Tailor Made

Aria’s first view of Smartwood Academy was blocked somewhat by her brother’s arm. Not because his arm was resolutely getting in her way, but because she was hiding behind it. She clung to Alton, looking closer to six than sixteen. Alton seemed to be trying to ignore her actions, but it’s hard to ignore a human-sized parasite. “Have you considered that this may not be the sort of first impression we want at this school?” Alton asked. “Actually no, I look great. The brave big brother striding through the grounds leading his blind sister. People will love that.” Aria finally looked up, making an effort to straighten her back, although her hand lingered on his arm. She cringed internally at the stares still being directed her way by students being dropped off by parents, some of whom were carrying their child’s suitcases. “I’m just…” she gestured fruitlessly. “…y’know?” “Not sure I do, no.” “Mum’s determined for us to get a good education, but what if I’m not up to the standards here?” Aria fretted. “I’m way in over my head.” “Alrighty right. Let’s just stop here for a moment,” Alton said firmly. He stopped in the middle of the walkway, forcing the crowd to part around them. “What, no!” Aria exclaimed. “We’ve got to get going, we-” “Aria. Chill the calamity that is… all this,” he gestured to all of her. “All of me is a calamity?” “Right now? Yeah. You are a big ball of anxiety and you know that’s just going to make the day feel worse and worse. We’re going to get this sorted here and now. And don’t say we’re going to be late, we can spare two minutes to get real amidst the hundreds of people pouring in,” he added when he saw Aria open her mouth. “It’s going to be fine. The parents may have paid to get you here, but you still had to pass the entrance exam. Which you did.” “Only thanks to your tutoring.” Alton shrugged. “Sure, I tutored the hell out of you to get you here, but you were the one who worked hard to make this happen. You know past-Aria would be pissed if she knew you got in, only to go running back out.” “Past-me would be pissed,” Aria agreed. “Come on,” Alton said, “But this time I’m insisting on a no contact policy.” Aria and Alton followed the procession. Aria watched others around her, and noted that it was easy to identify the new students like her; they moved as a nervous herd, tightly packed. Other students strode with calm grace like predators alongside, but not part of the group. New and old alike, they all moved as one towards the main hall. The main hall held a huge banner above the three doors opened wide to admit the new students. Welcome to Smartwood Academy, it said. “Why is it called Smartwood of all things? It’s a pretty odd name,” Aria commented. “I think people like to use botanical words in the names of these places to make them sound more rustic and down-to-earth.” “What about ‘smart’ then?” “To make it sound smart.” Inside the hall were several long lines. This was the moment Aria would confirm her arrival and be split from her twin and sent towards her new home alone. Aria and Alton had up until this point studied at public schools their entire lives, but a recent job change, pay rise, and moving city had changed that. Their parents had decided it was time for them to buckle down in their last two years of school, and learn some independence before they had to go out into the real world. Alton was thrilled by the idea of being away from their parents, but for Aria it seemed intimidating. Posh-looking school uniforms, dorms, and a tough curriculum. But it wasn’t hard to be caught up in the moment a little now that they were finally here. Aria had to admit Smartwood was beautiful. On their way in she had glimpsed swimming pools, sports ovals, even an equestrian centre. Smartwood prided on delivering cultured young adults into the world, and as such had an extensive list of clubs and activities for students to spend their free time on. Everything seemed higher class than she was prepared for, though. The main hall was polished to gleaming, even after hundreds of feet across it. The white walls and arched windows cut contrast with the dark, exposed beams high above her head. Light streamed in, rendering the hanging chandeliers useless. A few large paintings lined the otherwise bare walls, and Aria noticed that each came with a small plaque, detailing which student had painted them. She wouldn’t have considered herself a bad artist, but seeing what other teens had created and displayed in the hall suddenly made her feel extremely inadequate. Reaching the front of the line, finally, Aria found a tired looking teen, possibly a final year student, with a forced smile. “Name?” he asked without much introduction. “Aria Summerfield,” she replied, trying to rid her nervous energy by wiggling her toes in a hopefully unnoticeable manner. He tapped at his computer for a moment, and said “Excellent, you’ll be living down at Suzanne Higginbottom’s Residence for Excellent