BOO!

Monster in the Closet

Xandy wandered into her dormitory after a nice, quiet shift at the bookstore. The light was off so she flicked it on, but regretted doing so. What if Cyan had been asleep? Nah, there was no way she’d be asleep as early as 9:00pm. After that revelation, she did notice that the bed was empty, hadn’t even been touched since she straightened the sheets this morning. Xandy didn’t care that it wasn’t her bed, she wanted her dormitory straight, roommate or no roommate.

That was when she noticed the books thrown all over the floor. It meant that Cyan had been there at one point, probably after her last class. But where was she now?

Wait, why do I care? Xandy thought to herself, now standing over the books thrown askew by the bed of her roommate. She folded her arms and glared down at them as if that would will them into cleaner pastures. Sheer willpower wasn’t going to move them, apparently. The Skinwalker sighed.

A bump in the closet made her jerk her eyes from the mess on the floor and over to the door in question. With a roll of the eyes, the blonde meandered over to the door and pulled it open forcefully.

“Boooooo!” Cyan yelled, popping out from the dark closet space with a bed sheet over her head.

Xandy backed up a step as the Berserker towered over her. “What are you doing?” Cyan pulled the sheet off of her head and frowned. She had taken down her glamor for dramatic effect but the little slip up in the closet had given her away. “Put your human face back on! What if someone came in? What would they think?”

“That it’s almost Halloween and Cyan has an awesome top of the line costume?” Cyan said sarcastically. She tossed aside the sheet and let it land in a heap on the ground. Her tailed flicked aggressively behind her, making Xandy slightly anxious.

“Halloween is a stupid idea of a holiday. We encourage children to dress up like lunatics and satanists and then go out and ask strangers for candy. And the adults can be just as bad, scaring everyone that rings their doorbell.” Xandy huffed and folded her arms.

“Hey! I know just what we can do this Halloween!” Cyan said, having completely ignored what her roommate said.

Xandy put her hand to her forehead and grunted in exasperation. “Didn’t you hear what I just said?”

“Yeah, yeah. Candy and children and pedophiles. Look, we’re on a college campus. We won’t be trick or treating but we can still have fun.”

“This sounds bad already.”

Bothersum

Confrontation

Xandy had narrowly avoided lunch with Cyan. It was like a stroke of luck, although the alternative was work so it wasn’t that lucky. She liked her job at the bookstore, but work was work. A means to get paid. At least not many young people read books in today’s world, so she was generally left alone. Thank goodness for television and computers.

The Skinwalker wandered through the halls, vaguely directing herself to her dormitory room, when someone called out to her. “Hey!”

Slowly Xandy turned part way around to see a platinum blond girl, no older than herself, glaring at her. Her outfit was too pink and showed off ample amounts of cleavage. “Are you addressing me?” Xandy asked, slightly annoyed by the rude call for attention.

“Who do you think you are?” the girl responded. Xandy lifted one eyebrow questioningly. “You crash my party and you and your little friend think it’s okay to go dancing provocatively in front of all my friends? How dare you!”

The accusation was amusing, Xandy admitted to herself. Provocative dancing? The only thing provocative concerning this girl was her outfit. She couldn’t bring herself to be bothered. “I don’t have time for this,” she stated and walked away.

“Excuse me?” the girl persisted. “Do you even know who I am?”

“Sure. Leah the Spoiled Brat,” Xandy retorted without even missing a step. “Not that I care in the least bit who you are and why you think you have a right to harass me.”

Leah clenched her fists as she watched the natural blonde walk away from her.

In The Classroom

Teacher’s Day

For Thomas Sharp, life was never dull. Even as a professor, he found something to lighten his life everyday. Most usually that something was his daughter.

“They crashed the party and took all of the spotlight. I mean how is that fair?” Leah complained while sitting at the breakfast table.

Thomas sipped his coffee and continued reading the newspaper that covered his face. He was used to his daughter complaining about the other college students. She was lucky that, as the daughter of a professor, she lived in their house on campus and she didn’t have to live in the dorm. “What classes do you have today, dear?” he asked.

