The Best Moments Of Our Lives

Hell Before Heaven

A/N: It's been....a long time. I'll keep this short by saying sorry for the wait.

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It had been a long day for Stahl Quid, student at Ylisse High, and Mr. Wallace rambling on about some book ages older than even himself wasn't exactly helping. Boredom was more welcome than most of the other problems he had been facing today.

Stahl, by all means, an average student at the pretty ritzy school in Ylisstol, somehow got himself in the radar of 2 of the most popular girls in school.

One was Maribelle, daughter of a writer/ publisher duo, had confided in Stahl about her relationship issues before gym earlier in the day. He had given her some simple advice, but the girl seemed to think it was revolutionary. She was so grateful, even, that she decided to talk to Stahl after class to learn more about this guy she had barely said 2 sentences to before.

The reason she hadn't interacted him him wasn't exactly unknown, either. Maribelle held herself like a noble who knew her privilege and liked to hang around the most popular, pretty, and well-off students of the school. The only outlier in this group, funnily enough, was her boyfriend Gregor.

This uppity, cold personality of hers was just one side of her, though. Stahl soon learned this in their short but eventful conversation they had while heading to their next class. This one conversation had lit a spark of conflicted thoughts in Stahl's mind. Hating himself for it, he actually started feeling for the noble girl.

As if that wasn't enough, the other girl Stahl had seeming stumbled into the interest of was none other than the "Queen of the School" Cordelia Xalty.

Cordelia, the daughter of the school's headmaster, was always followed by a gaggle of students who were all trying to become friends for her for various reasons. Some thought the redhead was the prettiest, sweetest, and most gifted student in the school. The last point was objectively true. She was consistently placed at the top of the class in grades.

Some people, Stahl included, seemed to be infatuated with her for no particular reason at all besides the fact she was "the Queen." That infatuation had made him turn into a walking pile of mush any time the girl so much as looked at him.

Stahl's massive crush on intelligent redhead had caused him to reach his current situation. Some time had passed, and it was after notmal classes, and while other students had study hall during this time, the brunette was currently sitting in the A/V room with a handful of other students in detention. Across the room, doodling gods know what in a sketchbook, was Henry. The white-haired goth was a brat, to put it kindly. He had attempted to pull a crude joke on Stahl in first period, doodling up a childish version of Stahl running away blushing from a laughing Cordelia.

He was probably going to show it to his buddies and few others to mess with the brunette, but Stahl had made a scene and ended up getting them both in trouble. So he was here, staring a hole through the silverette occasionally while still being very much troubled by the thoughts he was having about the girls.

Stahl wasn't normally one to worry about girls and relationships, actually being pretty adverse to the idea of holding himself up to the standards of another person. He thought of himself as middling at best in looks, maybe a little handsome on a day where he actually tried. His personality was very plain, being a homebody most of the time and hanging out with the same group of people every afternoon. Typical high-school stuff, really.

This situation, needless to say, was very different for him. And while he can admit that Maribelle was simply being nice and was actually curious about Stahl since the two don't talk much at all, Cordelia was a whole other can of worms. Unlike Maribelle, the red-haired royalty wasn't spoken for, as far as Stahl knew anyway. And while she and Stahl shared 2 classes, they never really interacted with each other more than a basic head nod or a thanks for holding the door while they were leaving or entering.