Chapter Text
Edelgard groaned in frustration and looked up from her phone. The first day of the semester started in 15 minutes and Dorothea still wasn't responding to her desperate texts. Dorothea was chronically late for everything, but she had sworn up and down that "it would be different this year." So much for that, El thought bitterly. From her parked car, she scanned the outside of Thea's house for any signs of life. When none appeared, Edelgard sent her a final pleading "where are you?", waited 30 seconds, and moved to put her red mini cooper in drive.
"WAIT EDIE! I'M HEREEE!" Edelgard looked up to see Dorothea sprinting across her front lawn, bag and jacket askew. Her long dark curls flew around wildly as she bounded across the grass. She pulled up short in front of the car and heaved the door open.
"Edie I am so so sorry!" she gasped, out of breath, "I overslept! And I would have just run out you know, but I had to find a cute outfit for the first day back!" Dorothea smiled awkwardly, clearly begging for forgiveness. This 'cute outfit' consisted of an oversized denim jacket over a sweater, a short tennis skirt and black doc martens. She had accessorized with several necklaces and rings, as well as a black beanie that had nearly fallen off her head while she sprinted. No wonder it took her so long, El thought. Despite the inconvenience, El begrudgingly admitted to herself that it was quite stylish.
Edelgard sighed heavily. "It's fine, Thea, just get in the car." Dorothea grinned and quickly clambered inside, tossing her bag unceremoniously into the backseat.
"I really am sorry, Edie. I swear it won't happen again!" Dorothea declared as Edelgard started pulling out of the driveway. El smiled to herself, knowing this promise to be entirely false.
"Don't worry about it. It just means we won't have time for a coffee run today," El stated simply. Dorothea pouted but (thankfully) didn't complain.
The rest of the drive to Garreg Mach was occupied by Dorothea chattering about the upcoming semester. Edelgard was only half listening as she watched the scenery of Fódlan slide past the windows. Fódlan was a mid-sized city in the center of the state, with a distinctly historic feel. Dense woods, narrow streets, and old brick houses were abundant. Unfortunately, the scenic views were doing little to quell El's anxiety about the upcoming term.
"Edie? Are you listening?" Dorothea's question brought Edelgard out of her reprieve as they pulled into the parking lot of Garreg Mach. The school was just as old as the rest of the city and was in dire need of repairs and funding that, as long as the notoriously stingy school board got their way, would never be forthcoming. The outside of the building was still impressive, with an imposing three story brick edifice. El put the car in park and turned to face Dorothea.
"Sorry, what were you asking?"
"I asked if you wanted to walk to drama with me," Dorothea huffed as she rolled her eyes fondly. Edelgard felt her stomach drop to her feet. This was the question she had been dreading all morning.
"Yeah about that," Edelgard started hesitantly, "I'm actually not taking drama this semester."
'WHAT?" Dorothtea's screech was loud enough to startle several nearby students, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT TAKING DRAMA?!"
"I'm sorry, Dorothea, but I just couldn't stand it anymore. Face it: the program is terrible. We don't have any money. They change teachers every year. I-" Edelgard faltered, "I just couldn't do it. The Garreg Mach Theater Department can't prepare me to apply to collegiate theater programs. I had to make the practical choice." Edelgard spat out her rehearsed response and glanced up at Dorothea, who was completely aghast.
"But Edie," Dorothea said imploringly, "you love theater. It's been your dream since forever! Why abandon it now?" Dorothea looked on the brink of tears. Edelgard sighed and glanced at the clock on her car's dash. They only had five minutes to get to class.
"We've got to get going," she said dismissively as she started collecting her things. Dorothea looked displeased, but she got out of the car and retrieved her bag from the back. She came up beside El as they walked towards the building, clearly waiting for Edelgard to continue explaining her motivations.
Edelgard took a steadying breath. She had agonized over this decision for weeks, and now that it was made, she would not waver from it.
