A/N: Hello there! I had a lot of fun writing this and it's exciting to finally be posting it.

I also published this fic on AO3 (username: MidnightHalo27).

Disclaimer: The School for Good and Evil book series belongs to Soman Chainani, not me.

I hope you like it! Reviews, kudos, etc are awesome! Constructive criticism is very welcome, but flames will be used to roast marshmallows.

With a Diva in the Background

by: GakuenAlicefan27

Agatha had been quietly eating her turkey sandwich, minding her own business, when Tristan walked up to her.

"Hi." He said, lunch basket in hand. "Scoot aside."

She looked at him skeptically. "What?"

"Scoot aside."

"What for?"

"What do you think?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think you want to sit beside me, but that doesn't make sense since, you know, there's plenty of space all over the clearing and we kind of hate each other's guts."

"I'm aware." He said, seemingly deciding not to wait for her to move and plopping down under the shade of the tree Agatha was sitting against, all but shoving her aside. "And I don't care. It's better than the alternative."

"Which is?"

"Sitting with the Evers who are oh-so-busy fawning over Tedros, or sitting with the Nevers." He said matter-of-factly.

Agatha looked around. Indeed, all the Evers were near the tunnel to the School for Good, huddled around Tedros as he told some tale and made over-the-top gestures with his sword. The Nevers were sitting on the opposite side of the lawn, Sophie nowhere to be seen – probably occupied, she thought bitterly, adding some last minute detail to her outfit of the day.

She turned back to Tristan, who was picking at his turkey sandwich, removing the lettuce and tomatoes.

"Fine then." She said, taking a bite of her own sandwich. "But the boys are gonna give you grief later."

Tristan shrugged dismissively. "It's not like any of them like me much anyway. Everyone's too busy sucking up to the golden boy."

"Says the one who dyed his hair blond just so he could look more like Tedros." She pointed out, but he didn't seem fazed.

"I didn't do it to get on his good graces."

"Just Beatrix's." Agatha said, grabbing a handful of grapes from her basket and popping one in her mouth. "She's definitely not gonna approve of you sitting with me."

"I'll think of something to win her over later."

"Something less ridiculous than becoming Tedros' clone, I hope."

Tristan glared at her. "It wasn't ridiculous."

"Yes, it was. I'd say it was among the top ten most ridiculous things I've seen since arriving here, and trust me I've seen many ridiculous things."

Tristan huffed. "It would have been worth it, if it had worked."

"And then what?" Agatha asked, leaning more fully against the tree trunk.

"What do you mean?"

"Suppose it had worked." She began. "Then what?"

"Then I'd have gotten the girl."

"Nope." She corrected him. "Then you would have gotten a girl who only wanted you because you were acting like another boy. In the long run, she'd either dump you or you would have had to keep on pretending your whole life." She gave him a pointed look. "Would you really have wanted to live this way? Would that make you happy?"

"I…" He began, but paused. "I hadn't thought it like that."

Agatha sighed. "You need to find someone who likes you for you, or else it's not gonna work."

Tristan frowned as if wondering where the hell he was gonna find someone like that. Agatha thought of Kiko, but remained quiet. She could give a helpful nudge later, but the feelings weren't hers to tell.

"I don't know how to impress someone by being me." Tristan murmured, after a moment of silence.

Agatha raised an eyebrow. "You know you're a good swordsman, right?"

He narrowed his eyes, probably thinking she was mocking him. "You've never seen me duel."

"I saw you dueling Tedros. That was pretty good."

Tristan tsked. "I was copying him. The style was all him."

"Exactly." Agatha said. "You managed to copy him perfectly just by observing him. Every stunt he pulled, you could pull as well, and every time he attacked, you were able to parry." She smiled slightly, but then stopped because she remembered what professor Anemone said about her smile. "You think any person would have been able to do that? It takes skill, Tristan. You only have to apply it to something that fits you."

Tristan blinked. "Did you just…pay me a compliment?" He blinked again. Then again for good measure.

"No need to go into shock because of it."

"I've never heard you say anything good about, well…anything."

