Chapter Four: The World Needs More Niceitude......and Yellow Jello.

It was yellow jello. Which is without a doubt the best kind of jello. And not just because it rhymes- though that does make a bit of a difference.

The dining hall is a long corridor, as grandiose and breath-taking as the rest of the palace-like estate,  and there there are no rules or signs that say “thou must not sitteth with the knights, nor shall thy sitteth with the sorcerers, but thou shalt sitteth with thy own kind”, but everyone appears to have sorted themselves that way anyway. Bards sit with bards, and knights sit with knights, and sorcerers with sorcerers. There are three long tables, as though the makers of the camp knew this self-inflicted segregation would be inevitable, made up of polished oak that, while not without their own dings and scratches, look very expensive. There are matching benches, and I have no doubt many-a-butt has sat where mine is. The ceiling to the hall is quite high, incredibly high, and has a large glass pane in it towards the front of the room that creates a sort of natural spotlight. That natural spotlight, of course, falls upon our teachers and “beloved” Headmaster Dominus.(He still hasn’t trimmed his ear hair, I must say)

Professor Nitterwick wears a burnt orange cloak over his shoulders, and his crooked nose is tilted upright like he smells something really awful (probably his own cologne but, you know). He never wears his cloak in the classroom, or as he calls it his “instruction hall”. The woman beside him looks much nicer, with a cloak the color of the purest sky and sheer blonde hair so light it almost seems white, she has a pretty smile that I don’t think ever leaves her face- which is surprising, since she’s rammed between Professor Nitwit and this Sourpuss sorcerer woman who looks like she has a lemon in her mouth. She has sharp hazel eyes that I can see from all the way across the room, eyes that remind me of those creepy-crawly things I used to be convinced lived under my bed in the dead of night. Creepy- Crawly lady makes me very uncomfortable…..

And then, beside her there’s a man with a bit of a beard, a salt and pepper beard that bunches up at his neck, and he wears nice robes of red and violet- he reminds me of my Grandpa before he passed away- Grandpa Jim. I always called him Grandpa Jimbo- and I was the only one he ever let get away with calling him that. Grandpa Jimbo had big ears though- this guy has pretty normal ears….I think. His hair is kinda shaggy so I can’t really tell. Beside Jimbo there’s a lady wearing scruffy armor, with wild red hair and dirty looking hands, and then beside her there’s this huge brawny guy with bulky armor and slick black hair that may just be hinting at a few strands of grey. Then, of course (because this is a circular table I might add- it looks oddly like the round table….) connecting this circle of people between Professor Nitwit and Hulk-man, is Headmaster Dominus, he looks grumpy, but then- he always looks grumpy.

The way meal-time goes around Camp Trinity is pretty average, I guess. You go through the kitchen where they have a sort of lunch line set up, and the lunch ladies (who knew other realms had lunch ladies? Go figure…) will dish out whatever you think looks good. Usually there are three choices for dinner, at least- that’s what Macy told me as we filtered through the bustling line. A small chalkboard at the entrance to the kitchen had the hastily scratched choices for the day, Shepherd's Pie, Roast Beef, and Tomato Soup(for the vegetarians, of course). I took a tray and a lady slapped a piece of roast beef on it as I bounced by, my eyes eagerly trying to catch sight of the glorious jello I had been promised. Another asked me if I wanted mashed potatoes, but I was so excited I wasn’t really paying attention- so she just slopped some onto my tray too. The lady dishing out jello already had them cut into cubes and put into cute little bowls, I looked up at her as she slowly placed one on my tray.

She had a few wrinkles, though I wouldn’t call her old. Her hands had callouses, and her face would have been super-duper pretty had somebody not knocked out one of her front teeth and given her a really noticeable nasty scar. Her hair was peculiar though, it was a bright purple that shouted like a man who just got his foot ran over by a trucker, and it was pulled up in a sloppy ponytail. A weird amulet was settled in the hollow of her neck, it was pewter- and the design on it kind of looked like a greek symbol, though I knew it wasn’t because I hadn’t seen it anywhere in any of the books I had ever read on greek culture and mythology.

And then I did something really peculiar, something I guess doesn’t happen to purple-haired lunch ladies on a regular basis, something I guess usual campers don’t do either. As she placed the glorious yellow jello on my tray slowly I reached out my hand to shake hers, and looked her right in her light brown eyes.

“My name is Annalise. And I think you look really pretty.” I say with absolute certainty.

She gave me the weirdest look, as if I were a cat she had just backed over and I had just coughed up a hairball and started talking about tea and crumpets as though it were no big deal. She didn’t say anything, just gave me that weird look as Macy grabbed my hand and started to drag me away.

