Inigo transfers into Severa's biology class. Easily the second worst day of her life. Mostly because he insists on sitting next to Lucina and the school star seats herself next to her, so Severa was also subjected to his inane flirting.

"Get a room, already!" She snarls, not bothering to keep her voice down, which earns her a firm reprimand from Mrs. Clearwater. "Or sit somewhere else, so I can't hear you two."

Lucina colours. "I'm not involved with Inigo," she states very firmly. "He's just friendly."

Friendly is not the word that Severa would use.

Inigo, unfortunately, decides to join their conversation. "Ladies, so grim today? Are you not aware that smiles from a pair of beauties such as yourselves would be enough to light up the entire room?"

Huh, smiles can apparently power classrooms. Should ask Mrs. Clearwater about the physics of that.

"Inigo, we're working on our assignments. Now is not the time to be joking," Lucina explains, patiently. "And I was having a conversation with Severa."

"The serial scowler?" He sighs and turns his attention to the girl about two corny lines away from jabbing him in the throat. "I could die happy if I could see you laugh at least once in my lifetime."

He could die right now, and it would make Severa happy for her lifetime. "You idiot. You think any girl is going to fall for your lines when they hear you use the same one over and over again?"

"You wound me. This is a brand new line, designed to make lovely ladies such as yourselves swoon in bliss and show the world your pretty smiles."

Severa raises a hand while facing the teacher, and Mrs Clearwater arches her brows in surprise. "May I be reassigned to a different seat?"

"There are no more available spots, although you may feel free to switch places with a peer if they consent to it." Mrs. Clearwater pushes up her glasses. "And Mr. Montoya, if you could please concentrate on your work, it would greatly reduce the noise levels in this classroom," she says with a noticeable amount of exasperation.

Severa makes desperate eyes at Noire, but her friend shakes her head in apology. The shy girl glances at Inigo, who notices and winks in her direction, and she whips around, her face redder than Severa's hair.

...really? She was going to have a talk with Noire about that later.

Lucina leans over, interruping her concentration. Mostly because the girl has been brushing against Severa all day. "Have you finished drawing the possible ways that molecules can transfer energy yet?"

How the hell was she supposed to do that? "Yes. Thanks for asking, Lucina. You can go back to your work now."

"What about reviewing the laws of thermodynamics?"

"We obey them in my house. They seem fair."

"Severa." Lucina seems exasperated. "I'm being serious."

The redhead arches her eyebrows. "You don't think knowing energy cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system is important?"

Surprise pops onto Lucina's face. "So, you were paying attention."

The bell rings, and Severa can finally leave this classroom and the two headaches on her right. She makes her way to Noire before anyone can stop her, and gestures for the dark-haired girl to follow her out. She plasters on a bored expression but catches Lucina trying to pack her bag while conversing with Inigo who leans on her desk, looking star-struck. Lucina looks mildly irritated.

Noire glances back at the classroom as they head down the hallway. "You're not waiting for her?"

Severa scowls. "We're not friends just because she won't leave me alone in biology." And history. And chemistry. And math. Why is Lucina in so many of Severa's classes?

Noire tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and drops her eyes. "I don't know. She seemed like she likes you a lot."

"Speaking of liking someone...Inigo?" Severa whirls on her friend as they arrive in the parking lot. "Spill."

"Severa!' Noire looks around, horrified, and claps her hands to her mouth. "Not here!" She scurries to the passenger side of Severa's car. "L-let's talk about it back at my place."

The fact that Noire offered her house as somewhere to chat means that whatever she's hiding is big. Noire's place is small and on the edge of the town, and the shy student doesn't bring anyone over. It was only through Severa's persistent cajoling that she even managed to find out where it was, and even then, a few more weeks for Noire to reluctantly invite her over.

They pass the main section of town, sticking to a side street to reach the outskirts of town. There's a road that runs parallel to the river and requires driving through a thick weave of forest so that they can see the tire tracks that lead to Noire's house. Noire's mother drives a heavy clunker of a car which, if it ever hits anything, looks like it might burst into flames.

