Classes Divided
Chapter 4
I might just take this down and forget about it. People don't like it.
"You've got a major bruise, there." Ekko said, pulling my eyelid down. "It's gonna take at least a week to go down."
"As if I didn't look jacked up enough already." I chuckled, moving his hand away.
"Nah, you're not jacked up." Jinx added, elbowing my side gently. "The only jacked up thing is that you have to cover your tattoo."
"So do you." I reached over and tugged on the sleeve of her shirt. Pink clouds and blue bullets covered her entire arm, and most of her side.
"Ek's the only one who doesn't have to." My brother grinned and traced the white hourglass shape. I wonder if this is what all families talk about before school starts?
"Maybe they'll tell me to cover this." I pointed to my swollen eye. Jinx was about to say something, when the three of us jumped at a noise behind us.
"Oh, for-" I got up and stepped over to the figure on the floor. "Care to help a girl that's down on her luck?" She smiled. She reached up to me, and I lifted her up, putting an arm around her waist and letting her lean against me.
"You're definitely down on your luck." Ekko said, jumping over the bench and picking up the broken crutch on the floor.
"I've been down on my luck since I was born." The girl laughed. "My name's Cassiopeia, by the way."
"So, you never had both legs?" Jinx asked when I sat her down.
"Unfortunately, no." Cass smiled. "The skin condition doesn't help." She raised a hand and rubbed the cracked skin on her cheek.
"Hey, isn't today a free study day?" Ekko asked.
"It is." I sat down between Jinx and Cass. "I was gonna go down to the gym."
"Screw that." My brother stood up. "Let's go build Cass another leg!" She laughed, and waved her hands.
"Are you being serious? You want to build me a second leg?"
"You've got a good chance." I grinned. "These two are the smartest people in this school."
"You're coming with us." Jinx elbowed me in the side.
"What? Why?"
"One, you can't just abandon your siblings." Ekko started. "Two, you're the only one tall enough to help Cass walk." The newcomer smiled up at me.
"What's your last name?" I asked.
"DuCoteau." Jinx laughed.
"That means you don't want to be near us!"
"Oh, far from it!" Cass waved a hand. "Unlike the rest of the people in my house, I keep an open mind about other students."
"What about Lux?" Ekko asked, and Cass raised an eyebrow.
"I heard that she'd met you three. Sejuani called the three of you insane." I rolled my eyes, and the other two laughed.
"Not the worst we've ever been called." Ekko huffed.
"First impressions are that you guys are really nice." Cass smiled. "Everybody else just looks at me in either pity or contempt."
"Not us." I put my hand on her shoulder. "We're all from the bottom of the barrel in Zaun. We know what it's like."
"I thought you came from Piltover." I shrugged.
"I was just moved there because I got in trouble with some gangs."
"You're a Zaunite." Ekko punched me lightly in the arm. "Born and raised."
"Let's stop with the sappy stuff and go to the lab!" Jinx yelled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~~~~~~
I tried to ignore the commotion outside the room as I worked. This is one of the rare days where I can actually catch up on the work from my politics class, and I'll be damned if something interrupts it. In my family tree, my father, Pieter Crownguard followed my grandfather- Something slammed into the door, making me jump and drop my pencil. Sighing, I reached down to pick it up, and the door slammed open, making me fall out of my chair in surprise.
"Uhm, Lux?"
"Over here." I put my hand up. "Dropped something." I huffed, pulling myself up. "What's wrong, Katarina?"
"None of us can find Cassiopeia!" The redhead walked over and slammed her hands into my desk. "She's not even answering her phone!" Sighing, I pulled my phone out of my bag. "What good will that do?"
"Just hold on." I scrolled down to Cass' name and started a call. Within two rings, she answered.
"Lux! Hello!"
"Hello, Cass." Katarina vaulted over the desk and tried to grab my phone, to which I held her at arm's length. "I'm currently being attacked by Katarina because she wants to know where you are."
"Because I don't want her to know." I gave Katarina another shove in her chest and waved her away.
"Will you at least tell me?" The receiver was covered, and Cass talked to somebody else.
"What is she saying?" Kata asked.
"I don't know, I can't hear her."
"You'll be happy about who is here, but only you can come, Lux."
"Why only me?" Katarina glared.
"Because nobody else would understand." After a second, I hummed in approval. "I'm in T-34." She hung up, and I looked over to Kata.
"She told me that only I can go." I sighed, packing up my work. Looks like I'll have to finish this later today.
"Oh, whatever." The redhead threw her arms up and left the room. I'm getting caught up in everything recently. Pulling my satchel on, I race-walked out of the room. I'm in the L –linguistics- building, and Cass is apparently in the T –technical- building. A couple of people called out for me as I moved, but I left the building and hopped down the stairs, going straight for the technical building across the yard. I can't even name all the buildings here. It's a large school. I'm only in the Linguistics building for most of the time. My background means that I only really need to be in Politics class, History class, and foreign correspondence. I might ask to take more classes, or do some more after school activities. Ah, here it is. T-34. I knocked twice, and the door opened a crack, showing a bright pink eye.
