The Unfortunate

Brief

"You know what I think? She just doesn't want to admit that she doesn't know what the hell she's talking about half the time. Honestly, there's no way we'll need this in the future-unless you wanna be a sciencey-type-nerd like Lise-so there's no point in it!" Estelle ranted, waving her arms around dramatically. Dawn nodded in silent agreement, while Lise rolled her eyes indifferently. "Seriously, nobody cares where the electrons are in orbitals!" The fourth person at the table, a stout girl with straight black hair and glasses too small for her face, looked visibly upset by Estelle's words.
"Estelle," The lunch table's newest member began carefully, licking her lips. "I do not think it is appropriate to speak about a teacher that way. Teachers deserve respect from students because they willingly spend their time trying to better prepare us. And, the periodic table of elements is not a waste of time, it is actually very useful to know. And you're totally wrong about electron configuration-"
"Okay okay, Amanda, lemme just cut'cha off right there." Estelle deadpanned, holding a hand up as a way of blocking any more informative facts that she neither needed nor wanted. "I forgot that she was a goody goody for a sec..." Estelled muttered under her breath towards Dawn. She sighed and raised her voice once more. "M'kay... I'm so sorry that I was being so rude to Mrs. Espinoza. I was just venting my inner frustrations onto someone else when really I should've been working to fix myself. You know what, I'm going to get an A on that test! I bet that all that information will really benefit me in the future. My sincerest apologies for the outburst." Her speech ended with a big toothy grin that might have actually seemed genuine to people that didn't personally know Estelle; that explained why Amanda couldn't see an inch past her smoke and mirrors.
Lise let out a barely-audible snort from inside of her coffee cup, disbelief evident in her tone.
Amanda sniffed once. Then, she nodded slowly, her brown eyes dampening.
"Estelle, that was such a meaningful revelation. I'm so glad you've realized your mistakes and are so determined to make up for them." She placed a firm hand on Estelle's shoulder, and for a split second Estelle looked a little disgusted. "What a beautiful display of determination. What an inspiration." She continued rambling about the importance of humility, and Estelle couldn't help but visibly yawn a few times. Amanda was on the student council, as she had been since freshman year, and her personality hadn't changed a bit over the years- she was still simple-minded. That explained  why the girl thought she could solve all the world's problems, convince Lise to join her on the student council, and even change Estelle's bad academic habits, which were all impossible tasks.
"Woah!" Estelle suddenly glanced over Amanda's shoulder, feigning half-hearted shock, "Is that a bullying session I see?"
Amanda's head whipped around faster than the speed of light.
"Where?!" Amanda gasped, standing up from the table and baring her fists.
"Oh, ya just missed them! They went into the 100 building!" Estelle smiled sweetly, although from Amanda's perspective it was hidden. Dawn laughed nervously and extended a sympathetic hand towards Amanda.
"Hold on..." Dawn began, hesitant to let poor Amanda get fooled by Estelle for the millionth time. "Estelle's, um, just joking, you know-"
"I'll stop it!" Amanda promised Dawn and Estelle, a fiery determination swimming in her eyes and fogging up her glasses. She made great leaps towards the doors on the opposite side of the spacious room, abandoning her lunch tray. It was too late for Dawn to warn her of Estelle's tendency to lie. Once Amanda, the school's "beacon of justice," was set on something, there was nothing that could halt her. She was already bearing down on students, trying to scout out the fabled bully.
Dawn turned her eyes away from the confusion erupting on the other side of the cafeteria, choosing to instead cast a disappointed frown. Just why did Amanda have to be so gullible?
All throughout the ordeal, Lise had been silent and disinterested, but even she gave Estelle a disappointed look. Dawn was relieved that she wasn't the only one about to lecture Estelle about patience.
Estelle knew what was coming. She looked sheepishly between her friends, now starting to feel a little guilty herself.
Estelle chuckled happily nevertheless, albeit it being a little forced.
"Gullible! Amiright?"
"You could've handled that differently, you know." Dawn said, biting her lip in the manner she usually did when she was thinking hard about the way to word something. She looked to Lise for help, and the blonde thankfully got the message. Lise adjusted her glasses, the lights in the cafeteria making them glint dangerously.
"Dawn's right. The 100 building is so close. You could have at least told her to go to the 300's."
Dawn nearly choked on her Ginger Ale.
"That wasn't the problem!"
Amused by Dawn's exasperation, Lise gave a faint smile. Now Dawn had two people to lecture!
"Amanda's awfully active today." Three pairs of eyes moved to the source of a new voice at the same time. "Anyone care to explain?" Estelle rushed to speak first so that nobody else could spill her secret.
"Gray!" The raven greeted him, waving. "How are ya?"
Gray waved to the three and sat next to Lise, chuckling knowingly.
"I was doing great until I was cornered by a crazy woman that interrogated me about bullying." Gray shrugged as Estelle chortled. "One can only wonder who could've set her off like that."
"Yeah, I dunno." Estelle shifted one of her pigtails behind her shoulder nonchalantly.
"Hmph." Dawn huffed. She decided not to linger on the subject anymore, much to Estelle's relief. "What are you doing at first lunch, Gray?" Inquired the hazel-haired girl.
Gray grinned widely, more than eager to answer.
"I let practice end early today since everyone's been working so hard. I swear, this group's really into their roles. I'm so glad." The brunette rapidly twisted one of his curls with his finger, a curious habit that he did quite often as he spoke about his passion. "The performance is going to be so amazing-maybe even the best one yet!"
The girls couldn't help but smile at the boy's excitement. Everyone knew about Gray and his Musical Theater club, after all, and therefore everyone knew just how passionate Gray could be. From choreography, to scripts, to vocals, to acting, that boy was the school's biggest fanatic. He hosted the most popular events, all written and sketched by himself, and never batted an eyelash in exhaustion from the overbearing workload that came with the responsibility. He even sewed costumes and helped paint and form the multiple backgrounds and props, going the extra mile every year and somehow topping has last performance each time. If anyone in the school was an example of dedication, it was Gray.
Combine that stellar reputation with a friendly and slightly awkward personality, and you'd get the boy currently sitting with the three girls.
"I can't wait to see it!" Dawn gushed. "You honestly should be world famous by now, Gray, I have no idea how you aren't  yet!"
"Thanks." Gray blushed in gratitude, staring down at the table. "I'm not really that special though. I mean, I really like what I do, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm great at it..." Estelle's jaw dropped at his statement.
"The hell do you mean? Cut that humble shit out! You're good and you better damn know it!" She gave the boy a strong smack on the back and he lurched forward from the unexpected force.
"For once, I'll agree with Estelle. You're exceptionally talented." Lise said quietly, her eyes on the table. Coming from a very-competitive girl, this was a compliment worth a double-take.
"And you love what you do, so that's all that matters!" Dawn chipped in. Gray looked ready to burst with embarrassment from all the attention. Dawn had no clue how this flustered boy was the same one that could flawlessly play the role of a villain or playboy in any reality, and yet that was how things were.
"I guess that's true. It's all really worth it, after all." Gray allowed, finally agreeing with them. He wouldn't have won an argument anyways; he was vastly outnumbered. "Oh! By the way, what did you get on the health academy test, Lise?" He engaged the blonde in an in-depth discussion about a class they both shared and the wide range of test results that they had both heard about. Estelle and Dawn weren't currently taking this class, so they didn't need to tune into the conversation.
Coincidentally, just as she turned away, Dawn felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She slipped it out, sneakily holding it underneath the table so that no teachers on duty would spot her using it during school hours. What she saw on her screen made her freeze.
It was a text from Giuseppe: