Naïveté - Part 7

The door wasn't locked when we arrived.

Leyla already appeared to be packing her interview items, so I guess we got here at about the right time.

"Oh, you guys made it! Hey!"

Scarlet quickly takes note of the two of us and waves in our direction.

Her reaction causes Leyla, whose back was turned to the door moments ago, to spin on her heels like a ballet dancer.

"Nicholas! Mon amour! Oh, where have you been? Why did you not come with…"

Her soft, heartfelt expression melts away.

"… us?"

When she sees my face, I can sense some sort of sick, twisted anger build up inside of her.

"… Nicholas?"

"W-what, dude? What do you want?"

"Who is that girl?"

"G-g-g-girl? What? O-oh… Hey wait, Leyla you're misunderstanding. This is…"

"Ahh, how cruel… You've been denying my advances to be at your side for so long that I thought you were simply shy… But to find out that you're secretly just getting close to this thot… Ah, I think I'm getting faint…"

Wow, that one kinda hurt. I kinda get why Scarlet went off on Nick now.

"Don't be ridiculous! You're being delusional right now!"

"This betrayal, it… Ahh, catch me Scarlet… I think I'm gonna…"

Before she could finish her sentence, the light quickly disappears from her eyes and she begins to lose her footing.

"Woah!"

Scarlet manages to catch her before she falls to the ground.

"Wha- wait, are you joking, dude? You're joking, right?"

"…"

Scarlet squeezes her shoulder, but there doesn't seem to be any response.

"… She's asleep."

"Seriously…?"

"Sorry, apparently she didn't get much sleep last night preparing for the interview."

That's kinda relatable in a way.

I guess Jennifer was right. Leyla really does take her club seriously.

She might be a bit weird, but she's got her own source of struggles, huh?

That said…

"Nick, are you okay?"

"W-what, man? Do I look weird?"

"Nah, it's just… you're getting kinda rattled by that Leyla girl. Everything good?"

"P-pfft! Of course! It's just your imagination! You think some thot is gonna rattle me? Get real!"

"Uh, sure."

Though I'm not quite sure what exactly their relationship is, it's obvious enough that Nick is very bad at dealing with girls. Though he tries his best to make a show of it, he's not quite himself when he talks to Scarlet either.

Someone like Leyla would naturally completely trip him off his game.

"Haaa, what a weird day… So? How'd it go for you Chase?"

Scarlet puts Leyla to rest in one of the chairs and has her slump over the desk.

She's already snoring somewhat faintly. Just how heavy of a sleeper is this chick?

"Ah, yeah… To be honest, it didn't go as bad as it could have, but I think we lost on that end.

"… How badly?"

"She's going to give up on the smear campaign and focus on Monday."

I remove the wig and place it on the table.

"Huh? That's a complete win then."

"No, it really wasn't."

You weren't in that room, Scarlet.

She was playing me like a damn fiddle.

I didn't know a girl my age could make me feel so helpless.

And her motivation made even less sense.

The downfall of male students?

I don't really get any of it.

But looking back on it now, I'd actually be doing this school a huge disservice by letting that girl get into power.

"Hey Scarlet."

"Huh? What is it?"

"How much power does the Student Government have at this school?"

"Ohh. Umm, to be honest I'm not sure exactly but… their main goal is helping out with extra-curricular activities at school. They market the sports teams really well and use the games and sometimes even other club events to start fundraisers for future events. I heard they even tax all kinds of clubs for revenue."

"Seriously…? So they're just really rich then?"

"Yeah. Apparently the Vice-Principal looks over it so that they don't run off with the money, but they normally spend it all on whatever they think will help the school long term. Club items, marketing stuff, you know… Boring grown-up things."

Huh… That's a lot of power.

If we think about it logically, they're the source of funding for all of the clubs at this school.

Which means that the SF club, no. It means that all predominantly male clubs at this school are in danger of losing their financial backing, and they might even get taxed more than usual in favor of the groups ran by women such as the Cheer squad or the Newspaper club.

"…"

"Chase?"

Nick looks at me curiously.

I can't let that happen.

The SF club– the 'Fated Ones' is all I have at this school.

This isn't about my reputation anymore.

This is about equality. True equality.

And to do that, there's only one thing left for us to do.

"Nick."

"What's up?"

"We're gonna destroy the thots."

He looks genuinely surprised by my statement.

But his surprise quickly turns into a grin.

"… Heh. As expected from the man I believed in."

He raises his fist.

"It's for the greater good."

I bump it.

"For sure. The only way left to go is forward."

He nods.

"Oh, and before I forget… here."

Nick passes me a handheld device that I've never seen him carry around before.

"What's this?"

"Wow, so you really don't have any gaming consoles, huh? I feel like an idiot for believing you now."

