Tailor Made

Chapter Five

After speaking with Elise, Aria had felt less sure of her feelings for Chris. She was afraid that she had been just like the multitude of women who were interested in him just because he was quite the attractive fellow. But after her night in his room, Aria felt sure once more. She enjoyed talking and joking with him, and was sure he felt the same based on how he had acted. There was a lovely sensitive side to him too. Besides, she couldn’t stop smiling when she thought of him. Wasn’t that enough?

Finding excuses to be with him in a one-on-one situation was difficult though. Aria knew that if she could just make them spend time together he would see that she was an interesting and exciting person, he would see she was special. But how would she get him alone?

She could use the excuse that she wanted to make a male garment and ask Chris to be the model? But no, she was still too new for this. Maybe tell him that she didn’t like learning from Elise? No, that would bite her in the ass somehow. Aria sighed. If all else fails I can just tell him I need a ‘big, strong man to help me move my furniture’, Aria thought. But all her furniture was actually easy to move. Maybe if she broke her arm? No, that’s crazy talk.

Maybe she needed to find what subject he was good at and ask if he could tutor her. No. Wait! That was it, she could snoop around to find out what he was particularly good at making, and come up with a project that would involve those kinds of techniques, then ask him for assistance. Perfect! It would be so easy to butter him up if he thought she was interested in learning something he had a bit more skill with. But first she would need to snoop around and learn what he was able to do.

Aria sat down at one of the group tables in the studio at the beginning of their second week. Chris had called a brief meeting because he had something he wanted to discuss with the group. Passing out a pamphlet to each of them, he said “As some of you will know, the Raywyn Fashion and Design competition is coming up. As some of you don’t know, the R-fad is held at the end of this semester just before break. It’s a fashion show only open to high school students all around the country, and aside from money the first prize winner receives a scholarship to the Marseille Fashion School. It’s a huge opportunity for those of us who are looking to go on in this area in the future. But hey, even if you don’t plan to, it’s an incredible experience. We can work individually or in a group to design an outfit, and bring it to completion in just under ten weeks.”

Aria raised her eyebrows. It sounded fantastic, but she’d only been sewing for a week at this point. After all Elise’s talk about starting simple, this seemed quite the jump.

“Aria, Jarod, you two are welcome to enter if you want, but at this point in your skills I would recommend helping someone else in the group and entering on your own next time once you’re more experienced. Elise and I are going in together and were hoping to make a female outfit. Nora, I was hoping you would be willing to be our model. Your figure would be perfect for what I have in mind,” Chris said hopefully.

“What? No, I-” Nora replied looking agitated, but she calmed herself before speaking again. “I’m afraid I can’t, I was planning to enter this myself.”

“There’s nothing saying you can’t be the model and an entrant. Mathias is using me as his model, same as last year,” Chris said.

“Look, I’d really rather not. Why don’t you ask Aria?” Nora suggested quietly.

“Oh, of course. Aria?” Chris asked, turning to her.

Aria blushed, “Would people really want to see me model some clothing? I’m not exactly the perfect image of beauty.”

“Don’t worry, this is only a high school competition. You’re not expected to be ridiculously tall and paper-thin.”

“Then sure,” Aria said impulsively, “Let’s do this.”

The meeting was adjourned so Aria flipped through the pamphlet for a moment. Its enthusiastic writer spoke about fashion design with much the same excitement as Chris did, and detailed the requirements of the completion.

Nora was back at her usual desk, reading the pamphlet darkly.

“So this is what you’ve been working on in your spare time. Designs for the show I guess?” Aria asked her, readying herself for the onslaught.

Nora merely shrugged in reply.

“Hey, thanks for suggesting I should be the model for this,” Aria offered.

Nora didn’t look up. “I didn’t do it for the sake of your painfully obvious crush. I did it to get him out of my way.”

Aria felt the heat rise in her cheeks, and she turned away. Nora was not going to make anything easy. Shaking off the feeling, she headed over to Mat as she saw Chris moving away.

“Heyy,” she greeted Mat warmly. He looked up expectantly. “I was wondering, we’ve heard a lot about the technical skills we’ll be learning about in this club, but I’ve seen almost nothing of what we can actually accomplish. Are there photos anywhere of the kinds of clothing you three have made in the past?”

