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“My bet is on Danny. I get a real feral vibe from her.”
“Oh please, the ginger giant as a werewolf? Her and those society girls do make quite the pack, but if anyone’s a puppy it’s the Zeta goon.”
LaFontaine laughed at Carmilla, “Kirsch? Sure, he acts like a lost dog sometimes, but can you really see that guy having any supernatural abilities? Other than being able to sniff out pretty much every hot girl on campus.”
The door to room 307 opened and Laura stepped in, tossing her backpack on the ground and walking to her desk before realizing that there were visitors sitting on her bed.
“Cupcake, the ginger twins came looking for you.” Carmilla drawled out. Laura swung around in her desk chair, nearly falling off when she saw Perry and LaFontaine smiling at her. Well, LaFontaine was smiling. Perry had a strange sort of half smile/half grimace on her face.
“Oh! Hi guys! Sorry, I didn’t see you there. What’s up?” Please let this be a social call Laura thought.
“Did you see the announcement?”
LaFontaine immediately spoke up.
“What announcement?” Please let it not be about another rouge alchemy club experiment.
LaFontaine produced a piece of paper and read aloud, “To all Silas University students: It has come to the attention of the administration that not all of our students have been as accepting of others as the Silas University code of conduct commands. One student in particular has had problems with species-based prejudice. We would like to remind all students that all types of species, genus, and classes are welcome at our university. Prejudice will not be tolerated in any form, and anyone found engaging in gossip, bullying, or sacrifice of these students will be swiftly expelled. Thank you. Signed, The Silas University Administration.”
“Oh, so now this school frowns upon sacrifice? They’re such hypocrites.” Carmilla grabbed one of the many books sitting on her dresser and flipped through it, “I still think it’s puppy boy.”
Laura looked at her roommate, confusion evident on her face, “Who?”
LaFontaine stuffed the paper back into their pocket, “We were just trying to figure out who the ‘one student in particular’ is. I know there are a bunch of non-humans on campus, but who would go to the administration about ‘species-based prejudice’? It has to be one of the super strict rule followers. Such as Danny.”
Laura was only slightly less confused, “But who’s puppy boy?”
“Carmilla thinks Kirsch is a werewolf.” Perry murmured without looking up from her shoes, “Which is utterly ridiculous, as there is no such thing-“
“Oh come on Per. If there are vampires in the world, then there are definitely werewolves. And if someone’s being bullied about being a werewolf, it’s obviously because of some sort of vampire-wolf feud spurred on by Twilight or something.”
Carmilla looked up from her book, “I resent that.”
“But why does it have to be a werewolf being picked on? I’m sure there are plenty of… friendly, less vicious creatures that are constantly harassed for not really fitting into the supernatural world. It happens in the human world all the time.”
LaFontaine grinned, “What, so the big mean monsters pick on the tiny cute ones? I can see it, a goblin giving a wedgie to a dwarf or something-“
And with that, Perry burst into tears.
Everyone froze, except for Carmilla who closed her book without marking her page. They all stared at Perry as she sobbed into her sleeves.
After the initial shock, LaFontaine put their hand on Perry’s arm and tried to move her hands away from her face, “Hey, Per, what’s going on?”
“It happens!”
LaFontaine looked more confused than Laura, “What?”
“It happens! The bullying, the big creatures tormenting the smaller ones. It happens every day and no one cares!”
“You talking from first-hand experience, ginge?” Carmilla remarked. Perry looked at her with guilt all over her face.
“You have!?” LaFontaine’s eyes went wide and they leaned in, “Are you a… dwarf?”
That prompted another bout of crying with LaFontaine furiously trying to comfort Perry.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking, you’re obviously not a dwarf…”
“I’m a fairy!”
Again, the room’s inhabitants went silent. Only instead of hearing Perry’s sobs, everyone can hear a girl outside the room complaining about all the laundry she has to do. Perry continued.
“My mother was a fairy, my dad was a human - no Carmilla, please don’t ask me how that worked – and when I was born, I was human sized – no, don’t ask me how that worked either – so my mom thought I wouldn’t fit in with the other fairies. She gave me to a really nice regular family so that I could live a normal human life without any of the troubles of the supernatural world. Which does, in fact, include a lot of species harassment.”
Laura was the first to speak up, “Wow Perry, that’s really… how do you know all that?”
Perry sighed, “When we were still in high school, my real mom decided that she wanted me to come back to the fairy world. She told me everything, and even brought me to the forest where her clan lived.”
“Wait, was that the time in eleventh grade when you disappeared for a week to go camping?” LaFontaine asked. Perry nodded.
They relaxed, “I knew that was weird. You wouldn’t go camping without me.”
“So you didn’t go back with your mom?” Laura interjected.
“No, I decided to stay. The forest was amazing, but I would to have given up everything from my normal life.” Perry’s gaze fell on LaFontaine, “And I could never do that.”
Laura saw Carmilla mine puking in the corner while LaFontaine clasped onto Perry’s hand, “Per, this is a pretty big thing to keep to yourself all these years. Why did you never tell me about it before?”
“Because…” Perry’s eyes dropped to her shoes, “I thought it would change everything between us. I’ve worked so hard to live a normal life; I didn’t want to jeopardize anything. Especially us.”
LaFontaine grinned, “Do you really think that after a lifetime together, something like this could come between us? Perry, I thrive on abnormal. It’s what keeps me going during the boring times. But can I ask-“
“Yes”
“What?”
Perry buried her head in LaFontaine’s arm, “Yes, this is why I freaked out about the whole Susan thing. I tried so hard for so long to push back against anything others say isn’t normal, that it’s become a reflex. But LaFontaine, I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you and not any close-minded jerks that say you’re unnatural. You’re not. You’re…” Perry started crying again.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay. All of that’s awesome. You’re awesome. But I was just going to ask… the fairy thing, is that more like Disney fairies or the ones in A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Nothing against Tinker Bell, but Puck turned a dude’s head into a donkey.”
Perry started laughing and crying at the same time, hiccupping periodically. LaFontaine placed the arm Perry wasn’t holding around her shoulders and pulled her into them.
“But really, is the bullying thing a big issue? Because we could set up a support group or something for all the smaller species on campus. And maybe we could start a supernatural awareness week, and hand out fliers on interspecies bullying. I know a guy in the graphic design department who makes wicked band posters, he’d probably be able to-“
LaFontaine was cut off when Perry threw her arms around them and squeezed. Lafontaine hugged back, and they didn’t let go for a while. Once they finally separated, the look between them was so tender…
“I would tell you two to get a room, but unfortunately you’re in ours.” Carmilla butted in. LaFontaine and Laura both glared at her. Carmilla rolled her eyes, “Oh, please. Laura, you want them making moony eyes at each other on your bed? They have their own room for that. Which is much more private.” She eyed the duo.
“You really need to work on your passive-aggressiveness. It’s a little too aggressive.” LaFontaine stood up off the mattress and offered Perry their arm. The two left the room, still goggling at each other. Laura beamed as they walked away, while Carmilla picked up her book and started flipping through it again. “Well,” she muttered, “I still think the oaf is a werewolf.”