Ten minutes until study hall and it couldn’t come sooner.

Althea was hardly following along to Mister Takahashi’s lesson in this unit of Slayer History. Look, he was a passionate guy when it came to Slayers, everybody and their mothers knew that. He got it all: one of those novelty coffee mugs with Firebrand’s face on it, that was kinda weird but okay; he got Royals-themed socks which apparently was a thing, who woulda thunk; and right now he was wearing a tie patterned with Laurel’s signature motif.

Yet for the life of her, she couldn’t pay attention. She had written barely anything down in her notebook, she didn’t have anything typed up on her school-issued laptop where she occasionally glanced at a copy of his unannotated presentation (he used too many animations), and she definitely wasn’t thinking about Slayers. Least, not as much as he was.

How many times did he pause his lecture to share an interesting story? Oh hey, did you know that so-and-so ran an animal shelter? Have you heard of the theory of this-and-that being an outworlder? One time, as her ears clicked in to gauge how far he’d gotten into the presentation, he was talking about Oasisgate and how its consequences were still felt throughout the international systemic community.

That was when Althea completely zoned out, instead tapping the lead of her mechanical pencil against paper to the beat of a song stuck inside her head.

She had gone through three-and-a-half songs before the tortured bell rang. Some of her classmates laughed stating they hadn’t fixed it—it’d been broken since the morning announcement. As scratching as the noise was, it provided her some ample amusement in an otherwise distracted day.

Althea leaned back in her chair as Mister Takahashi quickly rattled off last-minute instructions. None of it was homework but food for thought. He was unheard, buried underneath screeching chairs and rustling backpacks and papers and laptops. They filtered through the door while she stayed, sighing, flicking the browser’s tabs until she was on her student portal, checking shit.

Her assigned homeroom was Takahashi’s, and she didn’t have anywhere to go. A part of her wished she had business—maybe she could crash at another classroom—but her legs refused to move.

Unfortunate, because out of the four students here including herself, there was a bitch three desks over: Daliah Cai (Chinese name unknown), dolled up all pretty in the middle of February and dressed like it was July, making duck lips for her many followers on whatever social media platform was hot this year.

Althea didn’t know or care, she lurked on social media and didn’t interact with anyone. She had better shit to do.

She rolled her eyes and noticed Takahashi ducking out of the room, probably needing to speak with a colleague or something. The history teachers were organizing a panel this Friday about Slayer History. They had invited guest speakers from a variety of backgrounds, providing unique perspectives on past events and whatever possibilities the future held. Sounded interesting but getting a ticket out of class was even better.

After she finished checking her details on her student portal, she laid back and whipped her phone out. Before Althea could tap an idle game she’d been playing lately, she noticed a certain bitch making rapid, disgusted glances at her and speedily texting away.

Althea slapped the back of her cute phone case against her thigh. “You should really make it less obvious, y’know. That you’re shittalking me. Not like you’re an expert on subtlety, looking like a clown with that much makeup on. Tryna get a promotion at the circus, sweetheart?”

Daliah scoffed and had the most outraged expression that was completely genuine and not exaggerated whatsoever. “Okay like for real, what is your problem? I was just sitting here—“

“Sitting here looking at me all weird—“

“I was just sitting here minding my own business until you got all—!” Big hand gestures, “—up in mine! Like seriously, I don’t understand. Do you have a grudge against me? It’s not good to hold a grudge—“

“Oh, I wouldn’t give you the pleasure.” Althea noticed her other two classmates were whispering amongst themselves. Guess what? More of Takahashi’s homeroom trickled from the doorway and immediately noticed the boiling tension in the room, making quick glances between her and the bitch.

Daliah had nothing to say. Instead clicked her tongue a little and engaged in something of a staring contest. It wasn’t, really. She switched between glaring at Althea with her color contacts and seeing who was coming in, as if waiting for the cavalry. Again, maybe Althea should’ve gotten the hell out because they came triumphantly. Their voices were screeching trumpets from Marching Band, their heavy footsteps were stallions’ hooves, and they were dressed in a royal procession for some spoiled tyrannical monarch.

Her little friend group she belonged to: five in total. All of them didn’t have Takahashi as their homeroom but they must’ve decided to intrude here for the hour. Less than cavalry and more like invaders.

