Chapter Four

I don't own Neopets. The OC's are mine.

Scenes at the PSU
Chapter Four

Needless to say that homework at school had kept me busy. So much in fact that I hadn't had time to even consider hanging out with Maya and China. But, when the time came, Maya had come to my room to ask me if I was going.

"Hey, Tam." She said, knocking on the door.

I looked over my shoulder at her, pressed a finger to my lips and pointed to Fangore who was laying next to me sleeping on his bed.

Maya nodded, indicating that she understood.

"What do you want?" I whispered.

"Just wondering if you were going to the First-Year Mugging." Maya said. She tilted her head down and stared me down. "You did think about it . . . didn't you?"

I shook my head. "I hadn't had time to think about it. Sorry."

"In that case, you're going." Maya said. She strolled into the room without so much as asking me if she could come in. Then, she took me under the armpit and hauled me out of my chair.

"I can't, I have a ton of homework from Care-taking class." I said.

Maya gave me an amused smile. "You mean . . . you still haven't finished it?"

I shrugged. "Not really." I answered.

Maya looked over what I had. "You'd think this would be easy for you. I mean, your mom works in a clinic."

"That doesn't mean anything." I said, pulling my arm out of her grip. "I help heal neopets, I don't raise them."

"It's almost the same thing." Maya answered.

"Not quite." I countered.

"Whatever." Maya said, grabbing for me again but I rolled away from her. "Come on. A lot of other people will be there. You don't even have to visit."

"Just go, mistress."

I groaned aloud. Fangore was now awake.

"Alright. But Fangore is going too." I said.

"That's fine." Maya said. "I'm taking China anyway."

I hadn't noticed the red Mynci was—once again—balancing herself on Maya's shoulder.

"Okay." I said, my shoulders rolling forward in submission.

At the Student Union, Fangore and I were introduced to two other girls (and their neopets) who lived in our dorm. There was Maya's twin sister, Alison, and their friend, Kayla.

I have to admit that I didn't believe that Alison and Maya were twin sisters. They acted like siblings but other than that, there was no proof that they were even family.

First off was their personalities. Maya was more rough and tumble while Alison was more flowers and wildlife.

Second was their appearances. Maya was tan-skinned, raven-black hair, thin face, kind of short, and brown eyes. Alison had light skin (which made me suspect that she burnt easily), hazel eyes, wavy, brown hair, and a round face.

Thirdly was their neopets. Maya's Mynci was more of a rough and tumble sort of neo while Alison's Acara was more of the gentle sort.

Kayla was only a little bit taller than me (but not by much) but just as skinny. She had brown eyes and dark brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. She had a thin face and a great laugh that made me chuckle along every single time. Her neopet was draped across her neck like a furry collar. It took me a moment to realize that it was a Lutari whom she had named Splash.

The four of us seated ourselves at a high table in the recreation center of the building; mugs of root beer floats (both the root beer and the ice cream had been imported from Earth) and we joked around and laughed.

Much to my surprise, Splash crawled over into my lap, sat up, and looked at me. I adverted my gaze so that we didn't actually commune accidentally.

"Huh!" Kayla said. "That's interesting."

"What?" Alison asked.

"It's just that . . . I've never seen Splash approach anyone other than someone in my own family before. Heck, it took him a long time to actually get close to my sister, Abigail." Kayla crossed her arms and looked at me, puzzled. "Looks like he has a soft spot for you, Tamara."

"You can call me Tam if you'd like." I said. "And, I just seem to have that effect on a lot of neopets." I was trying really hard not to commune with him.

I glanced over at the Acara napping in Alison's lap. Suddenly, the Acara stirred and opened her orange eyes. I averted my gaze again and banged my large, green mug down on the table. "Well." I said, decisively, "I'm gonna go get some more of that float."

"We'll be here, then." Maya assured me.

I nodded and left the room with Fangore trotting at my heels. I could feel him sapping at my emotions again. That was how he knew something was wrong. He could feel my emotions.

"What's wrong, Mistress?" He asked.

I shrugged and Fangore nudged the back of my bare knee with his nose. I shuddered at the contact of cold leather on warm skin.

"Tell me." He said.

We wandered away from the large crowds to sit down by the fireplace. I stroked Fangore's head and scratched him under the chin.

"It's just that . . . why does it seem like all neopets wanna commune with me?" I asked.

Fangore's golden eyes pierced straight through my soul again. "You picked that up too?"

"It's not hard to pick up." I said. To be absolutely honest, it was unnerving to be liked by so many creatures.

"Mistress, neopets are not like humans. We don't judge people by their actions unless if it is harmful to us. We can see into a person's heart. If we like what we see, we will commune with that person. Obviously, China, Splash and Kiya like you."

