Author's Note: First of all, I have to say that a large part of this chapter is largely inspired by another Lelouch/Shirley fanfiction, named "Ambivalence". It's a completed fic written by DreamScene and has 13 chapters. Do check it out if you guys have the time. If you've read that fic before, you'll most likely know what's going on in this chapter by reading the title alone. But there's a slight twist in it. For those who didn't, well, the chances are high that you might find this chapter to be borderline ridiculous. Don't take the figures too seriously. You'll know what I mean later.
Chapter 8
Milly's Unexpected Auction
Lelouch sat down on his bed heavily, his long fingers fidgeting with his cellphone as he stared at the contact on its screen. "Charles zi Britannia," the contact's name flashed insistently. Jeremiah had passed him Charles's personal number several weeks ago and told him not to spread it around. It was the fourth time Lelouch eyed the contact number since he had obtained it from the dutiful Margrave. It felt strange to him that he could communicate with the very emperor of Britannia, who more or less controlled one-third of the entire world, through such a common thing like a phone call. Three months had passed since the NHK hostage incident and Shirley's words of advice back then rang in his head once more. "You should put the past behind you and let go. Only then you can look to the future and move on, right?"
It was several hours past dusk and the lights were switched off, leaving Lelouch's bedroom almost pitch black except for two sources of illumination; Lelouch's cellphone and the moonlight, which spilt into the room from the windows. Lelouch's thumb hovered over the "Call" button tensely as he continued to glare at the contact selected on his cell phone. After a period of strained silence, he punched in the button and held the phone to his ear. It was near midnight, but Lelouch could hardly give a damn. He wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully if he continued to let this continue.
"Hello?" a gruff voice, which Lelouch had not heard in nearly a decade, answered the phone. Despite the lengthy period since he had communication with his father, Lelouch could tell that it was unmistakably Charles zi Britannia, the ninety-eighth emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire and his father.
"Greetings, father," Lelouch returned stiffly, his amethyst eyes flickering over to the blue-painted walls of his bedroom.
"Lelouch?" Charles's tone was disbelieving but calm. He was informed by Jeremiah that Lelouch might call soon, but he was not expecting his son to call so quickly.
"How are the rest doing? Odysseus, Cornelia, Schneizel, Euphemia?" Lelouch cleared his throat, trying to find a topic to talk about with his estranged father.
"They're doing fine. Odysseus is still a buffoon as usual, though." Both father and son shared a brief but awkward chuckle together for the first time. If there was anything they could agree on, it was that the crown prince Odysseus was incompetent. "But at least he's here, in the homeland, where he belongs," Charles continued quietly. "Lelouch-"
"Don't try to guilt trip me, Charles," Lelouch snapped, his voice and temper rising. "The fact still remains that Nunnally and I had to scrape by while your troops merrily plundered and conquered the very country we learned to live in! I don't care what your reasons are! There must have been a way you could have reached us, somehow, you callous bastard!"
Tense quietness only answered Lelouch as the prince took big gulps of fresh air to regain control of his emotions. "I have some conditions for you to fulfil here if you want me to go back to Britannia peacefully. Nunnally will stay here until I deem the time is right. You're not going to marry any of us off as some political tool, especially Nunnally. She has suffered much already. Far too much."
"I understand," Charles replied. There was a slight note of a familiar emotion in this tone. Lelouch recognized that it was guilt and for the briefest of moments, he felt compelled to go softer on his father. The prince immediately discarded the feeling and hardened his heart; clutching his phone so tight that he was half-surprised it was not cracking under the immense pressure.
"I'll return once I've completed my studies here in Ashford. I repeat; Nunnally will not be coming with me. Not yet. You will provide me with a written declaration signed none other by you, acknowledging that you have agreed to my conditions. Is that understood, father?" Lelouch did not apologise for his furious outburst earlier, and did not see why he needed to do so. He still did not trust Charles's word alone, and he sought to find a way to ensure that the agreement would be set in stone.
"I understand," Charles repeated.
"Goodnight, father. I'll see you in Pendragon in ten months' time," Lelouch abruptly ended the call with a loud exhale. He rose from his bed and peered from his room's windows, looking at the extravagant, large school bathed in moonlight. Ashford Academy was his home and Nunnally's for nearly five years.
