I'll twist my words: a clever turn of phrase

by BlockBuckster

Summary:

Franziska is a straight A student. This chain, however, was broken by one B. In an attempt to rescue her own grade, she agrees to help her brother's friend by tutoring her. This eventually leads her life to take a new path, being encouraged to understand her own feelings along the way. The new path, which also may be referred to as Wright’s Friendgroup, ends up being the best possible experience for her, and every other teenager looking to join!

A.K.A. a FranMaya focus High School AU fic, where Franzy tutors Maya.

(Bonus Klapollo, Ema, and Athena focused Subplot!)

***Title is from a song: Um, It's Kind of a Lot - Will Wood***

Notes:

Hey!

Before we get into this, I should add that my native language isn't English, and that Idk how to write well :')
This means that there may be mistakes, and that the writing may be awkward at times (I haven't written in years! Cut me some slack :P )

AND more importantly, this is my first ever fic! I'm writing this for fun, not to be the next shakespeare lol
Sooo I would appreciate if criticism was left to a minimal <3

P.S. The chapter is kinda short, it's just to get into it yk? Okay sorry for talking let's get into it

Chapter 1: In which they meet for the very first time

*** Franziska POV ***

 

Perfection isn’t never losing, but rather never even thinking about giving up.

 

That quote, even if it may seem meaningless, stuck with Franziska for years. She heard it a long time ago on some TV program, and somehow didn’t forget it. And in this case, she was attempting to use it as a coping mechanism.

 

A chill crept up her spine looking at the paper. She aces every test. No matter how big or small, she always gets 100/100. At the very least she should get a 98/100.

82/100.

 

How?! She’s a straight A student for god’s sake! This one B would bring her average down by a landslide!

 

Breathe, Franzy, breathe. It’s just one grade. And what is it from? Math? That’s not so bad! You can just get extra credits by doing additional assignments.

 

Pacing around her room aimlessly clearly wasn’t helping. She kept trying to think of a way to get her grades back on track, but nothing useful was coming to mind. She can’t redo the exam, she’s fucked! There’s nothing she can do. This one grade just single-handedly ruined her entire high school experience.

 

Before she was able to create a groove into the hard, wooden floor with her pacing, Miles barged into her room. “Franziska. Food’s ready,” he said in this calm, monotone voice. Franziska rolled her eyes. “I’ll be down in a bit,” she sighed in her more annoyed, lively voice.

 

Placing the paper on her desk, she decided she wouldn’t worry about it today. Of course, that decision probably won’t last long, but it’s worth a try.

 

 

The stairs reeked of wood. Makes sense, considering that’s their material. She remembered her first day in this building: lonely, afraid, and certain she would never call this place home. To this day the house felt unfamiliar, but she’s noticed how… comfortable it also feels. Maybe this place will one day truly become her home, instead of just her house?

 

Gregory and Miles greeted her downstairs. For the last seven years dinner has always been like this. As strange as it initially felt, she’s grown fond of this new family. For an outsider this may be obvious: a new, loving family is clearly better than an old, abusive one.

 

But to Franziska it wasn’t that simple. At first, she felt like a freak for not loving her new family. Gregory always assured her that it was okay to feel that way; a change like this is never easy for anyone, especially for a nine-year-old! But that never really helped. It took multiple years to grow out of that disgusting feeling, and it’s still lingering there sometimes.

 

The scent of her favorite food immediately broke her chain of thought. Parmesan pasta… she thought to herself. Although it was a fairly simple dish, it always soothed her. (Mainly because she’s craving it nearly all the time, but that’s an unnecessary detail)

 

“Hey, Franzy dear! You looked a bit upset when you got home so I decided to make something you’d enjoy!” Gregory smiled as he placed the pan on the dinner table.

 

“I appreciate it, really,” she replied. “Nothing big happened.” She shuffled in her seat, hoping her lie wasn’t obvious. “The Math exam results were just… a bit surprising, that’s all.”

 

Miles gave her that concerned look that every big- I mean little brother gives to their sibling. “So—” he quickly finished chewing his pasta— “what did you get?”

 

“I… got a B,” she admitted, looking down. She was trying to hide the fact that she was upset, but it clearly wasn’t working.

 

“That’s still really good, Franzy. You’re incredibly talented and you know that! One grade doesn’t define you or your intelligence. It’s the messed up school system that makes you feel that way,” Gregory clarified.

 

Franziska smiled “Thanks, but just words won’t help the fact my grades are now screwed. There’s no way to get the points I lost back.”

 

“Can’t you get extra credit or something?” Miles asked without even looking up. “Already considered it. No additional homework or assignment is gonna be enough,” she frustratedly added.

 

“How about tutoring someone? The Math professors always award those who can get another student in need of support teaching off their shoulders,” he responded, now actually looking at Franziska. She sighed heavily. “Nobody in my class is in need of tutoring, and I don’t know anyone else my grade. You should know that, or are you purposely mocking my lack of friends?”

 

“Sorry, didn’t mean it that way.” He looked at his phone. “But I do have an idea.”

 

As much as she hated to admit it, she was intrigued. “What is it?”

 

“Wright has… quite a large friend group. I’m pretty sure he mentioned that one of them, miss Fey, was nearly failing math. I’m sure she would appreciate a tutor,” he suggested.

 

In that moment, she felt blessed. Saved, even. This. THIS could save my grades! she imagined.

 

“Do you… want me to send her a message?” He raised his eyebrow.

 

“YES! Uh, I mean, please do,” she exclaimed.

 

Looking and feeling way better, she was able to finish her pasta. Gregory was also clearly pleased, since Franziska’s mood has always been a concern of his.

 

Franziska thanked Gregory for the food and made her way to the kitchen. Wright, huh… she thought, putting her plate in the sink. Ever since Miles started hanging out with him, he’s been happier. I wonder what his friend group, and especially that Fey girl, is like.

 

Walking up those same wooden stairs, she made her way to her room. She wasn’t panicking anymore, but she was still deep in thought.

 

She doesn’t really have friends, and she has no idea how this will go. "How do I talk to someone my age? How am I supposed to tutor her? What if she doesn’t like me? What if I come on too strong? " Were all questions that awkwardly ran circles in her brain.

 

It was really starting to look like panicking again, so Franziska decided to just take a shower and attempt to relax.

 

She can worry about this tomorrow when she actually meets Fey, and this is if they even agree to the tutoring.

 

Good night, Franzy.

 

*** Maya POV ***

 

No medicine could ever help this headache.

 

Last night Maya decided to go to sleep early, in preparation for meeting this tutor. This is Miles’s little sister, and he’s like the most threatening guy ever! What’s she gonna be like? Is she planning to feed me to Gourdy if I fail Math? UGH I’m so nervous...

 

Unluckily, her little sister Pearl had a nightmare that night.

 

Usually her big sister, Mia, takes care of these things, but she was stuck at work until early morning. This meant that Maya had to go comfort Pearl; make hot chocolate for the both of them; check inside every closet and underneath every bed for big, scary monsters and watch The Steel Samurai with her until Mia came home!

 

With less than five hours of sleep, every laugh from her friend group sounded like a billion decibels. Oh, I’m FUCKED fucked.

 

“Hey Maya, aren’t you meeting Franziska today?” Phoenix questioned, breaking Maya’s train of thought, and making her remove her EarPods.

 

“Huh? Oh! Oh yeah, she’s tutoring me,” they quickly responded without having paid attention to what was discussed previously in the group.

 

“What? Really? Isn’t Franziska that scary girl from 11A?” Athena chimed in, placing an acrylic nail on her bottom lip.

 

“Yeah, that one. Wait, what do you mean scary?” She freaked out. “She isn’t gonna actually eat me alive, is she?”

 

“Not in that sense, no.” Miles shook his head and let out a teasing laugh.

 

Everyone was silent for a bit, causing Miles to actually look up to the group for once.

 

Phoenix raised his eyebrow. “What… do you mean by that exactly?”

 

Everyone, except for Athena who was clearly confused about the ‘eating alive’ joke, glared at Miles for an answer. This includes Maya, who was a bit red and offended at the implication.

 

“Wright, you’ve been at our house. You’ve seen her. There’s no way you’ve missed it.”

 

“Uuhh, I’m afraid I don’t assume people’s sexualities like you do, Mr. Gayest-Homophobe,” he joked.

 

It took a second, but Athena’s jaw eventually dropped. “Oh. OH. That’s what you meant…” she said, taking a pause from curling her lashes.

 

“How the hell did it take that long?” Apollo sighed and rested his forehead on the palm of his hand. “And frankly, Phoenix is right. And by right, I mean correct, not his surname. I don’t care how gay she may look, if you only did this to set these two up—” Apollo looked at Maya, and then back at Miles— “on a date, I fear we must take responsibility and eat YOU alive. And not in that sense.” He deadpanned.

 

Miles exhaled a small laugh. “There’s no need to worry. I did this to help Franziska with her grades, not to meddle in her love life. I was simply joking.”

 

“Good job, Mr. Gayest-Homophobe. Maybe we can consider promoting you to Mr. Gayest-Not-So-Homophobic-Homophobe!” Phoenix shoved Miles a bit, laughing.

 

Maya couldn’t help but smile at her friends. She really enjoyed spending time with them, even If their humor sometimes reminded her of middle school boys. Athena was always unaware whenever something even remotely romantic happened, probably due to her lack of romantic want and experience. Apollo mostly chimed in to make snide remarks, but everyone could see how much he actually liked his friends.

Phoenix and Miles were a grade above them, but still great. The Wright family had always been close to the Fey family, so Phoenix was already like a brother to her, even before high school. Miles on the other hand was quite scary at first, but warmed up after some time.

Neither Larry nor Dick (everyone prefers to call him Gumshoe) were at school that day, but they’re both still important to the friend group.

 

A strange voice pierced through Maya’s head. “Don’t you dare try dozing off now, Miss Maya!”

 

“ATHENA! Geez that startled me…” Maya dramatically placed their hand on their chest, exhaling.

 

“Hehe~ How do you like my Franziska impression? You better be prepared, because one small mistake and she’ll whip the hell out of you!” Athena smirked innocently, but Apollo was shaking his head next to her. Apollo leaned in to whisper something into her ear, which made Athena correct her sentence. “Uh, I mean she’ll punch the hell out of you!”

 

“Come on, Thena. She’s not gonna physically assault me every time I count a fraction wrong or something! You’re overreacting,” she convinced Athena, but in reality, she was trying to convince herself.

 

“Ah, you’re no fun. My impression was 10/10, incredibly accurate!” They stuck out their tongue in a playful way.

 

“I would personally rate that a 2/10.” an unfamiliar and intimidating voice concluded.

Startled, everyone turned their heads towards the source of the voice.

 

“I wouldn’t call it an accurate impression. I don’t personally resort to violence that often.”

 

From the corner of their eye, Maya could see Athena go pale. Yep. Just as I feared. This girl must be Franziska. Cool, cool, cool… no doubt, no doubt, no doubt…

 

Her hair was somewhat short, with the back reaching the bottom of her neck. It was also dyed blue, which explained Miles’s odd joke earlier.

Contrary to the messy bun and side locks, blue badger hoodie and skirt Maya threw on, Franziska seemed to be put well together. She was wearing an elegant, white blouse with a dark vest over it and a dark, plaid skirt. To top it all off, she was accompanied by her pearl necklace, silver earrings, rings and a neatly done ribbon under the collar of her blouse.

Simply put, Maya looked destitute compared to her.

 

The girl smiled, in what Maya could only describe as a threatening yet somehow friendly manner. “You must be Miss Fey? Pleased to meet your acquaintance!”

 

“Oh hi!” Maya nervously laughed. “And you must be Franziska? Thanks for, you know, offering to help me.”

 

“My pleasure. And you needn’t worry, I don’t bite. Well, I might, metaphorically speaking.” She nodded and then turned to her brother. “Little brother, next time you decide to talk about me to your friends, don’t describe me as a wicked and sinful cannibal, or whatever it is you told them.”

 

Phoenix tried holding in his laughter, but Apollo could only raise his eyebrow. “Little brother? Aren’t you younger?”

 

“I refuse to pay attention to his age. He will always be like a little brother to me,” the girl responded sharply.

 

Even though that explanation didn’t really make any sense, Apollo kept his mouth shut out of fear he would lose a finger to her or something. Oh damn. She was even able to silence Apollo! She really is menacing…

 

Before another word was uttered, the bell rang. Phoenix, Maya and Thena all let out an irritated sigh in unison.

 

The group stood up from the bench they gathered on and made their way into the school.

 

As Maya was humming the Steel Samurai intro to herself, she felt Franziska nudge her side.

 

“Miss Fey—”

 

“Just call me Maya! I mean, I’ll prolly just call you Franziska instead of Edgeworth or something, so why the need for formalities?” Maya smiled.

 

Franziska cleared her throat— “right. Maya, would you like to exchange contacts? We can discuss the tutoring for tonight easier that way.”

 

“Oh yeah, that makes sense,” she noted, pulling out her phone.

 

After a few minutes they officially had each other’s phone numbers. Just like the rest of the group, the girls separated to get to their own classes.

 

What a strange girl. I mean, I know it’s stranger for ME to say, but still. I’m curious about how this’ll turn out! Maya thought to themselves, entering a class.

Notes:

In case you didn't notice, these characters DO have pronouns!
Here are some I didn't put in to the tags:

Gregory-He/Him
Miles-He/Him
Phoenix-He/him
Apollo-He/Him
Athena-Any Pronouns

More characters and more pronouns will be introduced in future chapters.

Comments, kudos, ANYTHING is much appreciated
With love, have a great day! <3

Chapter 2: In which Franziska makes friends

Summary:

Franziska and Maya agree to meet up at the Fey residence for tutoring. Maya is shocked about Franziska's personality, as she believed her to be way more harsh.

Notes:

Got the second chapter done!
Once again, don't mind awkward writing or misspelled sentences. Trying my best -struggling bilingual :')

 

P.S. I was able to publish this quite soon, but I'm not sure when the next chapter will be done. I've been on break which has made writing easier, but once break ends I'll have limited time to write. Hope ch 3 will come out some time soon though! <3

***Franziska POV***

 

The way home from school isn’t long. Despite that, it always took Franziska a longer time to get there. What should be a twenty-minute-long walk has turned into half an hour long one.

 

It’s not that she’s slow at walking, she just has a lot of thoughts going on in her head. Thoughts run in circles- no- marathons in that brain of hers. Usually, the thoughts revolve around her grades and which hobby she’ll indulge in today.

 

Today, however, she was thinking about how she was going to tutor Miss Fey. Everyone learns in different ways, and she would have to learn more about how their brain works to teach them even the most basic formulas.

 

Wright’s friend group was… interesting, to say the least. She’s never seen a group that diverse, aesthetically speaking.

 

From what she was able to gather, Miss Fey, the ginger and the one with hair that resembles a broken fork were all the same age as her. She was already aware of Phoenix’s age, considering that he’s been at her place multiple times.

 

Miss Fey looked somewhat out of it when they met, but that can be explained by a poor sleep schedule. I just hope she takes a nap or something. Tutoring someone half asleep is way too much work.

 

After what seemed like ages for an outsider, Franziska made it to her front step. She proceeded to grab her keys from her bag and entered the residence.

 

“I’m home!” Franziska threw her shoes off. No answer, as usual. Miles was still at school, and Gregory at work. The stairs under her feet were as unfamiliar as ever, but why bother thinking about it. It’s all in the past.

 

Grabbing the handle, the door slowly opened. She threw her bag on the hard, wooden floor and progressed to her bed.

 

Laying on her bed, she was able to get a good look at her room. She wasn’t that interested in décor, which could be seen by the lack of it. Nothing hanging on the wall, except for a few paintings and diplomas. Some would say that an empty room was miserable, but to her it wasn’t.

 

Her desk, bed and closet were all she needed. Too much stuff would cause her life to be more hectic than it already was.

 

As more thoughts entered and left, a new chain of thought was born: her relationship with others.

 

You see, she’s always been a bit different from others. Even the one she’s most like, Miles, has a completely different way of thinking. Their humor doesn’t really match, and he’s been able to make more friends than her.

 

When Gregory needs rest, he takes a break from everything. When Franziska needs rest, she plays chess, or some other strategic game she isn’t as fond of.

 

Making friends isn’t a big worry of hers, but something about it makes her feel like the problem lies within her. Don’t worry, Franziska. You’re nearly perfect, if Fey doesn’t like me, I’ll just continue working hard. One person won’t ruin the course of my entire life. I’ll be fine.

 

PING!

 

The timing was perfect. Or horrific, depending on who you are. Franziska was a little jumpy, but she was able to gather herself before opening the message.

 

***

 

One unopened message from ~MAYAA !!~

 

~MAYAA !!~

Hey! Sooo about tonight, do you wanna make it at my place? You see, it’s my turn to babysit Pearls and I can’t leave the house… Is that alr w/ you?

 

Franziska

Evening, Maya. It’s completely fine on my part. What time would you like to meet?

 

~MAYAA !!~

Ah perfect! It’d be great if you could make it at like six. Is there anything I need to know about you? Like allergies, or preferences or whtvr?

 

Franziska

See you then. And no, I don’t think there’s anything you need to know beforehand.

 

~MAYAA !!~

Greatt!!! The address is ***********! Cya :D

 

***

 

The clock just struck five, so there was no hurry. That Fey girl is truly expressive in her messages. Similar to Wright, if I do say so myself.

 

Franziska could hear the front door swing open. It seems like Miles just got home. She had quite a few questions for him, so she made her way to the staircase.

 

Taking support from the railings, she nearly rushed downstairs. She wasn’t in a hurry, she just felt like going fast.

 

“Little brother. You’re home later than usual,” Franziska questioned on the last step.

 

Miles was untying his shoes. “Mmhm. I hung out with Wright and the others for a bit after school.”

 

“That’s reasonable enough. But I do still have a few questions.” Franziska took the last step and got on to the first floor, well, floor.

 

“I’m guessing this is about Maya Fey.” His guess was right. “You want to know more about her before meeting her properly?”

 

She nodded. Not with much excitement, mut not with much shame either. A nod made by someone who was truly curious about something so basic.

 

“I’d say she’s a lively person. Exaggerates her movements and words, feels strong emotions and shows them, likes collecting things, likes socializing, likes baking and… is just basically the opposite of whoever you are,” he listed.

 

She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be offended by the last part.

 

“But seriously, Franzy. If you want to get to know someone, you need to get to know them. Asking questions from a third party won’t help. You just need to talk to her.”

 

Now she was truly confused. “How am I supposed to talk to someone if I don’t know them?” Franziska asked.

 

Miles just let out a sigh and shook his head. “I’m not surprised by the quality of your friends – or rather, lack thereof. Listen, you just need to be yourself. Or at least that’s what Wright told me.”

 

She couldn’t help but pout. “But I’m so different from you!  They’re not going to treat me the same they did you.”

 

“Franzy, everyone in that group is insanely different from one another. You’ll be fine.”

 

Franziska just pursed her lips at that. With barely any new information, she retreated upstairs. Great. I just need to pray this’ll go well.

 

Looking at the clock and bus routes, she began packing her stuff. If she left in ten minutes, she would be at the Fey residence just in time for tutoring.

 

And so, with a deep breath inhaled, Franziska left her house and began making her way to the Feys.

 

***

 

The house Franziska was standing in front of seemed to be bustling with life. The building was not quite as big as hers, but it was clearly twice as loud. Oh right. Miss Fey should be taking care of someone named Pearls currently.

 

With her entire body growing tense, she made her way to the door. Why was she so nervous? It was just going to be some tutoring! Or has the small thought of her maybe making a friend grown into a much bigger thought? A thought she wouldn’t be able to shake off?

 

We better hope not, because she just rang the doorbell.

 

A muffled “Coming!” could be heard from the inside, and slowly she was able to see a blurred figure approaching through the glass of the door.

 

The door swung open, and an energetic girl smiling was there to greet her. “Hey! Come inside, and don’t mind the TV. Pearls is watching a cartoon right now.”

 

Franziska nodded and smiled back. “Thank you for inviting me. I hope this will be of use to you.”

 

“Ehh no problem! You can put your shoe there—” she pointed at the shoe rack located next to the door—“and your coat can go on the coat hanger. Then we can go to my room!”

 

Franzy followed the instructions, carefully placing her coat on a branch of the oddly tree-shaped coat hanger. I’m guessing the whole house will be colorful for Pearls she thought to herself.

 

Maya practically skipped through the hall to her room. Franziska followed, passing by the TV and seeing a little girl with a… strange haircut sitting on the couch.

 

Maya’s room was incredibly lively. Contrary to Franziska’s, their room was colorful and filled with all sorts of nicknacks and décor. There was some kind of pattern going on, but she was unable to place her finger on it.

 

“Just try to ignore the posters. I have some… childish interests,” she admitted, looking kind of ashamed.

 

Franziska shrugged. “I don’t think so. My little brother has similarly foolish interests. I can see why you two would be friends.”

 

That one comment seemed to bring the life back into Maya’s eyes. “Great! Then I hope you don’t find the snails off putting!” she whistled.

 

If it wasn’t mentioned now, it probably would’ve taken ages for Franziska to notice. The pattern was snails.

 

Snail plushies. Snail posters. Snail drawings. Snail trinkets. Snail everything.

 

“If you don’t mind me asking, why is nearly everything… related to snails?” she raised her eyebrow.

 

Maya let out a small, awkward laugh. “I don’t know. I just became really obsessed with snails a few months ago. Ever since then, the number one thing on my mind has been snails.”

 

“That’s quite weird I suppose. But not off putting. Everyone has strange qualities, no?” Franziska smiled and looked at Maya.

 

They hummed. “I suppose, yeah.” Maya walked over to their bag. “Should we get started?”

 

Franzy smiled in approval and joined Maya, who was holding her math book already.

 

“So, what should we start with?” she asked the Fey girl.

“I was thinking Algebra. I just can’t wrap my head around it…”

 

“Algebra it is, then.”

 

 

***Maya POV***

 

 

It had officially been an hour since Franziska entered their home.  The study session was difficult, but she was way gentler with it than Maya expected. Every time they had a question or were stuck, Franziska would carefully explain everything over again. She was way more patient than Miles made it seem. Still, it was tiring. All studying is!

 

“Miss Fe- Maya, are you tired?” Franziska’s voice snapped her out of it.

 

“Wha- oh yeah. Kinda?” She could feel red creep up her neck. This was kind of embarrassing for her.

 

“We should take a break. Working whilst tired won’t help. Is there anything you would like to do, that can help you rest?” She offered.

 

YES! A break! this woman is straight up a goddess Maya thought to themselves.

 

“Well, we should check up on Pearl first. Oh! And we should probably eat something”

 

Franziska nodded at the thought. Maya had noticed how often she does that.

 

Standing up, she decided to stretch a bit by attaching her fingers and putting her arms overhead. Feeling like a newborn (due to the end of a study session) they smiled and signed Franziska to follow her.

 

Pearl was fast asleep, with the cartoons still playing on the TV. Maya couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the sight of her adopted little sister snoozing away whilst the best show (The Steel Samurai, for those who haven’t guessed already) was on.

 

Maya walked over to Pearls, whispered in her ear to wake up and lifted her into her arms. “Pearly, meet Franziska – my tutor slash friend. Franziska, meet Pearly – the BEST six-year-old in the whole world!”

 

Franziska was a teeny bit red, but Maya didn’t really figure out why. “She’s cute. Like a bunny,” she responded poking Pearl’s hair.

 

Pearl shied away from Franziska by burying her face into Maya’s arms. Maya laughed. “Don’t mind her. She’s tired and not great at meeting new people. Just like you!”

 

Franziska just pouted at that comment, causing Maya to laugh even more. “Anyway! What do you two wanna eat? I know it’s kinda late, but we should still eat dinner.”

 

Pearls voice was muffled my Maya’s arms, but still audible. “…I want soup.”

 

“What type of soup, Pearls?” Maya asked whilst brushing Pearl’s hair. “Vegetable puree soup or something with meat?”

 

“The chunky one with no meat,” the shy, little voice responded.

 

Maya smiled and finally sat Pearl down on a chair. “Vegetable puree soup it is! Franziska, do you want to help? Or would you like to keep Pearl company instead?”

 

“I think she would prefer it if I helped instead,” she turned to look at Pearl.

 

Pearl sulked, which honestly made her look even more like a bunny to the two of them. Maya proceeded to give Franziska a knife and told her to cut the vegetables. Franziska did as told, whilst Maya began preparing everything else.

