Blue~

“Miss O’Malley, please at least pretend to pay attention!” I jerk my head up to see a very flustered-looking woman glaring at me.  One of my classmates snickers.

I sigh and try to hide the fact that the top of my desk is now covered in hundreds of intricately painted butterflies. “Sorry, Mrs. Salvador,” I sheepishly apologize.  To be honest, I don’t get the point of this class.  It’s history, particularly the history of art for us Ultimate Arts kids.  While theater dork, aka Yves, might geek out over reciting Shakespeare, I have no interest in artists of the past.  I prefer to learn from my own experiences, to do my own thing.  But Mrs. Salvador insists that studying people like Michalangelo will help me improve.

“I think Blue just isn’t good enough an artist to appreciate this sort of stuff,” a girl at a nearby table cuts in. “She’s too self-centered to realize someone can paint better than her.”

“Self-centered?” I shout. “Like you can talk!  Stop trying so hard, Lucille!” Ugh, this girl gets on my nerves.  And she’s been flirting with Yves all morning, blushing whenever he looks in her general direction and commenting on everything he says.  This usually wouldn’t annoy me, but it does.  I mean, it’s not like I have a crush on him like she does, I just think she should leave him alone!

Lucille flips her dark hair over hair and smirks. “Why should I stop trying, Blue?  Care to enlighten us?” Her bratty friends all laugh.

I can feel my face turning red as I glare at her. “You-” I growl, but Mrs. Salvador claps her hands to get our attention.

“Girls, you can settle this outside of class,” she tells us loudly. “Now, can someone remind us what Botticelli’s most famous work is, and why?” Lucille’s hand shoots up, and I roll my eyes.

After class I make a beeline for my studio.  I definitely need to blow off some steam.  But Yves stops me, smiling a bit sheepishly. “Lucille is so annoying, sorry,” he apologises.

“Why are you saying sorry?” I ask. “It’s not your fault.  She’s the one that has beef with me for whatever reason.”

He grins. “Want me to talk to her about it?”

“I don’t think we have the need for such chivalry yet,” I tell him in a posh british accent, laughing.

He laughs along with me and smiles.  It’s not his typical dazzling Prince Charming smile, either.  It’s sweet and genuine, and I try not to grin right back.  “Hey, I’m trying to organize a play that Allie wrote, seeing if people want to act and stuff, and I was wondering… could you do the sets if it does work out?”

“Totally!” I exclaim. “Just let me know what you need.”

One of his friends waves to him across the hallway. “I gotta run, but… will do!” he shouts, dashing off.

Somehow I’m not mad anymore when I finally get to my studio.  I sit in front of a blank canvas and begin sketching set ideas.  I wonder what sort of production it’ll be.  Whatever it is, Yves is sure to make it spectacular.  I smile at the thought.  I’m kind of making friends now, I have my first official commission- maybe this school will turn out better than I expected after all.

Beck

Next class: Science. Oh great. I stroll into the science room with the other kids, and I'm just as confused as they are. The classroom looks like somthing out of Alice in Wonderland. There are paint splatters all over the wall and strange posters showing things kids my age probably. Also there is a giant human anatomy structure. I heard confused murmurs from the other classmates as we all strolled around the classroom. I didn't think this place could get any weirder until the teacher walked in. She looked extremely distraught, and had a couple papers hanging out of her binder and falling onto the ground. She had frizzy blue hair in a curly ponytail, round green glasses, an abstract looking outfit with rainbow triangle earings. "Wha-what-Oh! Hello class! I am Mrs. Wool, your science techer! I am excited to learn all about every one of you this year." She walked to her desk. "Okay, the first thing we will be doing is picking your seats!" All my classmates looked even more confused. One girl put her hand up. "Wait, we pick our own seats? None of our other teachers let us do that." Mrs. Wool beamed. "Yep! Pick anyone to sit with you, and make sure you like them, becuase you'll be sitting here for the rest of the year!" The other kids seemed really happy, and automatically started picking seat partners. I didn't know anyone else, so I sat at a table in the back of the room. I was unloading my stuff when some girl I didn't know walked over and sat next to me. I turned around and saw she had short purple and black hair, freckles, jeans, and a black hoodie. I was just staring at her for a couple seconds before she waved her hand in front of my face. "Um, hello?" I snapped out of my daze. "Oh sorry! My name's Beck!" I shook her hand. She smiled, and her face seemed to glow. "Nice to meet you, Beck. My name is Claire!" We started up an awkward conversation about movies. We joked the whole class time. When it was time to go, we waved goodbye. "See you tomorrow, Beck!" "Bye Claire!" I watched her as she walked away when Mrs. Wool walked up to me with a smug look. "She's nice, isn't she?" I was taken off guard. "H-huh? Oh yeah, s-she's nice!" Mrs. Wool chuckled. We both said goodbye, and I spent the whole walk down the hall thinking about Claire.

Should I post next having Demaree overhear and help out? She doesn't know he's Star Student or that he needs to build a case file on Casey, so I do think Yves or Beck stepping in or Alexander figuring out the situation himself is the best option.

My CAPTCHA just said "rnmud" right now mud? What? 

Ok...I have something typed up. It ends with Casey not liking either of them that much, so that would be hard for Alexander to build a file on him. So I could submit it or type up a new one where it ends with Casey not minding/not upset with Demaree and Alexander...

What do y'all think?

All righty, here we go!

Demaree~

After my morning classes I headed to lunch. Passing a corridor that led to a staircase I heard a stern voice, stopping me in my tracks.

"How the ____ did you know my name?" someone at the base of the staircase said to someone else. 

I peeked aroung the corner to see a boy with white-ish blond hair and red streaks glaring at...Alexander!

"I-I u-um..." Alexander stammered.

I was not about to walk away and have Alexander deal with this confrontation on his own. "Hey!" I called, walking down the hall to the stairs. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I asked this Allen guy-" the boy began but I interrupted.

"His name is Alexander."

"Ok whatever. Anyway, I asked him just how exactly he knew my name. We've never even met..."

I didn't actually know how Alexander knew his name, but it was apparently a complex answer, or Alexander would've already explained. Something else seemed suspicious, was this guy hiding something? Why did he care if Alexander knew his name? 

I glanced at Alexander to see his reaction to this whole situation. He looked a little more anxious than usual.

"Listen, why do you care if he knows your name? This is a school, people are supposed to know each other's names," I said as firmly as I could.

"No you listen, both of you," he stepped closer to me, menacingly. "I haven't met anyone here yet, and the teachers adress us by our last names, so there is no way Allen coulda known it. You better learn not to meddle in other people lives, or else." Then he flashed us a cheerful smile and walked off.

I'm not usually frightened by others, but something about the way he threatened me and Alexander unsettled me. After he left I just stood there.

"T-Thanks for helping m-me out Demaree," Alexander said, walking down to the base of the stairs.

I didn't respond, still frozen in place.

"Dem?" 

"Oh! Yeah, you're welcome! I would steer clear of him if I were you." I said, looking up at him. "C'mon, let's go to lunch together!"