Heath waited patiently for Violetta as he watched the other first graders leave the auditorium. He knew Violetta would not want to miss him, so she would wait until most of them had gone out before going out herself. After being her best friend for the last 2 years, he knew her exceptionally well. He saw a girl with black hair tied back with a red ribbon walk out, and wait at the door. She looked like she was also waiting for someone. Heath smiled at her in a friendly manner out of the camaraderie of having to wait for a friend. He didn't mean anything by it at all. It was just a greeting smile.
But what Ruby saw was an aristocratic, handsome guy smile at her after meeting her eyes. She blushed and looked away for a moment. She didn't know what his status was, but he was definitely handsome. She really had to reign in her charm, she didn't want to attract the wrong sort. But he was very aristocratic. He surely could not be a low status right? It seemed he was waiting for someone, as he was watching the others exiting. Finally Violetta came out.
"V!"
"Violetta." Heath and Ruby spoke at the same time. Heath raised his eyebrows as he looked up a Ruby. She was waiting for his Violetta? Had they met at a tea party? Violetta hadn't seemed to enjoy them very much. She also hadn't mentioned making a friend at any of them. So who was this weird girl?
Ruby looked at Heath with suspicion. She did not know him, he seemed aristocratic, but she had not met him. The highest rank her family had contact with was an earl. Could he be an even higher rank than that? She hadn't seen this guy in the auditorium, she was sure she would have noticed him. Was he older than them? Only then did she remember to look at the color of the badge on his chest. Each grade has a different color of badge. First grade was white, Second grade was yellow, Third grade was orange, fourth grade was green, and so the colors climbed. Blue, purple, brown, red, black, and finally there was no uniform for 10th graders.10th graders were out for apprenticeship and would only come back to the school for their exams. He was a second grader, just one year older than them. Why had her brothers not mentioned him before?
"Heath," Violetta smiled. Ruby was stunned. She realized she had not seen a real smile of Violetta's face ever before. Violetta was really pretty when she smiled. Ruby had always had her beauty compared to a jewel. Seeing Violetta smile like this made her feel uncomfortable inside. She was in no way inferior to Violetta!
Violetta turned to Ruby, "I'm sorry Ruby, I already made plans with Heath." Ruby looked surprised. "Would you mind?" She asked Heath. She didn't like Ruby, and trusted her even less, but she wanted to know what Ruby wanted. Heath hearing Ruby's name automatically didn't like Ruby, but he didn't want Violetta to meet Ruby on her own. Violetta needed a witness in case something happened. He nodded to Ruby, it was up to her. "Would you like to join us?" Violetta conceded.
Ruby looked at Violetta certain of one thing. If Violetta had asked Heath if he minded, then Heath was definitely a higher class than Violetta. It was considered ill-mannered to ask what rank anyones family was. For the most part kids watched the way those of higher status than themselves treated someone, and based it off of that. If that was the case, then She should suck up to this Heath guy. Violetta and him seemed to be very close, so held no interest in him romantically. Too bad. He seemed to be taken. But that didn't mean he couldn't introduce her to someone of higher peerage. Perhaps… someone higher ranking than himself. Then she really could be either on the same level as Violetta or even higher.
She nodded, "If you don't mind, I would love to join you."
…
…
The walk to the food court was silent. Violetta and Heath were already comfortable with each other and didn't have to fill the silence. But to Ruby, the silence was awkward. She was the one with the lowest rank here. It was now up to her to find topics of conversation. She settled on the easiest topic for now. "I thought parts of the test were difficult, but it wasn't too bad otherwise. How did you do on the test?"
"I don't think I did too bad," Violetta admitted. She didn't know how to ask Ruby what she wanted without being rude. She remembered her fathers words, and knew he wanted her to act like a future queen. She needed grace, poise, and tolerance. But she also needed decisiveness and the strength and will to carry out those decisions. This was the true meaning of a princess. Her mother had taught her how a woman of higher rank was to behave in every situation. She also taught her not to put herself down in front of those with higher rank than her. She would need to always consider herself equal with everyone in the room. This was the way to live in high society. You were equal, or you were better. But you could not lower yourself the way Ruby was doing so now. Ruby was still considered dangerous waters though. Even though Ruby herself was not an influential figure, their family was. They had more money than a lot of high ranking families combined. They ran one of the major banking systems in Amrica. And they also had a lot to do with the shipping and commerce industry, as well as retail development. If Ruby complained to her brothers, and they all complained to their parents, then they could quite possibly destroy a family monetarily.
So Violetta continued to talk to Ruby amiably. They chose the cafe they wanted to eat from at the campus food court, and found a place to sit and eat. They had chosen one of the restaurants in the Traditional Earth Section of the Food Court. Most of the restaurants there were geared toward the humans. But there was also Traditional Khazâd food of the Dwarves, Traditional Eru food was what Elves preferred, and Traditional Miyaza food was preferred by the Malkin. Each had its own section in the food court. And each also had both apprentice cooks, and head Chefs.
When they sat, Violetta and Heath began to eat at the same time. He put his green peppers from his plate onto hers, and she put her carrots onto his plate, and they began to eat. Ruby watched as they did this wordlessly, and with no hesitation. They knew each other really well. This kind of interaction was something that took some time to cultivate. If Violetta and this Heath person had just met when she had her 10-Year then they must have spent an immense amount of time together. She knew some of the higher ranks would betroth their children before they were even born. Were they betrothed? If they were it would explain their close interactions, and how they knew each other so well. This was definitely not fair. Violetta had everything! Even her brother Victor wouldn't shut up about how sweet and pretty Violetta was. But, she had to endure this. She needed Violetta. Violetta was the highest ranking individual she was acquainted with. If she wanted to know other people of higher status, she would need Violetta to introduce them to her. After her tea party, her mother informed her that she would have to befriend Violetta. She would need Violetta's connections if she wanted to continue to live well. She was going to be the perfect wife. She would know how to act at every occasion, and her connections needed to start now.
Violetta waited patiently for Ruby to speak up. She still had no clue what this girl wanted from her. She had seen the way Ruby reacted when her and Heath exchanged their favorite vegetables. She hadn't even paid attention to the fact that it would seem strange to others. But now that it had already happened there was no helping it. Heath was her best friend. They knew each other too well for any pretense between them. Then she looked up at Heath's face. He looked smug. He did it on purpose! He knew she would react right away when he put his green peppers on her plate! She glared and scrunched her face at him.