John stretched out, breathing a sigh of relief as he could finally stop writing for a moment. "Alright, first act done. Let's take a break."
Seraphina looked up from her papers, rolling her eyes. "Not yet, we've barely started."
"Oh come on, we've been at this for like an hour!"
Seraphina narrowed her eyes. "It's barely been half of that."
"...You sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure." Seraphina huffed, before bringing a hand forward. "If you say you're done then let me check the work."
John stopped for a moment, then reluctantly passed his papers over to the girl. "Here you go, teach."
Seraphina felt...a smirk on her face. "No amount of money would be enough to ever be your tutor."
"Oh yeah? Then what do you call this?" John retorted, gesturing between them.
"...A charity case, I've taken severe pity on you."
"Woooow, I feel so grateful. I'll be forever in your debt, your majesty."
Sarcasm and an eye-roll, a classic John Doe combo.
"Don't ever forget it." Seraphina remarked, scanning through the summary that...what the hell even is this?
"That look in your eyes isn't very reassuring." John said.
"It shouldn't be." Seraphina dropped the paper, before taking a pen and making plenty of marks on the white sheet.
"What the he—You're defiling my work!" John loudly whispered, leaning forward to the table to try and save his paper, though it was in vain.
"Your "work" is a travesty. Most of the major events are...fine, I guess, but so many minor details are completely butchered on here. How are you this bad?"
John grumbled, looking away as Seraphina went on about what needed to be corrected. Am I really that shitty at this? Even with the notes Blyke gave me?
Then, to John's surprise, between the shelves of the books in the area of the library that John was looking at, came forth Evie, carrying a couple of binders and notebooks in her arms. The girl appeared to have a solemn look on her face but it was wiped away as she noticed John, a smile replacing her previously disheartened expression.
"John!" She called out, heading over to him. "Good morning! What are you here for?" She asked, cheery as she usually was, though rather oblivious to something.
"Morning, Evie. I'm, uh, working on a project." He said, before pointing over to the girl across from him. "She's my partner."
That's when Evie turned to offer greetings but her heart almost stopped, seeing who it was.
Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. It's Seraphina! SERAPHINA!
...Oh my god, I ignore Seraphina.
How could I gloss over Wellston's Goddess?!
What's wrong with me?!
"G-Good morning to you too, Seraphina!" She exclaimed, bowing at a rapid pace that only left John and Seraphina to share a look of bemusement.
She had hoped John could explain the reason for it, but he just shrugged, not knowing why either.
"Good morning..." Seraphina simply replied, almost as a question. This was a new face, she didn't remember seeing this girl around before.
"Uh...I...Sorry for interrupting you guys, I'll leave you two alone." Evie mumbled, the strain of embarrassment shading her face, before she went to turn around.
"Hold up, what's the rush?" John asked, reaching forward to tug on her sleeve so she wouldn't go yet. "Did you need something? We were taking a break anyways."
"No, we weren't." Seraphina responded, showing him all the things he needed to correct.
Jeez, so bossy.
"Can you just chill for a sec'?" John asked, before turning back to Evie, waiting for an answer from her.
She was having trouble saying what she was going to say, of course she would. She's got the attention of two people she admires completely on her. But, thankfully, she could be calm enough to say it after a moment.
"W-Well, I have a lot of classwork to get through and it got a bit...crowded where I was sitting."—In truth, a group of girls had made her leave, not wanting to sit near...someone like her.—"So, when I saw you, I thought it would've been nice to be around a friend while I worked." She explained.
A friend, she says. Seraphina noted. This girl was weak, it was obvious, yet she held a friendship with someone so much stronger than her. Very unusual.
"Well, It's fine with me." John turned to Seraphina. "Does it matter to you?"
It does.
Seraphina admits she would so much rather be by herself while working through this. It wasn't even the girl's rank that mattered, she just did better when she was alone. But, as it is, she's already dealing with one annoyance.
She lands her gaze on Evie, who stifles for a moment, and answers, "As long as you aren't being a distraction, go on and do your work."
Evie's eyebrows raised in surprise. Seraphina, herself, didn't mind being around someone like her? She could sit near her?! That made her feel brighter than anything her ability could ever do!
If I'm dreaming, never wake me up.
"Nope, you got it! Quiet as a mouse!" She spoke with a smile, quickly stepping over and sitting in the chair one seat away from John, so as to not intrude in their area.
Haven't seen her this enthusiastic before. John glanced at Evie, then at Seraphina. The term escapes him right now, but whatever it is, Evie's definitely that, he's realizing.
"Just so you know, Evie, I'm probably going to be zero help if you're having problems with any homework," John remarked.
Evie giggled, "Oh come on, I'm sure you're not that bad."
John would respond, had Seraphina not interjected. "Say that with a straight face after looking at this."
Hesitantly, Evie picked up the paper and began to read through it. "A summary of Hamlot's first act?"
She was familiar with it, even outside of school. Her mom had always been a die-hard fan of plays and musicals. They were even lucky enough to see one when Evie was younger; Even if they were way in the back, it was still one of her favorite memories.
