The first meeting of the Elegant Love Society was slated for the Friday morning free period. Henderson thought it was splendid timing as the children would be released for weekend activities in a few short hours. He knew this included dates in public and parties. The best he could do for them was to prepare them to behave elegantly with their partners around others.

Loid found himself waiting outside Yor's apartment building at 6:35am. As the founders of the club, the two were obliged to help with setup which meant they had to be there at 6:50. Loid couldn't stomach the idea of Yor walking to school in the dark alone with all the creeps out there, so he insisted the day before on meeting her outside her home. He would have offered to come to her door, but he didn't want to wake her neighbors or family by fumbling up the stairs and knocking on the door. And he couldn't place why, but he got the distinct impression that Yor did not want him to meet her family. He didn't blame her. He knew a lot of families wouldn't appreciate their daughter bringing a Westalisian boy home, especially a refugee.

A sigh was just beginning to escape his lips when he caught sight of her. He should've realized when he swapped his short-sleeve shirt for a vest and long sleeve-shirt that the girls would also switch to their fall uniform options. Yor stepped out of the door wearing the girl's Eden-crested cardigan, black tights under her pleated skirt, and blood red rose earrings which weren't part of the uniform but entirely her. His sigh became something almost strangled seeing how cute she was. She checked that the door locked behind her before scanning her surroundings. She stopped and smiled when she saw him. He smiled back and found himself waving. She bounded down the stairs and met him on the sidewalk.

"Morning!" she nearly sang.

'Why was she so cute!' Loid found himself kissing her hand before he could think about what he was doing. 'For the society, that's why I did that.' He tried to push away the niggling thought that no one was around to see them. "Good morning, Yor."

Yor, still flustered by how genuine Loid looked when he looked up at her from those absurdly long blonde eyelashes, said, "You should wear that all the time."

Loid froze and stared.

"I mean—I didn't—okay well I did mean because you do look good in the vest—but it wasn't—I didn't mean it to sound so weird." She looked at her feet.

"Noted." He would definitely wear the vest more often, but not because of Yor. Who was to say why he suddenly because a vest enthusiast?

When they arrived at school, they learned that the first meeting of the society was to be part lecture, part icebreakers, and part roleplaying, all ending in a tea. This was Eden College after all. Henderson intended for Yor and Loid to lead the activities as the founding couple.

The set up consisted of the pair setting out place cards for their fellow society members. While doing this, Loid placed dozens of names he didn't know. He really wasn't expecting to see anyone he knew. Frankie didn't have a girlfriend which he would never miss an opportunity to lament, Yor was already here as his girlfriend, fake girlfriend, and then there was Dominic who would never be interested in this. He picked up the eightieth or so card which read 'Mister Dominic Ray.' And where Dominic went, Camilla was never far behind.

He looked up to see Yor looking back with a similarly concerned look. She had the card of one Miss Camilla Bronson in hand. 'Why the hell were Camilla and Dominic joining the society?' the pair thought.

The lecture passed quick enough for a lecture on the benefits of avoiding inelegant displays of affection around others. Henderson's motives were paper thin, but the students were discreet enough to pretend not to notice.

"That's quite enough from me. We will now move to icebreakers. Everyone will state their name, grade, hall, and what they like best about their partner. Students will keep their answers elegant."

A few students whispered commenting on how that ruled out their answers.

"Our founding couple will begin."

Loid and Yor looked at each other. Yor looked like she'd rather be cleaning the boy's bathrooms or perhaps having her tonsils out. Loid gave her a quick reassuring smile before standing to go first. He forgot that Yor was still holding his hand, and Yor didn't realize he was going to stand. Yor stabilized herself by grasping his upper arm with her free hand.

Loid chuckled at his own mistake. "My apologies, dearest. Good morning, everyone. My name is Loid Forger, and the beauty on my arm is my girlfriend, Yor Briar, but I suspect you already knew that thanks to our feature in the Herald. I'm in Cecile Hall, 10th grade, and my favorite thing about Yor is that she's the strongest person I know both physically and morally."

