Roomies 2: Part One

Thank you to everyone who neomailed me their comments for "Roomies" and wanted more. This is for you!

"SUMMER IS HERE!" The same three words were repeated so many times that Jesc found it hard not to smile. The sun was shining, the air was warm, a crisp breeze was blowing through her hair; she couldn't ask for anything more. Summer was here and that meant only one thing to the air faerie: summer vacation.

      During the school year, Jesc lived in the famous Faerie Academy, a school in Faerieland that prepared faeries like her for normal faerie life in Neopia. Jesc was just finishing up her second year and loved the school to death, but she still was homesick. She couldn't wait to get back home and see her sister.

      The sun was shining through her window in her dorm in the air faerie tower. As she looked out, she saw a bunch of faeries hugging their friends on the pristine green lawn in farewell for the summer. They all carried swollen suitcases which held their belongings and then reluctantly kicked off the ground in flight, ready for a visit home.

      Jesc, however, was still packing. She didn't have a roommate up there in Room 458 so the entire room was her own. Thus, she had to do all of the packing.

      So far, the room was almost bare. Her bed had been stripped of its many plushies, the desk under the window had been cleared of papers, pens, and books, and the wind chimes that had hung on the ceiling were packed away. All that was left was for her to check for anything that she might have missed.

      As she scoured the floor for items, there was a knock on her door.

      "Come in!" Jesc shouted brightly.

      The door swung open revealing an air faerie with short, light, blond hair in a light blue dress with long sleeves. Jan. She and Jesc weren't the best of friends, but they weren't enemies either. They were just acquaintances. In fact, Jan never really talked to Jesc unless it was to remind her that they weren't allowed to use magic on the spiral staircases in the towers. Right now, she was standing on one of the steps, a suitcase in her hand. "Hey, Jesc."

      "Hi." Jesc had just noticed an Ixi plushie under her bed and carefully picked it up. "Can I help you?"

      "Um..." Jan apparently was uncomfortable talking to her, but after a moment's hesitation said, "Listen. I just came to tell you that Mrs. Pierce has come back."

      Jesc froze at the name. "I thought she was fired."

      Jan shook her head. "She was 'temporarily suspended' because she wrecked her classroom, but she's back and is coming to the school today. There's a rumor that she's looking for you after the incident in the winter..."

      "Oh," Jesc said, packing the Ixi in her bag, suddenly at lost for words (and that had never happened before).

      "I just wanted to warn you," Jan said, fiddling with her sleeve. "She could be here any minute and..." She trailed off.

      Jesc smiled. "Thanks. I'm almost done packing. I'll be outside in a second."

      Jan nodded. "Well, then have a good summer." She then closed the door.

      With her suitcase finally packed, Jesc tied up her long blond hair in a ribbon and jumped on top of her bag. It was overfilling with stuff, but with some effort, it closed. Pausing, she remembered Mrs. Pierce.

      Mrs. Pierce was an old, fire faerie teacher who had taught Proper Uses of Magical Abilities. Jesc had excelled in all academic areas except for that one class, but it wasn't because of the work. Instead, it was because Mrs. Pierce would always find ways to make Jesc fail, either by locking her out of class or giving her detention. Mrs. Pierce hated her and Jesc hated her back.

      But that winter, Jesc had signed up for a program through her elective class, Help Out Neopia, that allowed her to share her dorm with a poor faerie who needed a home. That "poor faerie" had ended up being Jhudora, the infamous dark faerie whose own lair had been burned down by no other than Mrs. Pierce, Jhudora's previous teacher.

      Even though Jesc and Jhudora hadn't always seen eye to eye, they both shared a dislike for Mrs. Pierce that bonded them together and allowed them to craft a plan to finish off Mrs. Pierce once and for all. Their challenge was for Mrs. Pierce to douse a single flame of fire that was on a candle, but the flame was only an illusion, and their clever trick had led Mrs. Pierce to cover her entire classroom with water out of desperation. The water had caused so much damage to the classroom and she was "temporarily suspended" while it was being fixed, but now she was coming back.

      But Jesc wasn't that worried. She would be leaving the academy for summer vacation and once she was home, she wouldn't have to deal with Mrs. Pierce for two months. All she had to do now was leave. Jesc sighed. "Goodbye, room. See you in the fall."

      Carefully lifting her bag, she was about to leave when the door to her room burst open.

      In stormed a tall, fire faerie. She had auburn hair streaked with grey that was pulled into a tight bun and on her nose were black, pointy glasses. She was wearing a horrid red dress that blinded Jesc as she looked at it and her eyes were vermilion.

      Mrs. Pierce.

      "Hello, Mrs. Pierce!" Jesc tried saying brightly.

      Mrs. Pierce glared at her coldly and barked, "Sit down."

      Jesc sat on the bed and glared at her least favorite teacher.