“Trust me, it was no easy choice. But the reality is, a professional theater career is a pipe dream,” El began as she and Thea walked through the front doors of GMHS. The interior of the school was as old as the outside, with paneled walls and hardwood floors. It had been a private school for a long time but had become a public high school a decade prior when the owners of the school decided to sell it to the city. Since then, funding had dried up, and most of the money went to upkeep on the building and profitable programs like the football team.
“I’m top of the class. It only makes sense that I apply to Ivies for academic programs and stop wasting time with a pointless and ineffectual drama department. I mean, our last teacher was arrested for dealing weed to the students.”
“Is it you making this choice, or is it your advisor?”
Edelgard frowned. Of course Dorothea would cut straight to the point. “So what if it is? Doesn’t mean he’s wrong”
Dorothea hmphed, clearly disagreeing. Edelgard sighed internally. It was an easy decision for Dorothea; she had the voice of an angel and serious acting abilities to boot. Her talent and Manuela’s instruction could get her into any program she wanted. Plus, Edelgard thought bitterly, she doesn’t have years of built-up expectations to contend with.
"But-," Dorothea started, "All your friends are in theater. Won't you miss them?"
"Of course I'll miss them, Dorothea. Don't you think I've considered that?" Edelgard snapped. Dorothea's eyes widened and she dropped her gaze to the floor.
"Right-obviously," She stuttered, "Of course you wouldn't take this lightly."
Edelgard screwed her eyes shut. Shit. She hadn't meant to lash out. In truth, the prospect of leaving her friends had given Edelgard more pause than anything else. She would still see them in class and in the halls, but it wouldn't be the same as being with them every morning as she had for two and a half years. She had told herself that it didn't matter, that she would make new friends in college anyway, but it hadn't really worked.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." An awkward silence fell over them while they traversed the scratched hardwood floors. As they passed through the math wing, Edelgard spotted Lysithea and Annette, two precocious freshmen in drama, arguing loudly over the correct answers to the algebra homework. Figures.
Eventually, Dorothea decided to break the silence. “Well.. if you’re not taking drama, what do you have first period?”
“I’m taking art with Hubert,” El said shortly. She had always liked drawing and had thought it would be an easy class to balance out the rest of her workload.
“Oh, that’ll be nice I suppose," Dorothea said. She fell quiet for a second as the girls rounded the corner to the arts hallway. “Will you at least meet the new drama teacher with me before you go to class? Maybe they’ll change your mind!" she asked, brightening up.
“I seriously doubt that, and besides, I need to get to class.”
Dorothea rolled her eyes, exasperated. “C’mon Edie, please? I heard she’s Coach Eisner’s daughter!”
That caught Edelgard’s attention. “Really? I didn’t know he even had a daughter”
“Well the name on my schedule says B. Eisner, and Leonie mentioned once that she’d met his daughter, and that she was-“ Dorothea was cut off by the one minute warning bell as Edelgard stopped outside the door to the art classroom. El gave Dorothea a pointed look while the bell blared.
“I’m sure she’ll be an interesting teacher, but we have to do this aft-“ Dorothea suddenly reached out and seized Edelgard by the wrist.
“Dorothea, what are you doing?” El asked frantically as Dorothea dragged her down the crowded hallway. Edelgard struggled to get her hand free but Dorothea held on too tightly. El realized that Dorothea was pulling her towards Room 016, the drama class, and started Dorothea fighting harder. Dorothea ignored Edelgard and confidently marched both of them into the class.
The classroom had not changed a bit since the last semester. It was a rather small room with a raised platform in the back. The desks were arranged in a cramped circle in the middle of the class. The floor was coated in a thick layer of dust, and boxes of props, costumes, and stage makeup were strewn about everywhere. Signatures and messages had been scrawled on the walls by students long since graduated, and it smelled distinctly of hairspray. Most of the students were already at their desks, many clearly half asleep (or in Linhardt's case, entirely asleep). The only thing different about this familiar scene was the woman standing at the front of the class, writing her name on the chalkboard.