Many of the girls in the room looked at Yor with jealous eyes while many of the boys scowled at Loid. How were they supposed to live up to that answer?

Yor wished she had a free hand to fan her face, but she knew how that would look. Besides keeping her hands on Loid's arm was safe.

He placed his free hand over hers on his bicep and gave her hand a squeeze.

'How was a girl supposed to focus in these conditions?' Yor took a breath and focused on the feeling of Loid's hands on top of hers. "Hello, it's nice to meet you all. As Loid said, my name is Yor Forger—I mean Briar."

Loid and Yor both became much redder. 'One day,' Loid caught himself thinking.

Yor laughed nervously. "I get nervous in front of crowds."

"You're doing great," Loid whispered.

"What was the rest of it?"

"Hall, grade, best thing about your partner," Loid said.

"Thank, darling." Yor took another breath. "Yes, I am with my boyfriend in Cecile Hall, 10th grade. My favorite thing about Loid is how kind he is. He always treats me like I'm the most important person in the world."

Yor and Loid sat again. Loid reminded her to take a breath. She smiled gratefully at him.

Several other couples introduced themselves. They're answers were all markedly similar which made it easy to tune out.

"Hey, guys. I'm Dominic Ray, Cecile Hall, 10th grade. And I guess what I like most about Camilla is how generous she is," Dominic said while standing on the opposite side of the big circle the chairs were in.

Camilla used a hand to shield and turn her face.

'Even Camilla has feelings. I would never have guessed,' Yor thought.

Camilla sighed dramatically before standing. "You all know who I am, so I don't see the point of this."

"Miss Bronson," Henderson scolded.

Camilla sighed again and crossed her arms. "Camilla Bronson, Cecile Hall, 10th grade."

"And what do you like about Dominic?"

Camilla thought for a moment before flushing. "He treats me like a real person, not like my dad's little porcelain doll."

Yor bit her lip. She hadn't considered that Camilla would be under that kind of pressure.

"That doesn't excuse how she treated you," Loid leaned in to whisper in Yor's ear disguising it with a kiss to her cheek.

After the final ten couples introduced themselves, Henderson split them into groups to roleplay situations where they would be pressured or tempted to behave inelegantly.

Naturally, Yor's group contained her supportive boyfriend Loid, the golden retriever of Cecile Hall called Dominic, and her frenemy Camilla.

Dominic passed the scripts around, totally oblivious to any tension in the group. He laughed as he read the first scene. "This would never happen. Still it's super funny. You wanna do it together, Yor?"

Camilla glared at her.

Yor didn't want to upset Camilla any further, but what was her other option? She had to participate, and this was supposed to be a scene between two opposite gender people not paired together. She nodded and stood up.

"You ready?" Dominic said to her with an encouraging smile.

Yor nodded.

"Hey, Yor! Great party. I brought some illicit drugs. Do you want to do a drug with me?"

The group all laughed. Clearly Housemaster Henderson had no idea what kids did at parties or how they talked.

"No, thank you, Dominic. I don't do drugs," Yor said when she had recovered enough.

"Drat! Now I'll never get the chance to force you into kissing sloppily with me on the couch!"

"That makes me uncomfortable. I am going to find my boyfriend, Loid, who I am incredibly devoted to."

"And scene!" Dominic said.

Three of the students were too busy laughing at the ridiculousness of that scene to catch the sharp glint in Camilla's eyes. When she and Loid stood to do the next scene, she grinned sweetly at Yor before starting the scene. "Oh, Loid! I have the most urgent news to tell you."

"Hello, Camilla. How can I help you?" Loid said, not looking up from the script.

"I am terribly infatuated with you and would like you to kiss me repeatedly in front of everyone in our school courtyard."

Loid opened his mouth to read the refusal line, but his line was covered by not Yor's lips. He looked up to see Camilla forcing herself on him. He pushed her away.

But Yor was already starting to cry. She ran out of the society's room.

"What the fuck, Camilla?" Loid and Dominic said together.

She inspected her nails. "The script was boring. I decided to change it."

