𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 ₊❏ ❜ ONE

THE FLOORBOARDS creaked under her feet as she edged the bedroom door open, arms carrying a box that might have once been too heavy.

       "You're here!" A bright voice exclaimed, seizing the box at once with surprising ease. "Finally!" The girl smiled smoothly, practically beaming at her new roommate. "I'm MacKenzie!"

       The dark-haired girl in the doorway simply blinked, lips pulling into a frown with brows furrowed. She reached for the box. "You don't have to—"

       "You're Theodora, right?" MacKenzie cut her off, twisting out of the way and walking across the room to set the box down on the empty bed. The room was split in half. One side was empty, void of anything save for essentials—furniture, namely. The other side was accented with several trinkets and pieces of character like a memory board decorated with photos. It was clear which side belonged to who.

       "Theo's fine," Theodora responded stiltedly, still lingering in the threshold.

       MacKenzie tilted her head. "You know I don't have to invite you in, right? That's not...really how that works." She added a faint laugh, looking at Theodora with all the warmth she could muster.

       "I have more boxes," was all MacKenzie got in response, watching as Theo backed out of the room, disappearing down the hall.

       MacKenzie heaved a sigh, collapsing down onto her own bed and making a mental note to try that again when Theo got back. It took a minute or so before MacKenzie heard the familiar sound of footfalls.

       "Sorry," she said almost immediately as Theo set foot inside, carrying another box.

       Theo tossed her a glance. "For what?"

       "I don't know," the girl admitted, near pouting as she watched her new roommate set the box beside the other. "You seem..." MacKenzie shrugged.

       "How about you try becoming a vampire and then we'll talk?" Theo mused, tone biting as MacKenzie shirked back. Sighing, the girl shook her head and began opening the boxes on her bed. "Dying puts you on edge. Apparently."

       "Right. Yeah. I haven't died, I wouldn't know," MacKenzie chuckled, earning another sidelong glance from Theo in return.

       "That sounded condescending."

       "Oh, it wasn't meant to be!"

       Theo hummed passively, returning to her boxes for another moment before twisting on her heel and exiting the room once again. MacKenzie huffed, sinking into herself.

       "Can we start over?" She asked in a hurry when Theo came back a third time, another box in arms. "Hi. I'm MacKenzie."

       Theo furrowed her brows, staying silent as she set her box down on the nearest open surface. Then, she pivoted on her heel to directly face her new roommate. "What are we starting over for?"

       "Because we are seriously starting off on the wrong foot," MacKenzie said as if it was obvious. Tilting her head, she said, "Aren't we?"

       Theo ran a hand down her face before taking a breath, "Two weeks ago, I died. One week ago, my parents found this place and boarded me. Like a dog. In a kennel. Because now, their daughter drinks blood to survive. And today I'm moving into that kennel."

       "When you put it like that—"

       "Heard of culture shock? This is culture shock."

       The room fell quiet after that, Theo returning to her slow process of unpacking as MacKenzie tentatively watched. She wasn't sure what to say to ease the tension, if there really was any tension at all or it was all in her head.

       "Right," MacKenzie breathed, wringing her hands in front of her. She smiled politely. "I'll, uh, leave you to it then." If her nerves could show, Theodora would've looked at her like she was insane. "I should get to class anyway...and breakfast...I'll just...go get...that breakfast..."

       Trailing off, MacKenzie inched toward the door as if expecting her new roommate to stop her. Yet, Theo continued her tediously slow unpacking and left MacKenzie to huff and carry on.

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The breakfast rush was halfway over as students bustled about, some heading off to class while others still mingled about. It was a normal morning in the Salvatore School as MacKenzie made a grab for the last croissant.

Someone got to it first, seizing it right from under her. "You snooze, you lose," Lizzie Saltzman sneered, smug smile on her face as she took off with the breakfast pastry before MacKenzie could even start to pout about it.

"Here," rang a familiar honeyed voice accompanied by an outstretched hand and a thin smile.

"Penelope," MacKenzie sighed, taking the croissant regardless of the witch it was attached to. "Does this come with a price or...?"

