The Academy of S.I.D.E.

No. 14: The Trials of Acting Civil

"How are you still passing Etiquette?" Roman exclaimed, grabbing Virgil's test out of his hands. "You're the least sophisticated person I know!"

"Dude, you have Remus for a brother," Virgil reminded him, taking it back. "I can't possibly be the least sophisticated person you know."

"Actually, both me and Remus grew up in a very high-class environment, so he's a little bit above you. Only a little bit, though."

Virgil winced. "Yowch. Right where it hurts."

Roman laughed and shoved him slightly. "I'm just messing with you."

"Hard to tell. You do that daily."

"It's just the way I am." He gave him a curious look. "By the way, how's your Clothing Design class going?"

"It's going really well," Virgil admitted. "I finally got the hang of using the sewing machine, so I can repair my hoodie when the patches start falling off. We're doing wording and stuff on clothes next---I'm planning on making my own T-shirts."

"Sounds like it's right up your alley, then." Roman looked up and made a face. "Oh, great. Jack the Fibber's here."

Virgil followed his gaze to see Janus wandering in their direction, tapping on his phone. He held his breath, praying that he'd keep his word.

Roman opened his mouth, but Virgil covered it. "Wait."

Janus looked up. "Oh, hello, Roman. Virgil."

He walked off, leaving Roman with the most priceless expression on his face.

"That's it?" he finally managed. "No witty quip? No scalding nickname? Just 'hello, Roman?'"

"Just 'hello, Roman,'" Virgil murmured, grinning.

He shook his head. "I haven't been this confused since Logan beat me in a rap battle."

"I'm sorry, what and why am I only hearing about this now?"

Roman waved a hand. "Ask Patton if you want to see the video. We've got a more serious issue on our hands here."

Virgil frowned. "How is this serious? Janus just acted polite to you. No big deal."

"It is a MASSIVE deal, My Chemically Imbalanced Romance!" Roman said, beginning to pace. "There's only one possible answer to this!"

"That he's actually making an effort to---"

"He is up to something!"

"And here we go," Virgil muttered.

"But what is he up to? There has to be something at the crux of this! Think, Roman, have you pranked him lately?" He gasped. "Maybe I have! Maybe he's planning on getting back at me!"

Virgil held up his hands. "Easy there, Princey. Janus being civil to you should be a good thing."

Roman spun around. "He is never nice to me unless he has an ulterior motive, Sir Negative Nancy!"

"How many of those you got?"

"I have to start preparing for whatever he's planning," he continued, ignoring Virgil. "And that means I need to start right away." He grabbed Virgil by the shoulders. "Can you come up with a reasonable excuse as to why I'm not at Combat Training?"

"Ask Logan or Patton, I'm still in the seventh grade level."

"Perfect! Thank you!" He ran off to the main building.