"Lux!" Jinx pulled the door open and pulled me into the room by my arm, slamming the door shut behind me.
"We really have to stop meeting like this." I couldn't help smiling when I looked up at Vi.
"What are you covered in?" She looked at her arm and rubbed a black spot.
"Dust, probably. Blame Ekko."
"Hey, Lux." He grinned. "Got any more work for me to do?" Cass waved me over, too.
"I still don't understand why you like doing my work for me." He shrugged.
"I like being challenged."
"I wish that you'd introduced me to your friends earlier, Lux." Cass said, putting her hand on my shoulder. "I've never had anybody offer to build me a leg before."
"You guys are making a prosthetic leg?" Jinx grinned.
"And we're adding rocket-"
"We're not adding rockets!" Vi interrupted. Chuckling, I pulled myself up and sat next to Cass.
"What's your real reason?" I asked quietly, brushing some of Cassiopeia's red hair away from her ear. "I know how sneaky you are."
"I'll show you later." I looked at where Ekko was hunched over a desk. "I'm just enjoying the company."
"At least you're not stuck up like the rest of them." Jinx pulled herself up and sat on Cass' other side.
"Our friends aren't all stuck up. They're just a bit… close minded."
"We've all been raised in royalty or high amounts of wealth." I added. "I used to think the same way."
"Then why did you come back with Vi that one day?" I shrugged.
"The embarrassment of people seeing me in both in dirty clothes, and ones that were see-through when wet overtook my sense of danger." Jinx shook her head and Cassiopeia laughed.
"Hey, I'm kinda glad that I bumped into you that day." I smiled at Vi. "It's a nice change from all the crazy."
"I'm not crazy." Jinx huffed. "Talk to the damned psychiatrist."
"You know what woman creeps me out." Okay, Jinx has a couple of mental health issues. I expected as much, but she's a nice person regardless. "Ekko is just too smart to handle."
"Says the person who only got here because of her strength." He called over from where he was working.
"Is that really how you got a scholarship, Vi?" Cassiopeia asked.
"That, and the fact that the three of us can't be separated, and the school wanted these two geniuses that badly." Vi pointed to Jinx. "Engineering, chemistry, and physics major." And to Ekko. "He's the same, with added Mathematics."
"That's quite a lot." I said. "I can barely keep up with my classes."
"There's plenty of room to work here." Vi said. "I'll grab you a chair."
~~~~~~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cassiopeia's been glaring at Katarina and Talon for a while. I stopped reading my assigned book because of it. She's been trying to help me with my work since we got home. Jinx and Ekko couldn't fully make her a new leg, but they made her an awesome new crutch made of gears and scrap metal.
"Cass, why are you glaring at me?" Katarina finally asked.
"Why don't you ever spend time with me?" Both her brother and sister were shocked at that question. "I'm your younger sister, and you don't even seem to want to know me."
"Where did you get that idea from?" Talon seemed to be staying out of this. "I always want to spend time with you."
"Then why don't you?" She looked at me. "Lux, help me up." I handed Cass her crutch and pushed her off the couch. "You always spend time with either Ashe or Talon over me." I stood up as Katarina walked over.
"There's no need for a fight." Talon's gruff voice sounded. Gripping her crutch tighter, Cass moved back slightly.
"You met Vi, didn't you?" Kata's eyes narrowed.
"What has that got to do with anything?" Gripping the back of Cassiopia's shirt, I tugged slightly to get her attention.
"We should go upstairs. Talon's right. Fighting won't get us anywhere." She met my gaze for a while, and then nodded. As we moved across the room, Katarina kept her stare on us. Even as we moved upstairs.
"Hey, hey. Wait." Cass said as we got upstairs. Somebody else just walked into the common room.
"What was that about?" That's Lissandra.
"That….Vi person is slowly fragmenting our social group!" Cass and I looked at each other. "First, she got Lux to stray from the right path, and now she's taking grip on my sister!"
"Calm down. What is she?"
"Some low class boxer." Talon joined in. "I've seen her a few times around school. Shouldn't be too hard to get rid of her."
"Come on." I followed Cassiopeia to her room, where she sat at her desk and opened her laptop. "I took an interest because of the bank accounts that she holds."
"Cass, are you stalking her?" She smiled.
"I had to be sure that she was the right person for you." I felt my ears heat up. "Look, the two accounts with just under a million gold. Both in Jinx's and Ekko's names."
"Where would she get all that?"
"Don't know. But, we have some work to do to make sure that she stays with us." Cass turned in her chair and smiled again. "I know that you like her."
"I do not!" She grinned, flashing her sharp incisors.
"The more you deny it, the more you lie to yourself." I hid my face in my hands and groaned. "Nobody else will help you, so I have to."
"Thank you." I said, still from behind my hands. This is going to be an interesting year at school.
Thumbs up if you want to see Xayah and Rakan in this. I know I do.