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Misfits

Chapter 4: Spark

Summary:

Jinx's dreadful confrontation with Principal Camille Ferros. Except... it was really more of a pep talk? What the heck?

Notes:

I originally intended to make Camille a bit harsher, but I... kind of couldn't. I love the idea of Camille being sort of mellow on the inside a bit too much to not add it lmao. Enjoy!

Chapter Text

Jinx watched the suburbs pass her by, obscured by the rain outside and the condensation on the car’s window, and suddenly felt like she was ten years old again, being driven to the school by Aunt Tianna after a sleepover at their place. Which, to be fair, kind of was the situation, except that both her and Lux were seventeen now. Surreptitiously, she drew a little skull on the car window, and signed “Jinx was here” under it, chuckling quietly at how little things had actually changed since then.

“How’s Vi, love?” Tianna asked suddenly, pulling Jinx out of her thoughts. The woman looked at the girl through the rear-view mirror, and added, “It’s been a while since she swung by the house to say hi.”

“Eh,” Jinx shrugged, slumping back on the car seat. “She’s doing alright, I guess. Pretty busy with her job and whatnot.” She stopped to think for a moment, and then laughed, “Plus, I’m pretty sure she’s dating her boss and just hasn’t told me yet for some reason, so I guess there’s that.”

“What makes you say so?” Tianna chuckled, turning in her seat to get a better look of Jinx in the backseat, before taking her gaze back to the road.

The redhead shrugged again. “Well, I walked in on them last Wednesday. So, y’know, seems like pretty reliable info.”

Lux turned to her, raising a questioning eyebrow as a blush creeped up her cheeks. “Wait, really?”

“I mean, they tried to pass it off as work, but, like, looking over some files doesn’t make your face all red and your lips swollen, does it?”

Tianna laughed. “Well, that’s good, then. It was time Vi started dating again, and Sheriff Caitlyn’s a good woman; I’m sure she’ll treat your sister well.”

Jinx scowled at the seat in front of her, picking on a little loose thread on her skirt. “I guess. So long as they don’t bang on the living room couch or something, sure.”

Lux, now redder than Jinx’s hair, made a noise that was halfway between a choke and a laugh, and slapped the other girl’s arm with the back of her hand. “Jinx!”

“Ow!” The redhead hissed, pulling her arm away from Lux, and then glared at her friend, rubbing the spot on her arm that’d been wrongfully targeted. “What was that for? It’s true! I don’t wanna play videogames on the same couch my sister had sex. What the hell, Sparkles?!”

Tiana cleared her throat in the driver’s seat, and gave both girls a look through the rear-view mirror, effectively putting the subject to an end. “Anyway,” she said after a moment, bringing the car to a halt next to the curb, parking it in front of their school. “Here we are.”

“Thanks for the ride, Auntie,” Jinx said.

Now that the car was stopped, Tianna turned back in her seat to look at them, and nodded, “No problem,” before adding with a small smile, “If it’s still raining when you girls get off school give Garen or I a call, you hear? No need for you two to catch the bus in the rain.”

“Sure thing!” Lux answered, already ushering Jinx out of the car and into the rain, which by now had thankfully subsided into a light drizzle.

“Bye!” the pair of them echoed as they climbed out of the car, and then rushed towards the school gates, holding their backpacks above their heads.

“Be safe!” Tianna still managed to say before Jinx had shut the door with her foot, but was pretty certain neither girl had heard her. Not that it would’ve made much difference either way, but at least it’d have taken a bit of weight off her conscience. After a moment, the head of the Crownguard household sighed, and drove away.

Jinx and Lux laughed as they ran past the school gates, joining the other students only just arriving. Most of them were carrying umbrellas, but a few others joined them in their mad dash towards the entrance, where a throng of other students and a few professors were already in the process of shaking off the water from their own umbrellas, or from themselves.

As they reached the entrance, Jinx skipped over the steps that led to the entrance itself, and skidded to a halt in front of the doors, almost falling over when Lux bumped into her, but managing to steady herself at the last moment. Inside, some of their peers were mingling about before homeroom, talking animatedly despite most of them being somewhat damp from the rain and it being before eight in the morning. For all intents and purposes, it was a morning like any other, Jinx realised. Most of her classmates would probably be worried about professor Heimerdinger’s propensity to have a pop quiz on rainy days, not the possibility of being suspended or kicked out of school.

Lux ran a hand through her hair, and adjusted the ribbons that held her fluffy pigtails in place. Then, as if sensing the uneasiness crawling up Jinx’s spine, bumped the redhead’s shoulder with her own, saying, “Relax, Jinx. Everything’s gonna turn out fine.”

