Ella smiled and nodded as she passed the matron. She wasn’t really supposed to be in other dormitories this late, but the matron was flexible enough to make an exception for some. Being Kat's cousin made all the difference. Too bad she hadn’t been able to secure a room in the same dormitory.

She looked forward to see her cousin and share the good news. Kat had been annoyed at the midget since they had to retreat earlier today. This ought to lighten her mood.

“Success!" she exclaimed as she entered Kat’s room. “I assume you were watching?”

“Absolutely,” Katinka grinned, “It was spectacular!”

“Aw, I wanted to watch too,” Rachel complained. She could have tagged along, but chose not to. Her loss.

“Well, you’re in luck,” Ella smirked, “Ask nicely, and I may show you some pictures on my phone.”

“Come on, pretty please, sugar on top and all that, let me see.”

If it was one thing Rachel was good at, it was bowing and scraping.

Ella dug out the pictures on her phone. The pictures weren’t great. She could obviously not take pictures while accidentally popping a bubblegum in the midget's hair. Instead she had gotten copies of another girl's photos. She didn't know the girl, but it didn't matter. Everyone knew her as Kat's second in command. That was enough.

The only annoying part was Mina’s lack of reaction. She looked neither angry nor sad, just disappointed. Why? Did she expect any different treatment? Then she was in for a rude awakening.

“You did well,” Kat smiled. “Good luck getting that out of your pube-hair, sucker. I'm actually looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.”

It felt good to be complimented. Not that it was strictly necessary, she knew her value already. But still, it was nice.

She was glad Kat seemed satisfied. She had been in a dark mood ever since the incident with the new girl. Obsessed, almost. They talked a bit more, before Ella had to return to her own room.

Ella found Kat and Sara in the cantina the following morning. Kat looked like a pile of dark clouds eager to release a thunderstorm at any moment. Something had clearly gone wrong. Ella fetched some cereal and took a seat. No one said anything.

"What's happening?" Ella broke the silence.

"Nothing," Sara exclaimed, "Exactly nothing. That's the problem."

She pointed towards a group three tables away. An unfamiliar black boy was eating alone with a teacher. No, it was the gay secretary. Another recent transfer? No, wait…

"Is that the new girl?" she asked.

Katinka and Sara both nodded. Ella took another look. She looked so… normal. Well, if you didn't know she was really a girl. No hint that she was bothered by her lack of hair at all.

"That's weird," she commented, "Why is she so calm?"

"Because she's a fucking freak, that's why," Sara burst out.

"Okay? Are we sure she's not just putting up a facade…"

She trailed off. Of all the stupid things she could have said…

“No,” Kat grumbled, “Not even a hint that she is bothered by it.”

Kat had obviously been peeking on her. Better not to ask exactly how much. From the sound of it, she might also be suffering from mana burn.

“Maybe… she wants to be a boy,” Ella carefully suggested.

“Like, a trans?” Sara asked,

“Figures,” Kat grumbled.

She put her face in her hands. Her breakfast had hardly been touched.

“Okay, listen to me,” she announced. “If she wants to be a boy, we’ll let her. I want everyone to know that pube-hair is banned from the girl’s restrooms.”

Sara and Ella both nodded. Ella wanted to point out that pube-hair didn’t fit very well with her now shortened hair, but held her tongue. She quickly finished her breakfast to relay Kat’s order.

She found Rachel and Kat sitting on a bench by the maze during the next break. Ella wanted to ask how it went, but immediately stopped herself when noticing Kat’s mood. The thunderclouds had turned into a volcano ripe for eruption. Any wrong phrase might set it off. As expected, Rachel didn’t dare open her mouth, so she had to be the one to break the ice and hopefully not sink.

“So… what went wrong?” she asked.

“She’s a fucking nutjob,” Kat complained, “When she was denied access to the girl’s restroom, she made no fuss and just went into the boy’s instead. And no one even tried to stop her!”

“Maybe the others thought it was a boy?” Ella suggested.

“More like the boys lack the balls to do anything about it,” Kat grumbled.

“Bunch’a twats,” Rachel added.

Ella had nothing more to add or ask that wouldn’t risk setting off the volcano. They sat in silence.

Sara appeared from the direction of the administrative buildings quickly jogging towards them. She looked happy, for some reason.

“Hey, guess what I just learned,” she asked. “Only the best blackmail material ever!”

Really? Sara was useful as an errand girl, hardly the brains of the group. That title belonged to her.

