Rising Shards

Iris stared up at the ceiling of her dorm room, tossing and turning in bed. The only light came from under their front door and the blinking red light of the fire alarm.

“Maia, remember how you said we have to be crafty about the dumb stuff on the Benta list?” Iris asked.

Maia stirred in her bed opposite Iris. She checked her phone.

“It’s…1am.” Maia said. She rolled over to face the wall. “This can wait.”

“You nap all day, it’s fine,” Iris said.

Iris hoped she’d gambled correctly on Maia having napped enough to be able for even a brief late-night conversation.

“OK, make this quick.” Maia said.

“Yes!” Iris said. “OK, so the club thing we gotta do…I was just thinking about it and you know, getting a little worried like, thinking like…”

“I said quick,” Maia said.

“OK OK!” Iris said. “Just…the club things. I looked at some of the clubs. They all suck. I ain’t doing that.”

“…and?” Maia said.

“I was hoping you’d have a good fix for my issue here.” Maia said.

“We’ll find some club,” Maia said. “One with minimal effort required of us.”

“That sounds perfect,” Iris said.

There was a knock at their door.

“Crap, prefect,” Iris said.

“I heard that,” Naomi Ratuna said from outside their door. “Just because your lights are out doesn’t mean that if you continue talking, that it doesn’t break the lights out rules.”

“So talking doesn’t break the lights out rules?” Iris asked. Maia’s eyes widened at Iris’ sass levels.

“No, I mean,” Naomi said. “That if the lights are out and you’re talking, that is also breaking the rules the same way as if…if you had the lights on. And were talking.”

“It sounds like you’re talking about speaking rules, and you muddied the whole thing up with the lights out thing.” Iris said.

Maia held her mouth to stop from laughing.

“Just…stop talking go to bed!” Naomi said.

Iris had to copy Maia and held her own mouth to stop from laughing, partly at the situation, partly from being tired, and partly because Maia thrashing around on her bed trying to not burst out laughing at 1am was an incredible sight.

“I can’t believe you talked back to her like that,” Maia whispered, still forcing back giggles.

“She’s all talk,” Iris said. “2nd year prefects can’t even give detention slips. She’s probably not even on duty, just wandering around playing pretend 3rd year prefect.”

Maia stifled another laugh, and Iris knew she had to go in for the kill.

“Ooh, you know what I could have said there, I said ‘that sounds perfect’ to you, when Naomi knocked, I should have said ‘that sounds prefect,’ eh?”

“That’s so dumb.” Maia wheezed.

“You’re still laughing!” Iris said.

“Shut up, she’s gonna come back here!” Maia said.

The two girls continued giggling, sleepy laughing at jokes that probably wouldn’t be as funny the next day when they were well slept, somehow avoiding getting caught again by Naomi that night.