“Yeah, actually. Sorry, you’re right, we should have shown off to you guys what we’ve done. That’s probably a good way to enthuse you through the slow slog of learning the techniques,” Mat agreed, and he turned to the small bookshelf next to him and rifled through it for a spiral-bound folder. It was already flipped open onto the front page when he handed it to her, and Aria was treated to some astounding pictures of Chris.

He was practically a model, she thought looking through the book. He seemed to favour the classy look, and in most pictures he was dressed in some sort of nice jacket over a clean white shirt, and occasionally a vest. It was fairly simple clothing, but stylish and well-made. One jacket was black but covered in tiny white crosses in a diamond pattern, creating a mesmerising design. One photo was the grey vest and pants he was wearing on the previous Saturday. The final photo was Chris adorned in a deep black jacket with pale gold embroidery running vertically down the jacket on either side of the break line (which Chris had once explained was the term for the part where the front panels overlapped and were sealed with buttons). There was similar embroidery around the cuffs. White cuffs from his shirt peeked slightly out from the ends of his sleeves, matching the white cravat he wore. Coupled with dark pants and a cane in his hand, he was somehow both intimidating and alluring.

“Wow,” Aria murmured.

“That’s one of my favourite pieces,” Mat said, staring at the final photo. “I mean, it’s not every day wear, but when there’s a good opportunity Chris still takes it out for a run from time to time. I mostly like that it makes him look like a classy villain. They’re my favourite kind of villains.”

“Mind if I take this to show, um, Jarod? I think he’d appreciate what he could make one day,” she said.

“Sure, but it may be a while for him. I saw that rhino he made. It was a bit rough.”

“He told me it was a cat actually.”

“Oh, dang.”

Aria sat down at the back table and got to work. She pulled out her laptop and started searching online for any kind of sewing technique relating to jacket making, because clearly that was something Chris did well.

Every site she visited explained quite firmly that jackets were an advanced garment without talking too much about how to actually make them. Very unhelpful. But one finally referenced the importance of pad stitching on the collar. She promptly looked up what on earth that was. It hadn’t come up in her lessons yet because, while it was a simple technique, it was mostly used to stiffen fabric. Her dog and the cushion that she was now making had no need for a technique like that.

But what could she ask for help on that would require this? Aria looked up at Chris who was talking to Elise with a notebook in hand, possibly sketching some ideas. Aria preferred the thought of working it out before talking to Chris, lest she be ambushed with questions later on. Well, Elise did mention that later on she could make clothing for her plush dog as a way to practice new techniques. Maybe she was making an adorable cape for it and needed to reinforce the collar somehow? Perfect.

Aria waited until Elise stepped away for a moment before she got up to ambush him, bringing the folder with her. When she approached, Chris smiled and said “Just who I was wanting to talk to! I wanted to ask you a few questions about the competition.”

“Actually I have a question of my own, first,” Aria butted in. “Mat showed me this folder of clothing you’ve made and I was wondering-”

“This isn’t mine,” Chris said, “Mat made all these.”

“What?” Aria asked, feeling a little thrown. Her whole game plan was thrown off, abort, abort!

“Yeah, look,” he flipped to the front where it was clearly labelled ‘Mathias Dampier’s Collection of Fabulousness’. “Mat likes to use me as a model for his work because he makes guy’s clothing. I personally prefer to make women’s clothing because I find the female form more complicated. Elise is generally my model, but she prefers wearing androgynous clothing while I want to make something a little more special.”

“Right,” Aria said quietly.

“If you want to talk about the techniques used in this I’m sure Mat would be more than happy to tell you all about it,” Chris said, pulling her back over to Mat.

“Wait no, I don’t want to talk to him now!” Aria said in a panic.

“Why not? You two seemed to be getting on great the other night,” Chris asked, looking concerned.

“Because I ah, he seems really busy!”

Mat was relaxing back in his chair flipping a pen as he stared into space.

“Ooookay,” Chris replied as Aria fled.

For the next few days Aria held true to word of trying to make Nora her friend. Any time they were within speaking distance Aria would offer some friendly chatter, and refuse to be intimidated by Nora’s returning glare. “Want to have dinner together?” she asked. “Would you like to bounce off ideas off me for the competition?” “Have you sorted out a model yet? I bet Alton could ask his club if anyone’s interested in it.” “Enjoying your classes so far?”