Edelgard and Dorothea's rather obnoxious entrance drew the attention of the students and the new teacher, who turned around to face them. And Edelgard felt her jaw drop.
The woman standing in front of them, who couldn't have been more than 5 years Edelgard's senior, was beautiful. She had pale skin and choppy shoulder length hair that she'd dyed a dark blue color. Her uneven bangs fell just above her eyes, which were a deep blue that looked almost purple. She wasn't supermodel gorgeous, but she was striking. And she was looking directly at El.
Fuck. This was the only variable she hadn't accounted for.
"Hiii, you must be Ms Eisner! I'm Dorothea, and this is Edelgard." Dorothea's voice sounded so far away. Edelgard suddenly realized that she was just staring at a teacher with her mouth hanging open and clamped her jaw shut. She felt a deep flush rise to her cheeks.
"I'm in your class, but Edelgard is only visiting. She's taking-"
"I'M TAKING DRAMA." El blurted, and immediately cringed internally. Oh my god, did I just shout that? Ms Eisner looked at her with confusion bordering on concern.
"Wait, you are?" Dorothea asked, a mischievous smile on her face, "But you just said-"
"I'm taking drama," El reiterated sternly, staring Dorothea down. Thea looked like she was struggling to hold back laughter. El took a deep breath to compose herself and turned to address Ms Eisner.
"There's just been a schedule mix up. I'm going to the office to get it fixed right now; I'll be back shortly." With that, El turned and marched right out of the room. She heard Dorothea snort out laughter as she walked away. I'm going to kill her.
The final bell rang as El was hurrying to the front office. It occurred to her that this may be the singular most ridiculous reason ever to request a schedule change. The new teacher hadn't even said a word to El for god's sake. It's fine, El thought frantically, I don't have to do the spring show. It's just one more semester.
Catherine looked up from the front desk as Edelgard walked into the office. "Edelgard! What can I help you with?", she asked loudly.
"I need a schedule change. It's urgent"
Catherine frowned, "Ok..what do you want changed?"
"I want to drop art and take theater instead."
Catherine's frown deepened. "Didn't you and Seteth talk about this? I thought you two agreed that you wanted to change directions."
Edelgard fought the instinct to roll her eyes. "Yes, we did discuss it. However, I have changed my mind. I really want to take theater this semester."
"Ok then, if you're sure!" Catherine said jovially as she tapped on her keyboard, "It will take a little while for the system to process the schedule change, so you can just head back to class for now and it will update by tomorrow." Edelgard nodded, thanked Catherine, and practically ran back to the theater classroom.
El quietly slipped back into the room and sat down at a desk between Dorothea and Ferdinand. A few heads turned as she entered but most of the students were listening to their teacher. Eisner was in the middle of introducing herself to the class. Edelgard peered around her to steal a quick glance at the chalkboard where she had written her full name: Byleth Eisner.
"And as many of you probably guessed, Coach Eisner is my dad. But you guys don't have to call me Ms Eisner, just Byleth is fine," she concluded. "Does anyone have any questions?"
Hilda spoke without raising her hand, "Um is this your first year teaching? Because you look really young."
"Yes it is; I've never taught before. Principal Rhea asked me to step in as a favor."
"Principal Rhea requested you specifically?" Hilda gasped, "You must have a lot of experience acting then. Were you like, a child actor on Broadway?"
Byleth bit her lip. "I've never really acted before, either. I was a political science major. I really don't know why she hired me."
El felt the blood drain from her face. Oh my god, she thought, What have I gotten myself into? She's never taught OR acted before? El resisted the instinct to slam her forehead against the desk. An uncomfortable hush fell over the class that was only broken by the sound of Felix Fraldarius' voice.
"That cinches it", he laughed sarcastically, "Rhea is running us into the ground on purpose."