"Kiya?" I asked.

"Alison's Acara." Fangore said.

I shrugged.

"Every neo likes your heart. You are a good person, Mistress, you just fail to see it."

"That's because I spent my entire school-life under the impression that I wasn't any good." I growled at him.

"Ignore them. Listen to what your neo is saying to you now. You really wanna spend the rest of your life listening to the lies of humans? They can't see into a person's heart like we can. We can tell if someone is good or not. All you have to do is believe us."

"I do believe you." I said. Then, as an after-thought I added, "I guess."

Fangore shook his head. "No. No guessing. Just believe and know that we know what's best for you."

"Alright then, I believe." I said half-heartedly.

Fangore shook his head more vigorously. "That's not going to work well enough Mistress if you say things half-way."

Whatever I thought.

Fangore latched onto the hem of my t-shirt and tugged. "Come on. You're going back in there and facing your fears."

"But, what if I accidentally commune with one of them?"

"There is no such thing as accidental communing." Fangore grumbled. "There has to be a commitment from both parties. If you have no desire to commune with any of them then it won't happen."

"But, what if it does?" I asked.

"It won't." Fangore replied, pawing my knee. "Now, get yourself your second float and get back into that rec center."

I rolled my eyes. Fangore was never going to leave me along unless if I did what he asked me to. Usually it involved getting over my fears and he always knew what I was afraid of. I still say that forcing me to face my fears wasn't exactly a good method.

However, I approached the front table and got another float before returning to the rec room. To my surprise, my place was taken by a pleasantly plump woman of about fourteen.

Her hair was a mass of short, frizzy brown with blond highlights. Her eyes were a fiery hazel that blazed over her rosy cheeks that stood out on her pale white skin. Her neopet was a red Scorchio who was draped over her lap; asleep.

I grabbed the nearest chair and dragged it over to the table and sat down. Maya looked at me apologetically.

"Sorry, Tam."

"S'okay." I told her. I looked at the woman. "My names Tamara and this is Fangore." I offered her my hand. "And . . . your name is?"

"Bella." The woman replied, shaking my hand. "This is Firetail."

I glanced down at the Scorchio who was now awake in Bella's lap. "Pleasure to meet you, Firetail." I said, touching a hooking forehead spike. Firetail released a vibrating growl then purred in pleasure as I stroked him. I smiled. I had always wanted a Scorchio but allowed myself the company of a loyal Lupe instead.

"I called her over." Alison said. "I know her from my Care-taking class. I hope you won't mind."

"I don't really care, Alison." I said, reclining at the table to point out that I was laid back. I stabbed my spoon at the mass of vanilla ice cream floating in the fizzing root beer. "So, what did I miss?"

"We were just discussing Splash's reaction towards you." Kayla said.

"Really?" I said. I was planning to ignore this and act like it didn't bother me. Problem was that it left me nervous beyond belief. Why wouldn't it? I would feel like I was intruding if I communed with any of them. "I hadn't noticed that Splash reacted to me in anyway."

Kayla raised an eyebrow at me. "Come on, Tam. Splash never does that to anybody. He didn't want to commune with me why would he want to commune with you?"

"Honestly, I don't know how to answer that." I lied.

Suddenly, China chittered in Maya's ear and I saw Maya's eyes go unfocused. Then, she shook her head and looked at me. "China says she likes your heart. You have a good heart and a gentle spirit. Perhaps that's what Splash likes about you."

I shrugged. "I don't know." I answered. It was embarrassing to be the center of attention. Especially since the new girl, Bella, was looking at me.

"Well, I can't explain it." Kayla said, petting her Lutari's soft, downy head. "All he tells me is that he likes you and your Lupe."

I tried digesting this last bit of information. What I found was interesting was that a Lutari liked a Lupe. Normally, Lutari were low on the food-chain for Lupes; at least for wild Lupes. But still, why would a Lutari like Splash (who probably spent his entire life fearing Lupes) suddenly take a liking to this Lupe?

I drained my mug of the root beer and got up; stretching. "Well, I'm off to the room to work on my homework." I said. "Come on, Fangore."

As I walked back to the dorm with Fangore trotting at my heels, I began pressing him for answers on what he thought of the girls.

"Well," Fangore said. "I like Kayla and Maya. They seem like alright people."

"What about Alison and Bella?"

"Bella seems kinda shifty. I got the feeling from her Scorchio that she isn't real comfortable around people. I would watch out for her if I were you."

"Well you're not me."

"I know I'm not but still . . . I would watch."

"And Alison?"