      Mrs. Pierce paced the room, her heels clicking on the stone floor, and whispered coldly, "You must have thought it was funny, putting that illusion on the candle, making me look insane in front of everyone and getting me suspended."

      Jesc answered, "I don't know what you're talking about."

      "Don't lie to me!" the fire faerie spat. "I know that you and Jhudora were in on that little scheme together."

      "How do you know for sure?" Jesc retorted. "Whoever lit the candle was invisible at the time. I was in your class while it happened and Jhudora was in my dorm packing." Her statement was half true. She had been sitting in the classroom, but Jhudora had not been packing. "Besides, did anyone specifically say that it was Jhudora and me?"

      Jesc knew that she had trapped Mrs. Pierce right there. First of all, no one besides her and Jhudora truly knew the entire story, and secondly, no one would ever tell Mrs. Pierce even if they did know. She was too notorious.

      Mrs. Pierce took a deep breath. "Listen to me," she whispered. "All you have to do is admit that Jhudora was behind the prank and you can leave. You won't be punished for what she did except for maybe a detention, but for you, that is nothing to be worried about. So all you have to do is admit it..."

      "No."

      Mrs. Pierce's red eyes glared with an evil sparkle. "I thought you might say that, however, if you don't admit it, you'll be trapped in this school for the entire summer..."

      "WHAT?" Jesc exclaimed. "That's not fair! You can't keep me here all summer!"

      "I can and I will! No one comes into these towers in the summer, but since I was away, I have permission to come here throughout the entire vacation. The building will be completely empty except for you and me."

      "My sister will know I'm still here!" Jesc responded. "I already sent Mirasol a letter telling her that I was coming home!"

      Mrs. Pierce smiled evilly. "But a little letter from me explaining all about your 'failing' grades and about how, unfortunately, you needed to go to summer school will give her all the reason to know that you aren't coming home." She paused and then said sweetly, "Of course, all of this could be avoided if you just admit that Jhudora did it. Jhudora is a bad influence to Faerieland and she should be banished from it. I'm only trying to make Faerieland a safer place and you can help, just by telling me what really happened and admitting the truth."

      Jesc wanted to snort. She knew that Mrs. Pierce didn't care about the well-being of Faerieland. She just wanted revenge. And as much as she wanted to go home, Jesc could never backstab Jhudora. "I'll never answer to you."

      Mrs. Pierce was outraged. Her face turned red in anger. "Then unpack your things! You have two more months to spend here!"

      With that, she left the dorm, slamming the door behind her.

      Once the door was shut, Jesc got off the bed and tried the doorknob. It was locked. Pulling out her wand from her pockets, she tried to mutter unlocking spells, but they didn't work. She was stuck.

      Defeated, she lay down on her bed. She didn't want to unpack. She didn't want to believe that she was stuck there for another two months. Instead, she closed her eyes, feeling the breeze that blew in from the window...

      "The window!" she realized with a start. She had learned from Jhudora that although the doors locked, the giant window was permanently unlocked. Rushing, she stood on top of her empty desk and opened the large window. Grabbing her suitcase, she then kicked off into the afternoon air.

      The weather was glorious. The sky was bright blue with big, puffy, white clouds, and the sun was shining. It was a bit hard for Jesc to fly since she was carrying the suitcase, but she managed.

      Once she was far enough away from the castle that she couldn't see it anymore she suddenly realized her dilemma. Where would she go? Mrs. Pierce had sent her sister, Mirasol, a letter so she wouldn't be able to return home and she wouldn't be able to fly all the way to Neopia Central in one day to rent a room in the Neolodge.

      As she scanned below her, a mound of purple cloud caught her eye and she knew where she could stay.

     ***

      "I want you to bring me a Meat Feast Omelette! You have twelve minutes starting now and NO shop wizard! GO!"

      Jhudora was sitting in her throne in front of the fireplace giving out her quests to the passing Neopets. The one she had just commanded, a little blue Uni, was sniveling in fear in front of her and at the word "go" had run out of her cloud.

      Jhudora sighed. It was so hard to find good help those days. "NEXT!" she called out, closing her eyes.

      "Hi, Jhudora!" The voice was bright and airy and Jhudora flinched at the sound. She didn't open her eyes. She couldn't believe it. Jesc couldn't be there right now. "I must be dreaming!" she thought. "No," she corrected herself. "I must be having a nightmare!" Cautiously, she opened her violet eyes and sighed. She hadn't been dreaming. Jesc was there, right in front of her. "What do you want and what are you doing here?" she barked.

      It was then that she noticed that Jesc wasn't smiling. Jesc never stopped smiling so she instantly knew that something was wrong.

      "I'm not a counselor, you know!" Jhudora said quickly. "Your problems are your problems, not mine."

      "But that's the problem," Jesc replied. "My problem IS your problem. Mrs. Pierce was released from her suspension today. She'll be teaching again in the fall."