Aria soon learned Nora was particularly sour after their sport sessions which had started in the second week, though Aria still had no idea what sport Nora was doing. Asking her about it was apparently the wrong thing to do. Nora exploded.

“My life has absolutely nothing to do with you!” she yelled. “A computer lumped us together in this room, but don’t take that as some sign from the universe that we need to mean anything to each other! Why do you even care?!”

Aria was now starting to feel used to Nora’s outbursts and was not sent hiding from her fury. “I just want to know what happened between us,” Aria tried to say soothingly but it came out with a stronger hint of desperation than she would have liked. “Look, I’m not going to deny you were super weird during our first few days, but I kind of started to like that. You have a strong personality, and acted in ways I wouldn’t dare. I was envious of that. I just want to know why were you so… well, sort of friendly, if you were just going to turn like this?”

“Because I thought you were safe!” Nora exploded. “But you joined our club and ruined everything!” And she stormed out.

Aria stared after her. “Cryptic, but we’re getting somewhere,” she said triumphantly.

Back at the club Aria decided to put her next Chris-plan into action. Aria and Elise had been getting along much better now, and without all the slightly barbed comments, Elise was proving to be an excellent teacher. Aria had progressed to some simple skirt making, and was sewing a vintage-style black lace skirt, complete with a satin underlining and a wide, scalloped hem. Elise had an eye for detail and quickly caught any upcoming mistakes. And now Elise would be the key to Aria’s next ploy.

Aria was going to ask Chris for help on making Elise a thank-you gift for teaching her. How would he be able to say no to that? Plus he may have a good suggestion of what she would like. With this plan, she would be able to make two people happy at once. Elise with a gift, and Chris with her delightful presence!

She intercepted Chris, and when she leaned in close to whisper conspiratorially into his ear she was able to feel his body heat and trace the line of his neck with her eyes. Soon you will be mine! she thought to herself, but out loud she only asked about the gift idea.

Chis loved the idea. “No one makes her anything because they always assume she could do it better. But I think it would mean the world to her if you made this gesture. We’re not in crunch time yet with the competition, so yes, let’s start work on it tomorrow during club hours.”

Aria fairly glowed for the rest of the club session. Mat tried to measure Chris who was trying to measure Aria with the help of Elise, and they were all throwing ideas between them. Jarod buzzed around them as they worked asking how he could help, and put Aria in mind of an excited toddler wanting to help his parents.

Once they ended the session, Mat held Aria back for a moment to speak with her. “After the night you were out our place, there was something I wanted to discuss with you. I had a lot of fun with you-”

Oh dear. Aria could see where this was going. “Mat, look, you’re a great guy, but I don’t feel that way about you.”

“What?” he asked, confused.

Aria felt like a deer in the headlights. “Um, nothing?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Did you think I was going to ask you out?”

Apparently not. “Careful,” she warned him, “It seems mistakes were made, but that’s no reason to say anything harsh that could wound my delicate sensibilities.”

“Aria, I have a boyfriend,” Mat said flatly.

“Really?” Aria was astounded. “Is it Chris?”

Mat burst out laughing. “No! I’m kidding. No boyfriend, and definitely not Chris. However I did want to talk to you about him.”

“Did he say something to you?” she asked hopefully.

“Nothing specific. What I meant to say is that I had a lot of fun the other night. Until Chris showed up.”

“What was wrong with Chris being there?” she asked.

Mat pressed his lips into a flat line. “Nothing drastic, just… there’s a running theme with you. You’re a great person to hang out with, but the moment he joined us, he was all you paid attention to. I get that you’re into him, but it felt like you were cheapening the fun we had together by completely forgetting me. It’s not fun to be ignored.”

Aria felt the heat rising to her cheeks as he said that, but she responded immediately to his later words. “Oh no! Mat, I’m so sorry I acted that way. I didn’t realise I was making you feel like that.”

“It’s fine, don’t stress yourself about it. You know how I feel now, so you can make a difference next time.”

“Of course,” she agreed. “And, um, do you think he knows how I feel?”

“Whoa no, I am not getting involved. This is your problem,” he said, waving his arms.

Aria laughed. “Aww, don’t want to get tangled up in my drama? At least watch from the sidelines, it could be hilarious.”

Mat smirked. “It’s already hilarious. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

And she was mortified. Aria dashed away with Mat’s laughter trailing behind her.