“Daddy, you know I have Advanced Latin and Human Anatomy today,” Leah answered, that whiny tone still tinting her voice. She was right though. He did know her classes by heart.

“I have an early class,” Thomas said. He folded his newspaper and stood up. He dumped his left over coffee into the sink and put the mug down. “Behave yourself and get there on time.”

“See you later, daddy,” she responded begrudgingly.

On the way out the door, the professor slipped on his sleek business shoes and grabbed his bag. He also grabbed a demonology reference book and slid his finger into a dogeared page. Out the door he went, shutting it behind him and on he walked across the street to the building his class was in. Thinking of safety first, he didn’t open his book until he made it across the street, and then he began to read.

Students moved through the hallway at a slow but decent pace for multitasking. He barely had to weave through the crowd, which was good because then he’d probably be stuck reading the same line over and over. However, just as he was getting into the paragraph, a student bumped elbows with him. It was a light bump, barely jostling him.

The girl looked over her shoulder and said, “Sorry.”

Thomas glanced up and muttered “It’s alright.” He continued a few steps forward before he realized what he saw was not human. In that moment he glanced up, out of the corner of his eye he saw something most people would consider horrendous. A monster with gray skin and a tail and a horn. But when he stopped and turned around, there was just a normal girl. A girl walking down the hall with her friend, acting as if nothing had happened.

Snapping his book closed, Thomas hurried on his path. He kept going, past his classroom, into the staff bathroom, and locked the door. Staring into the mirror, his hands found the faucet and turned on running water. Was what he saw, real? Was it just his imagination? Maybe it was because he was reading his demonology book at the time. He splashed cool water on his face and pulled a paper towel from the dispenser to wipe it away. He had to get a grip.

Feeling better, he exited the bathroom and walked calmly to his classroom. Students were already there, sitting in seats. One young man in front was sleeping. There was always one slacker. His eyes wandered up to the next row and he found himself looking at the monster. No, the girl, from before. Why couldn’t he take his eyes off her?

“Hello class. My name is Professor Sharp,” he introduced himself. “And this is Demonology.”

Bump

In The Hallway

Xandy was doing the walk of shame. Not the usual post drunken-one-night-stand walk of shame, but one of a girl who regretted being involved with things outside of her comfort zone. She was also trying to avoid her room mate.

“Hey! Xandy, wait up!” Cyan called.

So, maybe she hadn’t succeeded very long at all today. She had thought that by leaving earlier, she could dodge Cyan and not have to see her until classes were over. Thus far, the idea failed.

“So, what are you doing after class? I got demonology then I have a good hour for lunch, maybe we can go get some grub,” Cyan suggested as she caught up. Xandy didn’t answer, hoping Cyan would keep talking like she usually did. She felt a hand touch her shoulder. “Come on, you aren’t still mad at me are you? It was a great party!”

“For you maybe,” the blonde snapped back.

“You are so bitter. Lighten up,” Cyan responded coldly. She wasn’t going to let some uptight goodie two shoes ruin her adrenaline high from previous night. “I been thinking that maybe you need a new look. Change is good for the soul. You could be a whole new person with a new wardrobe and a new hairstyle. Maybe some color or highlights.”

“I know about change,” Xandy remarked.

“Well, are you coming to lunch with me or not?” Cyan asked, a little too impatiently. Her lack of segue showed that she was growing tired too fast of Xandy. It was a mutual feeling. At least the Berserker was trying to be friendly. She could be mean when she wanted to.

“Nope, I can’t,” she answered.

“What do you mean you can’t?” Cyan was looking intently at Xandy and not watching her step. She bumped shoulder to elbow with an older looking man. Without hesitation she turned to look over her shoulder and said, “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” the man replied. He continued on his way a few more steps past them before glancing over his shoulder curiously.

“So what do you mean you can’t?” Cyan pressed the issue again.

