Dori and Callie: Boy Problems

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Callie returns to the mansion and ends up being bombarded by her roommate on the question of boys, and clothes.



Two suitcases lay abandoned at the end of her bed as Callie flopped onto her bed. It was if she had never left; her bed was still neatly made, every book on her bookshelf was still in its place, and everything else was as she had left it. On her side anyway. Dori's well, it had that lived-in look, which was a comforting thought in and of itself. As she surveyed her room though, Callie struggled to keep her eyes opened, and eventually let them shut of their own accord.

To say that she was tired would be an understatement. Between rising early in the morning to bid her family goodbye, and various cancellations and delays, Callie had counted herself lucky to make it this far without collapsing on the spot. She knew she should stay up to a normal time to combat the jet-lag, but her bed was so comfortable, and the pillows so soft, that she found herself settling into them without bothering to set an alarm on her phone to wake her.

Doreen could smell Callie, which wasn't a bad thing. She opened the door to their room, Monkey Joe on her head, and smiled, "HI CALLIE!"

Callie had no idea how long she had been asleep. A few seconds? Minutes? Hour? There was no real way of telling as the sun hadn't changed its position that Callie could tell. Groggily, she sat up in her bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, which really only served to make them redder than they already were. "Hi Dori," she said as she stretched her arms up in the air. "Hi Monkey Joe."

"How're you? How was your trip?" Doreen said, and jumped Callie's bed, "Did you have fun?"

"I have... presents," she motioned to her suitcases, "for everyone." Callie yawned again. "I heard Malibu was interesting."

"...Mom and Dad are divorced now," Doreen said, looking down at the floor.

"I heard," Callie pulled her legs up under her and pat a spot on the comforter next to her. "Fred told me. Wanna talk about it?"

"...I dunno," Doreen said, sitting down, next to her friend, "It sucked. Lawyers are evil."

"Not all of them, Nathan's a lawyer, and he does good work." Callie was trying to see the silver lining in the whole situation. Fred had given her some updates when she had been able to reach enough civilization to get a call out. But given the time difference, those times were few and far between. "I know it's tough, Dori, but we're here for you."

Another yawn was stifled as she tried to maintained her composure. Serious conversations on lack of sleep were always fun, but Callie had slept enough to be able to try to hold one. And this was important. "So what else has been going on?"

"We got a new girl, but she's really shy. And there's Vic! Have you ever meant Vic?" she asked lighting up, "...I... I think I like him. I've never really liked anyone before, so I'm not sure, I guess."

"A new girl?" Callie hadn't heard much about that. Well the mansion was only so big, she would run into her eventually. "And yeah, I met Victor right before I left. We watched 'Life is Beautiful' together. He's pretty cool. Wait. Rewind. You like him? Like like-like? Awww Dori!" She flashed her roommate a wide smile as she pulled the younger girl into a big hug. "That's awesome!"

Doreen giggled, "I don't know what he thinks about me though. He doesn't seem to get it, so I asked Mr. Beaubier and he said to just ask him out but I don't know how to do that. I've never done that before. ...I wasn't really that popular with guys back home."

"I asked Fred to prom," which totally wasn't the same thing, Callie knew, but it was close enough. "I mean the worst he can do is say no? Which, yeah would suck, but it's not the end of the world. Right?"

"I asked Johnny, but it's not the same because we're just friends, you know?" Doreen said looking at Callie, "I'm really, really nervous about this, Callie."

There was a nod of understanding. "Well if you want I can try and drag Fred along so it's less of an anxiety attack? Apparently there were a bunch of movies that were released while I was traipsing around the jungle."

"I dunno. But if I am going to go on a date though, I want a dress. He said he thought I'd look good in a sundress. Do you want to go with me to pick one out? So it will be a surprise? I only have a little bit, but I'm sure it's enough for a dress and I don't even know HOW to ask him out," she said, "Do you just sort of do it?"