"Not at all," the witch hummed. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?"

MacKenzie found herself frowning. "Lizzie is not my enemy. She just—"

"Hates you," Penelope retorted, that ever present sly grin of hers on her face as her eyes twinkled with mischief. "You can afford better company than the likes of her, you know. Is it true that new roommate of yours got in last night?"

"This morning, actually," MacKenzie hastily corrected, eyes flitting around to note the students making their leave for classes. "And I should get going. Thanks for the croissant."

Spinning on her heels, MacKenzie made a quick exit before Penelope could talk to her a moment longer. She merely ate her croissant and made her way to her respective classes, like it was nothing but a normal school day.

When classes had ended, MacKenzie made her way back up to her dorm. Edging the door open, she poked her head inside to see Theodora sitting cross-legged on the floor with a book in front of her

"Phasmatos Incendia, Phasmatos Incendia, Phasmatos Incendia—"

MacKenzie furrowed her brows. "Theo? What are you doing?"

Theo opened her eyes, looking up at the doorway with a faint frown pulling at her lips. "Nothing, from the looks of it," she huffed, kicking the book away with her foot.

"Aren't you...a vampire?" MacKenzie wondered, clicking the door shut behind her as she stepped further into the room. "What're trying to cast a spell for?"

"Current vampire. Ex-witch. Hoping for a loophole. Getting none," Theo said, grabbing the book off the floor and tossing it to MacKenzie. "Think that's yours."

MacKenzie blinked. "Were you trying to burn one of my books?"

"It was just a dictionary," Theo admitted with a shrug as she took a seat on her bed. "Figured you could do without."

Electing not to fight, MacKenzie kept quiet and only spared a glance about the room. From the looks, Theo hadn't done much more unpacking as her side of the room still looked overwhelmingly bare. Maybe she would've offered to help unpack again if she thought Theo had any interest in doing so, but now the dark-haired girl was on her laptop and doing her best to avoid everything else.

MacKenzie fought the urge to talk in lieu of putting some of her things away. The silence hung for only a moment before, "So, what are you then?"

The girl looked back to see Theo watching her with narrowed eyes, waiting for an answer.

"Right, I didn't get a chance to tell you," MacKenzie breathed, straightening up as Theo didn't move, still waiting. A subtle smile passed over MacKenzie's features. "Come on, I wanna show you something."

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"You gave her the talk, right?" Arthur Elliot asked, quirking an eyebrow over the cup of coffee in his hands towards his husband.

His husband, Uriel, hesitated. "I thought you gave her the talk," he remarked with substantial ease. Arthur grimaced.

"Well, if you didn't give her the talk and I didn't give her the talk, then—"

"Arthur."

"We could always wait until she turns thirteen, couldn't we? I mean, she's not going anywhere—"

Uriel cleared his throat, rubbing the bridge of his nose and pushing off the kitchen counter he was leaning against. Setting his mug down, he ventured out into the living room with Arthur trailing behind.

On the living room couch was a ten-year-old MacKenzie, her eyes glued to the children's show flashing across the television screen.

"Hey Pumpkin, your dad and I want to talk to you," Uriel began, taking a seat on the coffee table as Arthur stood just beside him.

"I didn't eat the last cookie! That was Dad!" MacKenzie blurted in a rush, Arthur gaping at her as Uriel turned back to face him.

Arthur floundered, shaking his head, "I have no idea what she's talking about."

Uriel sighed, turning back to his daughter with a soft smile. "It's not about that. We just wanted to tell you..." Putting his hands together, he began, "Now that you're ten, your body may start going through some...changes."

Recognition seemed to dawn on the young girl. "Like my tail?" She wondered, looking up at her parents with large doe eyes.

Arthur spluttered, "Your what now?"

"My tail," MacKenzie reaffirmed with the most confidence an ten-year-old have. "It grew when I took my last bath!"

Arthur and Uriel shared the same momentary disbelief. Ten-year-olds like to play make-believe, it wasn't out of the question that this was simply pretend, but MacKenzie seemed so sure in what she had been saying.

