Rising Shards

After a tense sounding phone call with her mother, Maia looked unsure whether she should get up or stay under the covers.

"What's up?" Iris asked. "What'd your mom want?"

"The school called her about us skipping," Maia said. "Or about us not saying why we couldn't make it to class. I tried to make my voice sound like I had a cold, did it work?"

"I...didn't hear it if that's what you were going for," Iris said. "But don't worry!"

Maia fidgeted with her claws.

"I can't not worry when my mom's pissed," Maia said. "What if she finds out...?"

"That we spent the whole day making out?" Iris asked. "That might be an issue, yeah..."

Once the two started their regular B.F.S. time, they kept it to their room because they didn't want to end up split across the dorms like Zeta and Oka did. And that was when they were just branding it as "best friend stuff," now they were in a state maybe a bit beyond that, in the middle of figuring out what to call their future. How would they handle it if they had to change rooms?

Iris could barely imagine it. She'd gotten so used to life in the dorms with Maia, not just the closeness the two shared, but the little things too; no other roommate could be on a similar wavelength like her and Maia. Which meant it was extra important that nothing got in the way of it.

"Relax, Maia, I got this," Iris said. She had Maia get back in her bed, and Iris stayed in her own. Maia trusted that Iris had some kind of a game plan for when her mom would arrive. Iris tried to think of all the times she'd spoken to Maia's family in the past.

I...really haven't talked to them much, have I?

Usually when she went over to Maia's house, nobody was really around. Maia seemed to prefer going to Iris' house back when they weren't living in the dorms. It kind of made her sad, like there was a part of Maia's life that was missing, something Iris couldn't quite access yet.

"OK, first," Iris said, focusing on the issues at hand before worrying about that. She took a pillow and mushed her face into it as she screamed.

"What the hell...?" Maia said.

"Oh come on, you've seen me do that before," Iris said, her voice immediately hoarse. "Hear that? When it's not Feral Flu and just a regular cold and/or flu, you gotta make your voice sound rougher." She coughed. "Maybe went a bit too hard this time, oof. But it works, try it!"

"I'm not doing that," Maia said.

Even if Maia did want to, she didn't have the time, as someone knocked at the door.

"She's here already?" Iris said.

"She said she was in the waiting room when she called, I dunno which room that is on this stupid campus, but—just answer the door, don't keep them waiting!" Maia hissed.

Iris got up, giving Maia one more wink.

Waiting for her outside was Maia's mom, along with the prefect Naomi. Maia's mother was taller than her daughter, clearly related but she had different fur patterns, with hers having more brownish blotches than Maia's, but still having Maia's white and gray tones. Her suit looked very fancy, like she left from a high-end office right for campus.

"Greetings, Mrs. Oloro," Iris said, hunching forward a bit as she tried to look sick. "A...achoo!" It was one of Iris' weaker fake sneezes, but she sneezed for real afterwards in a stroke of luck. "You might wanna keep your distance..."

Maia's mother walked right past Iris, going to her daughter, leaving Iris with Naomi.

"Er, sorry we forgot the sick day...procedures?" Iris said. She was glad her voice still sounded hoarse. "Forgot all that calling junk. Er, not, junk, just...heh..."

"If you forget again, it's detention," Naomi said.

Iris scooted back to her bed. Maia's mom was looking her over, feeling her forehead. "Hard to tell a fever on a Kanibari, as they say." She moved to Maia's ears. "You do look exhausted, at least."

"Yeah, this is a rough bug," Iris said.

"You two get sick a lot, don't you?" Maia's mother said. Iris hoped it wasn't a sneer on her face. Maybe she just naturally sneers? "I remember Maia had a perfect attendance record in elementary school."

"I have a weak immune system," Iris said. "Every cold that goes around I end up getting."

Maia nodded. "And she washes her hands and everything all the time, so." Her fake hoarse voice was pretty good even without screaming her way to get it.

Maia's mother kept staring between the two. Iris' heart pounded. Please don't make me move to another room...or make Maia move to another room...

"I suppose that's all," Maia's mother said. "I just hope my daughter isn't a bad influence on you."

"Pfft, no way, c'mon, you know how awesome Maia is, she keeps me out of trouble!" Iris said. Then she realized her voice came through a bit too excited and a bit not sounding sick at all, so she threw in some more fake sneezes. "Oofta, what a cold...comes and goes, heh...Feral Flu's almost easier to deal with! Because, the, uh. The..." Somewhere during her ramblings, Iris shut her eyes, trailing on in hopes of finding words that wouldn't piss Mrs. Oloro off.

"She left, you don't have to keep faking it," Maia said.

"Whaaat?" Iris asked. "She just left, like that?"

"Yeah," Maia said. "She does that."

"Oof," Iris sighed in relief. "Ouch, that scream really hurt my throat. I might need a for real sick day."

"You're lucky your parents aren't as strict," Maia said. "I mean, this one was on us, but still."

"Yeah, my dad didn't even text me this time," Iris said. She walked up to the door, checking to make sure Maia's mom and Naomi actually left, only to get jolted as there was a knock on the door. Iris waited a second before opening, finding Mrs. Oloro there once again, alone this time.

"Two more things," Maia's mom said. "First, if this happens again, there will be consequences."

Iris gulped. Did she see right through us? Or hopefully just the us faking being sick part, not the whole us kissing all day part? "R-right, yes ma'am."

"Second," Mrs. Oloro handed Iris a flyer. "Our family reunion is coming up. If you'd like to join Maia, you are welcome to."

"Wow," Iris said.

After Mrs. Oloro left, Iris gave Maia the flyer.

"Is your mom like secretly cool?" Iris said.

"I dunno if I'd say cool, but she's not terrible, I guess," Maia said.

With Maia's mom presumably letting them off the hook for this, the two decided they'd honor that mercy and try to limit the B.F.S., or the yet to be renamed B.F.S. to evenings. Leading to a day where the two were so bored they were comparing pieces of lettuce to Iris' hair.

"We need to do like. Something today." Iris said. She groaned. "But all I wanna do is..."

"Yeah, me too," Maia said.

"We need something to distract us," Iris said. "Something totally different than what we usually do."

"Maybe a movie?" Maia said. "No, there's no way we wouldn't start kissing while we're in there..."

"Yeah..." Iris played with her salad more. "Dang..." She huffed and looked around the almost empty cafeteria, her eyes drawn to a big poofy lilac squirrel tail across the way. Caeda Firae was talking to Chickadee Girliepop, the two handing little sheets of paper back and forth, then leaving together.

"Say...would you be interested in some detective work?" Iris asked.

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