Eddie kept screaming. And screaming. Finally, Pad couldn't take it anymore. Clenching his jaw, he walked toward the screaming girl. He then grabbed her in a bear hug. Eddie was so surprised that she dropped the mirror.
"Better?" Pad said neutrally. A faint blush tinged Eddie's cheeks. Melody's eyes narrowed.
"I'm fine!" Embarrassed, Eddie broke the hug.
"How about we head to the main room?" Fiona asked. "This doesn't seem the best place to conversate." She pointed to the smoking cauldron. Everyone agreed.
"Alright," Eddie said as the group settled into the main room, "Melody, how can you turn me back to normal?" Melody started. She twiddled her fingers. Eddie looked at her impatiently.
"Well?" Melody wouldn't look him in the eyes.
"The cauldron I used...it only works once a month." She braced herself, waiting for the explosion.
And Eddie did not disappoint.
"A MONTH?!" Eddie screamed crazily, left eye twitching, "YOU WANT ME TO BE A GIRL FOR A FREAKING' MONTH?!" Fiona intervened.
"Eddie! You shouldn't scream at her like that!" Fiona scolded. But to her surprise, instead of looking ashamed like the male Eddie would, the female Eddie simply glared at her. An awkward silence fell over the group.
"So," Pad said to break the silence, "what should we name ya'?" Eddie looked surprised.
"Name me?"
"Well, yeah. It would be kinda' weird to call you Eddie, now that ya' a girl and all."
"Of course!" Fiona chimed in, "Personally, I think we should call you something sweet, like Molly!" Melody looked disgusted.
"Don't listen to her, Eddie. You should give yourself an edgy name, like Raven." And the two girls fell to bickering. Eddie sighed. She then noticed Pad looking at her thoughtfully.
"Want to try giving me a name too, Pad?" She meant to say it lightly, but it came out sharp.
Pad raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well..." he drawled, "if I was going to 'name' you, I would pick a name closest to your original name. So I would go with Ella." Eddie blinked.
"Ella..." She said experimentally. She liked it. She liked it a lot.
"Want me to take care of these two?" Pad asked, nodding at Fiona and Melody, who were shouting names at each other.
"Polly!"
"Trix!"
"Sophie!"
"Hunter!"
"Hunter! Is that even a name for girls?!"
"Of course it's for girls, you idiot!"
"Did you just call me an idiot?!"
"So what if I did, princess?! What are you going to do about it?!" They were about to come to blows. Pad ran toward them.
"Stop it, you two!" Ella sighed. She slipped out of the room and went back to her own private quarters, desperate to be alone with her thoughts.