Diaper U

Chapter 15

Daniel fumed to himself, letting his thundercloud of frustration carry him through the halls of the university. Nobody stopped him, and nobody got in his way–he got a few looks, but his foul mood kept away any further bullying.

He was going to have to deal with those girls again–they'd caught the scent of weakness on him. He'd almost had them off his back, almost clear of the trouble. Everyone knew the best way to shed a bully was to stand your ground and show you didn't care, and he'd been so close to that goal...and then Jen had gone and shoved her nose in where it didn't belong. Even if she had good intentions, she'd just set him up for weeks of further harassment.

"Idiot," he muttered to himself, though he couldn't have said who the word was directed at–Jen, for stoking his bullying problem, or himself, for putting himself in that position to begin with.

Storming past the great hall where students had begun to find seats for lunch, he paused. He was starving, more than ready for a meal. He could look for his coven and try to sit with them, get a bite, vent to some of the girls who'd been friendly, but instead he continued past. Putting the whole school behind him, he ducked down a side hall in the direction of his dorm room.

He only went halfway down the hall, instead turning to knock on a very particular door.

His gesture was met with giggles.

"You know, the knocking doesn't really help with anything," Ismella pointed out. "What are you going to do, walk in on me while I'm changing?"

Daniel shrugged, pursing his lips. "It's the principle of the matter–and for the record, this is my second time coming to visit you."

Ismella didn't respond for a couple seconds. "Thanks."

"Can I come in?" He asked, gesturing to the door. "Or are you not decent?"

"That's mean."

"But you just–"

"Only ghosts get to make ghost jokes." She waited just long enough to make Daniel think he might have genuinely upset her before giggling again. "Come in, dummy."

He pushed open the door to the defunct classroom, pulling up a chair and leaning back. "How have you been?"

"Hell if I know. Ghost memory, remember?"

Daniel thumped the palm of his hand against his forehead–she couldn't sort her long term memories, of course she wouldn't be able to answer that. "Right. Sorry, I just...never know what to say when I'm small talking."

"So...skip the small talk." Her voice didn't sound like it was coming from a specific point, but Daniel still got the sense that she'd leaned herself against the desk at the front of the room.

Daniel almost cut straight to asking about the mysterious voice he heard, but his mouth started running before he knew why he wanted to say it.

"I'm so fucking sick of people treating me like I'm incompetent." He blinked, catching up with his own words, but once he got up to speed he kept going. "Like, I know I'm not the best at fine control, but I'm not helpless, I'm not some baby bird that needs its mommy just to eat."

Realizing the setup he'd put down, he waited for the inevitable "baby" joke, but none came. Ismella waited for a moment, and when he didn't continue, she asked, "What happened?"

"I was in the library with Jen," he explained. "Do you remember her? Glasses, big blue eyes, always has that scarf–she was with me when I overheard the voice."

"I still haven't been able to remember that," Ismella admitted. "Sorry–I did try, though, I promise."

"Eh, it's alright," Daniel said, leaning back a bit further in the chair, pushing the front legs off the ground so he could recline. "It doesn't matter. We'd been trying to get into the restricted section, but after we gave up and I left, these other girls started giving me shit."