HEâS DEAD DOLL DONâT DO IT.
             ⌠Is she in the wrong room ?
     A quick glance around â at shrunken heads strung from the ceiling, at a signed Elvira poster, at a collection of mounted creepy-crawlies, at the decayed flowers pinned to the wall, at the âovecraftian lava lamp, at the bird skulls and alchemist candles and the tarot card decks, at the Final Destination Thrill-ogy box set, at the biology class skeleton dressed decidedly like a punkass â assures her that, yes indeedy, this is Jim St. Clairâs dorm.
     But thatâs indeedy not Jim St. Clair dressed in the navy-white striped dress and starfish earrings in front of her. Itâs a petite ghost, and sheâs persistent, it seems, to haunt this poor boy for the rest of his life. Annona makes no effort to act like sheâs comfortable with the fact that the malevolent spirit with a history of fucking with The Good Saint is in his room, unannounced, uninvited, unsupervised.
                                 ââ  ââ   whatâs  crackinâ.   ââ
     Itâs not that she already hates Max Bronte. But it is a scientific fact that sheâs the worst kind of human being the universe has to offer, and Annona may or may not be very attached and protective over her new favorite person.
            ââ  I  donât  suppose  youâre  Jimmyâs  new  roommate â ? ââ
At the sound of a voice she knows but canât quite place, hummingbird frame crawls out from the crouch space underneath Jimmyâs raised bed, where his full horror movie & goth CD collection set up camp. She looks up from socks to face while she brushes her knees off and stands.
Stripy thigh-highs, short shorts and a lacy black tank top. Sheâs hot. Long silky hair in waves and a lithe frame. Sheâs beautiful. Catlike green eyes and a cute mousy nose. Holy shit, sheâs Annona.
     â Iâm --- I was, uh-- â
Sheâs never gone to school with a celebrity before. Closest thing is Grace Kaneâs daughter. Max gets flustered around Ruby for different reasons. ( ...Alright, maybe the reasons arenât so different around Annona. ) She forgets she was holding something until it slips out of her hands, but when the DVD hits the floor, she remembers why she was here, kneels down and picks the case up to show her.
    â Jimmy wants me to watch his copy of Martin to honor our loss. â
Her respect for Jimmyâs grief would sound more convincing if she could stop smiling. And maybe she would pick up on Little Dollyâs tone if she wasnât so hopelessly starstruck.
  â He, um... I mean, no--- Hi. Iâm his friend. Uh... Max.          And, like, Wow! Youâre Annona !! You were my childhood!                   Do people still say that? I donât know. Iâve never, like...                                           Gosh. This is... really cool. â