 

***

 

“Do you do this often?” Franziska inquired, pulling Maya back into reality.

 

“Do what often?”

 

“Cooking. Like, do you cook for your family often?” she clarified.

 

Maya looked at her. “Somewhat, I guess. Our older sister, Mia, works a lot. When she isn’t here to make food, I make it.” Maya looked back down at the soup. “I also bake frequently.”

 

“Hm.” Franziska let out an acknowledging sound. “What about snails? Have you ever cooked them?”

 

Maya paused for a second. “Come again?”

 

“Well… you like snails. Do you also like the taste of them?”

 

Maya just laughed at the ridiculous suggestion. “You don’t know how to make small talk, do you?”

 

Franziska looked a tad ashamed. She then proceeded to shake her head slowly.

 

Maya just seemed amused. “To answer your question, no. I don’t think I’d like the texture of snails. Also, I could never do that to them! Just look at those adorable tentacles, how could anyone hurt such a creature!” they dramatically placed their palm on their chest.

 

Surprisingly, Pearl’s voice finally made an appearance. “Tentacles? …Don’t octopuses have tentacles?”

 

Maya was practically beaming. “Fun fact, Pearls! Snails and octopuses are like… distant cousins!”

 

“Like you and me?” she asked, with genuine curiosity shining through her voice.

 

“Well… not exactly. Snails and octopuses share a phylum together. You’ll learn what that is when you’re older. But yeah, they have similar characteristics! Like the radula!” they said with so much excitement it could motivate the whole Berry Big Circus (Which shut down due to some… allegations.)

 

Franziska smiled in a way that felt more genuine than the other smiles she’d made. “You seem to be very knowledgeable about this topic, Maya.”

 

“Yep! That’s what I meant by obsessed. I seriously can’t get them out of my head.” She concluded. This is the first time I’ve been able to talk about snails to someone and they cared. I feel fulfilled.

 

After a bit more back and forth, the soup was done.  Pearl smiled for the first time since Franziska’s arrival and was the first to try the soup. After a quick thumbs up from the bunny, Maya ruffled Pearl’s hair and proceeded to dig in. Franziska followed her.

 

It didn’t take long for Pearl to feel full. With Franziska’s help, Maya set the rest of the soup into plastic containers for later consumption.  She then signed Pearl to follow her.

 

It was already late, which meant it was Pearl’s bedtime.  Maya was helping Pearl to get comfortable enough to fall asleep.

 

“Did you check for monsters properly?” Pearl questioned holding on to her teddy bear tightly.

 

“Of course I did! Mystic Maya would NEVER forget to check for monsters. And remember, if you see something scary just call my name!” Pearl nodded.

 

Upon seeing her little sister so comfortable, she just felt like grinning. She was such a nice kid. Despite knowing that she’s adopted, she never acted like Maya wasn’t family. It was clear that to Pearl, Mia and Maya were true family.

 

Maya tucked her in and laid a small kiss on her forehead. “Good night, Pearls.” She made her way to the switch and turned the lights off. “See you tomorrow.”

 

Maya left the room, to be greeted by Franziska standing in the hallway. She announced that she would also be leaving, and Maya nodded to that.

“If you need anything, you’ve got my number. See you, Miss Fey,” Franziska mentioned, whilst standing in front of the door.

 

“Hope you enjoyed your stay. See ya tomorrow!”

 

Franziska departed from the front door, waving at Maya who was waving back. Closing the door, she recounted everything that happened that day. I met Miles’s younger sister. I gave said sister my number, and she came over. She ended up being just as gentle as she was strict. She helped me make food. Overall, pretty productive day.

 

Maya continued to hum to herself, before getting ready to end her day. Good night, Maya. You did well.

 

***Franziska POV***

 

Not a single moment of peace, huh?

 

An early morning is definitely irritating to everyone, but it’s especially irritating to the Edgeworth family.  

 

If making coffee as loud as possible at six in the morning was a contest, Gregory would be winning by a landslide. The loud whirring and machine noises seriously agitated Franziska, who was trying her best to fall back asleep.

 

Then there was Miles, the oh so arrogant fool who decided to stay up on his laptop until twelve AM, causing Franziska even more trouble during her mornings.

 

Rubbing her eyes and grunting, she made the subconscious decision to “sleep just 5 more minutes”.

 

Those five minutes turned into 10 minutes. Then into 15 minutes. Within a blink of an eye, half an hour had passed.

 

This was what every morning was like for her. Waking up at six by loud noises, staying in bed until it was nearly seven, and finally getting out of bed approximately 45 minutes before she had to leave for school.

 

Unlike Miles, she’s able to admit that her sleep schedule isn’t of the highest quality. If he could just pay even the smallest attention to his problems, it would help us all quite a lot  she thought to herself.

 

As she finally took a step out of bed, she could hear Gregory yelling about his leave. She found it useless to yell back at him, so she never did. She knew that Gregory didn’t take offense to this, as Miles never responded either.

 

Making her way to the bathroom, Franziska caught herself yawning quite a bit.

 

I’ll just have some coffee. It’ll be fine.

 

The reflection of the bathroom mirror shone back a very sleepy Franziska, with extraordinarily messy hair. One, frustrated sigh was enough to know that she wasn’t fond of brushing her hair. Maybe that’s the reason she keeps it short? Short hair has always been easier to take care of than long hair.

 

Getting ready, Franziska could hear Miles on the phone. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence; Miles calls his friends often. She wasn’t interested in eavesdropping by any means, she just overheard bits of the conversation.

 

Nothing out of the usual, just making plans with Wright’s group. Which, speaking of, Franziska would be meeting once again.

 

Miles always leaves earlier than Franziska so he can meet his friends before school starts. As she learned, their meeting spot is always a bench located in the park next to their school.

 

Today Franziska made the decision to join Miles, mainly so she can get a better understanding of Maya and the others. She wasn’t dropping in unannounced, of course! Miles already told the others, and they were okay with it.

 

As she was attempting to clip her pearl necklace around her neck, Miles yelled for her.

 

“Franziska, we’ll be leaving soon. Come downstairs,” the voice from downstairs demanded.

 

“Coming, coming!” She decided to leave the necklace on her desk, instead of trying to win an unwinnable fight against it. Running down the flight of stairs, she was greeted by Miles at the bottom.

 

Throwing her Mary Janes on as fast as possible, she nodded to Miles as a sign that he could leave. It didn’t take long for the both of them to be out the door and on their way to the school.

 

Around five minutes into the walk, he broke the silence with a question. “So, how did tutoring go yesterday?”

 

“I’d say it was successful. Miss Fey isn’t bad company, and I believe she learned a thing or two,” she responded, with pride practically beaming in her eyes. “Perhaps I misjudged Wright and his group.”

 

Miles raised his eyebrow, though it was hard to say whether in offense or curiosity. “Care to elaborate?”

 

“Well, my impression of them has always been that they’re irresponsible hooligans with humor that resembles that of elementary school students,” she said, in a surprisingly monotone voice for such a comment.

 

He just laughed a little. “Your impression isn’t that far off. They do act… distasteful, at times.”

 

“That’s… wonderful.” She looked at her nails. “I do hope they won’t treat me like the bubonic plague again,” she scoffed.

 

Miles laughed a bit again, and the rest of the walk was completely silent.

 

***

 

“OH MY GOD MILES YOU WON’T BELIEVE THIS!” a piercingly strong voice called out, once Franziska and Miles made it to the park.

 

A teenage boy, seemingly the same age as Phoenix and Miles, was practically sprinting their way. He had brown, pointy hair and a little bit of beard. (Not too surprising for a seventeen-year-old boy, but it still threw Franziska off a bit)

 

“Dude, a girl ACTUALLY asked me out for once! She’s like the cutest chick ever!” the teenage boy yelled out.

 

Oh. This must be Larry Butz. Miles’s other friend, who never visited our house for some reason. Despite never meeting him, I’ve heard TONS about his shenanigans from both Phoenix and Miles.

 

Miles’s expression was that of a slightly annoyed friend. “Morning, Butz.”

 

After grinning at Miles, his eyes locked with Franziskas. His eyes went wide before he turned back to Miles. “Whoa, who’s this fine babe you have with you?”

 

Both siblings basically went green in the face. Especially Franziska, who felt like puking at the comment.

 

Franziska, who was ready to throw hands at the boy, chose to yell instead. “You utter fool! Do you know no disgrace?! You disgusting, shameful- I mean how can you just—"

 

“Larry, she’s my sister.” He looked aggravated, before and after making the clarification.

 

Larry, who looked totally pale, (unsure whether it was Miles or Franziska that got the message through) retreated back to the rest of the group. The siblings followed along.

 

Athena was seated on the left of the bench. They were seemingly talking about something on the dramatic side, considering how every word was underlined by some motion in her body. Apollo, who was resting next to Athena, was seemingly the victim of her gossiping. It wasn’t clear whether he was listening, since he was simultaneously reading some kind of comic book.

 

Gathered around the bench were Phoenix, Gumshoe, (Who she had met once, as he came over to work on some kind of project with Miles) and Larry Butz. The one sitting on the armrest, however, was the one to catch her eye. Probably because she was staring at Franziska.

 

“Morning, Maya. Did Pearl sleep well?” she asked, approaching the bench.

 

Maya just made her signature smile. “Slept like a baby! Or- well, babies don’t sleep well… but she did!”

 

Franziska nodded at the statement, which seemed to be her own signature. “Glad to hear.”

 

Athena seemed to notice Franziska’s arrival, but this time she wasn’t as timid. “Oh, hi Franzy! Maya told me all about the tutoring yesterday. Cool to hear you aren’t actually a heartless monster like your bro!”

 

“You’re scaring the new kid, Thena,” Apollo joked, rather expressionlessly.

 

Athena finally looked over at the person she was chatting to. “I doubt she’ll be- wait, are you reading? Were you paying any attention to my story?”

 

“Nope, not at all,” he responded, also rather expressionlessly. It’s like he’s devoid of all emotion.

 

Phoenix chuckled at the two. “Don’t look so offended, Thena. He rarely listens to ANY sort of gossip.”

 

Athena’s grew even more shocked at that. “Any? Like none at all? What about like… Gavinners gossip? They’re the most popular band in our school; there’s like tons of good gossip with them! And you’re not interested in ANY of that?”

 

“Guys our age, and especially those in bands, spend their time doing dumb shit. I’m not interested in their lives or what they do with them,” he responded, looking back down at his comics.

 

Athena just smirked. “Come on, you have to be into SOME parts of it! I heard that Daryan, the guitarist, beat some kid in 11C up!”

 

Athena kept chattering to Apollo, like it was her last day on earth. Franziska, who was utterly confused, whispered to Maya about them. “Is she always this talkative?”

 

“Oh, for sure. Athena talks the most out of all of us. Larry comes in a close second, but his blabbering is always about girls,” she laughed.

 

The group continued to talk for around ten minutes, before the bell rang. They made plans to meet in the cafeteria for a longer talk. Although Franziska didn’t mention it, she was quite fond of the idea.

 

I’m guessing I made friends now? Well, let’s see how this goes.

Notes:

Snails. Did you see how subtle it was? My fixation? Yeah... call me Arthur Conan Doyle with how mysterious I am *fire emoji* *fire emoji* *something awesome*

i can't remember what my last End Note was about, but whatever was written there probably applies to this one too
;P

Chapter 3: In which Athena and Apollo get a subplot

Notes:

HEYY!!!

So, like I guessed, writing takes WAY more time now that I have school again. Great.

I'll still do my best to upload somewhat frequently :D

P.S. The subplot that *finally* was introduced will start off revolving around some heavier topics. Nothing that explicit is talked about in this chapter (and most likely nothing terrible will happen in future chapters), but from now on I'll put some content warnings in the endnotes.

Like I said, this chapter doesn't REVOLVE around heavy subjects, but it (and others in the future) may talk about these heavier subjects a bit more.

I also recommend checking the tags again whenever a new chapter is added!

Enjoy!

 

***Athena POV***

 

A quarter left. I just need to survive fifteen minutes this hellhole.

 

They thought, looking at the clock repeatedly.

 

She had physics at the moment. Not her favorite subject, in fact, it was her least favorite one. Physics felt like the worst parts of science, mixed with the worst parts of math.

 

If he had to choose a favorite subject, she’d choose some language, psychology or maybe social studies.  She was more experienced in those fields.

 

With one hand clicking a pen and the other hand cupped for a resting head, she decided to examine the room for some sort of entertainment.

 

Someone in front of her was using their phone. Ah, perfect! Either I’ll get to watch something for free, or maybe get inside scoops of something going around.

 

It seemed to be the latter, as the kid in front was texting someone.

 

Even with her intrigue, it was hard to understand what they were texting about. Athena had never seen anyone text with this little excitement and information. This kid has never texted in their life, or then they’re the dryest texter I have ever seen. Worse than Polly, for god’s sake!

 

Though the conversation was difficult to understand, Athena was able to piece something together.

 

Seemingly the texter (who we’ll call person A) is telling the recipient (who we’ll call person B) about some sort of gossip. I guess this is how rumors spread. Gosh, our school is like one big game of broken telephone! I do love it though…

 

Apparently, person A’s friend’s ex got into a scandal. Person A’s friend (who we shall call Person C for convenience) broke up with their ex because he had some big secret (Although it’s unclear what this “secret” is). Person B is talking about their own experience with person C’s ex, as the ex and person B were also exes.

This is… confusing, to say the least. But from what I can gather, person B and the ex were in a short-term relationship, whilst person C was supposed to be with the ex for longer.

 

Then person A began ranting on what an asshole he was. The ex had seemingly threatened both person B and person C, and cheated on person C with someone who they both deemed “a person who deserved better, despite their annoying personality.”

 

Both person A and person B were very keen on keeping this mystery “deserved better” guy’s identity a secret, but clearly didn’t care about the ex that much. Athena was able to gather that the ex had a “horrendous” haircut; the personality of a “mongoose left in a swamp for too long”; and a group of friends, which broke apart after the ex got in trouble for something.

 

This wasn’t much information to go off on, but it was still easy for Athena to piece together who this ex was. Daryan Crescend, class 11D. Notorious for being the worst guy in school, and apparently has gotten himself into some more drama.

 

Even though this was a bunch of new information that Athena wasn’t aware of, she was still craving more. So, with some courage built up, she tapped person A’s shoulder.

 

Person A, who we shall call the brunette now, turned around, obviously confused about Athena’s intentions. Not a single word left their mouth, but their raised eyebrow clearly sent the message “what do you want?”

 

Tension rising in her body, she made her first sentence. “Sorry, uh, did you take any notes? I kinda dozed off.”

 

Hopefully that wasn’t THAT obvious of a lie. I’ve been clicking that stupid pen for the entire lecture!

 

The brunette, once again being silent, just handed over their notes to Athena. Not a SINGLE word? Getting them to talk is gonna be harder than I thought.

 

Wanting to keep conversation going, Athena continued: “Thanks! I wasn’t able to get like ANY sleep last night, I was trying to comfort my friend about this one guy. I mean- you know Daryan Crescend, right? He’s like—"

 

“Daryan Crescend?” they interrupted, finally showing some interest.

 

Yes, YES! It WORKED!

 

“—Yeah, him! He’s like the WORST right? My friend apparently knew the guy who got beaten up, and got kinda scared that something was gonna happen to him too.”

 

Shit. That might’ve been a tad too obviously a lie.

 

The brunette sturdied their position, and then continued: “Shit man, that sucks. Who’s your friend?”

 

Athena’s heart nearly stopped at that second. Being caught in a lie would have been the absolute worst, so they just made up something right on the spot. “Oh, uhh, his name is Apollo!”

 

Sorry for throwing you under the bus like that, Polly.

 

“Huh, sounds familiar. Anyway, you’re right! He’s 100 percent the worst! That fucker was the worst boyfriend to my friend, and he’s even a cheater! Like, how much worse can a man get?”

 

…Wow. They opened up quickly. But this is good! Maybe I’ll get insight on that one mystery person.

 

“He cheated on your friend?!? What!? How? When? With whom? Did the mistress know?” she replied, overexaggerating nearly every word, but in a natural manner.

 

The brunette laughed a bit. “It’s not as you believe it to be. The ‘mistress’ wasn’t a mistress at all. In fact, he didn’t even know of Daryan’s partner.”

 

Pause. Things just got way worse.

 

“Holy shit that’s awful. But uhh, class is ending soon. If you wanna talk, you can just send me a dm on insta or something! My name’s Athena, and it should be easy to find my user as not many people have my name.”

 

I clearly don’t know enough about this Daryan guy. If he did that just to get dirt on the poor guy, I’ll beat his ass.

 

The brunette smiled. “Okay. The name’s Ema.”

 

I need to know more. I’ve seen what happens when people get outed. I need to tell the others.

 

Athena smiled in return, only to immediately return to those thoughts. Only the school bell could stop that train of thought, which it did. Those fifteen minutes had just passed, and everyone was packing their bags.

 

***

 

The cafeteria was louder than usual. With the help of headphones, Athena didn’t mind it that much. She was focused on finding Apollo and the others.

 

Finally… there they are. Athena thought, as she approached the table which seated Apollo, Phoenix, Miles and Maya. The others hadn’t arrived yet.

 

“Hey Thena! How’d physics go?” Maya smiled, though in a more mischievous way.

 

“Come oonnn Maya~ you know I hate physics!” they groaned, placing down their bag. “I actually did learn something! I mean it wasn’t related to physics, but it’s about something I already talked about this morning! Speaking of which, I used your name in a lie again, Polly.”

 

Apollo let out a very frustrated sigh as Athena sat down next to him. “This is like, what, the third time you’ve done this?” He took a bite out of his sandwich. “Well. What was it this time?”

 

“I uhh… may have implied that you’re friends with the guy that got beaten up… by Daryan…”

 

He immediately put down the sandwich and just glared at Athena.

 

She immediately explained herself. “It was for a good cause, really! Actually, I need to talk about it to you guys. It’s somewhat important.”

 

“Thena, you know we love you, but your gossip isn’t exactly… important,” Phoenix added, with both Miles and Maya nodding to this.

 

“Well, this one is!” She looked at Franziska. “I dunno about your opinions on gossip, but just so you know, whatever you say won’t stop me.” Phoenix smiled and shook his head, as if he was disappointed yet impressed with Athena.

 

***

 

Larry Butz and Dick Gumshoe made their way to the group at some point during Athena’s explanation of events.

 

After explaining everything she learnt, she looked around trying to examine everyone’s thoughts.

 

Larry wasn’t paying any attention. Gumshoe clearly didn’t understand most of it, but still looked a bit upset. Maya, Miles and Phoenix all looked neutral, but in a serious way. Franziska looked confused, seemingly unaware of what this all could entail. Athena was most worried about Apollo, and for good reason.

 

His face was also neutral, and most would categorize his feelings as mutual with Maya’s, Miles’s and Phoenix’s. But as Athena knew him well, she could sense how worried Apollo actually was.

 

“Man, that’s horrible,” Maya admitted, looking resuming her lunch. Miles nodded, and Apollo let out a small ‘mhm’ in agreement.

 

As the others continued talking, Athena spoke to Apollo quietly. “Hey, you alright?”

 

 

Apollo, who was nearly finished with his sandwich, replied in an awfully calm tone. “Of course. You don’t need to worry over little things.”

 

Athena, who would’ve normally kept talking, decided to drop the conversation. She was well aware of Apollo’s feelings, and didn’t want to cause any distress for him.

 

It’s been nearly two years since the bullying. He’s obviously way more comfortable now, but I don’t want to remind him of how things were. He’s been accepted by all of us, there’s no need to dread the past.

 

But I don’t think even that can stop my drive to get to the bottom of this. I’m probably overreacting to this, but whatever feelings I picked up from that Ema kid and Apollo are too strong to not show any interest.

 

Athena kept shoveling food into her mouth, but was interrupted by the new voice. “Ah, Miss Cykes, if you don’t mind me asking, who is this… Daryan person? You’ve already mentioned him this morning, and now it seems he holds more importance in your gossip.”

 

“Oh! Daryan Crescend is like, one of the most well-known guys in our school. He’s a guitarist in a band called The Gavinners. They’re actually the best-known band in this school! Err—they were the most well-known. The band broke up like a month ago, but people still talk about the group as if they’re still together,” she explained.

 

Apollo chimed in, which was a surprise for Athena. “They broke up because of Daryan. Not everyone in the band is like him, though.” He looked up from his food. “I have a few classes with like two of the members. They’re not as bad as you would think, considering Daryan’s reputation.”

 

Franziska nodded at the two. “Thank you for informing me, Miss Cykes and Mister Justice.”

 

Something about Franziska’s sentence made Maya laugh a bit. Athena felt as if the laugh was more fond than it was taunting.

 

“You seriously don’t need to be that formal! We all go on a first name basis here—with Gumshoe as the exception. Even Miles has begun calling us by our names!”

 

Franziska just nodded at them. Maybe Franziska over here isn’t anywhere as intimidating as I thought. I mean, she just listens to Maya so obediently! She even paid attention to MY story. She’s actually pretty decent.

 

Athena turned back to Apollo, and resumed her endless chatting. They knew that he wasn’t probably listening to anything they said, but that wasn’t gonna stop the Athena Cykes – master of talking for eternities!

 

***Maya POV***

 

The conversation isn’t that interesting, but Franziska’s paying more attention than I could’ve ever imagined.

 

Occasionally, she took a few glances at Franziska, only to find her listening as intently as ever.

 

Yeah. She’s paying more attention than ANYONE here.  I wonder why… or is I just her personality that does this?

 

Brushing her thoughts aside, she continued to enjoy the meal in peace. Mia had prepared an especially delicious lunch box today! Maya liked the noodles in particular. The Fey way of preparing fried noodles is most definitely the best one!

 

On the topic of Mia, she should be home tonight. In fact, Maya was supposed to send her a list of ingredients she would buy for the weekend.

 

Reaching for their bag, Maya pulled out a small, pink phone with a small steel samurai charm hanging from it. If one were to unlock this phone, they would be greeted by a snail themed background, illustrated by Phoenix.

 

She went to the messages app to open the contact named “Big sis <3”

 

***

 

~MAYAA !!~

 

So abt the groceries we need more pasta – the linguine type. We also need more spronions and some emergency fries for Pearls would be good. I don’t remember everything we’re missing rn, so just buy everything you feel we could be running out of

 

~MAYAA !!~

OH and buy some soda, popcorn, some sorta candy pearl likes and ice cream. We were supposed to have that movie night some time, right???

 

***

 

They weren’t expecting an immediate answer, so they chose to place the phone face-down on the table.

 

Franziska, who was seemingly as good at paying attention to her surroundings as she was to conversation, noticed the small sequence of events.

 

Maya, who noticed Franziska’s glare, decided to answer the question she hadn’t even asked yet.

 

“That was my older sister, Mia. She’s gonna buy the groceries today, so I was just sending her a few things we need”

 

Franziska nodded but tried to continue conversation. “What’s she like? I’ve only met your younger sister so far.”

 

“Hmmm… I’d say she’s a very relaxed person, but she’s still somewhat strict about some rules.” Maya placed their index finger on their chin, as in thought. “She’s also very determined about her career. Like SUPER determined. Kinda reminds me of you’re super determined with your studies, you know?”

 

“Hm. I suppose she does seem quite wonderful.” Franziska smirked. “Not only because of the determined thing – she seems like she’s overall well qualified to be a great older sibling.”

 

Maya laughed a bit at the comment. “I’m guessing Miles doesn’t qualify then?”

 

Franziska glanced at miles but then turned back to her. “If the qualifications for a great sibling were keeping you up at night due to calling their friends or making snide remarks about one’s speech, Miles would pass with honors.”

 

Maya dropped her head to the side a bit. “Maybe you could get like a replacement or something. Don’t get Nick though – he’s even WORSE than Miles.”

 

“I heard that, Maya,” he scolded from the other side of the table.

 

“I’d much rather simply trade him away. Having a little brother is quite some work,” Franziska snickered to Maya, who grinned slyly in response. Miles simply rolled his eyes at Franziska, causing the girls to laugh once more.

 

“If she’s thinking about trading you away, you can always stay with us!” Gumshoe stepped in.

 

“I doubt she’ll actually do that. Miles here makes even better food than Gregory, and that’s very valuable to everyone. Including Franziska,” Phoenix laughed, placing one hand on Miles’s shoulder.

