Rooming With the Supernatural

by Francheska Fifield

  "Fine. My roommate is athletic. I'm sure he can tell me how to sign up."

  Heather and I high five. "Make sure you tell me when your game is, or games. Mom, dad, and I are so going to watch."

  "Yeah, yeah."

  He gets up leaving without looking back. I text mom and she writes back in all caps. She is excited. I almost feel bad for Al once she starts texting him asking for details…almost.

  "Who do you think is his roommate?"

  I honestly have no idea. I haven't seen his dorm room yet, he dropped off his bag and then instantly took me to my room upon arrival, and he always comes to my room when we meet up, other than me grabbing his shirt earlier and his roommate hadn’t been there. Since it is Heather here instead of Gwen, I doubt he will change that habit.

  "I don’t know, but we should find out."

  Heather looks at my suspiciously mischievous smile and sighs.

  "I have a feeling I am going to regret agreeing to this, but let me text Selene."

  I nod and get up making a map from memory of the Vampire dorms. Meanwhile Selene and a couple of human girls come running and we plan the first prank of the college year.

  It is dark before we can set out. The humans, Fae, and witches decide to team up to prank team Vampire. Of course, it is all females because the guys (or the supernatural ones anyway) will want to be public about succeeding in the prank and we want to get out without being identified if possible.

  So, we meet in a common room after all the parents and teachers are asleep. Selene has the names and room numbers of all the Vampire jocks. It is not hard to do when you were sex in heels. Heather and I had spent the rest of our free day in the potions room making glitter bombs. Her magic mixed with my quirk means these Vamps are going into the games covered in glitter with no way to wash it off. So, they have to forfeit or play looking like a nine-year-old girls birthday party threw up on them.

  Many of the human girls suggested this because they were big fans of twilight and to pay homage to it in this way makes us all laugh. So that is the plan. We will make them sparkly. That’s what they get for harassing human girls. The other races, aka witches and Selene, agree because it will be hilarious.

  Will they think so when we pick on their race next? I hope everyone will be cool about it. I am okay with a return prank as long as they don’t go all Gwen on my ass. I make sure everyone agrees so there will be no hard feelings. Once everyone has given verbal agreement we set out. It is time for some fun.

  Vampires are perhaps one of the hardest groups to prank because they have amazing reflexes and great senses. Because of this they often get little sleep. To make sure that is not an issue here I have been asked by the school to help make Vampire sleeping potions. They had them already, but they only last an hour at most. It is more like a short-term tranquilizer. When I make it, they get a full night's sleep. A solid eight hours. A wonderful side effect is that almost nothing will wake them. This allows them fast healing so nothing done during school hours will be permanent.

  I have also, with Heather's help, made a senses downer. Basically, we smeared ourselves with it, washed our clothing with it, and boom no more smell. It is used when dealing with rogue Vampires or treating werewolves that have been injured. They are less likely to eat you if they can’t smell you. This will ensure the teacher on this floor won't smell us.

  I offer to take Al's room and Selene has chosen a Vampire that refused her flirtation (the lesson here is do not piss off a siren). The others (the humans as Heather secures our magical escape root) each pick a Vampire they are most afraid of. I am thinking of this as therapy for the girls. They are facing what scares them most and making it a joke using art. Look how much we covered in a single afterschool project!

  I snicker and bite my lip quickly so I won’t wake the teacher. I hold up my hand putting one finger down at a time. I hit zero and the girls disperse to their designated doors. They look to me and I drop my arm, the signal to strike. We go in our rooms, toss the glass like balls, and quickly shut the doors behind us. The doors closing wakes the teacher and we hear him moving toward the door.

  The portal opens and everyone shuffles through. I am the last to go before it closes. I see an angry Vampire and glittery dust seeping from under the doors. Looks like we made them a bit too strong. The whole floor will be covered in glitter. The portal closes as he comes towards us and we all sigh standing in the witch common rooms. Heather opens a portal and the girls go to the human dorms. We hustle back to our beds and jump in. We so need to sweat in the morning after our shower so we have a scent or it will be a dead giveaway. I can only wonder how the Vampires will feel when the glitter doesn’t wash off.

