It didn't take long for the five girls to pick their things and step out of the gloomy detention room into the bright hallway. Dean Cadence and the teacher followed, the latter quickly heading for the exit.
“Thanks, Dean Cadence” Sunny told the dean, smiling a little sheepishly at her. “We… owe you one, I guess.”
Closing the door behind her Dean Cadence warmly smiled at the students. “Oh, not at all!” she replied, a cheerful ring in her voice. “In fact, I feel like I should be the one thanking you.”
The girls threw confused looks at each other. “Us?” Indigo repeated.
“Yes!” the dean nodded. “Helping one of your fellow students is something seen much too rarely at this school.”
The confusion in their faces turned into surprise. “Wait, you believe us?” Lemon asked.
Again the dean nodded. “But of course I do! There was no reason for you to randomly stir up some chemicals in that lab – and even if, you girls are too competent in chemistry to create such a chaos. Also, I know Suri Polomare had been trying to get the principal’s approval to transfer into a design school, so your story she wanted to impress her seems plausible. Of course, we will never be able to prove it was actually her who caused that incident, but that doesn’t change the value of your deed.” Her smile grew even warmer and brighter. “You tried to support her when she was in trouble, and then helped each other out. I think such a display of friendship and comradeship should be encouraged!” She then averted their eyes, pulling her clipboard closely around her. “So… giving you detention for something so noble just didn’t feel right.”
Embarrassed the quintet blushed. “W-well, it was no big deal” Sour said softly, although she quietly whispered to herself: “Even though we nearly wasted a whole afternoon for it.”
The dean pulled out a set of keys from her skirt, and locked up the detention room. “I have some more work to do” she told them after putting the keys back into her pocket. She turned into the direction of her office, waving them a quick goodbye before she walked away. “I hope you enjoy the rest of the day, girls! There is nothing better but to spend an afternoon with your friends.”
Sour and the others watched her go down the hallway, until she vanished behind a corner. Once she was gone they exchanged some glances, appearing somewhat lost and guilty.
After a while Sugarcoat opened her mouth. “Yeah yeah, we know” Indigo cut her off before she had the chance to speak. “It’s awkward.”
Sour cleared her throat, looking a little shameful at the others. “Hey, um, I’m sorry about what I said in there” she apologized, nervously rubbing her shoulder. “I really appreciate you tried to help me there, and… I’m sorry you almost got dragged into trouble for it.”
For a moment the others were taken aback. “There is no need to be sorry” Sugarcoat eventually stated, pushing her glasses up her nose a bit. “We acted on our own without you asking for it. We shouldn’t have complained in the first place.”
Indigo sighed, but with a smirk. “You know what’s the worst about you?” she asked Sugarcoat. “That you’re always right.”
Sunny giggled. “Sometimes I wonder if she only tells the truth or if reality bends around her and makes everything she says come true” she mused.
Meanwhile Lemon Zest took out her headphones. The moment she put them over her ears and switched on her player loud punk rock music could be heard all around her again, Lemon putting on a big satisfied grin. “Ah, much better!” she sighed, leading to a chuckle from the others.
They all began to get moving, walking down the hallway towards the exit. “Will you be in time for your training?” Sour asked Indigo. The blue-haired girl took a look at one of the clocks hanging in the corridor.
“I’ll be a few minutes too late” she replied, adding with a grin: “I doubt though any of my teammates will be mad – they’re probably happy I didn’t show up already and started the warm-ups.”
“What team is it?” Sunny asked. “Soccer? Marathon?”
“It’s actually the rowing team” Indigo replied. “I’ll have to catch the bus to the port.”
“You gotta to go far for your piano lesson?” Lemon asked, lowering the volume of her music a little.
“It’s downtown” she answered. “If I hurry I might catch the next bus.”
“You don’t need to rush” Sugarcoat told her. “Somebody didn't take a curve tight, and now half of downtown is blocked. No bus that comes or goes there currently has less than five minutes delay.”
“Really? Thanks Sugarcoat!” Sunny smiled. Sugarcoat seemed surprised by her reaction.
“You’re… just gonna trust me on this?” she asked her. “I could lie to you so you don’t catch your bus.”
Sour giggled. “If there is one person in this school you can rely on it’s you” she told Sugarcoat in her honey-voice, before adding a little more grime: “Even if it’s just at blatantly pointing at what everybody else is doing wrong.”
The others laughed. Frowning Sugarcoat first seemed like she wanted to respond something. However, after pondering for a moment her face softened, and she simply shrugged her shoulders. “That’s not the worst reputation I guess” she said.
“Tis better than being known as the doofus who never gets what happens around her because of her headphones” Lemon stated.
“Or the annoying girl who runs around shouting “GO SHADOWBOLTS” for no reason” Indigo added.
