Violet was being my bow, cutting a path through the ocean of people in the hallways, my hands clinging to her by her skirt waistband, otherwise I’d likely be swallowed up and taken somewhere else completely different from where I needed to be. I remember it like yesterday, the first time I clung to her from behind as we walked. Back then, she gave me a very annoyed look, but after I explained to her how hard it was for me to walk around in the crowd without being bumped into, she softened up a little. Now? Now, she’d be the first guiding my hands to her waist and telling me to hold tight so she wouldn’t lose me. I always had to fight a giggling fit, and having her with me really did wonders to my ease of traversing the schoolgrounds, even if Violet’s steps were a bit unsteady today.

  We had found our classroom, and as we were getting inside, Violet turned her head to tell me that I could let go of her, but that resulted in her bumping into someone or something, me bumping into her back in turn.

  “S-sorry! I wasn’t looking,” Violet said, her voice raised to make herself heard over the noise of all the people talking.

  I peeked around to see who she was talking to. It was another girl, about the same height as Violet and with brown hair she had partially tied behind her head with a pink butterfly hair clip.

  That girl turned her head around and holding a smile until her eyes met Violet’s.

  “It’s all…” was all she said before her expression soured. Then, she looked my girlfriend up and down before abruptly turning her back to Violet.

  “What the hell is her problem!?” was written all over Violet’s face, echoing my own thoughts.

  “Abby! Violet! Over here!” a familiar voice called out.

  Surrounded by girls was our mutual friend Mathilda, standing and waving at us with a hand held so high, part of her shirt became untuck and showed a bit of her belly skin.

  Violet still threw an annoyed glance at the girl she bumped into before she resumed walking with me giving her a small push. I was a bit fearful of Violet saying something to that other girl because she was already not quite herself today. I didn’t think she would, but then again, I also would never have thought she’d punch anyone until I saw her putting Markus on his ass.

  As we approached her, the girls looked at us before dispersing. I think Violet might have had a frightful expression as she approached them, which wouldn’t be all that surprising really.

  With a wide grin and proud face, Mathilda pointed at the empty table by her and told us she had reserved it for us. It was the second table from the back and right by the window. She’d be sat to our right, and to our front were two familiar faces, her cousin Mathew, and her childhood friend Stephen, the two boys turning around to greet us.

  “You two are looking cute,” Stephen added to his greeting in a very casual way. “I like your braid a lot.”

  “T-thanks,” Violet stammered as she sat down, taking care to move the braid to the front so she wouldn’t be resting her back on it. Abby did it for me, she then added, giving me a look that showed she was both bragging about it but also worried that I’d be annoyed over having a boy complimenting her. Frankly, I was, but just a bit. Not so much because he was a boy, but because he had showed romantic interest in her before. Violet was a very pretty girl, especially when she smiled or shyly blushed, so of course she’d be getting compliments here and there, especially now that she wasn’t always so serious looking since I was with her. She did look drop dead gorgeous as she moved her braid around when she sat down.

  “…Should we tell then?” Mathilda asked.

  We looked at her. I could tell, she wasn’t all that pleased, and I immediately remembered why. She had feelings for Stephen, and she just saw him flirting with another girl. Personally, I think that the fact he did so fully knowing she was watching made it sting even more. I know it would if it were me in her shoes.

  The next person I looked at was Violet. She had her face slightly twisted. While she thought we could tell them, she was probably thinking about the timing of it.

  “After we are done with class,” I told Mathilda. And with that out of the way, I decided to try give her a hand by teasing Stephen, asking him if he didn’t think Mathilda was looking cute too.

  “Oh yeah,” he agreed with a nod and just as casually as before. “Especially now that she has part of her shirt hanging out.”

  “W-wha—!? Gee! Tell me about that kind of stuff sooner!” she barked, annoyed, but also undoubtedly happy for getting a compliment.

  “I thought you did it on purpose!” he said, now getting a bit shook up. “Some of the other girls are wearing it like that too!”

