The Invisible Princess of Everglen

Chapter 12: Midterms

"Where's Sophie?"

Biana glanced around the table.  Sophie was always here, sitting with Dex and Marella and sometimes Jensi.  Keefe was in detention today, but Sophie couldn't possibly have...

"She's in detention," Dex answered glumly.

"'Til the end of midterms!" Jensi piped up.

Biana's gut twisted with a sudden sharpness.  "What?  Why?" she asked, sitting down.  Fitz sat next to her.  He looked only mildly interested in the conversation.

"She didn't tell us," Marella said airily, tossing her hair.  "But it's probably something to do with Lady Galvin."

"How do you know?" 

"Just a hunch," Marella replied with a small smirk.  She dug into her lunch without another word, leaving Biana stunned.  Until the end of midterms... what could Sophie have possibly done to earn that?  She'd actually liked sitting with the blond elf, now that she thought about it.  She wondered if Sophie's friends were lying.  It was absurd, but so was Sophie getting detention until the end of midterms.

They weren't lying.

Every day, Sophie slunk off, trying not to draw attention to herself while Keefe practically dragged her out of the cafeteria.  He seemed way too proud to be going to detention, but that was Keefe for you.  She never said a word about what she'd done, but Biana wasn't going to press her.  Marella seemed to be right about it having something to do with Lady Galvin, because Sophie's cheeks burned any time the uptight Mentor was mentioned.

But Biana had enough to worry about by the time midterms rolled around.

"What are you stressed about?  You'll do great," Alvar had told her, smiling.

"Don't worry, midterms are easy," Fitz had informed her.

And they were, for the most part.  The first few exams turned out to be a breeze, if not a little boring.  The rest of the exams were a little harder, but not the great big embarrassment she'd been expecting.

That evening, she visited eleven shops in Atlantis, buying presents for her friends and a lot more things, like dresses and beauty elixirs and a bunch of girly stuff that slipped Biana into an even better mood.

The next day, when Foxfire was draped with silver and gold, sprinkled with confetti and flowers, Biana hurried to drop off her friends' presents.  She was a power shopper, and even then it had taken hours to figure out what she wanted to get her friends.  She'd even got Maruca something, and instead of setting it into her thinking cap, Biana had decided to deliver it personally to her ex best friend.

She searched the halls, ignoring the giant bubbles full of candy.  The hubbub of elves made it hard to find Maruca, but Biana was determined to seek her out.  Eventually, she found her, standing awkwardly next to her parents and clutching a bottle of lushberry juice.  She glared at Biana as she approached, tossing her stylish dreadlocks and looking away.

"Maruca?" Biana asked quietly, and over the noise of the hallway, she wasn't sure that Maruca could hear.

But Maruca's eyes flicked back to meet Biana's.  "I don't want to talk to you."

"Well, I want to talk to you," Biana said stubbornly.  "I got you something for midterms, and I wanted to give it to you personally."

Maruca wrinkled her nose.  "Why?"

"Because I also need to talk to you," Biana added, trying not to roll her eyes.

Glancing back at her parents, Maruca gave a long, dreary sigh and stepped closer to Biana, eyes filled with disdain.  "What is it, then?"

Biana took a deep breath and dug out a shiny little opal box from her pocket.  The shimmering box barely fit in her uselessly tiny pockets, but it didn't matter.  She offered the gift to Maruca, and smiled at the sudden light that flickered on in her sea-blue eyes.

"Nellie's Limited Edition Color Shifting Opalescent Rainbow Nail Polish?!" Maruca squeaked, grabbing the gift and opening it.  Her squeal was legendary.  However, her face once she looked back up at Biana was... disappointing.

"You like it?" Biana asked nervously.

Maruca's expression was unreadable.  "I... Biana, I don't want to be friends anymore.  You decided to be friends with that weirdo over there."  She pointed an accusing finger at someone across the hall.  Biana winced once she saw that it was Sophie.

"She's not a weirdo.  And... well, it wasn't my choice at first, but she's a fun person now that I know her."  Biana's anger was growing.  She suddenly wished she hadn't looked forever for that box of Nellie's Limited Edition Color Shifting Opalescent Rainbow Nail Polish.

"A lot more fun than me, I bet," Maruca sneered, and with that, she started walking in the direction of the Level Two atrium.

"Yeah, actually!" Biana fired back, trotting after her.  "At least Sophie wouldn't get all jealous and spiteful over something her best friend couldn't control!"

Maruca didn't look back.  "You didn't have to be so excited about it, either."

"I wasn't excited!" Biana exclaimed.  "I was terrified!  I still want to be friends with you, Maruca!  That's why I gave you that gift!"

Maruca slowed, glancing at Biana stiffly.  "Well, I don't want it anymore."  She stuck out the hand that was holding the shimmery gift, eyebrows pushed down angrily.

"Well, why not?" Biana argued, not taking the box.

"Because I don't want to be your friend anymore.  That's that.  The damage is done.  And for the record, I'm much better friends with Stina."  Maruca flashed a smug little smirk, but it didn't hide the conflicting emotions in her eyes.

Biana wanted to snap back with an angry response, but they had entered the atrium where Sophie was standing.  So instead she bit her lip to refrain from yelling at Maruca.  "Oh, hey, Sophie," she said casually, ignoring the Maruca's bitter glare.

Sophie's cheeks flushed pink.  "Uh, sorry.  I just wanted to drop this off."  With a half smile on her lips, she offered Biana a neat pink box.

Biana, in turn, gave Sophie her purple-wrapped present.  "You're coming over for dinner tonight, right?" she checked, trying to shove away the smugness she felt at Maruca's annoyed expression.

"Of course.  I can't wait!  I'll... um... see you later!"  Sophie said, grinning.

Maruca was glaring at Sophie now.  Biana wanted to punch her face in, so to soothe the urge, she walked off to deliver the rest of her presents.  She'd considered giving Dex something, but they really weren't that close yet, and... well... that wasn't the only reason.  Her cheeks burned thinking about it, but her thoughts were interrupted by the huge cacophony of bells.

It was time to figure out whether or not she'd passed.