Jinx scoffed, “For you, maybe. You’re not the one who’s gonna get your ear blasted off by Principal Ferros.” She was grateful for the reassurance, really, but the director of their school had a reputation for ruthlessness and despising acts of rebellion. So, Jinx failed to see how, exactly, things could turn out fine for her.

“Thankfully,” Lux laughed. “But, come on, Jinx, be real. You’re probably just gonna get some detention or something. It’s not like it’s the first time, you know?” She took her friend by the hand and started pulling her towards their lockers, adding with another laugh, “I mean, I should hope it’s the last, but sadly I think I know better than that by now.”

“Oh, haha!” Jinx stuck out her tongue at the other girl, even if she couldn’t see it as she pulled Jinx through the crowded corridors of their school, somehow managing not to bump into anyone as she guided them to their lockers. Once there, the two wordlessly exchanged the textbooks they wouldn’t be needing for the ones they would, and then Lux took Jinx’s hand again, and rushed them to the doors of their classroom.

Most of their classmates were already there, and Jinx could see Professor Heimerdinger’s steaming mug of coffee sitting on the table, which meant the minute man must’ve been somewhere close by. As they entered their classroom, the pair were met by Ekko and his small group of friends, though only Ekko came over to talk to them.

“Hey, Jinx!” the boy said, rather loudly, upon seeing them enter the room, raising his hand in greeting, and then added, nodding at Lux, “And hello to you, too, Lux.”

“What’s up, man?” Jinx replied, bumping her fist against his. Then, nodding towards Sylas’ uncharacteristically empty seat, asked, “Where’s the dimwit?”

“Hell if I know,” Ekko shrugged. “Probably at home, I guess. You thrashed him yesterday, dude.” The boy chuckled, and then pointed to his eye, saying, “Rumour has it that his eye got so swollen that it looked like when he was stung by that bee in sixth grade. You remember that?”

“Yeah,” Jinx chuckled, dropping her backpack on her desk, before leaning against it. “But come on man, I didn’t even hit him that hard.”

“Pshh, I dunno, man. The video kinda says otherwise.”

“He does have a point,” Lux said suddenly, already having sat down on her chair, and causing Jinx to turn to her and raise an eyebrow. “What?” she shrugged. “It was on Twitter. You can’t expect me not to see it.”

The redhead just shook her head, “Still, what kinda wimp refuses to come to school just because he’s got a black eye?”

Lux put a hand on her friend’s shoulder, and squeezed it. “Jinx, c’mon.”

“What?”

“You once skipped school because you stubbed your pinkie toe, you wimp.”

Jinx opened her mouth to say something, but before she had a chance to retort, she was interrupted by a rather loud “Good morning!” Especially considering it’d come from such a small man. And, in the span of a few seconds, the discussion of Sylas’ wimpiness was forgotten as they and most of their classmates rushed to take their seats.

Professor Heimerdinger was a short, blond man, who, somehow, was always dressed impeccably in his suit and lab coat. His hair was greying at the temples, but despite that he still managed to look a little younger than he supposedly was. Sure, he was about the same size Lux had been in middle school, but for a man of such a minute stature, he also had quite the presence in the room, and, perhaps even more surprisingly, had the respect—if not the affection—of most of his students.

He repeated his greeting, receiving a chorus of replies this time, and then cleared his throat, before announcing, “Today we’re going to have two new students join us!” He gestured to the door, and beckoned them inside.

The two new girls were only slightly taller than Professor Heimerdinger himself, and, by the looks of it, were siblings. They didn’t really look like twins, but there were a lot of similarities between them, from the shape of their faces to the way their eyes had a kind of unique slant, not to mention the fact that both of them had ears that seemed slightly too big for their heads, which to Jinx seemed kind of funny. One of them had darkish-blue hair held up in fluffy pigtails that were a bit shorter than Lux’s and eyes that were pretty much the same colour, and the other had vivid green hair that fell almost all the way to her calves, though Jinx couldn’t decide if her eyes looked more yellowish or green.

“These are Poppy,” Professor Heimerdinger continued, indicating the blue-haired girl with a hand, “and this is Lulu,” he finished, singling out the green-haired one with his other hand. “They’re both new transfers, and new to the city, so make them feel welcome, hm?”

