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Drift's head is pillowed on her arms and her eyes are starting to slip closed as she listens to the teacher droning on at the front of the classroom, something about the proper components for a ritual that Drift is barely paying attention to. She sits in the back of the room, Shelby next to her looking just as bored.
At the front, the smarter or more attentive ones are sitting up straight, participating and asking the teacher questions. Drift isn't surprised to hear Megii's voice among the group, curious and eager to answer. She's just about to fall asleep completely when a foot hooks around her ankle, tugging it, and she tilts her head in Shelby's direction with a frown. Shelby isn't looking at her, however, the wind mage doodling something on a scrap of paper in front of her, one hand messing with the end of her braid.
Drift blinks, turning in the cradle of her arms to look over at what was originally an empty seat beside her. Instead, AJ now sits there, meeting Drift's gaze with a lidded smirk that genuinely makes Drift want to punch her.
"What?" she hisses out, glaring at the other girl. AJ just puts a finger to her lips, looking way too amused with herself, and points to the front of the class.
Yeah fucking right. Like she's even paying attention to what the teacher's saying. Come to think of it, Drift hadn't actually seen her when the class started, which brings up the question of where the fuck did she come from? That's less important, though, compared to why AJ feels the need to get her attention now of all times.
Honestly, half of Drift wants to peer into AJ's head, get a look at what the fuck goes through her mind and how she thinks, because the shit that comes out of her mouth and what she does ranges from stupid to inappropriate to just plain annoying with very little in between. The other half of her never wants to see what the hell goes through her mind. It probably wouldn't make much sense anyway.
Irritated, Drift sits up, grabbing a notebook from her bag and tearing a page from it as quietly as she can. Her boredom has dissipated, replaced by exasperation with whatever the hell AJ's doing. And maybe a small amount of curiosity at it as well, not that Drift would ever admit it.
what do you want, she scribbles quickly, sliding the paper over to AJ.
She watches the other girl as she reads it, raising an eyebrow, mouth curving up in that stupid smile of hers. Drift feels restless all of a sudden and curls her fingers into fists on the tabletop.
AJ slides the paper back to her. why do you think i want something, open book?
Oh, fuck her. Drift is so close to just punching her and saying fuck it to the consequences—she can't be serious, can she? It's so fucking hard to tell with AJ; most of the time, she acts like she doesn't give a shit about anything, or else she's just being aggravating to get a rise out of someone. Actually…Drift can't think of a time she's ever been serious.
But she knows there's more to AJ than she lets on. She passed the stupid dragon initiation test, after all, when a load of other people died or got burnt alive in some grisly manner. A dragon picked her for whatever reason, so there has to be more to her.
Drift just has yet to see it, as does literally everyone else.
you're literally touching my ankle right now. keep it up and i'll start to think you're obsessed with me
AJ lets out a quiet snort of laughter, unwinding her foot from where it rests against Drift. She passes the paper back a second later, leaning back in her chair like she doesn't have a care in the world. Drift rolls her eyes, reading her response.
don't know what you mean, open book
This fucking girl. Drift is actually going to kill her. Shelby will help hide the body, surely.
Her eyes flick down to the second line of text, written below the first one.
wanna get out of here?
The tone of it feels different, somehow—more hesitant, less teasing. Drift tells herself she's just imagining things and looks over at AJ, raising an eyebrow. AJ, as if she can feel her eyes on her, grins at her, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes with two fingers. She flashes it at Drift, waggling her brows as if to say, You up for it?
Drift exhales slowly through clenched teeth, glancing to the front of the room where the teacher is still going on, and then to Shelby beside her, still apparently unaware of the exchange taking place between her and AJ.
What the hell, she thinks, and nods at AJ, whose grin somehow gets wider and more smug. She turns back to the front and Drift has half a second to wonder what she's doing before she raises her hand, crooked lazily at the elbow and fingers curled like she couldn't be bothered to put in full effort. How hard can it be to just raise your hand?
Actually, what exactly does AJ think she's doing? Is she trying to get them both in trouble or something? Drift glances around nervously, but nobody else has noticed anything is up besides the teacher, who raises an eyebrow and sighs.
"Yes, in the back?"
