Chapter Text
Blair always dreamed of leaving the countryside. The idea of stopping by all the coffee shops, exploring every single corner of the city, having people walking around even after midnight, endless options of activities to do over the weekend and still having things to do made her daydream all the time. Yes, there were some parts of her life that she would miss – the quietude during the afternoons, being able to watch the stars before going to bed, having a somewhat close relationship to everyone there because the town was just so damn small. But she wondered if that was all the place had to offer.
So of course, when she got accepted into Sweet Amoris, a high prestigious school, she didn’t even hesitate. Her last two years of highschool weren’t all that good. The lack of enthusiasm of the teachers and students made her learn the bare minimum, at best. She applied a couple of months ago and spent countless nights wide awake, studying, trying her best to catch up to all the things she was supposed to have learnt. When the email arrived saying she could start at the beginning of next year, she screamed so loud it made her parents rush to her room. There was a lot of hugging, jumping up and happy tears. As much as she tried to hide it, the thought of living away from her loving home – loving parents – made her heart ache.
It was decided that she would live with her aunt Agatha, which wasn’t an idea that made her parents excited but it was all she had.
“It’s not that we don’t like her, dear. She’s just a little…”
“Crazy?”
“I think peculiar is the right word.”
Agatha had an apartment near the school, basically a 15 minute walk, which was perfect. And besides being peculiar like her parents had stated, she had a good heart and was very energetic. She worked for an art gallery as an agent and always wore extravagant clothing. She had a fairy tattoo on her left arm and pink hair. Yes, she’d often steal the most random things from stores, sneak into her parents’ house constantly to eat her mom’s desserts and took the “you only live once" thing a little too far but it only added to her personality, as she once said.
Blair didn’t have a lot of things to pack. Besides her clothes, notebook and the pictures she liked to hang on the wall, she found herself in an empty room with four boxes one week later after she received the acceptance email. There were a lot of tears the day she left, a lot of “make sure to call us at least three times a week”, “and keep up with your grades”, “and don’t go to bed too late” and a lot of “we’re so proud of you, kiddo”.
Agatha helped her settle just fine. Her new room had a full size bed, a nice computer desk, a dresser and wardrobe with fairies painted on them, which made her aunt shrug and say “who doesn’t like fairies?” when she was questioned about it. I actually love it, Blair thought, although she would never admit that to her aunt.
***
It was a very nice warm day so she decided to explore the neighborhood a little. There was a coffee shop a couple of blocks away from her new school, so she decided to stop there, order a coffee to go and maybe walk around.. As she was walking in, she was so lost in her own thoughts she didn’t even see the other girl right before colliding against her.
“Oh my god, I’m so so sorry.” The girl desperately grabbed as many napkins as she could, trying to clean the huge coffee stain that was all over Blair's dress. “I didn’t see you and - fuck. I’m really sorry!”
“It is all good, really”. Blair laughed. The other girl had white hair, golden eyes and was dressed like a supermodel. She looked so desperate that Blair tried her best to reassure her. “I didn’t even like this dress that much anyway.”
“Rosa, just because your boyfriend owns a clothing store, that doesn’t mean that everyone has lots of clothes to spare”. Blair didn’t even notice the blue haired guy that was standing behind the girl – she loved that “normal” hair colors were basically extinct in this city. He watched the scene unfold with a smirk.
“Alexy, shut up! God!” Rosa sighed and rolled her eyes. “Please ignore him. Let me make up to you. My boyfriend’s store is nearby, we can go there and you can choose a new dress, on my account.”
“No, c’mon. That’s not necessary.” She noticed that Rosa had a notebook written “Sweet Amoris Plans” on the cover by her other hand. “Do you guys go to Sweet Amoris?”
“Oh yeah!” Alexy smiled and put his arm around Rosa’s shoulder. “Rosa is one of the class presidents, actually. I assume you’re a new student?”