The next morning word was sent through all the classes that there would be a meeting with the heads of their houses, and would be meeting each of their dorms at the beginning of club time. Aria rolled her eyes in exasperation, that would cut into her time with Chris! Well, maybe that meant they would be able to extend the time working together.

The head of Shrew House was Ms Mercado, though Aria had not heard that name since her first day, and had never sighted the woman. She was told the heads were usually high-ranking academics, so she was put in mind of someone stern, like Diane but less kooky.

Aria was barely surprised when Ms Mercado turned out to be completely different than she had imagined. She had come to find Smartwood had a knack for making a mockery of her ideas and expectations.

She gave the image of somehow being eccentric and yet calm at the same time. She wore a light blue wrap dress with sunflowers which looked vaguely reminiscent to a painting Aria had once seen. The pale blue dress brought out the darkness of her skin made her appear reserved and proper, but her enormous frizzy black curls were brought to life with random splashes of colour reds and oranges to give her a loud appearance. As she spoke, she brushed her hair back with nails decorated by bees, and revealed cloud shaped earrings. One had a lightning bolt hanging from it, while the other had a blue stone shaped like a rain drop. She had a bright smile even in the overcast weather.

“Hello my darlings!” she greeted them. “I hope you’re all settling in well by now. If not, please remember that my door is always open. And I love to chat, so don’t be shy. Now, many of you will be aware of our involvement in Kingsbury’s annual Carnival of Colour. However some of you have come from afar to attend our academy, so let me explain.

“Have you had the chance to walk through the town and see the technicoloured walls? It’s our pride and joy, and will be held this Saturday. Each year in autumn before the cold overcomes us, we one last crazy event where everyone is able to release their inner child and spend a day throwing balloons and shooting water guns filled with paint. There is an all-out war to spread the most of your favourite colour around and claim your victory! However we at Smartwood like to help in the preparation and pack down of the event. Pre-event we help to paint the walls of commercial buildings and community centres a plain colour in preparation to be attacked. Post-event we apply sealants to the most well-loved walls to preserve them until next year. And finally we need students to assist in hosing down houses and buildings that wanted nothing to do with our ridiculous affairs. The paint we use dissolves quite easily in the rain. There are, of course, positions for volunteering on the day, but I imagine none of you would want to miss the fun,” Ms Mercado’s eyes twinkled.

The girl next to Aria sniggered, but not at what Ms Mercado was saying. She was looking down at her phone and watching a small video. Aria recognised the girl, her name was Olivia and they had chatted a few times in French class. Olivia noticed her watching, so Aria gave a small smile before returning her attention to Ms Mercado.

“As such, I would like each of you to please line up to put your name down for when you would like to volunteer. But if you are thinking of skipping volunteering, I would suggest,” Ms Mercado stressed the word dangerously, “that you should consider how that reflects us as a school, and you personally. Thank you.”

The students shuffled to begin forming lines by Ms Mercado and her assistant, but Aria felt a tug on her sleeve.

“It’s Aria, right?” Olivia asked and held her phone up, “Check out this video I was just watching, I think I broke a rib trying to contain my laughter during that.”

“That’s really nice of you, but I want to get lined up quickly,” Aria responded, looking desperately at the rapidly forming line, but she despised being rude.

“Just one sec, this is really important!” Olivia’s phone showed a video of a cat with a squashed face wearing miniature boxing gloves on its front paws while a person wearing another pair of miniature boxing gloves on her fingers waved them around as if preparing for a fight. The girl bopped the cat in the face and it reeled back looking startled.

“Oh that’s funny,” Aria said, trying to gracefully disentangle herself.

“Wait, it’s getting to the good bit! Oh hell, it’s buffering. Hold up,” Olivia said as the video froze mid-step.

Aria tried to edge away. “I really should join the line…”

“No, look!”

The video unfroze, and the recently bopped cat turned to a second cat who entered the screen and while looking incredibly sour it smacked the other cat in face.

Aria burst out laughing. “That is actually pretty funny!” But her amusement was short-lived when she looked back up. “Oh dang,” she said, seeing the now huge line.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine,” Olivia said, “There are plenty of volunteering options, so it’s not like we’ll run out. It’s cute of you to care so much though.”

“It’s not that, I wanted to volunteer at a specific time,” Aria replied, looking dejected.

“Oh dear. Tell you what, I will soothe you with the sight of fluffy creatures,” Olivia consoled her, raising her phone again.

