Miss America (Ashley)

[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

March 2022
Ilvermorny

It had been one of those tests, the kind Kaylee had felt as though she had been doomed to fail. History of Magic had always been one of her strongest subjects in school, but Goblin rebellions in Europe seemed to have no relevance to her own life whatsoever. She had still studied for it, as she always did, trying to come up with some sort of memory aid to recall which goblin had done what. How MACUSA tied into any of it, she still hadn’t known as she’d written her essay, coming up with as many theories as possible. (Even if something was a stretch, she’d have to be given at least partial credit, wouldn’t she?)

As their professor handed their tests back in class, Kaylee wanted to sink down into her seat as far as she could go. Sinking into the floor seemed like a better option, although it wasn’t quite as possible. She held her breath and crossed her fingers. Whatever she’d gotten on it, she could handle it, she reminded herself. Waiting for her test to be deposited onto her desk, she looked around and tried to gauge how her classmates had fared.

As soon as the papers hit the surface of her desk, Kaylee couldn’t wait. She uncrossed her fingers and flipped over her test to see her mark.

There, in red ink, was her fate: 50%

In all her years of schooling—both at Ilvermorny and at the No-Maj school she had attended before it—she had never gotten a grade so low. She had made it to the ripe old age of fourteen without ever failing… anything.

Glancing behind her to look at Ashley Fontaine, she wondered what the other girl had gotten. From what she could see, Ashley didn’t look ashamed of herself—but that was typical for her, in Kaylee’s experience. Kaylee bit her lip, not realizing that she was staring at the blonde. She’d just failed a History test, and Ashley had probably passed with flying colors.

@ashley

[Deleted]

Ashley loved school.
It was one of the things that never changed during her time at Ilvermorny. Every year she went to each class with the highest expectations for herself, and each year she met them. She loved learning and proving that she was smart. She knew that some pureblood families didn't particularly care how smart the women were, so long as they were beautiful, but she cared. She wanted to be the best. While that didn't always happen, success was a norm for Ashley in school. 

Sitting in her History of Magic class, Ashley stared around, bored as she waited for her latest test to be returned to her. This wasn't the most useful of classes, in her opinion, but Ashley still put just as much work into it as she did with her other classes. The professor put the paper on her desk and Ashley finished inspecting her nails before turning it over to glance at her score. 96%. Perfect. 

She smirked, looking around the room and spying the others' faces. Some were frantic with worry as they waited for their results. Others had an air of unconcern, but a closer glance showed that they too were nervous. Others sat tall and confident, or chatted with their friends as they waited. 

It didn't take her long to realize that someone was staring at her. Ashley turned her gaze to Kaylee and smiled sweetly. "Kaylee, are you alright? You seem distracted or something," she gave a small laugh, waiting to see if the girl would talk with her, or turn away and apologize. Kaylee was the overly friendly type, so neither action would really surprise Ashley. "How was your test?" Ash added as an afterthought. It was the topic of conversation at the moment, wasn't it?

kaylee māhealani mahi'ai

[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

“Kaylee, are you alright? You seem distracted or something.”

Oh no. Ashley had noticed her. If Kaylee had wanted to disappear before, now she really wanted to hide. She felt as though her life was going to flash before her eyes at any moment, but she couldn’t let Ashley Fontaine—of all people—know that. No way. She had to play it off somehow.

As soon as Ashley spoke again, though, Kaylee knew that she was done for. “How was your test?” she asked, a question that wasn’t at all out of place.

Kaylee knew that she couldn’t admit defeat. She also couldn’t lie and say that she had done exceptionally well, because Ashley would undoubtedly want to see her test to prove it. Guessing that Ashley had at least passed, Kaylee knew that she had to come up with some middle ground… quickly.

“Oh, um, yeah. I did okay.” That was stretching the truth, but at least she hadn’t gotten a zero. That would have been disastrous. If she got perfect scores on everything for the rest of the year, Kaylee thought hopefully, she could probably make up for it. “What about you?” How badly she had actually done by getting a fifty percent could only be measured by knowing how Ashley had done.

@ashley

[Deleted]

Ashley's smile almost turned into a smirk when she saw the hesitation in the other girl's eyes. It would have been so easy, but she was pretending to be nice right now. Of course, Kaylee should see through that in an instant, but that was neither here nor there to her. Ashley was bored, waiting for the class to actually begin. She might as well have a bit of fun while she had to sit there. 

