"Where the heck did you disappear to?" Camila asks once Ariana hurries back over to their table in the corner of the dining hall. Camila had been struggling to peel an orange when she looked up and her best friend had been gone, leaving her at the table all by herself.
I gave green eyes your apple.
Camila's head whips up to look at her tray, where sure enough, her apple is gone. She glares at her friend. "Why?"
Don't act like you were planning on eating it anyway. Ariana drums her fingers against the table and scans the room slowly. She didn't get any food. And she looked like she needed someone to do something nice for her.
"Was she nice to you?" Camila asks. She's always been protective over her friend, knowing that Ariana can't stand up for herself. The smaller girl simply nods and picks at the lint on the sleeves of her sweater.
"Hey, Annabelle, I need your help."
Both girls jump when Dinah pulls out the chair across from them, turning it around straddling it backwards. Camila glances at Ariana, who looks as confused as ever.
"It's Ariana," Camila corrects the girl across from them.
She can call me Annabelle if she wants...
"No she can't," Camila turns to her friend and gives her a serious look. "Your name is Ariana."
Dinah watches the exchange between the two, which is quite hard to follow considering Ariana hasn't spoken a word out loud. Camila gives her friend a firm nod before turning back to Dinah and raising an eyebrow.
"What do you want?" she asks, ignoring Ariana's pleas for her to be polite. Camila hates seeing people use her friend like a doormat. She hates how Ariana lets them.
Dinah ignores Camila and turns to face Ariana, glancing behind her for a moment. She folds her arms on the table between them and leans in to keep her voice down.
"I need you to tell me what she thinks about me," Dinah says quietly, giving the tiniest nod of her head to a few tables behind her. Ariana and Camila exchange glances before craning their necks to see who the girl was referring too.
"Ally's new roommate?" Camila asks in disbelief. Dinah glares at her for raising her voice, but gives the girl a quick nod. Camila takes a moment to look at the girl once more.
"Why can't you just go talk to her?" Camila asks, tilting her head to the side. Ariana watches her friend, silently amused by her actions. "You've never had a problem with that before."
Dinah shakes her head quickly and scoots over to block Camila's view of the girl. "Stop staring," she hisses between gritted teeth. "She's gonna see you."
"And so what?" Camila laughs. She's never seen Dinah get this worked up over a girl. She usually makes it pretty clear that she doesn't do anything but hook ups. Camila doesn't blame her, though. Long term relationships have got to be hard when you live forever. Literally.
"She can't know I'm interested," Dinah whispers, causing Ariana to giggle from beside them. "I just need to know what she thinks of me."
"Ariana doesn't do that," Camila pipes up before her friend could do anything. It's true, though. On most occasions Ariana refuses to reveal other people's thoughts to Camila. She considers it unfair, which Camila understands. And she's not about to let someone else swoop in and use her friend for personal gain. "Why can't you just talk to her like you usually do? You never seem to have a problem with that."
"I don't know," Dinah whispers, and Camila can hear the frustration in her voice. Dinah glances back at the girl a few tables back, and Ariana starts giggling wildly because Dinah is making heart eyes and her thoughts aren't any different.
"It's just different this time," Dinah mumbles, turning back around and twirling a piece of hair around her finger. "Can you just please help me out?"
Camila and Ariana exchange glances, not used to the pleading tone in Dinah's voice. Camila finds it somewhat amusing to see the normally proud and righteous girl now begging for their help.
I can tell her...
"No you can't," Camila whispers so quickly that Ariana flinches slightly. "She literally didn't know your name until two minutes ago."
But...
"Listen, Dinah," Camila sighs, turning back to the girl across the table. "We'd love to help you out, but Annabelle here doesn't spy on other people's thoughts like that." Ariana stifles a laugh beside her at the sarcasm in her friend's voice.
"Fine," Dinah huffs, although Camila can hear the disappointment in her voice. "I'll just do it myself, then." She pushes her chair backward and trudges off. Camila rolls her eyes.
Why do you hate her?
"I don't," Camila shakes her head and pokes at the food on her tray. "I just don't like... people."
You like me.
"You're different," Camila shrugs. "Plus I kinda have to put up with you. It's too late to back out," she teases, earning a gasp and a playful nudge from her friend.
Look. Ariana nods her head towards Ally's table, where Dinah is slowly walking over to the group of girls. Her eyes are on one in particular, though.
Her name is Normani. Ariana informs her friend, furrowing her eyebrows together. And she feels extremely out of place with all the nature freaks.
Camila nods softly, taking a sip of her water while Dinah stops a few feet in front of the table. It's then that Normani looks up, meeting the Polynesian girl's eyes. Moments later Dinah is panicking, snapping her head away and retreating back across the cafeteria. Both Camila and Ariana burst into laughter.
