Note from the author: if you haven’t met Maggie and Orangio yet, head here before reading this episode:
Maggie sighed. She didn’t like teenagers. The local high school was attached to her school, and she always met groups of them on her walk home. They often seemed to laugh when she passed them. She would have liked to be invisible. She peeped at the guy; he was dressed in black from head to toe, with a mighty spiky head. His hands were heavy and blueish. A teen neutron star. No wonder he had such an edgy look.
They reached the café and Orangio pushed the door open. Without a word, they sat at a table far from the windows. Looking around, Maggie noticed a few more people who looked the same age as Orangio. What if the principal comes for a coffee? She thought. The boy seemed to read her mind. ‘Teachers go to the one down the road. That’s why I always come here when I skip.’ He grinned at the approaching waitress, who didn’t look much older than him. ‘Hey Morty, how are you? Skipping school today? How cheeky.’ She turned towards Maggie. ‘Awww aren’t you a cutie pie, look at those petals! What’s your name, sweetie?’
‘I’m Maggie…’ said Maggie, uncertain of how to continue. Orangio rescued her. ‘She’s my, huh, little cousin. On my dad’s side. She’s visiting.’
‘I see! How lovely. How old are you, dear?’
‘I’m six.’
‘Six? Shouldn’t you be in school?’
‘Yeah, Sherry, thing is…’ Interjected Orangio. ‘She’s home-schooled. Yeah. Her mum is not well. So, we have her over for a few days.’ He puffed his chest and looked hopefully at the waitress. ‘I skipped school to take her around a bit. Take her mind off the situation.’ Maggie could barely repress a snigger. It was in her interest that the waitress believe him, but he sure was laying it on thick. The girl smiled and was about to add something when a customer waved at her. So, they just ordered two mugs of hot chocolate, extra dark for Orangio, whipped cream and sprinkles for Maggie.
‘Why did she call you Morty?’ asked Maggie, looking around the place. It was really teeming with teenagers. She slumped on her chair, dangling her feet back and forth.
‘Orangio is lame,’ he grunted, his eyes following the person at the counter who was preparing their mugs. What was he meant to do about this kid? ‘Mortimer is my middle name. I use it for my band. I’m a singer. Mors means death in Latin, or something.’ Sherry brought their hot chocolates over and he mumbled a thank you. Maggie chuckled under her hand, and Orangio’s face took on a light burgundy tone. He shot her a deadly glance from behind his mug.
‘I can always call the principal if you keep being annoying, you know,’ he grumbled.
Maggie stopped lapping at her cream, sighed, and put the chocolate down, her spikes crumpling in on themselves. ‘I guess I’ll have to go back at some point.’
‘Why were you running, anyway?’ asked Orangio.
‘It’s because of these,’ she pointed to her spikes. ‘Glimmer said they scare people. All the kids in my school are afraid of me. She told me today at recess. I thought she was a dirty liar, like always, but then I saw their faces. They really were scared.’
Orangio cocked his head to the side, suddenly interested. He pointed his mug to her head. ‘You mean those things do something?’
Maggie nodded. ‘They hurt and they can be poisonous to other star kids. Not me, I’m immune, bot others,’ she took a long, suspenseful breath, ‘others can die from the poison.’
‘That’s… pretty cool.’ Orangio held out his hand. ‘Try pricking me.’
‘What?’ Maggie looked at him, horrified. ‘I just said I could kill you!’
‘Come on, Maggie, I wanna try.’ Orangio’s eyes were alit with excitement, and he was leaning on the table, his hand very close to Maggie. ‘Just a small prick. If you do it…’ he paused and sighed, ‘I’ll help you with those bullies. Deal?’
Maggie hesitated, then nodded. ‘Fine.’ She grabbed one of her spikes and slowly, carefully, touched Orangio’s hand with the tip.
His hand jumped up in the air, and Orangio pulled it back with a small shriek, then bent over himself, groaning. Maggie shouted, and got off her chair, running to him.
‘ORANGIO! Sherry! Anyone? Help!’ she started calling out, and Sherry came running.
