Yuki helped herself to another serving of pumpkin porridge, asking Minji to pass the bowl of soybean sprouts. Mrs. Tudor had really outdone herself cooking a hearty breakfast complete with several of the side dishes or banchan, that Korean cuisine was known for.
"Two coffees and one hot cocoa," Rhett's mother said, setting down an elegant green mug filled with dalgona coffee in front of Yuki. She'd twisted her dark hair into a bun with a long silver hairpiece speared through to hold it up. Before she sat down at the table with them, Mr. Tudor helped untie her mint green apron and hung it on the back of her chair.
Mrs. Tudor loved green. Paired with the sunlight streaming through huge windows, the hue brought life to the house, from the pastel shade of the cupboards, to the little bulbasaur planters in the window sprouting herbs and green onions from their backs.
"Thank you," Yuki said. She took a sip of the fluffy foam.
"When am I old enough to have coffee?" Minji sighed, using her spoon to drown a lone marshmallow bobbing in its chocolate sea.
"You don't even like the smell or taste of coffee," Rhett pointed out from his seat on Yuki's other side.
"No, but it's the sentiment that counts," Minji retorted.
After a few minutes of eyeing the clock between bites of scallion pancakes, Yuki finished off her coffee and rose from the table. "Thank you so much for breakfast and letting me spend the night. I have to get going so I'm not late."
"Sit down, dear." Mrs. Tudor waved her hand. "I'll drop you off on my way to work."
"Oh no, I really don't want to be a bother," Yuki stammered. She wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt, trying not to appear too flustered. "I don't mind walking at all and have to get my daily steps in."
Rhett cleaned off his plate and attempted to clear away both their dishes. "Mom, I can drive Yuki. It's out of the way from Minji's school."
With insane reflexes, Mrs. Tudor managed to get another pancake served onto Rhett's plate before Yuki could blink. "Eat more. Remember our agreement? No driving friends for the first year having a license. No added distractions or foolishness. If you get into an accident, you're not going to injure anybody but yourself."
Gripping the back of the dining chair until her knuckles whitened, Yuki tried to even out her breathing. But along with the thunder of her heart echoing in her ears, she heard rain drumming on a windshield, brakes screeching, and in her mind's eye, she watched the blink of a digital clock as it changed to 12:00. Midnight.
She recognized her vocal chords thrumming, opening her mouth to speak, but the words didn't process for her. It didn't seem like she'd breathed until she found herself standing on the front porch, shoes on and her bag slung over her shoulders. Whatever excuse she'd come up with, Yuki hoped it hadn't been too rude.
Starting to walk home to fetch her school things, Yuki flipped her phone open to find a voicemail from Era. She pressed play and put the device to her ear.
"Meet me outside the tiger building after school. Bring your day clothes." The message ended.
Yuki sighed, pocketing her phone. The house was quiet when she unlocked the door. Most days, her grandfather slept in and her grandmother likely was gardening out back. After exchanging the night's luggage for her school bag and a change of clothes, she headed back out.
The creaking of one of the rocking chairs on the porch alerted her to Rhett's presence. "Fine morning for a walk, isn't it?" he said while she re-locked the door.
"You don't have to walk with me," Yuki said, reluctantly surrendering her bag when he gestured for it. "I'm sure you want to drive your Dodge."
Rhett spun on his heel to face her while his sneaker heels hit the sidewalk. "Sure, I do. But I told you I was going to prove you wrong, right?"
Yuki ran a hand through her hair and sighed. The flash and burn intensity he'd exhibited had once again mellowed to a sunny cheerfulness that had her second guessing every word. Sometimes words packed a bigger punch than actions, especially with the ones fallen into cracks to be read between the lines.
"I should ditch you," she grumbled. "You've already said you don't want me to win the scholarship."
Rhett laughed. "You've never been a morning person, but you should remember something, Snowflake. I can tell Sophia our little secret at any time, so you'd better play nice." He turned away, both his bag and hers bouncing against his shoulders. "Besides, it's not like I want the scholarship. Era can keep her money."
Blackmail. Yuki couldn't blame him. It sounded like a trick she would pull.
"Why participate in the fortune then, Baguette?" Yuki asked, wanting to hit him over the head with a stick of bread.
