CHAPTER 5:

Ambition

“I can’t seem to get warm,” Sienna complained from under her heap of blankets. It was night, and she had borrowed two of Stephanie’s blankets to sleep under even though the night was hardly very chilly. She had buried herself under them nonetheless, shivering for all she was worth.

Stephanie, who was lying on her bed and reading yet another theory on why connected element wielding shouldn’t be possible, looked up at her roommate on the other side of the room. “That’s because you’re tired,” she stated the obvious.

“I’m not tired at all,” Sienna yawned. When Stephanie laughed at her yawn, she continued: “I can’t fall asleep tonight. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m too tired to sleep.”

“Or you’re too chatty to sleep,” Stephanie suggested. She sat up and picked up a leather band from her dresser to braid her hair with. Because her hair was curly, she always had to tie it together before she fell asleep. If not, she would regret it the next day and walk around with the worst hair day in the history of Steravia. “Could that be it?”

Sienna yawned again. “I just keep thinking back at the duel. And my hands are itching. It was awfully nice of Paris Greene to heal me, don’t you think?”

“Is that his last name?”

“No, I call him Greene for fun.”

“Very funny, smartass.”

Sienna giggled. “I know. You must wish you were just as funny as I am.”

“If I were, I’d laugh my ass off all day,” Stephanie agreed sarcastically. “But you’re right, Paris seems like a nice guy. Not arrogant like all those other people of the student council.”

The comment hung in the air for a moment like the thick scent of the candles, before Sienna answered: “Do you really think the people in the council are that arrogant?”

Stephanie chuckled. “Well, Jaon certainly is. And did you ever meet that Benten guy? He makes my neck hair stand on end already if he only breathes. Vivien and Paris seemed pretty nice, though.”

Sienna seemed to be chewing on that for a while. She pulled the blankets tighter around her and then ventured: “Do you think I am arrogant?”

“Oh yes!” she answered without any trace of hesitation.

It seemed to take Sienna aback. “Really.”

“Well, I’m not kidding you here.” Stephanie finished braiding her hair and tossed the braid over her shoulder. She smiled apologetically. “But it’s not necessarily a *bad* thing…”

Sienna looked a little bummed. “I always thought I was just self-conscious.”

“Oh, that, too.”

“Gee, thanks Steph. You really managed to make my night.”

Stephanie shrugged. “I am just being honest with you. And like I said, it’s not really a bad thing. I think everyone’s secretly arrogant to some degree.”

“Only some are more arrogant than others.”

“Exactly,” Stephanie smiled brightly.

“Oh, you’re horrible!”

Stephanie crossed her arms. “But what was the point of the question anyway?”

“I was wondering about joining the student council.”

“…Really? Hm.”

“You think it’s a bad idea,” Sienna supposed.

“Oh, no. You’d probably do a good job. I’d certainly trust you as a competent member to represent the student board.”

“Thanks!” she beamed.

Stephanie furrowed her brow, lost in thought. “Problem is that I can’t seem to shake the idea that you’re doing it because of ambition and rivalry, not to help the students and to have a voice in island politics.”

Sienna’s head snapped up sharply. She was about to snap a reply, but swallowed it back. Instead she said carefully: “Well, I can’t deny that I would like to be in the council so I’d be Jaon’s rival and do what he does better, but I feel also inspired to join. I think I can make a difference.”

“A difference in what?”

Sienna looked bummed again. “I’m not sure yet. I still need to work on my motivations.”

Stephanie laughed. “Make sure you put in a lot of effort.”

“Bitch,” Sienna muttered.

**

When Stephanie spotted Vivien and Paris in the cantina a few days later, she did not hesitate. It took her a while to reach their table; the cantina was overfull because of lunchtime. She had to watch that she did not trip and would drop her tray. It would be most unpleasant to get in line for another bowl of soup, she thought as she zigzagged through the gathered crowd.

“Hello,” she greeted Paris and Vivien brightly when she reached their table, “can I sit with you guys?”

Paris grinned broadly at her, shaking his head to indicate that he didn’t mind and Vivien patted on the bench next to her. “Sure, sit down.”