 

Miles continued to silently eat his food, but Gumshoe and Phoenix seemed to break into a conversation of their own.

 

Maya deemed this an appropriate time to check their phone once again, and they seemed to be correct as Mia had replied to the previous messages.

 

***

 

One unopened message from Big sis <3

 

Big sis <3

Alright, will do. Would you like to have the movie night tonight? I’ll be free from work the whole weekend, so staying up late tonight won’t be of any trouble for me.

 

~MAYAA !!~

Okay, tonight it is!!! :D

 

Big sis <3

Great.  

 

Big sis <3

I nearly forgot to ask! How did tutoring go? Do you think it’ll be of any help?

 

~MAYAA !!~

It went really well, actually

 

~MAYAA !!~

She’s surprisingly nice!!! Not to sound rude ofc, but I was expecting her to be as taunting as Miles. She’s actually more awkward than him, which is kinda surprising as well

 

~MAYAA !!~

But yeah! She’s great!

 

Big sis <3

I asked about the tutoring, not the tutor, Good to hear it went well though. :)

 

~MAYAA !!~

Haha. I can practically HEAR your teasing in your messages.

 

~MAYAA !!~

But to answer YOUR question, she taught me a lot

 

~MAYAA !!~

I’m so offended, you owe me a pet snail !!!

 

Big sis <3

Hmh. That’s better. I’m not buying you a pet though.

 

Big sis <3

Tell her that she’s welcome back anytime then

 

~MAYAA !!~

SHIT YOU JUST REMINDED ME ABOUT THE EXAMM NOOOO I’M NOT PREPARED

 

Big sis <3

Language, Maya. You’ve officially been revoked of you “small-chance-of-actually-getting-a-snail” privileges.

 

~MAYAA !!~

WHAT

 

~MAYAA !!~

NOOO SIS PLEAAASEEE

 

Big sis <3

I need to go now. Remember to pick Pearl up from the kindergarten on the way back !

 

~MAYAA !!~

Okay, okayyyy

 

~MAYAA !!~

Cya tonight !! :3

 

Big sis <3

See you, Maya.

 

***

 

At some point during the conversation, Maya had begun smiling. It’s not a rare occurrence for her to start smiling, but she’s still surprised whenever she catches herself doing it.

 

There wasn’t anything in particular to smile at, but she still finds herself smiling at the smallest of things.

 

At this moment she was smiling at her friends (as she does, quite often in fact) making the worst jokes known to mankind and laughing at said jokes.

 

Something about being surrounded by accepting people creates a warm feeling in Maya, that they can’t really describe.

 

Having a new person added to this group of people Maya regards as “warm” is much more pleasant than they originally expected.

 

Oh yeah! The exam! Huh, I wonder if…

 

“Hey Franziska!” The girl spoken of turned to Maya. “Are you able to tutor me Saturday or Sunday night? I’ve got an exam coming up next week and I am in NO way prepared for it.”

 

“I’ll see what my schedule is like, but I believe it is possible,” she stated calmly. “Would you like to do it at your place again?”

 

Maya smiled. “Sure! But next time it’s gotta be yours’s – I MUST see your room.”

 

“I’m fine with that. But I doubt you’ll find my room interesting; it’s way less… maximalized than yours,” Franziska responded with a slight smile.

 

“We’ll see about that then!” Maya hummed, also finishing the last bit of their food.

 

I’ve noticed how much my friends mean to me in the past, but I’ve been noticing it more often lately. Is it because of Mia’s acceptance towards me? Is it my friends? Is it making more friends, like Franziska?

 

Well, whatever it is, I’ll cherish it. Now and forever. I probably could’ve used this last year, but at least I have It now.

 

***

 

[I don’t know how to make a good timeskip. I know it’s just a small one, but still.

Just insert a really good timeskip here, one that would make Shakespeare shed tears, ok?]

 

***

 

***Athena POV***

 

Making their way out of the cafeteria, Athena made the decision to just skip art.

 

I’ll just say I had a headache and go rest in the park or something. I’ve already finished my project; I’m not up to doing whatever filler shit they’ll make me do to pass the time.

 

They could use this time find more details about the whole Daryan thing! Not that this has become a new obsession of Athena’s, of course not!

 

This wasn’t anything like Athena’s obsession with the rumors around Apollo, when they first surfaced. This is just genuine curiosity for something possibly negative going around, not an obsessive need to make everything better!

 

The thought brought Athena back to the first time Apollo and her met.

 

Apollo, who was sitting alone during a pause reading some sort of comic, and Athena recognized him right away. Normally it would be rude to go up to the boy of the rumors and ask him about them, but Athena was able to navigate emotions well. It’s actually one of her many skills.

 

He wasn’t keen on talking at first, but with Athena’s reassurance, he opened up.

 

Apollo admitted to the rumors, although Athena believed there wasn’t anything to “admit” to. It was just him telling her how he knew it would happen yet went through with it either way.

 

Athena hadn’t known of Apollo before the bullying, but she still did her best to be a support system for him. She did everything, from nearly constant reassurance to helping him with his decisions, and it really seemed to help a bit.

 

Phoenix, who had originally recruited Athena into his friend group, suggested that Athena should invite Apollo as well. She was ecstatic about the idea, and immediately went through with it.

 

Apollo was hesitant at first, but after meeting Nick and the others, he quickly realized that they were just as supportive as Athena had been. He ended up becoming somewhat close to Phoenix and his younger sister Trucy.

 

He may seem cold and distant to some passerby, but Athena knew how much personality and appreciation was stored in that spiky little head.

 

A small buzz in her pocket was enough to end Athena’s reminiscing. She pulled out her phone to see a DM from someone new.

 

***

 

One unopened message from @Sc1enceLover_

 

@Sc1enceLover_

Is this Athena? I’m Ema, from physics.

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

Yep!!

 

@Sc1enceLover_

Good. I was thinking that we could meet up or something, your friend became involved in the whole…situation. I felt like you must hear this, as the whole thing has escalated. Again.

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

Shit, already? Did Daryan do some idiotic bullshit again?

 

@Sc1enceLover_

Sort of.

 

@Sc1enceLover_

Yk the “mistress” I spoke about?

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

Yeah, I hope nothing bad happened to him though.

 

@Sc1enceLover_

Well, I was talking to him today. I don’t really enjoy his presence, like at ALL. But he said something about Daryan that just… well, it’s hard to explain.

 

@Sc1enceLover_

After all of Daryan’s misbehaving, he’s facing expulsion from the school. As some sorta messed up last resort he’s spreading a rumor.

 

@Sc1enceLover_

Now Daryan isn’t the type of guy who spreads rumors. He’s more a “I’ll-find-dirt-on-you-and-blackmail-you-with-it” type of guy. Worst part, this rumor’s just straight up lies.

 

@Sc1enceLover_

I’m just really confused by it all. He’s only made up something a few times when he’s REALLY angry.

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

What.

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

How’s Apollo related to this??? What’s the whole lie thing??

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

Who the hell is this mystery guy?

 

@Sc1enceLover_

So, um.

 

@Sc1enceLover_

The guy is called Klavier. Yk, head of The Gavinners.

 

@Sc1enceLover_

Daryan, the asshole he is, decided to reuse some bullshit from middle school, but he’s adding a whole amount of lies on top of that.

 

@Sc1enceLover_

The whole situation apparently revolves around Klavier’s bisexuality and Apollo’s transition.

 

 

Notes:

CW for this chapter:
-Implied Transphobia
-Daryan has been an asshole to his partners
-Swearing (this actually happens in like all chapters. That's why it's rated teens and up)

***

Heh, how did yall like my timeskip? It was awesome *Smirking cat* *FUCK I wish I had sillly emojis on keyboard*

Kudos, comments, EVERYTHING is heavily appreciated <3

Chapter 4: In which the Feys and the Wrights have a movie night

Notes:

HEYYY!!! New chapter!!

It's not suuper long, but I'm glad I just wrote it. Finally.

Once again, nothing serious happens, but you can still check the end notes for *possible* content warnings!

I hope you guys enjoy!

P.S. There's other stuff in the end notes I recommend checking out, but after you've read this chapter! It's just gonna be me clearing up some stuff about the plot I think

P.P.S. A friend irl found this fic. Hi friend! Don't make fun of me please!
The way they found out was kinda funny actually. It also reminded me that my user here is "BlockBuckster". For some reason I was fully convinced it was "Tea Consumer", or something like that.
(This is why you don't own multiple usernames on different platforms, kids. You'll get them mixed up)

P.P.P.S. This is related to the P.P.S., but I wanna stretch these post scripts because I can. EVERYONE SAY HI TO MY IRL FRIEND!!!!! HI IRL FRIEND!!!!!!!!

***Maya POV***

 

The EarPods Maya had were not noise cancelling. They were quite far from that.

 

However, with how loud the music playing in them was, they may as well have been noise cancelling.

 

It was easy not to pay attention to their surroundings whenever Maya walked home from school. After all, the most important thing that could happen on the voyage would probably be some motorcycle driver flipping off a cop.

 

Maya, as bored with her habitat as she was, was thankful for such a safe environment. It certainly wasn’t crime or bullying free, but their city was safe enough to take care of Pearls.

 

The kindergarten Pear is in goes by the name of Hazakura Kindergarten. From Maya’s experience, it was the best place for a young Khura’inese girl to stay at. Not that the Fey family has faced that much discrimination during their time in Japanifornia, but it’s still better to ensure that Pearls would never feel ashamed of herself for her Khura’inese identity.

 

Speaking of Pearly and Hazakura, Maya’s little trip to the kindergarten had come to an end.

 

At this time of the day, all children are outside playing, and guardians can come and pick them up at any time (As long as it’s before 5 PM).

 

Pearl was, just as always, on the swings with Trucy. As much as Maya encouraged her to make new friends, Pearls refused to play with someone she wasn’t familiar with.

 

Greeting the kindergarten owners, Maya walked through the sandy playground over to the swings. The whole yard was filled with the laughter of children and pouting of those who wanted to go home earlier. Pearl was, however, neither, as she didn’t laugh often and actually wanted to stay at the kindergarten for as long as possible.

 

Both Pearl and Trucy seemed to notice Maya approaching them, so she smiled. “Hey, girls! How have yall been today?”

 

Trucy’s eyes practically beamed with excitement. “MAYA! Is Nick coming soon?”

 

Maya shrugged at the child, who was now jumping at her feet. “I don’t know, our school ended at different times, I’m afraid.”

 

Trucy didn’t stop grinning, though. It seemed like the kid never did. “Okay!” At this point Pearl had also left the swings. “When can we come over again? I wanna eat brownies again, but Nick never makes them!”

 

Pearls also joined the conversation. “Yeah, can they come over soon? I wanna play with Trucy again!”

 

“Well, if you both insist…” she dramatically sighed. “I’ll send a text to Nick if you guys can join the movie night.”

 

Both girls took one look at each other, looked back at Maya, and started screaming with joy.

 

To be honest, it really has been quite some time since Phoenix and Truce last came over. I wouldn’t mind gossiping with him and Mia again… or force-feeding him my baking experiments!

 

Maya ruffled Pearl’s hair a bit. “C’mon now, we gotta go. Say bye to Trucy!”

 

Pearly furrowed her eyebrows and pouted at Maya but reluctantly turned over to the other kid. “Bye bye, Trucy…”

 

“Bye Pearls! It was super fun playing with you!” Trucy beamed. She seemingly had a positive effect on people, as Pearl immediately stopped looking glum.

 

The Fey girls smiled and waved at the small Wright, until she was out of sight. Maya proceeded to pull out their phone to make a small text to Mia, informing her about the plan. They then pulled out Phoenix’s number and sent him a few messages as well.

 

***

 

~MAYAA !!~

Yo Nick

 

~MAYAA !!~

Both Pearls and Truce wanna come over for movie night tonight

 

~MAYAA !!~

I’m ok with it and so is Mia probs

 

~MAYAA !!~

PLEEAASSEEE come or Pearls will start moping again

 

~MAYAA !!~

And NO more yearning you fucking loser

 

~MAYAA !!~

the only thing you shall yearn for is freedom after I make you my newest recipes!! (I’ll give you the good ones btw. With good instructions. I don’t want Trucy to starve in your dessert-less home)

 

***

 

Maya put the phone back in the bag, before looking down at Pearls. “So, how was today?”

 

Pearl seemed to be brought back from her stream of thoughts with that question. “Nothing new.” She looked back down at the ground. “I got a sticker! It was because I talked to someone new today.”

 

“Really? How did it go?”

 

“They said hi, I said hi back. They told me their name, and we played with horses for 10 minutes until it was nap time,” Pearl said with not much excitement in her tone. Mya could still sense how proud Pearl was of herself, and she was too! Small steps are still steps.

 

Pearl was never a social kid. Her first mother taught her to always beware of strangers, and even though she was adopted by Mia very young, those teachings still stuck with her. She’s a shy kid, that only shows strong emotions inside the house and is surrounded by people she trusts.

 

Mia and Maya had done their best to teach Pearl to reach out of her comfort zone, but not much progress has been seen. But they’ll never give up! After all, Pearl is basically Maya’s little sister, and she’ll never stop supporting Pearls.

 

Maya could feel a silly smile creeping up on her face, but she didn’t mind it. There’s no reason for her to NOT be happy, so why should she care if the depressed stares of the city gazed at her smiling and humming?

 

Though neither Pearl nor Maya was talking during the trip, they enjoyed each other’s company. The walk home was never awkward, and it never took that long. It was the perfect length to walk in silence without it getting unpleasant.

 

And so, they already made it to the Fey residence. Pearls, who didn’t look up from her feet during the stroll, lifted her head the second she heard Maya’s keychain jingle. The small snail charm hitting the Steel Samurai acrylic keychain seemed to be enough to catch Pearl’s attention at any time.

 

The door swung open, revealing the dimly lit, slightly messy house of the Feys. With one swing of the feet, Maya threw her shoes onto the ground, before advancing to pick them up and place them onto the small, raggedy shoe rack.

 

At this point Pearls had already sat down on a stool, awaiting Maya to untie her shoes. Maya smiled, then turned to the teeny tiny pink shoes Pearl was wearing.

 

“You already know how to tie them, you should learn how to untie them as well,” she teased, proceeding to open the last knot.

 

Pearl scowled, pursing her lips and furrowing her eyebrows. This just made Maya giggle more, before untying the very last knot on her shoes.

 

“C’mon, don’t pout!” Pearl’s face remained unchanged. Maya grinned impishly, “I can always prepare cookies ya know…”

 

Pearls immediately turned her head towards Maya, and her eyes began sparkling, as if she completely forgot about Maya’s scolding.

 

Her sweet tooth is really no better than mine, huh… Well, at least we’re finally getting rid of those cookies. They’ve been sitting in a box for like, a week!

 

With the humming of the kettle, and the giggling of Pearls near the kitchen isle, Maya took out the cookies and began plating them on to little plates Mia got for them last summer. The small, floral patterns and background noise of the kitchen was enough to make Maya smile warmly once again.

 

***

 

After the sound of struggling key sounds, Maya heard a relaxed voice call out: “I’m home!”

 

“Us too,” an unexpected voice yelled shortly after.

 

Three figures made their way to the kitchen. Mia, Nick and Trucy. The latter seemed to be the only one out of the three who wasn’t carrying a grocery bag.

 

“You better be real thankful Maya. I’m doing YOUR work for you,” he joked.

 

Mia let out a small, endeared laugh. “I saw them at the bus stop and picked them up. Phoenix seemed kind enough to help us with shopping, so I took him up on his offer!”

 

Phoenix sent the smallest death stare at Mia, before retreating, remembering how intimidating she could be. “Actually, she told us she would only agree to give us a ride, if I helped her carry the bags.” Phoenix placed the plastic bag on the kitchen isle, before continuing. “Your sister is evil, y’know?”

 

Maya just laughed at Nick, causing his glare to become even more frustrated. 

 

Taking some chips out of the bag, he continued: “Thanks for inviting us. Trucy hasn’t had much to do lately, and it’s nice to hang out again.”

 

Both Mia and Maya gave him the exact same smile, sending the message of “Any time! It’s nice to see you again” through.

 

The mention of Trucy seemed to be like a summoning ritual. The little girl was peeking from the edge of the isle, with a small Fey next to her. None of the three noticed the girls, until Pearl sneezed, revealing their location to who they deemed the “elders”.

 

After being noticed, the girls ran off giggling.

 

Phoenix sighed. “I don’t think I’ll every understand those two.” He took a glance at the hallway but then returned back to unpacking the bags. “Though I’m glad they get along well.”

 

Maya nodded, staring intensely at Nick placing the last item into the fridge. The second the final product was unpacked, Maya practically jumped at Phoenix, grabbing his wrist and pulling him away before Mia was even able to thank them.

 

“C’mon, Nick! We haven’t talked in AGES! We can’t waste any time!” She teased, still holding on to his wrist incredibly tight.

 

“Okay okay! Just STOP pulling so hard!” He managed to utter, being dragged down the hallway.

 

The laughter of Maya Fey could probably be heard by Mia, until the door of her room slammed shut.

 

Maya, who was now jumping at his feet, ordered him to talk about anything. No matter what the topic, any company would suffice for the bored girl.

 

Phoenix, shaking his sore wrist, talked about the first thing that came to mind: the group.

 

***

 

“…and so, I met Athena.” Phoenix finished telling a story. “She’s quite the personality, isn’t she?”

 

Maya, who was focused on painting her very last nail, replied, “Oh for sure! You don’t meet many people that become THAT fixated on people’s feelings.”

 

Lifting their hand up, Maya admired the freshy painted nails. She then turned to Phoenix and ordered him to sit down. “Your turn!”

 

He groaned but proceeded to obey. “Last time you painted my nails you did a really shitty job.” Maya lifted an eyebrow at him but then looked back down at his nails. “You better actually put work into them this time.”

 

Maya simply hummed in response. Right before applying the first layer of nail polish, she made the conscious decision of starting a conversation. “So. Anything new about your ‘special someone’?”

 

Phoenix furrowed his eyebrows. “You’re not Pearl. You don’t need to use ‘special someone’, especially as I’m not even in a relationship with them.”

 

Maya began laughing at the mention. “I still can’t believe she thought we were together! Like, I love you Pearls, but you’re SO far off.” She continued cackling at the memory.

 

“It took her like, what, two years to learn that we’re not dating!” He sighed, though the sight of Maya losing it made him laugh a bit as well.

 

“Mia had to literally sit her down and try to explain what ‘lesbian’ is! After that, she just ran up to me crying and apologizing,” she hooted. “She was obviously upset, but it was so goddamn funny.”

 

“You’re at least lucky that you got an apology. The next time we saw each other, she just glowered at me!” he scoffed.

 

Maya was done with the first layer of the first hand. Moving to the other, she continued what she started.

 

“Well, how is this mystery person? Made any progress yet?”

 

He suspired, which was enough to send the message of “not really” through. Even so, Phoenix answered verbally as well. “I wouldn’t say any progress has been made, but to be fair, I’m not really putting myself out you know?”

 

Maya nodded. “I get that. It’s annoying, but it’s also scary to be obvious about it.”

 

Phoenix continued. “I’ve made a few hints. Throwing stuff like me being single and needing a valentine out as jokes, but I haven’t made any moves.” He stayed silent for a second, as in thought. “But then again, I don’t think I really want to.”

 

“Come on, you should though! I mean, even if they don’t like you back—” Phoenix glared at Maya— “I’m sure they would let you down gently! Or well, it really depends on who it is…” she taunted.

 

He let out a small sigh. “Maya, I’m not telling you who it is.”

 

“Come on! I won’t make fun of you for it!” She pleaded. “I could even be your wingman!”

 

Phoenix merely shook his head as a response, causing Maya to pout. “You’re no fun. I’ve told you all my crushes, why can’t I hear yours?”

 

“…I can tell you some day. Just not now, okay?” he decided, as Maya fully finished the first coat of polish on his nails.

 

“Okay! Deal!” She beamed, immediately going in for the second layer.

 

***

 

“…then she somehow explained it better than any teacher! Ever!” Maya babbled, finishing the last coat of polish on Nick’s nails.

 

They put the brush back into the little container and signed for Nick to shake his hands a bit.

 

With Maya admiring their work once again, Phoenix added on to her story. “Sounds like tutoring is working well for you.”

 

Before Maya could respond with an “oh for sure” and a whole other story, they heard Mia call out to them.

 

“Maya, Nick, come!”

 

“Coming!” She yelled back. Standing up quickly, Maya placed the nail polish on their desk. Phoenix had at this point also stood up, so the two made their way to Mia.

 

Before they reached the living room, they were ambushed by two little girls.

 

“Maya! Mr. Nick! You have to see this!” the younger one insisted, jumping and pointing at Trucy. The little Wright, who seemed to have found a blue magician’s hat, was proudly holding a deck of cards.

 

Phoenix pushed her hat slightly. “What do we have here?”

 

“A magic trick! Choose a card, any card!” she grinned at her older brother, expecting him to do as told. He decided to pick a card from around the middle, and both Maya and Nick checked it without showing the little girls. A two of spades.

 

Trucy opened and closed her palm a few times, signaling the two to give the card back. She proceeded to shuffle the deck in its entirety and pulled out a random card.

 

“Is this your card?” she requested, holding out a seven of hearts.

 

The two glanced at each other awkwardly, not knowing whether to lie or just be truthful. Trucy laughed at the two.

 

“Of course not!” she smirked and threw the entire deck at the wall.

 

The sudden throw caught Nick and Maya by surprise; both of them were silent. However, to their surprise however, one card stuck to the wall without falling to the ground like the rest of them.

 

After a few seconds of gawking at the wall, Maya took a step towards the remaining card and peeked at it.

 

Phoenix could only see her eyes widen, before she answered the unasked question: “It’s a two of spades. The same card we saw.”

 

Phoenix, who was also a little surprised, decided to check for himself. Maya was right. The card was indeed the same as the two saw.

 

After a minute of silent glaring, Phoenix said something. “How. Did you do that?”

 

The two little girls just smiled at them. Trucy responded with her usual, “A magician never reveals their secrets!”

 

Maya didn’t know whether to be amazed or concerned that a seven-year-old was able to come up with such a trick, but she decided to just stay silent instead.

 

What broke her out of her chain of thought ended up being her older sister’s steps. “Are you purposely stalling? We need to set up the snacks!”

 

Mia paused, seeing a bunch of cards on the floor. She then looked up at Maya, and before managing to say anything, Maya talked first: “Yes, yes! I’ll clean it up”

 

Phoenix, Trucy and Pearls all followed Mia to the living room, whilst Maya quickly gathered all the cards.

 

After putting the deck back together, she made her way to the others. Phoenix and Mia were already putting together a smorgasbord of different types of candy and snacks. The two little girls were giggling to themselves, holding a bowl of popcorn and occasionally taking a few to eat.

 

“I can make the drinks. What do y’all want?” Maya announced, walking towards the fridge.

 

“Orange soda!” Trucy and Pearly yelled in unison. “Oh, and with ice for me!” Trucy continued.

 

“I don’t really care, just get me one of whatever you’re taking,” Phoenix responded.

 

“I suppose I’ll have that grapefruit soda. I want to test it out,” Mia concluded, placing the last snacks on to the board.

 

Maya went ahead and grabbed five glasses, pouring two of them to the brim with orange soda. The grapefruit soda’s cap was a tad more difficult to open, but it came off after a bit. Maya just took some good old cola and poured Nick’s glass fill with it as well. Finally, she threw a few ice cubes into Trucy’s drink and then brought them to everyone one by one.

 

“So, what movie will we be watching?” Maya asked, delivering Nick’s and her own drinks last.

 

Mia turned on the television. “I know that you and Miles already saw the new Steel Samurai movie when it came to theaters, but as Trucy and Pearls haven’t watched it yet, I thought you wouldn’t mind watching it again.”

 

“You and Miles did what.”

 

“Oh yeah, we can watch it! And save the questions for later, Nick,” she responded. Before Phoenix was able to object any further, Mia had already turned on the movie.

 

All five remained silent throughout the movie, except for a few moments when the younger ones let out audible gasps.

 

***Phoenix POV***

 

Both Pearl and Trucy were very sleepy once the movie ended, which wasn’t surprising as it was already bedtime for the two.

 

Mia gathered all the empty glasses onto the board and brought everything back into the kitchen. “Wright, I can bring you all back home if you need.”