Kaylee hesitated more than she should have when Ashley asked about her test. Perfect. That meant one of two things: she did so well she didn't want to seem like she was bragging when she answered the question, or she did so poorly she didn't want to talk about it. She lifted an eyebrow and quirked her head to the side just a fraction to make her expression seem more curious. Really, she just wanted to see if she could get the other girl to squirm.

Okay? Well that was no help at all. Ashley tsked with her tongue and shook her head a little better. "Okay? Good okay or bad okay?" Please say bad! Then Kaylee asked how she did and Ashley smiled. "I did pretty well," she answered casually, lifting her paper and showing Kaylee the 96%. Maybe that would make Kaylee feel like she should show her paper. Ashley's curiosity was rising, which wasn't really a surprise. 


kaylee māhealani mahi'ai

[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

“Okay? Good okay or bad okay?” Ashley questioned, and Kaylee was regretting ever having said anything at all. Ashley seemed so relaxed; she couldn’t have failed. “I did pretty well.”

How well was “pretty” well? Kaylee’s gaze was immediately drawn to the mark that Ashley had received.

Kaylee knew that Ashley was holding her test right side up, but how she wished that it had been upside down! If the other girl had gotten a 69%, that would have been so much better. In true Ashley fashion, of course, Ashley had gotten a 96%—not a 69%—and Kaylee knew just how badly she had done in comparison.

Ashley was clearly flaunting it, and Kaylee didn’t know what to say to save face. She couldn’t show Ashley her paper—not when she didn’t even want to look at it herself.

“That’s great, Ashley,” Kaylee responded, her voice faltering a little as she spoke. She forced a smile so that she would seem even half as casual as Ashley seemed. Ashley had nothing to hide; of course she was proud of herself.

Still, a 96 wasn’t perfect, and that meant that neither was Ashley Fontaine. ”What did you get marked off for?” Kaylee asked, both out of curiosity and because she knew that it was one of the few things she could say to feel better about such an awful grade. If she had gotten right what Ashley had gotten wrong, at least she had that.

@ashley

[Deleted]

Ashley watched Kaylee closely when the girl looked at her score. The corner of her lip twitched when she realized that there was no way Kaylee did as well as she did. The girl's voice cracked slightly when she congratulated Ashley, perfect evidence of the fact that Ashley at least did better than she had. She wanted to laugh out loud, but that was hardly appropriate here.

She quirked an eyebrow at the other girl, waiting to see what else she would say. She giggled when Kaylee asked what she lost points on. "Oh, some grammar in the essay questions," Ashley commented off-handedly. She waved a hand, dismissing that as unimportant. "And one question about who started a specific goblin revolution." Ashley shrugged. "I couldn't care less who started them. Honestly, the important thing is knowing why it happened and what the important events were, wouldn't you agree?" She smiled sweetly, "What score did you get?" It was a fair question, since she'd shared her exact score with the other girl. Ash couldn't help but wonder if she'd be brave enough to refuse her. She watched Kaylee, an expectant look in her eyes as she waited.

kaylee māhealani mahi'ai

[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

“Some grammar on the essay questions.” Okay, Ashley Fontaine was nearly flawless, but at least she had misspelled something, or she had forgotten a comma, or something. Then again, though, misspelling wasn’t hard to do with some of the goblins’ names. She was still pretty close to that 100%, and even one mark off for not having had the name of who started one of the rebellions just warranted a shrug. It didn’t matter to her; it didn’t need to. She still had a 96.

“I couldn't care less who started them. Honestly, the important thing is knowing why it happened and what the important events were, wouldn't you agree?”

Merlin. Kaylee wasn’t sure what was worse—that her blood was beginning to boil or that she couldn’t just vanish. She couldn’t suddenly feign illness and run, either, though she was beginning to wish she’d done that as soon as she’d seen her mark. Instead, Kaylee was forced to swallow and grasp at anything she could from her half-correct test.

It was important to know the details about why things happened and how they shaped magical history; that was the point, Kaylee knew, but it was hard to argue that with that red ink glaring angrily back up at her every time she caught a glimpse of it. She wasn’t normally a failure at History of Magic, and she had to be thankful for that as she nodded. “Totally,” she said in agreement. “It really shows how we need to treat everyone with respect, instead of letting our biases get in the way.” (At least she remembered that the Goblin Rebellions had come out of unjust treatment, she thought, though inequality usually led to more conflicts in history than it solved.)

