Chapter 38: Cracks In The Dorm [I]

Elle had been pacing the floorboards since she woke up and opened AsterBuzz that morning, clutching her phone in a white-knuckled grip as she stared at the top bunk where Starlight was still buried beneath her duvet. Every time Starlight stirred or shifted on her mattress, Elle would gasp hopefully, waiting for her to open her eyes, only for Starlight to roll over again and bury her face even deeper into her pillow.

Letting out a frustrated groan for the umpteenth time, Elle threw her head back toward the ceiling. "Should I just wake her up?" she demanded.

"Just let her sleep, Elle" Ariel muttered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She had been dragged awake nearly half an hour ago by Elle’s nonstop pacing. At first, she had been annoyed enough to throw a pillow at her roommate, but that annoyance had vanished the moment she discovered why she was so worked up.

"How can I let her sleep?" Elle spun around dramatically and resumed pacing. "Do you not have any idea what’s happening right now?"

Chloe, who had been pretending to sleep but had actually been awake the entire time listening to then, finally flung her blanket aside and sat up with an irritated groan. "For goodness’ sake, Elle, calm down. All that pacing is making me dizzy."

Elle paused mid-step and glared at her. "To hell with it all," she declared, finally abandoning all restraint. Before anyone could stop her, she grabbed the side of the bunk ladder and scrambled up three rungs. Reaching the top, she immediately began shaking Starlight’s shoulder.

"Wake up! Starlight, get up right now! I can’t take this anymore. You need to see this!"

Starlight let out a muffled groan and pulled the blanket over her head. "Elle... let me sleep..." she mumbled. "I’m pretty sure the world can survive a few more minutes without me."

"Absolutely not!" Elle snapped. She yanked the duvet clean off her. "I can’t take it anymore. You need to see this right now, so wake up!"

She immediately shoved her brightly lit phone screen directly into Starlight’s groggy face.

"TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THIS!"

"Oh, for heaven’s sake," Starlight grumbled, blinking against the harsh blue light.

Her vision slowly came into focus. The Apex Ranking board was open on the screen. Her name, which had been dragged all the way down to sixty-one the previous day, had rocketed up the rankings like a missile and was now sitting at number five. Starlight bolted upright so fast she nearly headbutted Elle. She snatched the phone from her hands and stared at the screen.

"What the hell...?"

"You passed Beatrice!" Elle squealed, her voice jumping an octave as she bounced excitedly on the ladder. "She got pushed all the way down to number thirty! You’re literally the first human to make it into the Top Twenty and knock a werewolf princess out of it, Starlight! And you need to see your AsterBuzz account. It already has more than two hundred thousand followers! You’re making history, my Star!"

The words came tumbling out of her mouth so quickly that she barely stopped to breathe. Her excitement was impossible to contain, and the sight of her practically bouncing on the ladder made Starlight smile despite herself.

"You’re going to fall," Starlight warned, shifting over and patting the mattress beside her. "Come up, before you slip and break a neck."

The upper bunk was sturdy enough to comfortably hold one more person, and Elle didn’t need any further invitation. With an eager nod, she climbed the rest of the way up and joined Starlight. A moment later, both girls were sitting cross-legged on the bed. Starlight rubbed the last traces of sleep from her eyes and looked back down at her ranking profile. "I still can’t believe this is happening," she admitted softly.

She honestly couldn’t believe she had climbed back into the top twenty so quickly, let alone the top ten, especially after all the downvotes that had dragged her all the way down to the sixties.

"That’s because the Dawnbreakers went to absolute war for you overnight!" Ariel called from her own bunk, looking up at them with obvious amusement. "You are one lucky girl, Starlight."

Elle nodded enthusiastically at Ariel’s statement.

"Just look at you, Elle," Ariel said, her voice laced with amusement. "Anyone seeing you right now would think you’re the one making history."

"Duh." Elle rolled her eyes dramatically. "As Starlight’s manager and best friend, whatever happens to her also happens to me."

Ariel burst out laughing. "Not only did you shamelessly appoint yourself as her manager, you’re now doing it again by self-declaring yourself her best friend. Seriously, Elle, your lack of shame should be studied." She shook her head, still laughing. "But I have to admit, it’s refreshing hearing you use the word manager again. Yesterday, you were this close to disowning her and demanding a transfer to another dorm." Both Ariel and Starlight laughed.

"Oh, shut up, Ariel," Elle grumbled, though the embarrassed look on her face only made them laugh harder. "It never once crossed my mind to abandon Starlight. I’ll always stand by her through thick and thin."

"Can you people keep it down a little?" Chloe muttered from her bed, pulling a pillow over her head. "Some of us are still trying to sleep."

Starlight immediately frowned, looking toward her. "Chloe, do you have a problem with me?"

The question dropped like a bomb, instantly smothering the laughter and plunging the room into tense silence.

Chloe lowered the pillow from her face and slowly sat up. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Because I’ve been getting this weird feeling from you," Starlight replied bluntly. "You try to hide it really well, but I can sense it. Maybe not everything, but enough. My gut keeps telling me you’ve been pretending to care just to get along with me. Even the way you show that you care feels... forced. I’ve been noticing it since I stepped foot in this room yesterday. So if you have a problem with me, just come clean and say it instead of pretending everything is fine."

"Excuse me, hold on a second," Chloe said, holding up a hand. "How exactly did you arrive at that conclusion just because I said I wanted a little more sleep? Is all of this because of the way I talked to you yesterday when you messed up, or because I didn’t immediately jump up to celebrate your latest victory?"

"See that right there?" Starlight pointed at her. "That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You’re oozing bitterness, Chloe, and it’s getting harder and harder to ignore."

Chloe stared at her in disbelief.

"I never asked you to be happy for me or jump around in excitement over my latest victory, as you called it," Starlight continued. "But don’t stand there acting like I’m somehow inconveniencing you."

Elle visibly fidgeted, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. Her eyes darted nervously between the two girls while her fingers twisted together in her lap. She didn’t like this at all. She couldn’t understand how things had escalated so quickly from celebrating Starlight’s ranking to another argument.

Ariel, on the other hand, immediately pushed herself off the bed with an exasperated sigh. "Okay, you two need to stop it," she said, holding up both hands as though trying to placate them. "Can we please not do this first thing in the morning? We just survived yesterday’s disaster. Can we have one peaceful morning before everyone starts fighting again?"

"No, Ariel. Let her," Chloe said sharply, sitting up straighter on her bed. "Just let her go ahead and finish. I want to hear all of it. I want to hear every single thing she thinks I’ve done so wrong to her."