Published: May 22nd 2025, 3:00:03 pm
Once Amelia had solved every problem, which was quite the endeavor between the challenging assignment and the constant distraction of the game behind her, she then had to break the school’s policy on academic integrity.
The one benefit to working on math homework was that she was writing in pencil. If she didn’t successfully copy a girl’s handwriting the first time, she could always try again. Something like this would be a lot more daunting in pen, when each student only had one copy of the assignment. Making spare copies would solve that problem, though she’d have to do so at the library without getting caught and questioned about why she needed more than one. Amelia shook her head, dismissing those thoughts. Not only was that moot when it was Friday evening and the library was closed, but this was surely a one time thing. She wasn’t going to be on the hook for everyone’s homework beyond tonight.
Without headphones, she really couldn’t tune out the game of Dares very well. Sometimes it was possible to get lost in an algebra problem for a minute or two, until a fit of laughter from the other side of the room sucked her right back to the reality that she was being included yet excluded in the most frustrating manner. How much longer until she got that phone Summer referenced? Last weekend, it sounded as if it would have happened by the end of the day if she had just gone back to the popular blonde after getting in trouble with security instead of hiding away in her room afterwards and proceeding to keep her distance until today.
“I dare you to swap skirts with Julia,” one of the girls said.
“Hey, that’s not fair!” Julia whined, “It’s not my dare.”
“Summer?” the girl who had come up with the dare asked. Naturally, the leader of their little clique would be the one to make such judgments.
“Suck it up, Julia,” Summer said. Even when facing the opposite direction, Amelia could hear the smirk in her voice. “Come on, it will be fun.”
Amelia couldn’t tell who the dare was for; she assumed that since Julia was on the smaller side, her skirt was going to be tight and short on the girl being dared. That, or the main point of the dare was to embarrass both girls by making them undress and redress in front of everyone. Potentially both.
Turning her attention back to Lily’s assignment now that she had completed Summer’s, Amelia tried not to think about the scene behind her. While she wasn’t looking, this was yet another inappropriate moment she felt awkward about being present for. Amelia had also never been a huge fan of Truth or Dare to begin with; she wasn’t sure whether she’d like a game where they only focused on the latter part.
Halfway through the fourth homework sheet, Amelia let out a quiet sigh of relief when Summer suggested they do something else after a few more dares. Hopefully something more tame. What did boarding schools their age do to entertain themselves? Amelia had gone to a public school, which was a much different experience than being confined to campus after classes were done for the day.
A couple dares later, after another series of giggles, someone knocked on the door.
Amelia tensed up, both from her state of dress as well as what she was currently working on. Summer didn’t seem nearly as worried. She shushed the girls before calling out, “Who is it?”
“Your favorite prefect,” the girl on the other side of the closed door said.
Summer chuckled to herself as she recognized the voice as well as the style of teasing. “My least favorite sister, you mean?”
“Open up, brat,” Claire said.
“Coming, Miss,” Summer retorted. As she got up, she told the girls to look as normal as they could after so many rounds of dares. While Claire gave her a bit of special treatment here and there, that didn’t change the fact that she was a prefect. She could only turn a blind eye to so much.
Though Amelia hadn’t been included in that directive, she made sure to do the same. Haphazardly stacking up the complete and incomplete assignments on the desk, she pushed them all to the side and turned around for the first time in a while. She didn’t really want Claire to see her in here, but it would look weird if one girl was just sitting there and looking away from the prefect who was stopping by. Plus there was a good chance her braided blonde locks would be enough for Claire to recognize her, when she was the one who first decided that was a good style for ‘Millie.’
Summer opened the door after delaying for twenty or thirty seconds, greeting her older sister with a smile. “Hey, Ms. Claire! Let me guess. You missed me so much?”
“Uh huh,” Claire rolled her eyes, “Something like that. Also, a noise complaint.”
“Vivian?” Summer asked, making an educated guess.
“I can’t say,” Claire said. Girls were allowed to request anonymity for stuff like that.
Summer brushed her hair back, glancing over her shoulder for a second to scan her circle of friends. As if she didn’t already know who was present. “Well, Lily lives in the next room over, and she’s right here. Vivian is my only other neighbor.”
“It could have been a girl down the hall,” Claire shrugged, “Anyway, you’re not in trouble. This is just a warning. Can you keep it down a little bit?”
“We’ll try our best,” Summer said, “Are you on duty all night?”
“Until midnight,” she said. Then, finally noticing Amelia off to the side after her initial glimpse of the room behind Summer, she said, “Oh, is Millie part of your pack now? Nice of you to welcome the new girl!”
There was a subtle implication there that Claire was well aware of her younger sister’s antics; that, or she just happened to casually describe their group as predators. Not that she would care that much, when the popular girls in Summer’s grade didn’t mean anything to a senior like Claire who had a whole different social hierarchy to focus on.
Amelia didn’t say anything, since it sounded like Claire was still mostly talking to Summer. This was the first time she had seen both sisters at the same time. They did have a number of physical similarities, and shared a couple mannerisms as well. Even so, she wasn’t blaming herself for missing it. Between the contrast in blonde/brunette hair, as well as being with each of them in different contexts, she probably would have never put it together without being told.
Claire had more in mind than just letting Amelia know that she had been spotted hanging out with her ‘classmates.’ After chatting with Summer for another minute or so about both her new friend and how the week had gone, Claire addressed Amelia more directly. “Hey, Millie? Can I talk to you privately for a minute?”
“Ooh, someone’s in trouble,” Summer teased. Her friends had similar reactions, in classic teenage fashion.
“You’re lucky you’re not all in trouble,” Claire rolled her eyes, “If it were any other prefect . . . ”
“Have I mentioned that I love you SO much?” Summer smiled, “You’re such an amazing sister. The best prefect ever. I love you, I love you, I-”
Claire scoffed. “Suck up.” Then she directed her attention to Amelia again, telling her to step out into the hall.
Amelia had no idea what Claire wanted. At the same time, she had learned from personal experience that she was to respect the authority of any prefect. Including the one who assisted Ashley in the process that led to her being a transfer student.
“Yes, Ms. Claire,” Amelia said. She got up and, after briefly glancing towards Summer as if it would give her any insight as to what her sister was thinking, followed Claire out of the room.