Rhett hesitated before answering, his grey eyes possessing that honest clarity Yuki had always admired. "Because Era does have something else she can give me."
──────༺༻──────
No matter how angry Era made her when absent, the moment Yuki found herself in Era's presence again, the frustration evaporated. She didn't understand it, but when Era nodded in greeting, all the biting words slide back down her throat.
"You wanted to see me?" Yuki asked, noting with chagrin that the designer blouse and Loewe handbag she'd switched to after class looked overblown next to Era's bomber jacket and cargo pants.
Era leaned back against the stone tiger statue, aviator sunglasses glinting. With her hands tucked in her pockets and the utter relaxation in her posture, Yuki once again couldn't help but compare the senior girl to a model on the cover of a magazine. The queen of Zenith had no nervous habits, no stray gestures of her hands or shuffling of feet, only absolute control.
"You know we've been voted in for student council, Hime?" she asked Yuki.
"I do now." Most often the student council mimicked the positions of the Fortune Cookie Club, though Era had considered her too green to be voted in last year. Of course, Era's word became law as she directed the sway of public opinion. "Am I treasurer there as well?"
"Yes." Era shifted and struck another photogenic pose. "Tudor is secretary. I had Soph voted in as vice president."
Even being hyper-aware of how it would look, Yuki couldn't help shifting her weight to the other foot and the slight drop of her head. "I didn't realize you and Sophia were close," she probed. A week ago, she'd have marked Sophia as Era's main source of competition for attention and the adoration of the student body. But now she realized Era was too smart for that. Sophia might be a mega influencer, but she had nothing going for her in the area of Zenith's rare focus on academics over sports. At least until recently...
"We've grown up together," Era said simply. "She'll be here soon. Since we're running the student council, the planning of the winter formal is our prerogative."
The significance of giving Sophia the vice president position wasn't lost on Yuki. She could fall out off favor and Sophia would replace her, that's what Era's move foretold.
"I think you're right about something," Yuki said, leaves blowing past her feet. Her hair whipped into her face, but somehow Era's looked to have a pact with the wind to not touch it.
Era let the silence be, pressuring Yuki to continue.
"I think I should have my hair cut in the hime style." At the lack of reaction, Yuki worried she'd said the wrong thing. Her mind kicked into overdrive. The bench had been hidden by the maple trees. No, neither Cate nor Amelia, their other co-worker, had seen a girl matching Era's description come into Mango Madness for a drink.
Finally, Era spoke. "We can fit that into the schedule today. I suggest adding highlights to give more color depth." She nodded to a black limo approaching to park at the end of the building's walkway. "There's Soph."
The door slid open before the car came to a stop and Sophia popped out wearing a hot pink jumpsuit and heels. "Heyyy!" she called out. "Ready for our girl's day trip?"
Yuki realized Era had already made it halfway to their ride before following suit. "Where are we going?" she asked when Sophia stopped her to coo over the Loewe and compare it to the silver Balenciaga Hourglass hanging on her own arm.
"We're going shopping. Duh!" Sophia laughed with a quick roll of her eyes. She ushered Yuki into the limousine where a fluffy-eared lapdog yapped in its own little car seat. "Butterfly, best behavior."
Yuki settled in to the plush chair Sophia directed her to and buckled her seat belt. "What are we going shopping for?"
"Vera, you didn't tell her?" Sophia cried out. Not waiting for a response, she explained, "We're shopping to pick out winter formal dresses. The theme this year is going to be a fantasy ballroom."
"When did we decide that?" Despite her best efforts to not panic, the idea of going shopping with the two wealthiest girls in the school—no, the whole city—had Yuki wanting to roll down the window and throw herself out.
"The three of us have majority vote," Era said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I'm taking black."
"Red would be a daring choice," Sophia squealed. "Though I'll have to get Tudor to ask me to the dance, because Chaidee would look positively choleric if we were to match. What about you, Yuki? What color?"
Yuki's head was spinning like a color wheel. "I—blue maybe?"
Sophia groaned, throwing herself dramatically back in her seat. "It's winter formal, darling. Everyone's going to be wearing blue."
The fact that someone else would wear the same color as her didn't seem all that important, in fact, it was the last thing on Yuki's agenda.
The more pressing matter at hand? How to claim Rhett as her winter formal date before Sophia got to him first.
Chapter Word Count: 1672