"Despite the pointlessness of the life as the student Lelouch Lamperouge, I'll miss this place," Lelouch thought, his mind wandering over to the childish and senseless moments he had at Ashford. Milly's exuberant and often over-the-top festivals, gambling with Rivalz, bickering with Kallen, debating with Suzaku and even talking to Nina, who was often taciturn around him. Those bits seemed so immature and senseless back then, and now he found that he wouldn't mind having more of those.
And then there was Shirley. He would definitely miss exchanging banter and laughing with her. He thought of their clasped hands over the dim light of the concert hall. He thought of her warm body pressed against him as the firefight raged around him. He recalled the time when he thought she would drown, how his heart pounded from fear, and how he foolishly jumped into the water to save her despite not knowing how to swim. With a sad smile on his face, Lelouch climbed into his bed and fell asleep; his last thought was of an alluring orange-haired girl and her beautiful, captivating smile.
Seven Months Later…
"Hi guys, does anyone else feel that Lulu has been more distant with us lately?" Shirley spoke up suddenly, trying not to feel nervous as the student council members looked at her in surprise. It was a pleasant spring afternoon, a few weeks after winter has ended in Area 11. Once again, the student council members were assembled in the council room and more than one of them was notably absent. Suzaku had apologetically told them that he would be busy, but he will arrive in time to hear Milly's important announcement. Meanwhile, Lelouch and Rivalz were gone gambling again, although they disgruntledly promised Milly that they would be around to hear her news. And the two newest additions, the Knights of the Round Gino Weinberg and Anya Alstreim were absent as well, attending to their military duties along with Suzaku.
"Mmm…" Nina absent-mindedly replied, tinkering with her keyboard as she continued observing her computer's monitor.
"Stop spending so much time on your computer, Nina," Milly chided, swinging her legs up and down as she sat on the table. She then pondered on Shirley's question, mulling over Lelouch's interactions not only with her but the other student council members as well. "I think you're right. Lelouch hasn't been spending a lot of time with us. I've invited him for so many events over the past few months but he always turned me down."
"You have too many events, Milly. No one can possibly attend them all," Kallen pointed out before turning her attention to Shirley. "That's true. I don't see Lelouch around much these days. And he hasn't even been arguing with me at all. He seems a little… cold."
"At this rate, I'll never be able to tell him that I like him!" Shirley lamented, putting her hands on her face as she sighed. Her feelings for Lelouch were burgeoning as the days went past and she had no outlet for them.
"You haven't told him yet?!" Milly and Kallen chorused in unison, their eyes bulging with a combination of incredulity and exasperation. Shirley shook her head, shrinking a little under the intense gaze from her companions.
"L-Like I said before, I'm very afraid that he might reject me!" Shirley stammered defensively as she attempted to meet the eyes of her friends and fellow council members.
"Shirley, you are aware that this is our final year at Ashford and we're graduating soon, right?" Kallen admonished, rolling her eyes at the auburn-haired adolescent.
"I know that! It's just… so difficult…" Shirley sighed gloomily as she folded her arms on the table, resting her head on them. A resolute expression started forming slowly on her face. "Alright, I'm determined to ask him out as my partner for the spring dance."
"The spring dance…" Milly frowned, her fingers racking the side of her head. The blonde then opened her mouth to talk, but Kallen spoke up first.
"That's a great idea, Shirley. You best do it fast, there's probably a hundred girls bidding their time to ask him out. As his good friend, I think you stand a pretty good chance of being accepted," Kallen encouraged Shirley. Kallen usually was not very comfortable with Britannians around her age, for she was secretly half-Britannian and half-Eleven, but for some reason she felt that the student council members were quite pleasant. Kallen's eyes then flickered over to the student council president. "By the way, Milly, why did you accept those two Knights of the Round so easily in the council?" The two Knights were inducted into the council last week, and one of them was already getting on Kallen's nerves.
"Hmm, the more the merrier, isn't it? They expressed interest in joining. I can't just turn them down, they're nobles too after all," Milly explained simply, tilting her head at Kallen. "Besides, didn't I welcome you without much thought as well?"
