A/N: Just a little bit on Meghan's making new friends... a new friend... being Monika.
Chapter 6: Problem Children
"Not only did he hit me in the boobs, he hit me in the boobs on my period!" Maria raged, flinging her beloved history book against the wall with a satisfyingly solid thwap! "That fucking… argh!"
"Um… maybe you should just sit down?" Her milder counterpart had just retrieved the heating pad from the German sisters' shared closet, and eyed the albino girl with concern.
"It hurts…" was the sullen response, "And I don't want to."
Sighing, Meghan plugged the appliance into the wall and set it on the other's unmade bed. She said nothing, knowing by now that if Maria wanted to talk about something, she would, and without restrictions. Otherwise, it would be easier to convince the walls to speak. Instead, she murmured, "You're going to break the binding if you throw it like that."
"Nooo! I didn't mean it!" The upperclassman shuffled over to where her history book was sprawled on the floor, pages wrinkled. With the tenderness of a mother, she gathered it into her arms and cradled it for a moment.
"You and your Prussians."
"It's not my fault." Maria pouted. "If their history wasn't so epic, I wouldn't have to study it."
Across the room, the quiet blonde smiled. "Do you act like this every month?"
"No."
"Is this, um, about Daniel?"
"No."
"Are you lying?"
In a show of emotion and true maturity, the German stuck out her tongue at Meghan. "Doesn't matter."
She took that as a yes.
Monika had returned from her daily run, bangs sticking to her pale brow and bare shoulders heaving. Drawing the small ear bud of her MP3 player from her ear, she asked, "Where's Maria?"
"Sleeping." Meghan answered softly, barely looking up from her novel. "She, um, she started her period today, so she's been kinda… down."
The taller girl sighed. "It's not about Daniel again, is it?"
"I think so."
"Is not!" The cry came from the far side of the room, making the other two flinch. Rolling their eyes in tandem, the second years shook their heads.
"Go back to sleep, Schwester."
A low grunt of compliance was heard accompanied by the creak of bedsprings, then silence.
"Have they always been like this?" Voice low, the slight blonde wondered aloud. "Th-the fighting and hating each other, I mean."
With a thoughtful tilt of her head, Monika replied, "No. They used to be friends when they were younger – middle school, I think. I don't know the details, but one day I think they woke up and decided that they'd rather try to kill each other than get along."
"Um, did Maria like him then, too?"
"I haven't the slightest idea." the German replied. Consulting her closet, she quickly slipped a loose t-shirt over her sports bra before seating herself at her small desk. "Why does it matter to you, anyway? I don't want to sound rude, but it's really none of your business."
Meghan flushed. "I-I'm sorry. That sounded really nosy, didn't it?"
"Yes."
"Well, I guess my sister's more of a bad influence than I thought." With a nervous giggle, the girl couldn't help but mentally note that Monika really didn't pull her punches.
"Amelia is…" She sighed heavily, kneading at her temples as though to relieve a headache she'd suffered too long. "There's no denying that she plays a very vital role on the debate team, however she can tend to be a bit…"
Catching herself, the stern blonde allowed her sentence to trail off in a way that her conversation partner could fill in the blanks on her own.
"I know what you mean." Meghan offered sympathetically. "She… she always kinda took the spotlight – even when we were kids – and she's conceited and loud and…"
"Yes."
Embarrassed to be caught rambling, she stopped abruptly. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Monika dismissed this with a curt hand gesture. "I assure you that everything you said was true to some degree."
"Um, so…" she coughed. "What are you doing? I mean, lately. For fun."
The German barely hesitated. "Well, you know that I'm the head of the debate team, and that's kept me quite busy for the past few months. I'm also on the boxing team and the football- I'm sorry, do you call it soccer in Canada, too? That team, anyway. Hm, I don't have very much free time, but I also enjoy spending time with f-friends."
"Like Alice?"
"Yes." She swallowed hard, taking on the appearance of one who is has been put into an awkward situation but doesn't want others to realize the fact. "Like Alice."
"I'm sorry."
Raising a thin brow, Monika asked, "For what? You've done nothing wrong."
"Y-you just seemed uncomfortable right then, and I felt like it was my fault. I'm sorry."
"You apologize too much." A faint smirk twitched across her lips. "Maybe Amelia could learn something from you."
"Maybe." Meghan giggled softly, as though afraid to do so. Then, adjusting her glasses, she looked back over at the other girl. "You sound like you don't like Emmy very much."
"Whether I like your sister or not doesn't matter," was the unhalting response. "But for the record, she and I rarely see eye to eye. She's the reason we rarely achieve anything at our team practices, and her grandstanding is highly unnecessary… but I truly believe that she means well."
"You sound like a teacher talking about some problem child."
"Sometimes I feel like a teacher dealing with a problem child."
They shared an understanding look.
"Maria's the same way."
"Is she?" the Canadian asked, almost surprised.
The girl's sister nodded then hesitated. "Well, she's not exactly like Amelia, just very similar."
"How so?"
"How do I…?" Monika deliberated for a few moments as she built her case. "Maria's loud and conceited, also, and sometimes it's hard to understand why she acts the way she does."
"You mean, like a delinquent?"
"Yes."
Tilting her head this way and that, Meghan pondered this before shrugging. "Maybe she just likes to do that sort of thing. I mean, she is Maria."
"Maybe you're right." She sighed. Aquamarine eyes swung up to consider the other blonde before she asked, "Would you like to join us for dinner?"
