Chapter Text
The class was filled with the bubble of chatter as students walked in and sat at their desks, probably talking about partying, drama and crushes. Berdly, of course, was above these things.
Being the smartest, most dedicated and punctual person in the class, not to brag, he had arrived early that day, before anyone else. He looked down his beak at his classmates. A loud bang alerted him to the presence of that delinquent Susie and that creep Kris.
They furtively scurried to their desks. Berdly narrowed his eyes behind their thick glass lenses. They were beneath him, yes, but he didn't think they were smart enough to know that.
He was itching to know what had gotten into their presumably empty heads, but he didn't want to sink down to their level.
But if he did... a little voice deep down inside of him chirped, then maybe he could understand them better. He brushed the voice off.
The bell rang, signaling class to start. But the wooden desk at the front of the room was empty, save for a laptop, box of pocky and other 'essential' items. Berdly could not put into words how much he hated anime. The huge eyes, the hideous clothes, the insidious clichés.
A yellow whirlwind swept through the door and practically leapt onto the desk. Their teacher was here. The intellectually enlightened bluebird shuddered. The smell of their teacher's mew mew kissy cutie generation 2 perfume made him gag.
"H-hey class! S-s-sorry I'm late!" Miss Alphys said, clearly flustered. Berdly repressed an eyeroll. He didn't even know why she was a teacher if she couldn't even get to class on ttime.He tried to remember the last time he was late. Nope, he hadn't been late since 4th grade. And he wasn't going to break that streak now.
Alphys's insufferable stutter broke into his thoughts. "A-a reminder, class," Since when did Berdly need reminders? "Your p-projects are due at t-the end of this week."
Ah. That wasn't hard. The crainially blessed avian was halfway through, and Noelle was his partner. She was the second smartest student in the class, and he had informed her of that. The deer girl had looked hurt at that remark.
Berdly wondered why. Surely she would be honored to be second to him. Speaking of Noelle, she was sick today. Berdly would never succumb to illness! He opened his desk to get out the sheet of paper that was the project.
Diagrams of monster and human anatomy filled the page. The subject for the project was the difference between the two races. Berdly walked over to the cupboard that housed the devices. It reminded him of a few days ago when Susie and Kris went into the closet in the hall to get chalk. They hadn't returned to class. Apparently, they had spent the night at school.
He shuddered to think of what might have happened between the two. But they seemed to be good friends now. This wasn't good for him. If Susie's anger was less likely to be aimed at Kris, it was more likely to be aimed at Berdly.
But she seemed to be more merciful. And well, Berdly could always... tell on her. He snickered under his breath.
"C-class? We're doing a t-test now. Please put your p-projects away," Berdly sighed and neatly folded the paper into his desk.
A sheet of paper fell onto his head. He looked up. Catti was handing out tests, only half paying attention for she was tapping away at her phone with her other paw. What an idiot. She'd wish she'd have paid attention to class when she failed her
(A/N whatever Americans do for their big exams). "Start n-now!" Alphys stammered surprisingly loud, as she enthusiastically flipped open her laptop and plugged in her tacky cat-ear headphones. The class went silent.
~~~
After Berdly had finished his questions, first like he always did, he by chance managed to spot a paper ball land by his feet. He snatched up the note and carefully smoothed it out. It said, in scraggly handwriting:
To Kris,
Meet me in the carpark outside 8/12. At 9:PM.
Bring soda.
From Susie.
He smiled. Clearly, they were planning to pull some sort of prank. And he would catch them in the act! He smirked.
~~~
Susie watched the unsuspecting bluebird pick up the false note, and winked at Kris. They nodded, and turned back to their desk. Berdly would think he was about to catch them doing something terrible outside 8/12. But little did he know, he was just a bird fluttering into a cage.