"But...this..." Evie's expression became more helplessly confused by the second, having to read through each line to make sure what she was seeing was right.
She looked toward John, gobsmacked and horrified.
"John...how? Why?"
"I don't knoooow, I'm sorry!" He half-heartedly whined.
Meanwhile, Seraphina hovered a hand in front of her face, hiding her amused smirk behind it.
Evie left halfway through, John was envious of how fast she could get through her work. He wondered if being around people she was safe with helped factor into that.
After over an hour more of working and finally, finally, they were finally done. That would be the end of it, for now.
"We're meeting back here during lunch, then we're coming back again after school ends. Make sure you remember." Seraphina's almost completely monotone voice reminded John as they made their way to the doors, to the side of one another.
"Three study sessions in one day? If someone wanted to kill me, this would be the way to do it." John responded, a dreadful sigh escaping him as slung his backpack over his shoulder.
"Too bad, slacker. Get over it." She taunted, earning her John's unamused but amused stare.
Though John could get ticked off by just how bossy she could get when correcting his work, she certainly knew what she was doing and he did find it much easier to understand how to flow everything together with how she explained it.
On the other side of the coin, Seraphina couldn't hide her irritation every time he acted like a smartass, approximately half of the time, but...she had to give credit that he was mostly diligent as he worked and, once he was pushed—shoved—in the right direction, he could go pretty far.
And, while she definitely wouldn't admit it, John had an optimism that was rather...amusing in its own way, much like Remi's whenever she would talk to her.
Overall, being the other's project partner...wasn't that bad.
Footsteps patter beyond the door, louder as the two just about reach it before a girl shoves the door impatiently, mumbling "Darn" to herself multiple times as she rushes forward. Her long pink hair flowed and bounced with each step and her light, warm red eyes widened in surprise as she almost collided with Seraphina.
However, as calm and cool as ever, Seraphina stepped back and turned her body away to the right, making herself clear of the girl's path and preventing any collision.
"Woah!" The girl let out, abruptly stopping her movement and taking a moment to realize what almost occurred and what just did. She turned back, an apologetic smile at the ready. "Jeez, sorry about that, Seraphina. You sure are quick, though!"
"You're in quite the hurry, Remi." Seraphina noted, unbothered by the event.
A benefit of her passive. John figured while he racked his brain for why the girl's name seemed familiar.
An embarrassed chuckle came from Remi as she scratched her head. "You bet, I'm trying to cram in a quick study sesh' before third block." She mentally thanked Isen for the warning on the surprise pop quiz that wasn't so unexpected anymore.
"Is that so, don't we have this block together?" Seraphina asked, crossing her arms.
"Yeaaaah, but I'm doing a lot better in Physics than I am in Geometry, so I figured I'd slack on the former to do better on the latter, you know?"
Seraphina could never do that personally, though to be fair, she hasn't had to be in that situation before. "I suppose I can see where you're coming from."
"Yup, needed to do that plenty of times."
John nodded, agreeing with Remi. Didn't work though, considering how bad he was at everything back in New Bostin. That wasn't even factoring in before high school with how much the beatings screwed with his schoolwork. Sometimes, he'd spend half the day in the infirmary and then be too pissed off to get through it at home.
"Mhm! ...Hm?" Remi had been too focused on Seraphina to realize she actually had someone accompanying her, but her attention quickly turned to the tall boy with dark hair and unassuming, yet captivating golden eyes. Her hand moved away from her hand, suspended at her shoulder, looking at him curiously.
"You're a new face." She was blunt.
John would've replied much the same, but then it clicked, and he snapped his fingers at the realization. "Remi, Blyke's friend, right?"
She nodded at the recognition, before softly gasping, raising her fingers to her chin. "Are you Blyke's roommate?! Uhmmm..." Remi twirled her hand around as if to motion the act of making the gears in her head turn to remember his name. Why couldn't she remember it?
The guy in question couldn't help but have a light-hearted chuckle, before extending a hand to her. "It's John Doe."
Remi made an "Ah" sound, before accepting the handshake. Full name introductions? Okay!
"Remi Audra, nice to finally meet you!" She replied with a smile. "A friend of Blyke and Seraphina is a friend of mine." She said, enthusiastic.
"Not friends, project partners." Seraphina quickly corrected.
"Was that really necessary?" John retorted, turning his head to look back at her.
"You'd say otherwise?" She challenged.
John's supposed answer would be interrupted by the sound of the warning bell, notifying the students who cared that they'd only have a minute left to get to class.
"...Crap, I'm gonna be late." John muttered.
"Oh no, how sad." Sera's obvious sarcasm was obvious.
"Hey, you're in the same bo—" One instant pulsation of aura later, and Seraphina was gone before John could even look at her, the only clue being the swinging of the Library door. He'd poke his head out of it—looking both ways—before shouting out, "Showoff!"
Remi apologized while she giggled. "My bad, guess I got a little caught up."
"Nah, it's no big deal," John responded, looking back at her before he headed out into the hallway. "Just gonna have to cut this short, but it was nice meeting you! I'll see you around."
