A bad influence

Chapter 3

I ran up the staircase, so I would catch up on Mal and Evie. "Mal, Evie, if you'll follow me please." I stated. Ben had given me their dorm number. "So... do you like this place?" Mal asked me as we walked down the girls wing of the school. "It's not the worst." I replied. "Are there any princes here?" Evie asked hopefully. "Tons. All idiots, of course." I told her. "Wait, you mean you don't like all those perfect people around here?" Mal questioned, stopping in the middle of the hallway. "That's putting it lightly. If it wasn't for my friends, I would have cursed Audrey a couple of years ago." I told them. "Oh, and Evie, she had no right to humiliate you like that. You are just as much of a princess as I am, probably even more." I explained to her. "Ahw, thank you!" she squealed. "You are the only person that has treated us like actual persons since we came here." Mal said. "Well, you guys aren't your parents." I told them. "You know what?" Mal asked me. I looked at her confused. "I like you." she simply stated. Evie stared at me in amazement as Mal walked away.

"How did you do that?" she whispered. "Did what?" I asked. "Get her to like you so quickly?" Evie explained. "By treating her as my equal. Not as my subject, nor my leader. As a wise poet once said: 'Do not follow me, for I am not one to lead. Do not lead me, for I am not one to follow. Just walk beside me as my equal and we shall both lead and follow one another'." I told the blue-haired girl. "You guys coming?" Mal shouted. "On our way!" I replied.

We continued to walk down the hall until we passed their room. "Here we are. Room 293. If there's anything you need, just ask. My room is right next to yours. Oh, and if you hear sword fighting, don't worry. That's just me and my roommate." I explained. "One thing." Mal said. I looked at her. "Where is the bathroom?" she asked. "There's one in your room and there are toiletries on your beds." I explained. They nodded and entered their room as I walked towards my own dorm.

"So..." Maere said as I entered our dorm. She was sitting on her bed, a biology book in her lap. I glanced at her in confusion as she raised her eyebrow at me. "How are the new guys? Are they nice?" she asked, jumping up from her bed and pacing around the room. "They're...cool, I guess. Well, at least they're not like Audrey." I told the red-haired girl. The curtains danced a bit in the wind as I sat down on my bed.

"Something's bothering you." Maere said, sitting down next to me. "You're right." I replied. The bed creaked under our weight as she shuffled closer. "What is it?" "I've got a gut feeling that something isn't right. Like something is about to happen to me..." I told Maere. "It's probably nothing." she reassured me. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Dinner?" I proposed. "I'll race you there." Maere dared me. With that, we ran out towards the dining area, not caring what anyone thought of us.

"I won!" I yelled, doing a little victory dance. "Sure..." Maere said in a disbelieving tone. I scrounged my nose at her and we sat down for dinner.

-AFTER DINNER-

"Kathy..." Irene said in the sweetest voice she could manage. "What do you need?" I groaned. She looked at me offended. "Why would I need anything?!" she asked as she dramatically placed her hand over her heart. "Ire, you only use that voice when you need something, so just tell Kath what you need." James clarified. "Okay, fine. So, tomorrow I have geography with Jafar's son..." she began. I glanced over at Maere, who simply rolled her eyes as Hiccup sighted. "Let me guess, you want to borrow my crown?" I asked her. Irene nodded enthusiastically. "Not going to happen." I said. "But Kathy..." she whined. "You heard the high princess." James announced. "James! You know I hate that title." I groaned. "At least he didn't use your full title." Hiccup stated, making me smile a bit. The corridor split. Left for the male wing, right for the female wing. We wished each other good night and went our own way.