“I have two classes and then work,” Xandy replied.

“Sucks,” she commented.

“Didn’t you say you had Demonology class? That is the other way,” the blonde pointed out.

“Crap!” Cyan exclaimed exasperated. She ran off hurriedly, leaving Xandy to sigh heavily.

Party

Party Time!

“You know what we need?” Cyan asked loudly.

Xandy who hadn’t noticed her presence, nearly leaped out of her skin. She slammed her text book shut and glared at the obnoxious room mate she had been stuck with for a week. “What is that Cyan?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“We need to get out of this box and just dance.” The Berserker-in-disguise was rummaging through her drawers and tossing clothes this way and that. “I suggest we go to the frat party tonight. You know how to dance?”

“I don’t dance.” Xandy was that kind of girl who didn’t participate in parties or raves. “Frat parties are overrated. There’s nothing special about them other than exclusivity. Seeing as I’m not affiliated with any fraternities and neither are you, how do you propose we get in anyway?”

“If you got it, flaunt it.”

Xandy’s face twisted into grimace at the thought. “You’re so vulgar.”

Grinning, Cyan said, “Why, thank you.” She turned around with some garments in hand and showed them to the Skinwalker. “Put these on.”

“No!” Xandy’s eyes lit up furiously and she pushed them away from her as if they were toxic.

“Okay, fine. Hike up your skirt then,” Cyan suggested.

“Again, no.” Xandy had had just about enough. “If I must accompany you, I will dress myself.”

“Well hurry it up!”

* * * * *

Half an hour later and Xandy had ditched her skirt for a set of brown slacks and a matching jacket to go over her shirt. It was to the dismay of Cyan but she had done it on purpose. There would tons of boys at this party with one thing in mind and she wouldn’t have any of that going on tonight. Cyan dragged her across campus by the wrist, traveling at a speed she wasn’t used to in her human form. “Could you slow down please?!”

“No time.” The Berseker was hell bent on getting there before the front door crowd dissipated. They were doing the good old fashioned slip-in-with-the-crowd-unnoticed routine. Like they wouldn’t get caught inside by some jealous frat chick.

When they arrived, most of the party was still outside and the festivities were spilling onto the front lawn. How the supervisors hadn’t broken up this little rave surprised Xandy. But part of going away to college was doing what you wanted, and most importantly, getting away with it. “I can’t do this. I don’t dance. I don’t do crowds!” she pleaded to Cyan who wasn’t listening.

Jumping into the middle of the crowd flowing through the fraternity house doorway, Cyan itched with adrenaline. She wanted to bare it all and get down and dirty. Of course, she would bare too much to the humans. While most of them were buzzed on beer already, it wouldn’t go over well if they saw her outside of her guise. “Come on, come on.”

On the way in, Xandy was handed a drink by a random boy in a sports jacket. Breaking free of the massive crowd, she found herself in the cleared middle of a room full of staring people. At least now she could breathe a little better. Cyan already had her arms up over her head, shaking her body and all its wondrous curves in a suggestive dance. The blond folded her arms and stared into the drink, smelling the spiked punch all too strongly. “I don’t want to do this.”

“Come on, break loose! Feel the freedom, feel it pulsing with the music!” Cyan twirled, caught up in the moment. The crowd gazed at her hungrily, ‘ooohs and aaaahs’ escaping their uninhibited minds.

Xandy had a feeling she was being watched, and while that very well was true, it was different. Most of the students in the crowd were watching Cyan and wondering if Xandy would burst into dance as well. This feeling was just different. Eerie one might say. “I want to go back to the dorm now please.” Her words were lost in the thumping of the stereo.

* * * * *

Standing behind the kid in the popular ‘Snow’ t-shirt, Leah watched the two girls taking the limelight. The dark haired one had the most attention. She actively sought it. But even the blonde one was getting some eye. Some people liked the shy innocent look. She growled under her breath, watching what was supposed to be her night, be taken away by two outsiders who didn’t belong.