“Ah, Iralyn,” Principal Elriun said, staring at her, “I assume you are here for Reparations. You are needed in the kitchen.”

She forced a genuine smile on her face, thinking of the joy she felt when playing basketball, and said, “Of course, ma’am,” before heading off to the kitchen.

She actually didn’t mind the kitchen. The people there were actually very kind. She was one of the ones they liked, too, so she knew that they would make it so that she could volunteer for the harder jobs in order to earn more Virtue points. Sometimes, they would ask the person to do the harder chores, but she knew they would let her volunteer. With any luck that would earn her at least a few of the Virtue points she needed.

“Hi, Miss Mallock!” she said, grinning, to the head chef.

Miss Mallock smiled. “Hello, Iralyn. I’m glad you chose to join us this morning.”

It’s not like there’s anywhere else I could go, Iralyn thought, but she wasn’t upset or angry that she had to be here. The only bad thing, if she would even call it that, was that she had to wake up a little earlier. Today, she woke up at seven thirty, whereas normally on Fridays, she’d wake up at eight thirty. But she chose to arrive an hour early for Reparations, and so she had to wake up early as well.

“So what do you need help with?” Iralyn asked.

Miss Mallock gestured to the mess of dishes piled up in the sink. “If you could help with those, it would be great. Everyone’s busy with the preparations for Virtue day.”

Iralyn smiled. Virtue day was coming up. She’d almost forgotten. But on the plus side, that meant everything was a whole lot busier. Which meant a bigger chance for Virtue points. Which meant a bigger chance to be able to try out for the basketball team. So no, she wasn’t complaining. “Sure!”

She washed the dishes somewhat quickly. She did it fairly often at home. Her parents were busy.

“Hey, can I load these into the dishwasher?” Iralyn asked.

“Sure, Iralyn. Thank you.”

The rest of the morning before school went by quickly. Iralyn lost herself in the frantic rhythm of the kitchen.

By the time it was time to go to homeroom, she had at least two more stains on her sweater, a soaking-wet shoe, and five more Virtue points, all of which came from defusing a situation between the angry mother of a seventh-year.

Her parents owned a business, after all. She’d seen their strategies for calming people down and applied them. 

Only nine more Virtue points to go.

In homeroom, she took special care to sit at attention and focus on every word that came over the PA system, even though she couldn’t care less about the Autumn Fundraiser or some stupid school dance.

Then, the dreaded words came: “Now, all students in line for Reparations, please come down to the office!” Principal Elriun said.

Iralyn stood up and walked out of the room, trying to hold her head high despite the weight of everyone’s eyes on her.

She could practically hear people gossipping about her later. Some of these kids got Virtue points seemingly overnight. She didn’t know how they did it, but they could do almost anything and still be back up over one hundred Virtue points by the next day.

By the time she reached the office, she was starting to regret the decision to wear a sweater. The heating in her school was working on overdrive for some reason…

There were only two other kids in line for Reparations that day: Ryker, an eleventh-year she knew from gym last year, and Darcy, a girl in her grade known for constantly causing trouble. Darcy was one of the type to always get in trouble but never suffer any consequences, but Ryker was probably like Iralyn.

"Well, Darcy, since you already know what you’re doing, why don’t you start us off?” Principal Elriun said.

Darcy shook her head. “Nah, I’m going to go last.”

She lost a Virtue point for that.

Iralyn stepped forward. “I can go first instead,” she volunteered.

She got a Virtue point. Eight more. She wasn’t sure why it counted, but she was glad it did.

Principal Elriun smiled. “Thank you, Iralyn.”

“Hi,” she said, “my name is Iralyn Nadir. I would like to apologize to Liv Valentine for disrespecting her personal space. Liv, you have my complete promise that I will never do such a thing again. I ask that you give me a second chance, but do not demand it. Thank you.”

That was...even worse than she had thought it would be. 

Next, Ryker stepped forward, completing his apology in almost the same format as she had.

“Well, Darcy,” Principal Elriun said, “it is your turn.”