  Now that he mentioned it, some girls did indeed have part of their shirts untucked, but only the back. I think they’d look better neatly tuck like Violet’s and how she made sure mine was, but I’m biased.

  Watching her make a weird dance as she tried to fix her shirt without undoing her skirt was fun for us, until Violet got up and moved her to the back of the classroom where she used her bag to cover Mathilda’s waist while looking away so she could actually do the fixing. You see, class was just about to start, and the toilets were on the floor below our current one, so Violet was showing her considerate nature.

  Hmm, typical Violet. Acts uninterested, but she actually cares.

  Maybe if we hadn’t hang out during the summer, but since we did, she came to like Mathilda more than she might realise.

  “…What?” Violet asked after she sat down by me, seeing me smirking at her.

  “Hehe, it’s a secret!” I giggled as I bumped my shoulder on her.

  “Hmm?” she hummed with a raised eyebrow, but before she could do or say anything to get the truth out of me, the class grew silent.

  Inside had walked in a young lady who’s maybe just a couple of years older than my sister, sharply dressed, with a sports jacket over a white shirt and a pencil skirt with high-heels. She was likely regretting her attire choice because there was a strand of hair from her otherwise neat ponytail gluing itself to her forehead. She was wearing some make-up, but only just a little. She truly was a handsome lady, and the whole class—not just the boys, seemed captivated by her.

  “Good day to you all, class eleven-C!” she greeted us, trying to sound firm, but her voice and face showing her nervousness. “My name is Evelyn Maple, Miss Maple for you, and I’ll be your Math teacher this year. I’ll also be your—”

  She was completely shut off by the wild cheering erupting from our class. I’d have joined too, were it not for the annoyed glare Violet was tossing around. Not that she wasn’t happy to hear the news like everyone, she just hated the noise.

  Miss Maple was scowling as she waved her arms in the air, signalling for us to calm down. When we finally did, she took off her jacket with a huff and hanged it on her chair before facing us again, the boys now paying really good attention to her.

  “As I was trying to say, I’ll also be your homeroom teacher, and even though I never exercised such responsibility, I intend to take my duties very seriously,” she said sternly as she looked around, everyone now slightly hunched under her glare over their tables. “I realise my predecessor was… wasn’t well liked, so I’ll overlook it this one time, but I won’t tolerate this kind of behaviour from here on out.”

  She did look like she meant it. Miss Maple was reminding me of mum a bit. Although, to be fair to Miss Maple, she was looking mad, but not like she’d stab someone’s neck with a straw and follow that with drinking their blood through it like mum did at her softer times.

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  “Now, I’d like to ask, which ones of you are Abigail Gardener and Violet Evergreen?”

  Hearing our names singled out was a bit scary, but we still raised our hands immediately and silently.

  Miss Maple was still with her stern face and staring at us like she was analysing a painting. Unlike with Violet, I wasn’t able to get any sort of reading out of her other than us possibly being in trouble from the let go.

  “Hmph. By the way he described you, you’d think you two had horns and tails,” she scoffed.

  Violet and I exchanged a look as our arms slowly came down, none of us knowing what to make out of what just happened. Still, as a safety measure, I asked if we were in trouble.

  “Not at all!” Miss Maple told us, now showing a smile. “I was just very curious to see who the two girls he wouldn’t stop talking about were.”

  I got a small hint that she had spent some time with our old teacher and that resulted in her also growing a dislike of him too.

  “Now, how about I get to know the names of everyone else?” she said as she brandished the homeroom book, ready to make rollcall.

  “Our new homeroom teacher sure is pretty, huh?” Mathilda asked as we made our way outside.

  “She seems nice too,” Stephen added as he nodded and not noticing the annoyed look Mathilda shot at him.

  “…Is everything ok with you two?” Mathilda asked us next.

  “Yeah, Violet just needs to cooldown a little,” I told her as I fanned my girl with one hand while she hugged the other to steady herself.

  “Ah! I know just the place!”

