Expectations When Expecting

Chapter 8

It was an ungodly hour (which for her was anything before seven)when she shot up out of the bed, rushing to the bathroom. Since before the sun came up, she'd been positioned over the toilet bowl, hating everything.

She was shaking and struggling to breathe with the intense waves of nausea that overtook her frail body. She was entirely unaware of how long she'd been there. She groaned, feeling the temperatures drop to freezing, telling her that there was currently a ghost behind her.

"Hehehe..." Came the eerie giggle of a ghost, making her gag again.

"Not in the mood... ugh." She weakly stated. Whoever was there remained quiet for a moment before an awkward apology was muttered.

"We, uh... we wanted to remind you that your cleaning duties started soon. Should we come back, or?"

"Gimme a few minutes..." She grumbled, turning to watch the three sheepish ghosts leave her to her mistery. It took them about three minutes before she heard a panicked yelp from Grim and she groaned aloud.

"Really?!"

.

.

.

Only slightly before she felt okay enough to walk, she had to get up from her spot and yell at the troublemakers. The ghosts floated sheepishly while Grim huffed, avoiding eye contact.

"Boys... It's early and you've already managed to set something on fire! What is wrong with you?!" She growled.

"Hmph! Well ya can't blame me! We gotta get rid of those things for good!"Grim shrunk slightly at the sheer strength of her menacing aura, flinching when she gave an annoyed growl.

The tense atmosphere seemed to dispel rather quickly when the creaking of the ramshackle dorm's door cut through the air like a knife.

"Good morning, Miss Yuu. Did you sleep well?" A familiar posh tone resounded, the school's resident bird-man slinking through the open door, completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

"Not at all! When I sprawled out on the bed, the mattress fell right through the frame! Exactly how ramshackle IS this dorm? And worse yet, I got woken up by ghosts!" Grim complained.

"I slept great! If you call waking up at god-knows-when to the most horrible feeling in the world." She snapped, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"A-ah! Well, it's understandable given your circumstances. I suppose it's only natural, after all! I've brought you both food, if you're up for it!" Crowley lifted a bag, a peace offering to quell her wrath.

"Now! Let us move on and discuss your assignment for today." He stated, showing off the plates of food that he'd bought for her and Grim. It was a classic school lunch from her middle school. Two small, very drowned maple pancakes, a carton of milk, a strawberry yogurt with granola and an apple. It was meager, but still, better than nothing.

She sighed in defeat, sitting down. "Thank you for this. I'm sorry if I get a little scary... Mood swings and all." She grabbed a yogurt cup from the three that Crowley had set on the table, peeling off the aluminum cover.

"Ah! Yes, of course! Because I am a thoughtful headmage, I have also brought you some bananas and ginger tea, given my assumption of morning sickness being a potential struggle." He stated, setting a warm foam cup down in front of her, and a banana. Yuu's eyes widened at the surprisingly thoughtful act, tears slightly forming in her eyes.

"Thank- thank you." She looked down, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes before they could cascade down her cheeks. She added the crunchy granola into her yogurt cup, mixing it thoroughly as she had during her youth. She grabbed the plastic spoon, scooping the pink strawberry yogurt into her mouth, letting the flavor linger in her mouth. She'd been craving strawberries.

After a moment, she looked up at Crowley, who was smiling in amusement at her. "Shall we go over what your tasks are now, Miss Yuu?"

"Yes, of course." She responded, ignoring the loud slurping sounds that came from her gremlin of a cat.

Crowley cleared his throat, before beginning. "Your job today is to clean the campus." Yuu choked on a pancake. "That said, the campus is vast, and without magic, it'd be quite the Herculean task to clean it all.

Therefore, today I'll have you focus on the area spanning from the front gates to the library." He finished, sliding the milk carton to a still coughing Yuu.

She took it gratefully, taking a gulp. Once the coughing subsided, she looked up. "You could have started with that first, my god." She gasped out.

"Apologies." Crowley chirped, not too apologetically. "Additionally, Miss Yuu... I do expect that you'll keep a close eye on Grim, lest he cause another incident like yesterday." He finished. She looked up at him, sighing. So I have two jobs. Great.

"Alright, fine. But I can't promise too much, you hear?" She gave in.

"Do not fail me. You may take your lunch in the cafeteria. I eagerly await the fruits of your labor." Crowley stated as Grim's ear twitched, making him look up.

"I ain't cleanin' nothin'!" The cat monster huffed. "I'm here to study magic so I can be blastin' off spells left and right! Like BAM! POW! FWOOM!" He announced. Yuu narrowed her eyes, and spoke in a flat, stern voice. A warning.

"Now, Grim. You're helping me clean. End of discussion."

"Yipes!" Grim flinched at her glare.

"Okay!" She stood, grabbing her banana. "Let's just head to the front gate for now." Grim gave an indignant huff, complying nonetheless. This was going to be a long day.