7. Hallways And Dorms And A Gorgon, Oh My!
Closing the door softly behind me, I take a deep breath. "I feel weird doing this. I'm literally talking to a wall." I whisper to myself. Rolling my eyes, I look up at the ceiling. "Can you help me find my room?" I ask into the nothingness. The hallway remains silent; no walls move, no magical doors appear. "Um, hello?" I call out. The silence is deafening. Nodding, I shrug a bit. "Cool cool. I'll just find it myself." I sigh, heading down the hallway that splits off in two directions, both halls looking the same. Leaning back, I glance at the room number to my left. "101... I'm 221. Maybe it's on the second floor." I mumble. Shrugging, I turn down the left hallway, glancing at the numbers on the doors. '59? 180? What is this? Bingo?' Continuing to walk down the hall, it splits off again. Sighing, I take the right hallway this time and stop at the closest door. "327?! What the ham and cheese!" I exclaim, throwing my hand up.
Spinning around to head the other way, I bump into something. "Oof!" Stumbling back, my eyes widen. I tap the wall that appeared in front of me, hoping it's just an illusion and I can go back the way I came. "No, no, no." I say, panic starting to creep in. Whipping around, I quickly walk down the hall, taking a left at the end - the only way to go. "Okay, okay, it's fine. No need to panic." My breathing starts to pick up as every hallway looks the same, and the dorm room numbers continue to bounce around like they're being pulled from a lottery spinner. Feeling my panic shift into anger, I come to a complete stop in the middle of the umpteenth hallway I've turned down. "For flapjacks sake! I just want to find my dorm room!" I yell at the ceiling, more than likely looking like a deranged being. "I asked nicely!" I snap. Letting my trunk thump to the floor, I practically throw myself into a chair in the hallway, crossing my arms. The silence settles as I contemplate my life decisions so far.
"You know what? No." Standing up, I grab my trunk and march towards the end of the hallway. "I'm not giving up!" I exclaim, pointing towards the ceiling. "You will not win! I will find my room!" Swiftly rounding the corner, I crash into another wall and tumble to the floor. My wing knocks down a lamp on an end table and my trunk slams into a chair. A beat of silence passes as I lay on the floor. Tucking my face into my arms, I scream. "For the love of Godric's Hollow!" A chuckle pulls me from my short moment of rage. I go quiet and slowly look up. 'Wait, walls don't wear sneakers...' My eyes continue to travel towards the source of the sound. 'Or a green jacke-no... it can't be... oh sh-' My eyes widen as they meet vibrant green ones, hidden behind tinted glasses. "You again?" I ask out loud before my mind could reason with my mouth. There, in all his green glory, stood Deuce Gorgon.
"You okay?" Deuce asks with a small laugh as he holds a hand out to me. His sleeve slides up, revealing green scales lightly dusting the inside of his wrist. Sighing, I take his hand, allowing him to help me stand. "If I'm being honest, not really." I brush the imaginary dust off my clothes. "I am completely lost and I think this school has a vendetta against me. I can't even find my dorm room." I explain, looking up into his eyes, my cheeks turning slightly pink. He smiles as a small snake slithers out of his beanie, studying me with a tilt of its head before slithering back in. "Don't worry, we'll find your room." My wings ruffle a bit and he glances at them. "I'm Deuce by the way. Deuce Gorgon." He holds a hand out for me to shake. "So I've heard. Headmistress Bloodgood isn't exactly quiet." I smile and shake his hand, feeling a small spark. "Y/n Forrest. Freshman. Not the best with directions." He laughs, tucking his hands into his pockets and nods his head down the hall. "Common. What's your room number?" I walk over and grab my trunk from the floor, pulling the slightly crumpled paper with my dorm number from my pocket. My breath is caught in my throat as he leans close to look at the paper. Clearing my throat, I glance up at him. "Um, room 221." He nods, his smile on the verge of turning into a smirk.
We walk in peaceful silence, turning down hallways that look the same and room numbers that are never in order. "It's pretty bad when the monster I nearly mowed down... twice... has to help me find my dorm room." I say with a grimace. He chuckles, looking over at me. "Honestly? I don't mind." He shrugs. "Gives me a reason to walk with you." My eyes widen and the heat immediately creeps up on my face. Before I can respond, he stops outside a door. I look up at the faint numbers scrawled above on the metal plate. "Dorm room 221." Deuce says with a small gesture, leaning against the wall next to it. Looking around the hallway, I stare dumbfounded at the dorm room next to mine. "118." He glances behind him at the room before turning back to me. "Uh, yeah. What's wrong?" I point to my door. "This is my room." He nods slowly, looking confused. "That is my little sister's room." I pause, looking back and forth between the rooms like it would suddenly make sense. "I swear this room was not here!" I exclaim. "Maybe that's why the school didn't help me find my room... because it was right here." I say to myself.
