This ain't a diary, this is a - mirror?

Chapter 36: We Get to See Sharon and Luna's Dorm for the First Time in Our Lives

"I never thought that playing dodgeball would actually be... fun." Samantha commented. "I used to suck at it, and, well... uh, yeah, I still suck at it, but it's actually really fun!"

Elena nodded, clearly still not down from her adrenaline rush. "Yeah, it definitely is! We used to play dodgeball as a year group at my primary school every Friday, and it was amazing - but nothing beats seeing that stupid smirk wiped off that smug mutt's snout!"

"You're still on about that?" Samantha asked, half incredulously. Elena just nodded and laughed. "Why wouldn't I? She tried to threaten us, so this is how we'll show her that we're not to be messed with! And she can't even do anything about it because 'it's just a game'?"

"Well, technically, it was you who showed her that 'we' were not to be messed with." Samantha pointed out. "I just got a lucky strike in... and she made sure to get me out as soon as the game started."

"Lucky strike or not, you definitely gave her something to remember." Elena replied as she picked up her bag. "Well, you ready to go?"

"Uh, give me a second." Samantha dumped her PE clothes into her rucksack - the exact one which she had brought before Ryo gave her back her backpack - and tightened it. She tossed it into her relatively empty backpack and hauled it over her shoulder. "Alright, let's go."

Elena stood up as well. "Since we're kinda late... the cafeteria line should be shorter. That's a... plus of waiting out, I guess."

---

Samantha's mouth watered at the sight of the fish and chips on her tray. Unfortunately, they had been wandering around the cafeteria for a while and there were no empty seats. The three siblings didn't seem to be present either, which was... strange.

Elena put down her tray on a nearby table, earning a few strange or annoyed looks from the occupants on the table. She ignored them and turned to Samantha. "How about we just bring the food up to our dorm to eat? We can drop the empty tray off at the cafeteria as we head to Maths."

"Are we even allowed to do that?" Samantha mumbled through her tray. Elena shrugged, then nodded. "Well, if we aren't allowed, we'll be stopped by the door... but there's no sign anywhere saying that we aren't allowed to take the trays elsewhere. Let's just go upstairs."

Samantha obediently followed Elena out of the cafeteria. Thankfully, nobody had stopped them along the way, so they made their way to their dorm room and settled themselves down. Samantha immediately dug into her meal, finally glad to get something warm in her stomach. Elena pulled out her phone and checked it.

"They sent a text saying that they would be staying in Sharon and Luna's dorm to eat together since the cafeteria was full. They also sent us an invitation to come... wanna go?"

"Well, great minds think alike." Samantha joked. "Sure! But, er, where's their dorm again...?"

"FD343," Elena read off the text. "Well, let's go!"

---

The two dogs carried their trays down the corridor and stopped by a door labelled 'FD343'. After sharing a few looks, Elena reached up to knock on the door.

After a few moments of silence, the door opened. Zephyr poked his head out and a smile crossed his snout. "Took you long enough! Come on in!"

"Thanks," Elena replied, smiling back as she stepped through the doorway. Samantha thought that she could see a faint blush across his snout, but it was gone so quickly that she almost thought that she'd imagined it.

Samantha stepped through as well. Zephyr closed the door behind them and padded back to his original position on the floor with his tray of fish and chips.

"You guys have a nice room," Samantha remarked. The walls were a pastel purple and a plush, dark purple carpet covered the floor. On one side of the room was a desk that looked like it was made of marble - it had various small drawers on the top in pastel blue, purple and pink, and a small plant on the edge of the table. The bed was covered with pastel coloured bedsheets and several fluffy pillows. On the other was a desk painted dark grey, with various books stacked neatly on top. The blankets and pillows had a 'night sky' theme to it, and there was a rather cute grey owl plushie sat next to the pillow.

"Hm? Oh, thanks!" Sharon smiled brightly. "We selected the colours of the walls and the carpet together, but our beds and desks were our own choice."

"Oh, and my bed doesn't usually look this neat," Luna added. "Sharon forced me to tidy everything, but apparently it wasn't enough for her, so she refolded and tidied my side of the room as well...." Luna's eyes flitted over to her bed and her dark eyes widened. She leaped over to her bed with her bat-like wings splayed and buried the owl plushie underneath the blanket. She padded back to her tray, a faint embarrassed flush on her snout. "You saw nothing."

Elena simply chuckled and nodded. "Well, okay then. So, did you find out whether guys were allowed into girls' dorms?"

"Yeah." Zephyr nodded. "I mean, I wouldn't have cared, but Sharon made me check the school website. Apparently we're allowed to visit - we being, well, guys - girls' dorms until... nine thirty. And vice versa."

"I guess they trust us not to get up to any mischief." Luna chuckled dryly. "Well, they trusted the wrong dogs."

Sharon rolled her eyes. "Guys, really now?"

Elena chuckled as well. "Anyways... so, how was PE? Did you guys have PE together?"

"PE...? Oh, yeah, we did. Our teacher's pretty... strict. But he's okay." Zephyr shrugged. "He seems to have already picked his favourites, though, and it's definitely not us."

"Not even Sharon?" Samantha asked, sounding surprised. "I thought..."

"Oh, please." Sharon giggled. "Do you take me for the teacher's pet? Or someone who's good at sports?"

"Well..." Samantha trailed off. Luna shook her head and chuckled. "Well, I'm not surprised you thought so. People have a tendency to... not hate Sharon, unlike me and Zephyr, so... yeah."

Sharon smiled sheepishly. "Well, I don't like being... disliked, so I try to be as likeable as possible without being fake." Her eyes widened slightly and she tipped her head to the side. "Ah, right! We've been talking about us this whole time and not you guys... so! How was PE for you guys?"

Samantha made a face. "Well, for starters, Abbey and her gang is in our class, so that's a bummer."

"We completely wrecked Riley at dodgeball, though," Elena added, grinning. "It was amazing seeing the smirk -"

"She's been going on about that for ages," Samantha said in a stage whisper to the others, earning a giggle from everyone. Elena puffed up slightly and fake-pouted. "No, I wasn't! Now will you let me finish my story about how we completely wrecked her at dodgeball?"

"Technically it was just you... but sure, go ahead." Samantha chuckled. "If they're willing to hear it, that is."

Elena was already telling her overly exaggerated and dramatic version of the story before Samantha could finish her sentence. Everyone seemed rather engaged in her storytelling - Luna whooped as Elena described how Samantha managed to get her strike in, Zephyr was smiling dreamily and staring at Elena as she spoke (he probably wasn't listening to the story at all, but really, that was his loss - and besides, it was none of her concern) and Sharon was smiling and nodding along.

Samantha smiled and dug into her meal. Huh, who knew that I'd make friends at high school so quickly...?