"Yeah, me and Drift here are gonna have to leave early you see." Drift has to bite back on her instinct, which is to grab AJ and ask what the fuck she's thinking right now. She can feel the confused eyes of Shelby on her, and turns to offer a noncommittal grimace to the other girl.
"Would love to stick around," AJ is saying, "but we've got a note from the Professor, so."
Drift wants to strangle her. They don't have any note, and the Professor hates her. She can see how this will turn out—the teacher scoffing and making them both stay after class, or worse, sending them to the Professor to explain themselves.
"Bring the note down here," the teacher sighs. AJ grins, standing and glancing back at Drift with a slightly daring look on her face. It seems to say you coming? And as much as Drift doesn't want to get in trouble, she also doesn't want to back down. Especially not when it's AJ. She gets up as well, following AJ out of the row and down to the front of the class.
"Here you go," AJ says when they reach the teacher's desk, holding out a slip of paper. Drift blinks, thrown off. She didn't expect AJ to actually have a note, which begs the question: is she actually taking Drift to the Professor?
The teacher takes it and reads it, brows pinching together, before handing it back. "Go on, then."
AJ offers a salute as she goes, a smug smirk curving the corners of her mouth. Drift trails after, ignoring the curious gazes of Megii, Shelby, Scott, and Pyro as she follows AJ out.
Once in the halls of the Academy, footsteps echoing around them, she lasts all of about five seconds before demanding, "What was that?"
"What was what?" AJ asks, but she's still grinning, and Drift can tell she knows what she means. She wants to slap that stupid smile off of her face. Her hand twitches at her side before she takes a deep breath and holds her anger down.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"Do I, open book?" AJ turns, cocking an eyebrow. "I'm talented in plenty of ways, but I'm not a mind reader. You'll have to be a little more specific." Her tone drips with amusement, and the emphasis she lays on plenty shivers down Drift's spine, the implication behind those words.
Drift shakes it away and rolls her eyes. "Sure, okay. We're not actually going to see the Professor, are we?"
"No, we're not, nice of you to keep up, open book." This fucking—
Drift pushes it down. "So how did you get that note?"
AJ tosses Drift a quick glance, somewhere between amused and concerned. It feels vaguely condescending. Drift prickles at it. "Wrote it myself."
"Wh—" Drift glances around, but of course, everyone else is still in that class. It's only her and AJ and the endless, empty halls of the Academy. "You lied?" she hisses.
AJ rolls her eyes. "Yes, good job figuring out what everyone else already knew, open book." Drift opens her mouth to argue but is cut off by, "Obviously I lied. We weren't gonna get out of there otherwise."
"Why do you even care?" Drift challenges, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't like me."
"Now where did you ever get that impression?" AJ asks, throwing Drift a wink. She has to hold herself back from punching that eye. "You really need to stop jumping to conclusions, open book. You'll give yourself whiplash."
Before Drift can even respond to that (and she certainly has a myriad of ways she would, because AJ cannot be fucking serious—) AJ has spun around to face Drift, arms held out in a grand showcase gesture as she leads them out into a courtyard.
There are dozens of courtyards at the Academy, of course, though none of them serve any real purpose. The one AJ has brought them to, however, is smaller and somewhat overgrown with flowers and bushes, making it feel more secluded than it is. Drift never would've imagined such a place existed at the carefully pristine school. But it does, and AJ found it. AJ brought her here.
Drift struggles not to let her surprise or wonder show on her face and clearly fails miserably, because AJ smirks. "It's pretty, isn't it?"
"It's alright," Drift grumbles, not willing to give her the satisfaction anyway. Annoyingly, AJ's smile only widens. Drift really, deeply wants to slap it right off of her.
"Oh, come on, open book," AJ drawls, leaning back against a wall. "Lighten up a little!" She tugs the pack of cigarettes out of her pocket, pinching it between her thumb and forefinger as she holds it up for Drift. "You first."
"Are they poisoned or something?" Drift asks suspiciously.
AJ lets out a sharp laugh at that, similar to a crow's caw, and Drift clenches her hands into fists to distract herself from the way her heart stutters at that sound. It's…objectively, not a bad sound. Drift wishes it was, though. Then maybe she wouldn't want to hear it again and again.
