“Come and get it if you want,” She snickered, standing on her tiptoes when Clara tried to jump and steal it from her. Alas, out of all the things Clara is, she cannot resist the temptation of sweet confectionery. And out of all the things Lavina is, she cannot resist the temptation of mocking her short enemies.
“My poor little legs are hurting, please be a good little child, it’s MY cookie, right, Bea?” She pleaded, “I got it first, and Lavina’s already eaten two!!!” She whined, with desperate eyes widened at her.
Bea, the producer of all sweet confectionery, calmly scanned the classroom like a courtroom, as she decided which lucky person would receive the grand honour and glory of being the cookie-full, and who would bring upon themself the pathetic fate of being cookieless.
Greta sits in the corner on a stack of chairs, hoarding all the cookies she stole carefully, to the utter ignorance of Clara and Lavina.
“I declare,” She paused dramatically, gesticulating with her hands frantically before presenting her resolution, “The survival of the fittest!”
Immediately, chaos ensued.
And it got physical. Fast.
Suddenly, a door slams open, but the wrestlers, the ringmaster, and the thief, completely engrossed in this knockoff WWE smackdown, don’t take the time to bat an eye. Ms. Marabad cleared her throat as loudly as she could, though it took her many painful attempts before her voice emerged above the sound of footfall and taunting.
“GIRLS!!!!!!” She screamed, she would surely lose her voice later, “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE-”
A bonk on the head by Lav’s elbow silenced her for a while, resuming the munera duel.
Lav had Clara in a headlock and was being pounded by her raging fists when she caught her breath, setting her eyes on the masterful pickpocket.
“Greta, you witch, you’re hogging all the cookies!!!”
The room froze, and Greta’s blood ran ice-cold.
In a frenzy, Lav struggled to break herself free from Clara’s death-grip on her elbow, who closed her eyes shut and was ready to fight. The two entangle themselves in an unexpectedly violent game of Twister. When Lav finally thinks she’s free, Clara drags her leg back and kicks her in the head, in response to which Lav repeatedly whacks her shin.
Unaware of the joy they brought to the remaining victim, Greta slowly picked up a cookie, brought it near her olfactory glands, and savored its delicious, warm scent before consuming it in one gulp.
“GRETA YOU LITTLE-” Lavina cried out as Greta eyed the second cookie, “You wouldn’t dare attempt to face the unholy boiling wrath of her highness the majestic-” she growled.
Greta gleefully bit into a second cookie.
“Please, Greta, please don’t finish it. I promise you, I’ll give you anything you ask. Anything at all”, Clara’s voice dripped with agony. Realizing she was losing her deal, she begged, “I’ll give you a 24-carat gold laboobadingadoing!!”
Greta paused, ”already have one”. Quite enjoying her rather convenient position, she gulped down the third cookie.
“Objection, your honour!!! This is–” Lavina tried to reason, while dodging Clara’s leg in her face. “This is an atrocity. I request an immediate adjudication!!”
“You can address her honour when you stand up,” Greta says casually, fiddling with a cookie,
“Meanwhile, you can watch me eat this.”
“Well, there goes that.” Clara was almost brought to tears. “There’s only one cookie left.”
“Fear not, for I, the master of cookies and cream, have heard your case. I stand here today, pledging my oath to justice.” Bea took a breath before resuming with an air of diplomacy, “I have with me, Greta, accused of cookie fraud and now have resolved to -”
The door bangs open.
“EATING ALL WITHOUT ME GIRLS????” Mr. Veles bellowed haughtily. The walls reverberated at the sound of his million-decibel voice, and the vibrations jolted a fainted Ms. Marabad awake.
“Good evening, sir! I was just telling these girls to be pillars-”
“Ms. Marabad, it is morning. These days, no one says “happy morning” anymore. When I was abroad, children flocked after me just to greet me. Meet me outside.”
Greta sighed in relief, with the last cookie in her hand.
“AND DON'T THINK FOR ONE SECOND I FORGOT ABOUT THIS SWEET TREAT. YOU SHOULD INVITE ME MORE OFTEN, GIRLS!” He smirked before gulping it down, sending crumbs flying in all directions, before leaving to lecture Ms. Marabad about the forgotten art of greetings.
He failed to see all the dirty looks his action cost him, and was utterly oblivious to the added sorrow his entrance brought today.
“Well… maybe that was for the best…” Clara sighed. "Don't we have to go now? It’s theatre class.”
“Do we absolutely have to?” Lamented Bea
“Our next class is clubbed with SLC..” muttered Greta
“I’m sure this’ll be fun for you guys too,” said Clara, eyeing Lav and Bea, who looked far from joyful.
“You get to meet all your old friends!” Clara tried to alleviate the tension.
“Friends is an overstatement,” Lavina mumbled under her breath.
As soon as they entered, silence befell the class as heads with wide eyes snapped in their direction, staring and awaiting their next move. All familiarity the class had had with Bea and Lav was now lost; they must fight for their place in the pack again.
