Olivia's Strange Week

Face to Face

Emily and I walk out of the classroom, the tension of this year's final exam finally lifted. I let out a deep sigh, stretching my arms up, along with the sheet of paper I'm holding. "Freedom! Finally!" I bring my corrected exam to eye level once again, as if to reassure myself that it wasn't an illusion, but the result couldn't be clearer. A seven, written in bold red ink. Far from the results I've come to expect from myself, but considering all the crazy stuff that had happened since last week, I am happy to have passed.

Emily just crumples up her exam into a ball and throws it over the shoulder, hitting some girl from our class in the face. She's about to say something, but then she sees it was Emily who threw the paper and decides to remain silent. Boons of being known as the crazy girl, I suppose, you didn't have to act like you cared.

"That was rude," I tell her, because nobody will otherwise.

"Huh?" Emily cocks her head, genuinely confused. "What was rude?"

"You threw that paper into that girl's face," I point at Emily's victim. She has short blond hair and slightly tan skin, no doubt result of the heat. "You should-" Without even letting me finish, Emily walks up to the girl, who freezes when she sees her approaching. Her body quickly relaxes once Emily starts apologizing. A warm feeling spreads inside my chest. It's nice to know I'm doing something good, even in the smallest way. After all is said and done, Emily returns to me, and the blonde girl stays there with a face of total shock.

"Happy?" Emily asks, monotone.

"Very much, thank you," I answer, smug. "Why are you so rude sometimes? Everyone sees you as this crazy girl, you know?"

"It's complicated."

"Then un-complicate it."

Emily groans.

"None of that, Em. Explain it to me. There was a lot of talk about you being a b-" I bite my tongue, "-a mean person, and when I see you do that, those rumors get confirmed. So what gives? Why are you like that sometimes?"

"Look," she says, making a pause. We are in the outer patio of the building, the front gate ten meters away. Around us, the crowd is clearing out, seems this won't be a normal conversation. "When Adelle figured out who I was and why I'd come to this town, she began to stalk me. She used some girls from this school to start fights with me, to spread rumors, so I'd be isolated, and any attempt to reach out was useless. Seems she did pretty fucking well."

"But she didn't throw that piece of paper, did she now?" I ask. "Seems to me you're just taking any convenient excuse to blame her."

"That's the thing, it seems. I am the crazy girl who gets mad at everything and starts fights for no reason, so it's fucking impossible that I made the mistake of throwing a piece of paper to someone's face. It must have been intentional, there's no other fucking explanation, and so those rumors get confirmed, and people Adelle isn't even controlling also join in treating me like shit, so I'm more irritated, and-"

"Okay, okay!" I stop her. "I get it, geez."

"Good," Emily states, then just keeps walking.

She seems pretty frustrated by me mentioning her reputation, but a small part of my stupid brain can't help poking the bear further, "Why did you need to throw that paper, though? That was your exam, wasn't it? It's pretty important."

"To you, perhaps," Emily shrugs. "But I'm only here for Adelle. There's no reason for me to study beyond the minimum to not be expelled."

"Huh," I say. That certainly wasn't something I've considered. "Do you do something for a living, then? When you're not on one of your..." I look around, seems the coast is clear, "...missions?"