"You have a boyfriend who is sitting right there! And I have a girlfriend who I love more than my own life. What did you expect?"

Camilla made a 'tsss' and looked away.

Dominic stood up and looked back at Camilla with watery eyes and a shakey lower lip before following Yor's lead.

"Your days are numbered, Bronson," Loid said before chasing after Yor.

Yor couldn't explain why she did that. She knew it was a fake relationship. Of course, she didn't expect Loid to follow the same rules as a real boyfriend, but then why was she crying? Why did the sight of someone else kissing him send her flying out of the room? Yor acknowledged she had a crush on Loid, but she promised herself she wouldn't let it get in the way. She couldn't disappoint him like that. She slumped to the floor next to the four running sinks in the girl's locker room. Coach Meyers would give her the max bolts if she got caught.

She heard pounding on the door. 'Loid,' she thought. She tried to stifle the sobs with a deep breath and her hands over her mouth.

"Yor?" his voice asked.

She closed her eyes. 'Please just go. I can't explain this to you without risking everything.'

She didn't hear anything from the other side of the door. Something told her to keep silent for a while longer.

"Come on, Yor. I know you're in there. I've checked everywhere else you could be including every girl's bathroom in the building which went about as well as you'd imagine."

Yor chuckled despite herself. 'Damn it.'

'That's my girl,' Loid thought with a smile. 'Well, not my girl.' "That's what I like to hear."

Yor took a breath and crossed her arms. "I don't want to talk, Loid."

"You don't want to talk in general, or you don't want to talk to me."

"Both—neither—I don't know."

"Can I come in? I promise I won't talk."

"It's the girl's locker room."

"I'm aware. That's why I'm asking for permission."

Yor considered all the bolts they were risking if she said yes. 'If only it weren't so damn hard to say no to him.' "I guess." She pulled her knees to her chest with her arms and rested her head on her knees.

He entered noting Yor's huddled position first and the running taps second. 'She really really did not want to be found,' he thought. He sat silently a respectful distance from her and true to his word, didn't say anything.

Yor turned her head to look at him watching her cautiously. "You must think I'm ridiculous."

He didn't say anything.

"You can talk. You're already here."

"Thank you. I don't think that."

"What do you think?"

"I think Camilla's the worst."

Yor laughed again. "You're not wrong there."

"And I don't know why you ran away, but I don't think less of you for it." 'I don't know if you could ever make me think less of you.'

And that was the million dollar question. "Thank you."

"Why did you run away?"

Yor sighed. 'How does he always know the worst question to ask? It's not unreasonable for him to want to know.' She slumped back against the wall, tipped her head back against the wall, and released her limbs. "Camilla just knows exactly how to push my buttons. Like she's known for years how I feel, and she went and it did anyways. She's so, so," Yor paused to think, "cruel!"

Yor turned her head to Loid to see him blinking repeatedly.

Loid was trying to parse that statement. 'It can't be…' "How you feel about what?"

Yor replayed what she'd just said. 'Oh no.' "Um…" She clicked her tongue. 'I can't believe I just said that about him to him. What is wrong with me?'

Loid sat there with his hands in his lap though his fingers twitched with the urge to take her hand. He kept his expression engaged though he was experiencing several emotions at once. 'Don't even think about touching her. There's no way she meant how she feels about me, but if she did, I could tell her everything.' His mind ran through the scenario: she would shyly admit she meant how she feels about him, he would come clean, they would kiss a lot (more than probably elegant), they would date for real, he would take her out on a real date with no pretenses to the aquarium, they would stay together through graduation, he would get into his top choice for college, she would move close by, he would cook her dinner at least once a week, she would help him study for his med school entrance exams, she would throw a surprise party for him when he got in, he would propose toward the end of med school because she doesn't deserve to be kept waiting, they would have a fall wedding after med school, and Dr. and Mrs. Forger would have four kids.

"Infidelity."

'Right.' Loid tried not to look as crestfallen as he felt. "So you left because?"

"Because I—was so sad to see Camilla be unfaithful to Dominic. He deserves better." She only dared look at him out of her periphery. 'Will he buy that?'

