InsaneJournal

TUESDAY
"Hey, Walker!" Roz turned from her locker to see who was calling her name. "Er, Roz? Rosalind?" It was Asher Grey, fellow student, and Geliara Coven member, looking sheepish. Maybe for using her last name, maybe fore not knowing what to call her. Roz put an easy smile on her face as she leaned against her locker.

"Rosalind." she confirmed, she wasn't used to people referring to her as just 'Walker' herself, and Roz she mostly reserved for friends. Asher wasn't that, but he seemed like someone who could be. "What's up?"

"Rosalind." He repeated, "I heard your running for Head Girl?" Roz's shoulders straightened, unsure if she should expect this conversation to go terribly or not. There was certainly some buzz around her running. Everything from how having an Outlander might shake things up, to how having one could be unstable, given their status in this reality was never for sure. Mostly she'd been ignoring it and focusing on the debate that would be tomorrow.

"I am." she confirmed. "I hear you're running for Head Boy."

Asher's smile was easy, charming, he had one of those faces that had multiple girls in school crushing on him. His girlfriend, if Roz remembered correctly, was just as cute and just as charming. Roz couldn't tell if it was an act or not.

"Yeah, someone from Geliara runs every year. This year it's me." he said with a nod, "Anyway, I wanted to wish you good luck at the debates." He offered out a hand for Roz to take. When she shook it, she sensed no ill will. There were no warning visions or anything that said he didn't have good intentions and she should absolutely not trust him. "You too." Roz replied, relaxing. "Good luck. I'm looking forward to them."

WEDNESDAY
This was Roz's first time seeing Margeaux up close. She'd passed her in the hallway, seen her in the cafeteria, and at social functions, but they did not run in the same circles, or share any of the same classes. Whatever Margeaux specialized in as a Vorerra Coven member, she didn't make it obvious. She looked calm to the point she almost looked bored. Everything about her screamed money, from her perfectly tailored clothes, to the carefully selected jewelry pieces. Roz had learned yesterday that this was the third candidate for the Head Pupil position. Of course it was a Vorerra member.

Roz was very purposely not letting herself stare. She had more important things to focus on. Margeaux was her competition, and Roz wasn't doing herself any favors wondering where she had got those shoes.

The three candidates were backstage in the auditorium as students filed in to find seats and wait for the debates to start. The three of them were all of their own, silent, doing whatever mental preparation they each relied on.

Her eyes were closed, going over the discussions she'd had yesterday to help strengthen her debate style and views, when she heard a voice right in front of her. "Roz, is it?" When Roz opened her eyes she found Margeaux with the same bored look on her face. "I heard an Outlander was running." she didn't sound overly impressed by it though.

Roz tilted her head, looking her opponent up and down, and going so obviously. She was not going to engage in any mind games this girl might have planned. "It's Rosalind." she corrected her, keeping her voice pleasant. "You heard correctly."

"I've heard a few thigs." she continued, not acknowledging if she heard Roz's name correction or not, "About you and the other Outlanders. My cousin Aiden had some stories." There was zero surprise that Aiden was her cousin. With most members of the coven belonging to one of three families, there was always a high chance. Which meant Aiden had probably told her about fight club, and everything that had followed. Good. Did she have any other stories? Roz was still unclear on how that coven functioned, and if any of the kids would be aware of business deals.

"Aiden's your cousin?" Roz asked in mock surprise, "I can see why you would have heard some things. He does like to tell stories."

The two girls locked eyes, and for a moment she could feel something trying to brush against her mind, the same feeling she got the first time Prudence had linked her up with the new Weird Sisters. It was just a brush though, barley there, easy to mistake, and gone just as quickly. "Stories are written by victors." Margeaux responded coldly, before turning and walking away.

Arching an eyebrow, Roz shook her head and muttered to herself "It's 'History is written..." and that didn't make any sense. Aiden hadn't won anything. Turning away, her gaze then fell on Asher who looking at her, then at Margeaux, and then back to Roz. As a response, Roz shrugged and shook her head. She had more important things to worry about other than Margeaux. Like making sure she had an impact on history.

Roz came from a family of activists. They were less active now that they had settled into their positions in the church and had Roz to raise, but her parents had been active in protests, marches, and campaigning in their younger years. They'd marched in the streets, demanded to be heard, and knocked down metaphorical walls to fight for human rights. Rosalind had grown up learning about this history, learning to use her voice, know her own value, and speak up when no one else would. She had plenty of practice speaking at youth groups, churches, and in school. Magic might be more new to her than her classmates, but leading? That wasn't. She would not let her voice be silenced.

When the Directrix called the three candidates on stage, Rosalind was ready.

THURSDAY
When the debates ended on Wednesday, Rosalind felt only a brief moment of relief, before her nerves took over again. Now the students had to vote, and the candidates had to wait. She hadn't slept much Wednesday night, and by Thursday she was struggling to focus in history class. Roz was doing her very best to be patient while waiting for the announcement.

Professor Aislinn was about to pose a question to the class, when she was cut off by the the Directrix's voice filling the air. Rosalind had yet to find a speaker in any room of the building, so at some point she had to figure out what spell the Directrix was using to project her voice like that.

None of the other Head Pupil candidates were in the class, so she could feel several sets of eyes full on staring at her as the Directrix began a speech about the importance of the debates, students using their votes, and congratulating all the candidates on their efforts. It was a struggle to ignore them. Despite the fact that mentally she was screaming for the speech to end and get to the point, she kept her face as blank as possible.

Finally she head "Congratulations to..." there was a brief pause, in which Roz didn't even breath. Even if she didn't win, she was proud of herself for trying. Maybe another Outlander would try next year and gain more of a momentum than she ha - "Rosalind Walker, this years Head Girl."