Turbulent Company

Alice headed back to the entrance where they came in from hoping that Mr. Anthony had moved on to elsewhere with Claudia to her side. They were extremely cautious as they moved ahead, trying their best to not make any noise as they rounded the corner.

She didn't even need to communicate to Claudia that she wasn't planning on taking the doors that they took earlier since she didn't want to run into Mr. Anthony once more. Alice just took a different path through the hallways, and Claudia followed her without a complaint.

Alice was sure that Claudia was being demure having now realized that they could get into some petty trouble due to their random lapse of judgment, but that didn't really matter now since their main goal was to leave without any problems.

"Do you want to take the east entrance or the west?" Alice whispered.

Claudia lifted a shoulder. "I could care less. Either works." 

Alice made an executive decision to do the east door considering that it was already facing the way to the convenience store. She motioned for Claudia to quickly follow, and down the hallway titles could be heard quiet shuffling as they made their way down.

They were suddenly startled by someone knocking on the glass of the doors. The knocking wasn't very loud, so it would seem as though that person was only having brief hope that a teacher would come by rather than just knocking loudly for instant attention.

They hadn't yet made it past the bend where they could see who it was, but Claudia paused for a moment which made Alice lift up a hand to get her thoughts. They didn't need to let that person in just yet since they themselves still needed to get out due to the fact that they had barely scraped permission to be inside.

"Should we open the door for that person?" Alice asked slowly.

Claudia brought her gaze up to scan the area which was clear of Mr. Anthony. "I mean, we could?"

"If we turn back and exit another door, then we don't have to see the person over there to have a guilty conscience."

Claudia rolled her eyes. "That's just being petty. We should at least do that person a solid since Mr. Anthony helped us out in the kindness of his heart."

Alice nodded. "I guess. But we should try to follow Mr. Anthony's demands as well though and leave as asap."

Claudia lifted a shoulder. "We know that he would let it slide anyway. Besides, we came in quickly and we're leaving just as fast. The person over there probably has the same idea in mind."

"Sure," Alice said slowly as Claudia suddenly started strutting over there in that direction.

"Claudia!" Alice whispered. "Wait!" 

Alice walked quickly after Claudia to see the golden light from outside streaming in to hit  Claudia who was frowning. Confused, she turned her eyes to her left-hand side to see the culprit of such an expression, and it was a huge surprise that it was Rowan standing on the other side of the glass.

Rowan had his arms crossed, and now that he was nearer, he was a lot taller than she had first assumed considering that she had only gotten far glimpses of him and wild tales from other people, but the expression on his face made it seem as though he was just as perturbed as Claudia, and Alice sighed as she leaned forward to open the door for him. 

"Hi," Alice said as he gripped the door open. 

"Sorry," he muttered. "I left my briefcase in my homeroom."

"I'm surprised that you would be a person to do so," Claudia said as she glanced at her nails.

"I was in a rush earlier," Rowan admitted. 

"That doesn't excuse you coming in late to get it. If it's such a problem, you'll have to call the school to pick up."

"As if I would do that when I could only walk upstairs. Don't be so shallow about it."

Alice stepped in between them since she knew that Claudia was on the verge of thinking about throwing hands.  "Ah, how about this? Let's make a run for it upstairs before we all get busted."

"Alice right?" Rowan asked.

She nodded. "Yes."

"A close friend of Noah's."

"Is that what he told you?" Alice asked in disbelief.

"I'm playing," Rowan laughed. "You should have seen the horror on your face. Got it. Alice is not a good friend of Noah's."

She waved him off. "No, no. We... are. How about we get going before Mr. Anthony makes his rounds downstairs?"

Claudia sighed as she looped an arm through Alice's. "Alice and I will go and supervise you. Hurry on."

Rowan pivoted on his foot before running up the stairs in a fast succession which made it hard for them to catch up. It felt as though they were on a secret mission.