‘Morty! What’s happening? Are you alright?’ The waitress knelt down in front of him, and Maggie retreated, white as a sheet.
Orangio slowly lifted his head with a big smile. ‘All good, Sherry. Just a little prank. Sorry for the noise.’
Sherry shook her head. ‘You gave me a heart attack, don’t do it again.’ She turned towards Maggie. ‘He’s a prankster, this one. Are you okay? You look terrified. Here, sit down. Have your chocolate, it will make you feel better.’ Sherry helped Maggie to her seat and waited for her to take a sip from her mug, then she smiled and left to attend more customers.
‘Sorry, Maggie,’ chuckled Orangio, ‘I couldn’t resist. I can’t believe you fell for that rubbish about flower stars. Who told you that your spikes were poisonous?’
‘The other kids at school…’ she whimpered, taking small sips of chocolate. Tears were burning her eyes, but Maggie didn’t want to cry in front of Orangio. ‘I thought it was cool. It keeps Cricket and Glimmer and their friends away when they get annoying. But I didn’t want my friends to be scared.’
‘Well, as you see, there’s nothing to be scared about.’ Orangio leaned forward and showed his hand. No marks or wounds. ‘Sure, if you stabbed me hard with those, it would be bad, but they’re not poisonous, Maggie. You’re fine.’
Maggie looked at him with a tiny smile. ‘Thank you. Even if you scared me to death.’
He shrugged. ‘I’m a showman after all. Finish your chocolate, then I’ll take you back to school. They must be looking all over. I don’t fancy getting in trouble for hiding you.’
They finished their drinks in companionable silence, paid, and headed out. Maggie walked slowly, nervously munching on candies her mum had put in her jacket.
Orangio grunted: ‘Stop that, you’ll have to run to the toilet and the bigger kids will say you’re a baby who still shits her pants,’ and held out a hand for her to take.
Maggie frowned and put away the candies. ‘You don’t say those words in front of a child,’ she scolded him, taking his hand.
They were close to the school, and Maggie spotted her teacher, the principal and a few others scouting the street. The principal turned around, saw them, and her face opened wide in relief and surprise. She dashed to Maggie and Orangio, the teachers flocking around.
They were all looking at her; Maggie gulped and instinctively hid behind Orangio, who squeezed her hand whispering: ‘It’s okay, Maggie, you’re tough, you can do this.’ His words didn’t reassure her much, but she had no time, because the principal descended on them.
‘Maggie, you’re here! Brown, call her parents at once, tell them we found her. Maggie,’ she crouched to her level, speaking softly and looking at her through big round glasses, ‘your parents are on their way. We were looking for you all over. Come with me girl, we can wait for them in my office.’
Maggie shook her head and stayed behind Orangio’s leg, still holding his hand tight. The principal sighed and pinched her nose, standing up. ‘I see. I suppose you’ll have to come too, Orangio. I have questions for you anyway.’ She then turned to give instructions to the other teachers to go back to their classes.
Orangio shrugged and muttered: ‘I s’pose, fine.’ He turned and crouched down in front of Maggie. ‘Come on kid, look brave. I know you’re tougher than this.’ The principal was standing, looking from Maggie to Orangio, her head cocked to the side.
Maggie whined: ‘Am I in trouble? Are they going to forbid me to come to school?’
Orangio snickered: ‘You won’t be so lucky, kid. Come on, we’re going in.’
Maggie nodded, and they followed the principal inside.
Writing musings and news
May was going to be a busy month of writing, editing, and new exciting connections and collaborations. However, life doesn’t really care about our plans, and so I was forced to spend the month focusing on my health and my body instead.
I did do a lot of editing and beta reading, and focused on this episode of Oddball Tales. Orangio and Maggie had been waiting for exactly a year, it feels right that they get the spotlight they deserve. Hopefully they won’t have to wait as long to get closure in their story.
If you made it to here, thank you for spending time with me and my characters once again. By the middle of the month, we might be looking to relax a bit!
See you soon!
Magnolia Fay
Always love spending time with your characters ❤️ and love seeing characters return to the page in ongoing series! 💕