"Honey," Arthur carefully began, "when you say tail, you mean—"

"Like Ariel."

"Like Ariel," Uriel repeated, nodding subtly.

MacKenzie took their following silence as disbelief, and she sought to fix it. "I'll prove it," she declared, scrambling to her feet and hurrying to the kitchen.

"Prove what?" Arthur had whispered to his husband. Uriel hadn't gotten an answer out before there was the sound of running water followed by a distinct THUD.

"MacKenzie!" Uriel had exclaimed, he and Arthur hurrying into the kitchen only to skid to a stop in the doorway.

"Ow," MacKenzie pouted, rubbing her head a little as she situated herself in her spot on the floor. "See!"

Arthur and Uriel stood momentarily paralyzed by the sight before them. Either their eyes were deceiving them or their ten-year-old daughter really was laying on the floor, part fish.

Arthur could only shake his head, a hand clutching Uriel's arm as they were both stunned into near silence. "Holy—"

"Shit, you weren't kidding," Theo gasped, kneeling on the edge of the dock. Her eyes, the size of saucers, watched the lake as MacKenzie floated neatly in the water—sporting her very own scaly sea-green tail.

"Nope," MacKenzie chuckled, shaking her head enough to spray Theo with water and make her recoil. "Luckily, my family was understanding."

"You're a mermaid, like, an actual mermaid."

"As opposed to a fake one?"

"As opposed to Ariel," Theo retorted, dipping her hand down to flick water at MacKenzie. "Are your parents mermaids too? Or...?"

"I'm adopted so...I have no idea. But maybe." Truthfully, MacKenzie had thought about the possibility many of times. This must've been a hereditary thing, but she had no way of knowing. Still, it was fun to wonder. "I've never met another mermaid, actually, but I don't think I'm the only one either."

"I have never heard of mermaids," Theo admitted, still eyeing MacKenzie's tail suspiciously as if she wasn't sure it was really there.

"Did you ask?"

Theo bit her tongue. "So...this...just happens when you come in contact with water?" She quirked an eyebrow. MacKenzie nodded. "What do you do when it rains?"

"Absolutely nothing, actually. I sit in my room and hibernate, like a bear."

Theo furrowed her brows. "I assume you're joking, but I legitimately can't tell."

They shared a momentary laugh before MacKenzie extended a hand. "Mind helping me out?"

The vampire went to take it before instinctively pulling back. "You're going to pull me in, aren't you?"

"What? No! Then we'd both be in here and I'd still need a hand!" MacKenzie said, face contorting as if she'd just been accused of a heinous crime. "I can get out without help, but it's really not worth the trouble."

Biting her tongue, Theo stared at MacKenzie's hand a moment longer before taking it. When MacKenzie didn't immediately yank her into the lake, Theo helped pull her out of the water and onto the dock to dry.

"Thanks," MacKenzie huffed, pushing herself up on her elbows. "Hand me that towel?" Theo handed off the towel they'd brought, waiting for MacKenzie to dry off and rid herself of her tail.

Once MacKenzie had dried off and lost her fin, the pair got to their feet and began to depart from the lake.

"If you're a mermaid, what else can you do?" Theo asked as they walked, sending a curious glance over to the girl beside her. "Because like, no disrespect to Ariel, but she seriously couldn't do much. Except sell her mermaid tail for a man. Which hurt like hell in the original story, by the way."

"Okay, I'm not feeling the Ariel slander right now," MacKenzie remarked, earning a laugh from both of them as they continued up toward the school—until MacKenzie was harshly shoulder-checked as they rounded a corner.

"Watch it, MacKenzie! I'm so not in the mood!" Lizzie yelled, looking to be on the verge of tears and still brimming with rage all the same.

"Lizzie! I'm so—" MacKenzie scrambled to apologize but the witch was already halfway gone as she watched her go with a frown. "...Sorry?"

"Don't worry about it," someone assured, coming up behind MacKenzie a second later. She turned to come face to face with Josie, the witch wearing a faint smile of sympathy. "She's just...having a bad day."

MacKenzie shook her head, brows furrowed. "Is she okay?"

