Why Would I Fall for You

Lovely

By the time Gale arrived at the jewelry classroom, she'd shaken off most of the awkward feeling from earlier. It was time to lock in. To FOCUS. She needed to sweep this competition, it was more important than EVER now. She stuck a hand in her pocket, feeling the delicate pieces of the earrings and hoping they were enough.

She took her seat, glancing furtively to where Nixie sat. Gale heaved a sigh, knowing that everyone was absolutely still going to be fawning over her. First came showing up that pink girl in competition, THEN came the approval of the school. Simple. 

Mr. Wriedt entered, and the class fell silent. "Check in time! I know the deadline was going to be in a couple days, and that some of you are finished, but I've received notice from enough students that I'm going to be extending it to another week. I know this isn't everyone's forte, and it's just a credit for some."

Some students groaned, some relaxed visibly in their seats. 

"If you're done, go ahead and start working on your lapidary history assignment. If not, time to get cracking!" 

He settled back into his seat and opened his laptop, and the class burst into babble again. 

Nixie eagerly gathered her friends and held up her stunning chainmail headpiece. It had swirls of sterling silver, and drips of mother of pearl. A single marquise cut aquamarine crowned the whole piece, and everyone oohed and aahed as it glinted in the lights. 

"I finished two days ago! I put so much of my heart into this piece, I truly thoroughly enjoyed myself." 

Gale rolled her eyes. What a perfect answer, EXACTLY what the teacher wanted to hear for this sort of thing. Did she have an ounce of originality in her body?

Gale tapped her chin, thinking. Perhaps she could win the favor of the glazed-eye cronies by showing her CLEARLY superior project. It was definitely better than Nixie's. 

She stood and held up the earrings, showing off the immaculately carved birchwood ships in their glass bottles with the dangling gems representing sea foam. They were corked with sapphire and linked with sparkling gold chains. 

"Look at mine!" Gale shook them a bit to get that same glinty effect. "I actually spent a long time making these. Everything from the ship to the sails are handmade, and..."

Gale quickly trailed off after seeing everyone's face. A mixture of annoyance, fear, and confusion permeated the air around her. Gale's stomach churned.

"Um." She faltered, quickly realizing that it was Nixie they adored, not the piece itself. How awkward. 

"I think they're lovely." 

Everyone looked in shock at Nixie, who'd just extended a compliment towards the very person she seemed to despise. 

"It must have taken a while to stand up those tiny ships that way." Students around Nixie started to nod and agree, seeing that it must be okay to approve of Gale now.

Gale stood there in shock, the other students vaguely forgotten. Nixie Neptunus said something NICE to her? Unprompted?

A deep blush spread across her face and cheeks, and she quickly sat down, muttering an awkward thanks. 

She thinks they're lovely.

The class shifted back to normal, everyone going back to their various projects, but Gale simply sat there, feeling almost giddy. She was NEVER going to tear this moment out of her mind.