"I know… but ugh, I don't have any problems with Anya; she keeps mostly to herself, but Gino's just downright irritating!" Kallen huffed crossly, folding her arms across her chest. Shirley blinked at the annoyance in Kallen's voice. She never witnessed the seemingly gentle girl lose her temper before. "He's always trying to hit on me, no matter how many times I told him I'm not interested. That spoilt Britannian brat…"
"What's wrong with being a Britannian?" Nina suddenly piped up, startling Kallen and the rest. Nina rarely spoke during council meetings.
"Oh, um… nothing! Haha. Forget what I just said," Kallen's voice trailed off weakly as she glanced at Milly. Milly was the only one apart from Kallen herself who knew that she was half-Britannian and half-Eleven and the former was keeping it a secret.
"Nevermind that, Nina," Milly said as her eyes starting gleaming, as they always have whenever the president had an idea. "Anyway, Shirley, I'm afraid that there will be complications, regarding your plan for the spring dance."
"Complications?" Shirley repeated, cocking her head to one side as she stared, dumbfounded, at the curvaceous blonde. She started to have a sinking feeling in her chest. If she was unable to ask Lelouch out as her dance partner…
"I have an event in mind for the spring dance. The whole student council is involved," Milly grinned as she watched the other three girls still gawping at her in confusion. "No worries, it's nothing too extreme. I'll explain it in detail once the others are here."
"Come on, prez, just tell us already," Shirley persisted. She disliked being kept in the dark, especially when it might result in conflict with her plans.
"Well, I'm only going to do so once the others are here. Why don't you call your Lulu then? Ask him where he is right now," Milly suggested, smirking as Shirley turned a bright shade of crimson.
"I'll try..." Shirley dug out her pink cell phone and after a brief moment of hesitation, she dialled Lelouch's number. However, within two seconds, the line was cut off. Shirley jolted backwards, looking at her phone in disbelief and irritation. 'Call Ended,' the screen of her cell phone read. "That jerk hung up on me!"
Milly burst out laughing at Shirley's reaction. "Oh well, I guess we have to wait until they come of their own accord then. Have fun waiting," Milly teased as the other three girls exchanged looks and squirmed uncomfortably in their seats.
"So what is this oh-so-major event you've been talking about, Milly?" Lelouch asked in a bored tone. The entire student council was finally gathered in the room and the eight students were staring at their president. "I could have won at least a hundred dollars or two if you didn't rush me so much."
"Oh, trust me, this is a far easier method of gaining money than your gambling trips," the blonde assured her subordinate, patting him lightly on the shoulder. The statement caught the attention of everybody in the room and they straightened their backs as they listened raptly. "Lately, most of the student clubs in Ashford academy are complaining of insufficient funds. And as the student council, it's our duty to sponsor them with the money assigned to us by the school, but unfortunately grandfa- I mean, the headmaster isn't willing to give us any more funding." Milly deliberately omitted the part where her grandfather told her it was because she had spent too much on her past events. "And thus, I've come up with this brilliant idea. We're going to auction ourselves off as dates for the spring dance."
"What?!" Shirley and Kallen sprang to their feet, aghast. They gaped at Milly, desperately hoping that the blonde was making some sort of an elaborate joke. "You can't be serious!" The two redheads exclaimed in unison.
"I am quite serious, actually," Milly giggled as she could not help but feel tickled at their horrified expressions. Oh, if she had a camera right now to take a photograph. "I honestly think most of us are fairly popular among the student body of Ashford. That means it's possible that we can rake in large amounts of money this way."
"How does this auction work, Milly?" Gino interjected. The Britannian Knight was lean and extremely tall, easily towering over the president and Lelouch. He had short and messy blonde hair and intense blue eyes. "Say, can we actually participate in it too?"
"Of course, Gino," Milly clapped her hands exaggeratedly, grinning widely at the new council member. "Basically it will work as a standard English auction, the highest bidder wins. However, a person can break their 'date' by bidding on another council member as long as it exceeds the amount of money they were secured with. For example, if I am to bid five hundred on Lelouch, he has to go with me as my date." Milly casually snuggled up against Lelouch, fighting the urge to laugh as Shirley's jaw dropped in indignation. The black-haired teen merely looked at Milly unconcernedly, with the uninterested look he always had. "However, he can 'break' this by bidding six hundred on someone else, say, Shirley. It must be more than the previous bid, though. Of course, we'll return the money to the previous bidder. It's more entertaining this way, don't you think?"
