Frankie had done it. After multiple sleepless nights of digging and calls to contacts, he had uncovered everything about her.
Ludmila Elodia Castillo de la Gracia was not yet 16 as her birthday was in December. Her parents were diplomats from Suraguay meaning that most of their work was incredibly confidential and that Ludmila faced little to no consequences for her actions with that sweet diplomatic immunity. She had no siblings, spoke thirteen languages conversationally and four fluently, and had a pet iguana named Isobel. Her favorite past times were watching telenovelas, gossiping, and running an underground gambling den at her old school. She had never had a romantic partner before, perhaps because people thought she was strange and scary or perhaps because no one wanted to mess with a diplomat's daughter, but one boy did try to touch her in ways she was uncomfortable with a few years back at a school event. He found himself mysteriously expelled and his family banished from the country. (Frankie did not learn about her romantic history out of personal interest. This was research on the enemy.) She was, for all intents and purposes, the Frankie of her old school.
He marched up to her in the courtyard that morning with bags under his eyes and a wobble in his step. "I know everything."
She popped her gum bubble loudly. "Really, mi querido? I would expect nothing less from my boyfriend. Does this mean you love me yet?"
'How did she—that was a threat.' He checked his watch. There was only fifteen minutes before the Herald released, and he needed to get in position. "Hardly." He turned and began walking away.
She stood and latched onto his arm before walking with him. "Que lastima. Where are you taking me?"
"I'm not taking you anywhere. You latched on to me."
"Semantics. What have you got up your sleeves?"
"The Herald is dropping soon," he began proudly.
She was tempted to let him finish explaining as he was so cute when he stood up taller like that, but her competitiveness got the better of her. "Oh, yes. The paper you submitted a photo of Briar and Forger kissing at the masquerade to anonymously? I'm eager to see your handywork."
"How did you—?" he stopped walking.
She put a hand up to his cheek and rubbed his face with her thumb. She found herself reddening the tiniest bit when she felt the stubble on his jawline. "Aw, not used to being bested, are we? How adorable." She snapped her gum loudly as she released his face, trying to distract from her own redness.
They continued to the Herald office in silence with Ludmila still on his arm. Dominic stepped out of the office with a bundle of today's edition. He cut the cord around it with a box knife and dropped it into the metal rack unceremoniously.
"Oooh, that's Dominic Ray, right? Is it just me or is that red lipstick all over his neck? Rogue Dior Color 999 in the velvet finish, one Camilla Bronson's signature color," Ludmila whispered to him.
She was right. Infuriatingly so.
Dominic went back into the newsroom without noticing the two, clearly eager to get back to necking Camilla.
Frankie grabbed one of the papers and hurried to the end of the east hall of the Ignatius Noble Lecture Hall and, with Ludmila still on his arm, taped the paper with the picture facing out to the front of a locker door. He hurried to a near-ish adjoining hallway where he could easily peek over the corner and see their reaction without being seen himself. Ludmila dislodged herself from his side to get between him and the wall as he was taller than her and there was no way she would be able to see otherwise. Frankie froze when he felt her basically in his arms and smelled her green apple conditioner. 'What a nuisance.'
Loid and Yor came down the hallway laughing. His arm was around her shoulders, and she had his fingers of that hand on that arm interlaced between hers. The glow about them was so obviously that of two deliriously happy, lovestruck people, yet both worried that it was all in their head even as they laughed.
Their laughter stopped as soon as they saw the picture which showed the pair melting into each other. Her hands were on his chest as she pressed into him, his holding her face as he did the same. Their lips were also pressing against each other's while both faces were flushed and happy. They didn't dare to look at each other. Who had taken that photo? They both knew that they were completely alone at that point. After all, that was the most befuddling thing about the kiss.
"I'm so sorry, Loid. This is all my fault," Yor said.
"What do you mean? I'm the one who—" he couldn't finish that statement with the implied 'leaned in to kiss you.'
"No, I'm the one who—" she also couldn't finish her statement which he knew would end with 'kissed you first.'
The red in their faces continued to rise like two cartoon thermometers competing to see who could reach the top and shatter the glass first.
"I suppose there's no point hiding it now. The whole school is going to know," Loid said.
Ludmila stifled a shriek.
"Right," Yor said. "I guess it's to be expected."
"Yes, it is a completely normal couple activity," he said.
Neither was brave enough to ask what they were both thinking: does that mean it was time to upgrade their public affection to kissing?
She cleared her throat before opening her locker and throwing the paper inside. She grabbed her books quickly before closing her locker and following Loid dutifully to his.
Frankie sighed as he left algebra class. Not only had Ludmila gotten herself in Cecile Hall, she had arranged for their schedules to align and for her to sit next to him in every class. It was torture watching her stealing glances at him behind those long and dark eyelashes and smelling her perfume every time she shifted in her seat. Torture because he hated her, obviously.
She hurried to gather her things and clamped onto his arm a little too enthusiastically.
"Ludmila," he tried to say but the first syllable was strangled by the pain he was feeling from her grip. It came out of his throat as 'Mila.'
"Only call me that," she said before loosening her grip.
"That means no more 'mi novia.' I thought you liked that."
"Okay, fine. But no more Ludmila."
They had exited the lecture hall into the courtyard where Frankie usually met the rest of the gang before they studied together for chemistry.
Ludmila spotted them and gasped. She excitedly slapped his arm a few times. "That's them! Introduce me to your friends, mi querido."
He sighed again. This was inevitable. He led her over to the quartet of students. "Hi, everyone. This is Ludmila Castillo."
The recognition dawned on their faces. "You've done well, my henchman. Too well. She's too pretty for you," Camilla said.
"Camilla!" Dominic said. "What she means to say is that you've snagged a good one with Frankie. He's—resourceful."
Ludmila laughed. "I know, silly. I wouldn't have picked him otherwise."
"Hello, Ludmila. It's nice to meet you. I'm Yor. I heard you transferred recently. How are you adjusting?" Yor said.
Ludmila smiled at her. She really was as polite and kind as everyone said. "Quite well, thank you. Frankie has made it so easy for me." She got on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
He reddened satisfactorily. "Mila."
She smiled. "There's no need to bother with formal introductions. I know all about all of you."
Loid shifted uncomfortably. 'Does that mean she knows about the arrangement?'
Camilla smirked. "Oh, I think you're going to be quite useful. You should join us to study for chemistry. And tomorrow, I'm hosting a sleepover."
"I'd be delighted," Ludmila said.
"No, no, no! You can't let her infiltrate our group. She's already infiltrated my life!" Frankie said.
The group laughed.
"Aw, mi querido, are you afraid your friends will like me better than you? Don't worry, you'll always be number one to me," Ludmila said.
As they made their way to the library where they had reserved a study room, the other four students noted several things about Ludmila and Frankie. Firstly, they clearly had a rivalry not a romantic relationship. Secondly, the way she humbled him was a good look on him. Thirdly, she genuinely meant it when she kissed him and called him pet names. Fourthly, Frankie genuinely enjoyed her attention.
AN: "Que lastima" translates to "what a shame." xo Lolly