Women.” “I’m sorry?” He sighed. “They like us to use the full name. So, you’ll be living at Shrew Hall for the next year. Just head back out of this hall, and follow the path left. Once you go inside, someone will give you your keys and room number.” He handed her a small bag of booklets and pamphlets. “And these will cover every question you could possibly have about the school. Welcome to Smartwood Academy, we’re so pleased to have you here.” He forced another smile. Aria thanked him and turned to leave, but thought she heard him faintly say “You’ll flunk out in two weeks,” but when she turned back he was already helping the next person in line. Feeling a little intimidated, she headed out the door to find Alton. Surprisingly, he was waiting near the entrance, watching for her. Aria had always been close with her brother, but they were at the age she was pretty sure he was sick of watching out for her at every turn. But every now and then he seemed to work out when she really needed the support, and there he was. “Where you headed, little lady?” he asked with a small smile. “Suzanne Higginbottom’s Residence for Excellent Women.” “What?” “Shrew Hall, apparently. Hey, did your guy say anything weird to you?” Aria asked. Alton shrugged. “I think they just needed a little something to stay sane. Who am I to judge. Anyway, I’m heading to Rhodes Hall, 104. Co-ed school, and yet there are still gender specific dormitories.” He made a small triumphant gesture. “I mean, how could they split us up after all these years. So rude.” “Of course you get a normal sounding one. And stop with the lies, I know you want your own space. But you won’t get that much to yourself. We still have roommates,” Aria said. “Oh yeah. Hope he’s cute.” “Yep,” Aria agreed awkwardly, rocking in place rather than making moves towards the left as she was directed. “Am I going to need a crowbar to split me from you?” Alton asked. Aria gritted her teeth. “Nope, I’ve got this. I’m just going to split from my other half and go learn to be independent like the parents wanted. No sweat.” “I hope there’s no sweat, you’ve been pretty close to me all day.” Aria punched him lightly. He punched her back. They both had to wrestle with the instinct to start a mini brawl, reminding themselves that they were in public. “Go,” Alton said, “Meet your roommate, and here’s hoping you can be clingy with her instead of me.” “Oh please, you’d be so hurt if I replaced you with someone else,” Aria replied. “That’s you you’re thinking of. Now no more excuses. Go on, git.” And with that he headed to the right. Aria took a breath and turned left, heading towards the girls’ dormitories. There were three female dormitories down the path Aria had been directed to, but luckily they were clearly labelled. Each had their own tall fence to protect the front gardens, and a small fountain in front of the main entrance. Each fountain had a different statue of a woman mounted on it. From the research Aria had done of the school, it seemed there were six founders of Smartwood; three women and three men. The dormitories were named after each of them, and arranged the students by their main focuses in their curriculum. In other words, there would be no escape from arty, language-based students. And Aria loved the sound of that. Inside Shrew Hall a far more enthusiastic young woman greeted her at the service desk. “Hi!” she exclaimed on Aria’s tentative hello, “Welcome to Shrew Hall. If you’re in the wrong dormitory I’m afraid I’ll have to get security to muscle you out.” “Uh, what?” Aria asked in surprise. “The follow up to that is that I’m the security who would have to muscle you out,” the woman said, a sheepish look flashing across her face. “Ok, so that was all actually a joke, I now see how that was a terrible idea. I just figured new students would be nervous and need a bit of a laugh on their first day.” “Ha?” Aria said tentatively. “No, you’re right, that was silly. Let me try again. Hi! Can I get your name to figure out where to send you?” The woman was strange, no doubt about it, but Aria laughed, releasing a bit of her tension. She gave the woman her details, who said “Excellent, you’re in room 208. The 2 indicates which floor it’s on, and the 08 is the room number. Your roommate is already in, she’s a new student too. Oh, by the way, the head of Shrew Hall is Ms Mercado. She lives just down the corridor next to the dining hall. Give her a buzz if you have any issues. Oh, and the Opening Ceremony is three o’clock today back in the main hall. You’ve still got a few hours so relax and get yourself settled in.” Nodding at what seemed like a lot of information in a small amount of space; Aria accepted the key and headed up the two flights of stairs. Not far down the fairly generic hall, she found 208. She pushed open the door, and a smile broke through her apprehension. Plush white carpet underfoot, white walls with a few hooks ready to hang her favourite