Verena __.t.pendragon

Bad Habits

Author's Notes:

Hey guys,
I'm sorry I haven't updated lately, but with midterms and the holidays it's been hard to find the time. I also wanted to pop in and say that the part bellow the second cut (---) will be written from a third person point of view. Just to avoid any confusion. Ok that's it, enjoy!

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It had been such a long day.

So long, in fact, that the girl's Groom Room was buzzing with activity. Princesses in dire need of relaxation were getting their hair washed, nails done, skin exfoliated, all in an attempt to wash away the stress of the day.

Surviving Fairytales had been the worst part by far. Yuba had taught us of the five rules of Good and Evil. He explained how these rules were what help us differentiate Good from Evil and vice versa. To really drive the point home, he decided to turn us into pairs of identical creatures. Among them were snakes, unicorns, hobgoblins -that was my personal favorite- and we had to use the rules to figure out who was the Never and who was the Ever. We didn't do too well on that assignment. And every time we failed he'd simply yell at us and turn us into something else.

It was not fun.

I was getting a pedicure while trying to get through Chapter 1 of my Animal Communication textbook: Rodent Mannerisms.

When talking to a rabbit or hare, one must be very aware of their nose. A flare of the nostrils at the wrong time can result in great insult to our furry friends. While on the receiving end of the conversation, their nose can be an indicative of their emotional state. Any strong emotion, like excitement or anger, will be translated to rapid movements whereas something like grief would simply be a mere twitch.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Stars, how did my mother get through this? It was like learning a hundred different languages at the same time. I don't know how she became so good at it.

"Tough chapter?" Asked the nymph currently painting my nails.

I sighed "A bit."

She smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry. The first few days are always difficult. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it."

I thanked her and went back to re-reading the same paragraph I'd been reading for the past ten minutes. That was until something else caught my attention again. Up above our heads, outside one of the glass windows that led to the Groom Room, was a small blue bird skipping back and forth on the windowsill. A parakeet.

Rin. I realized, a feeling of giddiness coursing through me.

When he saw me staring, he jumped and flapped his little wings at me. I closed my book, giving up all hope of studying at the moment and looked down at the nymph.

"Are you almost finished?"

Her head snapped up. "Um, yes actually. You just need to wait for them to dr-"

"That's fine. I'll just be careful." I said standing up and grabbing my glass slippers with my free hand.

"A-Are you leaving? Barefoot?" She asked, looking skeptically at her work.

"It'll be fine, don't worry." I was already speed walking towards the door, ignoring the group of girls who were now watching me make my hasty exit.

"But-"

"Thank you!" I shouted back, closing the door behind me.