 

“Oh, that would be great, thanks.” He said, helping clean up the final crumbs off the floor.

 

Trucy would pout, but she was too sleepy. “I don’t wanna leave yet…”

 

Phoenix smiled at his younger sister, picking her up. “Come on Truce. It’s bedtime for you and Pearl. You wouldn’t want to keep your friend awake too late, now, would you?”

 

The very tired Trucy pursed her lips and then came to a conclusion where she shook her head. Phoenix laughed a bit. “Let’s go home now.”

 

Mia nodded. “Maya, it’s up to you to put Pearl to bed and clean the kitchen. When I come back home, have some drinks prepared.”

 

Maya jokingly responded by saluting and yelling out “Yes ma’am!”

 

Mia shook her head smiling. Taking the keys off the counter, she threw them in to her pocket. “Come on, Wrights. Let us take our leave.”

 

Phoenix acknowledged Mia’s note and followed the woman with Trucy in his arms.

 

Despite Trucy being drowsy, she managed to tie her own shoes. Hm. She’s already grown so much. It’s kind of hard to believe that she’s only seven.

 

“Bye bye Pearls! Bye bye, auntie Maya!” Trucy called out one last time, before leaving the house. The two Feys waved back in response, before the door closed shut.

 

During the ride back home, Trucy nearly fell asleep whilst Mia kept talking to Phoenix. She mainly inquired about his school life, and if they were able to visit someday again.

 

“I’m not sure yet, but I think you guys could come over during winter break. Maybe even for the night! I mean, the girls clearly don’t get tired of each other easily,” he suggested, taking a look at his calendar.

 

Maya nodded. “I believe that could work for us as well, but we’ll have to see.”

 

The car had officially parked at the Wright residence, and he thanked her for the ride, lifting Trucy out of the car.

 

“Thank you so much, Mia.”

 

“Any time, Phoenix,” she replied, before driving away. He waved one last time, being fully aware of the fact that she couldn’t see him.

 

Trucy was half asleep in his arms, but he woke her up properly once they had made their way inside.

 

“…I don’t want to… I wanna sleep…” she protested, with the idea of changing clothes and brushing teeth circling her mind.

 

“You have to switch into your pajamas, Truce.” She wasn’t still fully convinced. “Fine. I’ll let you skip brushing your teeth, but you must change. Also, we’ll double the brushing tomorrow morning to make up for it.”

 

Though Trucy wasn’t fully pleased, she agreed to the arrangement. Phoenix helped her get in to bed and wished her a good night.

 

“Night, Truce. Like always, just wake me up if you have a bad dream. See you tomorrow morning,”

he recited, turning off her night lamp.

 

“Night… Nick…” she managed, before dozing off. She really is tired. But she also looks peaceful.  he thought.

 

He made his way out of the little girl’s room and quietly closed the door. Yawning, he approached his own room.

 

After a quick change of clothes, he grabbed his phone and collapsed onto the bed. The multiple pillows broke his fall, and he even sprung back a little. This new mattress is actually pretty good. I guess trusting shady mattress dealers isn’t that bad, huh? he thought to himself.

 

Normally, Phoenix would scroll social media for a bit, before going to sleep. However, he had too much running in his mind.

 

It’s just a small crush. I get those, like, all the time. Why the hell am I hesitating this one time?

 

He opened his phone.

 

Being interested in someone isn’t a big deal. There’s no need for me to stress it this much.

 

He unlocked the phone and glared down at his background.

 

I guess it’s different this time because we’re already close? Like, maybe it’ll ruin relationships.

 

He opened his messages.

 

I think I just need to get over it. Maybe I should actually tell Maya.

 

He clicked open his chats with Maya.

 

Yeah, I think that’ll help. She can help me get over this.

 

He began typing out a message.

 

She’ll know what to do. If I get over this, I won’t feel that uncomfortable about it.

 

I won’t feel guilty.

 

***

 

Phoenix

I need your help. It’s Miles.

 

***

 

After sending the message, he quickly shut off the phone and threw on his desk. He didn’t even put it to charge. He just wanted it to be over.

 

Night, Nick.

 

 

Notes:

CW for this chapter (...once again, nothing bad happens. These are here just in case :) )
-Not exactly, but there is a mention about the Fey's Khura'in identity, which comes with implications that Maya used to be self conscious of it

-Uhhhh Idk. Throwing cards at walls? Nail polish on a teenage boy? Something something I'm tired I need sleep

***

SOME CLARIFICATION ABOUT THE PLOT!!

The main plot will revolve around Maya and Franziska. Phoenix, Miles, and the others will be a bit more in the background. Although this chapter ended with Phoenix's thoughts, the whole Miles & Phoenix thing will happen in the background, and though the end *kinda* sounded angsty, it wont be angsty. Like at all.

The main subplot will revolve around Athena, Apollo and Klavier. The subplot will be brought up somewhat often, but FranMaya will remain the focus!

***

Anyway, whatever I've written in other end notes still applies here!

Chapter 5: In which Franziska gets more screentime

Notes:

Well... It's been a bit...

The first week after the last chapter I got sick. Yay!!! Then, my back and neck started killing me so I couldn't write. Yay!!! THEN, I entered a tiny writers block. Yay!!!

Luckily, I've come out of the slump and I'm back stronger than ever. I mean, not really, but still.

Oh yeah, it was also my birthday! Like seven days ago, but still.

But I finally got this chapter out, and I hope it's not terrible!!

Normally any CW would be at the end notes, but basically nothing happens in this chapter, so I'm not putting any. But in the future if there is something that I need to mention, I'll put it in the end notes and inform that it's there!

Enjoyy :D

***Franziska POV***

 

Saturday mornings may be one of Franzy’s favorite things, though she would never admit that.

 

The Sun’s way of shining brighter than usual, drowning everything in its way in a warm coat of light, was something she found quite soothing.

 

 

Miles, though he didn’t like the mention of it, always sleeps in during the weekends. Chances are it’s because of the group, and their habit of making calls during night, she assumed.

 

To Franziskas surprise, it wasn’t Gregory who came to interrupt her morning coffee. It was Miles.

 

He was visibly tired, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “Morning, Franzy.”

 

Franziska raised a brow at the sight, but didn’t pay too much attention to it. “Morning, little brother.” She took a sip out of her coffee. “You’re awake early.”

 

He nodded, grabbing a cup of his own from the shelves. “I went to sleep early as well,” he acknowledged, setting a tea bag into the cup. “Fey and Wright were both busy.”

 

“Hm.” Franziska observed as Miles poured water into the kettle. “What about the others?”

 

“Gumshoe said he didn’t have time. Larry mentioned something about a date, and both Cykes and Justice turned the call down without reason”, Miles responded, turning on the kettle to boil.

 

Franziska let out a small laugh and took one sip of her coffee. “I suppose it’s for the best that you get at least one night of good sleep.”

 

Miles simply rolled his eyes in response. Franziska turned back to her coffee, reviewing the rest of her drink. She downed the rest of her coffee, enjoying the bitter yet delicious aftertaste of the drink.

 

Before she was able to stand up, a small buzz from her phone interrupted her.

 

Picking up the phone, which was face down next to her cup, she inspected the source of the buzz. It was a message, from Maya that is.

 

***

 

One unopened message from ~MAYAA !!~

 

 

~MAYAA !!~

Hey Franzy! Can we do the whole tutoring thing today??? I’m free the whole day, so it would be great if it worked for you as well

 

Franziska

I believe it works for me as well. Do you have a time in mind?

 

~MAYAA !!~

 Could you come over at around four?

 

Franziska

Very well. See you then, Maya

 

***

 

After going over the messages, Franziska proceeded to bring her empty cup to the sink.

 

“Who was that?” Miles asked, interfering with Franziska’s chain of thought.

 

“Your interest has never been piqued over a message,” she mentioned, furrowing her brows at him.

 

Miles shrugged, dragging his tea bag up and down in an attempt to speed up the infusion process. “Your phone has never buzzed before. You prefer it on silent mode.”

 

Franziska wasn’t aware that he had noticed such a small detail, but remembering the type of person he is, her surprise didn’t last long. “It was Maya, I’m tutoring them today. At four to be precise.”

 

Miles let out a small “hm” noise, before removing the tea bag out of his tea.

 

He continued. “I’m glad you’re getting well acquainted with people.” Franziska gave him a look. “Getting friends is a good thing, I’m just happy you’re finally experiencing it.”

 

“This isn’t my first friend, little brother,” she scoffed. He let out a small laugh, bringing the cup to his lips. “Are you sure about that?”

 

To be fair, this may have been Franziska’s first real friend. Most people she referred to as friends in the past were simply just classmates she was able to get along with during projects. She never hung out with people after school, and most definitely never had anyone’s contact number.

 

So, Miles might be correct. But she wasn’t going to give that to him.

 

Franziska opted to simply roll her eyes at Miles and return to her room. After all, she had awaiting homework, and she wasn’t going to procrastinate it any longer.

 

It seemed like every time she took a new step on those unfamiliar, wooden stairs, they would warm up to her. As if they were slowly accepting her into their family, the way Miles and Gregory had. She didn’t want her thoughts to linger on whether or not she’ll ever feel like she’s a part of their family, but she couldn’t help it whenever she walked on those stairs.

 

However, this time the thoughts weren’t as anxious as usual. Almost as if she was slowly learning out of those thoughts.

 

Well, whatever it was, it wasn’t nearly as important as undone homework. Focus, Franzy. You have work to do.

 

***

 

I should take a break. I don’t feel like torturing my back any longer.

 

Franziska had already finished homework for two subjects and begun writing a history essay. The work wasn’t difficult, but lately she’d had some trouble finding motivation to work. It had never been like that in the past, but it wasn’t peculiar enough to be a worry of hers.

 

The only worry on her mind was Fey and tutoring.

 

Sure, the first meeting went well, but this one will be different. Maya had an exam coming up, which was going to make it way more tedious.

 

To add to that, both of their sisters were supposed to be there tonight. It was going to be her first meeting with Mia, and for some reason she was dreading it.

 

Nothing drastic is going to happen. she assured herself.

 

Maya has been quite accepting so far. Mia, described my Maya, seems to be similar to that. As long as that’s the case I’ll be fine.

 

Franziska sighed heavily to herself. If worrying about a family you aren’t even a part of is interfering with her work, she would be immensely dissatisfied with herself.

 

At this point, Franziska was hunched over her desk, holding her forehead up with two clenched fists. Being bothered by something so trivial was unlike her. She was starting to slowly get troubled over it.

 

Two small knocks on her door did seem to make her snap out of it.

 

The door slowly opened, causing Franziska to lift her head and turn towards the person.

 

The one standing in the doorway was none other than Gregory Edgeworth. After seeing this, Franziska waved her hand a bit, signaling him to enter the room.

 

“Hello, Gregory,” she smiled.

 

He smiled back. “Hey Franzy. How’re you doing?” He said, standing over her and inspecting the desk.

 

“Quite well. I’ve finished some amount of work—” she closed her notebook, gesturing that she wouldn’t continue it yet— “and I’ll be tutoring Fey later tonight.

 

Gregory nodded, and after a few seconds of looking around her room he continued. “I’ve heard that things are going well with the friend group.”

 

“Hm.” She also turned her head towards the desk. “I can see why Miles would spend so much time with them.” Her eyes seemed to be glued to the math book in the corner. “They’re an odd bunch but oddly endearing as well.”

 

Gregory laughed a bit. “Most people don’t refer to their friends as ‘an odd bunch’, but I’m glad you’re getting along with them.”

 

She cocked her head to one side a bit. “I don’t see a reason why I couldn’t call them that. But to me, them being strange isn’t a bother.” Her eyes continued to focus on the math book. “In fact, it’s better that way. I don’t think I’d be as interested in the group if they weren’t—well—interesting.”

 

Gregory, who had seemingly noticed Franziska’s fixed gaze on the math book, laughed a bit. He brought his hand to the cover of the book.

 

“Will you be tutoring math?” he asked, quickly rummaging through the pages.

 

Franziska nodded.

 

“To be frank, it’s not surprising that you’re befriending people this way,” he continued, pausing on a random page. There wasn’t anything interesting on it, just a few exercises. Franziska would bet that she could finish them all withing a few minutes— or less.

 

Franziska sent him a small, confused look, before turning back to the book. “Care to elaborate?”

 

“Well, Franzy, you’ve always been better at… this than with people.” He paused, thinking back on whether what he said was too straightforward. “I mean no offense, truly. It’s the same with Miles. And I find it a wonderful thing! If doing something you find yourself good with helps you connect, then it’s completely fine to do that.”

 

Franziska let out a small giggle. “Father, you’re over exaggerating! I’ve simply found people who can tolerate a teenager with a more unique look on life. It’s not my relationship with studying that helped me get along with them; if that was the case, I would’ve made tons of friends during past school projects!”

 

He seemed to go silent for a minute at what Franziska said. She couldn’t place her finger on why though.

 

She continued: “I believe it was how open minded they are what helped me get to know them. Of course, I’ve only known them for a bit, but they’ve still welcomed me with open arms.”

 

He smiled once again and patted her on the shoulder a few times. “Well, whatever it is, it’s wonderful.” He laughed a bit. “Heck, I’m starting to feel they might be the only ones to accept the Edgeworth family!”

 

She smiled at him again, though this time it was warmer. He smiled back.

 

“Well, I’ll leave you to it. Good luck!”

 

“Thank you… Gregory…” 

 

Realization hit her like a speeding train. Oh. That explains it. I insinuated that he’s grown into a parental figure, didn’t I?

 

He left the room, lifting his arm as a small goodbye before walking out of sight.

 

I mean, he is, isn’t he? He’s my legal guardian, and he’s acted like a father ever since he took me in. I suppose I’ve grown to see him and Miles kind of like family. I do call Miles little brother after all, and… I’m guessing that Gregory is now my father?

 

Is that all it took? Was it really that easy and smooth to transition into seeing them as family?

 

Have I finally done it?

 

She expected herself to feel something. Or, well, something more. All that really went around her brain was questions, no feelings.

 

Come on, Franziska. There are better things to focus on. Worrying about the useless won’t get you anywhere.

 

After a small internal scolding, she brought her attention back to the array of notebooks and textbooks on her desk.

 

***

 

The time agreed upon by Maya and Franziska was slowly approaching. In fact, the latter was getting prepared to leave her house at the moment.

 

Franziska was walking down the stairs, phone in hand. Normally she would only spend her time reading or sending messages, but with Maya’s instruction she was creating a social media account.

 

Truly unheard of for someone like her, but they insisted. It would apparently help her get to know the group better, if she knew about the things they posted about.

 

She found the idea redundant but accepted anyway.

 

It was quite simple to get an account, and she finished the registration fairly swiftly. At the point she was finished, she already had her coat and boots on.

 

Before putting her phone away, she sent a quick message to Maya about the estimated time of arrival. She then yelled a small goodbye to the Edgeworth residence and proceeded to walk out the front door.

 

It was a bit cold outside. Thankfully Franziska always liked to be prepared for such things. Her coat was specifically picked out to be great against wind but still fit her style. Despite her simple room, she enjoyed expressing herself elegantly with her appearance.

 

From her short hair, which was dyed with a rich blue color, all the way down to her heeled boots, her style was way less casual than most teenagers’. She was also a big fan of rings and earrings; she would accessorize herself with them daily.

 

The only thing she regretted in her getup were the stockings. It was cold outside, and she still chose to wear them alongside her signature pencil skirt.

 

The only thing saving her from the cold breeze was the fact that she chose to take the bus. Thank God for public transportation, society couldn’t be what it is today without it.

 

On the bus, she decided to make the most out of her new social media account; so, she examined the others’ own accounts.

 

The first one was, of course, Maya’s. They had already informed her of their username: @Mystic.Maya with the display name simply as Maya <3.

 

Maya hadn’t posted anything out of the ordinary. Most pictures were of numerous foods and drinks, with a few pictures of her friends and herself among them.

 

What was really interesting were the captions. They were filled with notes about their personal life, and other engaging things. It did feel more like decoding an ancient language to Franziska, as modern slang wasn’t one of her areas of expertise.

 

To be fair, Maya’s vocabulary was filled to the brim with whatever was going on in TikTok at the moment, and Franziska had never even thought about downloading the app. Instagram was already a big step for her, and she felt like it would be enough.

 

Although she was somewhat able to figure out what most posts said, there were a few she couldn’t understand at all.

 

For example, there was a post from the beginning of the term. The image was clearly of Maya taking a selfie with Phoenix and Athena, and all the caption said was “First day of gay high school… I hope they don’t realize I’m straight.”

 

She knew all those words separately, but together they basically meant no sense. It sounded like it could have been made with ill intention, but knowing the type of person Maya was, she didn’t feel like that was the case. If anything, Maya was so unprejudiced that she had to be an ally at the very least, right? Franziska always believed that most discourse about that topic was completely unnecessary, it’s the reasonable thing to think after all.

 

One post, which was of a cat from a cat café from what she could tell, was simply captioned with “KITTYY!!! Oh ho, you’re so Portuguese…” Yet another caption stuffed with real words but mashed together completely illegible.

 

Another post was also a selfie, though in this one Maya was alone and seemingly in her own room. It was from a year ago, and this caption made even less sense than the other one. “First I was a victim of comphet, and now I experienced my first wlw breakup? Chat, I might be cooked.”

 

Though this isn’t the only post Maya made using slang Franziska didn’t know of, this was the only one that seemed to have something to actually do with their life. The other captions were merely references to things going on at the moment, but this one seemed to be something Maya actually experienced. Well, whatever it was, Franziska didn’t feel compelled to find out the meaning of those words.

 

The second account Franziska checked out was her own brother’s. It was in the “people you might know” section on Maya’s page. His username was @Dmn.Prsctr with the display name as Miles.

 

He clearly hadn’t been posting nowhere near as much as Maya had. Most posts were about Wright and/or his friend group, with a few posts about his own interests along the way.

 

Something some might find weird would be the lack of acknowledgement of his own achievements; this wasn’t surprising to Franziska at all. Miles wasn’t the type of person to celebrate whatever awards he got from games or debates. Though Franziska didn’t feel the same way, she respected his deference to modesty.

 

She then proceeded to quickly check out the other accounts of the group.

 

Phoenix’s, @Ace.Attorney with the display of Phoenix, had a bunch of images of the group, alongside pictures of him and a little girl who was seemingly his little sister. He also had multiple pictures of times he was with the Feys, including one from a day ago. The caption talked about how impressed he was with his little sister, and how many chores he had to do for the Feys. Maya’s comments under the post were also silly in nature, though the two did get into an argument of who worked harder in the Fey house.

 

Gumshoe’s, whose username was simply @DickGumshoe and his display being Dick Gumshoe as well, only had three posts. Two of the three were of stray cats he had been feeding and taking care of, whilst the third one was of him, Phoenix and Miles somewhere. Though the captions were way longer than the others, Franziska didn’t mind reading through them as all the stories were somewhat heartwarming. For such a kind soul, she didn’t understand why he was so terrified of her.

 

@Larry-Butz with the display of Larry was something Franziska barely even glanced over. Every single post had something to do with girls he either was with, or girls he wanted to be with. There was only one post that wasn’t like that, and it was the pinned post that included Phoenix and Miles. It was something about how happy he was that they reunited, but Franziska stopped reading as the post dived into girls once again after only a few sentences.

 

@Horned.Guy seemed to be Apollo, as his display was—well—Apollo. He only had a few posts, which were all of the things he was reading or of his cat, Mikeko. Athena had commented something underneath every post, and Apollo had even sometimes replied or liked the comment. This seemed to be out of the ordinary, as it really looked like he ignored every other comment he got. Another thing Franziska noted was how these images were more aesthetically pleasing than the others, but it didn’t seem like on purpose. It just appeared that he was talented at photography.

 

The final account she checked out before the bus had arrived was Athena’s. @*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨* with the display name of ~*Thena*~ was stuffed with all sorts of different posts. Most were selfies she took with the group, of her hair and her nails. She seemed to really enjoy taking images of everything, and it really showed through in her posts. One post Franziska found interesting was from a year ago, and it was taken in a photo booth. It was one of Athena and Apollo, both with stickers all over their faces (definitely Athena’s doing). Apollo looked drastically different than he did now, but Franziska didn’t exactly care. Puberty does things to people, doesn’t it?

 

As she predicted, the bus arrived at the stop right as Franziska was done investigating the other’s accounts. She quickly thanked the driver as she stepped out of the bus back into the cold, strong breeze.

 

It only took about five minutes to walk from the station over to the Feys, and with a little speed-walking she was there in three.

 

Just like last time, the Fey residence was bustling with life, and just like last time it was Maya who greeted her at the front door.

 

As the door swung open, Franziska was faced with a beaming Maya. “Franziska!” she yelled. Franziska’s attention was, however, brought to the glitter, stickers and papers stuck to her arms and face. “Oh. Uhhh… don’t mind the mess please! Pearls and I were crafting for a bit, and she can get kinda wild.”

 

Franziska shook her head. “I don’t mind.” She stepped into the house, already taking off her coat. Maya waited for her, as Franziska removed her shoes and placed them in the same place as before. Once she was finished, Maya pointed to the room across the hallway and said: “Shall we?”

 

***

 

“Ahhhh… how am I supposed to remember all of this?”

 

“Rigorous studying is the easiest way to memorize things for the exam.”

 

Maya sighed again. It had already been an hour and a half since they began, but they were barely remembering anything. “Why must schools do this…”

 

Franziska pointed at the part Maya was struggling with. “Schools are the only thing preparing us for the future currently.” Maya furrowed her eyebrows in anger, but she clearly wasn’t annoyed, simply over exaggerating. “You’re doing well, Maya. It’s just this part that’s stopping you from understanding the others.”

 

They sighed once again and started lying down on the ground instead of sitting next to Franziska. She let out a small laugh at the sight of Maya.

 

“I suppose we can have a break at this moment,” Franziska decided, closing the book. Maya quickly shot up at the sound of their nightmare closing and immediately began grinning once again.

 

“Okay! What do you wanna do?” she said, staring at Franziska with a shine in her eyes.

 

“Uh, I’ll leave that up to you. Whatever works best to clear your head,” she replied, standing up.

 

Maya placed a finger on one cheek in thought. “Well… baking always works best. But we made food last time, and I don’t want to exactly bore you out of your mind so…”

 

“Well, I guess it’s not that important. How about I just prepare some tea for us, and we can just talk?” she pondered. Franziska nodded in response, and Maya just began smiling even wider.

 

The two made their way out of Maya’s room into the kitchen, both being greeted by Mia there.

 

“It’s nice to meet you, Franziska. I’ve heard a bit about the tutoring, and I’m really thankful someone is willing to help Maya,” she smiled, picking up her own cup which was seemingly filled with coffee.

 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Maya pouted, walking over to the cupboards. “You now owe me a snail.”

 

Mia shook her head laughing a bit. “Maya, you lost your snail privileges a long time ago.” She took a sip out of her own coffee, and Maya made an overdramatic sigh. “I might consider it though… if you get good grades from Math this term.”

 

Maya’s eyes lit up, and she sent a very excited look over at Franziska. They then turned back to the cupboard, taking out two cups and a teapot.

 

“Well, what type of tea?” Maya asked, opening a drawer filled with a variety of teas, ranging from cheap ones all the way to ones that probably cost a fortune. It appeared that the Feys were a big fan of tea.

 

Franziska walked over to Maya, peering from over their shoulder at the options. “Hmm… the cherry green tea seems appetizing.” Maya hummed in response, picking up the package and quickly shutting the drawer.

 

As they were walking over to the utensils, they requested Franziska to fill the kettle with water and heat it up. She agreed of course and did as she was told.

 

It didn’t take long for the water to boil, and Maya very excitedly poured the water into the tea pot, alongside the tea leaves. “Do you know what type of tea pot this is, Franziska?”

 

She felt a little confused, but answered the question, nevertheless. “I don’t think so, no.”

 

“This tea pot is from Kurain village. We used to visit the place often when I was younger, and to be honest, I enjoyed it more than Khura’in.” She put the kettle away, after pouring in the water. “This tea pot was given to us by Morgan fey, my aunt. She wasn’t a good person but her ability to create tea was simply incredible. This pot was specifically designed by her: it doesn’t break easily, the tea leaves infuse with the tea really well, and the filter doesn’t let ANY tea leaves pass.”

 

Normally Maya would be grinning and talking enthusiastically, but now she wasn’t like that. It’s not like they weren’t happy; they clearly were! It just seemed more sincere now.

