Chapter Text
Gathering all her hair over one shoulder, she set a stack of workload on the empty seat next to her. It was ten a.m. and most of her classmates had gone out for the usual early lunch but she needed to finish tallying the questionnaires for her group’s research study.
It wasn’t until half an hour later did her stomach start to make a fuss. But when she reached inside her backpack she didn’t feel it inside. She grasped both straps of tightly and hauled the bag onto her lap. She rummaged through the loose pens and crumpled paper but didn’t find the Tupperware. She forgot her lunch.
“[Name]” Ronnie stepped inside the room sipping on a java chip frappe. She stuck her thumb over her shoulder, gesturing towards the door. With a big grin on her face, Ronnie announced: “He’s here”
[Name]’s pale cheeks rosied with adrenaline. Again? She thought to herself. Lately, Arthur’s been visiting the class more often than he should. Not that she was complaining, but seniors seldom went downstairs because it’s been made known that as groups, W Academy students of different years never got along. Freshmen were rowdy, sophomores were know-it-alls, juniors were lackadaisical, and seniors were snobs. But Arthur wasn’t. Arthur was Arthur. He was sweet and polite despite what the others said about him.
“Sorry for intruding. Good morning.” He greeted the room with a bow of his head. But then he frowned at Ronnie “Starbucks again? You’re going to suffer palpitations”
“I like palpitations” She retorted flatly “they make me feel alive.”
“Keep at it and you won’t be alive much longer.”
She rolled her eyes and went for her seat, sticking her earplugs in as a subtle way of telling people to leave her alone.
Arthur sighed and [Name] bit her lip to stop herself from squealing. She’s known him for only seven weeks but the very mention of his name was enough for the butterflies to start a raging cyclone in her stomach.
“Hey, [Name]” All irk from his encounter with her classmate had vanished and he now gently smiled at her “It’s a last minute decision but we’re going to postpone this afternoon’s meeting so you don’t have to come to the club room later”
Last minute, she repeated in her head, and then she wondered rather guiltily if he came here just to tell her that in person. Guiltily because the thought of Arthur going out of his way for something so trivial—and for her sake—was a thought so . . . arrogant. But if that was the case then she was thrilled.
“I didn’t know that” She managed not to stutter with her reply this time (yes!) “Thanks for telling me” She folded her arms in front of her and stared at her shoes, “but you know you didn’t have to go through all this trouble, coming to my room like this. I did give you my phone number” She had reread his text messages so many times that his phone number* had basically been engraved in her cerebral cortex. She felt like a stalker in the rise, but a teenage girl in love shouldn’t be underestimated. In an attempt to soothe the Superego part in her psyche, she reassured herself that many girls were the same. Yeah.
“That’s true.” He nodded and her body clenched at his quick and cold agreement. Ouch. “Actually, my battery died because a certain frog used it to take selfies” His warm expression faltered and made a face like he just bit into a hard candy made of vinegar.
[Name] giggled and pulled on the purple sleeves of her Ichimatsu hoodie, contemplating what to say next.
“But you know” When she turned to face him she almost fainted, his eyes were so beautifully green, a rainforest. One that she could easily get lost in “it’s a good excuse to see you.”
[Name] almost grasped for her shirt, her heart was now a jackhammer.
“Pfft. Think you’re Prince Charming, Mr. Prez?” Another 4-A student, Jason Jones chuckled as he slid inside the room. Dark hair, dark jacket and a dark humor to match. On the surface he was Arthur’s opposite.
Arthur gave him a pointed look “You seem to have a lot of free time.”
“I’m taking a break and for your information, I do pretty much all the work for my group projects”
“That’s not something to brag. You’re the group leader, it’s your responsibility to—“
“Yeah, yeah. But the job is getting done and it’s getting done well so get off my back. Besides I didn’t come here for you” Jason stuffed his hands in his jacket and strolled towards Ronnie and snatched her tablet from her, forcing her to remove her earplugs. He held the iPad away from her hand, “Starbucks again?”
“Shut up”
With a second exasperated sigh, Arthur caught two blonde strands on his forehead and twirled them between his fingers. He had a habit of touching his hair when he was annoyed or thinking. Ronnie and Laura had noticed the particular quirk too, so [Name] managed to convince herself that noticing such little details weren’t a big deal.
She then quietly made a list one by one the details she could never forget about him.
1) He always wears his complete uniform even when it’s too hot—in fact his wardrobe is usually polo shirts and Oxfords.
2) He never curses regardless of how mad or shocked or irked he is.
A low grumbling disturbed her thoughts and [Name]’s arms flew over her lower torso, her cheeks flared with embarrassment. Her body had such bad timing. She couldn’t think of any other time to wish for a miracle—like for the earth to open and swallow her so she didn’t have to face him ever again.
But when she snuck a glance, Arthur simply offered a kind smile.
“Oh, sorry. Seems like I got in the way of your lunch time.”
