The school had been in a solemn atmosphere since the festival. There had been an extensive memorial service for the students who had died in the attack. Some students even left school out of fear. Shadoe had not spoken to any of them for several weeks. It was clear she was furious at them even though they all believed it to be a ridiculous reason. They tried to talk to her about it but she would either not respond, walk away, or in Kai's case: punch him in the face. They decided it might be best to let her cool off on her own after that. Dawn resumed her lessons with Ms. Danner but it seemed their attempt to save Shadoe demoted her from scrying lessons for the time being. The only time Ethan ever saw Shadoe was during student council meetings, although she refused to talk or sit near him from now on.
"Now, as we all know this month is the Lovers Moon," Rosaline began one of her many announcements for the social chair as usual. However, this time she stood with the treasurer, Alice Hunter. "and while this holiday usually passes by unnoticed by many we would like to take the opportunity to utilize its charm."
"This year we'd like to hold a sale of moon cakes just like in the legend of the Lovers Moon."
"For those of you who don't know, the story goes that a servant boy fell in love with the daughter of a general and the only way he could communicate his love for her was in the moon cakes he would bring from the kitchen. It was their secret way to meet if the daughter ordered the moon cakes at any hour of the day. The general found out about their love and forbade it. However, a war had been brewing and the general enlisted the boy in his army. When he left the girl learned the recipe of the moon cakes to send to the troops and her servant friend who went between the battle field and their house would take them for her. However, the boy died in the battle but the daughter still made the moon cakes and would bring them to his grave." Rosaline choked back her tears.
"We all know the story, what's the purpose of the sale?" Andrew asked in annoyance. Alice spoke up again to let Rosaline dry her tears.
"We would raise the money in order to buy new cauldrons for brewing. Many of them are old, worn, and broken. Some even have holes in them and it's becoming difficult for all students to work during class. We'd be making this a school-wide competition. The class that raises the most money will earn a day trip to town during a school day."
"What does Principal Crane have to say?" Hugo asked.
"He's all for it if we can raise enough volunteers to sell the cakes." Alice answered.
"So how do you propose we recruit people?" The fourth year rep asked.
"You could tell the first years it's mandatory." Shadoe snickered but everyone turned to face her in surprise. Shadoe rarely spoke in meetings and when she did it was only when asked. "I was just kidding." She folded her arms and looked away.
"Why don't we sell them?" Ethan interjected sending all the heads towards him. "After all we are the student council."
"Excellent idea!" Rosaline said happily. "I'll organize the shifts for the Lovers' Moon and Alice will call the bakery for the cakes. We'll also include personalized messages to go with the cakes and deliver them during dinner." She clapped her hands together. "This will be great, everyone!" While Rosaline and Alice were enthusiastic for the event, the rest of the student council seemed annoyed.
"Moon cakes?" Kai said in disgust as he, Ethan, and Eugene sat in his dorm room. "How ridiculous." He sat on the floor and crumbled up a piece of paper to throw into the trash can like a basketball.