      "Oh," Jhudora said, but she was only a bit disappointed. She hated Mrs. Pierce and had expected her to still be in suspension for a few more months, but she knew that she would be released eventually. "And?"

      "She wanted you. At least, she wants you to admit to the whole incident last winter. She wants you banned from Faerieland."

      Jhudora shook her head, rustling her purple hair. "She can't do that. There are certain rules and one of them states that this cloud in Faerieland is MINE! She isn't in charge of housing and such. Only the Neohome Planning Committee is and believe, me, I know! My house was burnt down, remember?"

      Jesc looked down. "That didn't stop her from trying to keep me trapped in the school and stop me from going home."

      Jhudora looked at her. "She seriously trapped you? And you escaped?"

      Jesc nodded.

      Jhudora suddenly burst out laughing. Gasping for air, she shouted, "She'll be sooo mad when she sees that you're gone!" She then paused and looked Jesc over. "But why are you here?"

      Jesc smiled grimly. "She's already told my sister that I won't be home, so I can't go there..."

      "Oh, no!" Jhudora said, figuring out where this was going. "No, no, no! You will not be staying with me! I have quests to give out and there's barely enough room for all of MY things!"

      She was right. Jhudora's cloud was completely covered in stuff.

      "But I only need a bed and I don't have much! Only my suitcase!" Jesc protested, lifting her bag. "And besides, you technically owe me." Jesc smiled an overly happy smile. "You had to live with me before and I shared my dorm with you."

      "'Had' is the key word. I 'had' to stay with you because I didn't want to freeze my wings off outside! It was winter!" But Jhudora realized that Jesc had a point. With a defeated sigh, she murmured, "How long?"

      Jesc happily jumped up in the air, but then adverted her eyes. "Only two...... months."

      "TWO MONTHS!" Jhudora exclaimed, suddenly standing up from her chair. "I STAYED WITH YOU FOR THREE WEEKS! NOT TWO MONTHS!"

      Jesc smiled serenely. "I'd forgotten about those dark faerie tempers."

      "And I've forgotten how annoying you've could be," Jhudora muttered, but in her mind, she knew what she had to do. "Fine," she grumbled, "you can stay."

      Jesc's blue eyes widened. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you...!" Dropping her bag, she rushed over to Jhudora and gave her a hug.

      "Hey!" Jhudora shouted, "Rule number one, no hugs! I do NOT want to be touched! Otherwise people are going to start thinking that I'm actually nice!" Jhudora shoved her off, her head already pounding with the beginnings of a headache. "And while you're here, no touching ANYTHING! No potions, no cauldron, no anything! Got it?"

      Jesc nodded her head rapidly and babbled quickly, "Where should I put my things? Or rather my suitcase because I don't have that many things, at least for right now and I don't want to put it anywhere that will get in the way or make you trip or..."

      "SILENCE!" Jhudora shouted, pulling out her wand (new and improved since the fire) and waving it. The bag was magically lifted into the air, dodged her cauldron, throne, and table and deposited itself in a bedroom. "You'll stay there. Now, go and settle in. And DO NOT come out for about an hour. I still have quests to give out. Now hurry before I change my mind and BE QUIET!"

      Jesc nodded and threaded her way through the crowded lair. However, after a few steps, she stopped and turned around, looking back at Jhudora. "Guess what?" she said smiling.

      Jhudora glared at her angrily. "What?"

      "We're roomies again!" With that said, Jesc ran into the bedroom and closed the door.

      "Yippee," Jhudora muttered sarcastically as she sunk back into her throne, preparing to give out another quest. With the mood she was in, she decided to make it extremely hard...

     ***

      Mrs. Pierce had just finished sending the letter to Jesc's sister and was heading back up the fourth tower, the one that housed air faeries. Normally it would be crowded, but with everyone gone on vacation, it was empty except for the fire faerie. After a dizzying and tiring workout on the spiral staircase, she reached Room 458. Composing herself, she adjusted her dress and cleaned her glasses. She knew that Jesc was a stubborn girl and that it would take a few tries to get her to reveal that it was Jhudora, but she was prepared for the challenge. Pulling out her wand, she unlocked the door and strode in.

      The room was empty. Mrs. Pierce had thought that Jesc would have begun to unpack by now but everything was completely bare. There were no plushies, no papers, no books...

      ...and no Jesc.

      "WHAT?" Mrs. Pierce screeched. "This is impossible!"

      She checked under the bed, around the desk, and in the cabinets that were in the small kitchen, but she wasn't there. That was when Mrs. Pierce noticed the open window...

      "That horrible faerie!" she yelled, her eyes mad with anger, but after sitting on the end and taking a few breaths, she calmed down enough to think properly.

      "Two can play at that game," she muttered, "and don't worry. You're going to tell me the truth whether you want to or not!" And, after tucking her wand in her pocket for safekeeping, she stood up on the desk and flew into the sky, her mind set on vengeance.

To be continued...