Chapter Text
Ding.
Clack clack click.
Ding.
Clickety clack.
“I got the magic in me-”
The last one got Clara to look away from her homework at the last one to look at Vee before she said, “Please tell me for all that is tasteful that that last one isn’t your weirdo wannabe witch’s ringtone for you?”
Vee’s cheeks paled slightly as she put a hand over her phone. She then opened her mouth to say something, paused and then looked back at her phone to get back to responding to her ‘witch’. The song played again almost immediately but that wasn’t too surprising. Everyone was excited to meet up for the weekend and Luna had already told her before how much she hated being stuck in Study Hall as her first period.
Clara narrowed her eyes a little before she looked back at her homework. It didn’t matter. Vee was listening like she was supposed to. That’s what mattered. Yep.
Ding.
Click click… click click.
Ding.
Cli-
“Can you at least turn down your phone so I don’t have to hear the fucking keyboard?”
That got Vee to pause more. In theory, she should turn her phone down to be polite. She hadn’t even really considered before now about the volume on her phone. So long as she didn’t answer it while eating, Camila had never minded her keeping it at max volume and Luna would call her while in the same room just to give herself something to bop to for thirty seconds. To actually do it though would be to respond to Clara and after yesterday, she was ready to employ an old strategy of hers. One that perhaps her one friend in the castle taught her.
And, as such, just as she would with Kikimora, she continued to act as if she didn’t hear anything. After all, Vee had dealt with worse than some popular girl with no powers. Much worse. And Clara could only take so much from her so why shouldn’t she be willing to protest her treatment here just like she had back at the castle?
Clara scowled as Luna’s ringtone played again before she shouted, “Fucking listen, worm!”
The entire class went quiet at her voice and Vee glanced around them as she felt every eye turn to the two of them. She waited a few seconds as she waited for Clara to snap out of whatever it was she was doing but the bully simply kept standing there. Glowering at her. Did she not see the scene she was making? “Clara, class?”
Clara blinked a few times as it felt like the rest of the world came back into view. The people were still faceless to her but they were now there at least unlike a moment ago. How had she forgotten them? Sure, the typing had been getting on her nerves but this was her domain. Her castle. She shouldn’t be able to crack so easily when she knew all that could, should, and would happen here.
She slowly uncurled one of her hands before slowly shifting her scowl to a tight lipped smile. “Sorry. I just wanted to make sure I got your attention. After all, that’s a heck of a bop and I wanted to know what it’s called.”
Vee swallowed hard as Clara sat down but she calmed down a little as noise came back to the classroom. Everyone was likely still going to talk about what just happened but at least they weren’t staring at her now. She then looked at her phone and considered what to do next. She could tell Clara what it was but the supposed question was obviously a lie. A bluff to save face. Responding to it honestly would just make her look like a fool that was walking into a trap.
No, she needed to remember what she had been taught back at the castle. “What does that have to do with science?”
One of Clara’s eyes twitched and Vee couldn’t help but take a little bit of pride in it. She wasn’t the most troublesome of the basilisks that had been under Kikimora but she had been the only one who could bother the demoness. Could make her flinch. Of course, she could only do that because…
No. She wouldn’t think about Steve too much here. She’d cried herself to sleep thinking about how to apply his advice last night to this new situation and she needed to stay strong. Couldn’t flinch. Not like Clara was as the popular girl hissed out, “I thought we talked about trying to be coy.”
“We did.” Vee swallowed hard as she curled her hands into fists. It wasn’t out of anger but instead to be able to squeeze them to help her keep calm. “But that only applies if you don’t want your rules in place. After all, if you’re going to ask that I don’t interact with you, I expect the same from you.” She then took a deep breath in before saying what had been pointed out to her almost a year ago. “If you can’t be consistent, then what will you tell the teacher the next time you yell because I’m listening to you?”
There was dead silence between the two before Clara merely turned back to her homework. She wanted to pretend that Luz was acting like herself but this was almost too smart. Too mature. Where was the Luz that cried yesterday? The one that was easier to control? But that one confused her too so…
“Is everything okay?”
Clara glanced up at the question before realizing that it wasn’t to her. It was to Luz. Luz, who now looked incredibly nervous about having to talk to someone who might make her get into trouble. Where was that with her? Clara’s eye twitched again as her knuckles turned white around her pencil. She needed to do something. Anything.
But looking at the man, she felt nothing. And looking at Vee, she felt only anger. Neither of those would help her. Not now. No, she needed to shove it out of her mind. Fortunately, it was Friday so she’d have all weekend to think about anything else. Yes, some time at home with ways to distract herself would give her time to sort it all out and push it out of the way.
All the more reason to try and get her homework done while they were in class then.