'She is incredibly kind. It makes sense that she would be empathetic too. And here I was being so self-centered. I have to be a better person. She deserves that much from her boyfriend. Fake boyfriend. For the society.' He smiled at her while pushing his disappointment down. "I didn't realize you were so sensitive to other's feelings. You're incredible. There's always something else to learn about you."

"What?" she whispered.

"I meant that you're such a good person, and I'm honored to know you."

There was that familiar flush. She stood up to give herself a chance to fight it. "Thank you. We should go. It would look bad if the founders missed the rest of the society meeting."

After seeing Yor to her class, Loid hurried to meet Frankie by the fountain.

"So Operation Crone is a go?" Frankie said when he saw Loid.

"We're not kids. There's no need for those mission names."

Frankie pouted. "Fine. But we're still going to crucify Bronson, right?"

"Just release it. It's time for them to see her for who she really is." Loid's jaw was starting to ache from all the tension. He knew this would hurt good people including his friendly acquaintance Dominic, but he had to protect Yor.

"You got it, boss." Frankie mock-saluted as he went off for the payphone.

Loid didn't wait to see him go, running to make it to his class. Unlike Frankie, he hadn't convinced his teachers to ignore him coming and going as he pleased.

Camilla's drug problem spread from the 11th graders to the 1st graders within four hours. (The 1st graders, of course, didn't understand what a drug problem was, but they did know who Camilla Bronson was.) Camilla and Dominic were already on the outs after her stunt in the society that morning, but boy did they have a loud, public breakup in the courtyard when she tried to take a half-day.

Dominic was crying as he begged her to tell him why she kept it from him.

Camilla kept her stone lips shut and pushed passed him.

"So that's it? You're not going to talk to me anymore?" He said between sobs. "Are you trying to tell me you want to breakup with me?"

Camilla didn't want to breakup with Dominic. He was the one bright spot in her life, but she was delusional if she thought she deserved to keep him. "Yes." She balled her fists and got in her limo. The driver closed the door behind her.

"Don't do this, Camilla!" Dominic choked out. "Please!"

She watched him behind her tinted window finger poised over the window controls, but she pulled her hands into her lap and command her driver to take her home.

Loid watched this from a ground-floor hall window. 'Dominic is a regrettable casualty.'

Yor watched from her third-floor science classroom.

"I can't believe she got caught. What a loser," Sharon said.

Millie giggled and joined in insulting Camilla.

Yor couldn't believe these two who spent years eating out of Camilla's palm were tearing her to shreds. Didn't they have a sliver of empathy?

"How'd it get out?" Sharon asked.

"That pathetic, curly-haired loser who can't get a date spread it around. Who knows how he knew, but he's always been creepy like that: knowing stuff he shouldn't about everyone."

That sounded like a mean description of that boy who was friends with Loid to Yor. 'That wouldn't mean—no, it couldn't. Loid would never do something like this.'

Knowing that no one else would check on her, Yor took a cab to Camilla's house after school. Yor was let in by the butler who recognized her as someone who had attended Camilla's last party. He led her to Camilla's door.

She knocked. No response. "Hi, Camilla. It's Yor. I hope I'm not intruding too much, but I…" Yor said.

"Came to gloat?" Camilla said.

"What? No?" 'What would I have to gloat about?'

"I would if I were you." Camilla laughs bitterly. "Did you know I was jealous of you? You with your perfect family and perfect skin and judo skills and Forger staring after you like the most lovesick puppy for years. Do you know how long it took me to get Dominic to even notice me? He was too busy looking at you."

Yor didn't know how to process all of that. "Is that why you did it?" 'Not a good question to ask.'

"Dominic? No. He's the reason I wanted to stop." She paused. "Three years ago, Sharon dragged me out to this club and ditched me to hook up with some guy. I was all alone waiting for the car to come. Some asshole—he—" She swallowed a bunch of bile and took a few shallow breaths. "I couldn't sleep that night or the next or the next. I started taking some of my mom's pills from a past surgery, and that's why."

"Camilla…"

"I don't want your pity, peasant."

