OVERLOOKED ㅤkotlc

008. Scared Of Foxfire

Mondays are the worst.

Not because of school (though school can throw itself away anytime), but because the weekend is so amazing, and Mondays dump your high spirits into the gutter.

I mean—sometimes weekends do suck, and Mondays are an escape; I'll admit that much.

But that's rare, and not the case this week, because Sunday ended on a pretty amazing note. Rosaleen and I spent the rest of the day just—talking.

We talked about Foxfire ("What're you most worried about?" "Not making friends, but at least we're... friends? Right?" "Yep."), and about the randomest of things ("Do you ever feel guilty after pranking your siblings?" "Sometimes, but never Stina." "Ah, her again.").

Oh—the morning announcements are about to begin. That screen is warming up.

I look up, and sure enough, the screen flickers on, Magnate Leto behind the camera, in his office. Stacks of paperwork are off to the side, and I wonder if any of them are Black Swan stuff. "Good morning, prodigies."

Some people mumble a "good morning" back, but everyone's mostly silent. If he were physically here, I bet it'd be really awkward.

"I hope you're having a good week," he continues. "Three of us manifested last week. Everyone wish Sameeka Hylics, Asa Lorn, and Kayan Sekal congratulations if you happen to pass by them."

There's another pause, and then a couple of cheers from their friends.

"We also have two new students," Magnate Leto says, after we quiet down. "Rosaleen Ellis, from the Dragons, and Ali Merci, from the Halcyons."

Whispers spread like wildfire across the crowd—like when Sophie first came here. Hopefully they don't have freaky eyes like Sophie Foster, I hear.

I turn, trying to catch who said it, but it's too hard to tell—everyone around me looks judgemental, like predators waiting to pounce.

I scowl and turn back toward the screen, trying to pay attention. "Dex Dizznee—if you don't mind, you can show Rosaleen around. I'm aware she might already be familiar with the campus, but I would still love for her to feel welcome."

Oh; that's—lucky. I bite back a grin. Not complaining, though.

People near me turn to me after hearing my name. Oh, he's friends with Sophie Foster, someone says, and my smile falls. I want to bang my head into the nearest locker.

Sometimes everyone in Foxfire is so dumb. Like all they know of me and the friend group is Sophie, and all they know of Sophie is brown eyes and destruction.

It's always "oh, his family used to be super cool, but Sophie Foster ruined that" or "yeah, I saw her in the Healing Center last year—something Sophie Foster dragged her into."

And it's so fricking stupid.

"Shandra Ji, you can show Ali around, under the same sentiment as Rosaleen's tour." Magnate Leto kind of pauses, as if we need time to register this. "Dex, Rosaleen, you two can meet in the cafeteria. Shandra and Ali, you can meet by the stairs."

When no one says anything, Magante Leto says, "Okay—have a good day, prodigies, and I'll see you tomorrow." The screen turns black, and for a moment, the air's still.

But then everyone starts talking again, and heading towards their classes.

I turn, trying to spot Rosaleen in the crowd—wait, no. She probably started for the cafeteria the second he dismissed us. There's a lot of people here, and since she's new, she'll probably shy away from greeting me in the crowd.

I think I used to be scared of Foxfire, too, when I first came here. It seems so long ago, but honestly, that fear's kinda justified by how judgemental some students are.

I head to the cafeteria. A few students shoot me curious looks, but then they realize I'm either the new kid or the new kid's guide, so they just return to walking towards class and worrying about pop quizzes or whatever.

Rosaleen sees me before I see her. She's with Elwin, and he's talking to her about something, and she's nodding along. Thankfully, she doesn't seem too uncomfortable, either; since Elwin's Elwin, he's probably sneaking in some jokes.

Upon seeing me, she looks up and calls, "Dex!" It's not that loud, but she kind of goes "oops" as it starts echoing. (But to be fair, the sound of a pin dropping echoes in here.)

Elwin laughs, as I head over to them. They're by a table with the words Lord Hunkyhair > Wonderboy scratched into it: our lunch table.

"Hey, Dex!" Elwin says. He sounds upbeat, but honestly, also kind of tired. "You and Rosaleen know each other?"

"Yeah, we bumped into each other yesterday," I say. "When I was coming over to visit."

His mouth made a small o, and he nodded. "Okay, well... if she came yesterday, then she probably already knows her way around. So off to class with you two."

Oh.

Elwin slyly grins. "Or, you know. I can give you two passes for this block, since both of your attendance in your first block isn't mandatory."

Oh.

His grin slips. "And, Dex... he's awake right now. So if you want—"

"Sophie Foster's Cognate, Prentice's son, or Keefe." We both look at Rosaleen, who suddenly looks very uncomfortable. "I-I mean—I think that's who—maybe—is in there. I don't know for sure, but—it sounds serious—and if it's serious, it's from—yeah—and Elwin said he was a he—so I thought... sorry."

Elwin glances at me, asking with his eyes if it's okay to tell her a little bit. I nod, so he says, "No, you're right, Rosaleen. Keefe got hurt, so he's there right now."

"Oh." She suddenly looks more alert, and surprised, but I can't tell if it's because she guessed right or because it's Keefe who got hurt. Of course he did, her eyes say. Why am I even surprised?

Huh. Does she know him?

Rosaleen hesitates. "Is he—okay?" There's a cautious worry in her voice.

She knows him, doesn't she?

Elwin sees it, too, and he looks at me, as if he's expecting me to know. But I shake my head, and when we look back at Rosaleen, she's watching us make faces about her.

Not bad faces, but—still awkward. My face turns hot.

"He's... he will be," Elwin says. "Do you... know Keefe?"

"A little bit. Um, not really." She sounds uncomfortable.

So I quickly intervene—"You wanna go see him? If not, it's okay, we can, like, wander around if you two aren't on good terms... or... yeah."

"Wait, no, no, we're not on bad terms—it's not like that, we just don't really talk anymore." She bites her lip. "We can go... visit him, though, if you want, it'll be kinda awkward, but—like—it'd be good if he's... better now?"

"We don't have to if you don't want to," I say. I can read Sophie pretty well, but Rosaleen's... interesting. Sometimes it's really easy to tell what she's thinking, but other times, like right now, her reply has so much mixed feelings that I'm not sure.

"No, I want to," she says, but it sounds like a question. She shakes her head. "I want to," she repeats, more sure. "We can see if he's okay, and you two can talk a bit, too."

I hesitate once more, but I stop myself from studying her, because I have a feeling that would make her uncomfortable. If she's sure, she's sure.

"Okay." I look at Elwin. "Let's go check on Keefe."

AUTHOR'S NOTE !

ahhh tysm 3424896o6 for all the votes and comments!! <3 you're amazing hehe :)