  Chapter 11

  We all get up, shower and dress before jogging in place a bit to increase our smell. The goo will be in our systems for a bit so I have warned everyone to make sure they do a little jog here and there to sweat a bit. It is only for a day or two and all the girls had been willing.

  Heather and I leave the witch dorm to go to breakfast. Al hadn't shown up and I assume it is from embarrassment. We get downstairs and hear shouting. There are glittery boys shouting up a storm and teachers looking frazzled. We reach the bottom of the stairs and I can’t help it I laugh. Heather tries to hold it in and fails.

  "Hey boys can we take a pic and send it to Stephanie Meyer? She needs to know how on the money she was!"

  Heather covers my mouth too late. It is out there and I have my phone pulled out. One comes towards me despite the teacher protests. Al comes out of who knows where and stands between us. He is glittery and I want to laugh but honestly the way the light hits him and the anger coming off of him makes him more avenging angel than cutesy glittering Vampire.

  "Stay away from her."

  "Did you hear her? She was mocking us! A mere human!"

  "She is part of my family. She has the love of my mother and the respect of my grandfather. She sassed him and all he did was agree with her. Do you want the Vampire king to know you are disrespecting his adopted granddaughter?"

  The other Vampire backs down, fists clenched so tight I am wondering if the glitter will come off from the amount of pressure. That or he will cause his own hand to explode.

  "Amber, Heather, let's go."

  We follow Al out. No one is smiling now…especially me. Al pulled the grandfather king card. He never does that. He hates it. What have I made him do?

  Before we get out the door to head to the mess hall the humans come down from their dorms. The boys are dressed as always in turtlenecks, but the girls, well they are all in tank tops this morning. Not normal ones either. Flashy, bright, eye catching.

  They march down like they own the world. They don’t hide their bites. They flaunt them. As if to say the Vampires should be ashamed because they sure as hell aren’t anymore. I smile, but this time it is pride. They see Heather and me and smile waving and coming towards us.

  I look over at the Vampires. They are shocked. They don’t even know how to respond. The humans don’t bother looking at them or laughing and pointing. They pretend they don’t even exist. That they aren’t worth the time of day. The males seem shocked to see the Vampires, but they don’t look long. They follow the girls lead. We should have prepared two strikes and done the girl Vampires too. Next time they are up.

  "Morning Amber, Heather. Alastair that is a very nice look for you."

  Shayla smiles and looks entirely sincere. Everyone knows by now that Al, no matter how pissed, will not attack a human. So, they get a little ribbing in without admitting anything. Al is taking it in stride, but I don’t miss the look he gives me. He knows who is responsible and we will have words later.

  To hell with caring. This is the happiest I have seen any of the humans here and if this helps them get over their fears and to stand up as equals it is worth any fight Al and I have.

  The female Vampires mock the boys and that likely doesn’t help. I smile to Heather. "Girls like glitter don't they."
r />   She smiles as Selene bounds up and wraps an arm around each of us.

  "Did you see how pretty the boy Vamps are? Do you think it will stop them from getting some after the games? Not sure how I would feel having it rub off."

  I laugh against my better judgment. I can’t help it. I am a terrible liar, but Selene is definitely not. Ahh, to be good at duplicity. Normally I am fine with not being a good liar, but now I wish I could be more like her. She could prank the whole damn school and come off as totally innocent.

  "Hey, how do you think the girls would like glitter?"

  We mess up Selene's perfect hair, but she is in such a good mood she only pats it back into place as we walk towards the smell of bacon and pancakes.

  "Selene you showed up late we already decided girls like glitter too much."