pictures. The windows were the same arched ones from the main building, but these were open, and the breeze was gently lifting the laced curtains. The dormitory was small, but idyllic. There were two beds on opposite sides, two desks, two bookshelves. A lot of doubled furniture. However the double that was missing was Aria’s new roommate. Not for long, though, as someone ran into the back of her from out in the hall. Aria pitched forward into the room, stumbling over her luggage in the process. A hand caught her arm, pulled her back up, and in the process whirled her around. For a brief moment Aria felt like a ballerina, and she looked at the girl whose arms she was tangled in. The girl had a slight build, but the hands that held Aria’s arms were strong. Her face framed by short, black hair which puffed out a lot just below her ears. She was cute, Aria was beginning to think, until her gaze travelled up to the girl’s eyes and she saw the blackest hellfire staring back. “What are you doing in my room?” The girl demanded, her eyebrows c****d at a dangerous angle. Aria was thrown off guard and could only stammer. “This is my room! I mean, uh, our room! We’re sharing?” she asked, not quite sure anymore. The girl's accusing glare made Aria feel extremely uncertain about herself. She really wished she weren’t still relying on the girl to hold her up. The two stared at each other for a beat longer. It was like being in some sort of silent interrogation, and the girl's face was the bright light beaming into Aria’s eyes. She couldn't help but shift slightly. The girl relaxed her glare and shrugged, then pushed Aria to standing. “That was a test, you failed. I don't like you.” “What? What was I meant to do differently?” Aria floundered. “Make up a fun lie, tell the truth with a little more spine, I don't know. This moment that just past was my first impression of you; didn't you want it to have a little more pizazz? Now I'll always remember you as this awkward thing.” She sighed. “But- what about you?” Aria stammered, “You made a terrible impression on me freaking me out like that! Maybe you should be concerned with how I see you!” “Now there’s the backbone! Excellent, you're the type who gets fired up when angry.” The girl finally smiled and put an arm familiarly around Aria. “We might be able to make something of you yet.” “Oh no,” Aria whimpered. “Oh yes,” the girl responded. “My name’s Nora Frost. New best friend, sworn enemy, or arch-rival. Only time will tell.” “I'm Aria Summerfield. Uh, normal human being.” “I've noticed,” Nora said sympathetically, patting Aria’s hand as if she was an ancient grandmother speaking in out-dated racial slurs. “But it’s ok, we can fix that. Incidentally, I'm in the middle of a project. If you could just pipe down a smidge, that'd be great pumpkin.” “You've said 90% of the words in this conversation...” Aria said quietly, but she obediently fell silent and dragged her suitcase to the unclaimed bed. The setup in the rooms was quite charming, really. Either side of the room was arranged so that the drawers and desk shielded the bed, giving some illusion of privacy. It would look so much better when covered in Aria’s favourite books and a few stuffed toys. Yes, she defended herself mentally as she expected ridicule from Nora, she still liked stuffed toys at sixteen. Nora really was absorbed in her work already. Nora had already made her half of the room into her own space. Her blanket was practically sideways already, and the pillows were propped up as if she had been sitting on it. She was now sitting at her desk though, which was covered in notes, sketches, and open books. From the angle Aria now sat, she couldn’t quite see the subject matter. “What are you working on?” Aria asked, “The term hasn’t even started yet.” “A competition for one of the clubs.” “You’re already in a club? I thought you were new like me?” “I am new, I haven’t joined one yet. But I already know which one I’m joining, and about the competition they’re taking part in.” “How do you know about it then?” Aria asked. “I work in mysterious ways.” “What is the competition?” “My dear I couldn't possibly break my oath of secrecy and tell you.” “I don't get roommate perks?” “Not until you've earned them,” Nora said firmly. The conversation was getting nowhere fast. Aria left Nora to her work and set about unpacking. Not that there was too much to unpack aside from a few sets of the silver and blue uniform, some white shirts, and a few of her favourite books. There wasn't a whole lot else to do. Aria had envisioned bonding with her roommate over… something, anything, but Nora was absorbed scratching her pencil across her notebook. Curiosity overwhelmed Aria, but if Nora didn't want her to see, that was her choice. And Aria wasn't about to start a fire with a potentially crazy roommate. She instead got out her own notebook and started sketching on her bed. She didn’t consider herself a particularly good artist, but