New Rome

31. Purge of the Senate

Junia hailed over Arly from the other side of the cafeteria. Arly beamed at her, relieved to have a table to head for. Arly's status in the school had taken yet another dramatic shift. Hostility from the girls in her class had resumed, in fact it had rather worsened. But guys... guys had started to take an active interest. Gnaeus teased her about it – a lot.

Just then, guys she half knew from either her lessons or compulsory catch up sessions, were offering to make room for her on their tables. Arly ducked her head nervously. It was nice, that she was no longer such a pariah – but on the whole it was also an added stress. Arly could never think of anything funny or interesting to say and it was awkward to sit with large groups she didn't know.

"Come, come – I have saved seats for you and your friend." Junia greeted, pouring out cups of water for them all. "Where is she?" She added, seeing that Arly was alone.

"Gnaeus?" Arly clarified, hiding a smirk. Junia nodded, still looking around as if Gnaeus might appear out of thin air.

"Detention, she failed to complete an assignment for class."

"Oh," Junia pouted unhappily.

Arly studied Junia, her gaze speculative.

"You and Gnaeus are getting along well..." She commented, as subtly as she could. Junia shrugged, digging into her food.

"You and Kaze are always in company – so me and Gnaeus are much thrown together."

"Hmm..." It was true. Arly and Kaze hung out after classes most days. And this had made the two girls get to know one another but Arly was hoping there was more to it than that – for her friend's sake.

"Have you ever had a beaux, Junia? Or perhaps a... girl... interest?" Arly bit her lip. She'd never been great with words and that had been agonisingly clunky. But she wanted to know Junia's preference. Junia was staring determinedly at her food, her ears turning pink.

"No."

Arly drank the water, wondering what she should and shouldn't say. Gnaeus hadn't actually told her that she had a crush on Junia – it was just a theory of Arly's. But she really wanted to help her friend out.

Loud noises erupted behind them and Arly turned in her seat. Chairs were strewn across the floor, shoved out of the way as two male students wrestled one another. Arly's eyes widened in surprise.

"Is that Kaze?!" She exclaimed, recognising him as he punched his rival in the face. Arly rose to her feet to intervene but a teacher had beaten her to it. Professor Rookshine heaved Kaze off of a male student, Corly, who was now sporting a bloody nose.

The hall watched as Kaze and Corly were led off to the headteacher's office. The moment the cafeteria doors swung shut behind them, the volume of voices amplified as everyone speculated what could have happened.

"Who was Kaze fighting with?" Junia asked. They sat back down but neither immediately resumed eating their food.

"His name's Corly - we went to camp together. He's nice... I wonder what happened to start a fight between them?"

Junia snorted.

"That's no great mystery." She muttered, spearing her food on the end of her fork – apparently no longer concerned. Arly frowned at her.