"You would look good in a sundress," Callie agreed, stressing this point. "And I'm probably not the best person to be asking about all this, I don't really have any experience. But I will help you pick out a dress. We can go Saturday. I know a lot of resale shops in the city with some amazing finds. I mean, no offense to Salem Center, but the ones down there are like a ton better."

"I noticed that. The shop at the mall didn't have that much, but I was able to find some stuff and you have Fred, right? How did you ask him out? And what color should the dress be? Yellow, maybe? We'll have to have it fixed for my tail or my underwear will be showing all night. And that's not fun. I like him but I'm not that fast, I guess, you know?" Doreen said.

"FredandIaren'tdating." The words tumbled out of her almost faster than her mind found them. Thankfully, she had acquired a lovely deepened pink hue from all the time she spent outdoors, and this hid her blush. Time to pointedly change the subject. "I think yellow would be lovely on you. Or white. And getting someone to alter them should be easy. Clarice does it a lot, maybe we can ask her."

"You aren't?" Doreen asked, "Did you guys break up? And Miss Monet does too, but yeah, we can ask one of them because I want to look nice that way if we do go on a date I look pretty and not... well..." like herself, she supposed. Wild, but in an animalistic way. "...just pretty, yeah."

She was not a pretty girl.

"Let's forget Fred and me for a minute" or forever "and focus on you. Cause he and I are... us. Okay? And you are pretty. You looked gorgeous at prom, and you have a very symmetrical face, which may not seem like a compliment but if you look at the studies it really is because they're considered really beautiful, and you're fun and bubbly. Seriously. You're pretty. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, cause they're stupid."

"You think so?" Doreen asked, "Before I came here, only Julian said I was cute, but no one else outside of my family called me pretty. People normally don't like tails," Doreen said sadly. Now that she had something to compare it to, she could honestly say her last school sucked, "No one should have to get called some of the stuff I was though... I know that has nothing to do with this, but I guess I just wonder if I am pretty..."

"I was born all pink and with the ears," explained Callie. "So I know what you're talking about. People tend to only see what's different about us, and don't know how to react. And what they do can be hurtful. But you are pretty. And if anyone ever gives you grief let me know and I'll tie them up in poison ivy." Okay, she probably wouldn't do that, but it was fun to joke and say you would.

Although sometimes, it could be argued, people deserved it.

"You'd have to go after all my old school 'cept Julian," Doreen said with a nod, "When we were out there, I stood up to them! I wish they hadn't treated me bad in the first place. I was friends with a lot of them growing up," she admitted. And it had hurt, a lot.

"Well if they can't accept who you are, and all of you, then they weren't your real friends." Callie nodded sagely. She was hardly that much older than Dori, so she felt a little ridiculous giving out advice like this. All the same, though, it was something she had learned to be true.

"Yeah... I guess. I hope he likes me back," Dori gushed, "I really do."

Callie beamed. It really was adorable. Ah young love. "Well the first step is to ask him out, especially if you don't think that he's the type to do that. Guys are really dense and kinda slow sometimes, but luckily we have brains. And beauty."

"Yeah," she took a deep breath, "I can do this. I can..."

"Uh yeah you can. Totally have faith in you." Callie swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up, adjusting her shirt. "And as long as I'm up and about, do you want your presents?"

"Yeah! ...Oh, I didn't get you anything from Malibu, I'm sorry," Doreen said, "But oh! Sometime you should come with me to visit my Grandpa's farm! Well, it's not a REAL farm, it's a hobby farm."

Callie shrugged as she stared at the suitcases. She couldn't remember which one she put the gifts in right now. "That sounds fun," she said before turning to Dori with a guilty smile. "I don't remember which one they're in right now."

"That's okay! I can help you look!" Dori offered innocently.

She blinked several times; her eyes darted back to the bed. It looked so welcoming after 8 hours in the air. "Actually can we hold off? I need a nap like woah."

"Oh...okay! I'll let you be," Doreen said, "I should practice for gymnastics anyway."

"Good night Dori." Callie fell back onto her bed, hugged her pillow, and fell fast asleep.