Of course.

Things should have felt more different at school. At least that’s how Mason felt as he and Yumi walked down the halls. He now had two girlfriends and might be about to start dating his teacher too. And Yumi knew about Lilith. It felt like he had passed some sort of milestone in regards to Luxuria.

But the rest of the world didn’t seem to notice. It was just a typical Thursday morning. The students were all in their usual clumps. The day before they were all gritting their teeth and psyching themselves up to face Wednesday. Now though, next weekend was officially closer than last weekend. And it showed. Even the teachers seemed to be in a collectively good mood.

But the strangest thing to remain unchanged was Vina. She was standing in front of her locker dressed in typically modest wide-legged pants and a thick sweater. When he first spotted her she was cramming odds and ends into her locker until she could quickly shut it before anything fell out. That done, she spotted him (not necessarily hard to do all things considered.) With her traditional sparkling, dimpled smile she scooped up her bag and ran towards him.

For a brief moment, Mason couldn’t help but notice what her curvy body looked like running. But before his lecherous thoughts could advance Vina barreled into him like an affectionate tiger. And it was then that he finally noticed some differences. As usual, his Muslim girlfriend’s surprisingly strong arms seemed intent on squeezing the air out his lungs. But today she buried her shining face into his chest, eagerly nuzzling into her longtime crush.

“Oh! It is so hard not kissing you!” Vina said, just loud enough for her muffled voice to reach his ears. It didn’t seem possible for someone to complain and giggle at the same time. But if anyone could manage it, it was Vina.

“Same here,” Mason said right back at her. The towering teen was so tempted to lean down and plant his lips on top of today’s red hijab. And that was the other change he had noticed. In the past hugs like this always had an undercurrent awkwardness. When his beautiful and bubbly but also devout and innocent friend had held him close he had always needed to tamp down any inappropriate feelings lest he make things uncomfortable. Now though, holding his gorgeous and decidedly not-so-innocent new girlfriend in his arms Mason could indulge. Maybe not in his desire to kiss Vina but he could put one broad hand in the small of her back, scant inches from her wide, spankable ass. And he felt no guilt in enjoying the pillowy breasts pressed against him.

But sadly they were in public, and the three of them had a secret to keep. So with an adorable harrumph, Vina reluctantly pulled away. But she didn’t stay down for too long. Instead, she turned on Yumi and gave her friend a hug of her own. One that almost took the tiny girl’s feet off the ground.

“And good morning to you too, Yumi!” Vina said loudly.

“M-Morning,” Yumi said quietly.

“Yesterday was so exciting,” Vina enthused as the three moved to the side so they wouldn’t block the hall. “I barely got any sleep. I had to drink two cups of coffee this morning.”

“Not me, I slept like a baby,” Mason said with a chuckle. Granted that was with demonic help but still. “But yeah, yesterday was awesome.”

“I can’t wait to hang out again. I know you are busy today, but what about tomorrow? Perhaps we can meet up after Friday Prayer? Please?” The Muslim girl’s black eyes were wide with hope as she stared up imploringly at her new boyfriend.

“Sounds good to me,” Mason said. He wasn’t sure why his new girlfriend felt the need to give him the hard sell. It wasn’t like he was about to say no.

“I was thinking we could go to the mall.” Now Mason understood the puppy dog eyes. There was the stereotype of the boyfriend getting dragged along on a shopping trip. And he didn’t totally buck it.

“Sure.” But he couldn’t really help but agree. Maybe because he just wanted to spend time with Vina. Maybe because she was just too cute to say no to. Or maybe it was because he knew that was just as nerdy as him so at least some of the stuff she would want to buy would be legitimately interesting.

“Yes! Thank you! And you should come too, Yumi,” She added quickly.

“Okay,” The petite girl agreed. But she was clearly caught off guard.

“Great! We can…” Vina trailed off. Her eyes widened, mouth shrank, shoulders hunched, and feet shuffled. It took Mason a second to realize what was going on. Then he realized she was trying to hide behind him. And when he and Yumi turned around they both realized why. In fact, Yumi took a step to join her co-girlfriend behind him.

Someone was moving down the hall, moving through the crowd like a wing cutting through the wind. Long legs easily eating up the distance before them. Silence radiated off of her, drowning out all sound. And intense brown eyes were fixed on Mason and his girlfriends.

“Um, good morning, Ms. Rosso.,”. Mason said with a suddenly dry mouth.

“Mason,” The muscle-bound woman said in the same cool voice he remembered. “Can I talk with you?”

“Sure.” It didn’t really sound like a question to Mason. And the way she instantly started leading him away didn’t shake that feeling. Vice-Principal Rosso was one of the few people with a stride as long as his. So he quickly moved to keep up with her, shooting an apologetic look back at Yumi and Vina.