“What are you doing?” Macy hissed in my ear.

“What…? I just gave somebody a compliment….she looked like she needed it. By the way- did you see her hair? Loooooved iiiiiiiiit~” I half-sing the end part.

“Why would you even want to talk to the lunch ladies?! They’re creepy!” She shudders.

“They all look so worn down….I just wanted to make her smile….I guess it didn’t work….huh?”

“No duh, it didn’t work! Why Glenda anyway?! She’s the creepiest of all, always wearing that amulet and muttering under her breath…”

“Glenda? So that’s her name? Cool.” I smiled as I looked down at my oh-so-delectable looking mound of gelatinous deliciousness. It wobbled with each step, making me giggle slightly. For a moment I pictured in my head one of those waving man things they have at car dealers flailing its arms wildly.

“You’re so weird….” Macy comments.

“Weird is just another word for unique. And unique is a good thing.” I nod curtly, as though this would make what I say the absolute truth. We were halfway down the large dining hall, passing by the self-proclaimed “sorcerer table” when I heard the conversation.

“It was the absolute worst! I forgot everything! I accidentally turned him into a toad, Derik! A Toad!” A female sorcerer bawls, she has pretty but dark eyes and lovely brunette hair that falls in amazing little waves. Maybe it’s just me who tries to see the beauty in everything and everyone, other people would have dismissed her as fairly “average”- just as they would have dismissed Glenda as “hideous”. I stop abruptly mid-step and frown down at my anticipated jiggly dessert.

I guess it would have been a lot worse to be made a fool of if you actually knew the stuff and forgot it all in the heat of the moment, and I can only imagine the shame that she feels having turned somebody into an actual toad (Which, despite being really really awesome, must have also been really really devastating). Mom always taught me that life wasn’t fair (she also always told me that magic wasn’t real….but I think we’ve debunked that by now….), but I never thought it could be this unfair. I’ve never had the chance to prove myself before, but it must be a lot harder when you’ve proven yourself before and you just...let yourself and everybody else down.

“It’s ok- I’m sure Professor Samuel doesn’t blame you, he doesn’t even crave flies now! So it’s all ok!” The young boy sorcerer beside her whom I assume to be “Derek” reassures.

Turned the teacher into a toad….ouch.

I make a sad sound in the back of my throat as I make up my mind on what I have to do. Mom always said doing the right thing was never easy- and gosh darn it I didn’t want her to be right for once! (Because let’s be real- she was right about a lot of things…..paper cuts aren’t just a myth (learned that one the really hard way)......Dogs don’t like it when you paint their nails….you shouldn’t sofa dive because you’ll fracture your skull (that was a fun visit to the doctor).....soap is not liquid candy…. be careful around suspicious containers full of suspicious substances….skull and crossbones on said containers does not indicate that it is the property of a pirate (a rather logical conclusion, honestly).....you shouldn’t bedazzle your face because then people will give you weird looks….so yeah- she’s been right about a lot of things.)

I tap the pretty brunette on the shoulder, and she turns around with a confuzzled expression on her face.

“Here.” I force my wobbly bowl of jiggly goodness away from my chest with a little choking sound.

“What….?” Her expression of confuzzlement only deepens.

“Just take it. You need it more than I do.” I half-mumble. I know jello used to always make me feel better when I had a bad day, my mom would cook it with me and let me pour it into whatever mold I wanted- no matter what had happened. Whether I had scraped my knee sofa diving (against her instruction….obviously…..), or been laughed at in public, or got my hair caught in a door, or been yelled at by Nana, or bitten by Mrs.Squibs (my pet Iguana of a few years back, for a lazy iguana she sure did like to bite people….)-well, you get the point. No matter what the source of distress was, mom would always sit down and make it better with the bestest thing god ever invented- jello. Even if my pain was really my fault in the end and a product of not listening to her (in retrospect) rational warnings and rules. Looking back….I guess she really was a good mother, she just didn’t know how to express it some of the time. She was so protective I never got to see past that strict exterior that always barked at me -”no!no!no!”, and the truth is- I still don’t know that made her that way. The realization hits me that….that I don’t really know my own mother at all.

“J-Jello?” She asks confusedly, and Macy is giving me a very similar look.

“Yeah- ‘happiness in a cube’ and all.” I laugh and do a little shimmying dance at my shortened jello jingle, knowing that sometimes my silliness could make people smile and laugh- even if in the end, they were only laughing at me, not with me. It works- she lets out a pretty little giggle with a sort of abrupt snort at the end that makes me smile as she covers her mouth embarrassedly.

