XVI. Founder's Day
Amanda leaned against a in one of the many hallways of Luna Nova, looking over the notes to her speech. Jasminka leaned against the wall as well, eating from a bag of fancy cookies trying not to scatter too many crumbles over the front of her dress. Constanze sat on the floor nearby tinkering with one of her many mini portable robots, while pushing locks of her hair out of her face.
Through the double doors to her right Amanda could hear the muffled music coming from the grand ballroom. The Founder's Day Gala was about to start, then it was only a matter of time before she would have to take the stage and deliver a speech about why Diana should represent Luna Nova in the scholarship competition.
Amanda finally let out a deep breath and shoved the crumbled sheets of paper toward Jasminka, who took them apprehensively.
"Okay, get 'em out away from me. I swear if I try to cram more of it into my head, then it'll explode!" Amanda said, trying for the nth time to smooth back her already slicked back hair. Normally, Amanda found her iconic suit and hair style comfortable, but tonight her collar felt too tight and the rest of the suit hung onto her frame like a set of cloth weights.
Constanze folded up her robot to the size of a wallet and stored it into one of her dress pockets. She then turned to Amanda and pulled out a sign that said 'So are you ready yet?'
Amanda looked at her teammates and finally pushed herself off of the walk and faced the double doors.
"Yeah, sorry guys, normally I don't get cold feet. Let's get this over with." Amanda said leading her team into the ballroom.
As the doors opened the room revealed itself to be more glamorous that the green team had expected. The room had been decorated with magic fueled lights that danced around the ceiling in various colors and hues. There was even a stage set up with a podium for students to deliver their scholarship nomination speeches. Luna Nova students in fancy attire were spread out in clusters between groups of adults in tuxedos and dazzling ball gowns. Amanda's brain quickly assessed that they must be important donors to the school, and some of them were probably going to be judges for the final scholarship competition.
Looking around the sea of people she searched for the sound of Diana's voice. She also wondered if she would catch a hint of the woman she had overheard in the Cavendish garden, Diana's Aunt. After hearing from Diana what her Aunt was capable of, it scared Amanda to think that she might run into the aforementioned woman. Jasminka then yanked Amanda's arm and stared with dreamy eyes over to the refreshment table.
"Alright, you guys do your thing. I'll catch up later." Amanda said, breaking off from the group to find Diana. In almost no time at all she found Diana and Andrew at one corner of the room, seemingly people watching.
"So what about Samantha?" Andrew asked nodding in the direction of a red haired girl.
"No, Andrew." Diana responded, exasperated.
"What about Valerie or Claire?" Andrew pushed, not letting up.
"NO. Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I'm attracted to every girl I see." Diana finished turning to Amanda as she approached.
"Hey, so I'm assuming that you already told him?" Amanda asked, already knowing what had happened before she got there.
"Well, Diana said I could ask her any questions I want." Andrew responded, sheepishly. Diana rolled her eyes.
"Yes and it seems he has no shortage of annoying queries." Diana said.
Amanda smirked and hooked her arm around Diana's shoulders.
"SEE. That wasn't so bad, was it? You were so worried and yet here you two are with everything A okay." Amanda said, delighting in the irritation on Diana's face.
"Be that as it may, you haven't given your speech yet. Are you still certain this will work?" Diana asked, looking around with nervousness in her voice.
Amanda knew she must be on the lookout for her Aunt. It was kinda weird to see Diana so nervous, when Amanda was so used to seeing her so confident in herself. The red-haired witch decided to reassure her once more.
"Relax, all you have to do is hang out and let me do the talking. Trust me the hard part is my job." Amanda remarked, before she heard Professor Finnlean on stage testing the microphone. After a few adjustments, she cleared her throat and began to speak.
"Thank you, students, faculty and guests for attending the annual Founder's Day Gala! As a continuation of Luna Nova's proud tradition of putting student education first, our school will be participating in the 40th Annual Magic Scholarship Contest." Finnlean announced as a round of applause rang through the ballroom. Amanda tried to swallow but her mouth was too dry. Pretty soon she would be up on stage in front of everybody, trying to get them to support Diana.
Amanda normally didn't get nervous when all the attention was on her. As far she was concerned, she was a pretty awesome person that lots of people would admire. She never really worried about taking anything too seriously unless she knew she was right. However, this situation was different. Amanda found herself caught in the middle of a heated school-wide debate being tasked to defend someone who most saw as a villain. Professor Finnelian continued.