"I guess she's not as confident as she thinks she is," Camila whispers, and Ariana nudges her leg as Dinah walks past their table. Both girls earn an annoyed glare, and they struggle not to laugh even harder.
—
Dinah rolls her eyes at the childish behavior. She's never been one to be nervous much, because she doesn't see the use in it. Some may say she's fearless, although Dinah is sure that she has just as many fears as everyone else. If not more.
She's valued at the school because of her powers. Immortality is rare, but along with being immortal Dinah is also one of the best healers in her class. It's a powerful combination, and she knows it. Although her powers can't do her any good when it comes to relationships. Plantonic and romantic.
She's earned a reputation for being a player. And although she hates the word, Dinah knows that she can't argue with it. Because yeah, she enjoys a quick fuck now and then. And yeah, maybe she's caused scenes in the courtyard by turning down repeats. But that's just how she coped.
The concept of immortality seems ideal at first. Who wouldn't want to live forever? But as time goes on, it becomes daunting. Dinah knows this better than anyone at the academy. Immortality doesn't excuse her from feeling pain.
But of course, she's Dinah. She's the girl that isn't afraid to talk back to her teachers and she's the girl that other girls go to for a night of fun. She's earned her reputation because she deserves it. And in a way, she likes being feared (for lack of a better word.) It makes her untouchable.
As she makes her way back to her cabin, she notices someone perched on a bench, nearly falling asleep. A mischievous smile forms on her face and she plops down next to her roommate.
"Bored already?" Dinah laughs, causing Lauren to jolt awake and look around in a panic.
"Woah there, kid," Dinah places a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm not murdering you or anything. Not yet, at least," she laughs and nudges the girl slightly. "Have a nice nap?"
Lauren furrows her eyebrows and looks down at the apple in her hand, suddenly remembering where she was. "Why are you...? What are you...?"
"I'm bored and you don't seem that annoying. Plus you look kind of lonely," she motions to the bench. Lauren studies the girl for a few moments and realizes that according to Dinah's aura, she wasn't the only lonely one. Lauren isn't really good at making friends, but she figures she'll give it a try. Maybe this place can be a fresh start for her.
"What do you guys do for fun around here?" Lauren asks, attempting to start a conversation. Even though Dinah seems a lot different than she is, Lauren knows it's always a good idea to get along with your roommate.
Dinah smirks, scanning the courtyard around them. "Depends on your definition of 'fun'," she raises an eyebrow at Lauren, who is still utterly confused.
"You gonna eat that?" Dinah eyes the apple in the girl's hand and nods towards it. Lauren glances down, tosses the fruit to Dinah, and shrugs.
Instead of eating the apple, though, Dinah catches it with one hand and grabs Lauren's hand with the other. The dark haired girl has to scramble to her feet to keep herself from falling over as Dinah leads her down the stone walkway, under the iron archway, and back to cabin 27.
"You got a pen in there?" Dinah asks, motioning to the bag on Lauren's bed. Before Lauren can even reply, though, Dinah is digging through it and pulling out a pen. Lauren watches as she takes it apart, removing the ink before putting it back together.
In no time at all, her roommate is poking three holes in the apple, one on the top, one on the bottom, and one on the side. Lauren is still as confused as ever, but there's an unsettling feeling in her stomach when she notes the mischevious air around Dinah.
"Catch," Dinah tosses the apple in Lauren's direction, and the girl quickly scrambles to catch it. She holds it in her hands nervously while Dinah strolls over to her bed. The Polynesian girl pulls it back slightly, kneeling down and prying one of the floorboards open underneath it.
Lauren's jaw falls open slightly when Dinah retrieves a small plastic bag and quickly covers up the floorboard once more. Now, Lauren might me somewhat innocent, but she's not stupid. She knows exactly what's in that bag.
"You're gonna smoke out of an apple?" Lauren laughs nervously. She doesn't want to get on Dinah's bad side, so she bites her lip and sits down on the edge of her bed while Dinah retrieves a lighter from her nightstand.
"You haven't?" Dinah raises her eyebrows and begins packing a bit of the odd smelling plant into the top of the apple. Lauren watches, somewhat curious and somewhat nervous.
"I-I just... I've never actually, you know," Lauren pauses and looks down at her hands. "I've never smoked before. Or anything like that."
When she looks back up, Dinah is blowing a puff of smoke out of her mouth and leaning against the wall behind her bed. She eyes Lauren up and down and shrugs.
"Cool," she dismisses the girl's nervousness. "You can try if you wanna. I'm not forcing you to or anything," she chuckles and lifts the apple back up to her mouth.
