From her to Claudia to Noah to Mr. Baird, there was a whole panel of different reactions. Alice smiled at the face that was grinning at them, and Claudia immediately frowned as though seeing a pest. Noah lifted a hand in hello which the person mirrored when Mr. Baird scowled at the thought of losing more of his precious preparation time.
It was hilarious to watch, and Alice eventually burst into laughter at the image before her. It was a familiar frame standing by the sliding door of the classroom with his tall body and wind-swept brown hair that was just a touch lighter at the ends from what it looked like it was sun-bleached from being outside for long hours at a time.
He had his briefcase in his left hand casually as he entered the room slowly not knowing if it was a safe action to do not that she would blame him. It was weird to see him in his uniform with the top button undone and his sleeves folded up his elbows with his grey slacks considering that she was used to seeing photos of him in casual clothing.
Rowan looked over to Mr. Baird and inclined his head in greeting carefully as if he was already aware of the mine that they were about to step upon. It didn't take long for her to question Rowan's presence rather than Claudia who instantly voiced the question under her breath while keeping an innocent face.
Alice was confused as to why Rowan was standing before them not yet fully processing the moment. Did he have business with the teacher? Not that it was likely since Mr. Baird didn't have any classes besides homeroom. Or was he waiting for Noah?
It didn't take long for Mr. Baird to break the news that Noah was already happily expecting.
"Since Mr. Nashe here was late to homeroom after picking up on a certain someone's behavior, he was unable to join any groups," Mr. Baird articulated slowly.
Realization crushed down onto Alice, and she nodded not minding at all since she thought that adding him to their group would bring no harm since Rowan was already close to Noah. The barb that Mr. Baird said didn't go over her head though, and she narrowed her eyes at him before looking over at Claudia.
Alice saw the panic grow in Claudia's eyes, clouding her baby blues, and Alice had to remedy that fact since she would always take her best friend's side to make sure that she was comfortable.
Alice stood with her hands on the desk. "My apologies, but is this an already decided matter?"
"Why yes it is," Mr. Baird said unemotionally as he glanced down at the papers in his hand which was likely more work that he hadn't touched yet. "By the time that Mr. Nashe got back to the room, all the students had already left."
"How is that? Homeroom doesn't even start that early," Alice said slowly.
"Why are you questioning, Alice?" Mr. Baird leveled. "There is no problem, am I right?"
Alice resigned a bated breath. "There is no problem."
Mr. Baird placed the names into the spreadsheet after roughly punching it in so that the names were projected on the screen, and Alice watched as it became concrete when Mr. Baird glanced up from the computer screen.
"Get to know each other for the next few days. If you don't like each other, there's no harm in that either."
Alice grimaced. "That isn't the case at all, Mr. Baird."
"Then why don't you all get going," Mr. Baird snapped. "I don't want to see any of you lingering around in the rooms since there is so much to be done."
Alice didn't want to quip back that if they left the room to be productive then he should be too, knowing that he often would leave the work that was piling on his desk to go patrolling the hallways and prey on the unassuming underclassmen for him to work up a laugh in his idea of entertainment.
"Ah, yes," Claudia said as she stood. "We'll get going."
"Close the door on the way out," Mr. Baird yelled as they got ready to leave the room.
Alice went up to the front to grab a microphone set, and Noah was standing behind her as she dropped all the materials that they needed into his hands. There was an array of helpful equipment that groups could choose from if they so wanted to, and Alice grabbed a clipboard that had some paper in it along with a video camera.
Putting the camera in her briefcase with a tight squeeze, she looked up at Noah who nodded. Claudia was waiting at the door with Rowan, and she dipped her chin down in departure to the homeroom teacher sitting down in his cushioned chair with his eyes already turned to whatever he had on screen.