What bad luck, the salt rubbed further in the wound with the bitch’s smirking. Five against one was not a good look, only Alexander could make that work. Throwing her things quickly into her backpack, straps hoisted over her shoulders, she could make only four steps until someone called her name.

“I know you heard me, Althea,” said the confident voice again. Little Jacqueline, one of the stars of Julius High School: straight-A student, captain of the varsity volleyball team, and was on student government because of course she was. Probably was going to be valedictorian too. She was actually the leader of this little gang. “The bell’s about to ring—” at that second, the horrible bell groaned like a prison cell slamming shut, “—there you go. You’ll get caught by the teachers lurking around.”

“Not like that stopped me before,” Althea huffed, gandering at the menagerie. “I didn’t think I’d see you guys all in one place; usually you all are so busy. Speaking of which, I’m busy too—”

She tried squeezing through but a wall got in her way. A human wall. To be specific, Dahlia’s boyfriend, Levi. Six-foot-six and had almost as many muscles as Dad; with that stature, the words ‘football team’ should immediately come to the forefront of your mind. Too bad this jackass was braindead; too bad she was five-foot tall and couldn’t beat his ass without breaking a few bones.

“Excuse me,” she said loud and irritated, giving Levi a couple of sour eyes. He wasn’t budging an inch and simply looked over Daliah’s way.

Daliah sighed, her expression downturn like she was a mother about to discipline her naughty children. A mother too addicted to online attention for her own good. “Seriously Althea, we wouldn’t have a problem with you if you, like, stop being such a stupid bitch—”

“It’s fine,” Jacqueline told her—

“Like actually, what the actual fuck is your problem—?”

“Daliah.” This time the airhead stopped flapping her lips. Miss Future Valedictorian furrowed her eyebrows and rubbed them, frustrated.

In the background, the rest of her friends were whispering amongst themselves and smirking and laughing. This was less of a coincidence and more of a surprise party, her favorite. She loved being surprised with sudden drama.

Althea thought this was a good time to leave but Levi blocked her way again. Big fucking asshole.

“Daliah has a point, Althea,” Jacqueline chimed with that fucking ‘concerned’ voice of hers.

“The hell is this, seriously?” she retorted. “An intervention?”

“I’m sure that everyone here…” Miss Perfect glanced around at the audience in the class so Althea didn’t feel more humiliated, “...understands there’s a lot of anger in you, like what happened with Vernon last year—”

“That’s because you guys are absolute shitheads who saw him as a walking wallet.”

“That’s not how we thought about him—” (“Then what the hell—?”) “We’re not the only ones who went through a tough time, Althea. I know you see us as the ‘bad guys’ but we’re all on the same side here—”

“Fuck you.”

Jacqueline inhaled. It was easy to crack her composure. Just be as irritating as possible. “I don’t know how to put this nicely but you don’t understand things from our perspective. You’re just so combative all the time, a part of me wants to talk to Miss Faraday about it. This began happening ever since we started Slayer History…”

Althea wanted to bust out laughing. So that was her gameplan: make everybody think she was getting pissy because Hangzhou was inevitably going to get brought up. Framing her as a traumatized bitch and further ostracizing her from school.

“Okay,” she replied, smiling. “Whatever you say or do or care, I don’t.”

This time, she confronted Levi head-on, staring him down.

He huffed.

“Move,” demanded Althea, “or I’ll smash someone’s dick in again.”

The threat got to him; everyone knew she was capable of such violence and didn’t want to test her. Smartly, Levi let her pass. Taking one last look at the gang loitering here, Althea left while throwing up a middle finger.

Finally, she could breathe again—

“Ah, Althea! I was about to come get you!” a voice called out from behind. Mister Takahashi, pushing up his glasses as he approached. Then he stopped, face scrunching up slightly. “DId something happen?”

Ah, she must’ve look pissed. She was. “Nah, just a small thing. What’s up? Whatcha need me for?”

“Well…” Mister Takahashi led Althea to the nearby locker pod where no one was at, so they could have somewhat of a private conversation. “There’s been a recent development with the panel this Friday. To give you a quick rundown: we had a professor of Eastern Slayer History but he had to cancel. This morning, his wife told us he’d fallen gravely ill and had to go to the emergency room—bless his heart. We were discussing solutions to make up for this deficiency or whether we should continue on with the vacancy.”

Althea leaned against a wall of lockers. “What does this hafta do with me?”

“...We asked the principal, and he suggested we could approach you. Or more specifically, your brother.”