"No, they're not poisoned, Drift." The way AJ's voice curls warmly around her name makes Drift freeze.
"Am I dying, or did you just use my actual name?" she asks incredulously.
"Oh, you're definitely dying. Someone better call out the medics and the stretcher."
Drift scoffs. "You're an asshole," she grumbles, leaning one shoulder against the rough stone behind her.
AJ shrugs, unbothered. "I've been called worse." She slides a cigarette out and offers it to Drift with an expectant look. And—
Drift has never actually smoked before, or drank, or done…well, anything. Being a princess kind of excluded her from that. But that's kind of why she came here in the first place, was to be a normal person for once.
She takes the cigarette. AJ grins, and Drift gets the uncomfortable feeling that she's passed some kind of test.
"How do I…" she asks, gesturing vaguely, fully expecting to get teased for it.
AJ, surprisingly, doesn't make fun of her for it. Instead, she takes out her own cigarette and sticks it in her mouth, talking around it as she slides the pack back into her pocket and takes out a battered lighter. "Just like this," she explains, demonstrating by lighting the tip and taking a drag, sucking smoke down into her lungs. Drift stares at the hollows of her cheeks as she does so.
She exhales a gray cloud into the air, curling into abstract shapes as it floats upwards. Drift's gaze darts from it to AJ and finds her eyes already on her.
"Want me to light it for you?" AJ asks quietly, and Drift nods quickly. She puts the end of the cigarette into her mouth, tensing as AJ leans into her space, one hand cupping her cheek and the other bringing the lighter up to the tip. "Relax, open book," AJ murmurs, thumb stroking briefly over her cheek. Drift's heart does something funny in her chest. She's grateful when it lights and AJ moves back, returning to her own spot against the wall.
She tries not to miss the loss, taking a drag of her cig and immediately coughing as the smoke fills her chest. "What the fuck," she wheezes, "how can you do this?"
"Eh, you get the hang of it, open book," AJ says, sounding amused. Drift glares up at her with somewhat watery eyes and flips her off. AJ just laughs. "Aw, you're almost cute like that."
"Fuck off," Drift bites out. "What's your problem?"
"Too many to list," AJ says cheerfully, taking another drag of her cigarette. She's uncharacteristically quiet for a moment as Drift silently fumes, questioning why she even agreed to this. She watches her silently. AJ sighs, blowing out more smoke and staring at it as it dissipates into the air. Looking at her in profile is almost too much to bear, but Drift can't stand to look away. Her eyes are drawn to AJ like a magnet, pulled by the other's easy confidence and sharp smile, as much as Drift tries to resist it.
"I kissed the windy one," AJ says, casual, like they're discussing the weather. It's a sharp left turn and Drift blinks, adjusting to it. Jealousy rises up in her, burning her throat and settling strangely in her stomach, a bitter taste. Someone else kissed AJ, someone else got to feel the warm thrum of her skin under their lips, she let someone else close enough to do that. It stings, and more than that, it hurts.
It's stupid, because Drift has no claim to AJ. She isn't hers. They don't even like each other, despite sharing a smoke while skipping class, because AJ is AJ and Drift is Drift. They argue, they tease each other, they get under each others' skin. The energy that hums between them isn't friendly in the slightest.
(If Drift were a better person she'd admit that it's mostly AJ getting under her skin, because nothing she says seems to bother the other girl, and it's infuriating. Drift wants to poke her until she snaps, just to see what it would look like, but she has more common sense than that.
It doesn't stop her from trying.)
The second thing that Drift processes from that sentence is that the “windy one” is Shelby. That thought cuts deep into her heart, almost causing her physical pain. Shelby, of all people, was the one who kissed AJ. Who did it before Drift. Who—
Drift bites her lip and says nothing. It’s fine. She wants to know what Shelby’s lips against her own would feel like almost as much as she wants to know what the same sensation would be if AJ were the one to be doing it instead of Shelby. She wants…she just wants. Both of them.
The jealousy isn’t just over AJ anymore, but also over Shelby. Drift swallows it down and struggles to keep her voice level, calm, as she says, “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” AJ hums, a razor blade smirk curving her mouth. “She’s not half bad at it, y’know.”