"At this time anyone who has nominated someone for the Scholarship Contest may take the stage and deliver a nomination speech." Finnlean announced looking around to see if anyone was making their way to the stage.
Amanda took a deep breath and gave Diana a forced, nervous smile and started walking up. Diana stopped her with a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Amanda, thank you. I want you to know that, even if everyone else decides that I'm not fit to represent Luna Nova, that I appreciate everything you've done for me. In spite of how this situation started out, there are very few people in my life who have done what you've done for me." Amanda grinned, she hadn't expected Diana to get so sappy so soon.
"Don't thank me yet. I still gotta get up there and make an impression." She said walking away from Diana and Andrew.
Once Amanda reached the stairs leading up to the stage she noticed 3 students in line in front of her, one of which was Sucy. As the first student adjusted the microphone and started talking, Sucy glanced behind her shoulder and glared at Amanda's presence.
Amanda glared back. She didn't want to be at odds with Sucy, but she had come too far to stop now. The first speech was a quick, stammering mess and the second was long winded and Amanda could see everyone else yawning as the student listed out all of the community service that her friend Gretchen had done.
Finally, the student finished and it was Sucy's turn. Sucy confidently looked back at Amanda down her nose as she walked up to the microphone.
As Sucy spoke, Amanda had to admit her confidence was a little shaken. For someone didn't say much, Sucy delivered a heart-felt speech about Lotte. Describing the first time they had met, their team's involvement in the broomstick race earlier that year and even how Lotte always tried to see the good in people. Amanda even saw Lotte in the crowd with Akko smiling, misty eyed. It was the look of someone who was finally getting the appreciation they deserved but rarely received.
Amanda felt a ting of guilt but wiped it away in her mind. Diana deserved help and support too, after all of the shame and abuse she had endured. She had to remind herself that it was not only her job to defend Diana but to get people to sympathize with her situation. Make them realize how messed up it was that Diana had been outed, shunned by other and threatened by her Aunt into silence.
Once Sucy had finished a round of applause rang up. Sucy brushed past Amanda.
"Normally, I'd say good luck, but instead get ready to make a fool out of yourself." Sucy said into Amanda's ear. Amanda turned around to face her.
"It's not over, till it's over, Sucy and I'm known for surprising people." Amanda retorted, before marching up to the microphone with force. Now she was all fire up, this happened when someone dared to doubt her with the same attitude that Sucy had.
"Hey, everyone." Amanda said, feeling the weight of everyone in the room staring. Amanda's eyes rested on the green haired woman with features similar to Diana, near the center of the room, Aunt Daryl. She wore a bored, regal expression as she sipped the drink in her hand. Nearby she saw Diana, who nodded affirmingly at her. Amanda continued, it was up to her now.
"I'm here to nominate someone that a lot of you have mixed feelings about, Diana Cavendish." Amanda stated as a lot of students looked at her with expressions mixed with distrust and disgust.
"And I get it, I used to think the same thing. How would someone who has every advantage possible in life need a scholarship? How could someone who actively speaks against students who expressing themselves differently be worthy of a scholarship like this?
I even took it upon myself to investigate and expose this person for the hypocritical homophobe I thought they were. But honestly, I never gave them a chance to be anything other than the villain of the article I was trying to write and that was pretty shitty of me. The truth was that many of Diana's reactions to stuff like Free-Dress Friday were all defense mechanisms to shield herself from the harassment she had faced for so long. The truth is Diana's sexuality was exposed to everyone years before she was ready, she was shunned by everyone she knew and even was threatened by her own family to keep silent, or she wouldn't be able to continue her education."
Aunt Daryl almost choked on her drink as she glared indignity at Amanda. Half of the students in the crowd changed their expressions and looked toward Diana. Many of the adults in the room wore expressions of sympathy and shock. Many adults looked at Aunt Daryl in disgust.
"So that's the reason I think Diana deserves to represent Luna Nova. Cuz, if our school really cares about the education of all it's students and the students here pride themselves in being open and accepting then choosing Diana is a step in the right direction." Amanda finished, looking at Diana, who was letting some tears fall as Andrew placed a hand on her shoulder.
Amanda exited the stage as many of students mumbled among themselves. Akko was clapping along with Lotte as Sucy mumbled under her breath about the speech not being half bad.