Don’t cry, little lady

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On the first day of the after-school study sessions, which two girls were forced to attend, all of the books and worksheets to be used had mysteriously gone missing. Some people pondered on whether this was a plan to get out of doing work but decided against such an idea as it was only the first day.

It was the first day because this group had been forcibly made due to certain actions by a certain two individuals. However, others in the year group were allowed to partake in the sessions if they so wished. Unsurprisingly, few people came of their own volition and those that did come were evidently forced to come by parents, or even due to being highly persuaded by teachers.

After all, it was nearing the last term of the year and most of the children hadn't been studying very diligently, this may or may not have something to do with two certain people disrupting the majority of their classes.

The people forced to come did so because future academic results and achievements are highly reliant on the foundation received by individuals during these crucial ages. A solid foundation would be the strong and sturdy base for their knowledge to be placed on in the future, the rock to hold their futures steady and firm.

Students don't realise this, however, and would much rather goof off and make messes of themselves. Such as how on the second day of these sessions, someone managed to bring science equipment from the labs in the high school buildings connected to the elementary and left them lying around.

The chemicals were knocked over after school was out and everyone was rushing through the halls to get home. They mixed together creating a mixture which had yet to be confirmed as either safe or toxic. This resulted in the class ending early, once again.

Not to mention Wednesday, the teacher in charge of the session that day took extra care to bring the sheets and books along with them throughout the day and even checked to see if everything was in order in the labs and that everything was accounted for.

However, this didn't hinder the childish antics which then took place. The fire alarm was pulled seven times on the same day, the fire department was so done that instead of the session that was meant of taking place, the chief firefighter didn't let a single student leave for over three hours.

By that point, he still hadn't even gotten halfway into his rant and in the end, he got a call from his wife yelling at him to get home and how it was his turn to take care of the baby. Some people claimed to have heard that she'd called him selfish and that he shouldn't be such a bad father and husband for not keeping his end of the deal, something about how it was her night to go clubbing with friends as an escape from motherhood.

He then left in a hurry and everyone was free to go home. Almost.

The teachers yet again called out to the two infamous individuals and questioned them sternly. They were almost certain it was either of them, when they couldn't find a fault in their stories and alibis they were let go after some light reprimanding.

They left soon after the others, and then the teachers looked at each other with tense faces. They were a bit worried about the coming days, this was caused by the past three where they had expected these childish acts to stop, but they hadn't and they didn't know what to do about it now.

These little plots and schemes that always made everyone miss out on after-class sessions were always just semi-small mishaps that could be taken as light pranks. However, the teachers, especially the ones in charge of these sessions, were getting more are more paranoid and stressed by the day.

On the tenth day the teachers had come prepared, they left someone camping in the security room to watch cams, they also had "student spies" taking note of so-called suspicious behaviour. The teachers themselves were also busy looking around the corners and crevices of the halls and classrooms to try and stop any tricks before they'd begun.

Sadly for them, their preparation was in vain as there wasn't anything planned and the teachers wasted their own time so paranoid that they didn't do anything yet again.

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In the end, the teachers and students managed to fix the issue, it took what seemed like years, with multiple agreements and compromises including two pies, some confetti, a cow and a handful of pumpkin seeds. No one knows exactly what happened during these "diplomatic meetings", not even those involved.

The dreaded after-school classes went on for weeks and the two girls who were forced to be here due to certain circumstances no longer caused as much trouble or mischief. They also no longer picked fights, who could blame them? They always looked shattered from the extra compulsory studying that they had to do every day, it would be no surprise that they had no energy afterwards to fool around.

This was a major win for the teachers. The pointless and childish fights stopped taking place, and everyone's grades returned to what they used to be before this fiasco.

The classes were no longer required of the two girls and they soon quit, during this torturous period they'd told themselves they'd definitely fight for all their worth if the other initiated anything. However, neither did and the peaceful state of the school was kept until the end of the year.

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A girl was squatting by a wall, leaning against it and letting it support her as she held her face. Soft sobs could be heard, escaping from her hands and sleeves. The girl was wearing a red jumper, the sleeves were damp from tears.

After a while of her staying by the wall, a hand reached out towards her, it was offering her a napkin. The crying girl had yet to notice the outstretched hand so the person decided to clear their throat to announce their presence.

"Hello, little lady, would you like a napkin?" A warm voice asked gently.

The girl looked up between her fingers and gradually let go of her small face.

"It's no good for such a pretty face to look so sad." She nodded to herself with shut eyes whilst lightly shaking her small hand to accentuate her point. "That's what dad says, anyway."

The girl realised who she was talking to and was more than a little shocked, "Why-, sob, Why're you h-, sob, here..?" The girl asked, her voice shaking from the recent and continuous sobs. She was unable to hold them back even when she dug her nails into her palms and not her lip in a last-ditch effort to silence herself. She couldn't bear letting people watch her up close like this, especially not someone she knew.

"Well, I always see daddy doing this to random girls he sees on the streets. He's so nice, so I should be like him because... well he's really cool." The girl smiled at her own words.

Only later would she look back and realise that her father was more likely a playboy who hit on numerous women at the same time.

The girl's smile melted looking at the distraught face, she opened the palms of the girl to stop her from digging her nails into herself and shoved the napkin into her hands. She adopted a worried expression and sat squatted to her to look at her at eye level. She didn't particularly enjoy looking down at others, and she was sure that staring up at her would eventually hurt the neck of the saddened girl.

"What's wrong?", the girl then hastily added, "And don't cry, father says it's insensitive to cry when people watch."

The girl laughed half-heartedly, "Don't you, sniff, mean 'it's insensitive to watch when people cry'?"

"Ah, yep yep. That's it." The girl nodded dramatically., "What's wrong?" She asked after a slight pause.

"Well it…" the girl paused mid-sentence and laughed self-deprecatingly, "it might not even be a big deal..?"

"Whatever it is I'll listen." she looked around and noticed a few people looking at them with strange looks, some with disdain and others with pity. "Well, actually… not here. Let's go to that new cafe that opened up."

"That one… it's one I wanted to try, how did you…" she asked whilst being pulled up by the girl and being dragged off to the cafe she had desperately wanted to go to but hadn't had the time or money to visit.

The girl dragging her had known that she'd wanted to visit this cafe due to how well she knew her. After all, for the past year, she'd spent a good chunk of her time being around her, witnessing her normal lunches, what she liked to eat, her outfits and her sense of style. The places she'd visit after school when they were caught up arguing as soon as they saw each other when leaving to go home, but didn't want to leave the other due to both of them being very competitive and not wanting the other to win.

To comfort her and to try and make her feel better she wanted to take her someplace she might like. After all, they fought a lot, but that doesn't mean they dislike each other, they just sometimes get on each other's nerves and are too stubborn to back down.

If their personalities weren't both so headstrong and stubborn they'd make good friends as they were rather similar.

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They'd sat down and gotten comfortable in the cafe, the girl that had taken them there had ordered a slice of cheesecake and a cup of watermelon juice. She offered the person sitting opposite her the menu, but she shook her head.

"I… I didn't bring any money." The girl hung her head and wanted to smack her head against the table, she finally came here and she didn't have the slightest bit of common sense to bring money when going out alone.

"It's okay, I'll cover it. It's quite cheap anyway." She passed the menu to the girl, "And, tell me, what's the matter?"

The girl took the menu handed to her and ordered a slice of red velvet cake and a small cup of apple juice. She fiddled with her fingers in her anxiousness, her face was giving away her feelings. Her eyebrows were slightly scrunched and her eyes looked troubled, her mouth also formed a delicate pout.

"Well…"