“Tell us,” Kat demanded impatiently.

“The midget was picked up by two of the security guys last night, and rode in their van. Guess what she did? She peed in the back seat!”

“No way,” Rachel gasped.

“Are you certain?” Sara asked.

“Oh yes. One of the security guys, the really scary one, was more than willing to tell me as he had the unenviable job of cleaning it up.”

Ella had to admit this was great blackmail material. It irked her that it was Sara that dug it up and not her. Ella was the assistant Kat needed. Sara was obviously jealous of her position, and tried to undermine it.

Right now, though, she was willing to mostly put that aside, in the interest of appeasing Kat. She really needed to stop burning herself out, or it could get really dangerous.

“So, pube-hair isn’t potty trained, huh?” Kat grinned. “I guess it would be a shame if the news leaked to everyone.”

“Consider it done,” Rachel said, eager as always to appease as long as it posed no risk to her.

“While you’re at it, let everyone know that anyone associating with the dirty rat will share her fate.”

Dirty rat? Sara didn’t question it out loud. They all three nodded in confirmation and went to spread the rumors before the break ended.

It wasn’t until lunch that Ella could meet the others again. She found them sitting at a table in a corner, away from their usual spot. The new girl was nowhere to be seen, only her stupid friends.

Kat's mood hadn’t improved much. The other two were trying to put up a conversation, without much luck. Ella sat down and started eating while observing Kat. She was very deliberately stabbing a sausage to death with a fork in one hand, while the other was permanently clenched.

Not hard to guess what she had there; strands of the new girl’s hair. Despite the risk of worsening her mana burn, she was probably still contemplating peeking again.

“What’s happening?” Ella asked.

“Pretty much nothing,” Sara said, “Everyone knows the rumors by now, and there’s still no reaction from the midget.”

Not hard to guess how they had gauged her reaction. Kat had probably peeked on her every five minutes.

“Is it possible she just hasn't heard the rumors? What is she doing?”

“Doing some tests in a room by the teacher’s lounge,” Kat said, “And more importantly, not freaking out.”

“If she’s stuck alone, no wonder she hasn’t heard the rumors.”

Kat said nothing, but her look said everything. She was impatient and unwilling to wait for her satisfaction. Despite knowing that it was unlikely to result in anything, she would probably still keep peeking again and again due to her lack of patience.

This was getting dangerous. Even if it backfired, she had to take responsibility. That was what a good second-in-command would do.

“Kat,” she called out, barely getting any reaction, “You can’t keep doing this. Continually peeking on the girl will only harm you. You look like shit, and it won’t get any better. Just give me the hair strands so you are not tempted to do it again.”

Katinka looked up just enough to meet her eyes. “You. Are. Not. Telling. Me. What. To. Do.” she said very sharply. If they hadn’t known each other so long, Ella would’ve been genuinely scared. Even so, she was still a bit unnerved.

She broke eye contact. Further confrontation would only lead to her getting on Kat’s bad side. This obsession was a huge problem. If it was not possible to stop her friend, the only thing she could do was do something about the new girl. But exactly what?

“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” Sara butted in before Ella could think of anything. “If I remember correctly, the homeroom teacher has a baby, right?”

“I think so?” Rachel answered.

Ella nodded, not knowing where this was going.

“Kat, I’ll make absolutely sure the midget knows the rumors. Just find out where she lives. If you can help me borrow some baby stuff, even better.”

Ella could more or less guess her plan based on the clues. Not exactly subtle, but maybe that wasn’t important right now. Too bad it was Sara’s plan again. Ella almost hoped it failed, just to watch Kat angry with Sara. But she wasn’t petty enough to sabotage it directly.

Regardless, the plan was only possible once Mina went to her room, so they had to wait until the end of school to put it into action.

“Kat, now that we have a plan, please restrain yourself from peeking more until we set it off,” Ella said, “What if you need to peek for an extended period, but can’t because of mana burn? Better to rest a bit now, so you’re not missing out on the fun later.”

Kat didn’t look happy to be told what to do, but reluctantly agreed. When nothing else worked, appeal to her schadenfreude. That always worked.

They split up again once the school bell rang. It sucked that they didn’t have any more breaks aligned. Why did her parents sign her up for French? Who the fuck needed French for anything? Besides swearing, obviously. Nom de dieu de merde.

As soon as school was done, she rushed over to Kat’s room. Rachel was obviously there already, having picked the exact same classes as Kat. Like a fly following a lightbulb.

