"Are you okay?" Fiona asks me.
"I'm fine," I reply irritably, before turning to the werewolf girl and extending a hand. "Thanks for the backup there. I'm Aislin, but you can call me Ash."
"I'm Tala. Tala Randelle." She takes my hand and shakes it. The little black pads on her palm are so soft!
"H-hiyee~" I feel my stomach flutter.
Did I get nauseous correcting Oil Stain? What the hell is wrong with me?
"I didn't think I'd meet anyone into villain tracking. It's nice to have someone else who also keeps track of legacy villains."
"I, uh, yeah! It's easier with Villaintube..."
"You can get Villaintube?! I'm so jealous. My parents wouldn't let me get a VPN to watch it." A jealous whine squeaked out of Tala's throat.
"It's not that glamorous... mostly just old villains talking about their "glory days." Oh, but they did a documentary on m- The Engineer."
"Would you... be willing to let me watch it with you sometimes?"
"S-sometimes! Yes! I love sometimes." What the hell am I doing?! I'm five years too young for this! She's five years too young!
"Thank you so much!" Tala pulls me into the softest hug I've ever had, and I inhale a scent like pomegranates and sandalwood with a little bit of musk.
My face is completely red by the time she puts me back on the ground. As soon as Tala turns, Fiona and her friends are leaning towards me.
"So~" Fiona says with a grin.
"Not one word!"
"Hee hee hee..."
"Ugh!" I walk away, practically dashing for the exit. Even when I got to the group, I couldn't escape the sound of Fiona's smug taunting.
"Hee hee hee hee..."
At the girls' dorm.
"Hee hee hee hee..."
At the gymnasium.
"Hee hee hee hee..."
During our lunch break.
"Hee hee hee hiccup~ hee...."
In the bathroom.
"Hee hiccup~ hiccup~ hee hee hee..."
I ground my teeth and ignored her as best I could until, finally, we reached a place she had to shut up in.
"And this, yaaa~wn, is the auditorium, where you'll take your written tests before your practical exam. Yes, uh... Naomi?" Night Woman points with her signature whip curled up in her hand.
A dark-skinned girl with a host of oversized tools asked, "What does the practical exam entail?" She looked like better rival material than Oil Stain.
"Those details will be provided to those who pass the written test. Any score below 60 and you'll have to find out in one year if you reapply," Night Woman said flatly.
Little did they know I was already prepared for every single one of their robots. Even the kaiju-sized trio, should they make an appearance.
"Hee hee hee..." I rubbed my hands in anticipation.
"Hee hee hee hee..." Fiona loomed over me.
"Do you want me to electrocute you?!"
"Oh, so you admit you're 'charged up'." She giggled.
"I'll show you charged!"
"Girls!" Night Woman snapped at us. "Take a seat, young Carvers" she gestured at the last of the available seats, in the front and separated by a trio of students between.
Grinding my teeth, I complied as Fiona hovered down the steps to take the rightmost seat, next to her pair of sycophants that had saved it for her. They tittered quietly at the obvious teasing Fiona was inflicting on me.
As soon as they sat, Jhayden and an androgynous fellow student started handing out the tests. On paper.
Now that's just wasteful. But I guess it means no one can just hack for answers and still pass.
The test wasn't even GED-worthy. I took the Consolidated Holistic Examination of Academics Test and it at least had an optional section for pre-calc and trig. As to why the remnants of the Department of Education called it the CHEAT test, I know for a fact it's a conspiracy to use that strained and, frankly, self-redundant acronym as a way to denigrate people who don't want to waste their time in the hellscape of hormones that is high school.
In this society, people who get ahead too fast are assumed to be cheaters just as much as the privileged class that pays their way up.
I'm not crazy. Everyone else is crazy.
As I silently curse my own hormones that clearly gave Fiona the wrong idea, I finish the test in under twenty minutes. Mostly I lost time to working out my hand cramps from not enough writing practice.
I'm more of a typist... and a stamper. And a dictator, but not in that other sense... yet.
The only thing one really needs is a thumbprint and a signature nowadays, though the use of cursive is an almost-dead art except amongst calligraphy junkies.
After cramping my way through the essay portion - I needed to ask for more paper to finish - I sit back and massage my hand as I watch Night Woman browse through my answers. I know when she reaches my essay because her eyebrows knit together and she ignores Jhayden when he brings her more tests, about thirty minutes after I finished mine.
Judging from the glares I can feel on my back, I might have inspired some people to hurry.
When she finally looks up, Night Woman beckons me to her desk with a finger.
"Miss Carver," she uses my last name in a way that tells me she's both serious and quite a lot more awake than she seemed earlier. "Have you taken this test before?"
"No," I reply instantly and with a slight undertone of annoyance, which is kindof hard to do with a one-syllable word. "I have my General Education Diploma already. This test was only a quarter as difficult as getting that. At most."
"I didn't see any credits in the system."
"That's probably because of interference by As- by Crusader. I can send you my full transcript after the practical exam if you like."
"That would be quite helpful. I would prefer it if you open it right now. If true, it'll make placing you much easier."
"Don't worry about that. I'll be sticking with my sister for general education while pursuing the Engineering track. My parents insist I go through the full four years." I walk around her desk because my cellphone is stored in my backpack back at the seat, and using her computer will help sell that it really is my diploma.
A few clicks and some rapid typing, and my credentials are listed on the screen.
"This is... are you sure you don't want me to speak with your father about this?"
"Trust me, it's more trouble than it's worth. Whatever he wants he gets, more or less. I'm sure you noticed that when he was hired." A thousand fiery deaths on whoever put Asshole on the payroll.
"I'm guessing you don't get along with, uh, Mr. Carver."
"I can neither confirm nor deny the fact that that statement is true," I reply with mock evasiveness.
"Thank you, then, Aislin-"
"You can call me Ash," I replied. I kind of liked this side of Night Woman, truth be told. She had this risque air of being fed up with the world that felt perfectly corruptible... If not for the fact that I suspected she was firmly invested in the status quo to land a cushy teaching job.
"-Please, take your seat... Ash."
I give an affirming nod and proceed to do just that.