Harriet mulled over what had happened at the arena on her way to the Girl's Dorm. She'd heard that Duel Academy could get hierarchical, but something like that on day one? It was ridiculous! Sure, elitism was a thing, but she and Adam had barely gotten through the door. It seemed absurd that they'd be starting off the year like that.
She ducked into the dorm and her train of thought was immediately derailed. This wasn't a dinner, this was a gala. There were several dozen girls here, all in uniform, milling around a large buffet table. Several smaller tables were off to the side, with people clustered around them. Harriet looked around, taking it all in.
The internal screaming began immediately.
Who thought this many people was a good idea?! Where did they all even come from? Did she really have to meet all these people? Oh god, what was she going to do? Should she put makeup on? No, she shouldn't, Adam wasn't here to help her with it. And she didn't have time anyway! She'd already walked in the front door late and now everyone was looking at her!
Oh god everyone was looking at her, what was she supposed to do.
"There you are!" a woman called out, stepping out from the crowd and towards Harriet. Her eyes were grey and lively and went well with her long brown hair. "We've been waiting for you! I'm Fonda Fontaine. I'm the head of the girl's dorm!"
"N-Nice to meet you, Miss Fontaine! I'm Harriet Hartfield," Harriet said, bowing slightly.
She heard snickering from the crowd. Harriet flushed. "Sorry I'm late, I was…"
"Let me guess. You were dueling someone?" Fonda Fontaine asked with a wink.
"Well, I mean…yeah," Harriet said, straightening back up. "That's what we're here for, isn't it?"
"It is! But come on in, get some food, get settled. Meet some people. We all shared our names, where we're from, and what our favorite card is," Miss Fontaine said as she led Harriet into the party. Everyone else seemed to be turning back to their own business, though some sent scornful glances Harriet's way.
"Oh. Sorry I missed it," Harriet said, trying to be polite despite lying through her teeth.
"Don't worry, you didn't miss the main icebreaker," Miss Fontaine said.
"Really? What's that going to be?"
"The Annual Queen of Obelisk Blue Tournament, of course! The qualifying rounds start tomorrow," Miss Fontaine said. Harriet blinked and lurched forward.
"Wait, seriously? Am I gonna get to watch?" Harriet asked, excitement mounting in her voice. "Better yet, do I get to duel? Please say yes, I want to duel people."
"Of course you're going to get to duel! With your entrance exam score, you qualified just about instantly. But that's tomorrow. We've got more important stuff happening tonight. Like meeting your neighbors!" Miss Fontaine said.
The internal screaming intensified.
"Like…right over there, in the corner! I think she lives next to you," Miss Fontaine said, pointing to a girl standing off to the side. The girl's hair was cut short, but swept up into a faux-hawk. She folded her arms, glaring at the entire room. Her eyes settled on Harriet and she softened slightly, offering a half-hearted wave.
Harriet immediately headed over to her and stuck out her hand. "Hi! I'm Harriet," she said.
"Kendra," the other girl said, shaking Harriet's hand carefully.
"Nice to meet you," Harriet said, taking her hand back.
"…same, I guess?" Kendra said. They stared at each other for a moment before looking away.
"So…dueling, huh?" Harriet said. They looked back at each other and Harriet snickered. "Sorry, that was kind of a lame way to try and start a conversation. But, uh…"
"Favorite Pro-Duelist of all time?" Kendra asked, eyes narrowing. Sensing a shift from the other girl, Harriet straightened up.
"Rebecca Hawkins."
Kendra blinked for a moment and then leaned forward. "Sorry, who?"
"Rebecca Hawkins, youngest ever United States Champion. Dueled in the Kaiba Corps Grand Prix, lost in the semi-finals, retired from dueling a few years later. Used an Anti-Cure Deck, with Gem Dragon support," Harriet said.
"Wait. Wasn't she, like, eight?"
"That was when she won the Junior Nationals in the US. She became the proper US Champ two years ago. Still holds the title, if memory serves," Harriet said. "What about you? Favorite duelist?"
"Mai Valentine," Kendra said with a small smile. "She…"
"Placed third in the Duelist Kingdom tournament and sixth in the Battle City Tournament. Won multiple other smaller tournaments before dropping out of the dueling scene just before the Orichalcos Crisis. Never made a comeback despite her status as one of the best women duelists of all time," Harriet said.
"You…know her?" Kendra asked, sounding shocked.
