their sexuality."

"You Katolians have always been weird about that kind of thing," Rayla mused, tucking her hair behind her ear before getting her own materials for class out of her bag. "Xadia never had to 'legalize' same-sex marriage. It's just always been a thing there."

Callum rolled his eyes, though he was unable to stop himself from grinning. "I know, I know. We of Katolis are inferior to the high and mighty Xadians. No need to remind me."

"Pff. That is not what I meant and you know it." She reached up to push Callum's bangs out of his face. "Don't forget, Xadia has its own issues. Remember how long it took them to be okay with inter-clan relationships?" She shrugged. "Xadia and Katolis are just very different countries. Nothing wrong with that."

Callum nodded and placed his hand on top of hers. He supposed the action was rooted in being a comforting gesture, but the truth? He just liked holding his girlfriend's hand.

"Anyways," Rayla continued after a pause, "at least Katolis embraces technological advancements with open arms. It took me years to convince Runaan and Ethari that I needed a phone if I was going to be staying after school for drama practice four days a week in high school."

Callum's eyes widened. He normally would have taken a moment to address the multitude of issues that came with Katolis's obsession towards 'progress' in the form of technology and AI, but the latter part of her sentence had hit him like a steamroller. "Wait a minute… No way." He smirked at her. "Did you just admit to being a theatre kid?"

"Hey - don't you get all elitist with me," Rayla threatened. "Theatre is fun. And as someone who has done several different martial arts for a majority of her life and not to mention now plays football on the regular, I can assure you that drama is also ten times harder. Longer hours, twice as much work to accomplish, plus the performances themselves are the highest-pressure scenarios you'll ever be in - stage actors are the strongest people in the world, especially actors who do musical theatre. And that is a fact."

In all honesty, Callum was keenly aware that his girlfriend was correct. Claudia had been involved in theatre since she was little, and that hobby both consumed hours out of her week as well as often drove her up the wall, even for as much as she loved doing it. "What about film actors?" he asked after pondering her statement. "Is it not the same amount of work for them?"

"Please," Rayla said, rolling her eyes. "Film actors are cowards. Teleprompters? Retakes? Sound adjustment? Live theatre has no such luxuries. You'd better know all of your lines and cues by heart because you have no second chance in the middle of the show."

Callum whistled. "Oh, this is serious. I see."

Rayla laughed. "Don't make fun of me. The distinction is very important, okay? Ask Claudia!"

"Uh huh. And you're sure you're not overstating the issue? Just a little bit?"

"Shush. Professor Dupuy is here now." She winked at him, moving her hand that was underneath his to properly intertwine their fingers together. The best thing about Rayla sitting to his left - and the fact that she was ambidextrous - was that they could take notes and hold hands at the same time if they wanted to.

And they often wanted to.

Professor Dupuy placed their satchel on their desk at the front of the class with Starbucks in their other hand - as per usual. "I've got good news and bad news for you guys," they said, taking a sip from their drink that was far too bright a pink to be healthy. "The bad news is that my cat is sick."

Several people gasped, and a chorus of concerned murmurs filled the room. Callum could feel his own lips turning downwards into a worried frown. Professor Dupuy loved their cat, and had only adopted her a few months ago from a shelter. Finally, someone called out, "Is Mace going to be okay?"

Professor Dupuy nodded, taking another sip of their drink before placing it on their desk beside their satchel. "Yes. And that's actually a third of the good news right there. I took her to the vet yesterday because she kept coughing, and they called me this morning to let me know that she has the feline equivalent of the flu."

The entire class let out a collective sigh of relief at their words.

"That said, I will continue to worry about Mace until she is returned to me with a chipper attitude and in perfect health, so another third of the good news is that I will not be lecturing today. But" - they sent the class a pointed look - "I am not cancelling class. Instead, you'll start working on your group presentations for the midterm. So this is just an extra day of preparation. You have five minutes to get yourselves into groups of three. After those five minutes have passed, I'll create groups from the people left. Good luck, have fun, all the jazz."

"Wait - what's the final third of your good news?" someone asked.

Professor Dupuy grinned at the class. "Well, as you all know, I have been trying for a very long time to get… mm, 'un-married' is the funniest way to put it. As of yesterday, my manipulative jerk of a husband finally agreed to our Separation Agreement - which was more generous to him than it should have been, I'm sure, but hey! Good riddance to him. As soon as the divorce is finalized, I will be completely free of his presence in my life."

The class all erupted into cheers and applause. Professor Dupuy had been detailing their journey to divorce after having been married to a spouse who was… the absolute worst, to put it kindly, for several years, and Callum couldn't help but feel elated on his teacher's behalf that they'd soon be independent again.

Professor Dupuy waved their hand dismissively. "But that's enough about my personal life. I believe you all have a midterm to prepare for? Get in groups of three! Five minutes!"

Rayla groaned as people began scurrying around the classroom to make their groups. "Ugh. Why couldn't it have been pairs instead? Professor Dupuy has always organized projects in pairs before this."

Callum chewed the inside of his cheek, knowing that nothing he said could be seen as a valid excuse or explanation. The fact of the matter was that she was Xadian and his dad was the head of the college. Separately, maybe such issues could have been manageable. But together? People didn't want to touch them with a 30-foot pole. And, to be fair, they themselves weren't exactly interested in working with people who had that kind of nasty attitude, anyways.