Together they giggled and ‘aww’d at videos of dogs bounding through wheat fields, pandas falling off trees, and a horse being ridden through the ocean as dolphins swam around looking a bit confused at the four-legged beast. Aria did feel a lot better looking at them, and the line quickly progressed until they were at the front. There were only a few behind them, Nora among them.

Ms Mercado was even cuter up close, and below the desk she sat behind, Aria could see she was wearing ballet flats which were made to look like pencils. Maybe she was an art teacher?

“Hey girls,” Ms Mercado greeted them, “We’ve had an unprecedented amount volunteering for the post-festival clean-up, and even a fair amount volunteering for on the day. I’m afraid I have to sign you up for the pre-festival work to spread our efforts out a bit.”

“Haha!” Olivia cried triumphantly. “Every year people think it’s going to be easier to do the clean-up. But after a day of sprinting around your legs are aching, it’s the last thing you’ll want to do! Sign me up for the pre-festival work!”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Ms Mercado smiled. “But really, this helps a lot. We have two days before the event, so you’ll be using your club time to head down to the town-”

“No!” cried Aria, causing Ms Mercado and Olivia to jump. Aria slapped her hands over her mouth.

“Uh,” Ms Mercado hesitated, “If you really want I can try shuffle things around…?”

Aria’s hands moved to her eyes before she dropped them to her sides, now looking a bit more red. “No, no, it’s fine. Sorry.” So much for time to work with Chris.

“Right, well, we’ll be starting once I’m done here, so head up to your rooms and get into clothing you don’t mind paint getting on,” Ms Mercado said.

“Or clothing you want paint to get on,” Olivia grinned.

“Random splotches of paint can make a boring outfit exciting,” Ms Mercado smiled in return, “I taught you well.”

Aria headed back to her room, saying goodbye to Olivia on the first floor. She wasn’t sure what to wear; pretty much all her weekend clothes wouldn’t look out of place with paint flecks. She headed back down stairs in a tank top with an unbuttoned green check shirt over the top, and a pair of plain jeans. It was oddly thrilling to be in casual clothes during the school week, and evidentially others thought so too because they came downstairs in less painting-appropriate clothing. Aria almost laughed while imagining their impending dismay. Almost.

Twenty of them followed Ms Mercado off the grounds and properly into the town of Kingsbury. A section of the commercial part of town had been roughly roped off, in which there were about eight streets which had Kingsbury’s famous multi-coloured walls. There were a lot of adult volunteers standing around a huge collection of cans of white paint and some rollers. Ms Mercado asked them to group up into twos and threes, so Aria joined Olivia and Olivia’s friend who she recognised as Chloe from biology. Ms Mercado checked through the groups and said “Oh dear. Nora, couldn’t find a group?”

Aria had a weird sinking feeling.

“Does anyone mind splitting from their group of three and joining Nora?” Ms Mercado asked.

Almost the entire group tried to look as if they couldn’t see Nora or Ms Mercado. Aria knew why. Most of them had been in a class with her now, and when she wasn’t quiet and ignoring people, she was arguing with the teacher. Admittedly she had some good points most of the time, but nearly everyone’s attempts to befriend her had been rebuffed scornfully.

“Anyone?” she asked again, looking desperate. Was even Ms Mercado unwilling to work with her?

Nora almost looked embarrassed being blanked by the entire class, but with her it was always hard to tell. Aria could feel her frustratingly good heart starting to melt at Nora’s plight. Aria knew how much it stung to be left out, and the increasing silence made her feel wounded on Nora’s behalf. Before she could stop herself, she raised her hand. “I’ll go with Nora,” she said, accepting that not only would she miss out on seeing Chris, but she would be living in hell for the next two days. Ms Mercado’s grateful look did make her feel a bit better, but Nora remained impassive.

Ms Mercado led them through the town, pointing out all the walls which needed work. Aria and Nora were assigned to a plain square building which was only three meters any way you look at it. There were some caution signs suggesting they should not enter, but Ms Mercado seemed confident in their ability to not get inside. She probably thought Nora would be the one to try get inside while Aria would be the voice of reason to stop her. A small part of Aria wanted to laugh at that notion. If only Ms Mercado knew her before this school.

