Kapitel 7: A Test for Patience
"Stop."
As soon as the words left the warden's mouth, Zen immediately halted her steps right before she could crash on the warden's head.
"Wait outside," the warden instructed. She then entered into a door that Zen noticed was another dorm room a few feet down her room along the narrow corridor.
"Hey Zen, what's happening?" Startled by the voices, Zen turned around in panic. "Madilyn? Nadia? What are you doing here?"
"We just want to know what's going on."
Zen opened her mouth, ready to spout something vexing but refrained. Couldn't help it when she got friends as nosy as the old, jobless neighbourhood aunties back in her hometown, always ready for some theatrical showdown.
Zen snapped her head to the sound of the door clicking open, and before she could notify her friends to go and hide, they were nowhere to be seen – like a ghost disappearing after sneaking up on some poor, harmless characters, giving them the scare of a lifetime, and then poof, just vanished into thin air only to show up at the next scene to take their soul. [Stop it, Zen. We're not bringing up horror plotlines here.] Zen scolded herself.
"Zen."
The heart-stopping name call was evident something really bad was going to happen. Zen gulped down hard. [Lord, give me the strength to withstand the storm that's about to swallow me whole.]
"Do you know them?" the warden asked Zen.
Zen looked at the warden, confused, and became even more confused when she noticed two girls standing behind her, both with tousled hair, puffy red eyes, smeared make-up, and tattered clothes; there also seemed to be some teeth missing.
The warden stepped aside to give Zen a better view of the two girls.
"Let me repeat. Do you know them?"
"No, I don't know them," Zen answered without hesitation. "This is the first time I'm meeting them."
"Is that so?" The warden crossed her arms, fingers tapping her shoulders in irritation. "I'll give you one more minute to observe them carefully. After that, you have to answer me."
Zen did as told. To tell she was completely clueless would be an understatement. Judging from the looks of the situation, it seemed like some sort of event was taking place in the university. As an avid listener and a writer of many cross-genre series, she could tell, at just a glance that it was going to be a big event, like a stage play perhaps. The make-up on the two girls' faces was superb; they appeared to be far too realistic. But there was a nagging doubt at the back of her mind.
Was it going to be a circus play or a horror play? That concept was a little odd at first, but hold on. She figured it out. To make the show successful, they most likely needed a scriptwriter. Was that the reason they wanted to speak with her? If that was the case, she'd be delighted to assist. Maybe she'd also get paid. Her exciting thoughts were short-lived, however.
"You sure you don't have any clue of who they are?"
Zen shook her head. "I don't know what's going on but if you need help writing-"
"Isn't it a little too soon to think about writing an apology letter," the warden interrupted.
"Wait, what?" Zen blurted in confusion.
"I think you know what I'm talking about," the warden went on, "These two girls were fighting over you. Now don't lie to me. Which one of them are you dating?"
An eternity of dead silence later, Zen widened her eyes in disbelief. "What are you talking about?" She had to bite her tongue to make sure this wasn't all but a dream. She stopped when she was certain biting down too hard would draw blood. "I don't understand. Why would anyone be fighting over me?" Just as words left her mouth, something hit her. She suddenly recalled Nadia's words, "Two girls were fighting over some guy. That's what I heard. Seemed like one hell of a catfight, that too. The guy must be an asshole." Ah, so she turned out to be the asshole. [This has got to be a joke.]
"You look like that and still ask me questions?" The head warden wasn't keen on answering her, and the look of disgust on her face proved it.
Suddenly struck by a surge of rage, Zen outrightly glared at the warden, all sense of obligation and respect shattering to the ground in pieces. "My appearance has nothing to do with this." If there was one thing that lighted the hellfire in Zen's eyes, it was moments like this, when people asked her to change into something she was not. That was the absolute last thing Zen would ever put up with.
"It clearly does." The warden stood firm in what she believed was her flawless and righteous judgement, leaving Zen to boil in silent rage. "And Zen, you may not know but this isn't the first time this has happened. I recently received a complaint about your behaviour."
"From who? And what behaviour of mine was so offensive that she had to attack me personally?" Zen felt her patience running thin.
"Shut your mouth. You don't question me." The warden aimed her pointer finger towards Zen, her nostrils blazing.
"But I just want to know who that person is so I could ask her what problem she has with me. Why are you being so biased? What have I ever done to you?"
"That's not how you should speak to me!"
Zen didn't even flinch. She'd expected this reaction. But she was not going to give up without a fight. The head warden might seem like a mad bull raging on a killing spree with no sense of direction but that wasn't about to stop her. If the fat, ugly old witch was a terrifying bull, then she was a ferocious lion. [Bring it on.]
"Can't you just let me know what it is I've done that people here are so salty over it?" Zen raised her voice, wanting every resident in the dorm to hear her. She didn't care who she was insulting with that comment of hers. She'd had it with all the lies and dirty remarks behind her back. Never had she ever felt so insulted her entire life. And now that the problem has escalated this much, might as well get everyone involved and find out the real truth.
"A half girl in the girl's dormitory mingling with the female students and doing unspeakable things. Now, you tell me how I should reprimand you."
Things were beginning to spiral out of control, and Zen knew it was just a matter of time before all hell broke loose. She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Her gaze unconsciously fell on the two pitiful, nameless girls she'd just met, who'd been standing there silently the entire time as if forgotten and cast aside. She jotted down a mental note to deal with them later. "First and foremost, I want to meet the person who told you all this nonsense."
"You'll get nothing from me," came the warden's snide reply.
Zen gave one unnerving look at the warden and nodded her head dangerously. "Who is it? Since you have the guts to bitch about people behind their back, show yourself. Come out now!" Zen shouted, not caring a toss about disturbing every existing person living in the entire dorm house. And just as she had anticipated, an array of heads peered out of every door along the corridor. One full minute later, a throng of starved and needy, drama-seeking individuals gathered at the scene. It didn't surprise her at all to see Nadia and Madilyn occupying the front row of the crowd.
Her roommates might have the intelligence span of a frog and although nothing in this world could beat their laziness, their speed could rival that of an ostrich when running to a site where an ongoing real-life fight scenario was taking place. The only thing they forgot to bring was popcorn. Zen thought sarcastically.
"Zen, you're overstepping boundaries." The warden's words snapped Zen back to reality. "Are you not scared of the consequences?"
"No. I don't care." Zen waved her hands in the air. If the warden thought she could scare her with the so-called consequences, then sorry to disappoint 'cause she was barking up the wrong tree.
"I don't want to cause inconvenience to any residents here. So, let's solve this as quietly as possible."
Zen couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. Apart from being a bear with a sore head, the warden was also blind, causing her to wonder if the word 'quietly' in the witch's dictionary carried a whole new other meaning instead as apparently, a mob of people had already booked tickets and reserved seats to watch their reality show which most certainly didn't guarantee her any commissions for playing the most misunderstood character in a self-created series.
"Zen, this is your last warning. You can either change your ways starting forth or get kicked out from this dorm."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein