Chapter 3 :

After supper Jim and Dolphy went to their separate rooms.Jim wanted to learn for his approaching exams but soon realized that learning maths on a Friday evening was more than boring...well,maths was always boring but especially then.He thought about visiting Dolphy although she had warned him of her roommates,who were rather hysterical when a male being entered ´their territory´.Jim decided to give it a try nevertheless.He threw his school-books in a corner and headed for Dolphy`s room.When he had reached it he stood nervously in front of the door,thinking about whether he should risk it or not.Eventually he carefully knocked at the door,expecting an angry „Go away!“ but instead just heard Dolphy`s voice calling „Come in,Jim.“ He did as he was told and closed the door behind him afterwards.

„How did you know it was me?“ he asked Dolphy surprised,who sat on her bed with her pad in the one and a pencil in the other hand.

„Who else should visit me?“ she anwered and winked at him.

„Where are your frien-,erm,roomates?“ asked Jim as he noticed that nobody else was in the room.

„They went to a new disco which opened in the near of the academy.They can`t survive without going out every weekend.“ she said in a slightly detesting tone. „Well,they can go anywhere,to hell,to neverland,doesn`t matter!As long as they`re not here I`m more than happy!“

Jim was surprised that the girl who seemed to be so friendly was now talking with so much hatred that he was beginning to feel a little uneasy.Dolphy noticed it and immediately came back to her old self.

„Oh,sorry,it just happens when you are terrorized by them all the time.I don`t even think about what I say,it`s just...“

„Sshh,it`s okay,you don`t have to justify yourself.“ said Jim friendly. „I know what you`re going through.“

Dolphy smiled at him and was happy that he smiled back.

„Are you drawing again?“

„Woa,you don`t miss a thing,huh?“ grinned Dolphy.

„Can I see it?“ asked Jim curiously and with such a begging look that Dolphy couldn`t resist.

„Sure,come here.“

Jim sat next to her on her bed and looked over her shoulder.

„Hey,is that a space-dolphin?“ he asked excitedly.

„Y-yes.“ answered Dolphy shyly.Jim`s face was so near to hers that she blushed a bit.

„They`re my favourite animals.“ she continued.

„Fits to your name.“

„Hhm...“

„Hey,what`s that?“

„What?“

„That.“ said Jim as he picked up a grey lioness-plushie.

„Oh,that`s me.“

Jim gave her a questioning look.

„What do ya mean with me?This is a plush-toy and your a human so...erm,you`ve gotta explain that to me.“

Dolphy smiled at him and took the plushie in her arms.

„Well,I like lions very much so I thought about what I would look like if I was a lioness.I love dolphins,so my lion-me became grey and got this blue dolphin-sign on her forehead.“ she told him while pointing at the plushie´s head. „I draw her very often,whenever I`m sad or happy I can express my mood with a pic ´cause there`s no other way to do so.I can`t talk to anybody...ya know,the problem with `nobody-cares-for-me`.“

Jim looked at her as she passed her hand slowly over the lioness` back.

„Hey,don`t worry,now you`ve got somebody who cares for you.“ he said reassuringly and lay his arm around her shoulders.

He didn`t know why,but suddenly Dolphy jumped up and started yelling at him.

„Okay,I don`t know what you want from me but one thing I can tell you,I`m NOT gonna be taken in by your charming attitude!“

„W-what!?“ asked Jim dumbfounded as he remembered what she had told him about Carren.

„No,it`s not-„

„Not what I think,yeah,yeah!“ continued Dolphy furiously. „First you save me from that bastard,then you ask me if I`d move into your room,then you visit me while I`m alone and all the time your acting like I would be something extraordinary special so don`t ya think that`s a little bit TOO exaggerated!?“

„Stopp screaming and just listen to me for a milisecond,okay!?“ shouted Jim.

„No,I won`t listen to you!I`ve listened to enough persons,persons who said they`d like me and then-baboom!-they were threatening me like dirt at the next moment!I can tell you,I`ve never had somebody who really cares for me and I don`t need one!“

Jim began to get angry,too,but that`s when he heard a suppressed sob from Dolphy,who had turned her back on him and was staring out of the window.He wanted to console her but didn`t know if she would yell at him again if he did so.So he just went some steps towards her and thought about what he could say.

„Listen,I don`t know what happened with your so-called ´friends´ and I don`t expect you to trust every stranger who crosses your way but...one thing I can promise you...“ he said while putting his hand cautiously on Dolphy`s shoulder. „...I won`t tell you anything I don`t mean honestly.“

She slowly turned her head to look at him.Now he could see that she was crying.

„I`m sorry,I`m acting like a fool,I know.I`m talking stuff before thinking but...all those experiences with false friends,it just drives me crazy and,and...“ she sobbed when more tears came running down her cheeks.

„Hey,hey,everything`s fine.“ said Jim gently and took her in his arms. „Ssshh,it`s okay.“

Dolphy cuddled against his chest,feeling a never experienced comfort while listening to his heartbeat.They remained there for some moments when suddenly the door flung open and Dolphy`s three roommates stormed into the room.They were yelling at each other before they noticed the ´stranger`.

„How should I know this disco-guy wants an identity-card before he lets us in!?“ asked the light-brown canine-girl.

„Maybe ´cause you always need an identity-card for discos!“ snarled the white feline.

„You could`ve told me that earlier,whisker-face!“

„Hey,watch your mouth you silly...What the heack is that!?“ yelled the cat and pointed at Jim,who was still holding Dolphy close to him.The two humans backed away from each other instantly but it was too late.The alien-girls started shrieking and shouting furiously at them.

„Jessica,how dare you to let this..this...thing in our room!?“ asked the yellow bird-girl shocked.

„Hey,first don`t call him a ´thing´!And second,it`s not only your room!I have rights myself so I can invite everybody I want!“ snarled Dolphy.

„You and rights?Hah!Excuse me for laughing!Ha-ha-ha!“ mocked the feline.

„Do me a favor and stuff a fish in your mouth,Vivian,okay!?“

„You little freak,how dare you!Get this *eew* human out of here...immediately!!!“

Dolphy gave her a mean look and turned to Jim.

„I think it`s better for you to go now.“

„You sure?“ asked Jim worried.

„Yes...believe me,it`s for your own safety.“

The seriousness in her voice convinced him so he passed the three other girls without even looking at them and left the room.When he was gone Stella,the canine,glanced at Dolphy with narrowed eyes.

„So,tell us,what did you two do here?“

„None of your business!“ yelled Dolphy.

„Calm down,Stella.“ said Meena,the yellow bird-girl. „You don`t really think that a man would spend time with her of his own free will,do you?I bet she has paid him to let us think she`d have something like a private life!“

The three of them started snickering and laughing when Dolphy eventually lost the last bit of her temper.

„SHUT UP!!!What makes you think you could threathen others like that!?You`re the ones who should be the outsiders!You would have deserved it for being that arrogant and detesting!You`ve got everything,money,friends,popularity,just all you need and now you`re picking on me just because I`ve finally gotten a friend!?“

The other girls looked unimpressed at each other and then back at Dolphy.

„You call this guy a ´friend´?Well,I must admit he`s quite handsome for a human being...so it`s more than unbelievable that he`s really interested in a weird little freak like you.“ said Meena with a smirk.

Dolphy was beginning to have doubts.What if they were right?She wasn`t anything special,not extraordinary pretty,not popular,nothing.Why should a boy like Jim like her?She tried to get rid of those thoughts and stared at her roomates again.

„You`re just jealous ´cause I`ve found somebody who likes me the way I am!You know that you`ll never have a friend like him and do you wanna know why?´Cause you`re nothing but some spoilt brainless jerks!“

They were shocked and ready to jump at her throat when Vivian calmly turned towards her friends and told them to get their identity-cards for the disco and went slowly in Dolphy`s direction.

„Nice little speech,punk,but you know what a fair person I am so I will give you a chance to excuse yourself.“

„Eat my shorts,kitty!“ said Dolphy with an icy voice.

„Aww,I thought you would be a little more intelligent...“ said  the feline and grabbed Dolphy`s hand so violently that her long claws bored through her skin.

„Well,do you wanna say something to us?“ asked Vivian with an evil smile.

Dolphy clenched her teeth and gave her a painful but menacing look.

