Double Update: AKA I'm feeling nice today.
The school was nice, Scarlet figured, with the marble floors and large lockers. The bathrooms were clean, including showers. She spent her first period wandering the halls, mentally mapping the school and its room numbers. She glanced at her phone, realizing that she had ten minutes left to get to her next class, which happened to be in the other side of the school. Sighing, Scarlet stood up from where she had been seated, snatching her bag.
Without sparing a glance behind her, she snatched her bag up, tossed her hair behind one shoulder, and made her way to her classroom. As she settled down for her second class, she let her eyes wander around, pausing on each person. A girl with auburn hair that fell down her back in waves that was writing in a notebook, looking far away. A boy with hair slicked upwards, doodling on the desk. A couple snuggling in one corner. The amount of students were rather low, but considering that it was a school that operated at night, Scarlet figured it was reasonable.
To her right, Shu stood up, disappearing out the classroom door. Scarlet watched him go, eyes narrowing in thought, before turning her head the other way, observing the girl that sat on her left. She had black hair, straight and silky looking, which was pulled back into a ponytail, and was reading a book, with her notebook and binder laid out neatly on her desk. Scarlet sighed, once, and the girl's sharp eyes turned onto her.
"Emily," She said, sticking her hand out in greeting. "Are you Scarlet?" Scarlet allowed herself a grin, shaking hands firmly with the girl.
"Scarlet Silver, right here," She replied, "Did the teacher already tell that I would be here?" Emily laughed, shaking her head.
"Oh, no, we aren't supposed to know," She explained, "But a friend of mine hacked into the school's computer system and was scrolling through records." Scarlet let a smirk crawl across her face, eyes lighting up.
"Oh, now, breaking rules is something that I can agree with," She grinned, and Emily smirked too, already taking a liking to her.
She opened her mouth to say more, but at that time, the sensei walked in, and the class fell silent. Opening the first page of the textbook in the front of the classroom, she turned to the class, eyes sharp and observing.
"Mister Sakamaki is missing, once more," She observed, dryly, "Emily, I caught your brother in the office after school last night. I'll need to talk to you about it after class. Jonathan, Celina, I understand that you are in a relationship but I do not wish to see you ravishing each other on my tables, thank you. We have a new student, Miss Scarlet, raise your hand, thank you. Today, class, we begin the second act of Romeo and Juliet. Please open your books."
It turned out by the end of the day that Scarlet and Emily shared five classes together, and the two girls clicked easily. Scarlet had melted into her group of friends easily, and received nods of acknowledgement and greetings in the hallways often. The two classes she spent without Emily were English and Music, one of which she spent with Emily's twin brother, avoiding Reiji. They technically had swimming together as well, but Scarlet and Emily found that the coach was never there, and they skipped that class altogether. The other she had with Shu, but he had skipped class, and she had easily made friends with a few of the girls in her class.
A few weeks later, Scarlet had settled into her new environment quickly. Sitting at her desk, and finishing her English homework, she set it aside and pulled her history textbook to her. Scarlet offhandedly brushed her hair out of her face, focused on getting her work done. The sound of her pencil scratching against paper and the occasional flip of a textbook page filled the room. Dragging her teeth across her lower lip, Scarlet let out a soft hiss of frustration as her pencil came to halt. She'd forgotten the name of the fifth fairy queen and she had lent her textbook to Emily for the weekend.
She fumbled around in her bag for her phone. Finding it in the second pocket she tried, she called Emily. As she waited for her friend to pick up, Scarlet moved onto the next question, hoping it would be something she knew from memory.
Explain what impact fairies have made in human folktales. Please answer in less than one thousand words.
Scarlet scowled. No luck. "Hello?" Emily had picked up, jerking Scarlet out of her irritation. "Scarlet, right?"
"Yeah. Hi, Em." Scarlet sighed. "Are you done with your history homework? I need my textbook to do mine."
"Oh, that?" Emily laughed, easy going. "Sure thing. It's easy as hell for me. I probably shouldn't have even asked for it. All the questions are centered on fairies, and I learned fairie history already." Scarlet rolled her eyes.
"Just because you're fairie, Em." She smiled, spinning her pencil between her fingers, turning it into a blur of silver colored metal. "I can come by and pick it up, or we can meet up somewhere and you can help me with it." Emily laughed on the other end.
"Lazy," She chided, "Scarlet, I should tell you to do your homework, but I'll help you with yours if you help me with mine."
