Sparrow Truman March 30th, 20XX

I walked into the only class I shared with Finn and sat at my usual seat near the front of the class. Since I’d gotten there early I plugged in my earbuds and began working on the newest design for the showcase.

The showcase was a school wide event that had students form small talent groups or mock agencies and participate in competitions. The idea was to have each group represent a company and the school as a whole would be like the market.

With this method even if there was a group of entirely actors it would be possible to compete with another group with talent from every category based on the voting results of the students and the amount of merchandise bought from outsiders as well as students.

Throughout this two week long event representatives from the various companies would come in to scout out each group and possibly sign them into the company.

So as one could put together the Showcase was a rather big deal.

Unlike other countries which had strengths of military or superior medical technology, our country had made its name on being the Mecca of entertainment. From actors to idols to singers to athletes and everything in between, every one that sought out a career in the entertainment industry would eventually make their way over here.

Over the many years our society had eventually changed and almost every career available here was tied in come way to the industry, save for the staples of any working society like doctors or police officers.

It had even impacted the schooling system where all actual academic content was finished by the last years of middle school and from highschool onwards students were encouraged to fully focus on their talents.

Of Course there were regular high schools that went by the general world wide curriculum but they were few and in between. And one would have to go out of the country if they sought out further education outside of the industry.

Alice’s group had won for the past two years because of talent as well as the fact that she was the only person that had a participant for each competition. Of course she had started out as a follower for someone else in her first year but she, with the help of her uncle’s influence at his company as well as Jake’s value as the school’s most valued athlete she had quickly taken it over and had led her team to victory for the past two years.

She planned to make this year her third win in a row to commemorate her graduation and planned debut into the entertainment industry.

Unlike her I never felt the need to show off to the school and use my elder brother’s influence to get my way so I usually didn't compete but since it was my graduating year I had been convinced to try the runway event. What I hadn't expected was that the theme of the show would be a couple look so I had to design both male and female attire.

As a proud single for the past 3 years I was less than enthusiastic but the earnest looks of my followe- *cough* I mean my schoolmates, I had resigned myself to it.

I registered the chair beside me being pulled out and being sat on and reflexively turned around to face my usual desk mate Melissa but was greeted with the sharp side profile of Finn Hall instead.

Melissa had somehow migrated to the back of the room and only gave me a quick thumbs up before turning away with a bright blush on her face. I turned back to face Finn and wondered how he had managed to turn the determinedly stereotypical secretarial girl into...That.

Finn shot back a mysterious smile to her which made her blush even brighter before he resumed facing the front with his usual stony expression.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I finally cracked and asked as nicely as I could.

“ Did you need something?”

He slowly turned his eyes which for some reason seemed brighter and bigger than usual to meet mine and maintained eye contact for what seemed like a long time before he finally shook his head in response and went back to working on whatever he was working on.

I did the same but curiosity overcame me and I started to look at his desk only to see that he was carefully reading the pamphlet for the showcase I’d been thinking about earlier.

I was about to ask him about his interest in it but the bell went and it disappeared underneath his notepad and he laser focused on the lesson.

He went through class like that, intensely focused to the point of feriousity and left class quickly and quietly as soon as the bell went.

Having let Finn slip through my grasp like that I rushed to catch Melissa before she could escape as well and sat her down.

“ What was that about?”

She gave me an irritating look that suggested she knew something about me that I didn't and shook her head in a flippant manner.

“ It's absolutely nothing.”

However before I could probe any further she reverted back to her usual calm and collected self and started to usher me to my next class,

“ If you don't hurry , you’ll be late.”

I forcibly put it towards the back of my mind in order to focus on my classes and it was soon lunchtime. I was returning from my locker when I saw Finn walking alone to whatever destination he was heading too and for a second I debated going to confront him on what he and melissa knew but I decided to be mature and let it go.

As soon as I faced away and began to walk away I heard the unmistakable sound of a bucket of water making contact with a person and the obnoxious giggling of the culprits.