  We are out of hearing of the others. Most are still inside pointing and laughing so the humans plus Heather, Selene, and Al will be first in the cafeteria.

  "Then I have two questions. First, are the boys joining to hit the girl Vamps and second, what are we hitting them with?"

  Heather laughs and the girls tell the boys of our nightly escapades. They are shocked. Then envious followed by determination. The girl Vamps will be hit next. While they tell the story, each girl giving an account of how she felt, I think up attack B.

  "Slime that sticks to hair."

  Everyone stops talking and looks to me. Selene put her arms over her head and gave me a shocked expression. The boys love it and agree instantly. I look to Heather.

  "You in?"

  "Normally I am all for girl power, but you know what those girl Vamps suck hardcore so let's do this. Oh, and the slime should smell like a fart. Otherwise the ones that don't obsess over their hair won't be affected."

  I can’t think of a single example of that, but if that’s what Heather wants to make, I am down. We start to plan until Al clears his throat. We all stop in time to see some Were's coming. Wow he has so saved our butts there. Good to know even if he is mad, he is not abandoning me entirely.

  We change the subject to the pretty boy Vamps because, well, everyone is talking about it and we want to make sure we participate in group activities. After all Fiona wanted Al and I to make friends and try to fit in. I am just following her orders. I wink at Al as he holds the door open for us all. And for once I am not the only human that feels like they can survive the supernatural world. That makes me ecstatic.

  After breakfast we meet up with Fiona and Fergus. We have plans to use the home portal to go home so I can make up more potions for the humans with bite marks. We step through, with our fancy anytime, anywhere, unlimited portal cards and are home. It still shocks me; even though it is not the first time I am fairly certain it will never cease to shock me.

  Unfortunately, that is the safest time for Al to rip into me without letting everyone know I am responsible for the Vamps being shiny as hell. He seems to forget he is shiny. Fiona and Fergus look shocked and about to ask when Al glares. Their jaws smack shut and they have said nothing since.

  "What the hell were you thinking Amber? The Vamps already hate you and everything you stand for! You think this is going to help?!"

  I don’t think it is a question, but just in case I am going to answer.

  "Yes, I do."

  He looks flummoxed. "Al you wouldn’t get it. We are trying to change how each of these groups see one another. Vampires see people as food. I know you and mom and Fergus don't, but you know damn well all the other rich, over privileged snobs there do!"

  I take a deep calming breath, I don’t want to fight, and I want to explain.

  "Al right now the Vampires think they are the big boy on campus and the humans are there to serve them and for fun. To mess with. We need to break both sides of that notion. The humans are too afraid to fight it. Then they met us. We joke and harass one another. We argue and still stick up for one another. The humans see what life with Vampires could and should be like. Before the Vampires are going to see humans as equals, we have to make the humans think they can be equal."

  "I know, but pulling this prank…"

  "Is the best way to start. It’s a college prank. No one was hurt and yet the human girls that participated felt secure and brave enough to wear clothing that showed their bite marks without feeling embarrassment. They had bite marks and the Vampires had glitter on them that refused to come off.

  "They got to turn the tables on the Vampires and give them a taste, a small taste but a taste nonetheless, of how the humans have lived under the Vampires. The spell only last a couple of days and no permanent harm done. Yes, the Vampires know we did it, but they cannot prove it.

  "This prank let the humans start to feel they were standing on equal ground with the Vampires. And you can bet the Vampires are going to take the humans more seriously now. I hate to do it with suspicion, but they need to see us as equals and the only way to do that is to prove we can get to them every time they get to us."

  "She's right Alastair."

  We all look at Fergus jaws on the grass of our backyard. Well that almost never happens.

  "It's terrible to say, but the reason Vampires think humans are wonderful toys is because they are too afraid to fight back. Making them taste the fear and uncertainty the humans have, making them aware that humans are a force to be reckoned with, is the only way to keep things fair. It’s a delicate thread to balance on, the line between fear and respect, but after fear is achieved you can move on to respect with the next generation so fear is eventually forgotten. A Vampire's greatest weakness is our arrogance. Isn't that what you always say Amber?"

