Chapter 2

I follow Mary and Sue to another dorm room on the other side of the hallway. We peek into the open doorway to see another gorgeous girl. Wow, everyone at Wattpad High is so pretty and picturesque, you'd think you were at a modeling school and not a writing school. This girl however, was not as pretty as either Mary or Sue. She's thin, but in an early 2000s sort of way, when girls were still allowed to go through puberty. Her hair is a platinum blond that goes down to her...pronounced upper chestal area. With makeup as light as Mary's is dark, she's dressed in an all-pink ensemble, tight pink baseball shirt and equally tight matching miniskirt with shoes that can only be accurately described as "hooker heels".

She has her arms around a boy who defies explanation. He's absolutely attractive beyond measure, and yet, there are no ways to describe them. Typical? Standard? These words come to mind, but they don't do justice as to how beautiful, yet bland this boy is.

The boy looks over the girl's shoulder, "Oh hey babe, we've got company."

She turns around, and rolls her eyes, "You again. What did I say about this dorm being taken? And oh, how cute, you brought friends."

"Look, I get that you need to exude some kind of superiority in order to compensate for some sort of deficiency in your life, but don't do it with my cuz," Mary challenges, stepping forward.

"Ugh, do you know who I am? My daddy is a bajillionaire. You have no right-"

Mary snaps her fingers and a piece of duct tape slaps over the girl's face. She pulls at the tape, but is unable to pull it off.

The boy walks away from the girl, seemingly enraptured by something, or rather, someone. Like a man possessed, he marches past Mary and I and turns himself toward Sue.

"...hey, you're...really interesting," he mumbles, a puppy-dog smile forming around his lips as he stares into her eyes.

She giggles, turning her head away, "You're...really pretty…"

The two of them become locked in each other's glance, completely ignoring everyone else in the room, who all stare at them awkwardly.

Mary suddenly dives in between them, "Uh, hey, it was me who saved you from that witch."

The boy glances over at the girl, who's still trying to pry off the magical duct tape, "Oh, that's Barbie. Everyone hates her, but she's somehow popular anyway, you know?"

He takes Sue's hand, seemingly only talking to her, "My name's Erik. What's yours?"

"Sue…" she whispers, before hiding her face with her hands.

"Well Sue, would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Mary, stunned in absolute disbelief, pushes Sue aside, "Look bub, I don't care how drop-dead...handsome you are, but you can't date my cousin after only having just met her!"

He shrugs, "Hey, they did it in Frozen."

"Actually, they did not," I correct, "Han proposes to Anna, but Elsa disallows her from-"

"Why are you here?" Erik asks me.

I pause, contemplating my answer, "...so the audience can see this unfold?"

Barbie finally rips the duct tape off of her face, "Erik, you're with me! You can't just...switch girls like that!"

He glances around, "Uhm...yeah I can."

"Look, all y'all need to get out of here! This is my dorm, and the decorating committee is coming soon! So out!"

Mary walks up to Barbie, and holds her hand out in front of her. A red aura glows from her hand, and Barbie's blue eyes begin to glow the same red, "You will share your dorm room with Sue. You will both hate it, but you will put up with it. Plus, it'll make for good drama."

The red fades from Barbie's eyes, and standing completely still, she drones, "Yes miss."

Mary smiles, "Good."

She saunters out of the room, and starts walking back to her dorm, "Alright Sue, you've got your dorm. Start unpacking before Pretty in Pink wakes up from her spell coma."

Sue shirks, grabbing her small box of stuff and shuffling into her room.

"Hey Sue, so, how does dinner tonight sound? There's this trendy cafe in the town by the school. I could take you," Erik proposes.

She chuckles, "Wow, uhm...I don't know…"

"Alright, I'll see you then. Wear something pretty," he tells her, before exiting the dorm.

I walk back into my dorm, where Mary is lying down on her bed. I sit down at my desk as she slaps her head, "Ugh...why...why her?!"

"What do you mean?" I ask, giving her permission to rant about the situation.

"I can do everything! And yet, Sue, shy mouse Sue, gets picked up by possibly the hottest guy on campus. It's not fair!"

I shrug, "Maybe he finds her mysterious."

"I summoned a piece of duct tape to shut up that bitch! And then I performed mind control on her! What's not mysterious about that?!"

Personally, I'd find that more scary than mysterious, but, whatever floats her boat.

"Don't sweat it. There are other fish in the sea," I assure her.

I turn on my computer, and continue working on my personal statement. What should I include? Maybe what I've written?

From the reflection of my laptop, I see Mary peering over my shoulder, "Oh, that school assignment thingy? Already finished it."

"Of course you did."

She walks over and sits back down on her bed, "So...what are your genres? Fanfiction or Romance?"

"I do a little bit of everything. Mostly Fantasy and Science Fiction but I've been meaning to write a Historical Fiction for the longest time and-"

Mary shakes her head, "No, no, no, those genres aren't going to get you anywhere at Wattpad High. It's either Fanfiction, or Romance. Take your pick."

"Fanfiction and Romance aren't the only genres out there," I counter.

"True, but they're the only genres that turnover consistent numbers. And by that I mean views, votes, and comments. You might find a niche story that gets a couple mil every once in a blue moon, but they're never a guarantee."

She reaches behind her and pulls out a cigarette and lighter, flicking open the lighter and putting the cigarette to the flame.

"Ugh, would you not?" I complain from my desk.

She chuckles, smoke wafting in the air, "Why? Smoking is suppose to make me look grown up, and mature. Plus, I'll never get lung, mouth, or throat cancer, and my breath won't smell like shit. You know, like a normal person would."

I sniff the air, and immediately start coughing, "Contradiction...the room already smells like shit. I'mma open a window."

Getting up from my chair, I walk over to the window. Pulling up the shades, I spot a tall man in dark clothes staring directly up at our window.

Stepping away from the window, I'm not sure how else to react, "Woah...that's kind of creepy."

I look back at the window, and the man has disappeared. Cracking open the window, I begin to walk back to my desk.

Mary's busy looking up at the smoke she's blowing out into the room, her sensuous eyes staring upwards. Perfect being or not, a bad habit is a bad habit. But Mary, Sue, Erik, even Barbie are such larger than life characters, how could I distinguish myself among them? Maybe the answer was not to, to blend in, stick to the shadows. Or maybe, the answer was to simply, watch the events unfold, and enjoy the ride.