 

Maya continued. “Pearly also really likes this teapot. It reminds her of Morgan, but only the good parts. Even though we thought it would serve as a reminder of how horrible she was, it seems like it only reminds Pearl of all the good things in Kurain Village and Khura’in.”

 

Franziska wasn’t sure how to respond. It’s not the first time Maya was rambling about her life, but it was the first time it felt as heartful. She opted to the basic answer: “That’s a beautiful story. I’m glad that Pearl’s able to stay optimistic, despite being her age.”

 

Maya smiled and nodded. She then quickly went back to her normal, eager self. “Do you want some sweeteners with that?”

 

“Honey would be nice,” she smiled back. Maya then put a bit of honey into the teapot and poured a decent amount into both of the cups. The two then made their way to the table and conversed about whatever came to mind.

 

Whatever they talked about, both were enjoying their time well. Whether it was meaningless chatter or talk about the group, Maya would talk about anything, and Franziska would listen intently.

 

“Y’know, calling you Franziska feels… too fancy, doesn’t it?” Maya took a sip of their tea, which seemed to be the last one. “Can I call you Franzy instead? I’ve heard Miles use it a few times, and it feels… better?”

 

Franziska nodded and drank the last of her tea as well. “I’d be fine with that.”

 

Franziska’s first friend, and it’s perfect.

Notes:

heh.... no cw for this chapter because I'm awesome...

(Author ramblings that have nothing to do with the fic, feel free to just not read any of it:)
The Minecraft movie was an experience for sure. I was honestly incredibly surprised by the... tension between Garret and Steve. The elytra scene had me and my friends holding in laughter so hard, I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to laugh again.

Alsooo my sibling is getting closer and closer to finding out about this account. If that happens, I think I'll just bury myself deep in the woods somewhere tbh.

And finally, I'm making a presentation about Ace Attorney in ethics! And I found out my teacher isn't unaware on what Ace Attorney is! Probably played it as well! I'm so fucked!

Chapter 6: In which there's a small conversation

Notes:

Heh... I'm back.

Now, I wanna say that this chapter is a little short compared to others. I wanted to get something out as quickly as possible to make up for the fact that I haven't been able to write a lot. (I was on Easter vacation, plus I was sick)

But yeah! Despite it being shorter, I hope you enjoy this little filler-but-not-really-a-filler-at-all chapter!

***Maya POV***

 

It had officially been a week since Maya and Franziska met.

 

Nothing special was going to happen. In fact, nothing special had even happened during the week. But Maya still had the day circled out in her brain-calendar.

 

There was just something… exceptional about her. Maya couldn’t describe what that was exactly, but it was there.

 

Of course, any outsider would quickly sum up this uniqueness to her being a child prodigy and all, but Maya could tell that there was more. She was kind, way kinder than she could have ever expected.

 

She had only been tutored twice, yet she still felt like she did alright on the Math exam—which was something that she never felt. Despite the urge to prance over to Franziska, hold her in a tight squeeze and thank her for everything, they decided to hold their excitement in for after the results were published.

 

That didn’t stop them from the excitement of meeting with Fr- the group again, as they were already practically skipping on their way to the usual meeting spot.

 

Her face was filled with glee remembering how much more teasing she had to do. The other students were probably eyeing Maya as if she was crazy for giggling to herself, but she was way too thrilled to pay much attention to that.

 

The whole past week Maya had been relentlessly teasing Phoenix. So much so, that they nearly felt bad about how red the famously blue guy was getting. Only nearly.

 

This was all because of the text he sent her six days ago. It took a while for her to figure out exactly what he was attempting to say, but once she got it, she DIDN’T let him live it down.

 

Whenever a chance revealed itself, Maya would grab it immediately. Whether this was Athena gossiping about some new relationship related drama they heard of, or Miles saying basically anything, Maya would do everything in their power to make some sort of insinuating comment about it. Phoenix clearly wasn’t joyous about it, but that wasn’t going to stop her.

 

She already knew about Phoenix’s “special someone”, as he had been talking about them for a month straight. She wasn’t surprised that this “special someone” would be none other than Miles Edgeworth, but she was surprised that he would admit it. Maya was 100% sure that he would stick to talking shit about other peoples’ lives, so this change of him actually being open about himself sure as hell was a surprise.

 

If there was one thing other than crushed Maya knew he would NEVER admit, it would be how much he genuinely gossips. Everyone expects Athena to be the one who gossips the most – which makes sense, considering how interested she is in peoples’ feelings— but that doesn’t even get close to what Phoenix does the second he is out of school. He’s like a fountain spitting out whatever he thinks the second he gets comfortable with someone.

 

Speaking of Phoenix getting comfortable with someone…

 

The sight greeting Maya as they made their way to the usual was—well—unusual. Phoenix, Miles and Gumshoe were all huddled over staring intently at whatever was going on Phoenix’s phone. This was probably the first time the three were so close together.

 

Next to them was Franziska, talking to none other than Larry Butz. This was what truly caught them off guard, as any interaction between the two that didn’t end in Larry getting his ass jumped was practically fiction at this point.

 

Finally, to no one’s surprise, Athena and Apollo were conversing behind the bench. But they weren’t the normal ones here, because this time it was Apollo talking to Athena.

 

Nothing about the scene was normal, which made Maya laugh a bit. The others noticed her presence as they approached the bench.

 

“Did I miss a memo? Why are you all weird today?” she giggled, placing her bag down next to the bench. Phoenix lifted his head up for a second to frown at Maya but then turned back to his phone.

 

The only ones who didn’t resume their previous conversations were Larry and Franzy. She naturally opted to go up to the two. “Hello, Maya. Me and Larry were just discussing your exam. How did it go?” Franziska smiled.

 

“I think it went pretty well, thanks to you.” She sat down next to them. “But I’m kind of hung up on the ‘me and Larry were just discussing’ part. How?”

 

Franziska seemed to laugh a bit at the comment, and so did Larry. Though he accompanied his laugh with an over exaggerated gasp, and said: “How dare you assume that I can only get along with chicks I date? Offensive y’know!”

 

“I mean, do you truly? Other than like Truce, Pearls and the people in our group,” Maya snorted. Larry was about to object with an example, but it didn’t seem like he could figure one out, which made both Franziska and Maya giggle a bit.

 

“W-well, to be fair, you can’t either!” he objected as a last measure. Maya simply raised an eyebrow at him smugly.

 

“I can think of at least a billion examples of me speaking to girls well without wanting to get with them. I’m not you.”

 

“Really? I’m not buying that!” He wagged his finger, seemingly taking the inspiration from Edgeworth. “Like… what about that one guy from Biology back in middle school!”

 

“That doesn’t prove anything! I’ve still been able to have a proper conversation without ill intent. Unlike some.” She pouted.

 

“Fine! I accept your challenge!”

 

“I wasn’t challenging you to anything.”

 

“Whoever is able to have a good convo with a chick withing the next period without flirting or getting together with her wins!”

 

“This is utterly ridiculous.” Maya sighed and rubbed the bridge of their nose a bit. “I’m in.”

 

Franziska laughed a bit. “I got lost around the part where you two were talking about the billion examples or something along those lines. I haven’t understood a word since then.”

 

“You fancy-pants wouldn’t understand what us lowly dogs are getting up to anyway,” he accused in a mocking manner. He even placed the back of his hand on his forehead and shook his head to exaggerate the bit even more.

 

“I have no interest what fools do with their foolish time. As long as it doesn’t affect me, you can fool around as much as you want,” she insisted, putting emphasis on every word containing the word ‘fool’ in it.

 

That got a small laugh out of Maya and Larry. Huh. Franzy and Larry really do seem to be getting along well. I guess she’s truly migrated into the group now.

 

Before the three were able to get into deeper conversation, they were interrupted by a pretty energetic voice. The voice of Athena, to be precise. 

 

“Yo Franziska! Did you get an insta?” they gushed as they got close to Franzy. Franziska was taken aback by this, but her body relaxed a bit after a second.

 

“Maya recommended it to me.” she looked over at Athena’s hand, which was holding a phone. “I see you found my account.”

 

Athena backed up a bit and then hummed to herself contently. “And I see you haven’t posted anything yet! You really should though, that way people in our school can follow you.”

 

“Why on earth would I want that? I’m nowhere near as interested in befriending the entire world as you, miss Cykes,” Franziska pointed out, but that only made Athena smile even more.

 

“You’re LITERALLY a straight A student, who lives with our school’s most sought-after debate team member. People would kill to live like you, it would be so easy for you to get popular!” she insisted, with a hint of playful jealousy in her tone. “Plus… you’re a young, pretty girl with this dark-academia style going on. People would also kill for the aesthetic you live in…”

 

Franziska raised an eyebrow, smiling. “Thank you for the compliments, I suppose. But I’m still not as interested in documenting my life the way you do yours.”

 

Athena sat on the bench next to Franziska in defeat. “Fine. But at least add me as a friend! If you ever do start posting I want people to know I’m friends with THE Franziska!”

 

Apollo finally contributed to the conversation. “Don’t mind her. This is just her way of making friends I guess.”

 

Athena hummed. “Talking about that, you need to post more often!” they looked over at Apollo. “You’re pretty popular, y’know. People love your style, and who doesn’t love Mikeko!”

 

Athena paused for a second at the last thing she said. She then practically exploded in joy and jumped right back over to Apollo. “How is Mikeko doing? Can I see him sometime soon? I miss him!”

 

Apollo, surprised at the sudden movement, lifted his hands in protection of himself. “Calm down, Thena. You can see him the next time you come over.”

 

“Sorry for intruding, but who’s Mikeko?” Franziska asked, cocking her head to one side a bit. Oh yeah. She’s the one who listens to every word said with insane concentration. That’s pretty sweet, Maya thought to herself.

 

“Mikeko is Apollo’s girlfriend!” Athena teased, shoving him a bit with her elbow. Apollo grunted a bit in anger.

 

“He’s not. He’s my cat. Athena’s just… referencing some old joke,” he scoffed. Athena started giggling uncontrollably at Apollo.

 

“You literally said Mikeko was your girlfriend and that’s why you deserved to keep him! And this was AFTER you found out he was a boy!” Athena cackled, with an even redder Apollo being held by her arm.

 

“…you’re never getting to see Mikeko again.” Athena immediately stopped laughing, her face turning shades of horrified pale.

 

“NO! Please, forgive me oh great one!” she begged, jokingly. “I must see thine cat! He means oh so much to me!”

 

Apollo simply rolled his eyes at her. He then grabbed his phone from his back pocket to look at it. This was Athena’s sign to let go of Apollo and return to the conversation they were having with the others.

 

“Well, at least you two are normal. Unlike everyone else here,” Maya jested. Athena smiled at them.

 

Athena then pointed at the small snail charm Maya was fiddling with during the conversation. “I see you’re back to normal as well.”

 

Maya looked down at her hands, only to be greeted with the very same snail charm she had previously caught herself subconsciously playing with. It was like a habit at that point, but what could she do about it? The shape of the charm was perfect for fidgeting with; there were just the perfect number of sharp-but-not-so-sharp edges which was ideal for Maya.

 

They then looked back at Athena and subsequently stopped playing with the charm. “What can I say. Snails just speak to me, I suppose.”

 

Athena and Larry both rolled their eyes unanimously, causing Maya to laugh at the two little. They could tell how tired the two were getting of their snail-talk, but that wasn’t going to stop them anytime soon.

 

The only one who hadn’t been subjected to endless ramblings about snails nearly enough was Franziska. Which, speaking of the devil, was leaning a tad closer to Maya, a little confused.

 

“That doesn’t look like a typical snail to me.” She pointed at the charm, which was that of a snail whose foot was covered in sharp scale-looking thingies. “The shell isn’t… unusual, but the bottom of it looks more painful than practical.”

 

The same way Larry’s and Athena’s eyes had unanimously rolled, they had now unanimously grown in fear. Before Athena could jump on Maya and tackle them to the ground, Maya had already opened their mouth.

 

“Oh my god this is my favorite snail, like ever! It’s called the scaly-foot snail, but it also goes by numerous different names. One of my favorite examples must be ‘volcano snail’!” Maya was now nearly pushing Franziska off the bench, with how excited they were slowly getting. “It’s a deep-sea snail, and I swear to god there is no other species on this damned earth as unique as it is. Those scales you were confused about literally contain iron sulfides – and it’s the only known extant organism that does that.”

 

Franziska’s vest, which Maya was currently holding onto, was distractingly velvety. She had to fight the impulsive urge to start petting her vest, with how soft it was between her fingers.

 

Speaking of soft, Franziska was once again listening to her intently. Seriously, does this girl ever get bored?

 

“That’s not its only unique feature! I mean, just like other snails, it’s got a radula. Oh uh, I don’t think I’ve mentioned what that is yet. It’s basically a toothy tongue snails use to scrape food and other stuff. VERY toothy in fact. Like even tens of thousands of microscopic teeth.”

 

Franziska grimaced at that last part, which was a reaction Maya was used to getting whenever she mentioned it. In fact, the only other person that hadn’t grimaced at it so far was Pearls, who opted to sobbing and being too scared to enter Maya’s snail shrine (her room) for about a week.

 

“But yeah, it has a radula. But it’s weaker in comparison to some other snails because it doesn’t really need it. The scaly-foot snail is host to bacteria which gives it nutrition, so it doesn’t have to eat!” Before continuing with the final part, she let go of Franziska’s vest to clap her hands together in front of her chest. She also backed away a little bit, smiling. “Oh, and one last fun fact before you enter the zone of I-won’t-ever-speak-to-Maya-again, its heart is unusually large! Its heart is about four percent of its body. That’s massive, proportionally speaking.”

 

Franziska nodded, which isn’t uncommon for that girl. “I see. A fascinating creature, and I understand why you would deem it your favorite.”

 

Maya smirked mischievously and took the opportunity to poke fun at Franziska and pinched her cheeks. “You listened to that entire thing, and you still aren’t tired?” Franziska winced at the sudden grasp Maya had on her face. “I swear to god, you have to be some sorta alien. Or maybe you’re just an Edgeworth.” They laughed a bit, pulling away from Franzy. The girl in question was staring daggers into Maya, which made the laugh even more.

 

Right on queue, before Franziska could scold Maya, the bells rang. Every conversation in the group quieted for the piercing sound of the bells, before resuming whatever they were at the moment the sound stopped.

 

And once again, something interrupted the inevitable scolding from Franziska. Except this time, it was Maya herself, as a thought popped into her head right then and there.

 

“Oh shit! I almost forgot to do the one thing I was supposed to!” Franziska looked at them, head cocked to one side and a face screaming confusion. Maya was practically jumping and giggling, signaling Franzy to follow them.

 

Maya ran over to Phoenix, who was already walking towards the school buildings. “Nick! Hey, wait!” The small pebbles and dusty sand flew a bit, as Maya jumped right next to Phoenix.

 

“Ack—Maya, you kicked something into my eye!” Maya simply smirked at the guy, before using her insinuating voice to tease him: “Seems like that’s not the only thing that caught your eye recently…”

 

Phoenix proceeded to shove Maya, before whispering “you ass.” in a way that only Maya and Franziska, who was right behind Maya — and confused, could hear. Maya just continued to snicker at him.

 

Before she could make any more snide remarks, Miles approached the three, which oddly enough stopped Maya in her tracks.

 

“Wright. You’re aware of the event the debate club will host in a few weeks, correct?” Unsurprisingly enough, Phoenix stopped in his tracks as well. “Uh, yeah? …I think?”

 

“Both of your underlings, Athena and Apollo, seemed to really enjoy the last one. They were also unusually talented at it, both having unique yet effective styles of creating and objecting arguments. I was wondering if they would be interested in attending the next one,” he said, in that familiar monotone voice.

 

“I mean, I think they would be interested. I can ask on your behalf, if you want,” Phoenix offered, shrugging a bit. Miles smiled, before gesturing that they should keep moving. “I would also appreciate it if you attended as well, Wright.”

 

Instead of catching up to the two, Maya turned back to Franziska, still smirking. “Of course he would,” they snickered.

 

Franziska took a few steps so that she could be aligned with Maya. The two also began walking. “I’m confused. What exactly was that about?” she turned to look at Maya, with that same unknowing-but-still-pretty-and-smart look she always gave when she didn’t understand something.

 

Maya giggled a bit. “I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you… but on the topic of that, could you do a favor for me?” Franziska cocked her head to one side, seemingly open to the idea. “Could you like, pay attention to what Miles talks about? Especially if it’s related to Nick.”

 

Franziska let out a small laugh and shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re up to this time, Maya.” Maya smiled at her just a bit harder. “But I suppose it’s not a big deal for me. I’ll do it, as long as you promise that your motivations aren’t… malicious.”

 

Maya hummed, and Franziska smiled at her. “Don’t worry, Franzy. In fact, I think you’ll like where I’m going with this. IF you ever find out!”

 

Franziska sighed and shook her head at Maya once again. But Maya could hear the smile in her voice.

 

The two were getting along, even with how different they are.  

 

Notes:

Yeah... you'll never guess what my favorite snail is... (Hint, it starts with s- and ends with -caly foot gastropod)

And a treat for those who read these authors notes:

I'm planning on the next chapter to be dedicated to the subplot! So be prepared to finally meet our wonderful queen Ema once again :3 And maybe even... Klavier appearance... perchance...

(Btw, Gumshoe crumbs sometime in the future?)

Chapter 7: In which Athena and Ema skip class

Notes:

Woah... new chapter? I truly believed I would procrastinate the whole weekend but lo and behold... it's here.

Nothing crazy happens in this chapter (nothing crazy ever happens in this fic, huh?) but you can check the cw at the end notes if you want

Anyway, hope you enjoy this subplot-focused chapter that I wrote with only caffeine and System Of A Down CDs in my system :)

***Athena POV***

 

“Athena, girl, you know we love you but… well, you need to stop doing that- thing. It’s seriously intrusive and – Well, it’s just weird.”

 

It’s not anything new that Athena struggled keeping friends for over two weeks. After all, middle school isn’t the most accepting place for young girls like her. Which is pretty strange, considering how middle school is the place where teenagers begin exploring themselves and their identities even more.

 

Athena was known for being the troubled, weird kid, who knew too much about people by simply glancing at them. The reason why she was currently hunched over a small flower; inspecting its leaves intensely instead of hanging out with the other kids their age, was because people found Athena’s habit of wanting to know everything about humans unsettling and annoying.

 

It’s not my fault, she thought, gently caressing the light blue petals of the little flower she was using as an escape. The passersby witnessing Athena crouched on the grass – instead of, well, standing underneath the pavilion like a normal person – weren’t helping her reputation.

 

They simply don’t get it. Why would I not want to understand how someone is feeling? Isn’t that what everyone wants?

 

Athena’s “gift” wasn’t really a gift at all. Them being able to feel nearly every emotion someone else was feeling was just a result of their interest in human beings as a whole. Every feeling, whether positive or negative, influenced how every story was told. And the way stories changed drastically based on who was explaining it and when was fascinating to Athena.

 

It all really began back in seventh grade, when there was a small rumor that a girl had hosted a party and served alcohol. Looking back on it, it wasn’t anything special. But when thirteen-year-old Athena heard it the first time, he was engrossed in the idea that another girl his age could’ve gotten their hands on actual alcohol.

 

There wasn’t any proof of this claim, however. But that didn’t stop Athena, in fact, it only made her thirst for the whole story grow hungrier. No- thirstier? Well, that’s unimportant.

 

Athena questioned everyone she could think of. And every time someone told their story of the event that took place, Athena noticed something different in them all. The stories weren’t necessarily contradictory, but small emotions of the people that told them leaked through. At first, Athena didn’t think that it was important. But after hearing the same story being told numerous times, she started to pick up on the emotional differences with them.

 

For instance, a kid who didn’t really like the host of the party at all had a hint of hatred in their voice when talking about the whole party. But once it came to talking about the house itself, they had a touch of sadness in their speech. Less of an angry sadness, and more of a guilty one. It was then later found out that this kid was the reason furniture started being flipped over. He felt guilty about wrecking someone’s house, which was a detail left out by nearly everyone else.

 

Another kid explained the whole party in a totally different light. Once again, they explained the very same story as everyone else did, but they were incredibly overjoyed throughout the entirety of it. They left out a few unimportant details, until the part about the alcohol. During that part, they actually included a few details almost nobody else did.  The part that truly made Athena interested was their feelings, as their voice was practically screaming fear. To others, the kid sounded just as happy as they did throughout the entire story. But Athena was able to pick up on the fear in their voice.

 

And that was what led to Athena finding out how it all happened. That kid had been the supplier. And, apparently, also the host’s boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend, as they broke up after being found out.

 

That whole incident was what made Athena’s interest in finding out everything about people sprout. Going around the school, learning to read people’s emotions, it was a feeling Athena wanted to chase once again.

 

Realizing that the truth could bend without it necessarily being turned into lies by simply having different emotions behind it was something that Athena both feared and felt very closely towards.

 

That incident was also what began the whole “weird kid” thing. She gained and lost a few friends because of it, but the title didn’t even budge during the entirety of middle school.

 

***

 

Being the weird kid didn’t last forever. For example, at the moment Athena was well known and respected, for being a social and expressive person. Both in her speech and in her physical appearance.

 

High school really does change a lot of things, they thought to themselves, before staring at the physics hallway and sighing.

 

Except physics. It still sucks ass.

 

Athena had only two hours of physics every week, but they were unfortunately crammed right at the end of the week. Once on Thursday and once on Friday. Great. Seriously, just great. The two days I’m supposed to be most excited for the weekend, and I have this fuckass subject on both of them.

 

As much as Athena wanted to grab her bag and sprint out of there, she couldn’t. The doors were officially closed, and the only socially acceptable choice was to start unpacking her bag.

 

As Athena – reluctantly – pulled their laptop out, they heard a small “psst!” sound. It was enough to grab Athena’s attention and make them look up at the person ahead.

 

Ema.

 

Crap, Athena had almost forgotten. “Athena, right? We haven’t really talked since those few messages that one time.”

 

Athena laughed a little. “Wow, really specific,” she jested, opening her laptop. “Anyway, you’re right! I completely forgot, sorry!”

 

Ema shook her head. “No worries. I don’t mind, really.” She seemed to reach for a miniature plastic bag in her backpack. “But it’s great you’re attending today. I feel like we should talk,” she began, munching on whatever mystery snack she pulled out of the bag.

 

Unlike last time, Ema has her hair done, Athena thought. Her hair resembled Maya’s sister’s hairdo, if it were accompanied by a bun. Actually, it was quite similar to Maya’s from a year ago. However, these days they do put most of their hair in a bun (except for the sidelocks) instead of letting their long hair droop freely.

 

“The situation hasn’t gone much worse, thankfully. My friend is just as pissed as last time, and your friend is just as involved as last time.” She turned her body more towards Athena. “Daryan hasn’t done any shit since then, but what he said is already having an effect.”

 

Athena, who had been logging into their laptop, had now forsaken every task in their mind (and instructed on the whiteboard). Whatever Ema had to say, it had Athena’s full and mostly undivided attention.

 

Ema nodded. “I’ve seen people whisper.”

 

Athena’s head cocked to one side a little in confusion, without having time to ask the obvious question of “seen?” before Ema answered it.

 

“Sometimes when I see Daryan or Klavier walk through the hallways, there’s always at least one person who starts whispering to their friend. I of course can’t hear what they’re whispering about, but I feel like it has something to do with, you know, everything.”

 

Athena’s face probably stayed the same; concentrated, only a hint of worry. Inside, however, there was way more worry. Both about if this will escalate, and if Apollo gets more sucked into this.

 

The part that worried them the most was the part they hadn’t told Ema. Athena had no idea why Apollo was actually involved. Their lie from last week was all the explanation for Ema, but for Athena there weren’t answers for Daryan’s motivation to bring Polly into this.

 

After a few seconds of silent contemplation from Athena, Ema opened her mouth again.

 

“I got a message yesterday.” Ema rested their head on the palm of their hand. “From none other than the Klavier. He didn’t say anything that really concerned me, but like, it wouldn’t surprise me if he knew. About all that’s going on right now.”

 

Athena let out a small sigh of relief, but it was probably clear to Ema that she wasn’t any more relaxed than before. The whole situation isn’t- it’s really not anything big, she could admit. But I swear that there’s something in her voice. Something that isn’t exactly fear or worry, but more like… anger? No, not anger. Something else.

