Geneva wasn't in the lunch room when Penny went to look, and they didn't have any other classes together. At the end of the day, when Penny headed back to the dorm, the other girl was on her bed reading.
"Geneva?" Penny asked softly.
Geneva turned a page and didn't answer.
"I'm sorry about earlier. It's... I wish I could tell you, but I can't, and..."
Geneva closed the book, lay down, and closed her eyes.
Penny sighed. Tears pricked her eyes as she got ready for bed.
It was a long time before Penny got any sleep that night.
***
The next morning, Penny woke up at 7 o'clock. When she rolled over, she saw Geneva leaving the room.
Penny sighed and got out of bed, following Geneva out into the hallway.
Geneva turned around when the door shut, but ignored Penny and speed up as she walked to the cafeteria.
Penny hurried after her. "Geneva-- look, I'm really sorry--"
Finally Geneva stopped. "Sorry about what? Not telling me some big, important secret? Totally ditching me during lunch? Leaving me at the mercy of Emma Erora, who decided to vent her anger on me for some reason?"
"Wait, what?" Penny said, trying to keep up. "What about Emma?"
Geneva rolled her eyes. "She basically humiliated me in front of the whole school, saying that my power is useless. Which you would've known had you been there like a friend should." She turned away.
Penny reached out and grabbed Geneva's arm. "Emma did what? Where is she?"
"Probably asleep." Geneva pulled her arm away from Penny.
"Where's her dorm?" Penny scanned the hall. No one messed with her friends.
Geneva sighed. "Look, it's not a big deal. Forget about it. Go back to sleep."
Penny shook her head. "No. Look, I'm really sorry. I should've been there. You're right. But I can't-"
"But you can't tell me. I know," Geneva said sarcastically.
Penny made a split second decision, hoping she wouldn't regret it. "We're the Fabulosa."
"What?" Geneva hissed.
"We weren't supposed to tell anyone, because then the Malum could find out, but everyone basically already knows that someone at this school is the Fabulosa because of Alex's history teacher--" Penny was rambling and she knew it.
Geneva nodded thoughtfully. "Someone did mention that at lunch yesterday..."
"And you can't tell anyone, I mean anyone, about this," Penny said frantically. "Seriously."
"Okay, I won't. I swear." Geneva spit on her hand and held it out.
Penny looked at it. "Um, a verbal promise is enough."
Geneva shrugged and wiped her hand on her pants.
"Now, which dorm is Emma's?" Penny asked.
"Well, you know, maybe you could look at the name plates by each door?" Geneva suggested sarcastically.
"Oh." Penny face-palmed before walking over and looking at the list by each door. "No, no... here it is! She doesn't have a roommate."
Geneva hesitated. "Well, she did..."
Penny turned. "Huh?"
"I used to be her roommate, but she wasn't very nice to me, so I requested a room change. Ever since, she's kinda hated me."
"Oh." Penny hesitated before knocking. "Should I...?"
Geneva shrugged.
Well that's helpful, Penny thought as she raised a fist and rapped on the door.
There was silence.
"She's probably still asleep," Geneva said.
Penny shook her head. "We have to be downstairs for breakfast at 7:30. She's got to be up by now." She knocked again.
A muffled voice said, "Go away."
Penny looked back at Geneva, who shrugged again. "Emma?"
"Go away," the voice, who Penny assumed was Emma, said again.
"Are you okay?" Penny asked, somewhat concerned.
The door opened, revealing Emma Erora, her eyes red rimmed. "I said to go away."
"What's wrong?" Once again, inside Penny something warned her away from Emma, but Penny ignored it.
Icicles formed on Emma's hand. "Nothing. Leave me alone."
"Have you been crying?" Geneva said from behind Penny, incredulous.
"NO!" A bolt of ice shot out of Emma's hand, spiraling towards Geneva.
Penny didn't think about it, just jumped in front of the spear. The air around her became warm, and the ice melted before it could touch Penny.
"What the heck?" Geneva half-yelled. "You just tried to kill me!"
Emma looked at the hand where the ice had come out for a long moment. Then, to Penny's shock, a tear rolled down her cheek. "I- I'm sorry!"
"You should be!" Geneva shot back.
Emma began to cry, trying to hide it.
"Let's go into your room," Penny said. The three girls went inside, and once out of the hall, Emma began crying even harder.
Penny tried to comfort the other girl, although she didn't really know why Emma was crying. Geneva stood awkwardly off to the side.
Finally Emma stopped. "Are you okay?" Penny asked gently.
Emma nodded. "I'm fine."
"Why were you crying?" Penny asked. "You don't have to tell me of you don't want to," she added hastily.
Emma shook her head, but then the whole story came pouring out like her tears had before.
At times it was a little hard to understand, as Emma started to cry again, but Penny got the gist of it.
Emma lived with her mother, who was one of those few Magicae who had what Penny thought of as the 'Malfoy Mindset'-- she believed that children born to Magicae parents were better. Before Emma went to school, her mother had told her to only become friends with powerful Magicae whose parents were also magic.
The first friend Emma had really made was Juliette, as they had many things in common and got along well. But when Emma had found out Juliette's parents weren't Magicae, she knew she had to end the friendship.
Emma hadn't been able to tell Juliette the real reason, so had just told Juliette that she had to learn to use her power.
"I-- I'm really sorry about what I said to you the other day," Emma apologized to Geneva. "I was mad at myself for ruining my friendship with Juliette, and I just... I took my anger with myself out on you, because I was always kinda hurt when you didn't want to be in my dorm, and..." Emma bowed her head down, tears silently falling.
Geneva looked stunned. "It's okay. And... sorry about the whole dorm thing."
Emma nodded.
"Hey," Penny said, an idea forming in her mind. "We still have an extra bunk in our dorm. Emma, would you want to move there?"
Emma looked up, and a small smile broke across her face.
"I'd love to. But, Penny, why are you being so nice to me?"
Penny was confused. "Why wouldn't I be nice to you?"
"Well for one, I wasn't exactly the nicest to you. Plus we're resistants."
"What does that mean?" Penny was even more confused now.
Emma explained. "Our powers and personalities are opposites. I'm sure you felt it too when we first met, like something warned you away from me. Our powers are like the ends of magnets that repel each other. Fire and ice don't mix, so neither should we."
Penny frowned. "I did feel that, but why does it matter? We can still be friends. You are who you choose to be, not who your power says you are."
"That was deep," Geneva remarked.
Emma and Penny both laughed. "So we can be friends?" Emma asked.
Penny nodded. "Of course."
Relatable quote!
"But give me some time, I'll be twice as good as that six months from never."
-Newsies
It's from the song "Watch What Happens." Give it a listen!
What's your favorite relatable quote? Comment it! Thanks for reading, and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!
Sorry about the unpublishing it. I wrote the chapter, published it, then realized I had left some things out. Sorry!