The Khigir Hunters

16. Stained Hearts

It occurred to me that I completely forgot to bring Emily's horrible uniform with me, and I showed up to school without a stupid gym outfit... again.

"Yulia!" Charlotte suddenly called, skipping over to me in the parking lot. She wore a purple blouse and had her brown hair curled delicately behind her. She also had my bag and jacket with her.

"Oh, hey Charlotte, we got our things back?" I asked, taking my stuff from her.

"Yep!" She smiled. I thanked her and stuffed my jacket in my bag and slung it over my shoulder. Looking back up at Charlotte I realized she was scanning the area around us, as if weary someone was watching. I was just about to ask when I realized she was scouring for my brothers.

"Oh, don't worry," I chuckled, "they're already inside, I was just taking my time." I gestured nonchalantly.

"Good!" This instantly brightened her mood. "So I did something a little... sneaky." Charlotte looked at me with sly yet guilty eyes. It was strangely uncharacteristic.

"Did you rob a bank?" I joked. She quickly jumped back at the question, making me place my hands up in surrender. "Ok ok, you didn't rob a bank." I stifled my laughter. "So what did you do?"

"This." She pulled out a single sheet of white paper from her bag looking proud of herself.

"Um... what is it?" I asked after realizing she was too proud to elaborate.

"It's a permission slip!" She exclaimed. "I was able to convince someone in the office to approve it for me, so all you need to do is have an adult sign it for you. This way you won't have to sign up after school and can take it home with you." Charlotte gleamed with joy.

"So in other words, I could forge a signature?" A mischievous grin pulled at my lips, causing Charlotte's own smile to falter.

"Well... I did say I did do something sneaky... but that's up to you!" She quickly defended.

"Aha! So you got me this slip," I held up the paper accusingly, "even though you knew the risk of me handing in a fraudulent signature?" I teased, waving the sheet in front of her. She pursed her lips guiltily at being caught.

"Maybe but..." she stuttered.

"But?" I pushed with a wide grin. Charlotte looked at me with unsure eyes, the gears desperately turning in her head to come up with a valid answer. Nothing.

"Ok," she sighed with a defeated tone, "I may have known you'd do this-"

"Aha, I knew it!" I declared triumphantly, holding the paper high.

"But," she quickly continued, causing me to cock an eyebrow, "I couldn't really be certain so it's up to you!" She bit her lip nervously at being caught, all the while her eyes danced with mischief.

"Fair enough." I smirked, crossing my arms. Right now I am so proud of my little friend that I could literally pat her head. Ah, screw it. I reached over and ruffled her brunette hair, earning a disproving squeal.

"Yuliaaaa..." She complained, ridding my hand from her head. I chuckled. Despite Leon's restrictions on me signing up for school activities, I decided to let this one slide by. After all, what he doesn't know couldn't hurt him, right?

"Thanks." I smiled down at Charlotte, grateful that I could already have such a great friend on my second day.

"Sure thing."