Sara arrived shortly after, triumphantly showing off her weapons of choice; a pack of diapers and a pacifier. She promised to send a message just before entering the room, so Kat knew when to start peeking. Ella convinced her to start a call instead, with the loudspeaker on. Even if the phone was in her pocket, they’d still be able to listen in. This was not only for her and Rachel’s benefit, Kat couldn’t listen with her clairvoyance either.

A few minutes later, Kat got the call. Ella immediately reminded her to mute herself, so the other side wouldn’t hear anything.

They listened as Sara did her thing, as subtle as a bull in a china shop. Unfortunately, Mina was either the best actress in the world, or just plain impossible to embarrass. Ella would have liked to claim that she was just too stupid to understand she ought to be embarrased, but she sounded far too smart for that.

Kat’s mood predictably took a complete nosedive. It was no point in even trying to say anything before Sara returned. That would only give her a legitimate target to vent her anger on.

Sara took her sweet time returning. She looked defeated. Surprisingly, Kat didn’t attack her or anything, she just sat there with her fists clenched. This was turning out to be a complete disaster. She needed to come up with a new plan, right now.

“How about we do something a bit more drastic?” she suggested, “You might even say... shocking?”

Rachel looked appalled. She desperately shook her head. The girl had always been a wimp, only good for parroting others’ opinions. Why had a pussy like her managed to get such a great power?

Kat turned to Rachel, who looked like she was about to fall off her chair.

“No, no, no,” Rachel pleaded, “I can’t do it. It’s too dangerous. There’s no way we can get away without getting caught.”

Actually, only she would be caught. But knowing her lack of spine, she’d immediately rat out everyone else, save Kat. Not a great outcome. Even worse, Kat would probably seriously consider throwing everyone else under the bus. After all, she would probably get away scot-free even if Rachel pushed the blame on her. Her mother would shield her. Ella needed to think of a better plan, quickly.

“Never mind that, then,” she said, hastily forming an idea. “I’ve got a better idea. The tree houses and obstacles course. It’s easy for someone to accidentally fall down, right?”

Kat turned towards her. A grin spread across her face. “Yes, that would be unfortunate.”

Rachel nodded like a madwoman.

“As her seniors, it falls upon our shoulders to take her up there and teach her the danger of heights, right?” Ella went on, satisfied with the eloquence of her statements.

Kat laughed. “Oh course, how could we forget our responsibility?”

Ella turned towards Sara. “And who is better fit to teach then our dearest Sara?”

Sara didn’t exactly look thrilled, but neither was she begging for mercy like a certain tag-along. Fortunately for them, Sara always wanted to prove herself useful. This was practically a favor to her, providing a chance to shine in the spotlight. She could be the brawn to Ella’s brain.

“I don’t think she’ll come with me after what I just said,” she said.

“Just feed her some bullshit about you being sorry for what you did and regretting it, and that you want to show her around school. She needn’t even be alone. The other freaks can join you, just as long as you make sure you’re close enough to her to accidentally stumble in her direction.”

“O… okay. I’ll do it,” she said with a staunch grimace.

“Great,” Ella smiled. “As for you, Kat, I’m sure you want to watch. But rather than peek at her, why not check the incident out for real? We can just hang outside when Sara invites the new girl for a trip. How about an hour before dinner?”

That would give Kat a chance to cool down a bit. Hopefully she wouldn’t be peeking every minute up until that.

The plan was settled. Now, it was just waiting. Ella stayed by Kat’s side every single minute. She was experienced enough to tell when her cousin tried to peek, and made sure to distract her by hinting about what was going to happen. It worked reasonably well.

She skipped out on her dance lesson to stay with Kat. They headed outside and after some deliberation found a good spot to watch the incident from. Sara went off to fetch Mina.

They chatted while waiting. Ella tried to keep Kat distracted to prevent her from constantly peeking at Sara or Mina. It was easier said than done. Kat tried to be subtle, but Ella knew she failed to resist the temptation. Suddenly, her smile turned into a frown. Rachel noticed it, too.

“What is it?” Ella asked.

“She didn’t go with Sara,” Katinka said.

Two long minutes later, Sara returned. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t convince her.”

“What exactly did you say?” Kat demanded. They should have used the phone trick again, dammit.

“I tried to sincerely apologize for the incident earlier and invite her out to hang in one of the treehouses,” Sara explained, “She just told me I wasn’t being sincere and shut the door. I wanted so badly to bang on it and force her to explain herself, but I figured I wouldn’t be able to convince her regardless.”