Ah, right. He's talking about back then.

I didn't want my economic situation to stand out so I lied about owning one. The result of that, of course, was that Nick would continuously recommend me games that I had no way of playing.

"Oh whatever. You're gonna be working on the campaign speech, right? If things get tough and you need to blow off some steam, then the game I recommended you is on the memory card."

Ah, that.

What was the name again…?

"Underwing, right?"

"Undertale, man. Undertale. Anyway, don't say I never did you any favors. I'm heading home now."

"… Nick."

Before he heads through the door, I call to stop him in his tracks.

"What's up man?"

"Thank you. You and Sig are the best friends I could've asked for at this terrible school."

"…"

He turns away.

"Like my own blood. That's how it goes in the oath, right?"

"From now, until our last breath."

"Yeah. So you don't need to thank me. It's just a matter of course at this point."

"Haha, yeah. I guess you're right."

"Still…"

"Hmm?"

He turns back to face me once more time.

"If you lose that election I'll beat the shit out of you, dude! We're going all out here! You know that, right?! You have absolutely NO right to lose to fucking Thotifer of all people! If your speech sucks then I swear to god I'll-"

"Shut up, you stupid cockroach!"

Scarlet smacks the back of his head.

"OWWW!! What the hell was that for, bitch?!"

"I'm not a b-bitch, you're just an idiot! Why'd you have to ruin the moment like that?! Apologize! Give me back my appreciation of you!"

"Ughhh, the dude's wearing women's clothes! The moment was ruined before it even started! Talk to your girlfriend, Chase!"

"Uh, she's not my girlfriend. Remember?"

"Uhuh, and I'm not 6'1."

But… you're not.

"Look man. Point is, just sort your shit out before Monday, okay? There's no way we're losing."

"Yeah, you're right."

"TNT."

"Yeah, TNT."

The two of us wave at one another as he finally exits the room.

"Phew…"

I sigh.

Talk about a rough day.

Nick has a point, though.

I need to get out of these clothes.

I'm beginning to feel more and more like a woman.

"So Chase, I've been thinking…"

But before I can head to the washroom, Scarlet stops me completely in my tracks.

"Huh? What is it?"

"If it's okay, I could get my mom to drop us to school on Monday."

Oh yeah, the trains are gonna be down. I was gonna see if Rachael could get someone to get me a lift, but…

A ride straight to school with Scarlet? That'd solve everything. We could even talk about the campaign speech on the way.

"Really? I mean, we're kinda out of the way, you know. I don't wanna impose."

"No, it's no problem. Her work is in the city so it'd just be a minor detour. Then we could take the train that goes from the city to the school. I'd just need to skip my morning jog, that's all."

Well, that certainly does work out.

"Thanks, Scarlet. You're a lifesaver."

Seriously, she's such a sweet girl.

And yet, Jennifer had nothing but bad things to say about her.

Scarlet isn't an idiot, she's just kind to a fault.

That's why she let you take advantage of her so easily.

She just wanted to believe in you with all her heart.

Just like she believes in me right now.

"…"

But the difference between us is, I won't let her down.

I'm going to make a future where she can smile and live out the everyday high school life that she deserves.

"Kinda weird being thanked by you in girl's clothes, you know. Actually, why haven't you changed out of it yet?"

"You're the one who stopped me!!"

"Hahaha, what a loser! Don't tell me you're getting off on this?! Do you want me to take some pictures so you can post them on the internet later?"

Nevermind, I hate this basic woman.

"By the way, before I forget… give me your address."

"Sure… I'll write it down right now."

"'Kaaay. We'll probably try to pick you up at 6 so just be ready."

"No problem."

I reach out and grab a nearby pen and paper from the large center table and begin writing the address.

"So um, Chase… I've been wondering."

"What's up?'

I hand her the paper.

"'What does 'TNT' mean?"

"…"

"Seriously?"

"W-what? I just think it's weird that you guys haven't told me yet."

"No I mean, it should be kinda obvious, right?"

"O-of course it isn't! That's why I'm asking you!"

"Haha, this is kinda weird. Never thought I'd be the one making fun of you like this. 'Wow, Scarlet's such a looooser! She doesn't even know what TNT means'!"

"Urk… For some reason I feel like it stings more since it's Beatrice saying it…"

"Well, that's exactly what I was going for."

"Hmph, idiot."

She smiles.

It's quite nice.

The whirring of the air conditioning unit.

The gentle snoring of the Newspaper club's president.

And the rambunctious red-head who refuses to stop calling me a loser.

This tranquil scene is something I'll be sure to remember for the rest of my life.

Because no matter what happens on Monday, this tranquil every day will change.

The only thing I can do now is shape whether that future we're headed toward is one filled with happiness or utter despair.