Soft Spot

Back To The Bridge

It's the day before the students show up at the School for Good and Evil, and us teachers are in our mandatory meeting, which, thank goodness, is soon coming to a close. 

I'm sitting in between Dovey and Lesso who are arguing with each other across me. 

"Evil hasn't won in centuries and I want to see something done to fix that problem!" Lesso yells from your right.

"Well good has always won and always will simply because we are good, so unless you nevers are going to become evers, I see no solution to this problem." Dovey argues back.

Fed up with the bickering, I stand up pressing my hands against both of the women saying, "Instead of fighting about this why don't we come up with a solution that helps the both of you."

They sit down looking at me, listening, both with their arms crossed. 

I move away from the table and walk around it while talking, "the thing we need to bring to this school is balance. Balance can not happen if one side defeats the other, therefore, we need to find a way to coexist together." 

I hear Lesso scoff, and I turn to her. "Do you have a problem Lesso?"

"Only that we all know the only reason good wins is because of all the frilly lace and royalty" she says, clearly annoyed. 

I smirk slightly, knowing that, in all honesty, she's right. "Be that as it may Lesso, have we not strived to bring balance to these schools? What will evil winning do to rebalance the scales? If evil truly hasn't won in centuries, you would have to win for the next who knows how many years in order to rebalance that scale. How does that truly bring balance to the people attending this school needing that balance now?"

Lesso jus looks at me mouth agape, not thinking I would have such a good argument. 

I catch the schoolmasters eye and sit back down as he stands "Ms. Alfaro you make some good points, however, we are out of time for this meeting. Now would be a great time to go prepare for the students arriving tomorrow." He walks out of the room as my fellow teachers, and myself follow closely behind him.

As we're walking out I hear Lesso say to Dovey, "Yes Clarissa, you must have a lot of preparing to do seeing as you spend so much time on your looks." I laugh as I push past them and into the library next door.

 The first thing I do upon entering is slump into the nearest armchair. I was nervous for the following day, but fully prepared for my classes, so there was nothing else I could do except wait. 

I hear the library door open and look up to see Lesso standing there. She leans against the doorframe and asks "what are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be prepping for students?"

I stand up to level with her and answer "I was going to catch up on some reading. I'm as prepared as I'm going to get."

She just looks at me and walks off saying over her shoulder, "Well, I'll be in my office should you need anything."

I look after her with an odd expression on my face. I shake it off and then turn to peruse the many books in the library. I finally settle on one about magical plants. I take it off the shelf and go sit back down in my chair. I start reading, but can't concentrate on the book. My thoughts are filled with Lady Lesso. 

I let out an annoyed sigh as I snap my book shut. I stand up and walk out of the library going to my favorite reading spot. I walk to the middle of the bridge separating the schools and look over the edge at the breathtaking view. I shake myself out of my reverie and go to my spot: a notch in the ledge of the bridge, perfect for sitting on. I sit down and I pull out my book again.

I'm still too distracted with my thoughts to read, so I put my book down next to me and pull my legs to my chest looking out over the river. My thoughts wander from missing this school, to missing home, and, eventually, to Lady Lesso.

I groan and turn so my back is against the wall of the ledge. I can't have Lesso taking up all of my thoughts. Not again. I was afraid this would happen, but so far I had done a pretty good job of avoiding the woman. My thoughts now wander to our time together while I was at school. I smile and start to tear up as I remember the fling we had the last few weeks of me attending the school in my "youth" (I attended the school later than most, so I was 19 when I went). Lesso and I had gotten to know each other pretty well in my time there, and the last few weeks before graduation, we had the most beautiful, meaningful relationship a never and ever could have together. I smile and start to sob as I remember the days we spent together, picnicking in small clearings in the forest, taking late night strolls around the grounds, secret dinner dates under the stars, secret, shared kisses in empty hallways and on the very bridge I'm sitting on. But those days were long gone. Right after graduation I had walked up to Leonora and ended things right then and there. I still regret it to this day, but I suppose there's nothing much I can do about it now.

I sit there and just cry for a while. I'm so lost in my thoughts I don't hear the faint clicking of someone's cane coming nearer to me from the direction of the Never castle. 

A/N: First chapter OMG! I feel like this is really short, so I'll try to make them a bit longer in the future :)