I turned on my heels in a manner just short of dramatic and as I headed towards Finn I carefully took note of their track team uniforms as identification before reaching Finn who was apparently more concerned about his phone and watch than his now soaked uniform.

I fished a towel out of my bag, glad I had brought a clean one today and handed it to him.

“ Are you okay?”

He took the towel from me with a grateful expression and first wiped down his phone, watch and locket before moving on to his body.

“ Thanks…..”

He trailed off as he didn't remember my name so I filled in the blank, feeling only a slight sense of disappointment and a larger sense of deja vu as I did so.

While we rarely talked I figured he had visited my house enough to be able to recognize me by face.

“ I’m Sparrow, Sparrow Truman. “

“ ah...sorry”

As he spoke he took off his glasses and pushed back his wet hair that flopped around his face in a scenic manner that made me stare for longer than I should’ve at a guy that was a half step from being my actual younger brother.

With the usual obnoxious gel washed out it flopped around in an attractive way and his features lost the stoic touch they usually held. It was then that I fully realized how much of an injustice his usual attire and glasses did to his beauty.

He quickly dried off his hair and face with the towel and then handed it back to me but before he could walk away I held him back.

“ What do you plan on doing about your clothes? Do you have a spare?”

He looked downwards and avoided my eyes as he muttered,

“I’m sure I could find one.”

I forced out a sigh as if I hadn't been hoping for that and started to herd him towards my clubroom, where I had been heading anyways.

“Come with me”

While he didn't directly resist me he gently attempted to pull his arm out of my hands as we walked.

“ Where are we going?”

“ To get you into dry clothes. Now stop struggling and walk faster, I'm not exactly sure of your size so we may have to adjust a spare”

He followed instructions and stopped struggling but did not speed up until I did. I pulled out my phone and called Melissa as we neared the room.

“ I need you find all the spare male uniforms we have from the business department and bring them to the clubroom. We’ll be there in about seven minutes so get it done before then….. No I don't particularly care how….but keep it legal. I don't want any more meetings with the administrators.”

I heard an odd sound behind me and turned around to see Finn’s head down and his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

“ Is something funny?”

He shook his head and looked back up at me with twinkling eyes that took me back for a second.

Since when did his eyes twinkle?

“ I just never knew we had a mob boss inside the school”

I purposefully chose not to answer and continued walking but I suddenly stopped feeling bad at all for what i wanted to do.

We arrived to the clubroom to see rows upon rows of uniforms from the business and management department. I briefly wondered how they had managed to procure so many and a look back at Finn showed me he wondered the same thing but I got over it quicker than he did. Sometimes the best way to deal with my department was to ignore them until they went too far.

I grabbed the measuring tape and instructed him onto the models pedestal as I discussed with the girls what I wanted to do.

It was almost cute how carefully and quickly he followed my instructions as I took his measurements and got to work. He was mostly dry by now but his normally straight hair had slightly frizzed out and now buzzed around his face which made his head look smaller than it was.

The quadruplets arrived quicker than I thought was possible and began to circle Finn like crows then looked at me with identically disbelieving eyes but I didn't let them barrage me with questions until we had left for a different room.

“ You want us to make him over?”

“What about Alice? didn't she say we should ignore him?”

“ Didn't you say we shouldn't take any special actions?”

“Should we launch an official attack?”

The four spoke at the same time and each question overlapped the other before I could reply so i just stayed silent until they finally calmed down enough to listen to me.

“I changed my mind. Since Alice decided to become a cheap teenage novel bully I don't really have any choice but to act do I? Now hurry and get to work since lunch is almost over”

Bags materialized in their hands and they began to stalk towards Finn, who had now realized what was going on.

“Sparrow? who are these?”

I gave him one of the Truman’s signature warm smiles and spoke in my kindest voice

“Don't worry Finn, just trust in your big sis”