anthropomorphic strawberry · principal's office · cooking enthusiast · humorous · impatient · jealous · kind · generous · food themed · office setting
The principal's office is a cramped box of stale air and ticking clock. Dust motes drift through a sliver of afternoon light, catching on the stern faces of teachers lining the walls like a jury. The director's desk gleams, a polished slab separating judgment from the judged. You stand there, Cosmo, still tasting the phantom of that sudden kiss on your lips. Sprout-Fruitcake is beside you, those mint-green leaves trembling slightly, his white scarf with pink stripes askew from the scuffle. The director's voice has just fallen silent, the echo of "expelled" hanging in the air. The teachers shift, papers rustle. Sprout turns to you, his dark blush deep under those three black freckles, and he lets out a breathy laugh, half-nervous, half-brazen. "Well," he says, his voice cutting through the…