3) He’s a gentleman who never teases.
“Actually, no. I forgot my lunch bag and I haven’t eaten” Since breakfast. [Name] stayed up too late looking at Haikyuu!! fan art and woke up with barely enough time for a two-minute shower.
Arthur adjusted his tie “I actually just finished a meeting with the newspaper club. After telling you I planned to go straight to the cafeteria.”
Her heart dropped with disappointment. Regret nipped at her chest. “I can’t” She grumbled more than she should’ve, it was unladylike to whine. The last she wanted was to give Arthur that kind of impression of herself, so she coughed and straightened her spine before continuing, “I’m actually saving cash for . . . “ She stopped and wondered. Could she admit to him that she was starving herself because of an anime convention? What would he think?
She finally decided and said: “I’m saving for this very important event next week.” It was so frustrating to be a girl.
Lines formed between his brows “Well, you can’t not eat.”
4) He was a sweetheart. “I’ll treat you. Please, I insist”
[Name] felt her jaw click. A chance to eat with Arthur Kirkland? Hell, yeah!
“Okay!” She cleared her throat “B-but I will be paying you back, I promise.”
He tilted his head, and then chuckled, “Whatever you say, love.”
5) He had the sexiest accent. And she loved it when he called her “love”.
Right now her knees were jelly, but she forced herself to stay strong in front of him. Two humiliations were enough for today.
As they walked side by side towards the cafeteria, [Name] couldn’t resist leaning in a little closer, feeling unrightfully territorial with him when they passed other juniors.
6) He smelled faintly of old books in a rose garden.
She pictured him reading and having tea under the school gazebo, surrounded by blooming roses. A prince who only ever existed in her middle school mind and in manga, someone who shouldn’t be alive but was with her right now. He was too perfect to be real. Almost like a dream.
“[Name]?” They’ve stopped walking. [Name] blinked and realized that they were already in the cafeteria. There were only three to five people in line.
“Sorry” She blushed again. Dammit, she should’ve asked someone to come with her, to serve as a mediator during inevitable pauses of awkwardness, but that would’ve been rude since Arthur invited her. Plus to be honest, she wanted him all to herself, even if just for fifteen minutes. Even if just while waiting in line.
“Takeout or dine in?” Lunch-lady Belinda asked with that rough, masculine voice of hers.
“Dine in” Arthur answered before [Name] could open her mouth. She glanced at him wide-eyed. Her lunch break lasted for one and a half hours, Arthur only had until eleven a.m.
He didn’t say anything until they found a vacant table by the windows.
“I’m actually breaking the rules” He picked up the plastic fork and knife and began cutting his open-faced sandwich “Students aren’t normally allowed to leave the classroom even when the teacher is absent but I didn’t have any free time after this so I lied to the hall monitor. Told her my meeting with the newspaper club was going to last until eleven.”
[Name] giggled at his idea of breaking the rules. Technically, yes it was, but she and her other classmates have done worse.
“So how is school for you juniors?” Fifty percent of the juniors and sophomores were transferees. Not everyone could deal with W Academy standards and left midway, but at the same time there were a lot of people signing up.
“So far so good. I’m handling all the subjects pretty well.” Lies. Complete and utter lies. Projects, case studies, one test after the other, more work than she could handle in just one night. She was never not on the verge of a mental breakdown. But Arthur didn’t need to know that, he just needed to see the smiling, happy [Name]. No one wanted to see the sad parts of a person.
Arthur regarded her coolly and silently. She avoided his stare courtesy of her empty stomach and the mouth-watering plate of siomai he bought for her.
“ . . . [Name]”
She put down her spoon.
“You know—“ But before Arthur could continue, three faces popped up behind him.
“What are you doing here, President?” The albino asked.
“It’s past the time for lunch, you naughty boy” Teased the guy with stubbles, he appeared to be in his twenties but wore the male uniform.
“Ah, and who is this lovely young woman beside you?”
What flirts, [Name] thought, but at the same time their tones were friendly.
“Right back at you all” Arthur said with a voice of authority “Elizabeta gave me a pass because I had a meeting. What’s your excuse?”
Albino and Stubbles exchanged mischievous glances “We had our own important meeting. It’s about that singer rumored to be in town.”
“If you have time to dilly-dally then go help finish the Christmas party decorations”
But they ignored him and soon Stubbles was sitting next to Arthur, leaning on the table with his chin on his palm as he spoke to [Name] “Bonjour, mademoiselle. Maybe you’ve heard of him?”
[Name] fisted her hands on her lap, she couldn’t handle strangers well, much less handsome male strangers. “Him?”
“You know, Aiden Jackson. Every girl is apparently obsessed with him.” He was too close!
“Um, I-I don’t really . . . “ She has heard of the name but never really bothered to look him up. All she knew was that he was a musical prodigy who wore black leather and popular with both sexes. There were also rumors of him being a drug addict and womanizer.
Stubbles’ face kept inching closer.