"Wait!" Lauren stops her in a burst of courage. Dinah raises an eyebrow at the girl, slowly lowering the apple. "I-I wanna try."
Laughing, the Polynesian scoots over and pats the spot next to her. Despite her nervousness, Lauren hesitantly climbs onto the bed and sits beside the girl.
"How do you even...?" Lauren takes the apple Dinah offers her and studies it carefully. It smells funny, but she can't find the words to describe it.
"Here," Dinah hands Lauren the lighter. "You light this," she points to the hole in the top of the apple. "Cover this, and put your mouth on the bottom. Then you just sorta breathe in." She guides her roommates thumb to cover the small hole in the fruit. "Got it?"
Lauren nods, trying to keep her hands steady as she carefully lights the top of the apple and glances at Dinah for reassurance. She breathes in slowly, holding it in her mouth before handing the apple back to the girl. She coughs a few times, sending small clouds of smoke in front of her, but surprisingly it's not as bad as she thought it would be.
Dinah smiles triumphantly, taking another drag from the apple. She's learned that the best way to get to know someone is to either get them drunk or high. And so she considers this... a bonding experience for her and her roommate.
"Am I supposed to feel any different?" Lauren asks after her sixth hit. Dinah glances over her, taking her fifth and shrugging.
"It's different for different people," she explains, handing the apple back to Lauren and pushing herself off of the bed. "Your tolerance is low so it'll probably be easier for you to get high. Sometimes y—,"
She's cut off by a thumping noise, and when she turns back around, Lauren is rubbing her forehead with her hand.
"That wasn't there before," she mumbles. Dinah smirks.
"The wall? That's been there for years, kid," she laughs and rummages through the pantries in the tiny kitchen. "Here, catch," she turns around and tosses a bag of chips in Lauren's direction. Lauren doesn't move, though, and they hit her in the stomach before falling to the floor. The green eyed girl looks down at them and laughs.
"I can't move my arms," Lauren giggles and looks up at Dinah. Rolling her eyes, the Polynesian girl grabs a bag of popcorn and pushes Lauren back onto the bed before she can run into any more walls. The green eyed girl rolls onto her back and stares up at the ceiling.
"So if you're magic, can you like, kill dragons and stuff?" Lauren asks, turning her head to the side to look at Dinah. The girl scoffs, opening a bag of chips and popping one into her mouth.
"Dragons don't exist, dumbass," Dinah rolls her eyes. Lauren mumbles something inaudible and sighs.
"Unicorns?"
"Nope."
Dinah takes another hit while Lauren sits up, furrowing her eyebrows together and staring at the girl in disbelief. "Well then what do you do?"
"It's more a matter of what I don't do," Dinah laughs, setting the apple aside and deciding that based upon the static feeling in her head, they'd both had enough. "I don't die."
Lauren bolts upright and stares at Dinah in disbelief. "What? You mean like Santa Claus?"
"Santa Claus isn't real," Dinah rolls her eyes half heartedly.
"I know," Lauren rebuts, shaking her head and waving her hand to dismiss what she had just said. She looks around the room and grabs the pen, holding it up between them. "So I could just, like, stab you right now and you'd live?"
"Woah there, psycho," Dinah laughs and snatches the pen out of Lauren's hand, who looks at her in confusion. "Technically, yes. But it still hurts a little. And let's not test it," she sets the pen down, away from Lauren.
"Oh," Lauren ponders this for a few moments before flopping onto her back. "That's all?"
"That's all?" Dinah raises a questioning eyebrow, to which Lauren nods.
"Well, I mean, yeah, that's cool and all," Lauren runs a hand through her hair. "But I just pictured people here being able to do stuff, right? Like make tornados or shit."
"I'm a healer," Dinah shrugs, offering Lauren a chip. The green eyed girl studies it intently before popping it in her mouth and leaning back against the wall. She's starting to like it here. She feels relaxed.
"A healer?" Lauren's eyes nearly pop out of her head and she sits up once more. "So if I like, stab myself with the pen, you can fix me?"
Dinah throws the pen across the room before Lauren has a chance to grab it and shakes her head.
"Let's not stab anything for a very long time, okay?" Lauren nods. "But yeah, I'm a healer. I can't really show you cause' that involves someone getting hurt. But next time you like... get a papercut or some shit, come to me."
"You got it, dude," Lauren giggles and lies back on the bed, watching as the ceiling seems to swirl around.
"So what about you?" Dinah asks, using the opportunity to figure out why Lauren was there. She waits for a few moments, but when there's no answer, she looks over to find the girl fast asleep at the bottom of her bunk. Mumbling something under her breath, the Polynesian girl pops another chip in her mouth before lying down and deciding that a nap didn't sound like too bad of an idea.