“We're gonna make a fool of ourselves in 9B. I don’t think we should have come back here.”
“Is it too late to bunk?”
“Ahem,” the diplomatic teacher began, trying to start peace negotiations, “class, from now on, we will be having the students of the ISEB branch joining us for theater” when the class muttered awkwardly amongst themselves, with some pulling up backpacks from oblivion to now occupy the empty seats next to them, she continued, “...right, if you could just be seated at the back please?”
“Back?! We’re ISEB students, why should we sit in the back?!” Clara muttered
“I’m sure you can see just how great a relationship we have with them.”
“An utterly indestructible bond," scoffed Lavina
“But I'm sure we just haven't found the right chance to talk, we’d go right back to how we were.” Clara takes great joy in her delusions.
“Of course,” Lavina rolled her eyes, “that’s 100% what’s gonna happen.” Bea continued.
“Just shut up, you all,” Greta said, annoyed.
The teacher's head swiveled in their direction. “Now, how about we see some ISEB participation? I see from your loud chatter that you are keen to have your voices heard.” She gazed at them like a hawk, “Who’d like to go first?”
All four of them suddenly got really interested in their nails. “Now, now, girls. Be more participatory, you are international students after all.”
Lavina pushes Bea out. “I’m sure you’ll be amazing,” though her tone suggested otherwise. Nevertheless, Bea let herself be led to the centre stage, staring daggers at her betrayer and dreading the forthcoming events.
“I want you to act like a wounded frog,” The teacher said, in venomous poison. “Feel the frog, Bea. FEEL ITS PAIN. REVEL IN IT. ACT!”
“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BEA, YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Clara cheers
“Oh no,” Greta gives up on life.
Lavina looked like she was in wonderland, her eyes shining even brighter than the teacher’s.
“Yeah, no thanks,” Bea responded flippantly, “I’d rather jump out the window.”
“Please, by all means,” The teacher says, gesturing to the window, “try not to stain the wall while you’re at it.”
Bea just stares at her. Speechless. “You’re not serious, are you?”
“Do I look like I'm joking?”
“It’s hard to tell,” muttered Lavina
“What’s that, Lavina dear, would you like to join our little scene?”
“Oh, I would never dream of stealing Bea’s spotlight, ma’am,” Lavinia says, smiling sweetly. “She’s a born star, and this is her perfect opportunity, her time to prove herself to the world, and I would be the last person in the living world who would take that away fro–.”
“Oh no ma’am, you should see Lav act. She is simply outstanding. I’ve never seen anything like it!!! It’s like she drifts into this whole new dimension where she can be anything!!!!!!! It’s really….” she exaggeratedly gestured with her fingers, looking for an apt word, “breathtaking.”
“Oh, you flatter me, Bea, as much as I would hate not to give credit where credit’s due, I simply wouldn’t fathom the atrocious-”
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, The bell suddenly rings, and all the children just scampered, running for their lives.
”What is this behaviour? You are students of a school, you have to respect you have to-” Her words were drowned in a sea of irrelevant students.
“Umm, sorry for uh…. pushing you out there?” Lavina “Not that I regret it or anything. But of course I–”
“Do you ever shut up?” Greta implores, exasperated.
The next day was gloomy, the murky sky a reflection of the students’ sombre faces as they sat stuck in online prison listening to teachers yap about the struggles of life, and the continuous downpour of rain.
This extensive rant would immediately come to a halt the second a certain unavoidable person decides he has nothing better to do than interrupt classes. It was really extraordinary how they would all abruptly begin an Oscar-deserving act of perfect teaching, skilled in the art of not boring a child to sleep the second Mr Velez entered the digital room.
However, their efforts were in vain, as the principal himself decided to be most opportune to make his own rantings, letting the children drift into a dream of endless sleep. That is, until the children decide that their sanity is much more precious than their dignity and start making faces at each other.
“First person to get caught by sir loses,” Lavina texts in their group chat. “Aka you, Lav.” Bea took pleasure in the immediately convoluted face Lavina made, while Clara desperately tried to convince them against this monstrous disrespect, begging an unamused Greta to help. However, she’s the first to break, and within seconds, the entire class is pulling faces.
The principal, completely oblivious to their current contest, fails to notice the cacophony of muted laughter the girls have gotten themselves into and is completely immersed in his rant.
That is, until an inopportune moment struck, and fate decided that the principal shall finally open his eyes, and off all insane things to see…
“GRETA, WHY ARE YOUR EYES BULGING LIKE THAT? ARE YOU OK? DIDN’T I TELL YOU NOT TO STARE AT THE SCREEN FOR MORE THAN TWENTY MINUTES AT A STRETCH? WHAT TO DO WITH CHILDREN THESE DAYS, SO UNDISCIPLINED!”
And with that, the four unleashed a cacophany of laughter. A frantic Ms. Marabad joined to mute the four; though when Mr. Velez directed his lecture on 'the utter disrespect' he was enduring to her, she banned him and the four from the platform for good.