The house itself could be kindly described as creepy and reminds Severa of a dilapidated witch's hut from the less cheery fairytales. It's about a story tall with paint peeling off of its sides and looks like a slight wind could bowl it over. Some of the red brick tiles have fallen from the roof and are stacked besides one outer wall while a fence composed of thick wooden stakes and heavy wire circle the house, just at the edge where the clearing meets the trees. The yawn is meticulously tended, oddly enough, though a patch of strange plants grow off to one side, sprouting in lurid shades of mauve, violet, and orange. And Severa thinks she sees some with teeth.

Noire glances at Severa, biting her lip while the latter kills the engine. "My mother's not back from the shop yet. We have time to talk." She jumps out of the car and hurries to the front door to double-check that Tharja isn't home. She disappears inside the house, and Severa takes her time getting out of the car. She hasn't had the best experiences here in her previous visits.

The last time she came, a crocodile skull nearly brained her after falling from a cabinet she'd accidentally jostled. Which was still better than the time she unintentionally unleashed Tharja's collection of bats by peeking into the cellar after hearing some weird sounds from there. To her credit, Noire's mother gave a plausible reason for keeping the bats, as their guano made excellent plant fertilizer. Not that it stopped her from cursing up a storm at Severa for letting quite a few of them go.

Noire breaks into Severa's thoughts and reappears at the door, huffing slightly. "You can come in now. I've put away the newest of mother's potions, so we don't have to worry about spilling them." She leads Severa into a house with furniture that looks like it belongs to the last century but otherwise is well-swept and clean, despite the awful shade of turquoise green wallpaper that lines the rooms. There is a faint smell of something long dead and dusty lingering in the air, but it gets covered up by the bundles of dried lavender, oregano, and rosemary hanging around the walls in the kitchen. They turn left into a kitchen with a scratched plastic table at its centre, dark curtains, and a spice rack next to the fridge that Severa isn't sure is filled with spices.

Her friend takes a whistling kettle that's slightly dented from the stove and pours some into some chipped teacups waiting on the table. "This is just chamomile. Don't worry. It's not one of Mother's herbs," Noire says after glancing at Severa's expression. "Do you want anything to eat?"

Severa shakes her head and seats herself. "I'm good." She waits until her friend sits down before taking a breath. "So, you have the hots for Inigo?"

It's lucky that Noire's not drinking her tea, because she looks like she would have spat it out all over Severa. "No! Of course not! He doesn't even know me." She pulls a charm from her pocket and fiddles with it. "He's just in a couple of my classes."

"Uh-huh. That explains why you turn red around him. And why you wouldn't take my seat."

Noire frowns. "Severa, you know that I want to get my grades up. I can't afford to be distracted by what goes on in the back of class. Especially between you and Lucina."

Severa is, unfortunately, drinking tea when Noire says that. She spurts out some of her chamomile before grabbing a tissue from a nearby box and bringing it to her mouth. "Gawds, you have the worst timing. And there's nothing going on. Also, we were talking about you and Inigo!"

Noire's cheeks turn red, but she continues on. "And that's why she was flirting with you all day?"

Severa scoffs, "I don't think Lucina even knows how to flirt."

Noire shakes her head. Her voice trembles slightly. "S-so, you didn't notice the way she leaned over your shoulder in history this morning when she asked about the assignment? Or when her arm brushed against yours every time you talked? Think about it, Severa. Lucina gets better grades than you. Why would she ask you about how moles work in chemistry?"

Yeah, that was kind of weird now that Severa thinks about it. "I don't know. She's just naturally very touchy?" She did tend to give hugs a lot to her friends. Not that Severa noticed.

Something flickers on Noire's face, and she hesitates for a long moment before changing the subject. "Are you thinking about the principal's suggestion?" Severa had filled in her friend shortly after she got home about what happened. "I think you'd do really well."

