Game of Generals

Ambrosia's eyes followed the mechanical ticking of the wall clock's minute hand. She could barely contain her impatience, green glitter pen tapping on her wooden desk as a self-soothing mechanism. She stared at the fluffy toy that stuck to the end of the pen, googly eyes jiggling in a bizarre manner.

Coincidentally, the person who sat to her right was Bastian, the boy she hailed her new best friend after catching him in the middle of assaulting another student. Lately, he'd been fairly tame, fairly polite, barely even looked at anyone badly anymore. She chuckled, he and her pen toy looked alike.

"Psst. Psst." She tried to poke her seatmate's side, eager for anything that would take her attention from the mind-numbing lecture her professor was holding.

The former bully only flinched back, making irritated faces at the eccentric girl. To Rose's dismay, Bastian returned his attention to the front of the class, the girl huffing in dejection. The situation was hilariously depressing, he usually did everything but listen in class.

She rolled her eyes as the bastard started doodling on his notebook, occasionally looking up so as to not get caught. There really was no way to get through that thick skull of his.

As she stared at him, her boredom chipping away at her sanity, an idea suddenly popped into her head. It was by no means brilliant or good for anyone involved, but it would certainly get her hands on what she had been desiring.

Her eyes skipped over to her professor whose back was turned away from the class, he looked too invested in writing down crucial information in their lesson to notice anything going on behind him, chalk scraping against the board gratingly.

"Wha— what?!" Bastian screamed quietly, brows furrowing as he felt something hard and small hit his head.

Ambrosia only snickered, elated to finally get her self-appointed best friend's attention. She threw another, and another, taking advantage of her habit of excessively buying stationery she didn't even need. In an attempt to retaliate, Bastian furiously took things from his other seatmate's pencil case, a furious scowl already forming on his face.

The former bully threw his classmate's belongings with vengeful intent, shoulders rising from determination. Grinning, he looked more lively receiving her hits than he had been throughout the entire week, something that only fueled Rose's mischief.

A few students surrounding them began to notice the ruckus, watching the two of them with distaste as they threw erasers at each other. She couldn't care any less, not when she had her mind set on a goal, true motives more scheming than they seemed on the surface.

A visibly brand new eraser, one shaped like a t-rex was sent flying straight at her eye, cutting through the wind like a bullet. A particularly loud curse escaped the girl's lips as she felt the impact, pain immediately exploding from where she was hit. Bastian looked to be drained of all his color. Reasonably so, especially with the way Ambrosia was glaring at him with her single surviving eye, hand hovering over the one that was starting to bruise.

Her professor barked out reprimands when he heard her stand, chair shoved backward by the suddenness of her movements. She couldn't understand what he was saying, a lecture about "kids these days," and in all honesty, she couldn't care.

Her mind flew somewhere else, eye focused on the student sitting in the front row, back turned from the racket as he continued to write down notes. Truly a diligent one, that Hugh. It disappointed her that he didn't turn to see what his teacher was raising his voice for.

"Decker, Cummings, the two of you, detention after class!"

Bastian looked to be opposed to the thought, but he stood back down once he caught sight of Ambrosia's bruised eye. He looked to be genuinely guilty, something Rose could appreciate. However, she wasn't willing to take any unnecessary sacrifices. This time, it wasn't a part of the plan she had in mind.

Smiling, the girl looked to her teacher, unsettlingly calm for someone who currently found it impossible to open her eye due to how hard Bastian threw his seatmate's eraser.

"Sir, if I may, it isn't Bastian's fault. I was the one who started things by throwing stuff at him." She explained, doing her best to cover the mischief on her face with an apologetic sigh.

"It doesn't matter, Miss Decker. Instead of ignoring your taunts like a dignified student would, Mr. Cummings chose to entertain them and involve himself in this conflict." He retorted, disappointment evident on his face. The teacher pushed his hair back, the gray hairs amongst the mop of brown painfully sticking out. He looked to have been especially stressed as he rubbed his temples for temporary relief. "I don't understand. You're usually well-behaved, Miss Decker. Is there something you wish to discuss with me in private?"

Suddenly very aware of the pair of green eyes looking her direction, Rose moved her hand on her eye downward, preventing the entire class from witnessing the accomplished grin stretching on her face.

"I wouldn't stop provoking Bastian because of some unresolved feelings. He really had no fault in the situation."