Drift clenches her fingers, counts to ten in her head, unclenches them. “Why are you telling me this, huh? Are you so desperate to tell me all about your exploits?” Her voice doesn’t just sound annoyed; it has a bite to it that’s usually lacking in her barbs at AJ.
“You tell me, open book.” She shrugs, sucking down another lungful of smoke. “Seemed like the type of information you’d want to know.” She exhales on the words, smoke pouring out of her lips, and Drift swallows hard. It’s unreasonably attractive. She mentally slaps herself.
“Why do you say that?” she asks instead, bristling in the way only AJ can make her do.
AJ only gives her a sideways grin. Her two front teeth have a gap between them. Drift never noticed it before. She swallows hard and focuses on the ground underfoot, tall grasses sprouting up around their ankles.
"I don't like Shelby," she mutters, as much to herself as to AJ. Sure, Shelby is clever, and funny, and kind, and stubbornly brave, and she has a way of looking at things that always makes Drift smile, and when she turns to Drift with those bright eyes it feels like anything in the world is possible…but Drift doesn't like her. Drift doesn't have a crush on anyone, let alone one of her best friends, because that's something she left behind ages ago, when she was still an awkward teenager.
"I didn't say you did," AJ hums, unbothered.
Drift looks up sharply. "Yeah?" she demands, voice edged with metal. "It certainly sounded like you were implying it. What with the whole 'seems like the type of information you'd like to know'."
"Only an observation, open book. Aren't you two close? I thought you'd want to know all the sordid details of her love life."
Drift looks away, cheeks burning. "That's not what friends do. Though it doesn't surprise me that you don't know that, considering you don't have any."
AJ barks on another laugh. "Open book!" she exclaims, delighted. "You're feisty today, aren't you?!"
"Whatever," Drift growls, dropping her mostly-unsmoked cigarette to the ground and stomping on it with the heel of her boot. "I don't even know why I agreed to this when you are one of the most infuriating people I've ever met—"
"Aw, you don't mean that," AJ gushes. "Say it again, that's so kind of you—"
"Shut up," Drift seethes, stalking closer. AJ doesn't move and doesn't even look bothered, just keeps watching her with a placid smile that Drift just itches to punch. AJ has such a punchable face. Her anger feels like a pot boiling over, spilling things she doesn't want to think about over the edge, and she definitely doesn't want to think about why it's even boiling over in the first place.
Seemed like the type of information you’d want to know.
"You are so fucking irritating, swaggering through this place like you own it, acting like everyone you meet loves you when you don't even bother to learn the most basic things about them—"
"Open book, you wound me!" AJ exclaims, looking immensely like she's enjoying herself. Drift rolls her eyes.
"Why did I think you'd care?" she mutters, turning back to the entrance. "I'm leaving."
"Wait, open book—"
Drift keeps walking.
"Drift, wait—"
That nearly pauses her for a moment, but she doesn't falter, and AJ doesn't try again. She keeps going until she's back inside the Academy, until she's far away from that secluded little courtyard, until she's well lost within the twisted halls of the building.
Drift keeps walking, footsteps echoing like a heartbeat around her, pulse racing.
Seemed like the type of information you’d want to know.
Seemed like the type of information you’d want to know.
Seemed like the type of information you’d want to know.
Drift is…Drift was important. She tried to be perfect. She wanted to be perfect, wanted her father to be proud of her. And yet nothing she did ever seemed to be good enough.
She doesn't have to be perfect now, though. She doesn't have that pressure.
Seemed like the type of information you’d want to know.
It needles at her, like wearing an uncomfortable gown, or feeling watched, or something equally as nerve-racking. It hums along her bones like a chainsaw, leaving her on edge.
Seemed like the type of information you’d want to know.
Drift blows out a heavy sigh, dragging her hands down her face.
She really just doesn't know what to do, or think, or anything. Not for the first time in her life, she feels horribly out of her depth, only now, she doesn't know how to fix it. And she can't exactly run away again and hope that solves it.
Drift feels helpless. It's not something she likes feeling, which is funny, considering how often she feels it.
She sinks down to the floor in the middle of a random empty hallway, curls her knees up to her chest, and tries desperately not to cry.