Locked Out

Evelyn froze and blushed at the mention of Jace before turning her head away so Lotte might not see her reddening cheeks. "N-no... not really..." she muttered, almost wincing remembering their last meeting. "We... um... had a bit of a f-falling out, I guess..." Wow. And the award for the understatement of the century went to Evelyn May White. She'd put him in the infirmary, bruised him in places men didn't want to be bruised, punched and elbowed him in his face and ribs, and kicked hard enough to rip a pair of stockings while she was at it. Jace had grabbed and kissed her though, when he didn't even really know her. She'd justified her actions that way, after so many months of avoiding him. He'd had it coming.

Mulling over Lotte's questions after a moment, she blushed even harder. "A-a-and I d-don't like anybody... b-boys, that is." she said hurriedly, before realizing her blunder as Colette came rushing to mind. "N-not like t-that, though...! I mean... I don't..." Oh, this was awful. Her legs were getting sore too, standing in place, but it seemed her guest had already taken up the bed... would it be too awkward to sit next to her?

"Ah sheesh. Seems as if we are coming from the same place." said Lotte a little awkwardly. That bastard. He was puppeteering both Evelyn and herself. She shook the thought out of her mind, smiling brightly.
"Truth be told, I can't think of anyone I am fond of in that way. I guess men are stupid. Let's get married, Evelyn." she said, collapsing onto the girl's bed, arms outstretched. She was rather bored, taking no thought to collapsing on another person's bed.

Evelyn recognized it as a joke and laughed nervously as her guest collapsed onto her bed. "Hehe... yeah..." How lame. She needed something witty to add, something to bounce back with, but her mind was blank. After a moment of hesitation, the girl walked over and plopped unceremoniously beside Lotte, but not without a blush. "Are you pr-prop-puh-posing?" she asked with a small joking smile. "...You'll need t-to put a ring on it f-first."

Lotte glanced over at Evelyn, not bothering to sit up any. After a moment, the girl began to giggle, putting a hand over her mouth amusingly. "You're quite timid." the girl observed, noticing her awkward stutter appearing more noticeable than ever. She didn't say this to offend Evelyn, but was rather speaking her mind as she usually did. The girl brushed some black hair out of her eyes, letting gravity do the rest.

Well, that was abrupt and forthright.

Evelyn's small smile slowly turned into a frown. With her spirits sinking and the little bit of confidence she had draining, she looked away from Lotte and studied the ceiling instead. "...Mhm..." she said quietly. I guess I've been really awkward to get her to say that... But of course. I mean, when was she not? The girl drew in her arms and bit the inside of her cheek. Lotte's observation stung to say the least, and Evelyn felt suddenly self-conscious and uncomfortable.

The girl suddenly sat up and slid off the bed. "Um... excuse m-me. I'll be r-right back..." she muttered. Evelyn padded nervously towards the door before hurrying outside, her nervous plodding turning into a swift dash for the bathroom. She didn't have to use it in truth, she just really needed to get away for a couple of minutes.

She slipped into the bathroom and carefully closed the door behind her and turned the lock. With a shaky breath, Evelyn reached under her skirt and grabbed at the dagger strapped to her thigh. She just needed to look at it, to hold it... With one fluid movement, the girl unsheathed it and brought it to her face. The way the light rippled in the metal never ceased to enamor her as she stared into its depths, everything suddenly forgotten. It was her greatest comfort, the only thing that she sometimes felt was keeping her sane in the crazy school. Her breathing quickly became heavy and, with her legs feeling weak, she leaned against the wall, not looking away from the blade for a moment.

After a few moments of psychopathy, there was a light rapping at the door of the bathroom as Lotte stood outside. She didn't mean to offend the girl, for she had taken her in, and felt immediately guilty. "Hey, are you alright in there?" she asked silently in a rather worried tone. She hadn't realized that her hostess had taken solace in her weapon, and if so would have been more cautious in case of upsetting her more, but at the time she was in genuine concern.

Lotte's knocking broke her out of her stupor, make her jump in surprise and tear away her gaze from the knife. "Um... yeah!" she called back to the muffled voice on the other side of the wall. Evelyn put the blade back into its sheath and gingerly pushed the door open. "S-sorry... Heh..." What to say now? The girl looked down and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, not daring to look up and make eye contact.

Lotte stared at the girl for a little while, before smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I'll go if you want, my dorm is probably unlocked." she said to the girl guiltily. She already made her way to her shoes by the door, slipping one on whilst balancing on the ball of her other foot.

Evelyn blinked in surprise from the sudden apology and stood slightly dazed in the doorway at a loss for words as she walked away towards her shoes. "N-n-no...! It's f-fine, really..." she blurted out, feeling suddenly guilty. "Um, you d-don't have t-to go... I mean, unless you w-want to, but..." Her voice trailed off and she dropped her gaze to the floor again and meekly ground her heel into the carpet. Maybe it would be for the best if she left now. She had obviously been an awkward burden to Lotte when she should have been a caring hostess...

Upon hearing this, Lotte became happy, throwing up her arms. "Thank you! I promise I won't be mean, or rude, or rudely mean, I mean it! Or, I don't mean it, I promised..." what the girl had been saying faded to a mumble that was only audible to the speaker herself, but Evelyn's gestured had done the trick. Lotte had virtually put her blunder behind her, and whether Evelyn truly did or not was something out of the girl's head at the moment. She walked away from the door, placing her shoes back where they had been prior to her disturbance.

Evelyn blinked in surprise and nearly jumped when she suddenly threw up her arms and went to put her shoes away. Well, that was certainly a quick change in demeanor. "H... hehe..." she mumbled nervously. Lotte could seem very... eccentric, to say the least. Sometimes it was hard for Evelyn to tell what was considered normal behavior of people, and whether she was the more awkward one in the conversation or not. Now was one of those times.

So she just stood there, biting her bottom lip and rocking on her heels and hoping that the conversation would be steered tactfully in some other direction. Probably not. Evelyn admitted to herself, thinking further on Lotte's earlier odd remarks. Maybe I should have just let her leave. It would have made later contact with her awkward, but hey... it's not like they hadn't been awkward already, right? It's too late for that, though. She clearly wants to be here. How much longer until she decides to leave?

Lotte had already made her way back to Evelyn's room, smiling softly during the whole trip to her bed. Once again she plopped down upon her acquaintance's bed, checking her small phone for any update on the room situation. Nothing, nobody texted her. What if nobody found it necessary to text her? What if she was off dead somewhere, and no one noticed she was in the dorms!?

Lotte pouted a frustrated pout, putting the phone back into her pocket.

"What is the matter, milady?"
Ethel had seemed to materialize in front of Lotte, though she had been there the entire time.
"My dormmates hate me."
"What gives you that idea?" asked the confused ghost.
"They are not messaging me."

There was a moment of silence on Ethel's part, before she began speaking once more.

"When I was alive, we had to wait two weeks for a message to be sent."
"Shut up, you old woman."