Severa scoffs. "Of course not. She clearly has something planned with Lucina, and I don't want any part of that." She lifts her teacup to her lips before pausing. She squints at what appears to be a bundle of white-blond hair hanging from a nail near the refrigerator with a cord and a label that states "Robin" across its surface. Was that Principal Flynn's hair?

Noire cuts into her thoughts. "I don't think it's anything as devious as you think. And Lucina is really nice. She's helped me a few time with my English homework whenever I bump into her at the library."

"Whatever. The soccer team's for losers, anyway." Severa drains her tea before realizing that Noire has gone still and her lips are tightly compressed. "What's with that face?"

Her friend's eyes flash with annoyance. "What if I said that I wanted to join those 'losers'?"

"And play soccer?" Noire gets sick from chasing butterflies. Severa can't imagine how she'd do training in all sorts of weather. "Why? You're clearly better than that."

Noire bares her teeth in a snarl and bolts onto her feet. Severa gets half a second of surprise before her friend explodes. "BETTER? SEVERA, LOOK AT MY HOUSE. LOOK AT WHERE I AM. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME WHEN I GRADUATE? DO YOU THINK MY MOM CAN AFFORD TO SEND ME TO UNIVERSITY ON HER OWN? IF I CAN GET AN ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP, I CAN—" Her face crumbles, and she collapses into her chair. "I'm sorry. I d-didn't mean to yell at you. Please don't be mad at me, Severa." She wipes at her eyes and hiccups. "Forget you heard that. I don't think I'm meant to go anyways."

Severa sit in stunned silence during Noire's tirade. At her friend's deprecation, she leaps forward, clasping her hands. "Are you kidding me? You're one of the smartest girls in school! Way smarter than me. There's no way someone like you should be missing out on doing something with your brain, because you're hanging in a hick town like this."

"What choice do I have?" Noire gestures weakly around at the shabbiness of her dwelling. "Do you really think I have the money? It's easier to leave my dreams than to leave here," she finishes, quietly.

"That's not true." Severa opens and closes her mouth several times. She can't think of anything to add, so she changes the subject. "What college do you want to go anyway?"

Noire drops her eyes. "Ishtar University near Plegia."

Severa gapes. "The prestiguous art school? Gawds, they're so picky in their selection."

"Which is why I've been working on my portfolio for the last year. Not that it'll do any good when I can't even pay tuition." She starts when Severa touches her arm.

"Noire, you're crazy talented. No sane art school is going to reject you after they've seen what you can do." She clears her throat. "Can you show me what you've put together?"

Noire's room is covered from wall-to-wall of paintings she's done since elementary school. Some are disturbing with spirls of dark colours and violent lines; others are like a kaleidoscope of shapes and colours, oils carefully applied to give a sense of the absurd. One looks like a mountain burning below a sky melting from blue to orange. Another is of a tiny figure of a man before a massive glacier that makes him look like a pinpoint of red in a sea of white. Along Noire's windowsill lies cans filled with rocks, screws, and other odd collections of miscellaneous items while labelled with random prices. Noire once tried to elaborate on why she had them when Severa asked by saying she was experimenting with dadaism and promptly loses her friend thirty seconds into her explanation.

There are also canvases of half-finished portraits sitting in the corner that look eerily life-like, as if they could hop out of the picture and start annoying Severa in person. The redhead arches a brow at the completed painting of someone they both know sitting on an easel. The image is even more handsome and irritating than its original source. "And you say you don't have a crush on him."

Noire blushes at the portrait of Inigo. She doesn't defend herself. "I have sketches and photographs too if you want to see them." She glances at her friend shyly. "Though they're not the same as yours."

She hands Severa charcoal sketches of figures in various poses—skipping, jumping, laughing. One looks suspiciously like her, if certain lines were supposed to be twin tails, leaning over the open hood of a car. A bundle of photographs sit in a crinkled manila envelope. When she pulls them out, she's startled by the sharp lines in crisp black-and-white. "This isn't from a digital camera."

