The Forbidden Six

September 13th, 1937

That Wednesday morning, Leyna spun into school with a smile on her face. It was the last year of school before going to college. She had big plans in life. She was going to go to the University of Kassel and was going to learn how to be a teacher. Specifically, a math teacher. Frau Keller had taught her that there were not enough good math teachers in the world. She strived to be the first one.

"Hey, Pieter," she said as she passed him in the hall.

"Why are you so happy?" he asked.

"I'll tell you at lunch. See you later!" She bounced off to her class, leaving a bewildered Pieter standing in the hall. Someone knocked into him and the books in his arms went flying. Leyna turned and saw him scrambling to gather his things. He piled books into his arms before dropping them again. He would be fine on his own. She rounded the corner.

After first period ended, Pieter saw Otto walking in the same hall as him. "Have you seen Leyna today?" he queried as he ran to catch up with him.

Otto nodded. "Ja. She's in my first class. Why?"

"She's really happy today. And I know that she hates school. Also, the year just started and it's the first period," he explained. "So what reason does she have?"

"You're overthinking this," Otto said.

"I am not!"

Otto nodded, unconvinced. Checking his watch, he said goodbye to Pieter and headed to class. They arrived at their language class and sat in their assigned seats. They exchanged a smile from across the room.

When lunch time finally arrived, they went to their meeting place for lunch. They had eaten lunch in the same spot since they had arrived at the school: outside of the music room.

"I bet you're all wondering why I'm so happy." Leyna sat and smoothed her skirt. "It's very unlike me, as you may have noticed."

"Why don't you just keep us waiting a little longer?" Otto sarcastically said. Mena snickered.

Leyna shot him a look and started to speak. "I got a new boyfriend. His name is Henry and he's American. He only moved here a few years ago. He can speak German. His accent is terrible and it's really funny. He has an American accent, though and it's really cute," Leyna squealed. "And he has a lot of money." She smiled. Liese exchanged a glance with Werner. After Leyna had concluded her speech, Liese leaned over to Werner.

"Ley's not a golddigger, right?" Liese whispered.

"Maybe. Doesn't seem above her."

Liese pursed her lips. Werner shrugged.

Everyone except for Pieter congratulated her, although some members of the six were more reluctant.

"Where did you meet?" Mena asked.

"At the park." They had both gone to feed the birds. Leyna had forgotten her bird seed so she shared with Henry. The group had learned his entire life story by the time lunch was ending. They even knew his favorite cheese: Colby Jack; a very American thing for him to choose.

"He's amazing," she gushed.

"Maybe you should just go live with him if you love him so much," Pieter mumbled under his breath.

Leyna stared at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you jealous?"

"No. Not at all. I'm just saying if you think he's so amazing then you should go live with him because you clearly like him better than us!" he shot back.

Liese and Mena shared a look as the two argued in front of them.

"He's my boyfriend. I like him in a different way than I like you and Mena and the others," she explained, exasperation terribly hidden in her voice.