Remi nodded, giving him a wave. "Sounds good, I'll be around!"
She looked on as John left, a hopeful smile on her face. She had heard some details from Blyke and from what she picked up around the school about the new transfer but had been too busy to meet him, with how the teachers love to shove all the exams and projects for the end of the term altogether.
So that's the mysterious roommate...He seems nice! She'd like to talk to him more, but for now, she's gotta buckle down and speed-read a geometry book. Those shapes won't know what hit 'em!
After five classes—two of them being long blocks which were the absolute worst—and two grueling hours of work for the project, John was already feeling ready to crawl into bed and sleep till the morning, whatever their teacher had been going on about a few minutes ago had practically turned into buzzing static, along with all the talking the other students were having, as he tried to remember and copy it into his notebook.
He was thankful that this was his last class for the day but it was outweighed by the feeling of dread that came with the next haul of project work afterwards.
He glared at the assignment that had been passed down to his desk, vehemently insulting the questions asked on the paper. Thankfully, he was the last seat down the fourth column of desks, meaning he'd be unlikely to deal with any beratement from the older teacher. The guy has a mean throw with that chalk of his.
Bringing him out of it was the gentle push on his shoulder from the right of him, lazily turning his head to acknowledge Evie with a nod.
"You're looking pretty out of it." She said with a chuckle and a smile.
"Can't seem to hide that at all." John sighed, leaning back in his chair. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment before his eyes darted from the paper to Evie. "Work together?" That should help keep him focused.
"Sure!" She chirps, adjusting her desk just a little so there isn't as much of a reach of looking over the questions and textbook.
They get through a bit of it before she contemplates for a moment, then says, "After what I read earlier, I'm not sure if you can be trusted to work on your own anymore." She giggles.
"Oh, come on." A light-hearted groan escaped him. "The words and language they use in that book are bullshit and you know it."
"But the three witches aren't even in Hamlot's story, that's in Mcbetch!"
"Blame Ting for putting it in my search results." He defends.
"...You looked it up when Seraphina was right there?" Evie questioned; Eyebrows that were barely visible beneath her bangs furrowing in confusion. I mean, come on, Wellston's Goddess is like a real-life Athena!
John grumbled. He might've had more pride than he thought had. He guessed it might've been a good thing she caught him doing that.
"Though I guess with the last interaction you two had, I probably can't blame you for being hesitant around her." Evie reasoned, scratching her cheek. "It's a miracle you two aren't at each other throats." She grimly tittered, imagining how much of a wreck the school could be in.
"That's a stretch," John said lowly, remembering the events at the Cafeteria just about a week ago. "She gets on my nerves a bit, but it's not like I dislike her. She has her share of bullshit to deal with that she shouldn't have to." He explained.
Evie cocked her head in regard to that tidbit, "What do you mean?", she asked with naivety clear in her tone.
John has to take a moment to make sure he words it right. "...When you're at the top, there's an expectation that follows it. It's heavy, suffocating, it fucking sucks.
"And when, for whatever reason, you don't seem to be living up to that expectation, to that perfection, nearly everyone talks shit about it, about you. Like you're doing something so wrong for not behaving the way you should, that they think you should. Whatever they think being "perfect" means.
John's eyes continually narrow in disdain, the words he says making his blood begin to boil, and he has to make sure to keep ahold of himself so that he doesn't get louder and yell. Releasing it slowly through a long exhale of breath.
"Nothing good comes from putting others on an untouchable pedestal." He finishes, now with the want to smack the person who thought creating the term "God-tier" was ever a good idea.
Evie stared at her intertwined fingers, a thoughtful look on her face, letting his words lay in her mind as she took them in. In truth, she had never really considered the toll it could take on those who were the strongest, only ever daydreaming of how wonderful it must feel to be in that position. Was there something she hadn't seen or realized?
The way that John talked about it...
"Have...you ever felt like that?" She whispers, unsure if she even had the right to ask about something like that.
John holds a regretful look in his eyes, a small smile forming on his lips before he taps his pen on the part of the paper where question eight is marked.
"We should finish the rest of this, I'm not trying to add it to everything else there is to deal with these next few weeks." He says softly.
Evie nods along and agrees, glad that he hadn't been upset, and accepting the hint to not delve further.
Near the end of class, after Evie had spent some time texting Roland mundane things, she quirked up at his most recent message, before getting John's attention.
"It's Roland, he said he wanted to talk to you after class ends," Evie explained. She had noticed the way her friend had become a bit withdrawn when John was around recently, only being given some details as to why.
"He does?" John perked up at hearing that.
Evie hummed and said, "He's down on the first floor, I know a shortcut to get to it quickly." She offered, having been one of the many walking paths she had found to be safe for the most part.
John rubbed two fingers along his jawline as he contemplated, Seraphina's expecting me at the library after this, but then shrugged, figuring it wouldn't take long. The quicker he talked to Roland the better, anyway.
"Alright, let's go."
A/N: Last names are fun. Audra means "Storm".
A/N: Feedback is always appreciated!