Straight-Up Not Having A Good Time At Night Raven College: Chapter 1

Chapter 17: A Rule Slip

"The offending marron tart is to be discarded! And then--"

The scepter swung through the air again, indicating Ace and his entire group.
"--These rule violators are to be expelled from the dormitory premises IMMEDIATELY! By order of the Housewarden!"

"...Fuck," Kat hissed under her breath.

"Wh-- H- HANG ON A GODDAMN MINUTE!" Ace burst out, shaking his head as the scowl reappeared on his face.
"There's NO WAY such a bizarre rule ACTUALLY exists, right?!"

"Y-YEAH!" Grim agreed, regaining his nerve and running out from behind Kat's leg to stand next to Ace, glaring at Riddle.
"I mean, c'mon-- if ya don't WANT the dumb thing, then give it to ME 'stead a' just tossing it!"

Kat grimaced, stepping back further and looking around. The panic was starting to rise again...
Oh, shit. Oh, shitshitshit... How many times was shit like this going to happen?!

She caught Deuce's eye, who was looking just as panicked and bewildered as she felt.

"H-Housewarden!" Trey interjected, hurrying forward and bowing again.
"My sincerest apologies... To tell you the truth, it was actually me who suggested making a marron tart. It wasn't the first-years' fault!"

"He's right, he's right!" Cater agreed, holding up his hands and chattering away nervously. "I- I mean, there was no way we'd have known about a rule like that, right?!"

Riddle turned to look at them, and this time even Trey flinched.
"The making of the tart is not the problem," he informed them. "The issue is bringing it--"
He hit the ground hard twice with the bottom of the scepter.
"HERE! On THIS day! At THIS very occasion! THAT is where the transgression lies! Do you understand?!"

Kat's hand flew up to her necklace, clutching it anxiously.

"H-Hang on!" She objected, stepping forward a little. "Even though there IS a rule like that, Ace still worked really hard on it-- we ALL did! And it was all for YOU!"

Riddle whipped his head around, skewering her with that icy gaze.

"What?" He snapped, turning and taking a small step towards her.
"Are you implying that this is all... MY fault?!"

She expected to be frozen to the spot like a deer in the headlights...
And she almost was, for about half a second.
But then a different feeling overwhelmed her instead.

Why, this pretentious little... Who does this little brat think he is?! Who the hell is HE, to decide what's important or not for everybody else, huh?!

"Wh-- That is NOT. What I'm SAYING!" She retorted, taking a step forward as well.
"I am SAYING that, despite it... ACCIDENTALLY, might I add... Being against the rules to bring today, it was still made with the genuine intention to make it up to YOU! Does all of that really mean nothing?! Are you seriously that pedantic about this? Do people's genuine efforts really not mean SHIT if they don't align by a rule that they didn't even know existed?!"

She didn't realize she was still stepping forward until someone rushed in front of her, holding an arm out protectively.

Blinking, she shook her head, looking at-- at...

She was expecting it to be Deuce.
But it wasn't.
It was Ace.

"...The Prefect is right," he said, low and deliberate, but almost deafening in the sudden silence that had descended over the tea garden. "All you do is rattle off a bunch of nonsense rules the whole time, no matter what happens.... I mean--"
He scoffed.
"What are you, an idiot?"