Reality overload

Riley flopped onto her stomach across her bed, kicking her feet in the air like she was about to gossip.

"Alright. We are doing this. Schedules out. Let us see who is suffering the most."

Reia was already on a chair, holding her printed schedule like she had been waiting for someone to ask. I unfolded mine slowly, ears twitching.

That was when I noticed it.

Reia was not sitting like a normal person anymore.

She was perched on the very edge of the chair, knees tucked up, heels balanced on the frame, back straight, hands resting lightly on her ankles.

Like a crow waiting to judge someone.

I stared at her for a second.

Then another.

"...Reia?"

She blinked at me, head tilting in a way that made it worse. "Yes?"

"Can you sit normally?" I asked, ears twitching. "Please?"

Riley looked over and immediately wheezed. "Oh my god, she is really full crow mode IRL!"

Reia froze.

Then her eyes widened in slow, dawning horror as she realized exactly what she was doing.

"I was not... I did not..." She scrambled off the perch so fast she nearly slid off the chair entirely. "I was not perching! I was just stretching!"

Riley cackled. "Stretching like a rooftop gargoyle?"

Reia's face went pink. "Shut up! I did not mean to do it!"

I tried not to smile. I failed. "It is okay. It was..."

Reia covered her face with both hands. "No it was not. I looked like a bird."

"A very committed bird," Riley added.

Reia groaned into her palms, mortified. "Ah... so embarrassing!"

But she was smiling behind her fingers.

She finally lowered her hands, cheeks still warm.

"Anyway," she muttered, trying to reclaim her dignity, "my major is Environmental Biology."

I smiled. "That is really cool actually."

Riley nodded. "Nerdy in a hot way. Respect."

Reia rolled her eyes but smiled.

Riley slapped her own schedule down.

"Okay. Mine: Digital Media and Game Design."

I tilted my head. "That fits you."

"Obviously," Riley said, her tail wagging unconsciously. "I am destined to create chaos professionally."

Then both of them looked at me.

My throat tightened. "Um... Information Systems."

Riley snapped her fingers. "I knew you would end up in something techy."

Reia nodded approvingly. "That is a solid major."

I was not sure if it was solid, but it felt right in my chest.

Riley held her schedule up like a bingo card.

"Okay. First class... English Composition I."

Reia checked hers. "I have that too."

I looked down. "...same."

Riley gasped. "Oh my god. We are all in English together. We are unstoppable."

Reia joined in, hands raised, punching the air. "Yay unstoppable."

I glanced at her, warmth blooming in my chest.

Riley continued.

"Next I have Intro to Game Development."

Reia shook her head. "I have General Biology I."

I checked mine. "I have Intro to Information Systems."

Riley pointed at me. "Nerd."

"You are also a nerd," I said softly.

"Yeah, but I am the fun kind of nerd."

Reia and I both snorted.

Riley scanned further.

"Do we have anything else in common... oh! College Algebra."

Reia groaned. "I have that too."

I nodded. "Me too."

Riley threw her hands up. "Yes. Math squad. We are all dying together."

Reia sighed. "I hate math."

I whispered, "Me too."

Riley patted both our shoulders. "Do not worry. I will cheat off one of you."

"You will not," Reia said immediately.

I nodded. "You really will not."

Riley shrugged. "Worth a try."

For a moment, the three of us just sat there, schedules spread out.

Reia smiled softly. "It is kind of nice... knowing I will have friends in the same classes."

Riley nudged her. "And you will not be alone in English or math. We have got you."

Reia beamed. "Thank you."

Riley grinned. "Obviously. You are stuck with us."

Reia squeezed me into another hug.

"Completely stuck it would seem." I sighed.

I checked the time on my phone. 8:35 AM.

My ears twitched.

My voice came out small but urgent. "Um... guys? It is almost nine. We really need to go."

"Oh! Oh! First class! Yes, yes, yes. Let us go!" She practically bounced off her bed, grabbing her backpack like it was a prize she had won.

Riley blinked. "How are you this excited for English?"

Reia beamed. "Because it is the first day! I get to walk to class together with friends! And..."

She turned to me, eyes sparkling.

