Violetta finally calmed down. She handed her schedule over to Heath. Heath looked confused while he looked at it. "I don't understand V."
Violetta sighed. "The test was double sided."
"Double sided?"
"Yes," Violetta looked at Heath. "Do you think Victor didn't tell me on purpose?...You know...because my argument with Ruby?"
Heath looked at Violetta beside him and thought for a moment. "I don't think so. Or else Ruby wouldn't have approached you for a meal. It would have ruined her plans completely to have any more friction between you."
"Hmm," Violetta thought Heath was definitely too smart. She felt so much better now that she had cried on Heath's shoulder. "I have to go back inside now, I'll call my parents and let them know what happened."
"Ok," Heath said. "If you need to you can call me after."
"What?" Violetta questioned.
"Your dad got me a C-Ring so you can contact me in an emergency while on campus. I can reach you pretty fast." Heat smiled and held up his wrist. Shiny new communication ring glinted in the outdoor lamp.
Violetta blushed and covered her face with her palms. She knew her dad was protective, but this!? "I'm so sorry!" Violetta squeaked.
Heath laughed. "Don't be. I got a communication ring that I can use however I want. Now I can also contact my friends easier."
Violetta shook her head at him. They exchanged contacts."Thanks Heath. Goodnight."
…
…
During Violetta's first week she was consistently bombarded with apologies from Victor. He seemed to find her at least once a day outside of lunch time. During lunch he was at her side with Ruby. He had dragged over some of his lower noble friends. Heath had a sour expression each time Victor approached Violetta, and finally convinced Violetta to forgive him.
"Please Violetta," Heath begged. "If you don't forgive him, he will keep on bothering you. I really need him to stop bothering you. He's annoying me."
"..." Violetta thought Heath sounded jealous, but she didn't want to point it out. She cleared her throat. Smiling, she said. "He ruined my chance at a perfect record."
"You didn't look at the test properly"
Violetta's smile instantly disappeared and a look that could kill replaced it. "Say that again." It was a dare.
Heath smiled and looked her in the eye. "You're not forgiving him because you're mad at yourself."
Violetta punched him in the arm. "You didn't have to point it out!" She growled.
Heath caught her hand as it came flying toward him one more time. "Well?" he asked.
"...Ok. I'll do it," she pouted.
After that the next day at lunch while they all sat at the table, Heath prodded Violetta under the table. She frowned at him. Heath raised his brows and gestured with his head toward Victor. Violetta smiled annoyed at Heath. She also wanted Victor to stop looking for her every day. It was annoying. Ruby who had been watching their interactions like she was watching microorganisms under a microscope sincerely believed they were engaged, but not announcing it.
"Victor...,"Violetta said, still facing Heath.
"Yes," Victor's voice cracked nervously. He cleared his throat and tried to deepen his voice. "Yes."
She turned to look at Victor, "I've decided to forgive you. You can continue to join us for lunch, but please don't look for me outside of that unless it's for official business."
"Really!?" Victor hadn't expected her to forgive him for a much longer time. But don't look for her outside of lunch? That was too bad. But at least he could still interact with her during lunch. His efforts so far had not gone to waste. He wanted to win her favor. Maybe then they could get closer.
Victor could join them for lunch? WHY? Heath was not happy about this. He didn't really like Victor.
…
…
During the first month of school Violetta spent the weekends at home most of the time at her dad's house. Her mom had to go out to a historical dig site. So she had only gone to visit him. Araminty loved it when Violetta and Heath were home. Amistad made a big show of giving Violetta a personality microchip diode she could use to give Araminty 'personality' so she could stop her bad pretending. Araminty was really bad at pretending to be a robot. Amistad though this 'robot' his daughter created was really bad at lying.
He confessed to Violetta and Heath that he knew about Araminty, and that the diode was just for show. He toole the Diode back from her once they were in the workshop. Violetta was scared at first because her father now knew about Araminty. But then he supported her. She should have realized her father would find out sooner or later. Araminty lived with her father after all.
Violetta, Araminty, Amistad and Heath all began to work on a pair of twin robots. They all pieced together ideas and combined technologies from all areas. The idea was to make these twins not only to do household duties, but also to be bodyguards. They would sit and draw up plans, and make conversation on which piece of technology should be used for which part of the twins.
Heath enjoyed these conversations because they had to deal with a lot of technological knowledge that could be useful to him when he applied to the space program. He wanted them to also have knowledge on the constellations and space travel. He argued this point because he thought it would be great to ask them questions if need be. Violetta also liked this Idea, but wanted them to contain knowledge on engineering and mechanics. Amistad decided each one would contain a different set of knowledge. They finally agreed. Araminty just enjoyed the conversation.
They had a consensus that Amistad and Araminty would work on the robots while they were at school, and Violetta and Heath would help on weekends when they could. Heath would get to help more often than Violetta, because when her mom came back, she would not be able to help. She was glad Araminty could rely on Amistad.
She felt so bad her first week of school when she had to leave Araminty to fend for herself.
When Laura came back she would spend the weekends at their family home. She wanted Violetta to have a complete childhood.
…
…
Another thing that would happen during the school year was Theater Appreciation. Every week in the middle of the week, all students were taken to the theater. Each grade attended the theater at a different time.
Once again class determined the place a student was to sit. Violetta became friends with her seatmates. Blanche, Angelica and Iris. Angelica and Iris were twins. Blanche was the daughter of Earl Aylesford. The twins however belonged to Marquis Agrain. Though they had higher rank than Violetta, they did not act like they did. They had a lot of fun discussions with her about the plays. Iris and Violetta were not in the advanced level, but Blanche and Angelica were. They were not in the same class as Ruby, but they were curious about the girl Violetta ate lunch with.
Iris like Violetta didn't do half of the test, but still managed to get into the Exemplary level. When they were handed the tests Iris wasn't paying attention to the explanation. The attendant who gave her the test couldn't remember if they told her about the test being double-sided because she thought the same girl came through twice. They did not check in together.
Violetta decided to make use of Ruby and see what these girls really thought of her. She knew Ruby would not abandon her for a mere introduction. Hopefully these girls were as genuine as they seemed. She really liked them. They were another necessary connection. It was surprising though that the twins used their actual titles and names in the school. Most children of families that were Marquis and higher used fake names and titles. This helped to prevent kidnappings as they left from the schools. All families of those levels were indeed very rich.
Violetta only learned later on that the twins were able to be so open about their titles because they were one of the most feared families to exist. There was no major underbelly crime that did not first make its way through their family. No-one would dare to touch them.
This was also how she found out that all the students in Heath's class all thought he was the son of a Duke. He was too proper and proud to not be. He had the respect of every single classmate, and he was considered the class leader. He was also in the top 5 of the year. Heath sat with the commoners though, but it only made it seem even more like he was the son of a Duke. As this was the consensus of the entire second grade, they all respected Violetta, and greeted her when they saw her. This was regardless of rank.