The walls were higher than either of them could reach, but luckily they had been provided with some poles to reach the top. It was rough, but Aria wasn’t too concerned with perfection. They began working from one side to the other, with Aria on top portion due to her miniscule height advantage, while Nora worked low.

They worked in silence for half an hour while Aria thought back and forth about how would be best to warm Nora to her, but she felt oddly at a loss for words. They were making good time though, and painted the first two sides quickly. Just as they were taking a brief break to stretch out, one of the teachers from the school approached them. Aria thought he might be checking on them, but she noticed it was Mr Walker, her mathematics teacher who she also knew to be the head of Rhodes hall. In tow there were four male students, and one of them was Chris!

“Hey girls,” Mr Walker greeted them, “Looks like you’re making good progress here. I was wondering if I could borrow the help of one of you if you’re so close to finishing. We need someone with small hands.”

“That sounds ominous,” Nora muttered quietly.

“Aria?” he asked, recognising her from class.

Aria glanced at Chris, who grinned and waved at her. She could spend that time with him after all! But she hesitated, thinking of the remaining two walls left to paint. If Nora did it by herself it would be a long time before she was able to head home. “Sorry, Mr Walker,” she said, trying to hide her reluctance. “We’ve still got a lot to go on the other sides. Besides, we’re having fun. Right Nora?”

Nora nodded woodenly.

“Fair enough. No worries, thanks anyway,” Mr Walker said, and led them away.

Aria internally sighed, but it was the right thing to do. However, seeing Chris did renew her energy. They were just painting the walls white, but Aria wanted to make use of this time. Nora would finally not be able to escape her! Well, she could just leave; Nora had already proven not to respect the authority of her teachers. But maybe some gratitude for Aria refusing to leave her would calm her down a little. Aria believed strongly in the power of little gestures. Slowly the gestures would wear Nora’s craziness down.

“It’s almost two weeks down since we first arrived here. Funny how in such a short time someplace unfamiliar can start to feel like home,” Aria chatted away as they rolled paint up and down the wall. “I don’t think I ever asked you about your family. You’re new this year, right? Where did you come from?”

Nora merely shrugged, but at least she was clearly listening.

“Alton and I used to live in a different state, but mum got transferred and she sent us here. I’d never even heard of Kingsbury before, but if it holds a carnival of colour each year it can’t be too bad. Once we’re in our final year we’re allowed to leave campus on weekends, so we’ll get a good chance to explore it then, but I hate the idea of waiting a whole year! It feels pretty different from home though, that’s for sure. I kind of miss my friends. Well, they were actually Alton’s friends, but they welcomed me well enough. They were pretty crazy people, we always ended up running around the city on weekends and I would panic as they played pranks on people,” Aria laughed. “Good times. It does feel weird not being able to roam around whenever I want. That’s probably half the reason I picked horse riding as my sport. You picked dance right? How’s that going? Are you learning any particular kind or do they just teach you a range? Are you good at it? You must be good at it, you’re so graceful whenever you move. I’ve always been interested to learn but I feel like I’d have no idea how to do free dancing where you’re not set to a specific choreography. Even if I knew the steps I could use, I feel like I’d be constantly wondering which to do next. Too many options I think. I think I work better when I’m either set doing something I already know, or just reacting to obstacles as they come up. Am I babbling? I feel like I’m babbling.”

“A bit,” Nora said.

“Oops. Sorry.”

“Did you actually want me to answer any of those questions about dance?” Nora asked quietly.

Aria was astounded by Nora’s response. Quick, say yes! she told herself, but don’t seem too eager or Nora might retreat again! “Go ahead,” Aria replied.

“There were a lot of options for dance, as well as a general class covering all of them, but I chose one which focuses on ballet,” Nora responded.

“Ballet? Really? Wow, I haven’t seen much of that, but I hear it’s really hard. Training for years to make it look like you’re doing something that takes no effort at all. That’s really impressive Nora.”

Nora shrugged. “It’s ok.”

“You don’t sound that interested in it,” Aria commented.

“My mum wanted me to do it. I guess I’m good enough but I have no special interest in it.”

“Ohhh… yeah, sometimes parents have a weird idea of what would be good for their children.”

Nora snorted, showing the first positive emotion Aria had seen since their third day. Aria had keep herself from grinning broadly in triumph.

It took a little over an hour to paint the whole way around the building, and Aria managed to make idle chatter with Nora. Granted, she didn’t offer any topics herself, but Aria was ecstatic at the change. When they were done Aria stood back and examined it. “Look good,” she said, pleased.