I glance over at Deuce to see him trying to keep a straight face. Bumping him with my wing, he raises his hands in surrender, a smile taking over his features as he lets out a quiet chuckle. A bell rings out from the intercom system and Deuce clicks his tongue. "Curfew bell. Looks like you made it just in time, wings." I raise an eyebrow at the nickname. Smiling, he pushes off the wall and takes a step closer, looking down at me. I feel my cheeks start to heat up yet again and a weird, fluttery feeling in my stomach. "I'll see you tomorrow... y/n." He turns and starts to walk down the hallway. Glancing back over his shoulder at me, his smile widens, small fangs appearing. "Try not to get lost." He playfully winks and continues down the hall, out of sight. I let out a choked breath and turn to the door, twisting the handle. "Oh my Glinda, that was... wow." I whisper to myself, slowly pushing the door open to not disturb the other monsters in the room.
Quietly creeping in, I gently shut the door behind me, turning back to survey the room. My eyes widen, my jaw drops, and my trunk thumps to the floor. I'm completely frozen, in awe of the room before me. My room. Literally. Mine. Taking slow steps into the room, I spin around, trying to take in everything I could. On the left side of the room is a bed with lots of soft, fluffy pillows and blankets, a small dresser, and a bookshelf. On the right side, there's a cozy chair with a small footstool, a large circular mirror hanging on the wall, and a coffee table with lit candles. 'Are those... magic?' I hum in thought. Tucked away in the far right corner is a mini kitchen, equipped with a stove, an oven, shelves lined with ingredients, and drawers filled with cooking and baking necessities. The whole room is tied together with plants of all kinds; some draped across the ceiling, some set on shelves and small stands, and vines growing up the walls. Mixed with the plants are tiny fairy lights, creating a glow off the leaves, reminding me of my magic.
"Holy guacamole... I guess the school does tailor the rooms for us." Picking up my trunk, I set it on the bed and pop the latches, opening the lid. A white snake peers up at me from a glass terrarium with an unimpressed look. "I'm sorry! It's not my fault I got lost!" I explain, gently picking up the enclosure and setting it on my desk. Opening the top, I leave Chloe to explore on her own. "Geez, cut me some slack." Rolling my eyes, I tuck my wings in and slip off my backpack, setting it on the desk next to the terrarium with Chloe still staring me down like I committed the most heinous crime. I let out a sigh and walk back to the trunk, unpacking everything. Reaching into the trunk with both hands, I heave out a stack of my witchcraft books... 13 to be exact. "Hopefully they don't check our rooms." I mumble to myself, adding them to the bookshelf one by one.
Humming softly, I grab my phone and call Dad. The line doesn't even have a chance to ring once before it's picked up, and his face appears on the screen. "Hello?!" Dad calls out excitedly. "Hi Dad." I giggle at his excitement, sitting cross-legged on my bed. "Hey honey! How's it going? How's the school? How are the monsters?" He asks rapid-fire questions, his phone shifting to an awkward angle. "Whoa whoa, calm down, Dad!" I laugh. "Fix the camera! I can't even see your face anymore!" I giggle as the phone is moved around. His face appears on the screen again. "It's going good. The school is good. I had a bit of trouble finding my room but this uh, really sweet monster helped me out." I trail off as my thoughts drift to Deuce. "Mhm... and is this monster cute?" Dad smirks as I pale at his question. "Dad!" He just laughs at my reddening cheeks. "Well it's good to hear from you, honey. I just spoke to Clawdeen, too. Even though she's there, she still says 'Hi'." He smiles as I laugh and nod. "Alright Dad, I gotta go finish unpacking and make some cookies." His smile fades at that. "Are you really doing okay, honey? You love to bake, but you also bake when you're nervous." He asks softly. I smile softly. "I'm good, Dad. Just, new school, new peo- er monsters, it's just a little overwhelming, but I'll be okay. I promise." He gives me a look but sighs, nodding his head. "Okay. I love you, kiddo." He smiles softly. "I love you too, Dad." I smile and the screen goes blank as the call ends.
Sighing, I stand up and head to the dresser, pulling out a pair of gray sweats, a green tanktop, and my bear slippers, courtesy of Clawdeen. Swiftly changing clothes, I head over to the mini kitchen. "Time to bake some cookies." Walking over to the bookshelf, I run my finger over the titles before finding the one I'm looking for. "Necronomnomnom, Recipes and Rites from the Lore of H.P. Lovecraft." I pull bowls, mixers, and ingredients from the cabinets, a certain Gorgon still lingering in the back of my mind. "I wonder if he likes cookies?" I ask myself, slowly getting lost in the sweetness of baking, green eyes still lingering in the back of my mind.
