Vol 3 Chapter 2 (1/2)
Chapter 2: Sophia
The 10th day of the seventh month
Morning dawned on the fourth day of the practice camp
It was another clear day swept by a pleasant northerly breeze
Seron, Larry, and Nick had gone to bed early the previous night, and sat together at the cafeteria table for breakfast in school-issue sweats Then they headed to the gymnasium with the rest of the drama club
A little later, Natalia and Meg showed up in uniforreeted them offhand
Seron’s face was blank with joy
Practice began
The drama club and Ms Krantz were even more passionate than before The orchestra club and the chorus clubthe gyy
Meanwhile,
“Gotta do our job”
“It’s fun watching theh”
Larry and Seron ran around doing odd jobs like opening s, bringing in tea, and carrying heavy objects
Lunchtime neared
“The orchestra and chorus club can go ahead for lunch” Said Ms Krantz “See you in the afternoon”
Because of the way practice was scheduled, the orchestra club and the chorus club got to leave early The draether to discuss the placement of set pieces
The orchestra ym and headed off to enjoy their lunch Word had spread about the delicious cafeteria food; fewer students had brought their own lunches this tiroup headed for the dor
“We’ll see you later, Megirls from the chorus club waved as they went to music room 2 to eat their lunches
“Let’s go ahead, then”
Behind Meg was Natalia, standing tall like a bodyguard The chorus girls thought well of her after her actions on the first day of practice
“Oh, one second” Natalia said, pointing at the two helpers closing the gymnasium — specifically, at Larry
Larry soon noticed her and pointed at hiestured back in acknowledgement
Larry jogged over to Natalia and Meg
“Hey Meg Natalia’s childhood nickname
“We’ll go ahead to the clubroom with everyone’s lunches, so you and Seron and Nick can coht over once you’re done here”
“Right Is Jenny in today?”
“Yeah She calledto announce as president Gotta do what the boss says, y’know”
“Come to think of it, you’re vice president now, aren’t you Lia?”
“Sure am Feel free to add a ‘Madame’ in front of the name”
“‘Madame Lia’? Sounds like a fortune teller”
“True Lunch menu’s up to ? Any allergies?”
“Probably not, but if you get me both lunches I can let Seron pick first Oh, but don’t trouble yourself with both if one of the meals have soup or broth It’d be a pain to carry over”
“Right See ya”
Natalia and Meg left the gymnasium, the former with a wave and the latter with a bow
Larry went over to Seron, as still closing s
“…”
And as for Sophia, who had been watching the entire exchange,
“Sophia! hello? Are you still with us?”
She was scolded by Ms Krantz, who had been addressing the entire club
That day, around noon
A brown-haired girl by the lengthy naton Schultz’ returned hos full of souvenirs
“I’m home —Not like anyone’s in, but oh well Gonna take my time and enjoy the rest of e in the hallway
She brushed her teeth in the bathrooe she pulled out an unopened bottle of orange juice, twisted off the cap, and poured it into a cup She drank it without even sitting down
“Man…”
Lillia looked up at the blackboard on the wall before her The fahtly into every corner in white letters
“Maybe I should call Meg… But I’m back so much earlier than I planned…”
She thought for a moment
“Forget it I’ll see her on the 14th anyway”
Just as Lillia unpacked at home, the drama club disbanded for lunch
The club me
“Apparently Jenny’s on caain today Looks like she has a lot of time on her hands”
“Do you think she ht be cross with us if we don’t call her ‘president’?”
“Who knows? Either way, please don’t let anyone call me ‘treasurer’”
Larry, Nick, and Seron headed for the newspaper club office All three were in school-issue sweats
They stepped into the building, walked through the empty hallways, and arrived at the door
“We’re here” Larry said, knocking
The heard Jenny’s voice fro”
“I don’t know”
“Huess that works as the new password All right, Megmica You can let them in”
Meg unlocked the door from inside
“Welcome in, everyone” She beamed radiantly
“Ah Thanks, Megrinned back
“Thank you for the kind welcome” Nick nodded with a smile
“Thanks” Seron said tersely, his expression blank even as he internally told himself that he was the happiest man in all of Roxche
When they stepped into the luxurious roo before them And in front of her—
“‘Cause we’re the newspaper club— always seeking truth and justice—”
Natalia sat on a chair, her long legs crossed She stru stylishly along with a set of off-kilter lyrics
“And so— the chosen six are gathered—”
“Wh-what is that supposed to be, Lia?” Larry was incredulous Natalia stopped
“Our club song, genius Nothing like a good tune to get so As you can see, I’ thea riff
Larry narrowed his eyes and, without turning, addressed Nick behind him
“Say, Nick”
“Yes?”
