|15| Pets and Libraries

On arriving at her dorm room, Fiona saw Bam Bam sitting in the same position she'd first seen her in (the time they'd been introduced). She sat with her bottom on the bed, her shoulders slouched, and her eyes innocently wide. Fiona didn't know if she was imagining it, but her behavior seemed a bit suspicious, like she'd recently been up to no good. Fiona hoped it was all in her head.

    "You might be wondering where I've been. I—" She began to explain herself, in case her roommate had been worried (though she doubted it), but was cut off by a slimy sensation on her foot.

Looking down, a pair of beady black eyes stared into hers. A second passed. Two seconds. Three seconds. With all her might, Fiona screeched, jumping backward. The motion caused the frog to bounce off her sandals. It hoped all the way to Bam Bam, leaped unto her lap, and faced Fiona.

Fiona, who was restricting herself to a corner of the room, gaped in horror at the little creature. Since she was little, she'd had a phobia of all things amphibian or reptilian, including dragons. One time in elementary school, she'd cried when her teacher had used a toad for a science practical. As she'd grown older, she'd learned to control her tears, but that didn't leave her any less terrified. How wonderful her luck was that her roommate had a frog as a pet.

    "Please don't scream." Bam Bam timidly pleaded. "If Joan finds out he's here, she'll take him. Then I'll be alone. Mr. Froggie is my only friend."

She slouched her shoulders even more. Fiona watched as Bam Bam lovingly stroked the animal's head. "Mr. Froggie" was a regular-sized frog, though, in her small thighs, it appeared big. Like most girls, she was obsessed with dressing up her pets, for she had worn the amphibian a miniature red bowtie and yellow crown. The fraction of Fiona's brain that wasn't stricken by fear jokingly thought "King Froggie" would be a better fitting name.

It was the part where Bam Bam had said she would be lonely without the animal that really got Fiona thinking, however. If it was genuinely the case, then it was quite sad. Initially, Fiona had assumed the pixie's sorrowful look was just in her appearance, but perhaps it wasn't. Perhaps she was truly unhappy. Fiona instantly felt bad. All this while, she'd been judging someone she'd only met and knew nothing about.

    "It's okay." Fiona assured her roommate, gingerly moving to the mirror. Inspecting her hair, she tried to steady her breathing. "Just— keep him away from me, for now.

Bam Bam's reflection showed that she was watching Fiona. She didn't smile or speak, but her surprised eyes revealed her gratitude. A corner of Fiona's lips curved upwards; maybe her roommate wasn't so bad.

    "So. Why are you in MARC, anyway?" Fiona, for the first time, tried to make small talk.

Why was Bam Bam in MARC? Where to begin? There was this one occasion she'd handed a box of live tarantulas to a kid on his birthday. A few years back, she'd made it her duty to pour fish blood on pixies taking a bath at the village's waterfall. The one that had done it, however, was the dead mouse prank.

A neighbor of hers, a younger pixie boy, had been grieving over his recently lost pet. Bam Bam had dug up the buried carcass of the rodent, and had placed it by his bedside whilst he slept. She had thought it funny, and had only wanted to cheer the boy up, but the village chief had not seen it that way. She'd been given a one-way ticket to MARC.

    "I played pranks a lot." Bam Bam determined the less Fiona knew, the better.

The school bell ringing prevented Fiona from pressing further. It was dinnertime. Once she entered the dining hall, she scanned the crowd for Dominic. Oddly enough, she'd formed the habit of searching for him in every room she walked in. As usual, he was not present.

Morning came far too quickly. Fiona rallied through her classes like the frustrated scholar she was. It had only been yesterday that her educational torment had begun, but she felt like she'd been schooling in MARC for years. The instant the bell for her free period sounded, she heaved a sigh of relief.

Fiona considered spending her spare time in her dorm, but throughout the day, her thoughts had kept venturing back to her adventure with Naomi in the tunnel. The treasure they had sought had turned out to be nothing but a seemingly useless piece of wood. That said, why had someone gone through so much trouble to safe-keep it if it wasn't valuable? What was the story behind that cube? Fiona knew no better place to seek answers than the library.

MARC's school library was a two-story building with orange-painted walls. It was an extensive collection, having many tall shelves that contained every book a young supernatural student would ever need. Fiona climbed the stairs and dropped her bag at an empty table near the verandah. It was only after she reached for a book that she realized she did not know what she was looking for.

She had no idea the name of the object she wanted to learn about, or who had hidden it. What's worse, there weren't any computers around where she could type a description in the search bar. Staring stupidly at the shelf, she accepted her quest was futile.

    "Ramona, right?"

Swerving, Fiona faced the girl who had just spoken. She was pretty, in a kind of sophisticated, but artificial way. Her long chestnut hair rhymed perfectly with her heavily tanned skin. Eyes as green as emeralds sized Fiona up.

    "It's Fiona."  

    "Whatever." The girl rolled her eyes, folding her arms and therefore, lifting her breast. Her chest was ridiculously big, about three times the size of Fiona's own bust. "You've been bid to the Forest Banes meeting coming tonight." She then offered a small stone plaque.

Taking the stone, Fiona observed the three claw marks indenting it. "Bid?"

    "A formal invitation to join a fraternity?" The brunette's tone said she was unimpressed by Fiona's ignorance.

Fiona, on the other hand, was quickly deciding she did not like this green-eyed girl. She stood akimbo, focusing a fierce glare on her. "I don't intend to join any fraternity."

The girl remained unfazed, nonchalantly shrugging. "You've been bid. It will be an act of disrespect to not, at least, show up. Bring the plaque along, it's your key to the party." With a ridiculing smirk, she left.

Fiona watched her leave, excessively swaying her hips. As she walked, a familiar face crossed her, approaching Fiona. Naomi gave the girl a lethal side eye that though she could not see, was still hilarious. It was obvious Naomi too, did not fancy her.

    "What did Trish want?" The crazy battle mage asked on reaching Fiona.

    "Invited me to some meeting."

    "You got bid!" She yelled excitedly. "That's so cool. Forest Banes is my fraternity; I can pick you up tonight. We're going to have so much fun."

Considering the things Naomi found fun, Fiona immediately became worried.