The bell rang and school was over for the day.
Sandy, however, remained at her seat. Her textbook was still on her desk and she had her hands over its pages. She was staring at the words without reading them.
She did not want to go home. She was too lazy. She was reluctant to leave the cool room. The air-con vent had been patched and was at that time circulating fresh air. She did not want to go out into the hot afternoon and cycle home under the smiling sun.
She had already braved the heat outside the classroom earlier to use the washroom. She had rushed out at the end of the first period after lunch. On her return, the teacher had reproached her for being late for class.
Still sullen from being scolded and losing a little money from that withdrawn offer, Sandy did not feel like leaving the cool comfort of her classroom.
"Still here, Sandy?" Ariel asked. She leaned against the desk behind her with her schoolbag in her arms.
Esper stood beside Ariel, along with Selina.
"Yeah," Sandy said, "Don't feel like leaving yet."
"What's wrong?" Esper asked, "You look kind of down."
"It's just... well, you see..." Sandy told the story of what had happened at lunch break. "Why would he just take back his word like that?"
Ariel shrugged. "I don't know."
Selina leaned forward. "Sandy, what exactly did the second boy ask you to do?"
"Well, he asked me to join his club."
"Did he ask for anything else?" Selina probed further.
Sandy thought for a moment. "Yeah, he did. Something about club status or something."
"Something like 'official club'?" Selina hinted.
Sandy's eyes brightened as she remembered. "Yeah, that's it! I had to make his the official club."
"What does that mean?" Ariel asked.
"It has to do with club funding in Fernham High," Selina explained, "Clubs get an allocation from the school based on their membership size. However, only their 'official members' are counted. And each student, though free to join as many clubs as he likes, can only have one 'official club'."
Ariel understood. "That's why the first boy took back his offer. His club wouldn't be getting any extra money if Sandy was not an official member."
Sandy too understood the reason. Though it still hurt to have potential money taken away from her. Well, she still had the money from the other boy, and that fortune card in her back pocket.
"Hey, Ariel," Esper broke the silence, "The cookies you got, were those from the Baking Club?"
"Yeah, they are," Ariel confirmed.
"How's the taste?" Esper asked.
"Quite yummy actually," Ariel replied, "The chocolate chip ones were really good."
"So... you turning into the Air Blimp again?" Esper teased.
Ariel huffed. Selina hid her laughter behind her left hand. Sandy smiled. It was good to have those girls as her classmates.
"By the way, Sandy, which club did you join?" Selina asked.
Sandy stared for a moment. She glanced at the ceiling, then the floor, then her textbook on the desk for a hint. "I don't remember," she said finally.
"You don't?" Esper asked.
Ariel looked at her brown-haired friend. "Did you join a club without checking which club it was?"
Sandy smiled sheepishly. "I guess I did." She only had eyes for the money.
Ariel groaned. "Let's hope you didn't join something bad."
***
When she had finally left her classroom, Sandy was sorely tempted to buy something decent to eat with the money she had. She definitely could not suffer another serving of Momma Lois's spaghetti. But somehow, she did not. Instead, she went straight home.
That turned out to be the right decision. Momma Lois had indeed gone shopping earlier. And dinner that day was grilled fish. It was generously garnished with broccoli and coated with a specially mixed garlic sauce along with a side dish of roast potatoes. Momma Lois must have worked extra hard to prepare that meal, probably as an apology for the lack of variety in past few days' dinner.
Food had never tasted so delicious for Sandy. She could shed a tear of happiness.
So, apology accepted.
***
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