This Girl Is A Delinquent!, Vol. 3

Chapter 38: Growing Pains

The end of the school day arrived as usual on a sunny Tuesday afternoon at Astaril academy. Yet, while the shuffling sounds of students could be heard from the hallway. Several members of the student council sat quietly around the large conference table in the center of the student council room with uneasy expressions. Everyone except one member, who had a rather self-absorbed smile as she squirmed in her seat. With a shameful grimace, Ken addressed his sister.

"Why do you have such a nasty grin on your face?"

Turning to face him, Lyra narrowed her eyes as her smile grew even more pretentious. Both Stella and Sonya watched as the sibling squabble ignited with Lyra's smug response.

"That's the look of someone who has accomplished something incredible, big brother. Mary and Lucas have been avoiding us all day and now they're late... That can only mean one thing..."

With a look reserved for the truly absurd, Ken tried to keep from shaking his head while responding.

"Even if... Why do you think that you deserve any credit?"

"Why wouldn't I!? It was Stella and I that went after Mary! Sonya ditched us!"

Flaring her nostrils, Lyra leaned over the table while propping herself up with one hand and using the other to point at Sonya. Forcefully dragged into the conversation, Sonya turned her head to the side.

"I... I promised Mary that I wouldn't get in the way... But, I'm glad you were too stupid to leave her alone."

"See, big brother? Even Sonya agrees."

Glaring at his sister's sneer, Ken rolled his eyes while retorting.

"Did you even-"

However, his words were cut short by a new arrival to the student council room. A brown haired girl with amber eyes tiptoed into the room as a wall of eyes darted over to meet her.

"Hello?"

While she seemed familiar, Ken's instinct as a student council member overrode his curiosity and he greeted the girl.

"Can I help y-wait... Aren't you the bully from the courtyard?"

His sentence morphed into an inquiry as his memories came rushing back from earlier in the year. Before he could ask additional questions, Elise stepped into the room; replying as she sat her bookbag down at the table and took a seat next to Sonya.

"And you're Loverboy, right? Well, one of them... Anyways, I'm Elise. It's good to meet you again. I'm sorry about before. Can we start over?"

The nonchalant apology combined with her familiarity with the rest of the group left Ken floored. While Sonya and Elise watched him, he looked at Lyra for answers.

"She's cool."

Suddenly, Ken made a flat stare as he turned to his other underclassman.

"Stella?"

"Elise is our friend now. She apologized to Sonya and has been helping Mary."

With a smile, Stella happily filled Ken in with the most important details. Mulling them over for a few seconds, Ken felt Sonya's eyes lingering on him. The look told him that she would explain later and he nodded while addressing Elise.

"Alright then, I'm Ken. Glad to have you here."

With his sincere yet overly formal greeting, the two exchanged smiles as Lyra jumped from her seat in frustration.

"Why wasn't my stamp of approval good enough?!"

Disregarding Lyra's protests, Elise smugly continued speaking with Ken.