"No, it's an old SLR that used to belong to my father." Noire glances away. "Mother let me set up a dark room in one of the spares downstairs. It's tiny and I have to get a fan to ventilate it, but it works."

"Look at this stuff. This is insane." Severa scans through the photographs, stopping on one showing Lucina studying alone in an empty library, gaze intense and hand in the middle of running through thick locks of gorgeous hair. The light from a lamp throws her profile in sharp display, and highlights those perfect eyebrows, the crisp slope of her nose, and the definition of her jaw. She's looking at the book she's reading with such focus that her expression is almost frighteningly fierce, like a warrior about to make the first strike in a fight.

Severa's mouth goes dry for a while. "If I had half the talent you do, I'd march up to Ishtar's registration office and demand they give me a scholarship to cover my tuition."

Noire blushes. "But I'm not you, Severa. And I did look at the scholarships they offered. If I choose to live on the streets during my studies, they would be enough to cover the three-quarters of the first year."

This damn college. Sheesh.

"Which is why I need the new scholarship Ishtar offers. It'll be more than enough to cover my entire studies as long as I continue with soccer and keep my grades up." Noire furrows her brows and chews at her bottom lip. "If the team makes it to the national, I definitely have a chance to be noticed. Ishtar University looking to add more students from athletic backgrounds to their students. But I heard a couple of star students left this year to transfer schools."

Severa looks surprised. "Lucina told me it was just one."

Noire shakes her head. "A couple more left recently." She bites her lip. "I don't know if the team have enough good players to make it to the nationals. Especially people fast enough to outrun the other teams."

...no.

This is not going where Severa thinks it's going. "And if they don't?"

Noire fiddles with her fingers. She doesn't meet Severa's eyes. "I'll stay here after graduation and help Mother run the shop." Noire sits down on her bed and picks at the worn bedding. "I suppose a shopkeeper's life would be good enough for someone like me."

"One, stop putting yourself down. Two, do you have a back-up plan?"

"Like what? Ask someone for money?" Noire says, softly. "You know it's just Mother and me."

Severa winces. "Credit loans? Student ones?"

"On Mother's credit?" Noire sighs. "I've looked into student ones, but they can only offer so much. Still, it's something I guess I can do." She glances at the clock, and her eyes widen. She bolts onto her feet. It's almost six. You need to leave before Mother comes home. She still hasn't forgiven you for the chicken incident."

Nor Severa her. "Yeah, yeah, I'll get out of your hair." They make their way downstairs, and Noire surprises her with a hug at the doorway.

"Thank you. For listening. I think you might be the only person here who cares about me."

That is sad on so many levels. Even sadder when Severa considers that she's almost in the same boat. "No problems. And hey, you are definitely going to go to Ishtar one way or another. Talent like yours can't be left to die."

Noire looks doubtful but grateful all the same. She waves as the redhead's pulling away from the grassy driveway, and doesn't stop until Severa no longer sees her in her rear view mirror.

The nervous driver, however, is a bundle of raw emotions. She thinks about what Noire's told her, about her chances, and her dreams. And what she's willing to do to get them. Noire is so much braver than she thinks she is. Severa wishes that she'd give herself a chance. She wishes that the world would.

As she drives home, the redhead tries to think of ways to help her friend get to her goal. One possible solution stays lodged in the front of her brain, despite every single attempt she made to wipe it out of her mind.

Severa pulls up to the front of her car and turns off the engine, resisting the urge to bang her head repeatedly against the wheel. She also realizes that Noire has somehow successfully skirted her interrogation about her Inigo crush.

Fuck.

FUCK.

In the end, she swears violently and climbs into her backseat, searching for a certain crumpled up wad of paper somewhere at the bottom of her car. She finally finds the damn thing somehow jammed under her own seat with several tears in the sheet. Carefully, she smooths out the wrinkles by flattening it against her knee before pulling out her phone.

She holds her breath as the rings go by.

Lucina picks up. "Hello?"

"Hey," Severa swallows something in her throat, "I was just thinking about what you said about the soccer team. How many people do you need?"