apollo

[point_b]

It is the first day of the Swan twins's second year at the Phoenix Gemini School, Apollo High, and this time around Alli isn't soliciting reassurance from her sister about conspiracy theories that the schools are designed to brainwash, de-power, or otherwise mishandle their charges. It's basically just high school, with unconventional gym requirements and an above-average proportion of superpowered faculty. And way more money than most public schools, and excellent diversity because the entry requirement cuts neatly across all demographics.

Well, in most conventional demographic respects.

There are no only children here.

Alli and Bella have all their classes together, which is nice - that wasn't always possible in elementary and middle school; here it's a matter of course.

This year they're signed up for gym but they can skip until two weeks into term, at which point they'll have their basics and Bella will be just as competent as anyone else. More so, relative to the general population. She has no idea what bonus she'll get and she's excited anyway. She's going to be able to actually go to dances, and dance at them, if she wants. Not the homecoming dance because that's not for underclassmen, but there will be others.

"Uuuugh," says Alli, "math first thing in the morning."

"Wouldn't it be funny if you said that and you got a math boost of some kind for your bonus?"

"No, that would just be horrible. And sad. Be sad for me if that happens, Bella."

"All right. What do you want to get?"

"I don't even know, is there a point? I'll just get something and so will you and that'll be that."

"Suit yourself."

The bus pulls in and out they get, uniform skirts swishing around their knees, swan emblems matching on their sleeves so everyone can tell who is whose twin.

Comments

[blink_and]

"Sister-shaped homecoming dance limo. Sorry, I won't be serving drinks."

[point_b]

"Oh well, can't have everything. So you'll need our address -" Bella writes that down on a corner of notebook paper, tears it off, waves it at the shooting star twins - "and I think the dance starts at eight, so, you know better than me how complicated and time consuming it is to set up portals, but show up somewhat before then?"

"En Español, Senorita Swan," chides the teacher.

"Perdóname," says Bella.

[you_miss_it]

"Mhm!" agrees Savannah, taking the address. "It's really not either, I just run ahead and Adana uses me to set them up."

She gets chided by the teacher, shortly after.

[blink_and]

Then it is back to Spanish.

Except someone is extremely good at passing notes. Savannah is going to use this.

Adana rolls her eyes, but accepts, and a little note lands from a tiny portal onto Bella's desk while the teacher isn't looking.

[point_b]

Okaaaay.

Bella opens the note.

[you_miss_it]

It says, in what is presumably Savannah's handwriting,

"Are we coordinating dress colors, am I going to be in a tux, or what?"

[point_b]

Bella writes on the back of the note. I will probably let Alli pick my dress because I have no eye for clothes. You can wear whatever you like, I'm liable to favor cool or dark colors.

And then she sets it on an empty corner of her desk.

[you_miss_it]

It disappears through a little portal, and then a few minutes later, Bella gets another.

Okay! says the note. Cool or dark colors it is. I'm sure you'll look pretty in it no matter what.

[point_b]

Bella smiles but does not write back to this one.

[you_miss_it]

That's fine, Adana doesn't like passing notes much, anyway.

Spanish. Fascinating. (No it isn't.)

[point_b]

Spanish Spanish Spanish!

Then they don't have class together because there are not meaningfully different levels of skill in high school art class. Then the Swans have to take the bus and the other pair do not.

[you_miss_it]

Yup, they don't.

But oh look, next Spanish class - cute white flower, on Bella's seat. It's not particularly expensive, but - definitely a flower.

Savannah winks.

[point_b]

Bella laughs and tucks it into her hair. She manages - in passable if vocabularically constrained Spanish, to avoid antagonizing the teacher - "My mom will want to say hi when you come for the dance."

[you_miss_it]

Savannah nods. "Sure," she agrees in just as constrained Spanish. "It'll be fun!"

[point_b]

"My mom is nice," agrees Bella.

[alli_oop]

"She like you!" predicts Alli, ungrammatically but understandably.

[you_miss_it]

Savannah grins. "I like nice people that like me!" she says, carefully in Spanish.

[alli_oop]

"Then you like our mom," says Alli.

[point_b]

[you_miss_it]

"Everyone wins!"

[point_b]

"Alli found a boy. Alli and I will shop for -" Bella can't remember Spanish for 'dresses'. "Clothes, this Saturday."

[alli_oop]

"Last Saturday with no powers!" whoops Alli, forgetting to use Spanish in her excitement.

[you_miss_it]

Savannah laughs. "Congratulations!" she says, because she doesn't know how to say, 'Hope you get a good set of powers' in Spanish.

[point_b]

There is only so much chat, even Spanish chat, they can get away with while the teacher is lecturing about conjugations, so that is pretty much all they manage to say on this day.

[you_miss_it]

Yeah. Adana doesn't like passing notes very much, so they're not going to talk much through that method.