"Sounds fun," Gino remarked, his eyes shining with excitement as his gaze fixated on Kallen, who noticed it. Kallen made a look of disgust at him, but the light in Gino's eyes was far from extinguished.
"This is a horrible idea, prez!" Shirley protested. Kallen and Nina nodded in assent, while Rivalz frowned in deep thought. "That means we're not able to go with our desired dates!" Shirley could feel Lelouch's eyes on the back of her head, and she tried her best not to look at him.
"Unfortunately, this is by the order of your student council president, so you have no choice but to obey," Milly's eyes sparkled with mirth. Suzaku shrugged, clearly used to Milly's shenanigans after a couple of years in the council. The other knight, Anya, a petite girl with pink hair and eyes made no objections. Rivalz and Lelouch did not protest the idea either. "So we're going with this. The spring dance is in a week's time, and I'm going to announce the auction today. It will be held in three days' time. Council dismissed!"
Shirley and Kallen groaned in exasperation. The spring dance was going to be hell for them…
Lelouch walked across the school corridor, making his way to the chemistry lab for his final lesson of the day. He was well aware that most of his friends were wondering why he was becoming increasingly distant from them, but he did nothing to convince them otherwise. Nonetheless, he was somewhat surprised to find that he was more sentimental than he thought. The prince missed interacting with his friends. However, he decided that it was for the best if they forgot about him, since he would be returning to Britannia in about three months' time. Despite his resolve, he could not help but feel tired of being so aloof around his friends.
Regardless of his increasingly cool attitude towards his companions, Lelouch still had one last thing to get past. The student council's spring dance auction. Milly had announced the auction a day ago, and so far it was very well-received among the student body of the academy. Lelouch was aware of gaggles of excited girls gathering to discuss how much they would bet on him or Gino, and he rolled his eyes at such silly behaviour. Privately, Lelouch wondered whether they could even secure Gino, as he seemed quite determined to get Kallen as his date for the spring dance. To make matters worse for them, Gino was from a rich and well-established aristocratic family. Lelouch snorted, brushing such thoughts aside. Whatever the female students were up to, it was none of his concern.
Thinking about the auction caused a small voice in his head to ask him. "Who are you hoping to go with for the spring dance?"
"It doesn't matter," Lelouch answered. "I have no interest in such mundane tasks." He just hoped that his date would not make him feel awkward. The only girl he had danced with before was Nunnally, and that was before the Sword of Akasha's attempt on their lives.
"Really? How about having an interest in one of the girls then?" the voice teased him. Lelouch's mind flashed back to seven months ago. A memory of Shirley, her reddening cheeks and her face barely inches away from him as she attempted to confess to him under the dim lights of the concert hall crossed his mind.
"None," Lelouch replied curtly. "And this is ludicrous, I'm having a conversation with myself!" He shook his head, banishing both the voice and memory.
As Lelouch crossed the corridor, he heard several voices in the room close to him. The voices were male and high in volume, as they talked enthusiastically about the auction. Lelouch sighed inwardly, just after his mind was thinking about the same thing. Such occurrences of students chatting about the auction were becoming common and Lelouch was about to disregard it and continue walking when the mentioning of a familiar name reached his ears. Lelouch paused in his tracks, his brows furrowing as he eavesdropped on their conversation.
"… are you going to bid for Kallen? Forget it, dude, that blonde knight has the hots for her! There's no way you'll win." The voice was recognizable to Lelouch – the speaker was the captain of the football team, Eric.
"Who are you going to vote for then, Eric? Milly?"
"Milly's really attractive, but she's older than me by a year. Nah, I'm going to bid for Shirley." There was a slight pause, and Lelouch frowned, pressing his ear against the door as he strained to catch more of the conversation.
"Shirley? Why?"