And it wasn't like Professor Dupuy hadn't been understanding about the matter, either. In fact, they'd been the most cooperative of all their teachers, and had specifically planned many of their projects to be completed in pairs for the sole purpose of allowing Callum and Rayla to work with only each other, no hassle. They'd even made a point to incorporate lessons on bigotry into their curriculum, blending it with examinations of how the Renaissance continued to influence present day. As someone who was agender, they'd told the two, they understood the feeling of helplessness that bloomed from intolerance and wanted to do everything they could to dispel that kind of environment in their classroom.

In other words, Professor Dupuy was the best person to ever exist. Plain and simple.

Their classmates always looked plenty ashamed of themselves after those lessons, but they'd also made zero effort to change their behavior or call out bigotry in others when they saw it. Sure, they weren't all necessarily outwardly cruel, but that wasn't the problem. The bane of humanity was apathy. That, and complacency.

"Should I ask Professor Dupuy if we can bend the rules and work as a group of two?" Callum asked his girlfriend, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Rayla sighed glumly, taking her hand out of Callum's to rest her chin on it. "Yeah. I guess there's not really any use waiting around -"

"Actually, I'm going to be in your group."

Callum looked up to see a girl wearing a bright pink hijab standing in front of their desks, the colorful clothing item standing out from her otherwise dark-colored, punk-ish garb. "Uh," he stammered. Something in his gut told him that she would not be taking no for an answer. Well, less his gut and more the fact that she'd said 'going to' rather than 'can I'. A statement of fact rather than a request. "Er… sure? I mean - that's cool. Awesome."

"Great." The girl took the seat next to Rayla, who looked as stunned as Callum felt inside. "My name is Sonya, by the way," she added, dropping her bag to the floor.

"Rayla," his girlfriend said after a pause, giving her a wary smile. "And this is Callum."

"Nice to meet you both," Sonya said with a nod before immediately diving into business. "So. What are our three topics to request from Professor Dupuy for our presentation? I'm personally a fan of how the humanistic elements of the Renaissance tended to align with the development of individualism as a break from medieval Christianity and the Catholic Church's theme of attributing everything to God."

Wow.

Well, some people were definitely better at the thematic side of history than he was. He found that it had always been easier for him to pick up the cultural aspects. "Well... I - uh, I like da Vinci," Callum offered, internally cringing at the way his voice faltered.

Rayla rolled her eyes good-naturedly, lightly elbowing him in the side. "You would adore the quintessential Renaissance man, wouldn't you?"

Callum blushed at his girlfriend's teasing. "Look, he developed designs for a helicopter in the 1400s. You can't tell me that's not impressive. I mean, he was literally centuries ahead of his time."

"He also developed early designs for a submarine," Sonya pointed out, twisting a black ring around her right middle finger. "So I'd agree that da Vinci was pretty cool. I wouldn't mind doing our presentation on him."

"Thank you, Sonya," Callum said, crossing his arms over his chest and giving Rayla a satisfied smirk. "See?"

"Hey, I wasn't disagreeing," Rayla countered with a laugh. "Just pointing out that you're kind of in love with the guy."

Fair enough. He wasn't going to deny that.

"What about you, Rayla?" Sonya asked. "Any particular topics you want to request from Professor Dupuy?"

"Hmm…" Rayla tapped her chin. "Well, I'm an English Renaissance kind of gal." She placed a hand on her chest. "William Shakespeare owns my heart."

Sonya nodded in agreement. "Shakespeare was a genius. No one comes close to equaling his talent, from the playwrights that came before him to those of today." She stood up. "So individualism, da Vinci, and the English Renaissance are our three requests." She didn't wait for confirmation to continue. "Sounds good. I'll let Professor Dupuy know." With that, she began walking down the aisle towards their professor's desk.

"She seems pretty cool," Rayla said after a pause, her cheeks pink. "And I love her look. It's an awesome contrast."

Callum raised an eyebrow at her comment. "I never really took you as someone who focused on appearances."

Rayla snorted. "Callum. I am absolutely as shallow and as insecure as the next person. Don't you ever forget it."

Callum laughed. "Understood." He glanced at Sonya, who was now talking to their professor. "But you're right. She does seem cool. And she likes da Vinci, which is even better." He made a mental note to research how to greet Muslim women as a non-Muslim man, that way he could properly say hello the next time they met up with her.

Rayla nodded eagerly. "This is like, the first time I've actually been excited about a group project in here." She paused, then hastily added, "Not that I don't love working with you, of course, but there's something exhilarating about being in a group of three where the third person doesn't irrationally hate you."

"No, I definitely get it," he agreed. Sonya gave off a vibe of someone who was dedicated and would do her part of the midterm project fairly and equally. Plus, there would now be less for each of them to memorize for the actual presenting part, which was an added bonus that Callum was particularly fond of.

"Individualism it is," Sonya said as she returned to the group, sitting back down at her desk. "But Professor Dupuy encourages us to incorporate da Vinci and the English Renaissance into it. I think we can easily hit all three. Does that work?"

"Sounds great to me," Rayla said, grinning at her. "I can't wait to get started."

Sonya shrugged. "Well, there's no reason to put it off." She pulled her binder out of her bag, dropping it down onto her desk before offering them a small smile. "Let's get started."

They were so going to ace this midterm.

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I'm not saying Sonya is cooler than all of us, but Sonya is cooler than all of us. I'm excited for all of you to see her role in this fic, as well as how she grows and changes over the course of the story. Anyways - see you in a week! (Or later today/tomorrow if you read my atla fic lmao.) Thank you for reading!