ACT II

Scene I

“In conclusion, as you have heard, all eyewitness statements attest to the fact that Miss Laveau was acting in self-defense.  While Miss Laveau does admit to cutting Miss Thomas, she posits that it was with a rock that she grabbed while Miss Thomas was holding her head under water, to whit, Miss Laveau feared for her life.”  Your friend and student advisor, Mercedes Navarro, slipped into the chair beside you, giving you a quick, reassuring smile before turning her large, dark eyes back to the Investigating Committee Chair.  

The senior looked you over, and you did your best to look as innocent as possible.  “Miss Laveau, you may leave while The Council deliberates.”

Outwardly calm, though inwardly nervous, you rose and exited the door held open for you by one of the council members, giving him a soft smile as you passed.  “What do you think?” you asked quietly once you and Mercedes were in the hall.

“I wouldn’t worry,” she said coolly, closing her eyes, and resting her head against the wall.

“Nabiya.”  You looked at the loud stage whisper to see Junmyeon headed your way with a takeaway tray of bubble tea.  Giving you a soft private smile, he handed you a cup, murmuring, “Banana milk tea for you, choco for me, and,” he grinned at Mercedes, “pandan milk tea for you.”

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, but graciously accepted the cup, thanking Junmyeon before turning to you, indicating him. "I like this one."

Smiling, you sipped your sweet tea, trying to keep a facade as calm as hers while inside your stomach flip flopped.  Excellent at reading people, you were almost positive that the council would vote in your favour, but still--unlike your mother--you were in no way prescient, and the realization that you may have finally pushed your luck too far made the sweet milky tea taste like ashes in your mouth.  Junmyeon sat beside you--not touching--merely sitting as closely as he could with no contact, while you and Mercedes chatted about inconsequential things--clothes, hair, skincare--anything to keep your mind off of the impending decision.

"Miss Laveau." Looking up, you caught the Chair's eye, smiled tremulously.  "You may come in, now."  Standing, you accepted Mercedes' warm hand, and looked at Junmyeon, but he seemed to be checking his pockets, so you started for the door.  Right before entering, you glanced to see if he had found what he had been looking for, only to watch him take his hand out of his pocket with a reassuring smile, and a surreptitious finger heart.  Coughing to hide a chuckle, you turned back around, and went inside. 

***

Groaning, you pulled all the pins that had been holding your hair in the neat bun at the back of your neck, discarding them on the cobblestones as you sauntered in the moonlight. 

Junmyeon walked behind, his hands in his pockets, an indulgent smile on his face.  "You know you're littering, right?"

Looking over your shoulder as you ran your hands through your hair, you gave him a mischievous smile.  "They're metal.  It's natural, right?"  He chuckled before reaching toward you, but you danced away from his grasp, smiling impishly.  "Besides, I'm happy!  I'm free, Creole, and almost 21."

"So, what did the Council say?"

Frowning, you walked back to take his arm, lean against him.  "Oh, I don't want to think about that nasty old Council, bebe.  I want to think about nice things."

"But you're happy...  It must have gone well."

"Well," you started, waving a hand, "I guess it went about as well as could be expected."

He stopped, looking down at you seriously.  "What, exactly, does that mean?"

"Oh, don't be so somber!  I'm not expelled, or suspended, if that's what you're worried about.  Though that nasty old Caro was.  Expelled that is.  Good riddance.  I never liked her, anyway."

"Why was she so mad at you?"

"Oh, hadn't you heard?  She accused me of sleeping with her boyfriend."

"Why on earth would she think that?!"

You chuckled lowly.  "Probably because I slept with her boyfriend."  Stopping, Junmyeon gave you an unamused look.  Squeezing his arm, you looked up at him with large puppy eyes.  "That was before I met you, of course.  Before I even knew of you."

"Did you know that he was her boyfriend?"

"Of course!”

He scoffed.

“What?!"  You pouted at his exasperation.  "Oh, I know, I was so bad!  But who cares about him--he was terrible in more ways than one, and she's well rid of him.  Now, I have you, and I don't want nobody else."

"And what about Caro?"

"What about her?"

"She shouldn't have attacked you.  But you have to take some responsibility...  I know if someone touched you...  I don't know what I'd do.  But now she's expelled."