Katinka was understandably grumpy. “Okay, you do it instead,” she turned to Ella.

“That’s a terrible plan,” Ella countered, “Imagine if someone you don’t know invites you out somewhere and you say no. Then someone else you don’t know comes and invites you to the same place. Seems a little bit suspicious, right? Besides, she will probably not be easy to convince considering I messed up her hair with the bubblegum earlier. If anyone else should try, it ought to be Rachel.”

Rachel shook her head violently and whispered “No, no, no, no…”

Katinka’s mood took a nosedive. “Fuck this fucking piece of fucking shit,” she muttered and went on her way. Ella and the others followed her, but nothing they said could lighten her mood. Ella failed to come up with a new plan on such a short notice, at least one that had reasonable odds of succeeding.

Predictably, Kat fell back to her old methods for dealing with the problem; threatening. But Mina was just as unfazed by the verbal threats, pushing Kat further into a deep, resentful anger. Ella was genuinely afraid Kat would go through with the threats. Beating Mina up might solve the problem, but it was more likely to create more problems than it solved. And since only Sara was willing to go along with the idea, Kat chased them all away and shut herself in her room. Sara made a vow to make Mina pay, but how was she going to accomplish that?

Ella spent half the night thinking about why Mina got so badly under Kat’s skin. Was it something she had said during their first encounter? She tried to replay it in her head, but couldn’t remember the exact words. Just that she seemed unreasonably confident and arrogant.

She woke up the next morning tired as fuck. Too much worrying, not enough sleeping. She dreaded meeting Kat and dealing with her horrible mood again. Even this motivation wasn’t enough to come up with a new plan. She was just too tired.

To her surprise, Kat was in a great mood. Which was extra strange considering the dark marks under her eyes, and her wild look. She had clearly not been sleeping well. This did not make any sense at all. Ella wasn’t the only one who noticed it.

“Eh… Not angry anymore?” Sara asked with all the elegance of a rhino.

“Nope, why would I be?” Kat answered, all smiles.

“Well, because of, you know, pube-hair?”

“Oh her. No, no, I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf. She is beneath me. Both age wise, physically and mentally. She doesn’t want to deal with me? Then I’m simply not going to bother with her at all.”

Sara and Rachel might be fooled, but to Ella’s ears, this was all horseshit. It was obvious she wanted to hide something, so she did not press the matter.

It wasn't until after school that Ella managed to find some time alone with Kat. She dragged her friend to one of the smaller treehouses, where they could monitor anyone approaching.

"Okay, what's happening?" Ella demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kat began, but the smirk made it all too obvious she did.

"Stop it, Kat. I'm not so easily fooled."

Katinka sighed while smiling. "I guess I should be happy I'm not entirely surrounded by idiots."

It was probably meant as a compliment, but it also stung a bit to hear. As much as the other two were competition, they were also her friends. It was complicated.

"So…?" Ella challenged her.

"I can tell you, but you have to promise not to share this with anyone," Kat told her, "I mean it seriously. This is an OMG-you-have-no-idea-how-much-trouble-you-could-get-into secret."

Ella gave her an honest promise that she would keep it between the two of them. She was too curious to leave this alone.

"Mom visited me last night," Kat told her.

Ella had met Mrs. Kowalski twice before. She was a very authoritative woman, as you would expect from the head of the board of directors. She didn't know quite what that entailed, only that they made important decisions regarding the academy.

"You know how pube-hair said she has bigger problems? Turns out she was actually truthful. The Consortium is after her."

The Consortium? That was shocking. What the fuck had she done to catch their attention?

"Shit, that's huge!" Ella exclaimed.

"I know," Kat grinned, "She's so fucked. And you know what? I'm going to play a role in her capture."

"You are?"

"Oh yes. My mom asked me to help locate and keep track of a certain new girl. Imagine her surprise when I told her I had already acquired her hair."

"How did you explain that?"

"I didn't have to. Mom trusts me."

Ella elected not to comment on that, despite plenty of thoughts on the subject.

"So, how exactly will this work?"

"When the agents of the Consortium arrive, one of them will be with me in Mom's office, and I'll guide them to find the bitch. Imagine that! Working with the Consortium! If I impress them, I can be an agent in the future, too!"

Ella would be lying if she wasn't interested in that, too. Unfortunately, that was impossible until she awakened her own talent.

"When is this happening?"

Kat grinned again.

"Tomorrow."