After a chorus of yesses, sures, and welcomes from the class, he cleared his throat again, and then looked over the classroom, before addressing the newcomers, “Lulu, why don’t you go sit in the empty seat in front of Ms. Harlow there, hm?” He pointed to the seat in front of Jinx, and then to the one in front of Lux, “And you can sit over there in front of Ms. Crownguard, Poppy.”

The two of them nodded, the one called Lulu far more animatedly than her blue-haired counterpart, and made their way to the appointed seats as Professor Heimerdinger arranged a sheaf of papers on his desk, and then turned back to the classroom to address the students.

“Right, so first things first,” he stated, looking down at what seemed like a pamphlet. “Professor Laurent and the Theatre Club are making a new production, but they still need some roles filled, so if any of you fine young people are interested in participating, auditions will be held today and tomorrow from half past five in the afternoon until seven in the evening at the school’s auditorium…”

Barely thirty seconds into the announcements, Jinx tuned out Professor Heimerdinger’s voice and turned to Lux, poking her arm and whispering, “Is that the thingy you mentioned last week, Sparkles?”

Lux simply nodded, knowing that if she deigned to give Jinx a real answer, they’d probably get called out for talking during class, even if technically the class hadn’t really started yet. Not that Professor Heimerdinger seemed to mind all that much, but still.

After another five or so minutes of random announcements, which for some reason included the fact that their history teacher was apparently getting divorced and that they shouldn’t ask about his husband during his class, Professor Heimerdinger put down his clipboard, and pretty much dismissed them to go back to messing with their phones or talking with each other. Immediately, Jinx turned to Lux, already opening her mouth to speak, but stopped herself when she noticed the diminutive professor only a few seats away from them, heading straight for them.

“Good morning, girls!” he all but shouted once he was standing next to them. “I trust all is well?”

Lux nodded, replying with a small smile, “Good morning, Professor. And, yes, everything’s fine.”

“Good, good,” he nodded, then turned to Jinx, taking off his glasses and cleaning them with a small handkerchief. “I was instructed to direct you to Principal Ferros’ office, Ms. Harlow,” he said after a moment. “She wants to see you before homeroom is over.” He then put a hand on Jinx’s shoulder and patted it, adding, “Best not to keep her waiting, hm?”

Without waiting for an answer, he turned away from them and went to speak with the two new students sitting in front of them.

Jinx turned to Lux, “On a scale from one to ten, how bad do you think it’d be if-”

“At least a twenty,” Lux answered decisively.

“Ugh, fine!” Jinx conceded, slumping in her chair. After another moment or two of feeling sorry for herself, the redhead picked herself up and stood, with a resolve she didn’t really have.

“Good luck!” Lux called after her as she made a beeline for the door.

***

Jinx forced herself to walk all the way to Principal Ferros’ office before she could have a chance to chicken out, and walked in with all the confidence of an amoeba, coming face to face with Karma, Principal Ferros’ secretary. The woman smiled kindly at her when she entered the principal’s waiting room, and nodded towards one of the surprisingly comfy chairs that were arranged against the opposite wall.

“Make yourself comfortable, kid,” she said as Jinx sat down. “Ms. Ferros will be with you in a moment.”

Sighing, Jinx plopped down on a chair and settled in to wait, but, thankfully, it wasn’t long before Principal Ferros appeared at the door to her actual office, escorting a man out of it, and gestured for Jinx to come inside. Once Jinx was inside and Camille had closed the door behind her, the older woman wasted no time in rounding her desk and sitting down on her rather opulent chair, indicating that Jinx should take the seat opposite to her.

Once the redhead had done so, Camille leaned forward on her desk, lacing her fingers in front of her face, staring down the redhead, and began, “I assume you know why you’re here, Ms. Harlow?”

Jinx only nodded, but when Camille showed no intention of continuing without first receiving a complete answer, she replied, “Because of my fight yesterday.”

“That’s right,” the older woman acknowledged, then continued, leaning back in her chair and fixing Jinx with another stare. “Normally, something of that sort would be grounds for a suspension, especially considering this fight of yours has apparently been making the rounds on social networks.”

Jinx opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by Camille raising a hand. “I said ‘normally,’ Jinx.” The principal closed her eyes, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose, and then looked back to Jinx. “So far, I’ve refrained from contacting either your sister, or your aunt.”

The redhead was taken aback for a moment, but managed not to stutter as she raised an eyebrow at the older woman, “Why?”

Camille took a deep breath, and looked Jinx up and down with a critical eye that made the younger girl squirm in her seat. “Because you’ve made great strides in bettering yourself this past year, kid,” she answered honestly a few moments later, heaving another sigh. “I believe you should face the consequences of your actions, yes, but I don’t think you should be punished for one small setback.”