Blair nodded. “I moved here a couple of days ago, decided to explore a little.” She looked down at her dress, now ruined with a stain and smelling like coffee and she couldn’t help but laugh. “I just wasn’t ready for this surprise.”
“I insist on making it up to you and I won’t take no for an answer. Since you’re gonna be our new classmate apparently, we can get to know each other on the way to the store.” Rosa grabbed Blair’s hand, Alexy following right beside them. “I don’t think we got your name?”
“It’s Blair.” She smiled. “Nice to meet you two!”
***
Turns out Alexy and Rosa were pretty great. As they walked towards the store, Blair talked more about where she came from and how excited she was to start her junior year. She noticed right away that Rosa had a sharp tongue and strong personality. Alexy was a beacon of sunlight, very outgoing and kind.
Rosa’s boyfriend's shop was not too far from where they were. When they arrived, Rosa made her way to talk to him and Blair could swear that they belonged on a magazine cover based on the way they were both dressed. He introduced himself. “Nice to meet you, my name is Leigh. I’m sorry about what my girlfriend did to your dress”. He walked Blair around his shop and as he was showing her outfits he thought would fit her style, it became clear how passionate he was about his job.
After Blair picked a new dress for herself, Alexy insisted that they should exchange phone numbers and hang out more. And so they did.
Throughout the month, Blair quickly became friends with them. They made sure to show her all the cool spots around the city and they got to know each other more. Blair learned that Rosa was very into fashion and she dreamed of being a designer someday. Maybe selling her own collection in her boyfriend’s shop. She also loved partying, ice cream and was obsessed with Friends.
Alexy liked boys, indie music and painting. He also had a twin brother named Armin, which Blair wasn’t able to meet because “he never leaves the house, he rather plays videogames all day” – Alexy would complain. “But it’s all good for you, I’m the better twin anyway.”
The days flew by and soon enough it was Blair’s first day at Sweet Amoris. Alexy had promised to wait for her, to make sure she wouldn’t get lost inside the building. She found him by the school gate, listening to a new band he had yet to show her. As he noticed her approaching, he gave her a big smile and opened his arms for her to hug him.
“Hey, love. Nervous for your first day?”
She gave him a tight hug. “A little. It sounds dumb but I wasn’t expecting so many people? I guess my previous school was just really small.” They both chuckled and she looked around, eyes wandering around the courtyard.
“If you’re looking for Rosa, she’s already inside. Class president duties or whatever. C’mon, let’s get you to class.”
The school was huge, by all measures. It was definitely not what Blair was expecting. They didn’t have the time to explore everything before the first class but Alexy quickly reassured her. “Since you’re new, someone will be assigned to show you around. And if you’re lucky, it’ll be Rosa.”
“Or maybe you if I’m luckier?” Blair teased.
Alexy laughed loudly. “If you keep this up you’ll quickly become my new favorite person.”
They made their way inside one of the classrooms. The place was already full of students, all catching up with each other, asking about how they spent their summer vacation and whatnot. The place had double tables, which prompted Alexy and Blair to sit right next to each other.
“I see you brought fresh meat!” someone said jokingly behind Alexy and Blair could swear she was seeing double. Alexy’s twin brother looked exactly like him, if it wasn’t for the dark hair and the fact that they were wearing completely different clothes. Alexy’s wardrobe was colorful and extravagant, while his brother was wearing dark pants and a black shirt that said I can’t believe that I paused my game for this. It was so silly it made Blair bite her lip in order to hold her laughter.
“Armin, could you please behave”. Alexy rolled his eyes and pointed to both of them. “Armin, Blair. Blair, Armin.”
“Oh, so you’re the famous Blair! Alexy has been talking about you all summer.”
“That’s because she’s giving me attention. Can’t say the same about you.” Alexy pouted and if he hadn’t smiled two seconds later, Blair would’ve swore that they were about to have an argument.
“Aw, you know I love you. When you’re not being a pain in the ass.” Armin laughed and that prompted Alexy to punch him in the arm. “Oi!”
