Chapter 58 – Fairfield’s Girl

Wherein Rose dazzles her audience and has a good time.

Laughter, voices and bits of music drifted their way as the four friends wandered down the Avenue des Arts, passing the monumental fountain that had been erected in honour of the higher place of learning. The Avenue led past the main college building to the separated dormitories behind it.

Rose ignored the statues on either side of the road. She had no time to contemplate the contribution of their ugliness to the wellbeing of students, as night fell over the walled community.

A stretch of grass allowed for recreational space. A patio outside the dining hall held tables and chairs. Large parasols formed a stilted gazebo, under which students lounged. Banners flew from an opened window on one of the higher floors.

Approaching the patio over the lawn, Marissa threaded her arm through Rose’s. 

"Try to have fun, Rosa Rose. You’re going to kick ass, and after that, you should have a drink or two."

Rose squared her shoulders. She could do that. She could do this. She had her stone and her broken violin. The only way she would truly fail was if she chickened out.

Next to her, Valentina shrugged the mink coat off her shoulders and strutted like a diva, with Bosra looking very stern and solemn behind her. 

The heat of the day still clung to the buildings, providing a cosy atmosphere for a party.

Rose led Marissa to the large group of people lounging on the patio. As she got closer, Rose could see they were smoking and drinking and joking around with a self-amplifying thaumatic device, singing bits of old and new songs. People were enjoying themselves. Marissa, fading into the background, seemed to fit right in.

"Look who it is! Rosie the Pig," Brittany leered, rising from her throne. Oinking and grunting noises filled the air.

Of course she had to be right here, Rose reflected. And of course she sat on a throne with her ladies-in-waiting around her and some male supplicants at her feet.

"The one and only," she replied. If someone held a bucket under her face, she would have puked right then and there. Marissa provided her with a bubbly white wine instead. She took a big gulp. 

"Are those pig ears you're sporting? You're such a silly b-"

"Yep. I am," Rose drawled, letting her Fairfields accent shine. "You always say I'm missing out. So I'm here to party. I even wrote you a song." She cocked her hip and rested a hand upon it.

"A song? One of those country ditties?" Brittany scoffed. "Haven't you figured out by now that no one is interested in them? 

Rose shrugged. It took immense power to not look away. "Haven’t you heard I'm a Fairfields girl? Country tunes is what I do." She flashed a dashing smile, made brighter by subtle magic from Marissa.  

"Let's have it then!" Brittany sank down in her plush chair. The supplicants resettled. One leaning his head against her knees. At her beckoning, a scantily clad, overweight girl brought over a glass of bright pink punch.

People moved back to make space for her. Rose set down her case, opened it and lifted the restored family heirloom. The murmur going up through the crowd did not have a very enthusiastic note. Emboldened by this, Rose nodded to Marissa, who activated the recording stone with a gentle tap.

Rose played a few screeching measures, right along with the music projected by the stone. Anyone who had heard her play would recognise her ‘voice’ in the strumming of the lute.

The demeanour of the crowd changed three bars in, when the country ditty turned out to be more of a romp'm stomp'm kind of song. 

Rose added her voice to the music, singing about a pig, squealing in the mud, the lyrics being rather suggestive. She let her violin screech in complement to it at just the right times. 

As the crowd joined in with the last chorus, Brittany’s expression turned more sour than ever before. Queen Bitch slugged back a shot of red liquorice liqueur before throwing the glass at Rose.

The crowd cheered happily, calling for a repeat. And so Rose performed the song again, leaning into the bawdy lyrics with relish. The audience joined her for every chorus this time and squealed right along with her screeching violin. Again they cheered, asking for another go.

"Maybe later guys!" Rose beamed, tossing back an offered drink. "I'm gonna have fun with my girls first. If you hear me squeal..." she winked, "don't call the city watch."

This drew a laugh from the crowd. 

Rose stored her violin, handing case and stone to Marissa, who magicked them into temporary storage.

 As the crowd broke into groups, Rose found that she had her own flock. People wanted to touch her ears and talk about her performance. Flattered, Rose indulged them, and let them pull her into the refectory to grab food and some more drinks. 

Inside, a group of students – Rose recognised a handful as classmates – were drinking shots from a girl’s navel. They waved her over. Because she was in good spirits, she let them push her to the front as a new dose of liquor was poured.

Deciding not to overthink, Rose bent down and slurped. She had to swallow or choke. As it was, rum made its way into her nose, bringing on a sneezing fit. Slaps on her back did nothing to help her overcome them.

Barely could she see again, or she was pressed into a seat behind a table to judge the most strange of pageants. Whence they came, Rose did not know – she had never seen more than one before in all of Splendor – but six androgynous lizardlings came parading by, dressed in form-fitting outfits that hinted at cleavage.

Next to her, the other judges – higher year students – chalked verdicts on black slate. Rose looked down to see she had a tablet lying in front of her as well. She decided to go for a ten point scoring, instead of writing down slurs like: "I’d bed that," or "Couldn’t pay me to go out with you." The losing contestant threatened to eat someone in an angry hissing fit, while the winner started a dance party on the table. She – at least Rose thought it was a she – pulled up Rose to dance with her.

The dancing ended when another drink made its way into Rose’s hand. She raised it to the ceiling, following the example of her dance partner, as the first line of ‘Behind the Golden Walls’ – Splendor’s unofficial anthem – was sung loudly.  

What she hadn't expected would happen, happened; she had fun. 

Marissa was somewhere in her periphery all night long. She performed her song twice more. The last performance made such a ruckus that someone started screaming about the building shaking on its foundation. This only turned into more joy and amusement to the excited, drunken crowd. 

At the point that a very localised earthquake shook the building, and a thaumatic alarm started blaring, Rose fell down in a fit of giggles. 

Somehow, mysteriously, Bosra was there. She had Valentina under one arm and now scooped up Rose with the other, giggle fit and all. Marissa trailed behind. 

Much later, Rose would realise she had seen or heard nothing of Brittany beyond the initial conflict.

~

Zanna Bear has done a thing!

You can now subscribe to her monthly newletter by clicking this link:
https://laposta.nl/f/ssftjpowbgnr
You'll get a nifty Three of Cakes mini-cookbook, with three recipes anyone can follow, too.