“Don’t be embarrassed. I like your laugh. It’s pretty and it makes people smile, laughter is a beautiful thing- it’s supposed to make you smile and you should never be embarrassed about it.” I say as I push my bowl of gelatin into her hands, all resistance gone now. Her friend Derek gives me a small appreciative smile of his own on the sly, I bet he didn’t know how to console her properly in such an instance, I don’t blame him, most guys don’t. For a moment I wonder if he and this brunette girl are an “item”. If so, I would totally ship them. His red hair reminds me of Ronald Weasley, and she would be the perfect Hermione for him. (plus- they were both sorcerers, how could I not make that reference?)

“You’re weird.” She comments with another shy laugh as she sets the bowl of Jello on the table.

“I get that a lot.” I shrug, and Macy lets out a snorting laugh of her own.

“What’s your name? I don’t really feel right dubbing you “Weird Jello Girl”, and I’ve been here three years and I’ve never seen you around before.”

“That’s because she’s new.” Macy steps in before I can state where I’m from and go into an entire monologue that pretty much covers the entire monotonous existence that is my life.

“Annalise.” I say with a grin. “My name is Annalise. Annalise Theresa Rinaldi.” I turn my nose up with a fake air of snootiness and Macy laughs.

“Such a pretty name, I’m Danielle, Danielle Morgan, and this is Derek Steinbach.”

“Can I call you Frankenstein?” I ask in awe, Derek fights off a puzzled expression and plays it off with a laugh.

“N-Nah. Just Derek is fine.” he looks over at Danielle, who seems much less distraught now. “Thanks though, for...helping. Usually nobody around here even tries to do that sort of thing.”

“Well, I’m trying to be a new sort of bard.” I nod assuredly.

“Good luck with that.”

“Yeah, see you around, Annalise the “new kind of bard”.” Danielle smiles, Macy and I continue our walk to our own table, and she leans over and whispers in my ear.

“That was really….nice, of you.”

“Sometimes the world needs nice. There’s isn’t enough nice nowadays.” I state, my tone getting somewhat defensive as I remember the great shaming I took today from Professor Nitwit. Hopefully news of that would never reach Danielle and Derek. I would prefer news of that never reach anybody, but the chances of that happening were already dead.

“I heard about what happened today, in your novice class.” Macy brings up the topic casually as we sit down at the self-determined bard table. As I wiggle my butt into a spot on the bench I realize our table is about �" full, while the sorcerer and knight tables are positively teeming with people. Was something happening to bards to make them disappear? Why did Macy seem so intrigued that I was ‘from earth of all places’? Were bards just…losing what little importance they had?

“Yeah….I was an absolute dingbat.” I state grumpily, stabbing at my slab of roast with a surprisingly sharp fork. What, did they have little gnomes in the kitchen to sharpen the prongs each night?

“You’re not a….dingbat. You just don’t know. And how could you? You never grew up with any of this. He shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. Now I know professor Nitterwick may come off as a grumpy old man- but he’s really just trying to uphold the integrity of bards as a whole.” She takes a small bite out of a buttered biscuit- even the way she eats is pretty….

“But I didn’t know anything….I don’t feel magical...or special….or fantabulous at all!”

“Fantabulous?” Macy raises an eyebrow.

“Fantastically Fabulous!” I exclaim exasperatedly, perhaps a bit louder than I should have, because people nearby look over and snicker.

“Ah, perfect sense.” She nods, though I know she’s just humoring me. “You’re not “just another human” if that’s what you’re worried about. If you were- you wouldn’t have been able to see the camp grounds, let alone enter them. Powerful charms would have kept you out. So my theory is that the magic is inside you, it’s just….dormant. Asleep, and it’s never been woken up before. So of course you’re going to have to work harder than anybody else, at least at first.”

“But how can I wake it up if I don’t know anything…? And what’s with these cloaks?!” I throw up my hands as a young man wearing an orange cloak strides by, a bowl of tomato soup on his tray as he tosses me a snide glare.

“Calm down, calm down. You’ll get a cloak too- when you specialize.”

“Specialize?”

“Specialization is when a bard finds their supposed niche- what they’re really good at. You can tell what someone specializes in by the color of their cloak, and there are a lot of them. Usually it doesn’t take a long time to specialize but...well, I think you may be a special case.”

I groan and thunk my forehead against the hard table.

“Don’t get so down, Anna.”

“How can I not? I feel so absolutely UN-fantabulous! I feel like a beached whale in the middle of New York city!” I really started to get strange looks when I started to make whale sounds in the middle of the dining hall. That day was,.....a bit of a low- as you can probably imagine….