"Oh, don't you worry about Caro Wilder Thomas.  All she has to do is apply somewhere else.  Her grades are good enough, and her parents have the money.  She'll be fine--maybe even a little bit wiser."

"And her face?"

"She was drowning me, Myeonie..."  As much as you wanted to see his reaction to the new nickname, you looked down, let your eyes water.  "I was so scared--I didn't think, I just--"

"Okay, okay, okay, don't worry about it.  It's done now."  Sliding his hand up the side of your neck, he leaned your head against his shoulder, gently patted your jaw.  "Just promise me you'll try not to be so reckless in the future."

"Mm."

"So, she was expelled, and you got off?"

"Not quite," you answered carelessly.

"Not...quite?"

Sighing, as if deeply inconvenienced, you said, “I’m on social probation for the next calendar year.”

“What does that mean?”

“Apparently, that I am excluded from attendance at, or participation in school-sponsored extracurricular activities.”

“That’s not too bad.”

“Not too bad,” you echoed.  “So,” you started, ready to be done with that conversation.  Turning to walk backwards and taking him by the hand, you pulled him along.  “Tomorrow’s Friday.  Where are you going to take me on our first date, cher?”

Junmyeon grimaced.  “Actually, I have a pretty big exam on Monday.  I have to study…  Is that okay?”

“Of course it’s okay,” you cooed.  “School comes first, especially when you’re on scholarship.  In fact, I have an English paper due soon.  How about a study date?”

“You want to study together?”  He sounded dubious.

Arching an eyebrow, you tilted your head.  “We are in school, are we not?”  

“Yes,” he said, colouring. 

“So...what?  You don’t think that I study?”  His face turned even redder.  Stopping, you came close, standing on tiptoe to bring your face as close as possible to his.  “Just what is it that you think I do all day, Kim Junmyeon?”

“Well, I--of course you study, I didn’t mean--I just, I didn’t think--”

“I’ll have you know that I’m currently ranked third in my class, soldier-boy,” you said, emphasizing your words with firm taps to the center of his chest.

“I-I-I...th-third?”  He looked down at you, wide-eyed.  

Enjoying the stuttering, you gently pushed off of him, letting your body slide against his just a little bit.  “I’m bad at math.  And econ.  What can I say?”

“Still…” he tilted his head.  “That’s very impressive.  You must work hard.”

“Not really,” you grinned, smiling up at him.  “Just got a photographic memory.  I can thank maman for that one.”  

“So…  You’re really okay with just studying with me at the library?”

“Oh, Myeoniebun,” you crooned, smiling sweetly up at him, satisfied by the way the tips of his ears reddened at the endearment, the way he bit his lip to keep from smiling.  “As long as I’m with you, it doesn’t matter where we are.”

As you dressed on Friday, you chose your outfit with an eye to make him sweat.  A low-cut sleeveless crop top--no bra--paired with oversized boyfriend jeans that hung low on your hips, and a pendant necklace that dangled just above your cleavage.  With that, you made the short walk to the library to find him already sitting on the quiet fourth floor, eyes glued to his laptop.

“Bonsoir, cherie,” you whispered, kissing him briefly on the cheek before setting down a tote bag and pulling out several containers.

“You cooked,” he asked, surprised.

“Ma foi,” you laughed.  “Absolutely not!  No, bebe, I bought all this.”

“What is all of this?”

“Nothing too heavy.  Don’t want you to fall asleep.  Just some crab fat rice, shrimp and grits, boudin, jambalaya, and alligator gumbo.  How long you been studying?”

“Only a few hours.”

“Perfect time for a break, then.”

He sighed.  “Nabi…”

“Please…?” You pouted.  “For me?  Just a little something?”

He looked helplessly at the computer screen before closing his eyes and nodding.  “Alright.  A small break shouldn't hurt.”

Pulling up a chair to the table, you watched in satisfaction as he took the covers off the containers of still-steaming food, picked up a spoon, thanked you for the meal, and dug in.  He got a few bites in, before he looked up at you questioningly.  “Not going to eat?”

“No, I’ll eat,” you assured him, smiling.  “I just like watching you.”

He smiled shyly, before scooping up a particularly large piece of alligator onto his spoon and holding it in front of your mouth.  “Ah.”

Obediently, you opened your mouth, allowing him to slide the food inside.  After swallowing, you fixed him with a stern eye.  “When was the last time you ate?”