Carefully, she placed her tray on the table and sat down next to the blond girl. “How’s it going?” she asked, suddenly not sure what to say anymore. She had been musing with Sienna about the option of joining the student council, and she had decided for herself that she wanted some more information first. For days, she had been on the lookout for either Jaon, Vivien or even Paris, but now that she was sitting right next to them she suddenly felt that accursed shyness rearing its ugly head again. Damn her and her shyness!

Paris did not answer, but instead leaned over the wooden table to check out Stephanie’s soup. “What in goodness’ name are you eating?” he exclaimed, a look of disgust spreading over his handsome face. “It looks like snot.”

Stephanie inspected her soup and found a greenish drab in her bowl. “It’s supposed to be something with peas and other vegetables,” she answered, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if they just warmed up somebody’s snot. I don’t trust these cantina people.”

Vivien chuckled. “It looks very unappetizing.” To prove her point, she slurped the rest of her own bowl empty. “You should have taken the chicken soup, it’s really good.”

Stephanie pouted. “Well, I think I should just try it. I don’t feel like getting in line for another half an hour again.”

“Good point,” Paris agreed, reaching out with his spoon as if he was proving a point.

They chatted some more about this and that on a light note, until Stephanie finally found the courage to ask her question: “You know, I was wondering…” she took a spoonful of the greenish drab that was supposed to be her soup – it tasted not all that bad, by the way – to buy some time and continued then: “about the student council. Are there any job openings?”

“Funny that you should mention this,” Vivien smiled. She had a very warm smile, Stephanie noticed. “David is taking his exams this summer, so he’ll be leaving us soon. I don’t know why he’s taking his exams in summer already, and not in autumn like the rest of his classmates, but he’s always been strong willed, and he has to do it his way. But graduating means that he will be leaving the student council. He could try for the Steravia Council of course, but that’s his problem.”

“Our problem is tough enough already,” Paris added, absently ticking his spoon against his bowl. It created a clear sound, like glass on glass. “We have to go through the whole selection procedure all over again. I hope we won’t get as many applications as we had when we selected Arjen.”

Vivien shot her friend a meaningful look. “Speaking of which….”

Paris let his spoon drop in the bowl as he sat up straight. “You aren’t telling me he’s leaving us?”

Vivien raked a hand through her blond hair and looked a bit uncomfortable. “He was talking about it yesterday. I feel a bit guilty, because I was the one who supported his case so enthusiastically and convinced you all… seems like Jaon was right after all.”

“How serious is he about leaving us?”

Vivien twirled her lavender hair lock around her finger and sighed. She shifted around on her chair impatiently, as if she wanted to bolt away. “I don’t think he’ll last the summer.”

Paris laughed, but it did not sound too happy. “TWO job openings! I think I’m going to scream. It’s going to be a long summer to try and get two suitable candidates.”

Stephanie just stared at her plate and thought of the damn convenience. Two job openings. Not just Sienna, but… It had to be a sign. It had to be. Stephanie did not believe in any higher power, but she vaguely believed in fate. And this had to be. So while Paris and Vivien were still moaning over their own bitter fate, Stephanie was shaping up hers.

It was hard to get into the student council, she knew that much. If a student was interested in the position, he or she had to write a formal request to join in the form of an application letter. Basically it came down to a lot of self-promotion, because the council would receive dozens of them. And then the interviews started. Stephanie had been told that the whole council would be present, assessing the applicant thoroughly. And if they weren’t sure who to choose yet, they’d let you have another interview.

Naturally, they would already know about the person applying. The student council had access to a lot of records that the Headmaster was keeping about his students. So the council would know how smart the applicant was, the statistics of his or her magic use, the affiliations, friends, test scores – it made for a damn nerve-wracking interview if you were the applicant.

Stephanie didn’t exactly look forward to the interviews, but she loved the idea of making their island and their University a better place to live. Whereas Sienna was still thinking up a solid motivation to join the council, Stephanie had the best motivation of all: she felt connected to the life here. She was a Steravian born and bred, and she wanted to give the island back what it had given her. Just a little service to the community that had always sheltered and protected her. The idea sounded solid enough, at least.