  I made sure Violet was holding tightly to my arm as we walked, since there was no need for her to cut a path for me as that was being done by our friends. She was looking awfully red, almost like when I keep teasing her or after a particularly enthusiastic love-making session, only, she was looking horrible instead of lovely.

  The place Mathilda had in mind was behind the gym. There was shade from the building, plenty of trees, and no people around, the ideal place for Violet to take a breather. The stone step we sat on felt slightly cool to the touch, and so did the wall behind it. Only thing missing was a cool drink, but about that, Mathilda placed the boys in charge of fetching refreshments for everyone.

  “Should she be at school if she’s like this?” Mathilda asked, showing her worry by patting Violet on the head, my girlfriend having trouble keeping her eyes open evenly.

  She shouldn’t, but it’s Violet we are talking about. For her, it’d be unthinkable to skip the very first day of the new school year. I’m sure she’d have relented if I had insisted enough, but in me not wanting to be a nag, I might have chosen the worst option.

  “Abby,” Violet called out with a moany voice as she tugged me closer.

  “No babe, you need to cool off.”

  “But… I wanna snuggle you…”

  She was being so pitiful and needy… again, I was probably picking the worst option, but the way she hugged my waist and nuzzled my hair after I sat between her legs made me think differently.

  “Pfft, fufu! Can I take a pic?” Mathilda asked, looking very delighted with the view of us two, phone already in hand.

  Violet grumbled a no and I also said no, but gestured her to take it anyway. I was sure it was a nice picture and I’d deal with Violet about it afterwards. I’ve been meaning to talk with her about us getting more photos together.

  As I expected, it was a nice pic, and I silently asked Mathilda to send it to me before fully committing my attention to Violet. She was still nuzzling my hair and had started patting my stomach. She might not be feeling better, but she was in a somewhat better mood. I, on the other hand, was worried though. I had guessed she’d have a hard time falling asleep without me—even more so than when I’m with her and it’s hot—but having the fan breaking down was a level of bad luck no one could have predicted. It was working just fine a couple of days ago too.

  “Did you two perhaps stay up late banging to compensate for not being able to during the day?” Mathilda asked with a naughty smile.

  “If only,” I told her while rolling my eyes, Violet seemingly having fallen asleep already, convincing me that it had been the right choice to indulge her. “Sorry for not telling you this sooner, but my sister came back and until I patch things up with her, Violet is staying at her place, and last night, the fan she uses to keep herself cool during the night broke down.”

  “Oh… sorry, I really shouldn’t have made that joke then.”

  I wasn’t mad at her because, again, we hadn’t told her about it before. We only learned about it a week before, and we hadn’t found a good time to bring this up.

  “Are things that bad between you three?”

  “…I don’t know…”

  Sophie had apologized before she left for her internship and three months had passed since then without us ever exchanging a single word. It’s not like I hated my sister or anything like that. I was just… it’s stupid, but I was still feeling a bit hurt by her initial reaction and I guess feeling guilty about not having faced her when she apologized back then and for the nasty things I told her before that. I guess that things were mostly just awkward between us two, both feeling uncertain how the other felt towards the other.

  “Hmm… And Violet?”

  Violet? She most likely spited my sister for having hurt me. Even so, she was the first voicing the idea of having us sleep in each one’s respective house until Sophie came around to accept us, so at the very least, she understood very well how important Sophie was to me and wanted to help us reconcile. Whether she’d actually forgive Sophie herself… as much as I brag about knowing Violet, that fact was a perfect mystery. I hope she does and the two become friends after everything gets settled. They are the two most important girls in my life after all. I guess Mathilda too, but she only recently started carving her place in my heart as a friend, so she still had some ways to go.

  “It’s nice, isn’t it? Having someone special who cares so much about you…”

  I felt bad for her, not just because Stephen didn’t see her in the same way, but also because she had a horrible family situation. It’s true that she had an elder sister who loved and cared for her, and whose mum also came to feel the same way about her, but at the end of the day, she was still going back to a big empty house.