“I ate today,” he protested.

“When?”

“Earlier.”

“When?”

“Before coming to the library.”

“When?”

His grin was embarrassed.  “Around...12?”

It was gone 7.

Tut-tutting, you picked up a large scoop of crab fat rice, and held it in front of his mouth.  “Say, ‘Ah’”.  Chuckling, he opened his mouth and let you deposit the rich, flavourful rice on his tongue.  “Good boy,” you cooed, pleased to see him eating.

The rest of the meal passed pleasantly enough, with Junmyeon telling you about his life as the son of two teachers back in South Korea.  Despite his pleasant company, and the spicy food, after you had both eaten, and gotten down to work, you found the chill of the library settling into your bones, and inwardly cursed your shortsightedness in outfit choice.  

You had tried to work.  You really had.  But the fact was that your paper was due next week, and you weren’t used to starting so early, preferring to wait until the night before a paper was due, so it was difficult to corral your thoughts without an overwhelming sense of impending doom to clarify your thinking.  Unable to use work as a distraction, you surreptitiously ran warm palms over your chilled arms, trying to calm the goosebumps.  Junmyeon glanced up, looking at you over his glasses just as you shivered.  ping his backpack, he reached in to pull out a pale grey hoodie and slid it over to you.  “Put it on,” he said quietly.

“What’s this?”

“It’s one of my sweatshirts.”

You eyed the soft fabric that matched the hoodie that he was already wearing.  “Why do you have two hoodies?”

Junmyeon cleared his throat sheepishly.  “I, uh...I’ve been carrying it around since you...since you agreed to…  I just figured...if you were ever cold, that I could...that you could…I mean, it’s cold inside these buildings...”  He cleared his throat again.  “It’s clean.”

“Is it the same as yours?”  Teasingly, you pinched the inside of his arm.  “Is this your way of getting us to wear couple shirts?”

His eyebrows lifted in surprise.  “You know about couple shirts?”

“I did a little research.  Wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t accidentally do or say anything insulting.”

A small smile played about his mouth.  “It’s not the same, only the same colour.  Wear it,” he said, pushing it towards you again.  “You look cold.”

Playfully snatching it from him, you pulled it over your head, relishing the weathered fleeciness, as well as the delicate scent of fabric softener intermingling with the woody, citrusy spice of his cologne.  Instead of pulling it all the way down immediately, you took a moment to close your eyes and enjoy the gentle attack on your senses before popping out of the hood with a smile.  “Smells like you.”

He smiled softly, giving you a satisfied once over.  “You look pretty.”

After a quick glance down, you looked up at him with a quirked brow.  “You can’t see anything.”

“Still…”  Leaning forward, he reached into the hood and slowly, carefully pulled out your hair, gently settling it over your back and around your shoulders, and pushing it behind your ears, before leaning back with another smile.  “There,” he affirmed with a nod.  “Pretty.”  

Deciding to take his opening, you leaned forward with an impish grin.  “Am I?”

 “You know that you are,” he teased.  

“Then...can you give me some time?”

He pouted.  “You know I can’t...I still have three more chapters to study.  Why don’t you work on your paper a bit more?”

“It’s too hard to concentrate,” you dismissed.  “It’s fine, it’s not due until next week.”

He coughed in surprise.  “It’s due next week and you haven’t even started?!” 

“No?”

“That’s cutting it a bit close, isn’t it?”

Snorting, you shook your head.  “I rarely start papers earlier than the night before they’re due.”

“Isn’t that stressful?!”

“Yes.  I thrive on it.  I can write about three pages per hour, so it’s fine.”

He stared at you in disbelief before something clicked.  “Photographic memory.”

“Well, that,” you agreed, “and I’m just good.”

He made a sound in the back of his throat.  “Kyaaa...my girlfriend is impressive…”  

Raising an eyebrow, you rested your chin on your palm.  “Your girlfriend?  We never discussed that.  You haven’t even taken me out on a proper date, yet.”

He flushed scarlet.  “Are you n--didn’t we--I thought--but you--you said--”

“Relax,” you murmured, resting your hand on his thigh.  “You wanna DTR?  Just ask.”  

Junmyeon took a deep breath, let it out slowly.  “Will you be my girlfriend?”

Leaning forward, you nuzzled his nose with your own.  “Alright.”

Releasing a shuddering sigh,