there was something about being absorbed in a doodle after the chaotic meeting with Nora that helped her calm down. Silence fell over the room, and all that could be heard was the scratching of pencil on paper. It reminded Aria of lying back while listening to Alton write his stories. When she was younger, she and Alton shared a room. Somehow in the midst of this new place, she felt connected with home. Even just lying atop the covers she was so warm and comfortable. Her pencil slowly drifted to the corner of the page, and she was fast asleep. A voice like a cheesy newscaster rang out in Aria’s head. “Have you recently discovered that your roommate is a total spaz and might either cuddle you or kill you in your sleep? Have you noticed signs that she may collect a horde of cats, or make all your new friends avoid you like the plague? Try our new product, Remove-a-Roomie! Simply sacrifice your beloved brother to the cause and let him handle the crazy lady for you! You know it's your only option Aria, Aria, Aria…” “Aria?” “Whuzzt?” Aria mumbled. “I'm hearing a lot of people walking down the halls, is something going on? Think there's a fight and everyone's rushing to see it?” a voice asked. Aria didn't want to open her eyes, she felt dazed and confused. Who was talking? What time was it? She was pretty sure she wasn't at home. That's right, she was at school. Ugh, school. Aria sat bolt up. “There was some opening.. thingy.” “Opening ceremony?” Nora asked. She was sitting on the floor by Aria’s bed, looking up at her. “That's the one. Ahh, I need a brush…” Aria started rummaging through her stuff, trying to remember where she put everything, all the while rubbing her eyes. “Eh, don't stress about it. I for one am going to blow it off,” Nora announced. “Oh, I'm such a badass.” “What're you going to do instead?” Aria asked, not really caring about the answer as she ran her fingers through her hair instead. “Work on my competition entry.” “So you're skipping a school thing to work on a school thing. You might not be as cool as you think you are,” Aria said as she headed out the door. “What? No! Aria, get back here!” Nora called after her, “Admit that I am a badass! Reaffirm my delicate self-esteem!” Aria hated sleeping in the day, as napping only had about a one-quarter chance in making her feel rested. More likely that she ended up either more tired, or be rather confused. Right now she was both. Luckily a sleepy deduction suggested to her that if she simply followed the others she should end up in the right place. She grew more determined as her brain clicked into gear. Surrounding her were a lot of lonely and confused people, she hoped. Lonely and confused people were the easiest to win over, and after meeting Nora, Aria was even more determined to make friends. No way would she be stuck with only the crazy girl for company. Amid her thoughts of friends, she realised the horde was heading away from the main buildings and into the woods. There was a distant noise, like rhythmic thumping, and they were all heading towards it. Where was this ceremony meant to be held? She couldn’t quite remember. But these were Smartwood students, so she would end up there eventually, right? No, as it turned out. The group of fifty or so students poured into an outdoor amphitheatre, merging with another large group. There were lights, music, drinks of suspicious nature, and no teachers. Just as Aria wondered if this was some alternate version to the traditional opening ceremony, a guy nearby yelled “Yeeah! Let’s get this party started!” “Oh no,” said Aria. “Oh yes,” said a voice behind her. It was Nora. “I thought you were ditching?” Aria asked, confused at her roommate’s sudden appearance. “I already did. Opening Ceremony was hours ago, dude. You can see that the sun’s setting, right? Aww, don’t look so dismayed,” she said as Aria’s face dropped. “Opening Ceremony is lame, but Opening Party is where it’s really at. Let’s get crazy!” Aria looked up at the sun, hoping it was some stupid joke. But no, the ceremony was supposed to be at 3 o’clock, and there the sun was already dipping behind the trees. Somehow she’d actually slept through her first school event. Anxiety began to grip her, and she cast her eyes around in futility for her brother. Her mind jumped onto a loop, worried again about attending this school. If she couldn’t even get something that simple right, what was she going to do when it actually became difficult? Aria’s throat tightened, and she just wanted to run away. She couldn’t be around people right now, yet they were packed tightly around her, making it impossible to escape. She took a few heaving breaths, trying to steady herself and willing her tears not to appear. A hand slapped her on the back. It was Nora again. Somehow Nora had a knack for weaving through the people and had managed to squeeze her way to the drinks table and back in the time Aria was standing frozen. “Don’t stress