“Eh?”

“I know, I know. Almost half of us didn’t agree. Almost half, let’s go democracy. And unfortunately I had to be the one to break the news. To you, anyway. As we speak, your brother’s getting an email and-slash-or phone call.”

Althea crossed her arms, unsure whether she should be offended or confused. There was already something of a deal arranged with her teachers: any work related to Hangzhou she was excused from. So… “You want my brother to share his story?”

Mister Takahashi nodded. “That’s right. Plus, maybe Oasisgate too since you’ve lived in High Home during the scandal. His choice though, it’s completely his choice. He doesn’t have to do this, you’re free to disagree, this does not affect your grades whatsoever. And I’m sorry if I, err, offended you.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s not gonna put me in a mental breakdown.” Not anymore. “I’ll have a chat with Alex and see what he wants.”

“If you have any questions, just email me. I’ll check them late just for you.”

“Thanks.”

***

“Why me?” Alexander asked, waving around his chopsticks with braised pork belly between the tips. He popped it into his mouth then some rice. “Why me? Seriously, why does this always happen to me?”

Leona said while her mouth was half-full, “You’re being awfully dramatic. It’s a school thing—”

“Yeah, but my week’s busy enough at it is with the crap I got planned.” He huffed, laying back on the couch, eyes on the TV. It was playing a new show, something about space cowboys, but no one was paying attention to it. It sucked anyway. “It’s double-busy with stuff people keeps piling on me.”

“So that’s a firm ‘no’?” asked Althea, sitting on her personal lounge chair while the two university students sat together on the big couch. Her bowl of rice and pork belly was firm on her lap.

Alexander finished another bite, gulped it down like he was gulping down thoughts. “I don’t think so, no.”

“Why not?” Leona innocently countered, playfully nudging his shoulder a little. “It’s for Althea—”

“It’s kinda not for me. I’m not getting anything out of this. Really, you’re helping the teachers more than me.”

“...Okay, it’s for the teachers.”

“Actually, it’s for the principal. He insisted the most. Almost half disagreed with him.”

Alexander asked, “Why didn’t they shoot him down?”

“Democracy,” answered Althea. “A little more than half agreed.”

“Democracy,” Alexander repeated to Leona. “A little more than half agreed, she said.”

“I know what she said, she’s sitting right there.” A grumble left Leona as she chewed on a piece of pork with a pout. “I just think it might be a good idea. You may not have a Ph.D in History—”

“I got a Ph.D in PTSD, that’s what I have.” Hissing from annoyance, Alexander’s back hit the couch. “What am I supposed to say anyway? It’s an open panel so I’ll get curated and uncurated questions. Plus I’ll be put up there with doctors and professors and whoever else. I only know two things—wait, three things: trauma, fighting, and cooking. That’s it. There’s no real connections between them.”

“I don’t know,” Leona followed, raising her bowl. “Your trauma’s pretty delicious.”

“Okay, shut up, dork. What about you?” Alexander turned to his little sister.

Althea shrugged. “I dunno, your trauma prolly coulda used more salt. Cry more, I guess?”

“No, what do you want?” Pork belly was popped into his mouth. “And it has the right amount of salt.”

“Yeah yeah.” She shrugged again. “I don’t care either way; if you wanna do it, do it. If not, no skin off my back. I’m already exempt from a good chunk of my assignments in this unit anyway.”

“Democracy-wise, we have one nay and one abstain,” Leona said. “So let me play devil’s advocate and argue why you should think about accepting the principal’s offer.”

Alexander rolled his eyes. “Fine, make your case.”

“Thank you.” Preparing for her impromptu debate, she set down her bowl and adjusted herself into a confident sitting position: one leg raised and laid against the other, and an arm thrown over the back of the couch. “First of all, this doesn’t need to be said: if you’re uncomfortable at the prospect of sharing your experiences, then don’t do it. You and your wellbeing matter more, so answer this first: Are you uncomfortable with this?”

He shook his head. “I’m not.” That was right: the Shens had already gone through the trouble of beating Hangzhou was its worst. While they preferred to not talk about it, the subject wasn’t untouchable similarly to High Home and Oasisgate.

Leona hummed, satisfied with his answer. “Alright. Let’s look at this in a purely self-interested perspective: what do you have on Friday?”

