Myrtle Needs Friends Too...

Marki had heard the lonely ghost the last time she had passed, but had been too pressed for time at the moment to be able to stop and engage her in conversation. She knew it was almost a folly idea, that many other people would not even think to do that, but it had been for those exact reasons that had led her to think it may be worth a shot.

So now she returned to the bathroom and slipped inside. From what she could tell, it was empty. She strode in, dropping her books into a sink and plucking at her long mismatched socks that she had pulled over her jeans- one rainbow and one starry night. She poked her head in the space between all of the stalls, calling, "Myrtle! Myrtle, m'dear! It's alright! Come out!"

There was this to say for being kicked out of classes; it gave you plenty of leisure time. In that free time, you could do what you liked, and what Angelique liked was wandering around the castle poking her nose in where it didn't belong. Naturally, when she heard someone in the bathroom on the second floor, the bathroom nobody ever went into, yelling for the ghost she decided to poke her nose in.

She pushed the door open, but caught it before it could swing closed behind her and carefully, quietly shut it with care.

Standing before her was the most ridiculous person Angelique had ever seen in her life. The way the girl's clothes were, it was a wonder she hadn't been pulled up on uniform charges a dozen times. Maybe Angelique would pretend to be a prefect and do it later. That would be a fun way to pass ten minutes.

Angelique carefully leaned against a mirror. Her weight on one leg pushed her hip out. She crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. Only then did she speak.

"Shut up, stupid girl."

"Why'd you want to talk to that irritating ghost, anyway?" she asked. "She won't tell you how she died, if that's what you're thinking."

Marki heard someone behind her call her stupid and she continued looking under stalls, though she felt her heart pound slightly. She was used to a lot of insults but she could skate over each one but stupidity. Once that one was said, there was no chance to meet normal, happy, odd Marki. You met the touchy Ravenclaw underneath. The one who read books on engineering, outdated thesis books on how the future would turn out, on every branch of psychology. The one who could pass every class without trying, but she wanted to learn everything on the subject that she forgot to do her homework.

She straightened up after checking the last one and turned to face the girl who continued on. "Nothing warranted a false accusation on my intelligence. Shrill voice, eccentric dress, maybe even hopeless determination, but nothing on intelligence." She paused. "Anyone who knew how to research knew what she died of. And it's not like she hates to talk about the fact that she is dead. No, she was crying, and I am one of the few to realize she has feelings and as a ghost,knowledge once could benefit from. Now if you excuse me." She turned and opened a stall. "Myrtle?"

Oh, a challenge! Angelique liked a challenge. She liked the satisfying feeling she got when she crushed the person who opposed her.

"False accusation? Au contraire," she said.

Angelique watched, unimpressed, as the girl continued to hunt for the ghost. Didn't she know ghosts could come and go as they pleased? Besides, Myrtle wasn't going to come out in front of Angelique. They were not what you would call the best of friends, something this oh-so-intelligent creature might have guessed if she really was so clever as she believed herself to be.

"I never said you weren't intelligent. You may well be the second most brilliant student in this entire school. That doesn't make you any less stupid."

The girl was not only stupid. She was mad. Anything Myrtle could tell her, Angelique could tell her just as easily. And with less weeping and screaming.

"Oh, I see," her tone was that of someone trying to hold back their chuckles, which was exactly what Angelique was doing. "You think Myrtle will have some useful knowledge she can impart to you. I think you're forgetting something, though."

Marki eyed this girl with unease and distrust. She was open minded to everyone's opinion but it was her intelligence being insulted that hurt her most. She thought the girl was full of crap. Stupidity meant lacking intelligence. "To be stupid and intelligent is an oxymoron," she stated. "You can share qualities but to insinuate one is to discredit the other."

Marki did not had a quest of knowledge and she was not seeking the moody, hormonal ghost for any particular reason besides a toxic combination of boredom and curiosity. She was not getting her chance to explain herself to this judgmental girl though, obviously. She sighed. "What am I forgetting?"

Angelique watched the girl watching her. She'd gotten under her skin, she could tell. Not what she'd been aiming for; she'd wanted to make the girl curious about her, but it was close enough. Now, how to continue?

"For someone so pedantic, you certainly have a weak grasp of meaning," Angelique observed.

That would rile her up even more, but she couldn't disagree, for Angelique was right.

"I didn't insinuate anything. I said it directly to you, and you needn't get so pent up about it, either. Almost everyone is stupid compared to me. It's not like I was picking on you. Just making an observation."

That was as close to an apology as Angelique ever got, so if the girl wasn't happy with it, that was too bad.

"If semantics are so important, I can call you idiotic, or foolish or some other thing next time. It doesn't matter to me," she shrugged.

She didn't answer the girl's question about Myrtle. Myrtle wasn't nearly as interesting as she was.