 

Athena bent forwards a bit, so that they were leaning on their arms and were closer to Ema. “What did he say? Was it something related?” Ema shook her head in response.

 

“No, not really. He mainly just asked about a science thing—” Ema lifted her head a bit and stuck out her pointer— “he’s my lab partner. It was only related to that, really.”

 

The piercing voice of their teacher interrupted the girls’ conversation, and after a screechy list of instructions that startled both Skye and Cykes, everyone started typing on their own laptops. Geez. Mr. Payne really needs to stop doing that, or he’ll lose his voice before hitting 40. Or maybe I’LL lose my hearing before hitting the ripe age of can-legally-purchase-alcohol-in-Europe.

 

Ema quickly twisted their body towards Athena and whispered to her: “I’ll send you screenshots. Also, be prepared to read any dms I’ll send in the next—” They glanced at the clock, and then at the whiteboard— “fifteen minutes. I should be done by then, and you should be prepared to leave the class then.”

 

Before Athena could object to whatever idea that was brewing in Ema’s head, Ema had already turned back towards her laptop and was deeply concentrated on whatever bullshit assignment the teacher had given out. Well. Either something interesting happens or then I’ll get jumped behind the science building. Great.

 

***

 

Fourteen minutes had passed.

 

A small buzz in Athena’s pocket meant that they could finally focus on something truly interesting. It meant that Ema had texted them. It meant that they could expel all the stupid physics formulas out of their head and leave their work to be procrastinated for another day.

 

The notifications that greeted Athena on their lock screen felt like their guardian angel had blessed them. It was simple, and as problematic as it would be for their already-shit physics attendance, it only made them feel happy.

 

***

 

@Sc1enceLover_

Pack your stuff, let’s leave this class. We need to talk to Klavier.

 

@Sc1enceLover_

Oh, and here are the screenshots btw

 

Screenshot1.png

Screenshot2.png

 

@Sc1enceLover_

He doesn’t say anything important in it, but you seemed to want it

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

oohhh tysmmmm

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

I’ll check it out a little later !!! But can we meet Apollo first? I feel like we really need to talk to him

 

@Sc1enceLover_

I don’t see why not

 

@Sc1enceLover_

Anyway, let’s get going

 

***

 

As Athena lifted their head from the phone, Ema already had her bag packed. How does this girl move so – fast—and ominously.

 

Shoving her their laptop into their bag, Athena caught the attention of the people sitting next to them.

 

“I- uhhh… gotta go to the bathroom...?” they whispered. The students, eyebrows furrowed, were still looking at her weird. “For approximately the rest of the hour…?” Athena smiled awkwardly.

 

Ema stood up, their bag hanging from one shoulder. “And I must accompany them. Come on, Thena.”

 

“Yes ma’am!” Athena stood up. The two girls could feel the gaze of around four students follow them out of the classroom, but neither of them had the guts to look back at them.

 

The second they made it out of the classroom, Ema turned to Athena: “That was the most awful lie I’ve heard in the last decade. Thank god you lied about something unimportant—if that was a serious situation, we would’ve been fucked.”

 

Athena let out a small, scared laugh. “Yeah, I’ll leave the talking up to you the next time. That was awkward.”

 

Ema began walking, and Athena followed. “It was worse than awkward.” A small laugh left Athena, which made the normally stoic Ema smirk a bit. “Also, where are we going?” Ema noted.

 

“Oh! Uhh, Apollo should be having chemistry right now.”

 

Ema’s eyes practically sparkled, as their walking started getting speedier. “Great! I know those classrooms like the back of my hand.”

 

As much as Athena wanted to question why the girl who joked about submerging people into acid in their bio knew much about the labs, they chose to stay silent. My ancestor’s survival instincts are getting in handy!

 

***

 

“So, do you know when he’s coming out?”

 

Athena glanced at her phone, checking the messages she sent once again.

 

***

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

POLLYY

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

Apollo

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

Apoolllooooooo

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

Mr. Justice ANSWER

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

I know you’re in there……. me and this crazy science girl are outside of your class

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

Come ouuuttttt

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

Not like that, but like yk come out of the class

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

APOLLOOOO

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

This is actually important, Polly

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

Yk the Daryan thing I talked abt last week??? Yeah you’ve officially been dragged into it.

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

Sorry btw but just play along with what I say

 

@*¨~AthenaaGal!~¨*

I’m getting concerned so just COME OUUTTT!!!

 

***

 

Athena looked back up at Ema, shook her head, and put her phone back into her pocket. Ema simply sighed.

 

“Should we just go? I know that Klavier is free now, and we can come back later,” Ema offered. Athena nodded, but right before the girls could take a step away from the door it swung open.

 

Out came an Apollo! A very annoyed Apollo, who just stared at Athena as he closed the door.

 

“Athena, I swear to god. I swear to ALL gods. I swear, I’m beating your ass.” he fumed, only taking one suspicious glance at Ema before staring daggers between Athena’s eyes once again

 

“Polly! You read my messages!” Athena smiled. Before Apollo could tackle Athena to the ground, she continued: “It’s actually important. Like seriously.”

 

Apollo was clearly suspicious and still pissed. He glanced at Ema again, who was just as suspicious as him. “Is this the ‘crazy science girl’ you mentioned?”

 

Ema just shot a stare at Athena, causing her to laugh a bit nervously. “No—I mean, yeah, but not like that. I meant it as a joke,” she defended, shaking her hands and smiling in small panic. “But that’s not the point. We wanted to talk to you about Daryan.”

 

Apollo raised his eyebrow. “Is he the guy who shoplifted stuff worth $150 or the guy who cheated on his partners? All of your meaningless gossip just… melts into one at some point you know.”

 

“Huh—that’s offensive you know. But uhh, the latter. I talked about him during lunch last week.”

 

“Oh yeah, the bisexual asshole.” He glanced at Ema, then back at Athena whose face practically screamed ‘play along!’. “The same guy that…beat up my friend?”

 

YES! I knew he would remember! Damn, his perceiving really helps when I try to signal stuff to him. Thanks, Polly!

 

Ema finally said something, which was a sign that things were going just the way Athena wanted. “Yep, him. We just wanted to inform that—well—you’ve become victim of the stuff he talks about.”

 

Apollo returned his gaze to Athena, looking both concerned and confused. “How, exactly?” he asked.

 

Athena didn’t want to look at him. She didn’t actually have an answer for why Daryan did what he did, but the things he did were sensitive enough to where she didn’t want to break it to him.

 

It was a weird, conflicting feeling. She didn’t want to tell him, but she also didn’t want anyone else to do it. Athena only really trusted herself in something like this, but at the same time she couldn’t trust herself.

 

“Well, we’re not really sure on why he’s targeting you. I mean, he’s not only targeting you, but for some reason you’re more involved than you should be.” Athena looked at Ema, who had her arms crossed and didn’t let any helpful emotions show on her face. Nothing to comfort her. “It’s a little weird you know. Like there-“

 

“I don’t think we should converse here.” Ema interrupted. This time her face did say something, but it went more along the lines of ‘quit stalling, because I’m making this harder for you’ rather than ‘good job! you can do this!’.

 

Thank you, guardian angel. You’ve blessed me once again. I think. I don’t know what Ema’s planning.

 

“Come on, you two. We need to find the music classrooms.”

 

Athena skipped a bit to catch up with Ema, who had already begun walking. “Why? What’re we gonna do there?”

 

“Meet Klavier, obviously.”

 

Ah. That’s what the face of ‘I’m making this harder for you’ meant.

 

***

 

All Athena could focus on was fiddling with her fingers. They had no idea how Ema and Apollo could be so relaxed. They were meeting one of the most popular kids in the school, after all. They were also going to inform one of the most popular kids in the school that there are rumors about him. And another kid he doesn’t even know. And that they’re very personal rumors. And that oh my god I’m so fucked. What am I gonna say. This is awful.

 

The three had made their way to the music hallway. At this time of the day, nobody had any classes, but sometimes apparently people would come here to practice playing.

 

The hallway felt dingy, but more alive than any other hallway in the entire school. There were posters promoting shows and other events nearly everywhere you looked, and the warm flickering lights felt more cozy than creepy.

 

According to Ema, every Thursday around this hour Klavier would practice playing guitar alone. Ema had seemingly skipped class a few times to hang out with him here as well.

 

To fill the awkward silence, as Athena was surrounded by two introverts who were clearly not interested in that, she decided to ask some follow-up questions. “I knew that you and Gavin were lab partners, but I didn’t know that you two were friends! What’s it like?”

 

“Friends? Oh, we most certainly aren’t. He’s a glamorous attention whore and I don’t associate with him. I’ve only come here a few times for updates about people.” The three walked silently for a second. “I’m not incredibly good with people, I usually care more about what they do rather than who they are.”

 

Apollo simply replied with an agreeing “hm.” before resuming the silence. Seriously, I swear that all introverted brunettes have their own special way of communication. It’s like they’re sending signals to each other using their weird alien brains, and us normal people can’t receive the same messages…

 

“Here we are,” Ema said, stopping before one of the classes. Although the classrooms were soundproof, you could hear faint guitar playing coming out of the room. Perfect. The nightmare is about to start.

 

Ema just flung the door wide open without knocking or making any announcements. Well, no announcements would be a lie. But the announcement came after the door opening. “Loser, we need to talk.”

 

Well. That was quite straightforward, Athena thought. Ema strolled into the room, and Athena hesitantly followed. Apollo didn’t seem to care either, as he also casually patrolled into the room.

 

The sight greeting them in the classroom was terrifying to Athena. One of the most well-known people in the entire building, sitting in the same room as her. Everything about him seemed to be true; he looked like he invested more time in to how he looked rather than his grades, but he also looked like the guy who got straight As effortlessly. Simply put, he looked way too cool to be in the presence of.

 

“Ah, Fräulein! It’s been a while.” He smiled, before glancing over at the overly calm Apollo and the cowardly Athena. “…I see you’ve brought guests with you as well.”

 

Apollo simply replied with a “Hiya”, causing Athena to stare at him with horror. Just like always, Apollo had no sense of how intense the school hierarchy is. Him and Athena were nearly at the bottom, and Klavier was sitting on the peak of it as if he owned the whole thing. He may as well have owned the hierarchy, as 80% of all students in the school will do whatever he tells them to.

 

“Ah, Herr Justice! And… you are?” He kept smiling, except now he was looking straight into Athena’s eyes. This was a mixture of a nightmare and a dream scenario.

 

“Oh, I’m Athena! Athena Cykes.” Everything that had just happened was only now done processing in Athena’s head. The horror in their eyes grew, as they turned to Apollo.

 

They didn’t need to say anything, the horror in their eyes asked the question for them. Apollo only replied with: “I’m not sure how he knows my name. I haven’t met him before, and frankly, I don’t care.”

 

Athena turned back to Klavier, the panic still residing in her over expressive eyes. Klavier laughed.

 

“Ouch, I take offense to that! We had the same microeconomics class, remember?” Apollo stood there for a second, before shaking his head. “You made a presentation about the whole supply and demand thing. I strongly remember you using examples of times companies failed to do it well. It was quite interesting!”

 

“Oh,” he recalled. “You were in the same class? That probably explains why the hallway felt as if we were packed like sardines.” Klavier let out a small laugh once again. To Athena, it felt more like it was an artificial part of his character rather than him. But she wasn’t high enough on the hierarchy to question it.

 

“You know, the mob that follows you around made it significantly harder to get in and out of class. So thanks for that, Gavin.” Apollo scoffed. All Athena could really do was slowly turn towards Apollo, Staring daggers into him.

 

Klavier laughed. Once again. “Fräulein, you can put your guard down! I don’t bite,” he mentioned, placing his cheek on the palm of his hand and staring at Athena.

 

“Oh, ah, sorry!” she panicked. A small glance of ‘this is your fault’ was shot both at Ema and Polly.

 

“No worries, Miss Cykes. It’s quite endearing to be honest,” he smiled.

 

“She’s not interested. Anyway, we came here to talk. About something important.” Ema intervened, glowering at Klavier.

 

Klavier, blithe as ever, hummed: “Sure, go ahead!” Ema turned her gaze towards Athena, clearly expecting her to talk. Why does EVERYONE want me dead? Seriously, they must be planning something against me, because what.

 

Athena’s gaze ventured across the room, inspecting every poster and instrument laying around. It was the easiest way to avoid eye contact when you’re nervous. “so…” she began. “Daryan Crescend, am I right?”

 

The smile Klavier had been holding on to since the moment they arrived dropped in to a more neutral line. “What about him?” he said, in an unusually monotone way.

 

“Well. Um, you know how he loves spreading rumors and creating unnecessary drama?” From the corner of their eye, Athena could tell that even Apollo was getting more serious. “Seems like he’s taken a liking to… spreading stuff about you. Oh, and Apollo.”

 

Apollo’s eyebrows furrowed. It was nearly impossible to read his emotions, but whatever they were, they certainly weren’t that positive.

 

Ema sighed. “She’s stalling.” The other three all turned towards Ema. “Daryan has been going around calling you a bisexual slut.”

 

Everyone went silent for a second. Only for a second, as Klavier began laughing afterwards. “Fräulein, that sounds like something you would say.”

 

Ema rolled her eyes in response. “That’s because I’m paraphrasing. But he actually has said something very similar. We need to know why.”

 

“Hm. As straightforward as always, Skye. But I have a feeling that you already know why, so why must you confide in me?” he digressed, lifting his head from his hand.

 

“What we know are only rumors. And as much as you seem like a stereotypical high schooler, you don’t seem like the type of person to sleep with someone like Daryan.” she scoffed. Klaviers eyes widened in amusement, and a little nit of surprise as well.

 

“Huh. The rumors really have twisted more than I originally thought. That’s funny,” he laughed, oddly calm about the whole situation. “You’re correct, fräulein. I in fact haven’t done anything like that.”

 

Athena pressed her index on her bottom lip. “Well, were you at least together with him? The rumors say that you were the mistress whilst he was cheating on his partner.” Athena paused for a moment. “Mister-tress? Manstress? Ugh, why isn’t there a masculine version of that word. Yucky.”

 

Klavier shook his head once again. “No, that’s a rumor he spread without much reason. I don’t think he realized that the rumor would reach his partner, causing the two to break up though.

 

Ema laughed a bit. “So, you told him about being bisexual and he ran with it? Making himself a part of the rumor as well? And having it simultaneously ruin his long-term relationship?” She laughed a bit more. “What an ass, seriously.”

 

Athena freaked out a bit. “I like—I get that the two of you know each other, but are you seriously alright with disclosing this? You don’t know us, Klavier!” She sighed, unable to process every thing that was happening.

 

He pointed at Athena’s bag, and let out a small, soft laugh. “I don’t see why not. You don’t seem like a judgmental person.” Athena glanced down at her bag, checking out what he was pointing at. They had completely forgotten about all the pins on their bag. The ones that Klavier were pointing at seemed to be two they bought at a pride parade. One of a small heart shaped aroace flag, and another which said “protect trans kids”.

 

“Ah. Right,” she muttered. “Completely forgot I had those.”

 

Apollo shook his head. “Athena, you’re a dumbass,” he laughed. “You have to stop acting like he’s some demigod who could turn you into a pillar of salt if you cross him. He’s literally just some guy who happens to be well-known.” As Klavier nodded to that, Athena made a small mental note to listen to Apollo from now on.

 

“Anyway, I’m already in trouble for leaving the classroom in the middle of another person’s presentation. I want to know what all of this has to do with me,” Apollo demanded, arms crossed. “Athena. Do you mind explaining?”

 

Athena immediately started freaking out again. She could also sense that Ema was about to talk on her behalf, but she didn’t them to.

 

“Do you… wanna talk about it outside of the class?” Athena smiled, awkwardly. “It would probably be more comfortable for you.”

 

Apollo pursed his lips. “More comfortable for me or for you? Just say it.”

 

“Ah. Alright,” she sighed, looking down at her restless hands as an escape from Apollo’s pissed staring. “Daryan seems to have a fixation on peoples’ identities, as the whole thing about you is also revolved on identity.” Apollo’s staring became more intense.

 

“He seems to have dug up your past. From middle school. And I think he’s trying to make it spread, again.”

 

Apollo stood there, silent. The silence of Ema and Klavier didn’t help either. Luckily, it didn’t take long for Apollo to answer.

 

“That’s it?”

 

“Huh?” Athena looked back up at Apollo. “What do you mean?”

 

He started smiling, before his smile turned into small laughter. “Athena, you’re overreacting. I don’t mind people knowing. I only mind it when their entire perspective on me changes, and even then, that’s more of their problem.”

Ema smirked at Athena and elbowed her playfully. “Knew it, coward. The only real problem here is figuring out why Apollo is involved.”

 

Athena felt slightly embarrassed, but it’s not her fault! After all, she was only looking out for a friend.

 

“Aren’t I involved because—uhh – my friend got beaten up or something?” Apollo questioned, glancing at Athena to make sure he remembered his role correctly.

 

“Really?” Klavier asked, intrigued.

 

“Nope. Athena made that up so she could talk to me,” Ema explained so calmly, that it even came as a surprise to Apollo.

 

“Huh?” Athena gawked at Ema, causing her to sigh and shake her head.

 

“Thena, I know who you are. I know that you’re good at knowing when people lie, but you’re not good at lying yourself,” she asserted, rolling her eyes and smiling.

 

Apollo joined the teasing. “She’s actually bad at both. She doesn’t know when people lie to her, she only notices emotions others don’t which is why people think she’s some living lie detector.”

 

A small, defeated sigh could be heard coming out of Athena, as she muttered to herself. “I’m actually 100% confident that you’re all plotting against me. There’s no reason for me to be the victim of all this bullying!”

 

Apollo shook his head, scoffing. He then proceeded to turn around and began walking to the door.

 

“Well, I’m taking my leave now. Don’t do anything stupid,” he waved. Athena quickly ran up to him waving to the other two and quickly yelling out “I’ll go as well! Talk to you later!”

 

The second the door closed behind them, Apollo began talking, which was quite unusual for a guy who never even makes noise unprovoked.

 

“Klavier’s hiding something. I don’t know what, but I could tell that he knew something we didn’t.”

 

Athena let out a small laugh. “Woah, that’s fast. Did you figure out his tell and everything?”

 

He shook his head and pursed his lips. “Nope. He wasn’t speaking when I felt it. It was around the moment when Ema was talking about why Daryan would talk about me.”

 

The two walked a few more steps silently, before the realization hit Athena.

 

“Oh. He knows why, doesn’t he,” she whispered, turning towards Apollo. He only nodded in response.

 

The two walked quietly for a bit, with Athena’s humming being the only thing keeping them from complete silence.

 

“You know… I also felt something weird,” Athena began. “I couldn’t really sense any emotion coming out of him. Well, no real emotion. It’s like he knows exactly how to hide the raw emotion that I can sense in others.” She bit her lip in thought. “It’s like he has some perfectly crafted personality, that was originally his, but as he hid behind it more it grew into its own thing. And I can’t get behind it.”

 

“Hm. Weird,” Apollo muttered.

 

They continued with the quiet walk. Despite no more words being exchanged between them, they both knew exactly what they were thinking about.

 

There’s more to both Klavier and Ema.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

CW:
-Mentions of bullying and Athena struggling to keep friends (ratio /nsrs)
-Not much of it, but a few swear words that have pretty icky and misogynistic origins

***

In case you haven't noticed, I don't know about american high schools. Or japanese high schools. So imagine how awkward it is to write about a Japanifornian high school lmao (For this school, I'm only really taking inspiration from American schools though! But there will be, as there already have been, small moments where I'll take inspiration from elsewhere. Very rarely though)

Also, as you may have noticed, Ema goes by She/They!
Klavier on the other hand goes by all pronouns, but that's not something well known within the school so everyone only refers to him by He/Him (For now!)

Uhh bye

Chapter 8: In which Maya kidnaps three teens and a seven-year-old to go to the mall with her and Pearl

Notes:

I don't even want to know how long it's been since the last chapter... oopsies

My original plan was to make updates weekly, or at the very least once every two weeks. This time it got a liiitttllee out of hand. But I'm back! (I feel like I say this in like every authors note atp)

Anyway, like usual, nothing crazy happens in this chapters so there will be no CW, but I do recommend reading the ends notes (after you've read) because I wanted to clarify a little something there

Okay, now enjoy

***Maya POV***

 

Luck strikes once again.

 

Well, most people wouldn’t call a sudden babysitting-Pearl-instead-of-relaxing-night lucky, but Maya thought it was perfectly timed. She had just remembered all the homework that was yet to be done, and what better excuse for the teacher if not taking care of a six-year-old?

 

At least that’s what Maya tried convincing themselves.

 

It was slightly difficult to focus on the positive side of things when your face has been painted with a stroke of glitter glue. Pearl could be a small menace whilst crafting, but fortunately she missed Maya’s lashes and eyebrows in her sudden staining, meaning Maya didn’t need to worry about losing the important parts of her face. (In Maya’s book, skin isn’t an “important part of the face”.)

 

Pearl, giggling like the tiny devil she is, yelled at Maya with glitter glue in her hands: “You look stupid – just like the Pink Princess!”

 

Maya gasped. “How DARE you bring Steel Samurai into this!” She launched at Pearl, declaring a full-blown tickle war. “You’ll pay for this, Pearl Fey!

 

The kid was laughing uncontrollably – both at the tickling, and simply from joy. Maya didn’t tease her for long, stopping to ruffle her hair and to join her in the laughing.

 

“Glitter glue goes onto paper and NOT my face, young lady!” Maya shook their head, still laughing a bit. In response, Pearl paused to place her tiny index on her pursed lips and shake her head after a moment.

 

Maya rolled her eyes at the little rebel, still grinning as hard as ever. Pearls didn’t stop smiling either but turned her focus back to the paper. 

 

The paper card the two had been working on was for Mia. It was written by Maya (as she’s the only one out of the two who can read and write) and decorated in all kinds of colorful swirls and lines, alongside a drawing Pearl made of all three Fey girls. Pearl was making the finishing touches at the very moment, framing the card with pink glitter glue and small, colorful plastic gems.

 

The card was Pearl’s idea. One day she overheard Maya and Mia talking about Mia’s five-year anniversary as the owner of her own firm, and decided that she wanted to make something as a present for Mia. With the assistance of Maya, Pearl’s able to make a pretty solid card that Mia would be incredibly proud of.

 

It was small things like these that solidified the idea of Pearl growing up to be a great person in Maya’s head. She was incredibly proud of the little menace, even though Pearl could be a handful at times.

 

“Maya… I’m getting bored,” Pearl muttered, still focused on the card.

 

“Oh? How come?” Maya looked over at Pearl, a smile in her voice. Pearl shrugged, “I don’t know. I just want to do something.” The kid lifted her head towards Maya. “I’m finished with the card.”

 

Maya nodded but told Pearl that they needed to clean up before doing something else. Whilst the two were doing that, they began contemplating ideas on what they could do next.

 

“We could bake or cook something,” Maya suggested.

 

Pearl shook her head, color coding their markers into a small box. “I’m not good at baking like you. But I am hungry, so we should eat sometime soon!”

 

Maya let out a small laugh, trying to clean up all the glitter on the floor. “We could go out. You liked that one sandwich place, right?”

 

“Mmhm, but I don’t really feel like it right now… I want something good!” Pearl’s eyes lit up. “Something that Mia wouldn’t let us eat often!”

 

“You mean fast food?” Maya laughed. “Mia would kill me – and oh my GOD what is going on with this glitter!? Why is it so hard to clean up?”

 

Pearl started giggling at Maya’s trouble, which resulted in a strong hair jumbling from Maya, which didn’t stop her laughter.

After Pearl calmed down, Maya made a proposal.

 

“Well, we could go shopping. We do need a few ingredients for baking, and we can stop by at some pizzeria or burger place on the way back,” Maya said, still cleaning up glitter and trying to ignore Pearl’s mocking gaze.

 

“And…” Pearl stared at her. “We could go get Milkshakes!”

 

Maya gave her a puzzled look, tilting her head a bit. “Last time we went you nearly threw up.” Pearl shrugged. “You INSISTED on taking the large strawberry one even though I told you not to, and afterwards you told me to never take you again.”

 

“But this time’s different! I’ll take a small one, I promise!” Pearls pouted and shook her hands. “And if we get milkshakes, I’ll be too full to eat fast food, and we can go get something – uhh…um.”

