Darn Stupid Brother You Are by Mairee

Chapter 10

(Angel's POV)

I woke up early, dreading the day ahead. Miss Stefan, our new dorm mother, was already up and about, her eyes fixed on us with a critical gaze. She slept in the same room as us, which made it impossible to escape her presence. "Good morning, girls," she said, her voice stern. "Today, we will be having a room inspection. I expect the room to be spotless. You will clean every inch of this room, and I will be checking every detail."

I groaned inwardly, knowing that this would be a long and tedious task. But I knew better than to complain, not with Miss Stefan watching us like a hawk.

We set to work, starting with our beds. We stripped off the covers and remade them with fresh sheets, tucking in the corners tightly. Then we moved on to the floor, sweeping and vacuuming every inch of the room. We dusted every surface, including the furniture, lamps, and knick-knacks.

As Dilada was dusting the top shelf of her bookcase, she let out a small cough breaking the no talking tense environment.

"Excuse me," she said, covering her mouth.

Miss Stefan's eyes narrowed. "Dusty air, or just a little laziness?" she said. If I didn't know her already, and if not for the laziness bit, you would have thought she meant well because of the tone she kept speaking in.

Dilada's face reddened. "I'm sorry, Miss Stefan. I just got a bit of dust in my throat."

Miss Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Well, try to avoid spreading your germs around the room, dear."

I was beyond pissed at that snarky comment, but I knew better than to say anything. We just continued cleaning, trying to avoid any further confrontations with the bitch.

We even cleaned the windows, using glass cleaner and paper towels to make them sparkle.

Next, we tackled our personal spaces. We organized our closets, hanging up clothes and folding and storing away anything that was out of place. We wiped down our dressers and nightstands, and cleaned any mirrors and picture frames. We cleaned the bathroom, scrubbing the shower and sink until they shone. We cleaned the toilet, inside and out, and restocked the toilet paper and soap.

Miss Stefan watched us every step of the way, her eyes critical and not the least impressed. She pointed out every tiny mistake, every dust particle that we missed, every small thing was offensive to her.

As we worked, the tension in the room was so obvious, with none of us talking. We were all on edge, waiting for Miss Stefan to find fault in something we had done.

Finally, after what felt like hours, we finished cleaning. Miss Stefan inspected the room, her eyes scanning every inch of the space.

"It's not perfect," she said, her voice dripping with disapproval. "But I suppose it will do."

I felt a surge of frustration, but I bit my tongue. I knew better than to argue with Miss Stefan.

I avoided eye contact with her as much as possible, but it was hard to escape her completely.

....

We sat down at our lunch table, finally free from Miss Stefan's watchful eye.

woman," I said, slamming my hand down on the

her head, "She's such a pain in the ass. Always breathing down our

down our necks? She's practically suffocating us. I swear, I've never met anyone as annoying as

spoke up, her voice soft. "Maybe we're misunderstanding her. Maybe she's not trying to be mean, maybe she's just...trying

Dilada? She's been riding us since day one. There's no excuse for

Dilada just shrugged.

come on. You can't seriously think Miss Stefan is

Dilada's cheek in an affectionate way,

strict, she's cruel. And we can't just sit back and take it." Dilada looked taken aback by our reaction. "But what if we're the ones who are being too sensitive? What if we're just not used to someone pushing us to be our best

"Excuse me?" I exclaimed.

say we were sensitive? "Whose

She blanched immediately.

for it to come out

voice softening,

Dilada nodded and smiled.

truly a better human than I

feeling guilty. Maybe I

had been quietly observing the conversation, spoke up. "I no understand

not trying to cause any trouble. But Miss Stefan already has

know, right? It's like she has it out for us or

and talented, and she's just a bitter old woman stuck

"That's a bit

I couldn't help but agree. "No, Cylan's right. Miss Stefan is jealous of

is like big cloud,

all laughed

bit my lip remembering how she had reported me to my

try to avoid her as much as we

what you mean. She makes me nervous."

we forgot about

worried. We got right into

I was done but I noticed Hendrix wasn't there. He had missed dinner the

feeling that something bad had happened to him. Twice in one week? No it couldn't be. But as I sat down at the table with my roommates, my worries only grew. Maybe something

looked up from her plate. "No, I haven't seen him since

I've just not seen him.

spoke up. "Maybe he's just tired. He did

I knew Hendrix. He wouldn't