Feeling confident in her comeback, everything seemed to be going well. And then came Ashley’s follow-up question. “What score did you get?”

Since she had asked Ashley already, Kaylee knew that she would have to reciprocate. Everything had come crashing back down, and, with her momentary confidence lost, Kaylee mumbled out her response as Ashley’s eyes burned into her. ”I… got a 50.”

@ashley

[Deleted]

She could practically see the other girl squirming as she spoke, explaining the few things she’d missed on the test. Man, this was fun! Ashley wasn’t an outright bully like a lot of her friends, but she absolutely loved this. She loved making people squirm. The fact that Kaylee was making this so easy was really just a bonus to her. Ash relished every moment.

She nodded as Kaylee started commenting about how it was important to treat everyone with respect, instead of allowing biases to take charge. Ooooh, was she being clever with that little jab? Ash didn’t care. She didn’t need to treat those who were inferior with respect. One needed to earn respect, in her book. This was different than with the Goblins, and even if it weren’t, no rebellion was going to come of it. “Exactly,” Ashley answered in a sweet voice. She wasn’t entirely sure if that jab was on purpose or not, so she’d watch Kaylee for a bit before pouncing, just to make sure.

At the other girl’s admission, Ashley’s eyebrows lifted high. A 50? Oh, that was rich! She forced her lips to form a sympathetic “o”, though if Kaylee paid attention she might be able to see the glee in her eyes. “A 50? Don’t worry about it Kaylee. Almost everyone has a bad test here or there,” she shook her head in mock sympathy. She'd never done that poorly on an exam and she never would. In her opinion, it was a matter of caring and putting the effort in. Might as well pretend to care some more though. “Maybe you should start a study group,” she added, her tone innocent.

“What did you struggle with?” Ash wasn’t entirely sure if she thought Kaylee would tell her, but she was asking all the same. This situation was just too perfect.

kaylee māhealani mahi'ai

[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

Without any consideration for Ashley’s tone, it would have sounded as though she were being entirely sympathetic towards her failure, but Kaylee knew better. Even though the other girl told her not to worry about it, Kaylee could only feel more worried for herself. She couldn’t let this one grade become the start of a downward trajectory; Ashley really would have something to brag about if that happened!

At the suggestion that maybe she should start a study group, Kaylee briefly pondered it. Too distracted by her poor test score to come up with some idea of how a study group could actually work against Ashley—and not wanting to make an even bigger mess of things—Kaylee scrapped the idea. “Thanks, Ashley,” she acknowledged, trying to remain calm.

“What did you struggle with?”

“Um…” Kaylee glanced at the test. She could have just as well said that she’d had trouble with everything—the mark she had gotten was a clear indication of that—but that would be feeding Ashley’s pleasure at the situation. “The names of the individual goblins got really confusing,” she said honestly, “and then I couldn’t remember who had done what, so…”

@ashley

[Deleted]

Ashley could basically see the gears working in Kaylee's little head. Oh, this entire situation was just what she needed today. She loved situations like these, where she could prove how much better she was without having to say anything. The fact that Kaylee started the conversation with her made it even better. "Of course," she answered when the girl thanked her. She thought about offering to help Kaylee find people to study with, but she didn't really want to put the effort in for that, or associate with the others she would need to in order to make it happen. Better to just let the girl wallow. 

Ashley nodded, still pretending to be sympathetic as Kaylee explained what she'd missed. Technically, she had just said that knowing names and who did what wasn't important ... but it was important to know enough to get better than a 50%. Then again, maybe Ashley was the only one who cared, though a look at Kaylee's face said otherwise. "Ahh, well at least we're only partway through the term. I'm sure you'll be able to raise your grade somehow." She tapped her chin, as if thinking hard. The truth was, she liked giving suggestions because she liked telling people what to do, or at least what they could or should do. "You could also ask the Professor if they have any extra work you could do," her smile turned to a smirk. Ashley never needed extra work. She did well enough on the original work to not need more, thank you very much. She gave a small shrug. "Or we could make a competition out of it," she added softly, wondering what Kaylee would say to that.

kaylee māhealani mahi'ai