  “I’m sorry about us acting like this in front of you.”

  “Oh, you don’t need to be sorry at all!” she giggled as she rested her chin on her knees. “I really enjoy watching you two together. It kinda gives me hope of experiencing that one day. If anything, you should apologize for holding back around me!”

  “Pfft! Any more than this, and we might actually start ‘banging” as you call it, right in front of you.”

  “As long as I get to film it, it’s fine by me,” she laughed.

  Good thing Violet was sleeping because this was a conversation that’d only make her feel worse with all the blood rushing to her face.

  “Will she really be ok?” Mathilda asked, her face taking a more concerned expression.

  I thought Violet would if she got a good night’s rest and properly hydrated herself. Once we were done with classes, I’d drop her off her place and get her a new fan for her bedroom. That, and a big water bottle for her to keep by her bedside.

  “Here we are with our refreshments!” Stephen announced as he and his friend came around the corner.

  “Gee! What took you so long?” Mathilda protested.

  “Well, excuse us, princess!” Mathew responded with a drown out, annoyed voice. “It’s not like it isn’t blistering hot today and everyone is ganging up the machines!”

  Mathilda shrugged, looking pleased with having annoyed her cousin. Stephen on the other hand carried on like nothing happened.

  I tapped Violet’s thigh to wake her up so she could have some water.

  “…”

  She drunk it all in one go, making me even more worried about her health and how long she’d last until I got to patch things up with sis. I know she was the first saying we should sleep separately until then, but… it wasn’t fair to her at all.

  We both missed each other, but I had a nice cool room with a working AC while she didn’t. I had Mr. Sealy to snuggle with and make things easier while she had nothing. I had the gym to busy myself outside of chores-—chores that we’ve been doing together, now a reminder that we weren’t—while she had nothing besides her books, but even then, while she read, I’d been resting my face on her lap or shoulder. We were both sacrificing things we held dear, but she sacrificed a far greater deal than I did.

  “Abby? Abby?” Mathilda called out. “Are you listening?”

  “Sorry, I was distracted. What’s up?”

  “Stephen is asking what optional subjects you picked.”

  “Oh, that?” I said, turning to him. “Biology and Chemistry. Same for Violet. You?”

  “Physics and Music. This guy here picked IT and Geology.”

  Both of their combinations were a bit odd, so I asked them why they’ve gone with those.

  Stephen explained that he liked Physics and as for Music, he picked it because he didn’t care about what the other subject was and Mathilda asked him to join her. It was well played of her part, I’ll give her that.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t pick Workshop class,” I told him.

  To answer that, he pointed at an imaginary object help by the tip of his fingers.

  “This is a nail,” he said, trying to sound like a narrator from an infomercial. “Nail are typically made out of metal that can vary from copper to iron or even hardened steel. They are used to stick things together or in place, and for that, you usually use another tool call “hammer” which is the next tool I’ll be teaching you about.”

  In other words, he’d be bored out of his mind and would rather do something different over having a subject he’d get full grades with zero effort.

  As for Mathew, his reasons were that he wanted to learn programming and since his interest was in gaming and Level Designing, he figured that learning how rocks and mountains form would allow him to create more believable game environments.

  “Huh. For once, it looks like you used your brain, cousin,” Mathilda jabbed.

  “Oh, shove it!” Mathew snorted. “Like you’ve got a well-defined idea about your future to be able to talk about others.”

  “Touché. Still, that means that we won’t be sharing the same class apart from me and the girls with Biology, huh? That sucks.”

  “Not for me, though. One less class I have to see your ugly mug.”

  “Who are you calling ugly, pig face!?”

  “I might be ugly, but at least I’m ugly with my natural face while you’re still ugly with make-up on!”

  “I can’t believe I was trying to have a genuine moment here! Pig! Jerk! Swine!”

  “Guys, calm down! Violet is trying to sleep!” Stephen said with raised arms, making the two pipe down.

  Despite our homelife, at least in school it’d be fun.