The redhead stared with incredulity at the director of her school. What. The. Hell? I mean, sure, Principal Camille was a personal friend of Aunt Tianna, but they had never received special treatment from her while at school. If anything, Camille seemed even harsher than usual when it came to her and Lux. It’s like she couldn’t tolerate even the smallest mistakes. Hell, if Vi and Garen’s stories about Camille were true, she was a complete nightmare. This? This was fucking weird. Even when outside the school, Camille never seemed to stray from being this severe, all-seeing and all-knowing woman, and Jinx had never known her as anything else, and that’s saying something, considering she’d known her for pretty much as long as she’d known Aunt Tianna.

Camille sighed for what seemed the thousandth time only that morning, and then leaned forward on her elbows again. “I haven’t heard a single complaint about you in almost a year, Jinx. Not about playing on your phone, not about talking during class, and, especially, not about fisticuffs with other students.” The older woman took a report card from one of the many drawers on her desk, and set it in front of Jinx. “Your grades have improved drastically this past year, kid, and Professor Heimerdinger hasn’t been able to stop singing your praises ever since you participated in that joint project with Valoran University. Hell, I think you might be his new favourite pupil, kid.”

Jinx swallowed, and looked away from Camille, feeling her cheeks redden at the information, and at the compliment at the end.

“So, no, I’m not going to suspend you because you allowed one your classmates’ barbs to get under your skin.” Camille pulled back the report card, and put it away inside its drawer. “Instead, I’m assigning you an essay. Not about any of your school subjects, but about you, and about what kind of person you want to be. Additionally, you will also be assisting Ms. Laurent as part of the theatre crew until the new play premiers.”

“I don’t understand,” Jinx said after a moment, looking to and then away from the woman in front of her, instead focusing on her hands on her lap. And she didn’t. Not really. She’d expected to get screamed at, not encouraged, and she definitely hadn’t expected to receive a pep talk, sort of, from a woman known for her ruthlessness. Finally, she mustered up the willpower to look Camille in the eye, and asked, “Why’re you being so light on me? What’s the catch?”

Camille got up from her seat, rounded her desk, and leaned against it in front of Jinx. She put a hand on the girl’s shoulder, and gave her a slight, private smile. “Because I see a spark in you, Jinx. You’re obstinate and hot-headed, yes, but you’re also understanding and gentle, and incredibly intelligent, despite your best efforts to hide it. Most people see you as nothing but a troublemaker, and, yes, you sort of are one, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I imagine the world would be a terribly boring place if everyone was the same, child.

“There’s no catch. There’s only the fact that I want to see what you do with that spark, Jinx, because I know that whatever you choose to do with it, you’ll be great.” Camille squeezed Jinx’s shoulder. “I don’t want you to be discouraged from showing the world who you really are and what you’re really capable of because of something as insignificant in the grand scheme of things as a fight with one of your classmates. I want to push you, Jinx. I want to see what you’re capable of achieving if you can just let yourself flourish.”

Jinx averted her eyes again, feeling another blush reddening her face. Where was this coming from? Since when was Camille a real person capable of feelings and not an almighty dictator? And what was it with people today touching her shoulder?! Had she turned into one of those lucky statues that tourists rubbed and not noticed?

“You’re already on the right path, kid. All you gotta do now is keep going.” With that, the older woman patted Jinx shoulder a last time, and then went back to her seat. “You’re dismissed,” she said after giving Jinx a few moments to digest the previous conversation. Camille adjusted her glasses, and then continued, shooing Jinx from her office with a wave of her hand, “Your essay is due a week from now, and don’t forget to report to Ms. Laurent after your classes today; she’s already been informed of my decision, so I’ll know if you ditch Theatre, Ms. Harlow.”

Ms. Harlow. So Principal Ferros was back, then? Resisting the urge to slump in her seat and blink out of existence, Jinx got up and obeyed the sort-of-order from her principal, and quickly made her exit, closing the door to the woman’s office behind her.

“What the fuck?” she muttered once she was in the waiting room again, leaning her back against the door, and earning herself a bewildered look from Karma, who opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off by Jinx’s raised hand. “I know, I know. Language,” the girl said, making air quotes, “I’ll just, uh, just gonna go,” Jinx added, pointing towards the corridor and doing her best to ignore Karma’s eyes on her back as she exited the waiting room and stepped out into the now deserted hallways of her school.

Notes:

This is my first time doing anything of this sort. Lemme know what you think!

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