  I nod. It is true. They have everything but nothing all at once.

  "So, the way to get to where you want both sides to go is break the humans of their weakness and break the Vampire's arrogance so they stand on equal ground. This prank is nothing compared to the psychological damage done to the girls that participated in it. But it is a big enough win to help them learn not to back down when the big fights happen."

  "Thank you, Fergus."

  Fiona is still shell shocked and Al…well I think his brain has imploded. Fergus always takes his side. Now here he is praising my choices. What happens next though has all of us suffering from shell shock. Fergus smiles, rubbed my head like I am a little girl that has done a good job, and looks to Al laughing.

  "This is even better than the prank I played on my roommate during our college days. Did I ever tell you and Alastair about that?"

  We all just stand and he takes that as a no, throws his arm around my shoulder and walks with me to my cabin as mom and Al walk behind too shocked to do more than watch the miracle unfold.

  "It was beautiful; the man prided himself on his hair so I paid a witch a great deal of money for a potion to make it a rainbow of girly colors. The only way to make it go away was to shave his head."

  That sounds like a small thing, but Vampires have a thing about their hair. They always grow it long. It is something to do with battles and something to mark some enemy thing or other. I don’t really get it and I don’t need to so I only know what I have heard off and on.

  I manage to let out a half-snort half-laugh and stare in shock as Fergus opens my door and follows me into the cabin. He has not come in since the accident with Al. He barely spoke to me because of it. He likely tried to convince Fiona to get rid of me. It wouldn’t shock me honestly.

  "This was even better. How did you get it to last so long? How many did you make? Do you have the next prank planned or are you waiting for retaliation?"

  I answer his questions as Fiona and Al stand in the doorway watching me make creams and potions while Fergus questions me and laughs at every one of my responses.

  When I finish and pack everything up, he is standing there smiling. He smooths my hair again and I have to wonder which of my plants he ate before coming to visit. I am sneaking it into every meal we make. He puts both hands on my shoulders watching me with an incredulous expression.
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br />   "You aren't such a bad daughter after all."

  He turns and walks out. Fiona stumbles over her words and Al looks happy. I sit down before I fall. Al comes over squatting in front of me.

  "Shocked?"

  "Like you aren't too."

  "We all are. I'm happy for you Amber."

  I have a mom and a dad. For the first time ever. We are officially a full-fledge family. I wipe the tears from my eyes and try to stand. Al takes my bag and helps me up.

  "We should get back."

  I nod and wipe my face hoping I am not too red from keeping the tears of joy from escaping. I don’t need anyone to think I am a wimp that cries if someone says something nice to me.

  Al throws an arm around my shoulder and we walk out. Fiona and Fergus are up the path hugging as Fiona cries happily. We wave and turn to go to the exact spot the portal dropped us. We push a button on the cards and it opens letting us back into the school.

  "It's really nice to have family."

  Al snorts.

  "Wait ‘til dad is upset with something you do then we can reevaluate that sentence you just uttered."

  I laugh and hug him keeping one arm around him as we walk.

  "I think this is a turning point for Fer…dad and I. Think I can be daddy's girl?"

  Al doesn’t even miss a beat.

  "Yesterday I would have said no, but today you are the creator of the first and best prank to ever exist on campus and the one that made my father admit a silly little human girl was his daughter. I think your work is done. World conquered. Congrats I owe you fifty bucks."

  I laugh and nod. It is a good day all around.

  "Nothing is out of reach so I am determined by the end of the year no human will flinch when they pass Vampires and dad will call me his little girl."

  "There goes my next fifty."

  "You bet mister! Don't bet against me!"

  "I am learning that more every day I am near you."

  I smile and release Al to skip in front of him. I am so happy I could twirl like a little girl in a princess gown.