Agatha scowled. "Forgive me if I don't have many things to be happy about."

Tristan cocked his head to the side, not unlike a cat. "Do you have any idea how many people dream of attending the School for Good?"

"Well, not me." She said, staring at her half-eaten sandwich. "I just wanted to stay home with my mom and my cat and my friend, but apparently that was asking for too much."

"You mean the blond witch?" He scoffed. "Some friend she is."

"Hey!" She hit him on the shoulder with her basket. "Don't say that about Sophie."

Tristan made a face that conveyed how much he couldn't care less about Sophie, but he changed the topic. "What is it like where you're from? I don't see how it can be better than here."

"People don't get turned into plants, for one."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Seriously though."

"It's…normal. Quiet." She said, thinking of everyone's routine back at Gavaldon. "There's no adventures, nothing to prove. It's just people going on about their lives."

"Sounds boring."

"That's because you were raised here, so you can't really imagine anything else." She muttered. "I wish I were back there."

"But you're here now, and you're kind of missing it."

"What do you mean?"

"You think people aren't aware that you don't want to be here? Everyone knows. It's written all over your face."

"Sorry." She said sarcastically.

"I wasn't trying to offend you. I'm just telling you." He dusted off an invisible speck from his blue uniform. "You don't want to be here, okay, I get it. But since you are, you could at least give it a chance. You can't hate everything about this place, there's bound to be at least some things that you like."

Agatha crossed her arms and glared at him, not wanting to admit that he sounded sensible.

He didn't seem fazed by her glare. "So," He stole one of her grapes, even though he had received a basket with the same contents as hers. She batted at his hand and he smirked. "What's the deal with you and Tedros anyway? Why does he hate you so much?"

"Uhm." She shrugged. "I exist, I guess. That seems to be enough to piss him off."

"I can believe that." Tristan said, staring at a spot over her shoulder. "You're pissing him off right now, and you're not even doing anything."

"What?" She startled, turning in the direction Tristan was staring at.

And sure enough, Tedros wasn't entertaining the masses anymore. The Evers had dispersed, and now he seemed pretty devoted to staring a hole through Tristan and Agatha's heads, though she couldn't tell which one of them he was angry with, or why.

Tristan took advantage of her distraction to steal more of her grapes, and she lunged and wrenched them out of his grasp in a swift movement. In retaliation, he grabbed some of his own grapes and threw them at her.

"What are you, five?" She asked, trying and failing to suppress a smile.

But before Tristan could answer, a series of loud noises reverberated through the clearing, and Agatha once again found herself turning around to look.

It was Tedros, who was now eviscerating one of the training dummies with his sword - the rest of the Evers giving him a wide berth, sensing his foul mood. He glared at the two of them again, and he seemed even more pissed than before.

"Oh dear." Tristan said, but he sounded amused.

Agatha wasn't paying attention though. She had just spotted Kiko and, to her horror realized that, like Tedros, the girl had been looking at them, and her expression was hurt.

Cursing inwardly, Agatha gestured for her to come join them. Kiko's eyes widened, and she eyed Tristan shyly.

"Who are you waving at?" Tristan asked, gaze falling on Kiko. "Oh, she's your friend, isn't she? You sit with her sometimes."

"Yeah." Agatha said, still waving. She moved over, very conveniently making space between her and Tristan, and hoped Kiko got the message.

Finally, the girl came over, sitting at the offered spot and blushing tomato-red.

Agatha sighed in relief. "So," She looked at Kiko. "I was just telling Tristan that he seems to be a good swordsman. Don't you agree?"

"Yes!" Kiko exclaimed, a little too enthusiastically. Agatha winced at the volume.

Tristan didn't seem to mind though; he perked up like a peacock. "Really?"

Kiko nodded, looking like she couldn't believe her good luck at getting to talk to Tristan. "I thought you were amazing the other day and…"

Agatha tuned her out, but was glad to see that Tristan was giving Kiko his full attention.

Crisis averted. She thought, too distracted to notice Tedros stomping off back to the School for Good, looking like a crisis in and of itself.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

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