“Hmm, I mean yeah, it looks ok, but I feel like it’s missing something,” Nora said. “Look at where the paint meets the top; it’s not very neat is it. I hate the idea of leaving some of it undone. Could you do that?”

“Sure!” Aria exclaimed, happy to have Nora finally warming up to her.

“The only problem is how can we reach it? I guess we could get a ladder, but where from? Maybe you should head back to the school to grab one?” Nora suggested.

But Aria wasn’t listening. She brushed her fingers over the paint where they had started, and in the bright sun it was already nice and dry. She looked at how tall the wall was, and backing up slightly. She rolled her arms briefly before sprinting towards the wall and jumped up, kicking off from about half way up the wall and pulled herself up onto the wall.

“What the s**t!” Nora cried.

“Could you pass me up the paint?” Aria asked.

“You just defied gravity!” Nora exclaimed, all coldness suddenly gone and replaced by awe.

“Hardly, it was only a few metres. It’s easy if you know how.”

“I didn’t even know you were athletic,” Nora said, looking a little flabbergasted.

“But I run every morning before class! How have you not noticed me returning for a shower all flushed and sweaty?”

“I just thought you were going out to bang some dude…”

The silence grew between them as they stared at one another.

“So can you pass me the paint?” Aria asked.

Nora sighed. “I don’t even care. I don’t care about the wall at all. It was just a clever ruse to get you out of my hair for a bit. Doesn’t matter. Didn’t work.”

“What! Why? I thought we were getting on ok,” Aria exclaimed.

Nora looked aside, not meeting Aria’s gaze. “Well it hasn’t exactly been fun being around little miss chatterbox. I just wanted some time alone.”

“Oh.” Aria swung herself back over the wall and carefully clambered down.

“What, no annoyingly positive retort?” Nora asked.

Aria shook her head. “No. I’m sorry for taking up your time.” She looked up at the wall which, now that Nora’s complaints were settled, was complete. She began to head back to the school.

“Aria!” Nora called after her.

“What?” Aria asked quietly.

Nora hesitated and pointed towards the wall. “You smudged it when you climbed up.”

Aria stared at her, looked at the ground, and continued walking.

Nora watched her leave, tapping her foot impatiently. She finally growled in exasperation and ran to catch up. “Ugh, I can’t handle this. You look like a puppy when you’re sad! It makes me feel all gross, what have you done to me?” she complained. “Fine, I’m sorry, ok! Just don’t make me feel like this!”

Nora grabbed Aria’s arm to stop her. Aria looked around with a face near tears, but it was quickly replaced by an evil grin. “Why Nora, I didn’t think you cared.”

Nora jumped back. “You were faking it! You were trying to make me feel bad! You- you harlot!” She looked immensely frustrated with herself, but somehow also pleased. “I’ve never been so attracted to you.”

“Yes!” Aria cried, abandoning all attempts at subtlety, “Ride that wave of attraction! Doesn’t it feel good to be happy with me rather than angry?”

“Are you hitting on me?”

“No! I just mean…” Aria breathed out. “This is our moment, a chance to bury the hatchet. I just want us to be friends. And clearly you want to too!”

Nora huffed and frowned. “Yeah, but you’re going to want some explanation for… all that. It’s just too much effort to reconcile. I’m prepared to live the next two years alone at this school,” but she looked rather pouty about her comments.

Aria shrugged, “I mean, we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want? Just some sort of assurance that you won’t go back to hating me suddenly, and that I’d wake up with my head chopped off.”

“You wouldn’t wake up with your head chopped off,” Nora scoffed. “But… ugh, why are you so frustratingly nice about all this?

“Hey! I was thinking the same thing about myself before. Funny how in-sync we are,” Aria grinned.

“Sure,” Nora agreed sarcastically. She threw her hands up in frustration, “But I should explain to you- I will explain to you all this. You’ve suffered the most from being around me, so I guess I owe you.”

“Shoot,” Aria grinned again. It was hard not to be smug.

