scare me ▹ monsters university

excerpt

The president of the Greek Council and her right-hand monster were quite the taskmasters, but you weren't someone in the position to oppose. It was orientation and check-in day, after all, and the freshmen were squeezing out of busses and dodging from parents' vans in the parking lot like clockwork.

Fresh meat.

That's what Brock likes to call them, making smoochy faces when an obvious fresh face attempts to haul their luggage from the car as well as duck from their mom's groping tentacles or claws.

Why? Because, "Mom, we're in public! This isn't cool."

Claire had been less amused and the council head was more inclined to dump stacks and stacks of fliers into your ready arms. "The rest of the Scare Games fliers I have on me, [Y/N]." She had tapped the top of the stack and given you a raised brow but proceeded to step out of the way of a frisbee player without so much of a blink of an eye.

"Awesome catch, man," Brock rooted for the monster who'd tumbled onto the grass, but grunted when Claire elbowed him in the rib. "What? Oh, right." He'd clapped you on the back, then her, and shook both of you vigorously and excitedly from the shoulders. "C'mon, ladies. Wheeler and I'll go back to manage the booth and if you need more fliers, Wailer, come—"

"—Wailerford," you tell him.

You'd tried to remind him last year and would do it again this year, even if you'd have to resort to desperate measures and stamp it on his beak. (Wailer sounded less 'posh' and more like a monster's name to him. Cooler.) Not to get it wrong, he and Claire had become great friends and had both played a huge part in your horrifying decision to swap majors at the last minute during freshman year.

"—back to the table and we'll get you more," he'd finished dismissively, puffing out his chest. "The others have the quad covered, so don't worry about that. I know how hard it is for you to get to those high to reach places."

The tease had earned him a snort and you'd both slipped from his arms.

"Anyway, birdbrain," Claire hadn't rolled her eyes, but she'd put in every bit of sarcasm. "Look, we want you putting these up around the dorms. Get the freshman interested and whatever. It's totally fun to see them lose their heads over this kind of thing."

"Who're you calling a birdbrain?" Brock's squawk was nonetheless ignored.

So you had mocked a two-fingered salute and suppressed a snicker to say, "Yes, chief," skittering off before having to witness your president win a less-than heated argument in front of the Greek Council table. Not that anyone could hear them at this point, with the bustling activity of rowdy students chittering all over campus. It was the opportunity to strap your MU messenger bag and hand out fliers on the way, introducing yourself as you made it up the steps to the building with a large banner printed with "WELCOME FRESHMEN" across the roof.

"[Y/N] Wailerford, public officer and web designer for the Greek Council. Here's a flier for the annual Scare Games, and we'll see you there, buddy."

Sometimes there'd be a wink if the monster looked like they needed a confidence boost on their first day. But the facts were still the same; it hurts your face to have to smile this much. The council is practically the face of the school.

If you'd thought that the building would have been less hectic than the commotion outside, you were wrong. Apart from Fear Tech, Monsters University is a widely popular school to apply for and the number of new bodies around the halls make your face flush. It's hot and humid, and completely difficult to get through without having someone's wings bat you in the face.

In and out, you try reassuring yourself. "Just get the posters up, [Y/N]." So you whip out the stapler from your bag, a determined look in your [e/c] eyes. "Posters, coming through!" had to be followed by, "Welcome to MU," to stop yourself from sounding rude.