“You’ve got a fellow patient here And if she’s actually perfor in public, I think her symptoms are worse than yours”
“My,Perhaps we’ll feel better about this if all six of us were infected”
“Nah Who’s gonna speak the truth if everyone loses their minds? This is supposed to be a newspaper club”
Natalia placed her guitar on the desk “Don’t just stand there, boys The sofa’s free Let’s eat”
On the coffee table were lunches for everyone fros in total, one for each student and extras for Larry and Natalia, ere big eaters
“Thanks for getting our food, too Who should we pay?” Seron asked, taking the center seat like he had done the previous day
“Don’t sweat it It’s my treat The menu was pea soup with bread or bacon and lettuce club sandwiches, but I settled for sandwiches for everyone No complaints, hear? I’ll be happy to take your sandwich if you don’t want it” Said Natalia
“Lia… you’re gonna turn into a tree trunk at this rate” Larry said snidely, knowing that Natalia never gained weight no matter how much she ate
“That ree?”
“If that happens, I’ll give Larry a piggyback ride Show him the view from up here, y’know?”
Nick and Natalia also took a seat
“Do you want any help, Meg to the kitchenette
“I a replied, walking over to the others with a platter laden with six different teacups She carefully placed each cup of tea on the table before finally taking a seat herself
Once Jenny was seated, she and the others thanked Natalia for the sandwiches They prayed before theirin
The bacon and lettuce were still crisp The sandwiches were also packed with fresh tomato slices and cheese
“This is great” Jenny said, flattening her sandwich and taking big bites froes
“Do you come out to school just for the cafeteria food?” Larry asked, picking up a flower-print teacup
“Mm mmm” Jenny denied the accusation with her mouth still shut
“It is a wonderful thing to be able to eat together with everyone like this” Meg said between bites She restling with her sandwich, but see it
Nick agreed
Seron said nothing, but thought very hard to hi as I’mica!’
Jenny was the first to finish her sandwich She took sips of tea as she began her announcement
“All right, let onna learn soive each of you a camera one of these days so you can practice You’ll have to develop and print the pictures yourselves You’re also going to learn horite newspaper articles and how to cover stories We won’t have ti lunch, so I want you toThis is an order from the president”
“Sure, as long as practice doesn’t run late like yesterday”
“I understand I will do so too as well Everyone worried for ood to return home late”
Natalia and Meg spoke up
Seron, Larry, and Nick agreed
“Hroaned
Once lunch break was over—
“We’ll come back if practice ends on time We still have loads of photos to develop”
The newspaper club sans Jenny left for the gyuitar in a wooden case and left it in the club office
“I’ll bring in a couple of flutes tomorrow Both alto and soprano”
“Aweso burst out laughing
Like , afternoon practice was heated Time passed quickly
Seron and Larry went to buy more nails for the set pieces
When they returned, the Black Knight conceded defeat and disappeared Meg and the chorus club sang a heartfelt melody to match the scene
“Too bad we missed most of that” Larry said
“We always have tomorrow” Seron replied
Evening drew near
“We’ll finish early today to make up for yesterday, everyone” Said Ms Krantz “Good work! Excellent job!”
Practice ended earlier than usual
“Man, noe have to go to the newspaper club” Larry joked
“The Goddess of Fortune is sht face
Most students practically skipped out of the the gy the early dis, and Natalia stood by the doors waiting for Nick
When they peered inside, they saw Arthur and Nick exchanging opinions on the perforestures
“Looks like our Black Knight’s really into his role” Natalia remarked
“The king played by SC Arthur was very cool also” Meg said Seron’s eye twitched
That hen someone came up to them
“Could I talk to you?”
When they turned, they saw the freckled, headband-wearing vice-president Sophia She had left with the rest of the drama club, but now she was back alone The newspaper club was surprised to see her
“Is so the matter?” Seron spoke for everyone Sophia replied plainly
“I need to talk to you Do you have time?”
“Yes But are you asking me alone?”
“All of you The four of you, who aren’t in the drama club It’s a little complicated”
“I see” Seron nodded When he glanced back, he saw Nick and Arthur walking over, having finished their conversation “Actually, we’re headed so with us?”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Sophia replied,
“The newspaper club?”
“Huh? H-how did you know?”
“I saw Jenny on caured you’d joined when all of you went sootten close” Sophia said with a smile The newspaper club was pleasantly surprised
“Apologies for keeping you waiting” Nick said He was surprised when he spotted Sophia aroup
“Nick is a ?”
“Not at all”
The five students and the surprising guest headed to the club office without a word
Seron knocked on the door
“Password?” Said Jenny’s voice Larry replied immediately,
“Do you have our keys yet?”
“Hold on a sec”
Jenny opened the door She was startled to see Sophia with the others
“Huh?” She shot Seron an unpleasant glare “A new member already? I expected no less from a pretty boy”
“No, Jenny SC Sophia says there’s so she’d like to discuss with us Would you mind?”
“Does this have so to do with the newspaper club?” Jenny asked
“Yes I need your help Remeun wedding two years ago, even when the vice-principal tried to lad you did—othere never would have been able to congratulate Ms Evans I need you to dig up information like you did back then”