"Her Acara wouldn't tell me anything. I would just take the time to get to know her before I would jump to conclusions."

"I'll try." I said. Suddenly, Fangore stopped. "What?" I asked.

"Mistress, there's something about Maya that I can't quite put my paw on." Fangore said.

"What?"

It was odd seeing the lupine neopet shrug. It was too human for my taste.

Fangore glanced back at the Student Union with a look of fear and worry printed on his gentle face. "I don't know but I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out."

Needless to say that Fangore never did figure it out though it bothered him and, with him, myself. I kept an eye on Maya, trying really hard to figure out what she was hiding. Though, I figured that she wouldn't tell me until she thought she was ready to let people know. I wasn't willing to pry. But, unfortunately, Fangore just couldn't let it go.

Over time, I developed a friendship with Bella, Kayla, Alison, and Maya. Bella's actions were rather . . . questionable, though I chose to ignore them believing them to generally be the faults of her human personality.

Alison and Maya were often the ones to invite me along on weekends to do something with them. At first I was reluctant. My previous experiences with people provided me with a unnatural suspicion of people who wanted to do something with me. The day they actually invited me along was on a day during the autumn months. I was laying on the couch trying to take a nap when I heard Alison call my name.

"Hey Bella, where's Tam?"

I could just imagine Bella (who was seated on the other couch putting together a puzzle with Firetail) point in my direction. I snuggled further down into the couch, hoping that Alison couldn't see me and cursed myself for wearing bright, pink trousers.

Alison leaned over the couch and gently tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey. You wanna come outside and play in the leaves with us?"

I lifted the hood up from my face and glared at Alison. "Why?" I asked.

Maya was there too. She grabbed my knee and squeezed it. "Come on. It'll be fun."

I growled darkly. "I'm trying to take a nap, guys." I said.

Alison's bottom lip stuck out and I could see the fake, expressive sadness that little children usually used on their parents to get their way. The "sad, puppy face" they called it.

I hate that look.

I felt like I was being guilted into doing something.

I rolled my eyes and flopped off the couch. "Fine." I growled into the dark carpet before struggling to my feet. "But then, I'm gonna take a nap."

"That's alright." Maya said steering me outside by my shoulders. "We're just taking a break from studying."

I rolled my eyes at this.

I have to say, I did have fun with the twins. We climbed trees, built leaf piles, buried ourselves in them, and basically made fools of ourselves. Nearby, Fangore, Kiya and China wrestled with each other. I could feel Fangore's anxiety of getting too rough with the two creatures who were both smaller than himself.

After messing around for a while, I collapsed on the park bench between the twins and we watched our neopets wrestle.

Alison nudged me in the side with her elbow. "Your Lupe is really careful with Kiya."

I blinked at her. "He tries." I said. "Fangore's only playing. He doesn't want to cause any real harm while it can be avoided."

"That's really nice of him." Maya said, watching as China put him in a choke hold with her tail wrapped around his forelegs, forcing him down onto his stomach. For a moment, I couldn't breathe. That was until Kiya charged at China and knocked her off Fangore's back. I inhaled greedily; feeling relief as my once, screaming-lungs now relaxed.

I stood up. "I should get back to working on my homework." I said.

"Yeah. So should we." Alison said, standing up. She called Kiya over and tucked her under her elbow. China climbed up onto Maya's shoulders and wrapped her tail around her mistress's shoulder. Without further ado, we returned to our rooms.

No sooner had I sat down to do my fitness schedule for Fangore then I heard screaming down the hall. Fangore's head lift and he stared down the brightly lit hall. His bewhiskered lips curled over his ivory fangs in a dark snarl.

I touched Fangore's pointed ear. "What is it, boy?"

"Alison and Maya are fighting."

"What about?"

"No clue." Fangore answered. "Then again, they're siblings. Just think about what you and Codax fight about."

His logic was sound. Codax and I did fight a lot about something. Usually, it was stupid stuff. My guess was, it was even worse for twins.

The arguing quieted down and I heard a pair of footsteps going down the stairs. For a moment, I relaxed but then tensed up as I heard the sound of breaking glass. Before I even had a chance to move, China came flying into the room; screaming at the top of her lungs. Her right paw was a brighter shade of red.

"What's wrong, China?" I asked, scooping the screaming Mynci in my lap. If I could, I would have communed with her but didn't. Instead, I looked at Fangore for a translation.

"She says she wants you to come and see Maya. Bring your first aid kit." Fangore answered.

I let China crawl up onto my shoulders and I followed Fangore out with the first aid kit in hand.

The sight that me me was a sickening one. I'm not normally one that gets sick easily but I almost threw up when I saw the sight that met me.