Radiance - The Alight Archives Book #1

45. Wishful Thinking

"So, what do you think?" Elaine asked, hopeful.

Slathered on the dormitory wall was a purple-colored flyer with text that read, "We've got time to spare at the Aire Club! Leave it to us to make all your problems blow away!" while also including the floor and number of the club room itself. It wasn't the worst poster Elaine had ever seen...but that wasn't to say that it was the best either. If nothing else, it would serve its purpose, or at least, that's what Casey was hoping.

Kliff held his chin next to her, analyzing the flyer through a squint. Elaine, at first, thought that he hadn't heard her, and was on the cusp of repeating her fragile inquiry until Kliff reached for the flyer, sliding a hand over its surface until it was completely flat on the wall, not a crease or a wrinkle to be seen on the paper. "That's better," Kliff smiled as he gave a nod. "It's a bit on the simplistic side when compared to some of the advertisements I've seen for the other clubs. However, given our budgetary limitations, I suppose this is the best we can do for now."

"Right, right," Elaine agreed, glancing back at the flyer positioned a head over her. This was their Club Leader's grand master plan; hanging up as many Aire Club flyers as they could all around campus. Casey believed that that'd be enough to garner some attention from the student body, and as much as she wanted to be supportive, Elaine wasn't completely optimistic about the idea, though she'd done her best not to let her skepticism show.

She and Kliff had spent the better part of their afternoon on the fourth and fifth floors of the academy, hanging up the identically themed flyers wherever there was a vacant spot on the wall. Before they knew it, they had distributed the entirety of their fifty-paper stack provided to them by Casey and Raine. With their part of the mission finished, all they could do was wait and pray to Aeris if she was listening that Casey's methods would work.

As much as he preferred not to speak, Raine had placed forth a good point, that being, their fellow students wouldn't so much be inclined to confide in the Aire Club until word got out about them having a solid and dependable relationship. True though that might have been, the only problem was that, until they started receiving job requests, there was little else they could do to repair the club's former distinction.

The Aire Club, according to Casey's stories, used to be one of the most popular clubs on campus; nowadays, they'd be hard-pressed to find a single soul who knew that they even existed. As unfortunate as it was to accept, Elaine doubted this campaign of theirs would bolster any real results, and she had a feeling Kliff was aware of this as well. To anyone who'd lend them the opportunity—may they be a student or Gray Cloak or any other member of staff—Elaine would go on to swiftly explain the Aire Club's history as well as its objectives.

Kliff would usually win the favor of any female students thanks to his handsome appearance and debonair manner of speech, but Elaine knew that none of them were interested in the club so much as they were keen on fawning over her venerable clubmate. After a while, Elaine made it a point to start avoiding the harpies, remembering the blush she'd gotten as she had forced Kliff away from a pair of chuckling girls, yanking him strongly in the other direction by his arm.

Even now, as they strode across the dormitory courtyard, she caught a few peeks, heard a handful of whispers, discerned an exchange of muted whispers. Elaine sighed in defeat; she didn't think she'd ever get used to having such a prominent noble as her classmate, much less as a friend. "I have to say," Kliff laughed as he took a seat on a vacant bench table, "this club business is doing wonders in keeping my mind off the Midterms."

Hesitating, Elaine seated herself next to him, and so the two of them were facing the blue-leaved tree standing at the center of the courtyard. Most of the other bench tables—there were eleven of them in total—were completely occupied by groups of students. In fact, she could have sworn the table they were sitting at was being used not long before their arrival. Was it that they left to make room for them? No, they were more than likely reserving the spot for Kliff; a common lowborn like her might as well have been invisible to their eyes.