Where Ya' Rowing, Rowan North?

Chapter Three: The New Girl

I woke up looking into the eyes of a very small tabby cat. Do they let the girls have pets here? I blinked up at the little creature, and it blinked right back, swiping a paw over one ear and muttering. “So... I guess you’re my new roommate.”

All I could do was gape open-mouthed as the kitten leaped off my chest and onto the bed sheets besides me, tail dragging against the blankets. “You snore, Rowan North. Loud.” She snarled. “Rowan… such a boring name, it means nothing. That name up on that stupid plaque, right up next to mine… horrible.” The little she-cat drifted off for several seconds, muttering as though I could no longer hear her. Then she shook her head, bunched her muscles, and, taking another wild jump onto the twin bed next to mine, the petite she-cat added, “What with the snoring and kicking your sheets off and all, I didn‘t catch a wink of sleep.” She nodded a ginger head towards a pile of blankets spread across the floor. “It was never this noisy in here with just me.”

“Th-this is your room?” I stuttered, swiftly kicking off the sheets and sitting up.

With a well-practiced sigh, the kitten seemed to roll her bright green eyes, if that was even possible. “It was, until you came. Anyways, since we’re going to be roommates, I think we need-”

Her words were interrupted by a cheerful cry from the other side of the room. “Hey guys!” A voice almost as energetic as Harmony’s (but a good deal saner) greeted us, and when I whipped around, I met the pale greenish aqua eyes of a girl a good half-foot taller than me, carrying three plates of waffles and strawberries, two in her hands, and one balanced carefully on (well, actually floating several inches above) her head. I swear, the instant I saw that girl my jaw dropped. Her blonde hair was braided down her back, darker at the edges, and, as her gaze swept over me and my new roommate, she narrowed her eyes disapprovingly. “Stop that, Dragon. I know it gives you headaches this early in the morning.”

Once again, the kitten, Little Dragon, she rolled her green eyes, looking downright laughable. “I‘m nervous. I can‘t help it.” She muttered, her flat voice sounding anything but nervous. And once again, just as Ms. Eliza Bane had transformed before my eyes the night before, the kitten was gone, replaced by a small girl with wide and suspicious green eyes, and pale brown hair similar to the kitten’s light tabby coat. “Happy now?”

Making herself comfortable on the edge of my new bed, the girl frowned. “Your hair didn’t change.”

“Oh, come on! I kind of like this color, actually. Its almost normal!” For a moment there was total silence as the girls bit their lips, exchanging amused glances. Several seconds later, they both burst out laughing. My new roommate grinned. “Whatever, Luna. I kinda wanted green today, anyways.” With those words, the girl’s short hair shimmered a bit, almost as though I was looking at it through water, or maybe thick glass, as tendrils of green shot up from the roots, slowly weaving their way through the rest of her formerly pale brown mane.

I stared, no longer shocked, but still intensely impressed. “Whoa.” The two girls blinked and turned to look at me, as though suddenly realizing that I was there. “How… how did you do that?”

Little Dragon grinned, a short, small smile that disappeared almost instantly. “I’m a Switcher.” I nodded as I remembered what Ms. Bane had told me about Switchers the night before. Little Dragon continued, her voice brisk and business-like. “Only difference is, honestly I‘m a lot more powerful than any of the others here.” She winced. “Actually, they’re almost pathetic sometimes.”

“Unfortunately, she has little to no control over her abilities.” Luna gave her blonde head a shake, leaning forward to set her two plates against the shag carpet. “She Switches when she gets nervous.” She bit her lip and glared at her friend. “Its really, really annoying, actually. Much less cool than you’d think.”

Dragon frowned and dug her hands into the pocket of her pale blue hoodie. “So… the time I convinced Headmaster I was a giant spider wasn’t cool?”

Luna grinned, flashing me an easy smile as though she had known me her entire life. “That was pretty cool.”

I frowned, tipping my head to one side and feeling like a fool. “Who’s Headmaster? Is that Bane?”

“Sorry, didn’t catch that.” A smooth, slightly raspy voice several feet behind me joined the conversation.

“Didn’t catch what, Jynx-Jynx, didn’t catch what?“ I winced, my reaction mimicking those of my two companions. Oh good God, no. Harmony was back. The tiny girl, swinging her wild pale brown mane from side to side and swinging an empty Styrofoam plate from hand to hand, skipped through the pale door, followed by an even shorter Asian girl with sleek, inky hair that stuck up in random spikes. I swung my head around as Harmony joined Luna on the edge of my bed, flopping down with her arms spread wide and blinking her blue eyes. “Morning, Rowan! How’d you sleep? I told everyone about you just like I said I would.” Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Luna press her palm against her forehead, eyes shut tight.

“Nothing, Harmony.” Jynx glared at me, pulling her lips back to reveal slightly-pointed teeth. She raised a hand to the dog-collar fastened around her neck, absentmindedly running a finger down the surface of one of the multiple white spikes that embellished the smooth black leather. “It was nothing, right? Rowan?” The way she said my name was odd, very precise, her voice nothing less than cold.

I hesitated, my eyes darting to Dragon and Luna, neither of whom seemed very willing to meet my eyes, instead choosing to keep them locked firmly on Harmony, who had gotten up off my bed, and set herself to bouncing about the room. “Yes…”

“That’s what you should say. I’m Jynx.” The girl nodded towards me, cracking her knuckles. She shook her head, letting several black strands flop into her eyes.

“And I’m Luna!” The blonde girl added brightly, taking her place on the other side of the room like a sentry and flipping her curly blonde hair out of her eyes. “But you probably already knew that, seeing as you heard Dragon refer to me as such.” She skipped around me in a circle, grinning.

“I’m… I’m Lily.” Yet another voice called out as a girl, taller and thinner than me, but still, in an odd way, rather small in appearance, padded in to stand beside Jynx. She waved slightly, smiling a vague smile that hardly reached her eyes. Her dark brown hair, which hung down in her face, was streaked with blonde.

“Morning, Lil‘!” Jynx raised her head to greet the girl cheerfully, the dark rasp she had used when speaking to me nearly disappearing.

There was a sharp pop in a corner, and then the tiny lamp settled down on an equally petite desk tucked into a corner popped and went out before combusting completely.

“Telekinesis. Sorry about that.” Luna chirped.

“Fire! Pretty!” Harmony exclaimed.

“Everyone, just get out of my room. Please.” Dragon snarled, burying her head in a pillow and sliding her nails over a wooden desk.

I jumped back, taking a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. Don’t freak out just yet... this is normal here. I think. “H-how often does that happen?” I breathed.

Luna tipped her head to one side and looked the lamp over thoughtfully. “Well... Psychic powers like mine can be hard to control. I’d been doing better for a while, actually-”

Jynx interrupted with a loud snort. “Right, Luna. Its not like, maybe, you blew a microwave up last week. For the third time this month.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “That wasn‘t me!"“So it just blew up.” Lily grinned. “Whatever you say, Luna!”

Dragon twitched vaguely. “Out. All of you. Now.”Luna smiled, turning to me. “Brilliant. Rowan, we can show you around the campus, then! That’s what Bane told us to do, anyways.”