sometimes - hxl (fin?? lol)

a most intelligent quarrel

himangi is a very smart person. and so by the time the bell was ringing, she was already awake. the other new students gazed at her in awe. but as she went into the wrong train-cabin yesterday, himangi was feeling quite ticked off, and decided she would let one of the regulars here lead the way to breakfast. charles was quite right, in himangi's opinion, about the food only being top-form the first day. still, it was good, and she used this chance to sit next to joshua lee. although his laugh was quite ugly. it reminded her of a duck. 'i do hope that isn't his real laugh..' she thought. the bell rang once again, meaning it was time to go to class. today was a prep day, meaning the teachers would assess their strengths and weaknesses in various subjects.

"himangi," began joshua, "we're only in one class together." that was math. "well, at least we'll see eachother during breaks and in the common room, so it's fine." then joshua brightened up. "oh you're right! we should leave now though. bye." he went to his first class, leaving himangi on the stairwell. she looked at her schedule, feeling excited to impress the teachers at her amazing math and science skills especially.

the schedule showed 2 core subjects first, then sports including badminton or swimming, lunch, and then extracurriculars. then later in the day there were 2 more core subjects. her first classes went by like a breeze, mostly because charles was in most of her classes, and they were quite easy for a scholarly student like himangi, resulting in it being the second half of the day soon. but something arose in her last period. charles wasn't in this period, so she was all alone. most of the students in this math class were from other towers, such as north, south, and west. west tower... that was where her problems arose.

the math teacher had just handed out a figuratively easy assessment. it was to see where all the students were. himangi was graded very well. then supplies for school were handed out. the teacher then set up a competitive game for students to play with the other students. it looked interesting enough to himangi. the thing was, she was seated at a window seat. and although it was very dazzling to look at the evergreen grass getting slightly pelted with thin snow, all the older students who had been here for the spring and fall terms were seated in the center and farther back of the classrooms, with their old friends. so himangi had no one to ask to be her partner. no one, except joshua lee! he had come over to her, paper in hand, grinning. "himangi! i guess we're stuck together again. i feel lucky to be by your side." himangi smiled. for a second, she was confident of winning the game quite easily. oh was she wrong. a big storm was brewing, across the classroom.

liev schiffman. the pianist. the prodigy. the intellect. he had a plan to win the game, with his partner gavin wiese. liev was still new, only joining in the fall term, but he was already in the process of ruling over his fellow subjects. i mean classmates. he glanced at gavin, smirking. they knew each other since they were the littlest of kids, having grown up in the same affluent neighborhood. gavin looked back, an earnest smile on his face. gavin had true admiration for liev. for one thing, he was smart, and talented with his piano, but he was also striking to look at. he was tall, and the uniform blazer looked especially good on him. he wasn't this much of a sight in the fall term, as his hair had been dyed a clownish-blue back then. his personality was confident, playful and competitive. which came into play now. gavin looked around at all the other students, and grew more confident. none of them looked like a suitable match for the honourable liev schiffman.

once everyone had a pair, the game started. it was essentially gambling, but they were doing intense problems instead. himangi and joshua were a good pair, and worked together pretty well, expert for the times when he would laugh. soon there were only 4 teams left, including himangi and joshua, and liev and gavin. joshua gave a nervous giggle, realizing how far he and himangi made it in the game. liev giggled too, but instead of being nervous, he was pinching his pretty hands together, mocking joshua's laugh in a way. "liev! that's mean.." trailed off gavin. joshua didn't seem to notice though. he was talking to himangi, who was next to him. liev glanced at himangi. he looked her up and down, and resumed talking to gavin. he had no doubt that he was still the leading reign.