“Nyeeeeh, don’t pressure me.” They sat back down against the wall as Nora fumbled for words. “My mother is a famous ballerina. And try as I might to fail, I’m actually pretty good at it too. The deal we made was that if I came to this school I would have to take classes and enter competitions. Mum really pressures me to follow in her footsteps, going so far as to say I wouldn’t be as good in anything else I try. But I really want to be a fashion designer, or a seamstress, or something like that. I hate dance. It’s there and then it’s gone; it’s nothing more than something pretty to look at. But making things fills me with so much pride. I have some physical manifestation of my accomplishments rather than some silly trophy saying I moved my body a little smoother than all my competitors.”

“But I don’t get how-”

“I’m getting there. Being part of this club is why I was excited to attend this school. I’d have just two chances to win the R-fad; once this year, and once next year. If I can win this I’m guaranteed a spot in the Marseille Fashion School, and mum will have no choice but to agree I can be more than just a dancer.”

“That sounds like you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself. Is that why you’ve been drawing constantly for the last two weeks?” Aria asked.

“Yeah, but I can’t come up with anything! I just keep thinking about how my future is riding on this and I freeze up,” Nora exclaimed.

“And is that what’s making you act like and ass to me and everyone?”

Nora made a face. “Sort of. Partly. See, people and friendships take so much time to create and maintain, and I just don’t have the time. I decided once I joined the group I would teach people early on that I don’t want anything to do with them so they won’t keep bothering me.”

“But that’s so… so stupid!” Aria cried.

“Is it?” Nora asked, but at Aria’s expression she conceded a little. “Maybe. But I’m not like you; I don’t work well with people. I don’t normally do things ‘the proper way’ so people get up in arms trying to change my methods. Besides… I’m kind of scared to let people see my work.”

“Hoo boy,” Aria said. “You’re a piece of work.”

“A good piece of work, right?”

“That remains to be seen. But I still don’t get why you acted as you did to me. You were so nice, sort of, and then exploded at me. That was not cool.”

“I know, I know! I’m sorry. People have always said I get scary when I’m scared or anxious. I think I justified it to myself that I was protecting myself. When I met you, you were pretty dorky, but I kind of liked it. And I thought what were the chances that you’d join the club too, so if I could keep you two separate, I could be myself with you, and keep everyone back while I’m busy working. That didn’t work out so well, even when I was being angry at you, you took up so much of my time being nice.”

“And that’s a bad thing?!” Aria asked incredulously.

“Yes! Numerous times you distracted me from my designs!”

“Numerous times I offered to help you with your designs!”

“What do you even know about clothing?!”

They were naturally becoming heated again, but somehow Aria was loving it. Nora was finally giving her answers! Granted they were not great, but when are teenage reasons any good? Aria laughed out loud, and Nora looked surprised. “Sometimes just having someone to talk to can help ideas flow. I could tell you what looks good to normal eyes, and help you get out of your head when you’re over-thinking things. I know you feel like I can’t help, but have you really made any progress in the time you’ve been here?”

Nora sighed and laid her head on Aria’s shoulder. They sat in silence briefly until Aria spoke. “What I’m going to say will sound stupid, but I envy you a little.”

“That does sound stupid. Why?”

“Ah, I… I don’t know. I don’t really have any goals for after school. I guess I’ll probably go to university, but I don’t have this overwhelming passion for anything like you do. Your path is difficult, but it’s also easy. You know what you want, and now you just have to fight for it. I don’t know what I want, so I just need to exist until I work it out, I guess,” Aria finished lamely.

“You could be my butler once I’m rich and famous.”

Aria smiled. “Only if you design me a cute outfit. And Nora?”

“Mmm?”

“I really think I can help you. I think we can help you. Everyone at the club is invested in the same thing as you, even if we’re entering in different teams. We all just want to learn, work, and create something amazing. Please say you’ll give us a chance.”

Nora furrowed her brow and looked away. “Aria, will you do me a favour?”

“Depends on the favour.”

“Would you be my model for the show?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because… I’m really scared about this show. I have so much riding on this, I just have to win. But I’m so scared I know I’ll freeze, make mistakes, and need someone around who can keep me calm and push me forwards. And I know we barely know each other, and that I’ve spent more time being mean to you than kind, but… you make me feel comfortable. If I’m going to make clothing for someone, I want it to be you,” Nora said.

Aria shifted on the ground. “But I’m already modelling for Chris and Elise. I can’t really do both.”

“Please, Aria,” she begged.

Aria pursed her lips. “Alright, here’s the deal. If you model for Chris and Elise, I’ll model for you. That way we at least get to be together through this.”