“Uh…” he mumbled, rubbing the side of his head, “...No classes but lots of obligations for Systemic Works,” (“Mhm,”) “I got that one thing for Ichiken at nine in the morning, then Professor Hei needs me for something that she’s giving vague hints about, then Chunhua wants me for errands…”

Althea listened to the rest of his rattling. Seriously, maybe he should’ve transferred to Systemic Works considering how popular he was in that department. He was basically an honorary junior, simultaneously beloved and intimidated by all.

At the end of his list, even Leona was taken aback by his chores that day. “Well, it sounds like the open panel is a great excuse to enjoy your Friday. Plus, you get to spend time with your sister you love so much.”

Alexander stared at her.

She stared back.

“I don’t like this argument,” he told Leona.

“Fuck you.”

Leona rolled her eyes. “If you don’t like that argument, then consider this from an altruistic perspective. Out of the entire panel of professors and historians and analysts, you’ll probably be the youngest there. Your wisdom doesn’t come from textbooks or interviews. You lived them. You’ll be relatable and your experience will better touch the kids there spiritually.”

“The question is: do you think bratty high school kids will listen to what I have to say? Even if I’m…” He did physical finger quotes, “...’relatable’?”

“Probably,” Althea added. “Probably not. Depends on how it goes.”

“God…” Alexander swallowed down another bite of pork and rice. “What other arguments do you have?”

“Well…”

***

Althea:

theyre still talking

Dork:

seriously they’re still discussing it?

if it takes that long then why don’t alex say no already

Althea:

idk dont ask me, not like i know whats going on inside his head

besides this is my thing not his

Dork:

i’d be fooled

there’s alex and there’s smaller alex

Althea:

guy althea and the better althea

Dork:

idk if better althea can punch a hole through my chest

Althea:

but i *can* castrate you and break your shins

Dork:

i don’t like this game

Althea:

then why did you start

i dont have to be a prodigy to beat someone up

i could probably beat up levi

Dork:

levi durans?

is he still dating daliah?

and isn’t he like seven foot tall

Althea:

six in a half and yeah

a dumbass last year and still one this year

tbh i thought daliah wouldve broken up with him by now but shes also a dumbass

Dork:

are they still bothering you?

Althea:

of course jax and her little gang are petty bitches

they would have a lot more fun if i laid down and took the hits but unfortunately for them some bullies aint gonna hurt me

Dork:

i know but it’s still not right

you shouldn’t be the school’s pariah just because you stuck up for me back then

Althea:

idc theyre assholes and you were an idiot

but idiots can learn, assholes rarely dont

Dork:

i’m still worried

Althea:

vernon i went through the literal worst disaster in history

i also survived one of the worst guild related scandals in history

i can survive bullies, they are literally peanuts to me

Dork:

if you put it like that i sound silly

Althea:

your hearts in the right place but i’m no princess

they can ostracize me as much as they want but idc

Dork:

but alex will

does he know that youre getting harassed?

Althea:

uh

Dork:

i’m scared for them

Althea:

same

Dork:

isn’t jax going to be asking some of the curated questions?

since yknow she’s the princess of the school?

Althea:

fuck

Dork:

and i’m pretty sure you’re going to have to introduce alex to everyone too

Althea:

fuck

Dork:

also there’s a good chance your brother will hurt someone

Althea:

fuck yeah

Dork:

so uh

good luck?

if alex bites

Althea:

idk theyre quiet now

Althea received another text, this time from Leona.

Leo 💗:

I convinced your brother that he should do it!

Mostly because he wants to skip all his plans on Friday.

What sealed the deal was the promise of taking him out for an expensive dinner later that night.

Althea:

and you two arent even dating

Leo 💗:

Hush, he asked this time so I didn’t have to subtly nudge him

Althea:

congrats on your non-romantic probably-romantic date

making deals is apart of a non-relationship

Leo 💗:

It’s called compromising, lovely

Althea:

maybe get him to compromise into an actual relationship

She frowned after texting that; Alexander was an idiot who suffered from the lack of self-interest. Ever since his last relationship soured, she guessed that he didn’t have the self-confidence to start a new one. He knew he had baggage and refused to be a burden—likewise, he refused to be treated as one.

Leo 💗:

Soon. Make sure you take care of your brother. We don’t want him to be eaten alive by high schoolers

Althea:

yup

Vernon texted again.

Dork:

yo leaving me on read?

Althea:

sorry leo gave me an update

alex is going into the lions den