yourself,” she said, “It’s fine to be a little slack on your first day. Hell, it’s expected. Half the people here travelled a long way to get here, they just want to chill out before we all get serious tomorrow. Drink?” Nora offered one of the cups to Aria. “Alcohol?” Aria asked. Nora looked away from her and back again. “Maybe?” “You have it. I’ll make sure you get home tonight,” Aria said, forcing herself to sound normal. “You’re right! Prove to all of us you can have just as much fun without alcohol!” Nora exclaimed enthusiastically, and immediately chugged hers and Aria’s drinks. “Ready? Starting… now!” “Where did they get the alcohol from?” Aria asked, “Everyone here should be minors.” “Boooooo, Captain Buzzkill! No more questions. Actually, you’re not even cool enough to be a captain. Major Buzzkill!” “A major is higher than a captain.” “Private Buzzkill! That’s right, you sound dirty now!” “How are you this drunk already?” “Oh I’m not drunk,” Nora said, “I lied about the booze. Wanted you to think I was cool. Can’t stand the taste actually. Nah, I’m just hopped up on SO MUCH SUGAR.” Aria laughed in spite of herself and pulled them over to one of the tables where there was some non-alcoholic punch. She poured herself a drink and said “Fine! Fine. I will ‘cut loose’ as the young kids are saying these days.” “That’s the spirit.” The music grew louder, drowning out all attempts at conversation, so they joined the crowd dancing. There was something special in the air that lifted the energy of everyone, and they all jumped along with the debatably good music. Aria generally wasn’t one for dancing, but there was something encouraging about dancing next to Nora who clearly had no inhibitions or shame. However, despite Nora’s wildly flailing limbs, she managed to not hit anyone in the tight space. She was surprisingly graceful for what looked like an epileptic monkey. The punch was fantastic, all fruity and fizzy, so Aria kept heading back over between songs. Nora was right; the sugar from the punch was making her incredibly energetic. Soon she was bounding around strangers, most of who whooped in appreciation of her enthusiasm. But finally she wore down and dragged Nora off to the side to lie on an empty space of grass. Aria flopped back and laughed as the stars danced above her. “This is such a good party even the stars are getting their groove on.” “What are you on about now?” Nora asked. “Look, they’re spinning!” Aria pointed up. Nora looked about. “Yeah, that’s just because you drank a butt-load of alcohol.” “Ahahaha… what? But I was drinking from that table… wait, that table the whole night,” she pointed, having trouble remembering the right one through the haze in her mind. “No dude, that’s the alcoholic table. See how there are way more people crowded around it?” Through her swimming vision, Aria noticed that there were in fact a lot of loud people surrounding the table she’d been drinking from all night. There was another table further back, sad and alone. “Oh dang. Why didn’t you warn me?” “I did. I told you that there was spirits in the punch. Remember? I said ‘that’s the spirits’? But you kept drinking so what the hey,” she shrugged. “I thought you were just wishing me well in the abandonment of my anxiety…” “Why would I do that?” Nora looked confused. “Because that’s what friends would do?” Aria replied hopefully. “Oh… honey, sweetie, baby. We’ve known each other a few hours, I’m not sure I’m ready to say the ‘F’ word, y’know?” Nora patted Aria’s shoulder and jumped back up into the crowd. Aria wanted to feel wounded by the abandonment but she was too distractible, and soon her gaze wandered to two guys chatting amicably at the edge of the amphitheatre by a few bushes. One was taller with a lithe build, and carefully spiked black hair. The other was a bit on the short side, with a mop of brown hair, and an impassive face. She jumped to her feet and began to wander over as she listened in to their conversation. “Sounds like the kind of club people can take as seriously or as lazily as they want. I like the sound of that,” the taller guy was saying. “Aren’t all the clubs like that?” the other asked. “Nah. The people here are competitive; I think there’s something in the water. They’re so determined to be perfect that they breed out the ‘weakness’ in their clubs. What if I just want to take the time to relax without being the best of the best? This place is crazy.” “Crazy?” Aria butted in, “Are we talking about my roommate Nora?” The second guy looked at her in confusion, “We have literally no idea who or your roommate is.” The taller guy responded enthusiastically however. “Whoa, you have a crazy roommate too? Snap!” Aria swung her hand for the high five he presented, but swung wide and slapped him in the face instead. “Whoops!” “Smooth,” he said, “You look kind of unstable.” “That’s what you think! The world is crazy wibbly wobbly at the moment, so I’m staying gyroscopically stable!” Aria