"Dude, she's pretty good-looking too. I mean, she's nowhere near Milly or Kallen, but they're bound to be taken anyway. And did you see her in that bunny girl outfit last year? She looked amazing in it. I'm definitely going to bid for her after seeing that. Who knows? Maybe she's willing to do something a little extra after the dance."
"I don't think she's that type of girl…"
"You have no imagination, dude."
Lelouch felt a brief twinge of a strong emotion – was it jealousy? Irritation? Shirley deserved a better date than someone who merely admired her physical beauty. "Maybe I should bid for her. I have enough money to guarantee that I'll win it anyway… Wait. No, I'm not going to risk getting emotionally attached to anyone here since I'm returning to Britannia. This is for the greater good for us both…" Lelouch mulled. He tried to dismiss his sense of unease as his mind wandered over to an image of Shirley dancing with another person, and failed. Annoyed with himself, he resumed his walk to the chemistry lab.
Three days later…
"Welcome to the spring dance auction, students!" Milly said cheerfully into the microphone. She, together with the student council and the entire student body of Ashford were assembled in the school hall. She was currently standing behind a wooden podium on the stage, her eyes roaming across the multitude of students before her. The other council members were scattered across the crowd, waiting for her to call their names before stepping up to the stage before being auctioned. "I'm sure all of you are excited for this event and are clear about the instructions already. If you're still unaware of the rules, please read the pamphlets, which should have been given to you as you entered the hall. All of you are also given a small microphone. Activate it and announce the amount of money you're willing to bid if the time comes." There was the sound of ruffling of papers as numerous students checked the flyers, re-reading the rules of the auction again.
"Now, let's start! Our first council member to be auctioned is none other than…" Milly clapped dramatically as an audio track of a drum roll played through the speakers. "Kallen Stadtfeld! Come up please, Kallen!" Kallen heeded the call, squeezing her way through the crowd as she made her way to the stage with an absolutely disgruntled look on her face. She then turned around and faced the audience.
"Come on Kallen, smile!" Milly cajoled, but this time Kallen did not obey and instead shot the president a glare. "Oh, whatever. Kallen Stadtfeld of class 3-D, people! She has a very gentle temperament and she's from the established Stadtfeld family! She's pretty and has a good figure too, don't you agree?" Kallen sighed and tapped her foot in irritation against the floor. "Do we have any takers?"
"Forty dollars!" This statement was met with booing and jeering.
"A hundred!" A squeaky voice, barely recognizable as male called out.
"Two hundred!"
"Three hundred!" A deep voice boomed, and gasps and cheers echoed through the hall.
"Five hundred Britannian dollars." A cool voice called out, and the entire student body fell silent.
"Five hundred dollars? Wow," Milly remarked as she tried to search for the person who bid such a high amount of cash. "Calling once… calling twice. No other takers? Sold!" Milly smacked the podium with her hand overzealously and winced as she felt it sting a little. "Whoever placed that bid of five hundred dollars, please come up to the stage and hand over the money to me." Not surprisingly, Gino stepped from the sea of people, grinning widely as he climbed the stairs to the stage and handed over a thick wad of money to Milly. He then stretched a hand over to Kallen, who did not take it and merely stared at him icily.
"Buzz off, rich boy," Kallen muttered, but Gino was far from discouraged. He hooked his arm with Kallen and they marched back into the crowd, with Kallen spluttering in indignation.
"And next! We have Rivalz Cardemonde. He's quite an easy-going and nice guy, if you ask me," Milly cleared her throat as Rivalz went on the stage, displaying himself to the audience. "Any takers?"
Milly's question was only met with a long silence, which stretched on almost indefinitely until a shy voice piped. "Um… thirty dollars?"
Milly raised her eyebrows and she waited for a moment or two for any other bidders, but there were none. "Okay… thirty dollars." Laughter rang out across the crowd and even Rivalz smiled sheepishly. "Calling once… calling twice. Sold." Milly refrained from smacking the podium this time, her still smarting hand reminding her not to do so. A petite girl with brown hair, whose name was unknown to Milly, walked on the stage and passed her the money. Rivalz shrugged and went back inside the crowd.
"I'm really curious right now, so forgive me for disrupting the order," Milly giggled as she stepped away from the podium and centred herself on the stage, striking a pose to display her figure fully. "Milly Ashford, your one and only student council president. Any takers?"