Rosa entered the classroom in a hurry, looking for her friends. When she found them, she made her way to sit next to Armin, giving Blair a quick kiss on the cheek. “Sorry I’m late, I was going over some details with Nath and Melody.” She looked at Blair and booped her nose. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good! It’s nice to see you!” Blair smiled. “Everything good at the meeting?”
“Yep, you know, just boring stuff. I can’t wait to show you around. You’re gonna love our art room.”
“Shut. Up. You guys have an art room? And no one told me??”
The conversation was cut short when a tall woman entered the room. By the way all the students quickly went quiet and sat down, Blair assumed that the woman was the teacher and everyone was terrified of her. She placed herself in front of the teacher’s desk, removing a list from a folder she was carrying.
“Yeah, yeah. I bet you all had an amazing summer. I don’t care.” She stopped looking at the list and her eyes wandered around the room, landing on Blair. “Are you the new kid?”
Blair nodded.
“I’m Nadine Delaney, the biology teacher. But you will call me Delaney. Don’t cause trouble in my class and always be on time and I might like you at the end of the year.”
Holy shit.
As the teacher turned around, Blair looked at her friends with a shocked expression, which caused them to mouth we know.
“I’m assuming no one assigned someone to show you around yet?” Delaney asked.
Rosa raised her hand. “Excuse me, teacher. I actually got to know Blair a few weeks ago so I figured I could be in charge of that? If you don’t mind, of course”. She smiled politely, almost like if that was the only way to have Delaney agree to it.
Delaney shrugged and was about to say something in response when there was a knock on the door. A small woman, wearing a pink blazer and glasses that were definitely too big for her face, opened the door and positioned herself by the doorframe.
“That’s the principal.” Armin leaned forward and whispered. “You do not want to be wandering around the hallways if she’s around, trust me.”
“Armin, do you wanna share that conversation with the rest of the class?” Delaney stared at him, causing the boy to straighten his back and stare at the walls. “Yes, Mrs. Shermansky? May I help with something?” She asked.
“Everything is fine, Nadine.” The principal had a very soothing voice and waved her hand, as to demonstrate that nothing major had happened. “Sorry to interrupt your class, it’s just that someone was wandering around. So I decided to help him find the classroom.”
“Oh, I wonder who that is.” Delaney smiled mischievously and a boy entered the classroom. He was tall, had red hair and was wearing a black jacket with a red shirt underneath. Judging by the look on his face, it was safe to assume that he and Delaney didn’t have the best relationship. “Thank you, Mrs. Shermansky. I’ll take it from here.”
The principal nodded, closing the door behind her and leaving the boy standing besides Delaney.
“So how’s my year going to be, Castiel?” Delaney crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.
He shrugged. “You tell me. I was just walking around, didn’t realize you were missing me so much.” He said sarcastically, his tone clearly challenging the teacher.
Delaney scanned him. She looked at Rosa, then Blair and smiled, like she just had the best idea. “Since you love ‘walking around’, I’m sure you won’t mind showing the school to the new girl.” She pointed to Blair and looked back at him. “Unless you want to start your year with two assignments. You know, because you have so much free time to not bother to be in my class on time.”
Castiel sighed and made his way towards an empty chair at the back of the room, making quick eye contact with Blair. Damn, it’s clear that he’s pissed.
“But… Ms. Delaney, I thought that Rosa was going to–”
Blair was interrupted by Delaney’s annoyed tone. “Enough. We’re already dragging this way too much. Anyway, let me explain to everyone how this year is going to play out.”
Blair looked behind her, eyeing Castiel one more time. He was looking out the window, not paying attention to a single word that was being said. As she turned forward, grabbing her notebook to start making notes, she felt Rosa poking her shoulder.
“Good luck with him.” She chuckled quietly. “I think you might need it.”
Blair chuckled back at her, lowering her voice in order to not be heard.
“Huh, I wonder what makes you say that.”