"Because you are literally blowing up the campus forums right now. I am friends with a celebrity!"

I froze. "I... what?"

Before I could ask, she was already shoving her phone between us, screen glowing with a page full of colorful icons, usernames, and way too many heart emojis. She bounced on her toes like she was vibrating.

"Look!" she said, tapping furiously. "This is the campus forum. And this," she zoomed in on a poll at the top, "is the Freshman Campus Belle vote."

Riley leaned in, squinting. "Why is it already at, like, a thousand votes? It has been one morning."

Reia grinned like she had discovered buried treasure. "Because everyone is losing their minds. Look... look at the comments!"

She scrolled, and my stomach dropped.

There were pictures of me.

On the quad.

In the hallway.

From this morning.

Somehow even one from last night.

All captioned with things like...

"Who is she?"

"Elf princess girl is unreal."

"Vote for the ice elf."

"She is so cute I am malfunctioning."

"Her frost cheeks are everything."

My ears flattened. "Why are there so many pictures of me..."

Riley snorted. "Because you are adorable and people have phones."

Reia tapped the poll again, eyes sparkling. "You are winning by a landslide. Look at this second place. She is not even close."

I stared at the screen, frost shimmering across my cheeks.

"I did not even know this existed... I mean I knew but..."

"Oh, it exists," Reia said proudly. "And you are basically the main character right now."

Riley slung an arm around my shoulders. "Congrats, princess. You have broken the internet."

I covered my face with both hands. "I am not ready for this..."

Reia giggled. "Too late. The campus has decided."

Five minutes later, after I had calmed down, we headed down the main walkway toward the English building, and the moment we stepped outside, I felt the stares.

Dozens of them.

But I kept my eyes forward.

I pretended I did not hear the whispers.

I pretended I did not notice the phones subtly lifting.

If I acknowledged any of it, I would melt into a puddle on the sidewalk.

So I focused on Riley and Reia instead, their voices, their footsteps, their presence on either side of me like a buffer.

Riley was already scrolling through her phone again. "Okay, so the Belle vote updates every five minutes, and it is... um... kind of insane."

Reia leaned over her shoulder. "How insane?"

She turned the screen toward us.

My name was at the top.

Not just at the top, dominating.

"Forty eight percent," Reia said, sounding both delighted and horrified. "That is almost half the entire freshman vote."

My ears twitched. "Is that bad?"

Riley snorted. "It is great. For everyone except you, apparently."

"I do not even know what being a Campus Belle means," I whispered. "Do I have to do something? Is there a job description?"

Riley shook her head. "Not really. It is just a title. A popularity thing. People vote for who they think is the prettiest or cutest or most charming."

My frost shimmered. "Why would they vote for me?"

Riley gave me a look like I had asked why the sky was blue. "Because you are adorable. And you glow. And you have elf princess ears. And you are you."

I stared at the ground harder.

Riley scrolled again. "The other candidates are cute, but... Zora, you are kind of wiping the floor with them."

"I do not want to wipe anything," I muttered. "I do not want to win."

Riley laughed. "Well, too bad. The masses have spoken."

Reia nodded sympathetically. "Yeah... unless every other freshman suddenly decides to vote against you in the next hour, you are probably going to be the Belle."

My stomach dropped. "I do not want that."

Riley bumped my shoulder. "Relax. It is not a big deal. You do not have to do anything. People just like you."

"I do not want them to," I pouted.

Reia squeezed my hand. "You do not have to like it. But you do not have to be scared of it either. It is just a silly vote."

I tried to believe her.

But as we walked, more whispers drifted toward us, excited, breathless, and starry eyed.

"She is winning by so much."

"She is so cute."

"Look at her ears..."

"She is frosting again."

I kept my eyes forward.

I kept walking.

I kept pretending I did not hear any of it.

But the poll numbers stayed burned into my mind.

Forty eight percent.

And rising.

The moment we stepped into the English classroom, I thought, naively, that maybe the attention would calm down.

It did not.

We barely made it three steps before every head in the room snapped toward us like we had set off a fire alarm.

Riley muttered under her breath, "Here we go."

Reia whispered, "Brace yourself."