Her teacher looked to be contemplating her words, eyes narrowing considerably on her figure, inspecting her every movement with the intention to sense deceit. He closed his eyes, sighing for the nth time that day. "Yes, okay, I hope we can talk about this after class. I'll let both of you off with a warning, but I'm not willing to tolerate any more distractions in class."

Her eyes lit up, and her classmates shrugged it off as relief. "Yes, sir!"

"And please see the nurse for some ice this instant, Miss Decker."

She nodded, about to slip out of his lecture when a raised hand interrupted her train of thought, specifically the meticulous left hand of none other than Hugh Windsor. Ambrosia almost squealed from where she stood, but managed to keep her dignity, hands clenched on her sides. All of a sudden, the varsity jacket she was wearing felt much too hot to be worn the middle of the day.

"If I may suggest so myself, Sir, I think it'd be best if somebody accompanied Miss Decker to the nurse's office. She may still be unfamiliar with the school's complicated infrastructures."

Their teacher turned to her. "Is this true, Miss Decker?"

Ambrosia felt like she was going to implode, the girl suddenly very aware of her appearance. Hopefully, the bruise hadn't made her so ugly she was unbearable to look at.

"Totall–y!" She squawked out, voice breaking in the middle of her reply. When the entire class laughed at her slip-up, she joined in too, the sound lighthearted. She felt relaxed afterward, considering everything that just went down.

Her teacher coughed into his hand, trying to hide the leftover chuckles that were still chiming from his throat. "Yes, very hilarious indeed. Hugh, would you mind taking Miss Decker to the clinic?"

"Of course, I wouldn't mind." Hugh stood from his seat, a pleasant, immaculate smile on his face. He met Rose's eyes after she promised she caught him looking her up and down. "Miss Decker, shall we?"

Ambrosia felt all the blood in her body rise up to her face, the feeling fairly dizzying. She struggled to move from her place when Hugh stepped out of the classroom, knees wobbly as she regained a portion of her sense.

Unbeknownst to Rose, Bastian watched the interaction unfold with a conflicted look. In his hand was a pen wrapped around in a gift ribbon, something he discovered in his bag only minutes ago. A strange object was attached to it—fluffy, stupid, somewhat reminding him of how utterly unhinged Ambrosia was.

He returned it to his bag, not knowing if he should be appreciative or stunted. By the time he looked back up, both Ambrosia and Hugh were nowhere to be found, probably on their way to the clinic.

He'd ask her about it later.

After the initial feeling of shyness, Rose was quick to regain her enthusiasm, dopamine at their utmost highest levels. She skipped every step of the way, gaze stuck on Hugh's postured back. He was so proper, it made her heart ache. The world didn't deserve the flawless existence of Hugh Windsor, she thought to herself.

They shared no words, even as the view of the classroom started to fade. Everything behind and in front of them happened to be empty hallways. Apart from Hugh checking on her general well-being, there was no deep or life-changing conversation that allowed them to know more about each other's preferences and personal experiences.

But Ambrosia didn't mind because she knew he felt it too, the tension that hung heavy in the air.

He was waiting for the perfect moment. She was waiting for him to make the first move.

Entering the nurse's office eased the unspoken tension, polite greetings were shared between the school's appointed nurse and the two students as Rose was handed an ice pack.

She sat down on one of the clinic's beds, legs swinging back and forth like an excited child. She didn't even look to be in pain, Hugh noted. If the radiant smile on her face was any indicator, it seemed that the girl was fine considering all else.

"Is the ice helping?" He asked, tone characteristically gentle. He wore the iconic Hugh Windsor smile like it was a part of his skin, practiced to the point of it looking wholly natural.

"Y— yes! But not as much as you being here does!" She answered, especially flustered in the face of her crush's irresistible charm.

He could only chuckle at her frankness, legs striding gracefully to stand in front of her. He held the hand keeping the ice pack over her eye, caressing it almost affectionately.

"You're just about ready to do anything for my attention, aren't you?" He teased, the tenderness on his face completely replaced by something more mischievous, something more cunning.

She nodded the best she could, her entire body frozen from the warmth of her obsession's hand.

"... You're not wrong." She mumbled, feeling tears start to rise in her eyes. He sympathized for the girl, somewhat. Pitied her, even. She was bearing her soul to the one she adored with her entire being and here he was, thinking of ways to take advantage of it.

He laughed once again, wholeheartedly amused. "Has anyone called you an overgrown puppy in the past? I think I'll be the one to start that trend. I hope you're fine with that."