"It's Lizzie," Josie responded as if that could properly answer her query. With a frown, she continued, "I need to find my dad." She took off.

"What the hell was that?" Theo asked now, brows furrowed as she looked at MacKenzie.

MacKenzie sighed. "It's complicated. Those were the Saltzman twins, as in Dr. Saltzman's daughters." Theo gave a nod as if that explained anything. "Anyhow, come on. We should start getting ready."

"Ready?"

MacKenzie nodded eagerly. "There's a party down at the old mill in a couple of hours. You wanna come, right?"

There was a flicker of hesitation on Theo's face, a scowl threatening to pull at her lips. "A party?" She practically recoiled.

"It'll be a great chance for you to meet everyone!" MacKenzie insisted, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Against her better judgement, Theo bit the inside of her cheek and gave a shrug. "Alright, yeah, sure."

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The party at the old mill was, fortunately and unfortunately, a party in all ways. It seemed a fair share of the student body had turned up to enjoy the small sense of normalcy that was an event like this, full of drinking and bad decisions.

"Could be worse, could be better, huh," MacKenzie hummed, leaning around Theo to offer her a small smile. The girl just quirked an eyebrow.

"Something like that," she said, glancing about. Two weeks as a vampire and it was all still too new, everything still too loud. Nevertheless, Theo shook it off. "Do you know all these people?"

MacKenzie shrugged. "I mean, I have been going here since I was like...ten? So! But, not everyone's here by the looks of it either."

"There's more?!"

MacKenzie chuckled, giving Theo a slight squeeze. "I'll get us some drinks and we can talk all about it, okay?" MacKenzie scurried away before Theo could argue, a frown pulling at her lips as she stood—feeling as if she stuck out like a sore thumb.

At least, until, "You new here too?"

Theo whirled around to see an unfamiliar face, though they were all like that so far. "Uh, yeah, actually," she admitted, looking at the guy before her.

"It's...a lot," He chuckled, "but it's cool, right?" Theo arched a brow, noticing how ecstatic he seemed to be about this entire affair. "I'm Raf."

"Theo."

Raf offered a friendly grin. "Drink?" He held a solo cup out to her. The smell of alcohol was definitely strong, leaving little to the imagination. "It'll take the edge off," he assured.

Her eyes darted from him to cup, her lips parted with an answer on her tongue. Fingers itching to reach out and take it, a horrid taste suddenly arose in the back of her throat and Theo sneered. "Doubt it," she scoffed, harshly brushing past him as the drink clattered to the ground.

It wasn't until she was clear in the woods, having left the party far behind, that she stopped walking. Her dorm seemed better than this but then she glanced back to the tree line, to the old mill, where she'd left MacKenzie.

"Dammit," she cursed underneath her breath. Instead of going either way, she brought a hand up to rub the bridge of her nose and then planted herself on the ground, flopping back against the dirt.

The brisk night air allowed her to breathe and her head to stop its swimming, her eyes locked onto the sky above. Stars shone brightly above, with constellations mesmerizing her in all their glowing glory. It was a thankful reprieve until Theo heard the barely audible snapping of a twig.

Sitting up, she went wide-eyed at the sight of a wolf just feet away. Neither she nor the wolf moved for what was possibly too long of a moment before the animal turned tail and ran. Blinking, Theo let out a sigh. "And I didn't even drink anything..."

Satisfied with her evening, or unsatisfied rather, Theodora had enough and pushed herself to her feet. The school wasn't far and it was better than the cacophony of chatter back at the party.

Meanwhile, the old mill and the clearing surrounding it was flush with people. MacKenzie slipped between witches showing off with sparkling spells and some all-too-cliquey wolves, looking for a keg or even just a punch table.

Greetings passed by her ear and she smiled warmly as she passed her classmates, though she was careful not to stop. As much as she detested the thought of them finding her too good for their time, she knew she'd get distracted.

Once she'd finally earned herself a set of drinks, the girl set off in search of her roommate. It was hard enough navigating the crowd without drinks, and it proved more challenging now as the liquid sloshed about with the slightest of jostle.