„S...Sorry.“

„What?I don`t think that Stella and Meena have heard it.Have you,girls?“

„No,what do you mean,Vivian?“ they said while grinning stupidly.

„...Sorry.“ whispered Dolphy but let out a cry of pain when the feline slammed her claws harder into her hand. „AAAHHH!!!SORRY,I`M SORRY!!!“

„Oh,that`s music in my ears!“ smiled Vivian as she finally let go of her.

„Let`s go back to party,girls!“ she said to the other two aliens.

Before she closed the door behind them,Meena turned towards Dolphy and warned her :

„Don`t let that human in our room again...and clean up the mess,it`s disgusting!“

With that she slammed the door shut.Dolphy didn`t know what she meant with ´mess´ but then she saw the blood on the floor and looked at her hand.She clenched her fist angrily although it hurt terribly and stormed to her bed and started throwing her stuff,mainly drawing utensilities and a few clothes in a dark blue bag.She didn`t mind her bleeding hand but simply used the other one.Then she sneaked cautiously out of the room,peering around to make sure that her annoying roomamtes were really gone and made her way to Jim`s room.When Dolphy had arrived it she didn`t dare to enter.She just stood there and thought about what she would do if Jim had changed his mind and didn`t want her as roommate anymore.Several minutes passed as she took a deep breath and finally knocked at the door.After hearing no response she sighed and just wanted to go back when the door suddenly opened.

„Hi Jim.“ said Dolphy with a shy smile. „I wanna take up on your offer...“

She blushed a bit when she noticed that he was already wearing his pyjamas,a beige shirt and black shorts to be exact.It took a load off her mind when Jim gave her a friendly smile and took the bag out of her hand.

„Come in.“ he said and closed the door behind her. „I know here`s not as much space as in your former room but...hey,what happened to your hand!?“

Jim let Dolphy`s bag fall onto the floor and looked at her injured hand.

„Oh,it`s nothin,just a few scratches.“

„Did that feline do it?“ asked Jim bitterly while he gently took her hand in his in order to examine the wound better.

„Yeah,she doesn`t only have a sharp tongue...“

„I`ve heard that women could be cruel but that`s sick!“

Jim shook his head and went to the bathroom.When he came back he held a wet washcloth,a little bottle and some bandages in his hands.

„Wow,you`re extremely well equipped for emergencies,huh?“

„Hey,life`s dangerous...especially when you always try to invent new stunts with your solar surfer.“ Jim said with a grin.

Dolphy`s eyes lit with excitement.

„You`ve got a solar surfer?Could you show me some tricks and – OUCH!!!“ she yelled as Jim put some drops of the content of the little bottle on her wound.

„What is that stuff!?“

„Iodine.“

„Ouch,I should have known.“ she said through clenched teeth. I`m just lucky that Vivian didn`t rip my ´drawing-hand´.“

Jim put the bandages carefully around her hand and proudly looked at his work when he was done.

„Thank you.“ said Dolphy and gave him a grateful smile.

„Don`t mention it...Well,uhm,which bed do you want?“ he asked and pointed to the two empty beds in the room.

„I think I`m gonna take the one on the right side.“ she replied and looked at the bed which was on the opposite of Jim`s.

„Okay,then,uhm...what happened after I left?“

„You don`t wanna know.“ meant Dolphy and went to the window.

„Are you okay?“ asked Jim worried.

„Yes,I`m fine...now that I`ve finally escaped from this hell...I just wish that those damn girlies get what they deserve!“ said Dolphy and clenched her fists but quickly realized that doing this with an injured hand was not such a good idea.

„Well,we could teach ´em  a little lesson.“ grinned Jim.

Dolphy raised an eyebrow at him.

„What kind of ´lesson´?“ she asked curiously.

The two teenagers talked till late at night,discussing what would be the best idea and making plans.They went to bed until well past midnight.Before falling asleep Dolphy whispered almost inaudible :

„Jim?“

„Hhm?“

„I completely forgot to thank you for letting me move in.“

„You don`t have to.I`m happy that I`ve finally gotten some company.“

„Me,too...We`ll show them what outsiders can do.“ Dolphy smiled at him through the darkness.

„They`ve underestimated us for long enough...and tomorrow`s only the beginning.“