Yor recognized Camilla wasn't willing to talk about it any further, so she pivoted. "I came to bring your homework."

"Leave it with the butler."

Yor knew she should say something, but what could she say. "I'm sorry about today."

Camilla snorted. "No, you're not. Why would you be? I'm the one who kissed your boyfriend."

"That was pretty hurtful."

"Well, he certainly got his revenge. Although I'd hardly call my whole life a fair trade for what I did."

Yor blinked and held her breath.

Camilla opened the door a little. Her mascara trails and red nose left little doubt of what she'd been doing the rest of the day. "You didn't suspect him. Well he's always been a weak spot of yours, hasn't he?"

"Please, be honest. Are you sure?"

"He told me he knew. That's what he whispered that day outside the Cooking Society kitchens."

Yor covered her mouth. 'How could he—and how could I be so wrong about him?' "I have to go."

Camilla nodded. "Yeah, I imagine you do."

Yor started for the stairs.

"Yor?"

"Yes?" she paused on the top step.

"Thank you. You're a much better person than I am."

"Of course, we're friends, right?"

"That's a bit generous, don't you think?"

Tonight was a late shift for his mother, so Loid was making dinner for himself. He sauteed some onion and garlic while he considered what he was going to do with this base.

Three slams on the door.

He quirked an eyebrow. It wasn't his mother, and Frankie was out with his parents. He moved the pan off the heat and went over to look through the peephole. It was Yor, a very distressed Yor. He opened the door quickly. "What's wrong?"

"Can I please come in? I really need to talk to you."

The grip with which she held her schoolbag had Loid worried. He moved to let her past. He wordlessly offered her a seat on the couch.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"What—what do you mean?"

Her eyes burned as she looked at him. "What kind of person lets out someone else's secret when it would ruin their life?"

So she knew. "The kind of person who's watched her bully you for years. The kind of person who wanted to protect you."

"I didn't need you to do that. I would've stood up to her on my own eventually."

"Maybe you would've."

She took a breath. "I'm sorry. I don't want to lash out. I just—I thought I knew you, or at least I was getting to know you, and then you blew up Camilla's life. It doesn't feel like you."

He wanted to assure her that he was the same as he had been, but that's not entirely true. There was a side of him that she didn't know. And that side would do whatever had to be done to keep his loved ones safe. "That would be distressing."

"It is."

"As you wisely pointed out, we're still learning each other. There are parts of me that you don't know and you'd be better off not knowing."

"That's not true. I want to know you fully. We've all got ugly sides to ourselves."

"I'll have to take your word. I can't picture any part of you being ugly."

She blushed.

He didn't mean to say that, but there was little use backpedaling now. "I'm sorry I disappointed you. I will apologize to Camilla personally."

She nodded. This was the Loid she knew and loved. Knew, just knew. She stood and moved for the door.

"Do you want to stay?"

She stopped walking.

"I was making dinner. It would be nice to have your company if you wanted."

She looked over her shoulder. "I couldn't intrude on your mother like that."

"She's at work and will be until late."

Yor looked shocked.

"No! Not that—I didn't mean it like that. I just meant it wouldn't be an intrusion on her because she isn't here now."

"Oh." She turned and thought about it. "Can I call my mom first?"

"Sure." He showed her the phone and went back to making dinner.

Loid was a talented cook. She deduced that from the photoshoot, but she couldn't deny it with a hot forkful of her favorite dish in her mouth. "Oh my god!" she thought out loud, too loud.

Loid looked at her. "Yor?"

She looked intently at her plate and focused on swallowing. "Sorry, it's just—that's the best thing I've ever eaten in life."

Loid rested his fork on his plate while he watched her dig in. 'All that time learning about her just paid off.' He found himself grinning far too fondly for a fake boyfriend. "Thank you. That means a lot coming from you."

Both students found themselves wishing dinner could always be like this. Loid because he spent a lot of dinners alone with his mother's late shifts, and Yor because she spent her dinners reheating leftovers her mom made and eating them while trying to help Yuri with his homework and complete her own.