MacKenzie shirked back, not wanting to spill a drop on herself and end up flopping flat. "Here!" rang a familiar soft voice as the cups were plucked from her hands. Josie stood in front of her, a faint smile on her face. "Where are these going?"

"One of them's going to my roommate," MacKenzie said, craning her neck to look at the crowd of partygoers. "Well...wherever she went." Smoothing out her skirt, she reached over to take one of the drinks—the one with a metal straw rolling around in it. "And this one's for me."

"Right," Josie chuckled, cradling the other cup in her hands. "She was with you earlier...Theodora, right? Warren?" MacKenzie nodded. "I don't remember her ever coming to an orientation."

Maybe MacKenzie had only known her roommate a few hours, at most, yet? "That sounds like her," she breathed, shaking her head. "She's...skittish. I think."

Josie shrugged. "Most vampires are. Comes with the territory." She glanced up, the inch of height difference between them more noticeable sometimes than most. "I can help you find her, if you want?"

"Locator spell?"

Josie stifled a laugh. "I was thinking of looking around, actually." MacKenzie flushed red.

"That sounds easier, yeah."

The pair of girls began traversing the party together, looking for an unfamiliar face that probably looked similar to a deer in headlights, or as MacKenzie described—a deer in headlights about to ram its antlers into your car on purpose.

"Were you looking for someone too?"

A sheepish smile curled Josie's lips. "More like avoiding."

MacKenzie didn't need anymore of an explanation, the name already on the tip of her tongue. "Penelope."

"That obvious?"

"Your break-up was the talk of the school," MacKenzie said gently, "I don't think anyone blames you for wanting some distance."

"She broke up with me," Josie reminded. "I know I should be over it, and I am." Her tone might've said otherwise, but MacKenzie didn't want to pry. "Just...she makes it so...difficult."

"Penelope makes everything difficult." They shared a laugh. Taking a sip of her drink, MacKenzie started again, "But she's not the only one out there for you." She smiled broadly. "Take it from the resident mermaid, there's plenty of fish in the sea."

While the joke was horrid, Josie took one look at the cheesy grin on her friend's face and began to laugh again. "Thanks. I think?"

"And unfortunately," MacKenzie heaved a sigh, as she gave the nearby flurry of students a once over, "I think my roommate may have disappeared."

Josie furrowed her brows. "Are you going to go back to your dorm to find her?"

"I think so. It's her first night and..." She trailed off, that familiar pit of guilt in her stomach. MacKenzie hadn't wanted to drag Theodora out here, but maybe she had all the same.

"In that case, I'm going to see if I can find MG," Josie said, giving MacKenzie a warm smile. "Hope you find your roommate."

"Hope you find MG," MacKenzie hummed in response before they both parted ways. Josie delved deeper into the party while MacKenzie began back to the campus, sipping her drink all the while.

Without running into her roommate on the way back, it didn't take a genius for MacKenzie to decide Theodora probably had dragged herself back to their dorm.

       "You left the party," she astutely observed as she walked into her newly shared room and found Theodora just where she expected. It hadn't been much longer after Theo left, but it was long enough that she was now in her bed and curled around her laptop.

       Theo blew out a breath, pushing herself to sit up. "Yeah, I don't really...like parties."

       "Oh," was all MacKenzie said as she came around to sit on her own bed. Frowning, she said, "You didn't have to go then. I wouldn't have forced you. I shouldn't have forced you."

       "You didn't. If I said no, you would've assumed we were on the wrong foot again and insist we start over. Or apologize when you haven't done anything."

       "...maybe not."

       "Look," Theo huffed, voice suddenly firm. "You're fine. I'm fine. We're fine. I just don't like parties."

       "Can I ask why?"

       Theo narrowed her eyes as if weighing her options. Deciding to bite the proverbial bullet, she said, "Well, I kinda died at the last one."

       Silence swept over the room for a prolonged moment, the pair just staring back at one another. Theo was prepared to say more, when MacKenzie abruptly exclaimed, "AND YOU LET ME TAKE YOU?!"

       "It's fine!"

       "IT IS NOT FINE! OH MY GOD!"