announced proudly. “Impressive,” he grinned. The second guy frowned at her. “You’re a bit of an odd one, aren’t you.” “You’re a bit of a grouchy one, mop-head,” Aria replied. “Why’re you here?” “I’m only here because of Chris.” “Who’s Chris?” “Now you know how that feels.” He took off into the crowd. “What a sourpuss,” Aria muttered. “You did just call him a mop-head,” the first guy reminded her. “I did?” He laughed. “Too much in your system?” “My roommate neglected to mention which drinks table was which. Now I’m saying literally everything that comes to my mind.” “Whatcha thinking right now?” “You know how people are always forgetting things? I’m wondering how do people remember that they’ve forgotten something if they’ve forgotten it? It boggles my mind… And how funny is it that your belly button is just your old mouth? Oh, and have you ever realised that humans basically only have two minutes of life left, but each time we breath it resets the counter?” The guy grew wide-eyed. “You’ve given me… a lot to think about.” Aria continued; “And yet despite all these thoughts I’m mostly just worried about my brother finding this party and starting to make out with literally everyone in attendance. He’s got a nose for sniffing out a shindig.” “He’s my kind of guy. Why would you be worried?” “He’s a terrible influence on everyone except me. No, on me too actually.” Aria paused. “Oh no, Nora’s right, I am boring! I’m at a party and talking about how I’m worried my brother has too much fun. What is wrong with me?” “Nora? The ‘crazy roommate’ you mentioned?” he asked. “Yeah. She seems interesting, but I can’t get a read on her. She flip-flops between being nice and being rude, it makes no sense! Aren’t people normally just one thing?” “Eh, that’s not so bad. I’ve got this crazy roommate who ‘let slip’ that he’s a massive homophobe and wanted to make sure that I was a ‘good guy’. I’m thinking of buying some stilettos to wear around the dorm to freak him out.” Aria laughed, “Charming.” “Hey, never act like a d**k and then show me some obvious weakness. I’m gonna use it against you.” “Now I’m worried about what you would do to me,” she teased. “Never fear, the inspiration doesn’t strike until I’m cheesed off. You’re safe. For now.” The guy finished his drink in one gulp. “I’m going to get this filled up. Don’t go anywhere, mystery lady.” “Never,” Aria promised as he walked off. She was enjoying this guy, though a distant part of her brain noted that he had said nothing about himself so far, so likely what she liked was his cute face and intent interest on her chatter. Maybe she should get his name. As she waited, she looked around, and noticed some strangely hand-shaped branches emerging from the bush. No, they weren’t hand-shaped branches, they were hand-shaped hands. Hands that grabbed Aria and before she could scream she was pulled into the bushes and a hand was over her mouth to muffle the noise. There was a moment of awkward struggling before Aria realised the kidnapper was Nora. Not that this revelation stopped her from struggling. “This is not the time for snuggling!” Aria exclaimed. “Shh!” Nora hissed. “I saw teachers coming. You know we’re not allowed to drink alcohol on campus, right? Or at all for that matter. If you want to keep your record clean, you’ll shut up and stop moving.” “You saw them and you helped me too rather than just yourself? Aww! Nora, you are a nice person!” “I can do nice things without being a nice person!” “Sure, sure.” “Quiet!” Nora ordered, and they fell to silence. The music cut off suddenly, and an authoritative voice roared “This is ENOUGH! We’re going to head up right now to the main building and sort out the punishment for so many of you being out late and drinking. The teachers have you all surrounded, so don’t even THINK about slipping past us. By now you should remember our uncanny ability to remember hundreds of names and faces, so we can HUNT YOU DOWN. Jeffrey, don’t even act like you can pretend you weren’t here. I would have been shocked, shocked if you weren’t part of this.” Nora sniggered quietly. The noises of rebellion changed to resigned plodding as the students were herded back up the path. The amphitheatre looked just sad once everyone had left. Empty bottles were everywhere, and the laptop which powered the speakers powered down. Nora held Aria in place for a little longer. “Just wait, I bet there’s a teacher waiting around for those who hid.” “How do you figure?” “That’s what I’d do.” “Well this was an… exciting welcome to Smartwood. Definitely not what I imagined,” Aria said. “I told you, this school is for the academically gifted. But even they need to cut loose. These guys just cut loose at the beginning. Eh, it’s cool, Principal White will whip them back into shape. Right in time for classes tomorrow,” Nora replied. After a brief pause, she giggled. “You know what’s funny?” “What?” “Your head is gonna hurt so bad tomorrow.” “Noooo,” Aria whimpered.