“Was there a particular reason you asked, Stephanie?” Vivien asked suddenly, cutting cleanly through another of Paris’ rants. It was obvious that he didn’t take his own rant that seriously, but that he just liked to be theatrical for a bit. He did not look offended at all when Vivien cut him off, but instead smiled at Stephanie.

Stephanie’s cheeks set themselves promptly on fire. She swallowed her shyness away and managed to answer: “I think I’m interested in a position.”

“Oh really?” Well, at least Vivien did not laugh at her or ridicule her idea. For as far as Stephanie could see, the head of the student council was even interested. “Well, the jobs are opening this summer. You could apply then, if you want to.”

“I think you’d make a good addition,” Paris added, his face resting on his hand. “We always need more Earth Bearers… they’re usually more sensible and practical than the rest of the council combined.”

The gong sounded to herald the end of lunch break, but they did not notice.

“Does your friend want to join the council, too?” Vivien asked curiously.

One moment Stephanie wondered how she knew, but then she realized that anyone with more than three brain cells would have figured it out. Sienna’s ambition burned as bright as a beacon, and someone who worked closely with Jaon would surely recognize their likeness. So she nodded. “Sienna’s thinking about it.”

Paris chuckled. “There goes our levelheaded practicality. She’s a Fire Bearer, right?”

Vivien hit him playfully over the head with her spoon. “You saw the duel – of course she’s a Fire Bearer, and a damn good one, too. I’ve never seen someone last that long against Jaon. And she’s stubborn as hell, to boot.”

“Maybe we should play matchmaker,” Paris mused just as playfully after batting Vivien’s spoon away. “They sound perfect for each other.”

Vivien burst into peals of laughter that echoed through the now almost empty cantina. “We could also just ask God to give us a second Islands War… it’d amount to about the same outcome.” She stretched out lazily, her hands reaching high into the air. “I think that’d be a disaster. But the rivalry that’s blooming… that would be a challenge.”

“Jaon can’t stop talking about her,” Paris told Stephanie helpfully. “All he wants is to do is to fight her again. So if she has a free moment, I’d definitely urge her to make an appointment with him.”

Stephanie shrugged. “I don’t care what she does with him… she would be a good one for the student council, but if she only wants to join because she wants to verbally poke Jaon’s eyes out, then I will not be supporting her.” Immediately after the words left her lips, she covered her mouth in shock. What in the earth’s name had possessed her to be that honest?

“Well, at least you show that you care. You should really apply when the time comes,” Vivien grinned, clapping Stephanie on the shoulder. “Hey, I got to go, I’m already half an hour late for class. See you around later.”

“Bye Viv,” Paris drawled, blowing her a kiss.

“Bye Vivien,” Stephanie echoed, only without the kiss.

Vivien grabbed her bag and waved jovially, before hurrying out of the cantina. Stephanie looked after her for a moment, before turning to Paris: “Are you two lovers? Because I heard rumors-“

Paris shook his dark head and grinned what seemed to be his trademark grin. “Rumors of Jaon and Vivien breaking up because of me? Yeah, I heard them, too. No, Viv and I aren’t involved. We’re friends, that’s all. Have been for years, by the way.”

Stephanie nodded slowly. “Well, that’s great. Are you two classmates?”

“Yeah, we arrived in the same year. I arrived a few months before her, but we ended up sharing a lot of classes. We like hanging out together.”

“I can imagine. You seem really comfortable. I saw you two at the duel, too.”

“Yeah, she was sleeping over at my place that night. That’s probably what started those damn rumors in the first place.” Paris’ chocolate brown eyes twinkled mischievously. “She had drunk too much, and fell asleep on the couch in my room.”

“On the couch?” Stephanie echoed.

“Yeah, she blacked out just like that. I tried to get her to lie in my bed so I could take the couch, but she’s damn heavy for such a slight girl.”

“No, I meant… you have a couch? Where do you leave it in that cramped space? Sienna and I hardly have space for both our beds, closets and desks.”

Paris winked. “I’m the luckiest student in the University… I got a dorm room in the west wing.”

“Lucky bastard!” Stephanie surprised herself by poking him in the elbow, but he did not mind at all. And while she spent another hour talking to him, she mused how comfortable she had felt with him and Vivien instantly. She would definitely not mind hanging out with these people more often.