We found three seats in the middle row, and the second I sat down...

They descended.

A whole cluster of girls swarmed our desks like a pastel colored tornado.

"Oh my god, you are the ice girl, right?"

"Your skin is so pretty, what do you use?"

"Do you dye your hair or is that natural?"

"Can we be friends?"

"Are your ears real?"

"Do you frost all the time or just sometimes?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Can I touch your hair?"

"Wait, you are the girl from the Belle vote?"

"You are winning by so much."

"Do you have socials? Can I follow you?"

I froze.

Completely.

My brain short circuited, and I went full frosty turtle.

My ears twitched so bad it almost hurt.

Riley leaned back in her chair, smirking like she was watching a nature documentary.

Reia looked overwhelmed but also deeply entertained.

I opened my mouth to answer, but I did not even get a syllable out.

Because the questions kept coming, overlapping, stacking on top of each other until it felt like the air itself was vibrating.

"I... um... I do not..."

My voice disappeared under the noise.

One girl leaned in way too close. "Your cheeks sparkle. How pretty."

Another gasped. "She is even cuter up close."

Someone else whispered, "She is definitely going to win the Belle vote."

I wanted to sink into the floor.

Riley finally stepped in, raising her voice. "Okay, okay, back up, you gremlins. She cannot answer twenty questions at once."

Reia nodded firmly. "Give her space. She is not a museum exhibit."

The girls backed up a little, but not much.

And that was when the door opened.

The professor walked in, coffee in hand, mid sentence. "Alright everyone, let us settle..."

He stopped.

His eyes landed on the crowd surrounding our desks.

Then on me, trapped in the center like a startled woodland creature.

His eyebrows lifted.

Slowly.

"Well," he said, sounding both amused and resigned. "I see you have made an impression."

The girls scattered back to their seats like startled pigeons.

I sank down in my chair, cheeks shimmering with frost, wishing I could disappear.

Riley patted my shoulder. "Welcome to college, princess."

Reia whispered, "At least they like you."

The room finally settled after the professor's pointed look, though I could still feel the leftover buzz of attention clinging to me like static.

He set his coffee down, opened his laptop, and cleared his throat.

"Alright, everyone. Let us begin with roll."

I tried to shrink into my seat, but that only made Riley smirk and Reia nudge my elbow like do not hide.

I did not listen.

The professor started reading names, one by one.

"Adams, Claire."

"Here."

"Benton, Marcus."

"Present."

"Veyra, Reia."

Reia lifted her hand. "Here."

A few students glanced at her, probably remembering she had been part of the swarm around me.

"Daniels, Riley."

Riley raised two fingers lazily. "Yep."

More glances.

More whispers.

Then...

"Hart, Zora."

My heart jumped.

I lifted my hand halfway. "Here."

The room did not even try to be subtle.

A wave of heads turned.

A few people whispered my name like it was some kind of spell.

"So that is her name."

Someone in the back actually sighed.

I stared at my desk so hard I was surprised it did not crack.

The professor did not comment, but I saw the tiny twitch of amusement at the corner of his mouth before he continued down the list.

When he finished, he closed the attendance sheet and clasped his hands.

"Before we begin today's lesson, I need to remind everyone of a new campus requirement."

My ears twitched.

"All students who have undergone any physical transformations," he said, scanning the room with a practiced, neutral expression, "must check in with the medical building for evaluation by the end of the first week."

A few students shifted uncomfortably.

Some glanced at me.

Some were busy with their own thoughts.

My frost shimmered faintly across my cheeks.

"It is a routine assessment," the professor continued. "Noninvasive. Quick. And mandatory, like a physical. If you have already been, you are all set. If not, please make time before Friday."

Riley leaned over and whispered, "We will go after classes if you want."

Reia nodded. "I will go with you too."

I swallowed. "Okay."

The professor clapped his hands once, shifting the mood.

"Now then. Welcome to English Composition I. Let us get started."

He turned to the board and began writing the course outline. The room finally stopped staring at me.

Mostly.

Riley leaned back in her chair, whispering, "See? Easy."

Reia smiled softly. "You survived."

I was not sure if I agreed.

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