“Or the snob who only helps others if it benefits her” Sunny remarked.
Sour put on a bright look. “Or the girl who acts half of the time like she is a cute little angel” she chippered, before her face slumped into a grumpy grimace. “…and the other half is an old hag who hates everything and everyone around her.”
All of them laughed happily as they reached the large doors of the school. Once they had stepped out of the building however their laughter quickly died off. Instead of feeling the freedom the release into the fresh air after a day at school usually brought, they all seemed a little down. In front of them was the courtyard, with some students still waiting for their busses, or just standing around. There were some groups, but they didn’t look very cheerful – at best their expressions were snarky, as if they were making fun of someone. Standing on top of the stairs the five girls silently glanced at each other. The only sound came from their environment and Lemon’s headphones.
“Well, I’m on my way then” Indigo eventually broke the silence, sounding not very enthusiastic. Walking down the stairs she took off to the right, waving at the others. “See you gals tomorrow!”
Sunny pulled a little uncomfortably on her collar. “I should also not slack too much, delay or not” she told them. She also got on her way, heading left after stepping down the stairs. “Um… have a pleasant afternoon!” she called out.
“I’m also off” Sugarcoat said. It was subtle, but her voice seemed to have a sad ring to it. “There is a math test tomorrow, so I intend to learn a bit more for it.” She also went left after taking the stairs, but not quite as much as Sunny.
Only Sour and Lemon remained at the doors. The punk music got louder as Lemon turned up the volume again. “Got stuff to do” was all she said to Sour before also walking away, in a direction between Sugarcoat’s and Indigo’s.
Standing alone in front of the school Sour looked after the other four girls heading off in different directions. Her hand stroke over her neck in discomfort, while she bit her lower lip. After watching the others slowly leave for a moment she took in a deep breath.
“W-wait!”
Sugarcoat, Lemon, Sunny and Indigo stopped. Turning their heads they saw Sour skipping down the stairs. She was smiling, but seemed somewhat uncomfortable. “I, um… I just thought it might be a good idea if we, well…” Sour could feel her freckled cheeks blushing, while her eyes were avoiding eye-contact as she fumbled for the right words. “Y-you know, it was kind of fun today talking and goofing around with you, and it was really nice you tried to help me earlier, so I thought maybe, perhaps, possibly…”
The other four girls began to grow impatient. “Get to the point!” Indigo demanded.
Instead of making a snide remark Sour ducked a little, crossing her hands behind her back while looking at the ground. “Like, hang around some time?” she asked, shyly raising her glance. “W-when we all have time? Maybe tomorrow after school? If the extra homweork isn't too much? Is that okay with you all?”
She glanced at the others, waiting for a reply. They quietly stared back at her, eyes wide in surprise. Inside her stomach Sour could feel a tornado of butterflies tying a knot. “Good job” she could hear her sweet voice in her head, before the sour one continued: “You successfully embarrassed yourself.” She was about to walk away with her head down, when suddenly a voice broke the silence again.
“Weeeeeell” Indigo said, sounding a little insecure while her hand went through her blue hair. “Our rowing team is actually in a rather good shape, and the season won’t start before next week, so…” A smile hushed over her face. “I guess I could let my team off the hook for today.”
Sour straightened herself, staring at Indigo. “Actually” she then heard Sunny say, turning her head to see she was nervously tapping her feet on the ground. “My piano lesson isn’t THAT important… I mean I don’t have to perfom anytime soon, so… it wouldn’t be so tragic if I “missed” my bus” she winked at Sour.
Staring at the street Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses. “Thinking about it I have probably learned enough already to certainly score a B in math tomorrow. I could go for an A with some extra effort, but…” She glanced over at Sour, showing her an unusually soft smile. “I guess I could also take the rest of the day off.”
Feeling the tension inside her dissolve Sour Sweet’s heart made a small jump. The four girls looked friendlily at each other, genuine smirks on their faces. All eyes then were cast on Lemon Zest. Crossing her arms she glared back at Sour, music banging from her headphones. With a sigh she them took off, hanging them around her shoulders. “Oh all right” she said. “It’s not like I got anything better to do. But say, you got actually a clue what we should do?”
Sour pondered about Lemon’s question. “Um, I dunno” she admitted. “What do you guys usually do after school when you have no obligations?”
“Train till I drop!” Indigo shouted, raising a fist into the air.
“Enjoy the beauty of classic literature” Sunny replied, stroking through her hair with her head held high.
“PARTY REAL HARD!” Lemon Zest yelled, lifting both arms up in the air.
“Tell strangers on the street what they are doing wrong” Sugarcoat stated without making a signature pose.
Sour’s smile became a little more nervous again. “These all sound like really great hobbies♥” she chirped, before continuing more dryly: “Buuut I think I just thought of something that might be fun for all of us.”