Straight-Up Not Having A Good Time At Night Raven College: Prologue

Prologue Chapter 11: Window Scrubbing

At around 3 in the afternoon, Kat sat in the cafeteria, hot, sweaty and nursing a glass of juice.

One of the kitchen staff had been nice enough to give her and Grim some-- 'for all your hard work', it had said.

As it turned out, the kitchen was staffed entirely by ghosts.
These ones were a lot more even-keeled and, frankly, normal-acting than the ones at the ramshackle dorm, though.

Jiggling her leg, she tapped the end of a straw against the table, looking in no particular direction.
She had to give this to Night Raven College-- it was dark academia aesthetic AF.
Even the cafeteria-- a word she usually associated with white linoleum tables, chipped tile and buzzing fluorescent lights-- was impressive.
It was a huge room, about the size of a cathedral.
The tiles on the floor were a geometric pattern of jet-black, slate-gray and rich purple, and the walls were weathered reddish bricks. The long tables and benches were all made of dark, polished wood, and tall, wrought-iron candelabras stood here and there amidst the tables, complete with aesthetically dribbly candles. There were huge vaulted windows all along the outside wall, and an equally huge gray fireplace on the opposite wall.

The most impressive thing, though, was the chandelier.
It was crafted to look like the branches of a huge, gnarled tree, sprawling across an enormous section of the ceiling.
Glass globes, ranging from the size of beach balls to apples, dangled from it like fruit, bathing the whole room in warm golden light.

Sitting on the table next to her, Grim slurped the dregs of his juice, wiping his mouth with the back of his paw.

"Ugh... I'm already exhausted from cleanin' all day-- I can't believe we still gotta wash a hundred windows!" He complained, flopping over onto his back.

Kat rolled her eyes.
"Gee, I wonder whose fault THAT was," she said.

Grim gave her an affronted look, and she sighed, putting up a hand.
"Alright, alright-- chill out, okay? Just so we're clear, I blame that Ace kid for most of this. That being said, at this point we've just gotta suck it up and do it..."

Grim grumbled, fishing an ice cube out of his glass.
"Okay, okay..... But you know what's buggin' me?"

He licked the ice cube a few times, then put it down on the table and batted it off the edge.
"That Ace guy isn't even here yet... Man, he's got some nerve, makin' us wait like this after everything he did!"

She shrugged.
"...Let's just wait a little bit longer. If he doesn't show in a little while, we can go look for him, okay?"

"Hmmmmm..."
Grim grumbled, crossing his arms and scowling.

Time passed.

Lemme see here-- 100 divided by 3 is...
No, wait-- Grim wasn't the size of a normal person, so he probably couldn't do many windows by himself....
He could probably do the tops of them if he stood on her shoulders or head, though, right? As long as the tools weren't too big...
So that was-- what was 50 divided by 2?
God, she was bad at math....
Well, of course she was-- she was GAY.

More time passed.

"Me and yo' girlfriend playin' dress-up at my house," she was singing quietly to herself, fingers tapping along to the rhythm in her head. "I gave yo' girlfriend..."

Grim was lying with his head dangling off the edge of the table.
After a moment, he stretched hugely, yawning.
Unfortunately, this led to him sliding off the table, falling to the floor with a yelp and a soft thump.

Even more time passed.

She was chewing on the straw when Grim, back on the table, gave a frustrated roar, jumping to his feet.