"Seventy-five!"
"A hundred and fifty!"
"Two hundred and fifty."
"Three hundred!" a loud voice called in triumph.
"Four hundred dollars!" Someone countered. The hall resumed its quietness.
"Four hundred dollars," Milly repeated as she peered into the crowd and found Rivalz waving at her exuberantly, grinning from ear to ear. "I won't say this is surprising, Rivalz. Come on up." Rivalz obeyed, scuttling up the stairs to the stage and passed her a stack of cash mutely, too excited for words. Milly tried not to laugh as she compared Rivalz's behaviour to a young boy finally getting a toy he has been eyeing all day.
"I've been saving up all year," Rivalz grinned. "See you at the dance, Milly." Milly smiled at her friend and waved as he returned, once again, to the audience. While she did not feel attracted to Rivalz in any way, the blonde did not dislike him either.
Milly reached inside her pocket for the list of student council members to be auctioned off by order. Her eyes widened and she smirked. "Aha! The next one is going to be the big one. Lelouch Lamperouge!" Half of the audience cheered shrilly, almost to the point of unbearable as the prince stalked forward to the stage. "Don't deny it, girls, this is the moment most of you have been waiting for." Shirley shifted awkwardly from one foot to another, one hand grasped around the letter her father sent her months ago in a tense, shaking grip. "Lelouch Lamperouge, vice-president of the student council. He's totally suave and handsome, isn't he? The question is… how much are you willing to bid for him?"
"One hundred!"
"Three hundred!" another girl squealed in excitement.
"Four hundred!"
"Five hundred!"
"Seven hundred!" The student body was quiet again. The bidder was none other than Miya Hillmick, a girl with medium-length light purple hair and average height, and in the swim club. She was a first-year student, meaning that she was only sixteen this year.
"Seven hundred!" Milly was impressed. It was nearly fifty percent higher than Kallen's winning bid. She waited for a moment or two, expecting a recognizable voice to call out, but she was disappointed. Maybe the amount was too high for her to challenge. Milly shrugged nonchalantly. "Calling once… Calling twice… Sol-"
"A thousand!" Lelouch blinked in shock as Milly's prediction came true; a familiar voice did announce a sum of money higher than the one earlier. Shocked silence greeted the bid as the entire student body turned their heads to the source of the shout.
Shirley raised her father's envelope high in the air, her limbs quivering as the eyes of literally every student in Ashford were trained on her. Her face was burning red, and she avoided meeting Lelouch's surprised eyes. She stared at Milly, her mouth pressed into a thin line as she awaited Milly to declare her the winner.
"Shirley…" Milly's face split into a mischievous grin. "How much did you say you would bid for Lelouch again?"
"A t-thousand, p-president," Shirley stammered, wishing that she could vanish on the spot right now. Muttering broke out among the students, and there was more than one girl shooting her resentful looks. She attempted to shut out the murmuring and the angry glares they were giving her to little avail.
"Sorry?" Milly asked sweetly, cupping her ear with one of her hands. "I'm afraid I didn't catch that. Could you repeat again? Be louder this time." Shirley wished she could strangle her friend right there and then, for she was deliberately making this a lot harder for her.
"I said, A THOUSAND BRITANNIAN DOLLARS, PREZ!" Shirley screamed at the top of her voice, wincing from the soreness of her throat. Shirley fell silent later, embarrassed at her outburst.
"Sold!" Milly gasped for breath after doubling up with laughter. "Shirley Fenette with the winning bid of a thousand dollars! Come up and pass me the money." Shirley scurried over to the stage as quickly as possible, handing over the envelope to Milly, who opened it and retrieved a huge bundle of notes. Shirley finally risked a glance at Lelouch, whose amethyst eyes were studying Shirley. Consternation was written all over his face, but he nodded in understanding at her before breaking the eye contact. Still blushing madly, Shirley hurried out of the hall entirely, unable to bear the furious stares the other girls were giving her any longer.
Two days later…
Shirley panted a little as she lugged multiple paper bags full of clothing to her dormitory room. She had just returned from a shopping trip at Omotensado mall during her break. The trip was for the spring dance, which was arriving in two days' time. Due to her limited break time, Shirley was undecided in choosing a dress to buy and ended up purchasing multiple dresses in her dilemma. She only hoped that the one she would eventually pick to wear would catch Lelouch's eye when it was time for the spring dance.
The slender swimmer glanced at the time displayed on her watch and she nearly freaked out when she saw that it was almost time for her swim club activities. Dumping the shopping bags unceremoniously on her bed, she sprinted out of her dormitory, ignoring the curious glances from students passing by. Villetta had promised the swim club members that she will be hosting a small party for the final year students since it would be their last swim club session before all club activities are halted for the examinations, and Shirley did not want to miss it. She had fond memories of the swimming club, after all. She breathed a sigh of relief as she entered the swimming complex, and the clock showed that she was two minutes early. The swimming complex was strangely empty, although there was a neat row of food and drinks placed on a long table. It looked untouched to Shirley, and she wondered where the rest of the swim club members could be.
Shirley slowed her pace and she strolled leisurely towards the changing room to catch her breath after her sprint. As the orange-haired girl made to open the door to the changing room, several raised voices reached her ears and she froze. She could have sworn that she heard her name and Lelouch being mentioned.
"…can't believe she is willing to go that far! Like seriously, a thousand dollars?" Miya groused. "That's so desperate!"
"I know, right? She's so desperate…" another girl could be heard muttering.
"You yourself placed a bid of seven hundred, and that's no small amount, you know," Sophie pointed out, defending her friend and roommate in whatever way she can. "I don't see why you're calling her out for something which you're somewhat guilty of. Just seems that you're jealous she won the auction."
"Hey! Why are you so protective of her anyway?" Miya scowled in annoyance at Sophie's words. Although Miya did not want to admit it, they struck home. "Well, I bet Lelouch wouldn't enjoy the dance anyway. He's being forced to dance with a partner he didn't choose, after all."
"I don't see how that's any different if you won the bid."
"You-"
"Okay, break it up, people," Villetta's voice cut into the ruckus. "Let's head out, the party should have started already." There was a sound of numerous people getting to their feet and the sound of footsteps grew louder.
That was when Shirley decided to enter the changing room. She twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, and found herself face-to-face with Villetta. "Hi. Sorry I'm late," Shirley mumbled.
"It is fine, Shirley. Get changed, we'll wait for you outside," Villetta smiled at her, whatever petty grudge she had against the student gone long ago. "Don't take too long!" Villetta called over her shoulder as she led the other swim club members out of the changing room.
"Sure, coach," Shirley replied half-heartedly. The moment all of them cleared the room and the door swung shut, Shirley collapsed on a bench and she started to brood on what she had just heard earlier. "Of course, I knew that by winning the bid, I would be making Lulu dance with me but I never really thought if he would enjoy it or not..." Shirley let out a long, drawn-out exhale. "What if he's secretly mad with me? He did look rather disquieted when I won the bid... Was it because he didn't like me? Maybe I shouldn't have placed the bid on him."
"Okay, calm down. If he dislikes me, he wouldn't spend so much time with me," Shirley reminded herself as she tried to regain control of her rapidly spiralling thoughts. "Regardless of what's going to happen during the dance two days later… I'm going to tell him. The spring dance is my last chance to tell him how I feel." With that in mind, Shirley changed into her swimsuit before exiting the changing room. Throughout the party, she attempted to smile and socialize the best she could, but her mind was busy elsewhere. "Two days from now, I will tell Lulu that I like him."
Author's Note: That's it for this chapter. I know it's a little short as compared to the previous two, and may leave more to be desired, but there's no way I can squeeze in the dance without making the chapter over ten thousand words. I hope this is an enjoyable read nonetheless. And predictably, the next chapter will be about the spring dance.
The addition of Gino and Anya isn't that important honestly. I just wanted the student council to mirror the one in canon, although all nine students were not part of the council at the same time.
And I have to stress that the student council auction is not my idea. It was inspired by another Lelouch/Shirley story named "Ambivalence". The ending of the auction is different, of course, so it wasn't an imitation. Just an inspiration.
Let me know what you guys think about this!