What Time Is It?

@ephemeralwish;

       【☀】~ Lillie hums as she collects her orders of chocolate cake, the sugary aroma of the Sweet Spot bringing a contented smile to her face. She waves as she heads over to her shared table with her project partner, Clorica. They had gone around to take pictures around the school for the yearbook, and the brunette figured she could take her junior out for a little treat afterwards. 

       “Heeeeere they are! Two chocolate cakes for two hardworking gals! Treat’s on me, of course.” She ends off with a wink, setting Clorica’s order down before settling into her own seat. She wastes no time in stabbing her fork through the soft cake, breaking off a piece and plopping it into her mouth. She can’t help the hum of sheer delight as the rich chocolate hits her taste buds, the bittersweet taste making them dance and sing in delight. 

When the girl returned, Clorica’s eyes couldn’t help but follow the cake until the plate hit the table. Looking up, she smiled at the girl genuinely happy about her kindness and free cake. Mostly the free cake.

“Thank you.”

Clorica took a bite of the cake and she might not have hummed like Lillie, but she found it equally as delicious. The rich flavor paired with the light weight and moist texture made the perfect slice. With a recipe like this, she could eat the whole cake!

A packet? What was this, some kind of homework assignment? Well, at least this meant he didn’t actually have to talk to this girl. 

He was expecting her to leave and come back for the packet later, but instead, she stayed. Why? You did your job, now get out. She must have nothing better to do than bother people who are minding their own business. Quite annoying actually. 

He shifted his weight to one side and crossed his arms. What was he doing? Wasn’t it obvious? Some people…

“Well if you must know, I was organizing the books before you came in. I could go back to that and you can leave now. Your job is done here, right?”

“No.”

She knew nothing about this guy and couldn’t trust him to fill out the questions as they were intended. Clorica also wasn’t a fan of being reprimanded by the yearbook teacher again, though for it to be about something other than sleeping might be an improvement.

“I don’t know that you’ll finish it if I leave.”

She pointed to the packet telling him to get to it. One of her least favorite things other than someone waking her up was when a person says one thing and does another. On top of it being an inconvenience, it’s rude. 

“I don’t have all day.”

@ephemeralwish

Lanna had taken a quick break from her position as emcee. She could only handle so much of Jamie’s attitude, sure bugging him was fun and all, but he was kind of annoying. She sighed and decided to go by the Maid Café. Her best friend was working so she had to at least say hi!

She entered the café which was decorated so nice! Lanna stared in awe looking at all the decorations and how it was set up. She finally scanned the room looking for Clorica. As soon as her eyes landed on the girl, she waved and met up with her. 

Clorica was brought out of her daze by a familiar voice, one that always brought a genuine smile to her face.

“Lanna! Are you on break?”

⌜ ◌◌◌  – Some load is removed from Gray when she confirms remembering him at least. One less thing to feel awkward about. He tries to return the smile, but the most he can offer is half a smile that he quickly shakes off since it felt weird. ⌟

⌜ ◌◌◌  – “ Sweet spot… ” God, that name really needs to be reevaluated. But he has to admit they had good food. Maybe sneaking some back to his roommates would make for a good treat.⌟

⌜ ◌◌◌  – “ I like their cake pops. ” He adjusts his hat and stuffs his hands in his pockets, wondering if he can go there with her. “ I might go there myself. Buy something for later… mind if I tag along for a bit? ”  ⌟

Okay?

Clorica didn’t know why he would bother to tell her what he likes, but when he finished his thought it made sense.  But then again... why would he want to join her? Does this make them friends? She was never really good with these kinds of things.

“Oh, I guess not.”

The company might not be too bad, though the lack of conversation on her end might be. She thought about apologizing in advance, but that had the potential to only make it more awkward and that was the last thing she needed.

She began walking again trying not to looked too concerned if he was going to start walking with her. It wouldn’t be the first time someone ditched her, she wasn’t the most sociable person.

Graaah, fuck. He figured that was coming. He released a loud enough sigh for her to hear. As if he hadn’t already made it evident he didn’t enjoy the company. 

“Let’s just get this over with so I can get back to doing something useful with my time,” he grumbled. 

Chase turned to her with his arms crossed and tapped the floor with his foot. This better be a few questions like she had said. He wasn’t in the mood to do some bullshit interview. Then again, was he ever?

Clorica handed him a packet full of questions that she didn’t feel like reading aloud. He could do that for himself.

“Answer these.”

She looked around the room to see nothing was being done by him. Was doing nothing the same thing as being useful to him? How sad. He must not have a lot of friends, though, Clorica can’t say much there. It’s not like she’s Miss Popular or anything close to that.

“Yes! He’s my favorite cousin!”

It wasn’t a difficult label to apply, given that he really didn’t know the rest of his family, but saying it made him smile anyway. Dylas was one of the most important people in his entire life, and he couldn’t imagine a future where they weren’t close - not unless Dylas did something foolish to get himself hurt, at least. But Vishnal tried not to think about those possibilities. As far as he was concerned, the future was brilliantly lit, and that was how it would stay.

“Really?” He tilted his head to the side. He couldn’t imagine knowing those sorts of children intimately, like friends - they always seemed to be in an echelon above him, as if their wealth and parentage meant they’d been born with a silver spoon in their mouths while Vishnal was destined to eat nothing but gravel. “I…I was educated at home, so…” He shrugged and smiled again.

“All done!” As he secured the last braid, he leaned down and instinctively kissed her on the top of her head, just like he would any of his sisters. “Can I do anything else for you, Clori?”

Clorica smiled and stood up, brushing out the folds in her clothing. She always enjoyed their morning routine together, she always felt that she learned something new. This time especially she had learned a lot more about Vishnal. It was nice.

“Thank you.”

What did she do now? A hug? A high five? She settled with a gentle pat on his head before collecting her things.

Her eyes lit up at her response. Lanna wasn’t sure if mentioning her dad was too personal especially after only meeting this girl today. 

“Really? Oh good!” she exclaimed, “He’s always been worried since I came here. Maybe because I don’t have paparazzi and security breathing down my neck every second of the day. I guess I can’t blame him though.”

They entered the next room which was filled with a myriad of dresses. They ranged in several different colors, sizes, lengths, and styles. Lanna started looking at dresses when she noticed Clorica had been drawn to a certain coral dress with a train. The color was perfect for the summer dance and she was sure Clorica would look fantastic in it.

“Why don’t you try it on?” the blonde tilted her head. 

“Try it on?”

Clorica stared at the dress a little longer before looking up at Lanna. Was she serious? This dress was probably worth more than her whole wardrobe put together times a hundred. She let her fingers trace the material and follow the pattern of the lace. It was really beautiful and she thought that a simple fitting wouldn’t be too bad.

“Are you sure?”

“For science~★ And beauty!” Vivi answered matter-of-factly, hands already reaching for the ends of her beautiful purple hair. Her braids were so simple and cute on its own, but they could be even cuter!

“I’m the school’s Chemistry teacher, Ms. Viviane Ire. and you, my lovely purple-lette, caught my eye~” Taking both the girl’s hands, it took everything in Vivi not to gush too much as she said, “Let me style your gorgeous purple hair~ ♥ You won’t regret it!”

You won’t regret it.

Clorica hoped not as she nodded in response. She didn’t want to get on this teacher’s bad side if she happened to get her for future classes as she continued through her high school career. It would only cause more trouble for her that she didn’t have the energy to deal with. And honestly, she loved having her hair played with.

“Okay.”