The Forbidden Six

May 25th, 1933

With a new school, there was an entirely new schedule. Otto, Mena, Werner, Pieter, Leyna, and Liese barely had any classes together and every day was a drag. The only class they all had together was art.

After history that morning, Werner ran at top speed to the art classroom. He knocked over a few students on his way there. They yelled after his retreating form as their friends helped them up. Werner didn't care. He knew they would be fine and he didn't have time to help them, anyway.

Inside the classroom, the sixth graders were still cleaning up. One student was wiping up some paint and Werner sat near him. The kid gave him a wary look and Werner awkwardly smiled. He patted a rhythm on the table before the teacher told him to stop.

Werner swiveled around in the stool to look at the teacher. She smiled at him and went back to writing a letter to someone. The door opened and he quickly turned to the door, hoping it was one of his friends. It wasn't the person he was looking for and his posture slumped. The next student to come into the classroom was Mena.

"You." She pointed at him with mock-intensity in her eyes. He pointed right back at her.

Mena laughed and sat in her usual spot across from Werner. Soon the rest of the students filtered in. Mena smiled when she saw the rest of her friends. They all sat down and began to paint. The class had been working on a series of spring paintings for a few class periods and today they were finally finishing them up.

"How was everyone's day so far?" Otto asked.

"It was okay," Liese answered, dipping her brush in green paint. She swirled it around for a moment, watching it. "I love my math teacher but my German teacher is really rude to me which is ironic considering I love to write and read."

"Oh no. What happened?" Werner asked with a concerned look.

"I read a book in one day and my teacher told me that I didn't comprehend any of it." She frowned. "He's a dummkopf. I would be a better teacher than him and I don't even have a teaching degree. I suppose anyone's better than Frau Keller. I haven't been hit yet, so that's a plus."

"Bold of him to assume that you aren't amazing," Mena said. Liese smiled in response.

The classroom was quiet for a few seconds as the friends stopped talking. It didn't last for long because Mena and Werner started bickering. Mena flung paint in his direction and splattered his blond hair with light purple paint. Werner in return, flung some back and Mena's tan skin was dotted with green. Liese took Mena's paintbrush from her hands and Pieter wrestled the paintbrush from Werner's grasp. Liese admonished both of them before handing them back.

"I don't really like it here," Leyna whispered, leaning over the table.

"I agree," Mena said. "Everyone at this school calls me 'Meh-nuh' because of the 'e' in my name."

"And someone called me a filly," Liese complained.

"That's so rude. I wish we still had our classes together." Werner sighed. "This class is my favorite because I get to see my friends."

"You're just happy because you get to see Liese," Leyna speculated with a smirk.

"You're just making things up because we want you to be with Pieter." Werner gestured to the boy on his right. Pieter flushed a deep red and quickly looked down at his painting.

"That is the most disgusting thing you've ever said. Why Pieter? Why not someone...better?" Leyna screwed her face into a churlish expression.

Pieter tilted his head so his hair covered his eyes. He blinked hard and tried to focus on his painting. It was their tree. He even snuck in little symbols that represented his friends. For Liese there was a locket hanging off one of the branches of the willow tree, for Mena and Leyna there was a pencil, Otto was an owl partially hidden by the branches, and Werner was a small bug on top of a rock.