“Alright, any others?” Ainsley asked.
When she finished writing everything down, she passed out pieces of paper for us to write our top three favorites on, in order, and she would tally them up.
I wrote my choices down and folded the paper in half before placing in the center of our table. The others wrote theirs down and piled them on top of mine.
Ainsley flitted about the room, using her wings to propel her faster, gathered all of the pages, and then went back up to the board and started writing hash marks for votes.
When she finished, we all sat in stunned silence. Our normal theme and the human theme were tied.
“Our next meeting is in one week,” Ainsley said. “Your homework is to write up ideas for decorations and games for both of these themes. We’ll compare and choose our favorite one from the ideas received next week.”
Everyone started filing out, but I made my way up to Ainsley.
“Hey, is everything alright?” I asked softly.
She tilted her head to the side in a very birdlike gesture. “What do you mean?”
I pointed down at her talons.
She curled them a bit and said, “I’ve seen firsthand what humans can do to an unprepared creature. I know the likelihood of them getting onto our campus is very small, but I’d rather be prepared.”
“I know we aren’t super close friends, Ainsley, but if you ever want to talk, I’m here,” I whispered.
She beamed. “Thanks, Loralie. I appreciate it.”
“So, how did things go with Antoine?” I asked, waggling my eyebrows.
She chuckled. “We talked for a bit, but didn’t really do more than that. I did convince him to meet me tonight to talk more.”
“Get it, girl!” I cheered her.
She laughed and shook her head. “Get out of here, Loralie. Your friends are waiting.”
I waved at her and jogged out of the room. Tsukiko and Rathik were talking a few feet away from Frances and the chupacabra.
“Everything okay?” Frances asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, I just wanted to check in with Ainsley.”
Frances nodded at Tsukiko and Rathik. “He asked her to hang out tonight. She’s trying to come up with an excuse that involves us.”
I smirked. “I got this.” I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled, “We’ll see you later, Tsukiko. Frances and I have plans.”
Her mouth dropped open and she looked at Rathik before looking back at us.
I grabbed Frances’s arm and pulled her down the hallway, waving to Tsukiko as we left.
Frances waited until we were out of the building before doubling over in laughter, clutching at her stomach. “You’re so awful!”
I shrugged. “She’ll thank me later.”
“Hey, Frances,” Dante said as he walked by with a really handsome thunderbird at his side.
“H-hi,” she stammered.
The thunderbird met my eyes and winked.
I was too shocked to do anything aside from stare as they went by.
“Well, at least I’m not the only one who looked like an idiot just now,” Frances whispered.
I grumbled at her. “I was just caught off guard. Who is that?”
“Foreign exchange student,” Ainsley said behind me.
I spun around and my scythe was in my hand again, aimed at Ainsley’s throat.
Her mouth parted in shock.
I quickly spun it away from her. “Ainsley! Do not sneak up on people like that!”
“I did not sneak up on you. You were just too enamored with the new guy to hear me,” she said, her eyes still on the scythe.
I tossed it away into the in-between again and sighed. “Sorry.”
“So, I wanted to ask for a favor,” she said.
“Oh?” I asked and arched a brow.
“Turns out Antoine invited me to hang out with him and a few of his friends.” She kicked the grass with one of her talons. “Would you guys come with me? I don’t know for sure who is going to be there and I don’t want to go alone.”
“No problem,” Frances said immediately. She would do almost anything for a friend, which was why I often had to stop her.
I shrugged. “We didn’t have plans, so I’m fine with that.”
Ainsley jumped up, her wings flapped a few times to keep her in the air, and she cheered. “You two are the bestest. Meet me in the game room at five a.m.?”
We nodded, and she hurried off.
“Guess we need to go eat and change now,” Frances said.
I nodded. “Yep.”
She looked after Ainsley. “You’re right about her. She’s different now and different even since the party. She seems...scared, but it’s more than that.”
“Maybe it’s just the human attacks,” I suggested and shrugged. “No idea, but let’s try to help her out tonight so she can be distracted. Okay?”
Frances nodded and smiled wide. “Operation love is under way!”
I groaned. “Don’t call it that!”
She laughed. “Don’t act like you hate love! Your dad married a fertility goddess, remember?”
“Come on, time to go,” I said to change the subject.
I did not want to talk about my step-mother. Not now. Not ever.
Eleven
TSUKIKO
I stared after my despicable friends who had just abandoned me with Rathik.
I was going to make them pay. So much payback was in store for my dear friends and they were woefully unprepared.
“We should grab some food and then we can talk and hangout,” Rathik said.
I nodded and followed him to the cafeteria. There were a few other students eating already and some in line, too.
We got into line, and I decided my hands were really interesting.
“So, do you think they’ll actually let us change the theme for prom?” He asked.
I shrugged and sighed. “I doubt it.”
Most creatures were super set in their ways and hated allowing new ideas or events to take place. It was really frustrating.
“I hope they’ll let us do something different, even if we keep the same theme,” Rathik said.
“Me, too.”
We both piled our trays high with food and then found an empty table to sit at.
In silence, that was mostly comfortable, we ate our food and then put our empty trays in the proper slots.
“So, what do you have planned for tonight?” I asked.
“A few friends wanted to get together, so I thought we could go meet up with them and hang out,” he said.
Hangout with his friends? Where were Loralie and Frances? Did they have plans? Could I get them to meet us?
I walked beside Rathik to the game room where some games, like air hockey and football, were available for us to play. There were also several couches and a soda machine.
“I haven’t actually been in here yet,” I admitted.
There were several males in the room, and only a few females, but luckily, two of the females were Loralie and Frances.
“You two!” I growled.
They chuckled.
I stomped over to them with my hands on my hips. “You are both in so much trouble.”
“Hey, Rathik,” Loralie said, smiling behind me.