Darcy rolled her eyes and stepped forward. “Hey, everyone. I just figured I’d say this: the Virtue system is messed up, the Ryants are basically dictators, and this school is overrated. I don’t want to apologize for anything other than taking part in this system, but I’m certainly not going to beg for forgiveness, either. I know I’m getting kicked out for this, so I might as well end it on a high note:” Darcy pulled a kazoo out of her back pocket and started playing the school’s Alma Mater in a clearly mocking tone.

“Darcy!” Principal Elriun shouted.

Darcy turned to her and smirked, not stopping the kazoo.

Iralyn stood frozen, transfixed by the confrontation.

As the song ended just a few seconds later, Darcy leaned forward and said, “If you want to see me, I’ll be at the Park every night at eleven! So long, losers!”

Iralyn wasn’t sure how much of Darcy’s message the school actually heard. Principal Elriun pulled the cord on the PA system sometime in the middle of it.

Darcy took off running out the door, yelling swear words as she went.

“Principal?” Ryker asked, “Can we go back to class now?”

Principal Elriun rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I suppose so.”

“I’m in Darcy’s grade and her homeroom is only one over from mine. I can go see if Darcy left anything behind,” Iralyn said. She would get Virtue points for this. It was Darcy’s property, after all.

Principal Elriun nodded. “Of course. Check her locker and then head to class. Here, I’ll write you a hall pass.”

Iralyn waited for the hall pass as Ryker left the room, leaving her alone with Principal Elriun. Once she grabbed the pass, she walked out the door, stopping by Darcy’s locker. It was only a few down from hers, given that they had close-together homerooms. She opened it. Nothing was inside.

Lockers didn’t have locks anymore. That was because of the Virtue system. Anyone who stole would lose Virtue, and the police would be contacted. 

Regardless, she got two Virtue points. Six more.

She checked in Darcy’s homeroom, which also didn’t have any of her belongings, before ducking back into her homeroom, which was also her first-period class.

Even though it was ten thirty on a Friday morning, and she’d much rather be sleeping, she forced herself to pay attention. She couldn’t afford to lose any Virtue points; not today.

She went to her second period class and then to lunch, still not earning any Virtue points. It was only an hour before the window closed and she had to earn six Virtue points. She might as well give up now. Then again...most of that time was lunch. And lunch was notorious for opportunities to gain Virtue points. And to lose them.

Iralyn sat down next to Kyph, her only friend. She had only moved two weeks ago.

Kyph had moved to the same place as her, because his parents co-owned her parent’s business.

Kyph glanced at her, glanced at his watch, which would reveal how many Virtue points she had, then gave her a half-smirk so small that not even the Virtue system picked it up.

Then, he looked down into his bowl, reaching for the salt container as he did so. He almost dropped it, but then caught it.

What could he be doing?

Iralyn shook her head. Whatever he was planning, it wasn’t going to work.

He shook the salt container over his soup a few times, then twisted the head slightly and shook it again. This time, salt came pouring out, straight into the soup.

“Ack!” he shouted, “That wasn’t supposed to happen! Now my soup is all ruined!”

Ah. So that’s what he was doing. Smart.

“Here, you can have mine,” Iralyn said, quickly. Plus two.

“But then you won’t eat! You need it more than I do!” he protested, “I ate at nine thirty!”

“No, I insist,” Iralyn said, handing over her bowl of soup. Plus one.

“No, it’s my own fault! Why should you give up your soup for that?”

“Because you’re my friend?” Plus one.

“What kind of friend would I be if I took your soup?”

“One who’s got basketball tryouts after school and needs to be full.” Plus one.

“So do you.”

Iralyn gestured to the salad she’d grabbed. “I have a salad. You don’t. Take the soup and stop complaining.” Plus one.

“Okay, fine,” Kyph grumbled, grabbing the soup.

Bam. One hundred and twenty-five.

“You know, Kyph,” Iralyn said, “you’re a great friend. Thanks for all your help.” She kept it as vague as possible to avoid the Virtue system picking up on what she was really saying.

“You help me just as much,” Kyph said.

“I doubt it.”

“Well, don’t.”

“Okay,” Iralyn said, laughing as she ate her salad.

Despite everything, she was still going to be able to make it to try-outs. Things could be a whole lot worse, and she was grateful that everything had managed to work out so far.