 

Pearls looked up to Maya, trying to find the word she was thinking of.

 

“Lighter?”

 

“Lighter! Yes, that’s it! Thanks sis.” Pearl smiled. “So, can we? Pleeeaasee?”

 

Maya shrugged. “I guess it’s not a terrible idea. We can go get milkshakes on the condition that you HAVE to take the small one, and you’re not allowed to whine to me if you feel sick. Okay?”

 

“Okay.”

 

Maya turned her attention back to the glitter, still struggling to clean it up. Pearls kept throwing the pens and markers into their own, color-coded little boxes. Something about the comfortable silence the two were in reminded Maya of something.

 

Maya turned to Pearls. “Do you want to invite someone to come along?”

 

Pearls stopped what she was doing to look at her sister. “Like… Trucy? Or one of your friends?”

 

“I dunno.” Maya turned back to the glitter. (Which was now somehow all over her hands, face and hair. Seriously, how difficult can cleaning up be?) “We could invite Truce, and some of my friends as well.”

 

“Let’s invite Trucy and Mr. Nick at least! Maybe I could get Trucy to finally check out that new crystal store with me.”

 

“I’m not buying you that crystal ball, Pearly. If both you and Truce learn how to use magical powers, Mia is actually going to ground me. Seriously for this time.” Maya sighed. “But I’m pretty sure Nick was supposed to hang out at Miles’s place tonight. If we’re going to convince the two Wrights to come, might as well take the full package deal and grab the Edgeworths as well.”

 

Pearl looked confused. “Who’s the other Edgeworth?”

 

Maya laughed at Pearl’s completely perplexed image. “Pearl, I’m like ninety-nine percent sure we went over this. Franziska is Miles’s sister.”

 

Pearl’s expression didn’t change; she just tilted her head a bit.

 

“Franziska? The blue haired girl? Who tutors me?

 

“Oh.” Pearl’s face gained consciousness again. “…I don’t like her.”

 

As much as Maya didn’t want to, they burst out laughing. Maya knew kids were straightforward, but this amount of honestly was just… amusing? Well, either way, they desperately tried to stop laughing so that they wouldn’t set a bad example for Pearls.

 

“Just don’t say that to her face,” they giggled. “And hey, you said the same thing about Miles, but now you’re just fine with him! It’ll take time to warm up to new people – It always does with you. I promise that you’ll love her soon enough.”

Pearls shrugged, turning back to her markers. “Okay. When are we gonna leave?”

 

“Hold your horses, Pearly. We don’t know if they even can come, I need to ask them first.” Maya also focused on the glitter again. “In the meantime, let’s focus on cleaning this whole mess up.”

 

“Can I bring the card to my room? For safekeeping?”

 

“Sure, just watch the glitter. I don’t want to clean anymore than I already have to…”

 

“Okay!” she beamed, standing up to jump a little on the balls of her feet. “I’ll leave the rest to you. Buh-bye sis!”

 

Pearl took off running towards her room before Maya could even react properly. “Hey- what. Don’t leave me here to clean all of this up! Some of this glitter was your fault, y’know!”

 

“Blah blah blah! I can’t hear youuu!” the younger one yelled before disappearing behind a door. Maya looked down at the mess, which luckily wasn’t that bad anymore, and sighed.

 

Pearls… I love you, but I swear to god I’m going to grow gray hairs before you grow up.

 

***

 

“Do we have to go by bus? It’s so cold…”

 

Maya pulled Pearls closer to her. “You know I can’t drive, and we can’t afford a cab. Plus, Nick and the others are taking the same bus, so we’ll meet them soon.”

 

Pearls let out a small “hmph.” before burying the side of her head into Maya’s winter jacket.

 

It was January, and although it wasn’t as cold as other years, it was still pretty cool. In Japanifornia, during winter the days are most often 12°C (56.6 degrees Fahrenheit) whilst the nights could reach a bit below 0°C (32 degrees Fahrenheit). It was nothing compared to some other countries, but for the residents of Japanifornia who were used to incredibly hot climate, the winters felt freezing.

 

Especially for Pearls, who lived in Khura’in for the first few years of her life, where winter days are as warm as some Nordic countries’ summer days.

 

“How long?”

 

“The app said that the bus will arrive in about…” Maya checked her phone for the time, which shone back a striking 17.45. “…now.”

 

The girls peered at the road, where dim lights could be seen at the distance. Pearl let go of Maya, who reached into her pockets to grab some change.

 

Pearl sighed in relief as the bus stopped before them, clearly happy that she wouldn’t be cold anymore. Maya quickly paid for herself (Children under the age of 7 could use all public transportation for free) before the two made their way to the back of the bus where the others were waiting for them.

 

“Pearl! You’ve got to see this-“ Trucy yelled out before being interrupted by Phoenix.

 

“No- Truce! You’re forbidden from taking rabbits onto buses!”

 

“Huh? No, I’m not doing the rabbit-out-of-the-hat trick. I’m doing the other one!”

 

Phoenix sighed. “How about we just don’t do magic in public transport, mkay?”

 

Trucy looked a little bummed out but nodded and put the hat back on her head. Pearl on the other hand was as ecstatic as ever and jumped to the seat next to Trucy.

 

At the very back of the bus there was a row of five seats. All the way to the left Miles was sitting, checking out something on his phone. Phoenix was seated next to him, and Trucy was of course sitting on the seat next to him. As Pearl sat down next to Truce, the remaining place remained next to Pearl and Franziska, who sat all the way over to the right.

 

Maya walked over and sat down. Franziska smiled at her, and greeted her with a simple hello.

 

“Hi!” Maya smiled, glanced at the others, then back to Franziska. “Why were you so far from the others?”

 

“Motion sickness. Miles has it as well, so we agreed to both take window seats.” She smiled, legs crossed and as still as ever.

 

“Hm. Did you two start to collect sibling stereotypes or...?”

 

Franziska laughed a little. “It’s just a coincidence. I promise you, I share no blood with that… thing,” she jested, throwing a joking tone of disgust at the last word.

 

“We can’t be sure of that yet. Maybe Gregory birthed the two of you, but you were stolen as a baby!”

 

Franziska nearly laughed in utter confusion, before the concept of a joke really clicked in her mind. “No, I’m pretty sure a certain Manfred birthed me, and then Gregory stole me. Not as a baby, though.”

 

“Fair enough.” Maya acknowledged, resting her back on the seat. “Now that we went over that, how about some small talk? How’re you milady?”

 

Franziska rolled her eyes at the last comment, which was clearly made towards her attire. She always wears somewhat formal clothes, and Maya has never seen her in anything casual. Franziska’s most often seen wearing some sort of collared shirt, a tight waistcoat, and either some form of skirt and stockings or some type of flared pants. On top of that, she’s usually decked out in jewelry of all sorts. Simply put, she’s posh.

 

I wonder how she finds the energy put look so well put together all the time.

 

“I’m doing fine, thank you for asking, foolish peasant.” she joked, crossing her arms.

 

Maya let out an over exaggerated gasp, before shaking their head in a hyperbolized disappointment. “You rich folk looking down on us commonwealth… I think it’s about time we redo the French revolution, y’know!”

 

Franziska attempted to do a “rich” accent, but it sounded nearly identical to her normal one. “All of you foolishly foolish fools attempting to foolishly execute your foolish ideas! In another universe, I’d be unfoolishly whipping the foolish life out of you fools!”

 

The girls laughed together at the bit, followed by Maya mentioning how wonderful they thought the repetition of the word “fool” was.

 

“What can I say, there’s just something so captivating about that word. It’s so foolish,” Franziska articulated, uncrossing her arms and resting them on her lap instead.

 

Before they knew it, they arrived at their stop – the mall.

 

The group got out of the bus, putting on their jackets again. (Except for Pearl, who was so cold that she didn’t remove her coat during the entirety of the ride.) They then began walking to the mall, simultaneously talking about what they would do first.

 

“Sis, please! I want to at least see the crystals…”

 

“Sorry, Pearls. But you know I won’t buy it for you. You can go watch them, but no amount of convincing will get me to go against Mia’s word,” Maya sighed ruffling pearls hair a bit, though this time it was a bit harder to do, as her hair was up in her usual ribbon-like hairdo.

 

“Maya, you said something about needing to shop, right?” Phoenix questioned, whilst Maya gave a little nod in response. “I say that you do that near the end, so that you won’t have to carry stuff around for the whole time.”

 

“And I say that we get milkshakes first!” Trucy started. “I want mango.”

 

“I second that!” yelled Pearls, who was already speeding towards the mall.

 

Maya hummed, following the two kids. “Milkshakes it is, then.” She smirked at Phoenix, who was already anticipating something ridiculous based on the expression he was giving. “Nick can pay! I’m sure he’d be kind enough to do that, right?”

 

Phoenix rolled his eyes and groaned. “Maya, soon I’m going to stop talking to you. For good.”

 

“Don’t worry, my brother will pay! He owes us that much for not letting me do my tricks!”

 

“Wh- Truce, not you too…” He shook his head, sighing. “Fine, I can pay for us all this time to make ordering easier. But only this time!”

 

Despite having barely any concept of how money works and what it is, the two youngest kids cheered. Maya bowed towards Pearls a bit, and quickly whispered: “You were right, Pearls. Inviting Nick was a wonderful idea.” Before the two Fey girls exchanged smug looks.

 

Maya did make sure that their “whispering” was loud enough for the others to hear.

 

Although Maya didn’t look behind her, she could feel Phoenix disapprovingly shaking his head.

 

***

 

The mall was a place adolescence flocked towards whenever they wanted to do something. Whether it was hanging out after school, going on a date or doing your best to escape the cycle of life that drives you into depression, the mall was the perfect place.

 

There were three floors, all meant for different purposes. The bottom floor was filled with hairdressers, electronic and appliances stores, office supply and bookstores, furniture stores, and one very large supermarket right next to a small thrift store. The second floor was mainly for restaurants and cafes, but there were occasional beauty/scent/skincare stores that broke the pattern. Finally, the third floor was the one Maya enjoyed the most, as it had the most fun stores. There were clothes stores, game stores, toy stores, and a few other cool things like an arcade and a music store.

 

Whilst the group was on the second-floor walking towards a café that would serve milkshakes, Maya thought about what the group could do afterwards. Pearls already expressed how she wanted to go to the crystal (and other cool nick-nacks, at least that’s what the Fey family called it) store.

 

But before she could start planning anything before asking the others (like she often does), they had made it to the café.

 

It was truly an adorable little establishment. The colors were a variety of pastel colors, mainly focused on pink, yellow and white. The flowers out at the front worked with the décor of the place incredibly well, and made the place look even more welcoming.

 

It was one of Maya’s favorite places to go whenever she wanted something sweet, or if she just needed time alone. She could bet that the owners of the place knew her by heart, as she went there nearly every week and always ordered the same thing.

 

“What do you want, Maya?” Phoenix’s voice interrupted Maya thought process.

 

“Oh. Uhh—” she glanced over at the cashier, who was someone she was familiar with, and turned back to Phoenix— “Just tell them to get Maya’s usual. I think they’ll get it.”

 

He nodded, and walked over to the front desk, with Miles following after him.

 

“I’m guessing you guys told him your orders already?” Maya asked, knowing that they had just revealed the fact that they were too deep in their own thoughts to listen to whatever they were talking about just a second ago.

 

“Yes.” Franziska smiled. “We figured that you weren’t focusing, as you nearly walked into a wall at least thrice, so he asked you last.”

 

“Ah. I did?” Pearl and Trucy nodded in unison. “I guess I need to pay more attention to my surroundings, huh.”

 

Pearls shrugged; lips pursed. “You always zone out like that, and you haven’t gotten hurt yet. So I guess it’s fine.”

 

Trucy pointed over at a table in the corner, telling Pearl that they should go there. After Pearl saw the small L-shaped dining bench with cushioning and pillows, the two practically ran over to call dibs on what they deemed the “comfy seats”.

 

Maya turned their head towards Franziska, signaling that they should follow the kids. Maya chose the seat next to Pearl, but still on the other branch of the L-shaped dining bench. Franziska sat down on the chair closest to where Maya was, leaving two chairs empty for Miles and Phoenix.

 

“Oh yeah!” Maya exclaimed. “I almost completely forgot to ask!” She turned towards Franziska.

 

Franziska cocked her head to one side, whilst Maya had that slightly evil smile of hers.

 

“What were you guys doing before we asked you guys to come with us? I mean, I knew that Nick and Truce would be at your house, but why? What were you guys doing?”

 

Franziska still looked a tad confused, but was smiling at the same time, frows burrowed. “Your curiosity exceeds you, Maya.” Maya shrugged in a way that signaled that’s-the-Maya-we-all-know-and-love. “But to answer your questions, Miles wanted to hang out with Phoenix, as usual. Since it was the night that he had to babysit Trucy, she came over as well. I don’t know the specifics, as they hung out in the living room, and I was doing work in the dining room.”

 

Maya let out a small laugh, before closing a bit of the space between the girls. “Remember when I asked for you to keep an eye out on what Miles says about Nick, or the other way around?”

 

Franziska raised an eyebrow at the question. “Yes, that was today. Why?”

 

“Well—” the tone in Maya’s voice grew even more mischievous— “although I won’t tell you why, I’ll need you to tell me literally every detail.”

 

Franziska laughed: “I already told you; I wasn’t paying attention to what they were talking about. But I promise that I won’t spare a detail if something does happen. I do owe you that much.”

 

Maya looked pleased with herself. Her plan was brewing – and despite how trivial it really was, it was brewing pretty well. Well, the plan hadn’t really made any progress except for today, but that’s not important.

 

What was important was the fact that Miles and Phoenix were walking towards them, seemingly ready with ordering.

 

As they sat down, Phoenix slid the receipt over the table to Maya, with a pretty irritated look on his face. He didn’t say anything, but Maya could tell that he meant to say, “you’re paying next time”.

 

Ignoring his expression, Maya began a conversation with the group that quickly grew into a very lively talk amongst everyone, until their drinks arrived.

 

***

 

“Thank you, enjoy your drinks!”

 

The waitress was just as lovely as ever, but not as lovely as the milkshakes standing before the group. To be fair, it’s unfair to compare something so heavenly to literally anything else in the world, Maya though.

 

Maya’s usual, that everyone in the establishment had become familiar with, has a medium sized chocolate-vanilla milkshake, topped with some amount of whipped cream and two small and rectangular wafers sticking out of the top.

 

As Maya dug in, Miles asked her a question. “You know, Maya,” he said, taking his first spoonful out of his own drink. “For them to recognize what ‘Maya’s usual’ is, that means you must come here a lot, correct?”

 

Maya hummed. “Oh yeah, definitely. This is literally the perfect place for doing anything.”

 

“I suppose you can see this as an award for doing well on the exam,” Franziska said, earning a smile out of Maya.

 

“I wouldn’t say well, but yeah, I guess it probably went decently enough. I actually understood something this time!” They took out one of those wafers and began munching on it.

 

“That’s good to hear,” Franziska smiled. “I’m glad that my tutoring may be of help to you, and if you’re able to improve your grades before June I might be able to redeem myself as well.”

 

“I didn’t know that you could be bad at math. Isn’t it just counting things together?” Trucy asked, looking up from the mango milkshake she had already almost downed in its entirety.

 

Phoenix laughed a little at his sister, before Maya could exhale the deepest sigh in their life. “Not really. You’ll understand when you grow up, but for now, just focus on how many apples you have if your friend takes away two.”

 

The sound of pearl setting down her own glass after drinking all of her strawberry milkshake caught the groups attention, along with what she said: “So if I have no apples, but my friend takes away two, does that mean I have minus two apples?”

 

“Well… actually, yeah, pretty much,” Maya shrugged, taking out the second wafer from her drink.

 

Pearl’s eyes widened as if surprised by the answer to her question. “Really? But that’s stupid! If I have nothing, how can I lose something? That doesn’t make sense!” Maya let out a small laugh, before petting Pearls on her head a few times.

 

“You’re right, taking away from nothing doesn’t make sense,” Franziska noted. “But that’s because you’re imagining numbers as something… literal, like apples. And that’s good! Learning to visualize how much a number is, is very important, especially at this point.”

 

Pearl tilted her head to her left, furrowing her little brows with doubt. “So how am I supposed to think of them?”

 

Franziska shrugged. “There’s no real answer to that, it’s up to you. If you want to see numbers as apples, that’s completely fine. But it might be easier to think of numbers as something made up, to make it easier to understand something. For example, if you have no apples, I can’t technically take away apples from you. But I can say that you owe me two apples, so that the next time that you get apples, you must give two to me. It’s like you gave me a piece of paper promising me two apples, meaning you lost two apples without having gained them yet. If that makes sense?”

 

“It doesn’t.”

 

“…I can understand why. But when you’re older you might understand better,” she laughed awkwardly.

 

After Franziska’s small speech, nearly everyone was finished with their drinks. Except for Franziska, who after noticing this began speeding up her own drinking.

 

“We still have quite a bit of time,” Miles mentioned after checking his phone. “I’m guessing you all wish to still do something?”

 

The two youngest kids unanimously lit up and nodded vigorously. After a small “why not” from the others, they discussed where they should head next.

 

Before they knew it, everyone was ready with their shakes and walking out of the café. As they stepped out, Maya took out her phone to check for any missed messages or calls.

 

There was one, from Mia.

 

***

 

Big sis <3

Hope you all have fun at the mall.

 

Big sis <3

And go get something to eat!!! I won’t be awake cooking up food for you two when you return.

 

Big sis <3

Oh, by the way, do you need a ride home? I can pick you up as long as it’s before nine.

 

~MAYAA !!~

A ride back home could be nice

 

~MAYAA !!~

Ahhh but I don’t wanna leaveee

 

~MAYAA !!~

It’s been a long time since I’ve had this much fun with my friends

 

Big sis <3

I know what you want to ask

 

Big sis <3

But it’s early morning and you have school tomorrow; I’m not letting you pull any all nighters again

 

~MAYAA !!~

I wasn’t planning to :(

 

~MAYAA !!~

But if it’s okay with the others, pleeeeeaaasseeeee

 

Big sis <3

Maya, you need to understand that Pearls is also with you. She has an early morning tomorrow as well, so I’m not allowing you to keep her up late

 

~MAYAA !!~

What if you come pick her up??? So she can go to sleep

 

Big sis <3

Fine, I can do that

 

Big sis <3

But only if it works for the others so go ask them

 

~MAYAA !!~

YESSS THANK YOUUUU

 

***

 

She looked up from her screen to the other three. “I have an idea.”

 

The others glanced over at her, as she continued. “Do you guys wanna come over after this? For the night?”

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

To clarify, I have no idea on what cultural differences there are when it comes to sleepovers. I'm from Finland, and here sleepovers are like a pretty casual thing, and they're just another way of hanging out. So in case that's not the same for you, please understand that there's nothing nefarious going on, I just wanted for the group to hang out more :') (and yes, the next chapter will focus on that)

***

Also I'm pretty sure my pacing is garbage (Another side effect of being horrible at writing) so yeah, sorry about that (It's not getting better anytime soon, so brace yourselves! Also same thing goes with describing things, I'm not good at that either)

And school is ending really soon! For me it ends in like two days :D I *might* be able to make more frequent updates on summer holiday!

And one more random post script, to all the Eurovision watchers out there reading this, what were your opinions on this year? That is if you watched it; I understand why someone wouldn't want to watch it this year because of the whole controversy surrounding the EBU. But I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts about it!
(Also the Milkshake theme for this chapter was just a coincidence, I already planned it before I heard Go-Jo's song. But I do think that Australia was robbed this year, I really liked his song and how fun it was)

Chapter 9: In which the group spends more time at the mall

Notes:

Whoop-di-doo

It's been a while, so sorry for that! :((

I'm guessing it was something about summer starting that sucked all life and energy out of me, and I ran into a small writers block. It is kind of funny that I missed the entirety of June (Literally pride month) but uhh yeah sorry guys! I'll try to get back to writing more often the second I have energy :)

Like always, nothing big happens in this chapter. But you can check the CW at the end notes if you wish!

Hope you guys enjoy!

***Maya POV***

 

“Making a detour to go get our things would be tiresome,” Miles said, crossing his arms. The four had been talking about the sleepover Maya suggested, watching the two younger kids run around different stores at the same time.

 

“We can go buy those one-use hygiene kit thingies from the supermarket before we go,” Maya proposed. “And if you guys need to borrow clothes Mia and I can lend you guys some.”

 

“But what about our clothes for tomorrow? We all have an early morning tomorrow; we wouldn’t have time to get our own clothes or even books for school.” Phoenix blinked.

 

“Hmm…” Maya pursed her lips. “I mean we can wash your clothes at my place so you can wear them again tomorrow.” She didn’t really have an idea for what to do about the books, so she simply admitted that they would just have to go a day without books. (She did offer them notebooks if they were to agree, but that wasn’t very convincing for the other three.)

 

“You know, that’s a lot of things to worry about for a sleepover we could just… have this weekend, y’know?”

 

Maya’s mouth set in a hard line, just as she became even more determined to make this work. “Out of all the people here, you – Phoenix – didn’t strike me as the one who refuses to have fun every once in a while. You can survive one day without your books!” they pouted.

 

“No, Maya. I’m not you – I actually do care about my attendance level, and how many times the teacher scolds me for my missing books,” He sighed, seemingly frustrated, but the small laugh in his voice stated otherwise.

 

“Wow, offensive.” They rolled their eyes. “But please! It could be fun. After all we’ve only known Franzy for a week, and this could be the perfect opportunity to help her settle into the group better!”

 

“I think I might have known Franziska a little bit longer than a week,” Miles deadpanned, before Franziska and Phoenix joined in with their own separated “me too”-s.

 

Maya rolled their eyes with a laugh. “Okay now you’re just mocking me. I made a good point, just admit it.”

 

Miles’s nose crinkled, as he made a face. “I wouldn’t say you made a good point; you just told us not to worry about the negatives and presented a positive that only really affects you – and maybe Franziska.” He then just shrugged. “But I guess it isn’t too bad of an idea. If everyone is fine with it, I will too.”

 

Maya’s eyes sparked with excitement, as she turned to the other two expectantly. Phoenix sighed, closed his eyes for a second, and then reluctantly agreed.

 

“I’ve never slept over at someone else’s,” Franziska reminded. “Nevertheless, there’s nothing to lose. I’ve already done my homework, and I have no exams tomorrow.”

 

As much as Maya wanted to jump up and down from joy, she didn’t have time to express much emotion other than her beaming smile before Franziska continued.

 

“But I’ll only come on the condition that we’ll go to sleep early enough,” she said, staring daggers into both Miles and Maya, who sighed and agreed.”

 

“Well then,” Maya breathed in. “Let’s get these kids to sleep and start planning the sleepover!” Maya smiled as they began walking closer to Pearl and Trucy, with the others following right behind.

 

“I’ve already called mom to pick Truce up, and she should be here soon.” Phoenix said, as he took a few larger steps to walk next to Maya. “What about Mia?”

 

“She’s gonna pick Pearl up in about…” she checked her phone. “Ten minutes, give or take. I can tell her to buy you guys those kits, or some other things so that you guys can brush your teeth. You can also use the shower once you’re at my place, all three of you.” She turned her head to look at the other three as she said the last part.

 

Trucy and Pearl both looked very tired, though neither wanted to admit it. And as much as they wanted to play and hang out more, both agreed to go home way quicker than usual.

 

Maya instructed Miles and Franziska to come up with anything they would need during the sleepover, which looking back on it may not have been the best idea to put the two who had the least experience in sleepovers in charge of thinking about what they should buy for the sleepover, but who really cared. She said that Phoenix and she would bring the younger ones outside to be picked up and then return to them.

 

Pearl, the tired six-year-old she was, asked to be carried back to the car. Even after promising that she would stay awake, Maya could swear that she heard the little one snore a tiny bit in her arms. It’s amazing how fast Pearly can fall asleep. Kinda wish I could do that.

 

As one can imagine, the evenings of January get quite dark. The only source of light came from the building itself, lampposts, and the headlights of the cars either entering or leaving the parking lot. And as one can also imagine, it gets pretty cold as well. The cold breeze seemed to be the thing that woke Pearls up, and with a few sleepy grunts and an eye rub, she asked where they were.

 

“Parking lot; waiting for big sis,” Maya said. Pearls gave her the tiniest, sleepiest nod, before closing her eyes.