"Yeah! She was a fighter! And a good one at that. I have a recording of her duel with Jean-Claude Magnum. Its fun to watch that chauvinist jerk get his face stomped," Harriet said, nodding eagerly.
"I know! Mai was incredible! I use Amazoness monsters, like she did. I know she's more famous for Harpies, but they're…"
"They can be a little fragile. Amazoness packs a bigger punch, right?"
"Exactly. Also I like their look more, you know?"
"I get that. My brother likes to joke that I only have Cybernetic Magician because I think he's cute," Harriet said.
"You have a brother?"
"Yeah, Adam. He's in Ra Yellow."
"Oh, he older than you?"
"Nope. Younger. By only like a minute though," Harriet said with a shrug.
"Oh, you're twins! Okay. That makes sense," Kendra said, nodding. Harriet moved to lean up against the wall next to Kendra. Both of them looked out at the crowd.
"So. You got here before I did. What'd I miss?" Harriet asked.
"Eh, not much. Did introductions, everyone talked about what kinda deck they use, that kinda thing," Kendra said with a small shrug.
"Oh. I use Spell Counters, by the way," Harriet said.
"Cool. Never played against them."
"Well, maybe we'll duel in this Queen of Obelisk Blue tournament thing."
Kendra snorted. "Maybe. Or we could just go outside and have ourselves a friendly game right now."
"Are we allowed to do that? Because I feel like we're supposed to be meeting more people," Harriet said, eyebrows furrowed in concern.
Kendra pushed herself off the wall. "HEY, PROF!" she shouted. Fontaine turned away from several older girls to look towards them.
"Yes Kendra, what is it?" she asked.
"Harry and I want to duel," Kendra said.
Fontaine frowned, considering the suggestion. "I see. It's getting late though, and duels can take a while."
"Besides, who needs to see what the wallflowers do? The real star's right here?" a girl said, dragging Harriet's attention to her. The girl was, by every definition of the word, pretty. Flowing blond hair, perfectly done makeup, and piercing green eyes turned in Harriet's direction. Around her were other girls, with similarly done hair and makeup, all of whom were eyeing Harriet scornfully.
Harriet cocked her head and then looked at Kendra. "Who's that?" she asked.
The pretty girl gasped in shock. Her groupies began tittering anxiously.
"I think her name's Jessie? I wasn't paying attention when she was talking," Kendra said with a shrug.
"How dare you!" Jessica said, scowling towards them. "Don't you dare look down on me! I'm going to be Queen of Obelisk Blue." Jessica's groupies nodded in agreement, muttering to themselves.
Harriet cocked her head the other way. "But, wait, you'd have to win the tournament."
"And I will! I'm going to be the greatest duelist this Academy's ever seen!" Jessica said, gesturing dramatically.
"She got the third highest score on the entrance exam!" one of the groupies said.
"Yeah! And she was top of our class in Duelist Prep School!" another said.
"Ah, preppies. That explains it," Kendra muttered.
"Some no name newcomer with no background doesn't have a place here at Duel Academy," Jessica said, sneering towards Harriet.
"Want me to prove you wrong?" Harriet asked. She raised her arm with the duel disk on it, ready to activate it. Kendra raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"As if you could. You can't even make it to a dinner on time," Jessica said, flipping her hair back.
"You're right. I was too busy dueling. I didn't have time to come listen to you inflate your own ego," Harriet said. "Of course, I'd be happy to deflate that for you."
"Girls, girls! That's enough," Fontaine said. "It'll all get sorted out in the tournament, don't worry."
Jessica looked away with a huff, turning back to her groupies. Harriet slumped against the wall next to Kendra. The other girl smirked at her. "Gotta say, that was pretty cool."
"Thanks. Got used to riling up people like her in middle school. It was fun to have them challenge me to a duel and then beat them," Harriet said with a shrug.
"Huh," Kendra muttered. She looked over at Harriet and grinned. "You're pretty okay, Harry."
"Oh. Thanks, you're pretty cool too," Harriet said, blinking in surprise.
"Let's split. We can duel without the disks," Kendra said, turning and heading away.
"Oh! Yeah, wait up!" Harriet said, following her new friend away from the party and leaving Jessica seething at their retreating backs.
(Author's Notes: My god, I wrote a chapter without a card game! Also, I didn't know Kendra was going to be using Amazons until I started writing her. So now I have to figure out how those work. Ah, well. I'll figure it out. Next up will be Adam meeting the boys over in Ra Yellow! Again, probably no dueling. Can't have card games all the time.)
