Rising Shards

While Oka was at her tryout, I didn’t really know what to do with myself. Feeling too energized to waste a perfectly good rainy weekend afternoon lazing about, I looked around for anything fun going on in the common area of the dorms. I took the elevator down to the first floor, where Kyre Krista, hair looking overly gel coated as always, waited with a big vat of some kind.

“Oh, hi, Zeta,” Kyre said.

“Hi Kyre…what is that?” I asked.

“It’s nothing!” Kyre said, rolling the tub into the elevator after I stepped out.

“That’s not hair gel, is it?” I asked.

“Why would it be?” Kyre said, frantically pressing what I assumed was the door close button on the elevator.

There was a big indoor garden on the first floor of the girls’ dorms that had all kinds of plants and even bigger stuff like a palm tree. Despite its size, it was known as the 'little garden' in the school, because there was a greenhouse that was apparently way bigger. It was a nice spot to walk through on a rainy day, the roof was one of those sky window type things so I could hear the raindrops falling as I strolled around. It was hard to find a good place to sit in the big garden, especially on bad weather days. I found a really good spot for once and wished I had brought a book. But just as I was about to sit, someone called out to me.

“Zeta, we need your assistance!”

It was Rain, with KJ and Amara beside her, arguing as usual, sitting on a bench on the opposite side of mine.

“Sure, what’s up?” I said once I was closer to them.

“I know Faleur will have the proper taste and answer this one right,” Amara said.

“Right, she’ll say me.” KJ said.

“Which one of us is prettier, KJ or myself?” Amara said, fluttering her eyelashes. “I just know you’ll pick right.”

“Er…” I said. I really didn’t want to get in the middle of a debate between KJ and Amara. Since becoming their friend, I had to learn first-hand that their fights, generally over which one of them was better for Rain, were drawn out, unpleasant affairs. And even when they finished arguing, trying to brag to Rain didn’t seem to do anything for the winner, as she never reacted to their petty squabbling with much more than a soft chuckle.

“That isn’t really what we needed her help for, is it?” Rain asked, eyes narrowing. That was the opposite of her usual reaction to the two; I had never seen Rain get stern with KJ and Amara before, it was pretty scary. The two stepped in line as if they were in the military.

“R-right! It’s a good thing we have Rain, huh?” KJ asked. “We’d be out of luck otherwise.”

“Rain is very wise for keeping us on track!” Amara said.

Rain looked satisfied at their answers.

“So…what did you need my help for?”

Amara pointed behind their bench. There was a path behind her that led to a big table that was occupied by a group of girls chatting.

“We want to rent out big table,” KJ said.

“You don’t want me to tell them all to leave, do you?” I said. “Because there are a lot of girls there and I am just one girl. And they might be scary or something.”

“No, our desired time slot isn’t until later today,” Amara said.

Rain handed me a flyer. It had lots of flowery writing that just said ‘GARDEN PARTY SAT 5PM’ over and over.

“We want hosting a mock garden party there,” Rain said. “But we need to still reserve big table.”

“Oh,” I said, wondering what a mock garden party was. “You want me to hand these out?”

“No, we want you to guard big table,” KJ said.

“What do you mean guard?” I asked.

“To reserve big table, we’re going to have to wait in line for an hour at least,” Amara said. But there is a small window where another group of students could arrive, scan their wristbands at the table’s check in stand and swipe it from us.”

“I didn’t realize this big table was so moderated.” I said.

“It wasn’t always this way,” Amara said. “But after the fistfights Ema Kari and Snake Riley started over it, the prefects put a system in place for rental of big table.”

“It’s not perfect, but it’s better than what we had before.” KJ said.

“So would you be able to do that, Zeta?” Rain asked.

“This is a pretty exclusive event, and we’d consider inviting you if you help us out.” Amara said.

“I don’t have to like fight anyone, do I?” I asked.

“No, if you stay on this bench or stand near big table’s wristband check in stand no one should give you any trouble.”

The three stared at me expectantly. They each had impeccable sad puppy dog looks that made it impossible to turn them down.

“Can I grab a book or something first?” I asked.

“Why would you do that?” Amara asked. She crossed her arms and squinted at me, which was weridly really intimidating. “You’d be taking your eyes off the prize.”

“A-alright,” I said.

“Wonderful,” Rain said, delicately clapping. “Thank you, Zeta!”

“Now to get in line!” KJ said.

The three left abruptly after that, and I really hoped I wouldn’t have to do anything other than wait. Just as my mind wandered to picture me getting into an epic battle with whoever Ema Kari or Snake Riley were, Iris and Maia passed by.

“Yo, Zeta,” Maia said.

“Howdy!” Iris said.

“Hi guys," I said. 

“Saw you talking to the love trio,” Maia said. “What were they bugging you about?”

“They want me to watch over that big table back there.” I said. “They’re renting it out for a garden party.”

“Oh, that sucks,” Maia said. “You want an escape rope out of this?”

Iris started giggling. “Or we could help her.”

“No, please no,” Maia said. “Iris, if you make me join in with another love trio thing, I’m gonna smack you.”

“Aw, cmon Maia, it’s not like we’re doing anything anyways, and they’re not even here.” Iris said. “We’ll just be hanging out with Zeta.”

Maia sighed. “Fine.”