 

The parking lot was dark enough to the point where neither Maya nor Phoenix could tell any of the cars apart. So, every time a car passed by, they had to play a guessing game of “Wait… is that my car? No? Yes? Wait, what color is it? Oh – this might be it! – oh wait never mind it’s driving away.”

 

Well, that was until one of the blurry headlights got closer, and closer, and closer, before revealing themselves to be Phoenix’s parent’s car. A figure, seemingly his mom, stepped out to greet Nick and take Trucy into their arms. After exchanging a few words with each other, they said their goodbyes (riddled with several reminders that Phoenix should be careful and call her if anything happened) and the car drove away.

 

“So…” Maya took a few steps forward. “How’s it going? You know, with the whole special someone thingy?” She grinned.

 

“I swear to god Maya, don’t be immature, and don’t word it like – that,” he said. “And where’s this coming from? Or do you just wanna bring it up every second to make fun of me or something.”

 

“Well, Truth or Dare is a classic sleepover game. And I know that if I asked you that during the actual sleepover, I wouldn’t wake up the next day,” they said. “So I’m asking now! Clever, amiright?”

 

“No, it really isn’t.”

 

Maya rolled their eyes. “You’re no fun… prick.” The two stood in comfortable silence for a few seconds, still keeping their eyes open for every car that passes by. “But hey, seriously. Things going good with that whole thing?”

 

“They’re going like they always have,” he responded. Maya tried looking for other answers on his face, but his expression was practically unreadable. “And that’s how I want it. I don’t want things to change. I’m not like you, Maya – I’m not looking for someone to sweep me off my feet and get married right after I’ve finished high school.”

 

Maya laughed a little at the last part. “Okay, rude. Just because I’ve had more exes than you doesn’t mean my life will be a high-school-sweethearts-to-soon-divorcing-married-couple trope y’know!” she protested. The two smiled, but broke eye contact to look back at the parking lot. “So you would be uncomfortable with change? Like, if he did like you too, you wouldn’t like, want that?”

 

There was a moment of silence as Maya waited for an answer of some kind. After a bit, he replied with a simple “I don’t know.”

 

His expression was pretty neutral, but Maya could sense a bit of worry in it.

 

Maya hummed. “You don’t need to at this point, I think.” The two stood in silence again. Pearls had seemingly fallen asleep during the conversation, as Maya could hear quiet snoring in her arms once more.

 

“In fact, I don’t think you need to have answers to any what if? scenario you conjure up. All it does is make you anxious and make you worry about all these little things that could happen, instead of thinking about the things that are happening at the very moment.” she smiled, closing her eyes for a moment. “And even if your what if? scenario does come to life, chances are the things you do and feel in that moment are nothing like what you pictured. So I think it’s important to just focus on what is happening, not on what could happen.”

 

She turned to look at Phoenix, still giving a warm smile. “So, I say you hold onto that feeling. Try to enjoy it just how you want to but still keep his feelings as a factor. Just don’t let them overshadow, after all you don’t know what his feelings even really are.”

 

He also turned towards her, an eyebrow raised but with a hint of a smile on his face. “Now where’s that coming from?” They both looked back at the road, inspecting every passing headlight once again. Out of the corner of his eye, Phoenix could see Maya shrug.

 

“I don’t even know myself.” she said. “I guess I’m kinda worried. The texts you sent me – even though they weren’t a lot – felt like you wrote them with guilt or something. And I don’t want you to feel like that. To feel guilty about something that isn’t even in your control.”

 

“I think you should also use your own advice. Don’t feel guilty for something that isn’t in your control.” Quite a few seconds passed by in silence, before he said one more thing. “But thanks, Maya.”

 

Only a few minutes later (Three, to be exact. Maya checked their phone.) another car got pretty close, before revealing itself to be Mia’s. She rolled down the window, and called out for Maya.

 

Maya strolled to the car, as Pearls began waking up again. “Heya, sis! How you doing?” she said, opening the car door to the backseats.

 

“Well, fine I suppose. As fine as one can do knowing four teenagers are sleeping under their roof that all have school the next morning.” She laughed.

 

Maya rolled their eyes playfully. “You’ve worried about that enough for today. I promise we’re gonna go sleep early, and we won’t do anything stupid!” Maya settled the half-awake Pearls on to a child car seat, before kissing her on the cheek goodnight.

 

“You promise? No stupid things at all?” Mia teased. Maya shut the car door before humming back “we promise”, and waving at Mia as she rolled the window back up.

 

As the car drove away, and Maya was done waving goodbye, she turned to Phoenix and signaled for the two of them to go back inside.

 

“I don’t think I believe you saying you won’t do anything stupid,” Phoenix smiled. That earned an eye roll and Maya giving his elbow a nudge.

 

***

 

“Sooo, the two of you are ready with shopping then?” Maya smiled, meeting up with Franzy and Miles.

 

“For the most part, I guess.” The latter said, looking at the shopping bag that was weighing down his right hand.

 

Maya grinned. “Well I’m sure it’s enough!” She let out her hand, offering to carry the bag on his behalf. “How about drinks? Yall wanna get some before we go?”

 

The others eyeballed each other, before seemingly coming to the mutual conclusion of “sure, why not.” which was conveyed by a few shrugs. “By the way,” Phoenix joined. “When are we going, exactly?”

 

“Ah, right,” Maya checked their phone, before placing it back into their pocket (conveniently leaving out the small snail charm to fiddle with.) “It’s getting kinda late, and the shops are gonna start closing soon. But we still have like, half an hour? So, if you guys wanna go somewhere we still have some time.”

 

“I mean, do we have any more stores we still want to visit?” Phoenix asked the group, who looked at each other for answers.

 

“Well, there were a few shops I still would’ve liked to check out. But if you guys want to go already, I won’t hold yall back!

 

“If you wish to go somewhere, I’m sure we can be patient,” Franziska nodded.

 

Maya gave her a half smile, before shaking their head. “No no, we really don’t have to stay if you guys are getting tired. It’s nothing, really – I can always come here later,” she laughed.

 

“Ah,” Franziska laughed briefly. “Did I come across as tired of this? Apologies, I really am enjoying my time here.” she glanced at her little brother. “And I’m sure you’d want to go to that one store you were eyeing earlier.”

 

His nose crinkled. “Hm?”

 

“You seemed a little interested in that one store – what was it again? – ah, the bookstore.” She said. “I’m actually pretty sure I saw one of the comics they were selling in your room earlier. I’m guessing you’re interested in the franchise.”

 

He narrowed his eyes, as if Franziska was after him personally. Phoenix shoved the side of his arm a bit, before smiling to the others. “Well then, I guess we’re going to stay here for a little longer.” He tilted his head to one side. “Miles, where’s this bookstore? We can go check it out if you want to.”

 

He glared at Phoenix, before sighing “Third floor.” and calling attention to the escalator using his thumb.

 

They all started making their way to the third floor, passing by all the cafes (including the one they were at earlier) on the way. Mid walk, Franziska turned to Maya. Her mouth was set in a small, warm smile as she talked. “What was the store you wanted to go to, again?”

 

“Oh! Yeah, that!” The corners of their mouth turned up. “There’s this one record shop on the third floor that I like checking out whenever I’m over here.”

 

“Record shop? Hm, I doubt I’ve ever been to one before,” she muttered under her breath. “Do you want to… go there?”

 

Maya grinned. “Of course I do! I have to show you everything there, it’s literally the greatest place on earth, I think.” Franziska nodded, before turning her attention back to the other two, who seemed to be discussing something about the debate club.

 

I didn’t take long for them to get to the third floor and split the group into duos of Miles plus Phoenix, and Maya plus Franziska, to go check out the bookstore and record shop, respectively.

 

The record shop was as familiar as ever. Although the store switches the album they play in the store often, Maya could probably recognize any song they were playing, with how much time she spent there.

 

And if she was being honest, it was a smart tactic to play albums they were also selling in the store, like those free samples stores give out in order to get people to buy their probably-not-even-that-good-products. It certainly worked, as Maya had already purchased random albums from artists she had never previously heard of because of the music she heard playing in the store.

 

“Oh my god…” Maya’s eyes widened as she realized which album was playing in the store at the moment.

 

Franziska’s brows furrowed, glancing at the stunned expression on their face. “What happened?” the second those words left her mouth, Maya turned to her, beaming with enthusiasm.

 

“This song… there’s no way.” It probably looked like Maya would explode from excitement from Franziska’s point of view, but from Maya’s perspective she was actually holding back a large amount of that excitement. “Like, two weeks ago, I think? I was talking to the person behind the counter.” They both glanced at said worker.

 

She looked very relaxed, and was sorting vinyls with small tags that had “ORDERED” written on them, humming to the song that was playing at the same time. She was wearing somewhat casual clothes but still looked effortlessly beautiful.

 

“She’s really kind, and lovely to talk to! She even mentioned how she used to be the lead singer of a band and used to perform in small pubs around the city.” She smiled, trying to keep herself from jumping up and down from joy. “But back to the point. I was talking with her and mentioned this exact album! I recommended it to her personally, but—but—”

 

“—Now she acquired the album for the store?” Franziska continued.

 

“Yes!” Maya gushed. “Oh my god – this is so perfect. I’ve been wanting to buy this album forever…”

 

Before Maya could overflow with bliss, the woman behind the counter noticed the two. “Maya! Long time no see!”

 

Maya’s smile widened. “Heya, Lamiroir!” She quickly took Franziska’s hand, and began pulling her towards the counter enthusiastically. Franziska was a little surprised as their fingers brushed together, but went along with her compliantly.

 

The woman smiled. “Just call me Thalassa. We are on a first name basis after all – you really needn’t call me by my stage name.”

 

“Ah, but it’s such a cool name!”

 

Her smile softened. “Thank you, Maya.” She glanced at Franziska, who smiled at her. Her smile was confident, with a hint of nervousness. “I see you brought a friend with you today.”

 

She nodded to Thalassa. “I’m Franziska. It’s nice to meet you – er – Ms…?”

 

The woman laughed a bit at her shaking her hand politely. “It’s Gramarye, but you can just call me Thalassa as well. If you’re friends with Maya there’s no need for formalities.”

 

“Noted. Nice to meet you, Thalassa,” she smiled.

 

She brought her attention back to Maya, before pointing out the record player. “I’m assuming you noticed that I got the album you told me about.”

 

Maya grinned. “It’s insane that you actually remembered that! Well, how do you like it?”

 

“It’s just as lovely as you said it would be,” she said. “I then told the boss that we should get copies to sell, and soon enough, the CDs arrived.”

 

Maya let out a small, joyous laugh. “Glad you liked it. It’s one of my favorites and – oh my god I’m just way too happy to take this all in at once...”

 

Franziska turned her head towards Maya, whose eyes were lit with a level of excitement she had only seen before whilst they talked about the different snail species that they found fascinating. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s this album?”

 

“Mind you asking? About something I am way too passionate about?” Maya snickered a bit. “If I ever do that, I order you to shoot me. Because that’s not me.”

 

Thalassa sighed, still smiling warmly. “The name of the album is The Facts Of Life. Maya gushed about it not too long ago, and I’m sure she’ll tell you all the details if you ask.”

 

Maya hummed. “This band is actually one of my all-time favorites. When you find the time, I wholeheartedly recommend you go listen to them!”

 

Thalassa’s eyes lit up, seemingly with an idea, and said “one second!” before turning towards the shelves behind her. The two watched as she shuffled through the compact discs, looking for something.

 

She spun back around with a copy of the album they were talking about and lent the disc for Maya to hold. “Have a closer look!” Maya’s eyes flared with joy as she took the album into her hands and inspected it.

 

Thalassa rested her chin on the palm of her hand, leaning on the counter, smirking. “If you decide to buy it, I can give you some kind of discount.”

 

They forgot to breathe for a second, before shaking her hand at Gramarye. “Oh, no no no, there has to me some kind of rule against that. I couldn’t possibly—”

 

“—you could, Maya. You’ve been a regular for ages now, and us selling this album was technically all thanks to you. You deserve some kind of discount – that is if you choose to buy the album.”

 

After a moment of silence and appreciating the album cover, Maya placed the album on the counter. “Okay, I think I have to buy this one,” she smiled. “But before that, can I go look at some other stuff? I really wanna show Franzy around.”

 

The woman laughed gently. “You don’t need to ask for my permission. Go for it!” Maya nodded at her, before grabbing Franziska’s wrist and pulling her away once again.

 

“This.” Maya had brought the two to the corner of the shop, which displayed records from all sorts of indie artists, no matter the genre. “This is the place I always recommend starting with if you want to get into music.”

 

Franziska glanced at the arrangement of albums, before looking back at Maya, whose expression had softened a little. “Is there a reason for that?”

 

They shrugged. “Well, sometimes I feel like it’s easier to really identify with the music of independent creators. Or at least for me personally.” They turned to make eye contact with Franziska, who was listening to them as attentively as ever. “Like, the lyrics they write feel more – raw – and personal.”

 

“Hm.” Franziska nodded, before turning back to the discs to check them out. “Oh,” Maya began. “But that of course doesn’t mean that non indie artists can’t make good music! In fact, a lot of my favorite artists aren’t indie.”

 

One album seemed to catch the attention of Franziska, and she leaned in to grab a CD from the ocean of discs. “What’s this?” She held it for Maya to see. “The cover is… captivating, I think.”

 

“Oh!” Maya smiled and closed some of the distance between the two. “That’s called Everything is a Lot.” She let out a small laugh. “Yeah, I can see why that cover is interesting. The cover is pretty intense – not the craziest, but still something.”

 

“It’s certainly very strange,” Franziska muttered. “But I think I like it? It looks odd, but in a pleasing way.” She turned to Maya, making a face they weren’t able to read but still found endearing. “Have you listened to it? What’s it like?”

 

“Ah…” they laughed awkwardly, scratching their wrist a bit. “I have, and I actually liked it! But—well, it’s not something I feel like most people could really – enjoy the way I do.” They pointed at the album cover. “I find the cover to be a pretty good indicator on what the album is like. It’s strange, but in a pleasing way, like you said.”

 

Franziska looked at it for a few seconds more than probably necessary and then nodded. “I’ll have a listen later, when I have time.”

 

“Well, don’t blame me if you decide to not like it,” Maya jested, once again beaming. “Like I said, not that palatable for most people, I find.”

 

Franziska cocked her head to one side, and turned the album over to see the track list. “How would you describe the genre? Or just how it sounds overall?”

 

Maya pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “Huh,” she said. “I don’t think there really is a genre that could describe it.”

 

She put her finger underneath the name of the first track on the album, underlining it. “Some songs are more fierce, like this one. A decent amount of screaming – but in a way that kind of sounds like the vocalist is smiling. But not out of joy, more out of something distressing.”

 

Afterwards, she underlined the song right below the first track. “This song on the other hand is a bit more calm. Though, it’s also very distressing.” After a brief moment of silent thought, she continued. “In fact, all songs on this album have this distressing feeling to them.”

 

Maya continued, one by one underlining the songs on the track list, and trying to explain them as quickly as she could. (For example, she described one song as “violent, truly written out of pure anger” and another one as “a song that feels like those daydreams where you’re content with life, but with that underlying feeling of sadness”)

 

“Oh! This one is one of my favorites from this album!” She pointed at the tenth track, by the name of The First Step. “Remember how I talked about indie artists being able to write raw lyrics? I feel like this is a really interesting example of that. The lyrics feel so, human, like every single line in the song feels like a very human thought.”

 

Franziska stared at her thoroughly, causing Maya to let out a brief, awkward laugh once more. “Sorry if I’m making no sense… I probably got a little carried away.”

 

“Oh no, don’t apologize,” Franziska said, shaking her head. “You’re actually being pretty helpful. Your comments are sure to make digesting these songs easier for me.”

 

Maya stared for a second too long, before breaking into an honest smile. “That’s nice.” They turned back to the album, before Maya continued: “But I’m still not that sure if you’re going to enjoy any bit of this album.”

 

She shook her head. “I’m sure I’ll enjoy it just fine, Maya. After all, after having to endure an inhuman amount of classical music from Miles’s piano lessons, and my dance training, I think I can find any new genre refreshing.”

 

Maya looked at Franziska, slightly surprised. “You do dance? How did I not know that?”

 

“Hm, I’d assume I had told you earlier. I guess I didn’t,” Franziska droned. “But yes, I take dance lessons from time to time. I don’t really enjoy the time I have to spend with the fools there, but dancing itself isn’t that bad.”

 

Maya exhaled a small laugh. “That’s a little cruel, Franzy. But I’m guessing there’s a reason for that? Or have you just turned evil all of a sudden?”

 

She scrunched her nose. “I’ve never understood why, but dancing can sometimes attract individuals with foolish, harmful opinions and views on life. It’s a shame, really, since dance is in my opinion an incredibly delicate form of art that shouldn’t be tainted by those horrifying takes.”

 

“Like?” Maya tilted their head to one side, attentively.

 

“A lot of people in my group hold negative thoughts towards their own bodies, simply because some others in the same group told them to.” She said with a steady voice. “And I’ve heard stories from others who have had to stop dancing entirely because of the comments made to them. Mostly about their background or identity.”

 

“Ah.” Maya looked back at her hands. “Yeah, that is pretty awful.”

 

Franziska nodded. “But let’s not dwell on anything negative for now. We were talking about how I dance, right? I actually have quite a few hobbies I indulge in time to time.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I play chess and do archery on top of that.”

 

Maya sighed with a smile. “How the hell do you find the time for all that? Wait – no. Better question, how do you find the motivation for all that?”

 

Franziska shrugged, and gave in to a small, but honest, smile. “I guess I just relax to these things. As if I’m being recharged, or something along those lines.”

 

“I wish I had even half of your energy…” Maya whined. “I rarely have the motivation to do anything – with the exception of baking, of course.”

 

“Is that why you needed my help to study?”

 

Rolling her eyes, Maya shoved Franziska’s side a bit. All that really did was make the two girls laugh a bit more to themselves, before returning to the records.

 

Maya introduced Franzy to all kinds of artists, even ones she didn’t listen to herself. They went over all the CD shelves (interrupted by Maya going “oh my god wait I love that album!” every once in a while, immediately forgetting whatever she was talking about just the second before) and avoided the Vinyl records for the sake of Maya’s already suffering wallet. It didn’t take long before they had spent a quarter in the store, looking at numerous albums, and deciding that they should soon meet up with the others.

 

“Hey, Franzy?” Maya hummed. “That album – the one you were looking at earlier?”

 

“Hm?” Franziska turned to Maya, slightly puzzled. “What about it?”

 

“Well, I was thinking that if I’m already gonna buy one album, it wouldn’t hurt to buy another.” They said. “You… want it?”

Her response was to stare at Maya for a few seconds longer than warranted. Shortly afterwards she furrowed her brows, as if suspicious of Maya.

 

“I don’t see why you would need to.”

 

They shrugged. “I don’t really need to. But it would be nice, right? I mean – all music kinda sounds better when you listen to it through a physical record. Well, for me, at least.”

 

Franziska voiced a brief, soft-hearted sigh, followed by her voice of reason. “Seriously, Maya. You said it earlier; you have no idea if I’d even like it. Don’t spend your money.”

 

“It’s only like, fourteen dollars.”

 

“Maya.”

 

“It’s just a CD,” they smiled.

 

Franziska sighed, shaking her head simultaneously. “You’re a little too stubborn about something as unnecessary as this,” she tittered, and let her smile return. “I’ll just buy it for myself.”

 

“Nah, I insist,” Maya walked over to the section where they initially found the album. “I’ll just buy it. If you don’t like it, you can just give it to me.”

 

Franziska watched as they reached for the album, grabbed it, and flashed it to her with that gleam coming back to their eyes. And before Franziska could object to anything, Maya was already skipping her way to the counter.

 

“Okay, we’re ready now!” Maya announced, looking very content with herself. “How much?”

 

“Ah, hey Maya!” Thalassa turned back to the counter, ending whatever sorting she was working on with the ordered records. “Well, let’s see…”

 

Franziska soon accompanied Maya to the counter, shooting her a look. If Maya was honest, she didn’t really catch on to what Franzy was trying to say with the look, but if she were to assume, it would probably be along the lines of “This is foolish, Maya.” but with a (hopeful, from Maya’s side) hint of “Well, thank you anyway. I appreciate it.”

 

“…that would be 7.50,” Thalassa smiled, interrupting any chain of thought Maya was going through.

 

“What – only 7.50? What kind of discount did you give me?” Maya stammered, looking up at Thalassa.

 

“The records would have been around twenty-six dollars and forty cents. The discount was seventy percent off, so the final cost of your purchase would be around $7.50.”

 

“Wait, no, that’s ridiculously low. The discount was just for one of the discs, not both?” Maya’s eyes narrowed just as much as they had previously widened.

 

Thalassa smiled, and exhaled a sigh. “Maya, just take it. Sure, the discount was originally just for this one—” she gently lifted the album, holding it with care you could only find form someone who surrounds themselves with records all the time—“but you’ve been a regular for longer than I can remember.”

 

Maya cocked her head to one side, confused.

 

Thalassa laughed. “Just take it. You’re way kinder than the other customers we’ve had, so please, just let me be kind back.”

 

“Ah,” Maya droned. She reached for her wallet, still visibly taken aback. “Uhm, here you go.”

 

Thalassa took the money, and Maya reached for the two albums. She first took The Facts Of Life, and placed it in her bag. Maya grabbed the other album, and handed it over to Franziska, who sighed.

 

“I’m still not a fan of this,” she smiled.

 

“You should be. Cost me an arm and a leg, y’know?” she joked, turning towards Franziska. “C’mon, let’s go meet the others.”

 

They turned to leave the shop, but not before waving bye to Thalassa, who happily waved back. On their way out, Franziska turned the CD around in her hands, carefully inspecting the cover once again. Maya saw that from the corner of her eye.

 

She seems really fascinated by that, they thought to themselves.  Well, guess I just gotta hope that she likes the contents as much as the cover art.

 

I kinda wonder what she’s thinking about right now.

 

***

 

“Okay so, the bus should be at the stop in six minutes,” Maya looked at their phone, as Miles and Phoenix met up with them. “We should go if we don’t wanna miss it.”

 

They nodded, and the whole group started strolling towards the exit. Every once in a while, the bags Maya were holding you bang into the side of their legs, but other than a few squeals occasionally, they didn’t mind.

 

“Well,” she began. “How did the bookstore trip go? Find anything?”

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Miles that energetic before. Usually he just mopes around.”

 

“Wright.”

 

“Right, right. Sorry, we all know that you’re not moping. You’re silently and inexpressively enjoying yourself.”

 

Miles rolled his eyes at him, unimpressed. “Enough of Phoenix and I.” He looked at Maya and Franziska. “How did it go for your side?”

 

“Great!”

 

“Maya’s as much of an idiot as Phoenix.”

 

Maya turned to stare daggers at Franziska’s eyes, though it was undeniably difficult as Franziska was smiling even wider than before. Seeing her smile, Maya couldn’t help but break into a laughing smile as well.

 

“What she meant to say was—” Maya turned back to Miles, now grinning—“she appreciates my generosity.”

 

Phoenix lifted a brow, expecting to hear a little more context to that. Maya continued. “I bought her a CD.”

 

“Oh?” Phoenix said. “I didn’t know you listened to music?”

 

“I don’t. Well, often at least.” Franziska tilted her head to her left. “But Maya insisted on buying it for me. Like I said, foolishly.”

 

Maya shrugged. “Wouldn’t call it foolish.”

 

The group were already out the door, heading towards the bus station. Maya decided to check her phone again, to see they had three minutes before the bus arrived.

 

They spent the first minute of the three minutes walking to the bus stop, and the rest of the time chatting away as if they had known each other for years upon years now.

 

Well, technically they had. Miles and Phoenix had been friends since elementary school, and Maya had always been a close friend to the two. Franziska was the only one Maya didn’t know on a deep level, but for some reason she felt very strongly about changing that.

 

She wanted to become closer with Franziska. She enjoyed it when they spent time together, even if they hadn’t done that often, and wanted to be a better friend for her.

 

Ah, so that’s it. She smiled to herself. I want her to be my friend. Well, a closer friend than what we are right now.

 

I guess I have to do my best, then.

 

 

Notes:

CW:
-A very brief mention of bullying, and disordered eating
-the author being just as corny as ever

***

Hope you guys enjoyed this one! I'm making this end note quick because as I'm writing this I literally have to leave the house in like ten minutes so uhhh I got nothing to add

See you next time, hopefully!