As the two moved down the hallway, Mason considered Ms. Rosso and a chill went through him. Part of it was the animal instinct noting that she had separated him from the herd. And the fact that as they walked he heard the whispers of other students, both taunting and pitying him. But nothing made him as anxious as being left in the dark, and for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why she wanted to talk to him. Ms. Rosso had seemed genuinely not upset after the weirdness yesterday. But maybe she had changed her mind.

Or maybe she wanted to make sure he was actually wearing underwear today.

They reached Ms. Rosso’s office around the same time Mason realized that was where they were heading. It was a clean, highly organized, and sparsely decorated room. There were no pictures or other personal effects on the desk, just paperwork and a computer. The walls were similarly bare save for her diploma and a single watercolor landscape. Mass-produced art if Mason had ever seen it. All of this was lit by the early morning sunlight streaming through the window and between the blinds.

Mason wasn’t sure what to do next. High school tradition was for him to sit at one of the two chairs in front of her desk. But they looked stiff and a little undersized for him. And Ms. Rosso hadn’t asked him to. She hadn’t said anything.

The tall woman did walk around to the other side of her desk but didn’t sit either. She reached down and pulled open a drawer. Then used one leg to hold open the drawer before it could slide closed thanks to the uneven floor. With her hand free, she yanked out a white, plastic bag and leaned over the desk offering it to Mason.

With his vice-principal unwilling to talk, Mason couldn’t bring himself to break the silence. The crinkling of the bag changing hands and the teen pulling it open filled the room. Until the contents were laid bare before him. A coil of dark leather with a price tag still attached.

“Oh, thanks,” Mason said as he realized what it was and why she gave it to him. It actually looked like a better belt than the one that broke yesterday. The leather was supple and smooth, and the buckle was burnished stainless steel. He also couldn’t decide if it was touching or amusing that it also looked noticeably more sturdy.

His thanks didn’t elicit a verbal response. Instead, she just gave a quick nod. The tight bun containing her brown hair didn’t so much as a wiggle from the curt motion. Actually, Mason couldn’t help but notice that everything about Ms. Rosso seemed wound extra tight. Her fist and jaw were clenched. When she leaned back upright her spine was ramrod straight.

“Um, you didn’t need to do that,” Mason said awkwardly.

“I broke the other one,” Ms. Rosso said bluntly.

Another long stretch of silence followed. The veteran stood stone-faced and still as a statue as she stated at Mason. She was assessing him. He couldn't see it but he could guess it. But right as he found his voice she finally spoke up.

"I still need your help." Her husky voice was barely above a whisper when it slipped between her teeth. "I thought it was just little stuff. But that idiot put a bunch of heavy equipment on the top shelf. And…"

And she didn't need to say the rest. All she had to do was lift up her hand.

"I'm sorry. I already agreed to help my sister at her job," Mason said with a wince. He really was. If he had a choice he would gladly help Ms. Rosso instead of Viv. The intimidating woman had proven to be surprisingly cool and none of this was really her fault. But he had made a promise to his sister and would definitely face some serious consequences if he backed out at the last second.

That clearly wasn't what Ms. Rosso wanted to hear. Her sharp eyebrows angled and she quickly looked down at the carefully organized stacks of paper on her desk. Granted, he seriously doubted that she was looking at them so much as not trying to scowl at her student. She was thinking, a dangerous and infectious act. Because a thought occurred to Mason. Not a fun one, but he still felt he should at least make the offer.

"I could come by during lunch. I've got third shift today." It wasn't a particularly pleasant idea. Lunch was supposed to be a break. And more than that it was his chance to spend some time with his girlfriends today. Something all three of them wanted. But they would have tomorrow and plenty of chances after that. But Ms. Rosso probably needed help today.

“You need the chance to eat,” She immediately countered. But it almost sounded like she was thinking out loud. She clearly wasn’t fully talking to him until she once fixed him with her unreadable eyes. “What class do you have after lunch?”

“Latin,” Mason answered.

“With Prescott?” Ms. Rosso asked with a hint of disdain just behind her impassivity. And when he nodded there was an unspoken agreement between student and faculty. That at the end of the day if he happened to miss a few minutes of a long-winded, dry, remarkably uninformative monologue it probably wouldn’t be the end of the world. And they could clearly agree that food was more important than assuaging some dude’s ego.

“Alright,” The ex-captain agreed. And just in time, the bell rang right as she opened her mouth. “Go. Don’t be late.”

It was a dismissal. And Mason wasn’t about to fight it. So he gave a quick nod and turned to leave. Only to suddenly get stopped with one word.

“Mason.” His name came out quick and sharp. But when he turned back to Ms. Rosso, he found her taking a long, deep breath. Her eyes were closed but when they opened the ghost of a smile formed on her scarred lips. “Thank you.”