"I want everyone to take a nice, long breath and tell me what's gotten into everybody."
Victor's expression was one of surprise but I could faintly sense the strictness from a day buried in a months' worth of writing.
It was rather nostalgic to witness the scene before me. Sans the thuggish brutes and the use of any stun guns, the tense air of the confrontation was comparable to that time I got the ever-loving snot beaten out of me for daring to speak to Melissa.
Oh, if those boys knew where I was now.
"Victor, this girl is blatantly plagiarizing Judgement of Fantasia. I was just about to fetch the competition director to remove them from the building..."
The fast cadence of her speech prompted Victor to stroke his forehead with one hand while using the flat of the other to gesture for her silence.
"Travis, would you mind?"
I suppose he wants me to tell him what happened.
"Uh... yeah."
So I told Victor what happened up to this point, making sure to emphasize the possibility that she did get permission, but just didn't bring proof. He nodded understandingly, then turned his attention toward Melissa.
"For now, I want you to cool down and bit and not jump to any more conclusions. If it is as Travis says, this might all be just one big misunderstanding."
Seeing the vicious glare from Melissa in response to this, he smiled weakly.
"Mhm, then how about a compromise... err, what's your name, miss?"
For several seconds, she merely stood there, staring at Victor's face with tears in her eyes. I suppose she was marveling at the height difference between them, as she stood a good ten centimeters or so taller. Not that she was a goliath herself, she seemed about average for a girl her age, but Victor was just... how should I put it without being rude... petite.
Then her lips moved. It was so quiet, that from where I was standing, it was impossible to hear.
Victor leaned in close, cupping his hand to his ear as he stretched up towards the girl as far as he could reach, "Could you say that again?"
Again, her lips moved.
"Ah, Elizabeth... Crenshaw? Is that it? Well, Elizabeth, I'm afraid you need to dismantle your art display... for now, I mean." He added, after noticing Elizabeth's crestfallen face.
He continued, "I suppose we should introduce ourselves now that you went through the trouble of doing so yourself. My name is Victor Nacelle, the Student Council President of this academy. The heated beauty beside me is Melissa Foster, my Vice President and unofficial mascot of the academy. And behind me here..."
I gave a small cordial wave.
"Is Travis Moore. my closest friend, and a fellow connoisseur of all things related to Luke d'Tristania."
"That's how you're going to introduce me? And we only met a month ago, you're treating me like your long-lost brother."
"Of course, is there something wrong with that?"
"You think? You're just planting the seeds of misunderstanding in her mind if you put it like that!"
"Misunderstanding? I thought it was common knowledge that you were an ardent admirer as I am!"
I shook my head. This guy...
"Ahem. Anyway, what was I about to say? Ah, right, dismantling the display, about that. It's only for today, at least until we can work things out. But that will have to wait until after the opening ceremony and today's customers are..."
His train of thought came to an abrupt halt.
Ever since Victor came over to assuage the unexpectedly aggressive side of Melissa, I noticed he was struggling to maintain eye contact with Elizabeth. His attention, predictably, was drawn to the art display and the copies of prints laid out on the table. The guy was practically drooling at the sight of fresh content.
"Though maybe not quite yet...? Ouch!"
Lust thoroughly quashed by a painful pinch of the cheek. Nicely done, Melissa.
"In the meantime, she could stay at our booth," I suggested.
It was a mild attempt at smoothing out the last wrinkles of this confrontation. I was on my hands and knees internally, hoping and praying that this wouldn't snowball into something else that even Victor couldn't handle. What's more, a pillar of fire was rising from what I once knew to be Melissa. Scary wouldn't begin to describe the heat waves generated by her indignation.
Victor rubbed his cheek ruefully whilst sharing a brief stare-off with Melissa, "A fantastic idea, Travis."
"And what makes you think I want to fraternize with an enemy, who could also be a plagiarist?" Melissa snorted defiantly.
"Innocent until proven guilty, dear mother bear. I understand you well enough to know why you're so upset. Just be patient. Tomorrow, we'll know whether or not Elizabeth here is a thieving wretch or a damsel in distress, though I'm leaning more toward the latter now that we've met."
Victor walked past Melissa, nudging her in the side with his elbow.
"On a more personal note, I didn't know you were so defensive. Must be for 'His' sake, hmm?"
Never, on any other occasion, did I curse myself more for not having my phone ready to record at a moment's notice. Melissa's frown immediately evaporated into a flustered frenzy of surprise, and a plume of red rapidly expanded across her face; her cheeks puffed slightly as her heart rate and air intake soared in reaction to Victor's tease.
Cute.
"You...!"
"Oh, look at the time! Three minutes to go until the opening ceremony. Better rush back to our booth, before it starts!" He called, the syllables practically rung with the notes of his gleeful sing-song voice as Melissa trailed behind him, exuding murderous intent.
I breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Elizabeth, who was clearly puzzled by what was happening.
Inwardly, I chortled at how easily defeated I was and the situation resolved. For all his eccentricities, Victor was the president, and it showed.
"Do you need some help putting your stuff away?"
My best smile was likely a little awkward, but I used it anyway. She nodded slowly, but not without a remorseful, longing stare at the painstakingly arranged booth of cardboard craftmanship.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure that Victor and I help you with putting it back."