They enjoyed the rest of their meal talking about something funny that happened in math class that week, childhood memories, and their shared love of action movies. Yor carried the dishes to the sink and moved to wash them after they finished, but Loid stopped her. "I can't let you wash those in good conscious as your host," he said.

She smiled. "You have nothing to worry about. You've been the perfect host. Please let me help."

Her big eyes somehow seemed ten times bigger and cuter when she wanted something. 'Why is it so hard to say no to her?' "All right, but you'll let me walk you home. It's too dark for you to be out alone."

She smiled down at the dishes she was beginning to wash. "I didn't know you were so chivalrous, Loid. Do you do this for all the girls, or am I special?"

He had moved away to pack up the leftovers but froze at her words. 'That's not—She's not flirting with me, right?' "No, my dear. You're the only one I care about protecting." 'Why did I just do that? I know she's not flirting.'

Both were a bit red and thrown off by that exchange and resumed their cleanup in silence.

A while later, Loid turned to her as she turned off the tap. "Yor?"

"Hm?" She said looking up.

"I just want you to know that I didn't like it when Camilla threw herself at me, and I didn't kiss her back."

She stared at him with an expression he found indecipherable because she wasn't fully sure what she was feeling.

"I guess Camilla's pretty, no offense to Dominic, but she's nothing compared to you. Not just talking about looks." He hadn't realized how physically close he had gotten to her during his tidying until now, but it was extremely easy for him to lean over her backing her against the sink. He found his hands on the counter on either side of her. 'What am I doing?'

She was also concerned by his proximity. For some reason, instead of looking for an escape route, her eyes were fixated on his lips.

The pair found themselves leaning toward each other like they were two puppets whose strings were being gently pulled by an outside force. Both found their heads to be so cacophonously full and simultaneously devoid.

They missed the sounds of footsteps, keys in the lock, and the door opening. "Loid?" his mother asked as she saw him and some girl centimeters from kissing in her kitchen.

He stepped away from Yor who blushed darker than he had seen her blush before. "Mother! Welcome home."

"Thanks. Are you going to introduce me?"

Loid glanced at Yor who looked in no condition to be introduced. "Of course." He led Yor out to the entry. "Mother, this is my girlfriend Yor. Yor, this is my mother."

Yor struggled to make eye contact with the woman. What mother would think well of a girl she walked in on almost kissing her son? 'Not almost kissing. I don't know what we were doing, but it wasn't that.' She took a breath to force the blood in her face back down. "Hello, Ms. Forger. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm so sorry to be in your home without your permission."

Mrs. Forger pulled Yor into a tight hug. "Please, don't worry about it! You're always welcome here, honey." She let go of Yor but held on to her hands. "You're so lovely! And polite! Loid, you'd better be treating her right. She's much too good for you."

Loid blushed. "Of course, mother."

"Did he feed you? He better not have invited you over to canoodle and not cooked you anything." She looked pointedly at her son.

"We weren't canoodling!" the pair said in unison.

His mother laughed. "I know what I saw. It's fine. You kids should be canoodling. It's an important part of young relationships. Seriously though, did you eat?"

Yor look a bit like someone had just pulled her out of a dryer. "Yes, Loid cooked for me. He is very talented."

Mrs. Forger watched her son flush and fidget. This was really good for him. Yor was good for him. "He is. You know, he's talked about you for the last three years, and I thought he was exaggerating."

"Mother!" Loid groaned. Yor couldn't learn that he'd actually had a crush on her for three years. That would ruin their arrangement.

"Sorry, but it's true."

Yor stared and found her mouth dropping involuntarily. 'He couldn't have. It's impossible.'

"We have to go. I need to walk Yor home before her family gets worried."

"Oh, fine." She hugged Yor again. "But come back soon sometime when I'll be around. And Loid, make sure she gets all the way into her place before you leave."

"Yes, mother." As if he would chance Yor's safety like that.

AN: Hi, everyone. Sorry for the super long chapter, but a lot happened on this day. I hope it's not too inconvenient. Thanks for reading. xo Lolly