"Hm," Scarlet set her pencil down, letting it roll on the desk. Her eyes followed it absentmindedly, not quite registering the movement. "Sure thing. Where do you want to meet up? I'm game for anywhere in the country."
"I was thinking that cafe a block away from school," Emily said dryly, "But, I mean, we could always go to Tokyo…" Scarlet caught the pencil just as it was about to roll of the edge of the desk, tucking it into her bag.
"I'd have to steal someone's car for Tokyo, and I'm too lazy." Scarlet sighed, "Let's go to the cafe. Now?" She moved to pack her papers up, sliding them into a translucent folder and then placing them into her bag.
"Sure. I'll be there in twenty. You?"
"Less than an hour. I'll see how I get there." Scarlet picked the bag up, sliding it over one shoulder a she held to phone to her ear. Using her foot, she kicked the chair back, snatching her jacket off the bed as she made her way out the door.
"I'll hold you to that." Emily responded dryly. "Bye, Scarlet."
"Bye, Em."
Scarlet paused by Yui's room. She knocked on the door, poking her head in. Yui, who had been reading on her bed, glanced up, startled. Pink eyes took in Scarlet's bag and jacket in her hand, and came to a conclusion.
"Hi, Scarlet," Yui said, "you're going out?"
"Yeah." Scarlet smiled easily. "Just thought I'd let you know. I'll be back in one hour? Three? I don't know -it depends."
"Ah-" But Scarlet was already gone, soft steps against a stone staircase. Yui trailed off, whispering her words to the spot where her sister had stood, unable to stop the feeling of abandonment that filled her selfish heart. "Can… I come too…?"
"Finally," Emily rolled her eyes as she reached over and tugged her bag off the seat of the chair and onto the floor. Scarlet slid into the empty seat, letting her own bag fall to the ground. "I was beginning to think you'd never get here."
"Sorry, Miss I-have-an-expensive-as-fuck-car," Scarlet grinned, waving a waiter over. She caught the eye of a boy with copper hair and blue eyes. "Have you ordered?"
"No," Emily tossed a menu over to Scarlet, stretching her arms in the air. "I waited. You're welcome, Scarlet, it's a testament to how much I like you."
"Mhm…" Scarlet agreed, trailing off absentmindedly. Emily shot a smug smile at the waiter that neared them. "Oh, this looks good. What'd you get, Em?"
"Hm?" Emily was smirking at the boy, tilting her head and eyes intoxicating. Scarlet looked up from her menu to notice her friend. Sighing, she clicked her tongue impatiently, but received no response.
"Emily Kathleen Wáng." Scarlet began, slipping into Mandarin, "Nǐ zài tīng wǒ shuō dehuà ma?" Emily blinked, caught off guard by the sudden switch in language.
"Wǒ zài tīng, wǒ zài tīng!" Emily hissed out hastily in the same language before continuing in Japanese once more. "Jesus, woman, I'm just a teenage girl checking out a cute guy!" Scarlet rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue.
"Hello, ladies, what can I get you today?" The waiter appeared, and Scarlet could see what had caught Emily's attention. Brown hair, tinted a metallic copper gelled up just so. A lean body, taller than average and a certain grace to his movements. And, to Scarlet, the most captivating part of the boy, his eyes. Blue eyes so sharp like a hundred million shattered, glistening ice shards had been placed there were looking at them. This boy was an elf.
"A coffee with no sugar." Emily grinned and the boy tilted his head, clearly recognizing a her as a fairie in the shop.
"And you, Miss?" He turned to Scarlet who scanned down the menu once more before sighing, handing him the menu.
"I'll have the same as her," She gestured toward Emily. The elf nodded, scribbling her order down onto a notepad with a cheap plastic ballpoint pen.
"So then, it'll be two black coffees?" He read off the list, eyes glancing at Emily and lignering a second too long before looking a Scarlet. Emily and Scarlet looked at each other before nodding. The elf smiled once more, bowing his head politely before leaving them with a polite notice that their orders would be out within the next five minutes.
Emily turned around to see Scarlet looking at her smugly, lips pulled into a scheming smirk. "I'm onto you, Missy." Scarlet declared, smiling coyly. Emily blinked innocently at her, to which Scarlet only shook her finger in Emily's face. "You're totally into that elf." Emily opened her mouth to protest, to which Scarlet ignored, laughing, carelessly tucking some hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear.
"Don't worry, Em. I'll help you keep it a secret from your brother."
Nǐ zài tīng wǒ shuō dehuà ma?: Are you listening to me?
Wǒ zài tīng, wǒ zài tīng: I am listening, I am listening!"