By your window

25.

The day before the benefit concert dawned freezing and windy, cloudy, an upset sunrise that seemed to have adapted to the sad occasion of the little memorial which was taking place in front of the incinerated remains of the factory destroyed by the fire. In the front row stood the mourning families and the Mayor himself, who had considered appropriate that right behind them, along with firefighters and paramedics, a place of honor had been assigned to the Umbrella Academy.     
On the left, a small crowd of police, friends and curious, a few journalists, and finally the orchestra that would perform at the concert that same evening. Marben didn't know for sure who had deemed their presence necessary, but her suspects fell heavily on Sir Arsegreeves and his favorite lapdog Headmaster Pembroke. It really had been a decision of bad taste: one of the violists, Nell, had lost her brother in the fire, and was now comprehensibly reduced to a sobbing mess. In public.

Sending her most scornful glare to Arsegreeves' and Pembroke's rigid backs, Marben let her gaze linger on the Umbrella Kids, like always lined up without Vanya, strangely in no particular order, impeccable uniforms in place (shorts and skirt despite the glacial wind) and domino masks on their eyes. Like nobody knew what their faces looked like without them on, she acidly thought.
The Mayor was laying some white flowers in front of the blackened gate when Lear got restless.
"This has to be a joke, where the hell is Vanya?" she growled, under her breath. Marben got instantly bored of her ranting and let her eyes wander, answering automatically.
"At home, practicing Bach's Bourrée in G Major". Some rows ahed of them, a young man was gently caressing one of Nell's sobs-devastated shoulders; it was a small thing, but Marben felt greatly heartened to see it happen.

A minimal shift of her eyes, however, and her gaze was caught by Sir Hargreeves'.
Icy fear spread instantly through her veins, to the point that Marben felt herself about to choke; Klaus, head bowed, was muttering something to his father. A slight movement near both of them led the blonde girl to look at Ben's boggled face: Marben could not see his eyes through the mask, but the boy was gaping at her as if she had just revealed the most mysterious of secrets to him. What was the meaning of that look?
Another shift in her peripheral vision and she found Fulvius, whose red hair attracted the attention like a lighthouse in the middle of the small crowd. Following his little hand's gesture, she lowered her eyes and didn't look up again. When her windpipe stopped feeling like held in an invincible vise, Marben begun to hum along with the crowd as it sang Amazing Grace - of which she did not know the words, and found it somewhat comforting.

                                      .oO°Oo.

On their way back to the School, Diana made a beeline to catch up with her friends; as they reached the courtyard, she finally managed to grab Marben's hand a few meters beyond the main gate. 
"We need to talk" she said with urgency, but Marben swiftly looked down.
"Like right now? I'm not feeling....".
"It's about Arsegreeves". That earned her not only Marben's complete attention, but Myery's and Lear's ones too; when all the three girls were looking at her, Diana took a deep breath and then spoke in a low voice.
"I think I have an idea, we can try to confuse him. But we'll have to play it out as soon as possible, or at this rate he will start to follow us even to the loo!".
"Confuse him?" muttered Lear, sounding at a loss in turn.
"Yes, divert some of his attention from Marben" Diana replied without clarifying, if in order to make fun of her friend or out of naivety, it was not clear. Predictably, Lear got annoyed anyway.
"No, you don't say!".
"And how, exactly?" Marben intervened, eager to know.
"Show us: how do you behave when he is there? Do you do something that attracts attention? Is there anything you stop doing when you realize he's around? And if so, does he notice?".

Marben started to answer, but not finding the words she realized that she didn't have the answer in the first place. She then opened her mouth to say the first thing that came to her mind - namely that meeting Hargreeves' gaze caused her to immediately diverted hers - but she straightaway aborted the attempt, because she didn't know if along with that gesture she was accustomed to do something else, unconsciously. And, frustratingly, that applied to all the things she was certain to do when the old weirdo was around.
"We don't have time, now, class is about to start" she then said to her friends, while together with the other girls they entered their designated classroom; Diana nodded.
"Then think about it. We'll skip lunch and meet in your room to talk".

                                    .oO°Oo.

"Well? Did you do it?" Diana asked as soon as Marben appeared in the doorway, dragging her into the room and immediately closing the door behind her. Although taken aback, Marben did not fail to look at her friends, who in her absence had made themselves comfortable.
"Hey, thanks for asking if you could come in?!".
"What? We knocked!" Lear said innocently.
"Yeah, for sure".
"Why does it suddenly bother you that we came into your room while you were away?" Myery intervened, "It's never been a problem before!". Lear turned to look at her with a knowing smile
"Well, but 'before' she wasn't receiving a boyfriend in her room every night...".
"Oh, so would you be embarrassed about us knowing?".
"It's none of your business, thank you!" Marben blurted testily at her cousin "And how the hell do you know, anyway?". Myery looked at her eloquently.
"Eh, how do we know. That guy can teleport wherever he likes and you think we imagine you two keeping in touch through pigeon post? Come ONNN!".
"Obviously, the most unlikely thing between the two wouldn't be the teleport" Lear sneakered, giving the red-haired girl a high five.
"Very funny" Marben replied acidly.
"Alright, class? Can I please have your attention?". At the harsh sound of Diana's clapping, the girls immediately stopped bickering and focused on her.
"Oh, everyone pay attention, the teacher questions!" Lear joked, earning a sly smile from Diana.
"No, today I explain. You get detention, however".
"WHA...".
"Let's talk about how to confuse Arsegreeves". At last, Lear's humor stepped aside, even if reluctantly. "Marben, you said you thought about how you behave when he's around...".
"Yes, and it was easier than I thought because I realized it's more or less what I've always done, meeting some stranger's gaze...only that Hargreeves scares me, and therefore I react by being elusive" Marben admitted.
"Perfect, so...".
"Wait, Di, can you please explain what you have in mind?".
"Yes, what do you mean by 'confusing Arsegreeves'?". Diana's blue eyes went from Marben to Lear, while she smiled smartly.
"Isn't it obvious? Trying to convince him that Marben isn't the only strange one!".
"Wow, thank you! That was really sweet!".
"Come on, you know what I meant...". Marben kept looking at her with a deadpan expression, raising only her eyebrows. "Fine, I'll rephrase. Trying to convince him that Marben isn't the only one acting strange!".
"Yes, this way it sounds less racist" conceded Lear. Diana didn't appreciate her comment.
"Another hour of detention".
"HANG ON A MINUTE...".
"I can't, we've got rehearsal in less that thirty minutes and sure as hell that old maniac will be present: we need to finalize our plan and get it started right away!".
"You mean...you're all going to copy me? You're going to act like me when he is there in order to convince him that we are all crazy...or maybe normal?" Marben asked, making it all sound a little absurd, but feasible.
"We can at least try, can't we?" Diana sweetly replied, hopefully.
"Yes...of course we can!" Myery approved, smiling at Diana, who looked heartened by her support.
"Yeah...yeah, let's try" agreed Marben looking for a feedback from Lear, who nodded. When she had received everyone's consent, Diana smiled and turned to look at Marben again.
"Now. Tell us how we should do it".