The scream reverberated throughout the first floor of the dorm. No one much noticed, it was supposed to be a quiet floor, but no one paid much attention to that. Back in her room Ann threw herself on the couch and wailed into a pillow.
"It'll be okay," Heather said comfortingly.
"How? How could it possibly be okay? My life is over!" Ann sobbed.
Kim whistled through her teeth, "Man, that really sucks. I don't know what I'd do."
"Why? Why did this happen to me, and why did it happen now?"
Syaoran and Bill walked over to the group, "What happened?"
Heather paused, and then motioned the two to come closer. "Her computer died." she whispered. Ann sobbed into her pillow.
Syaoran blinked in surprise, "Her computer? All of this over a computer?"
Ann bolted up and grabbed Syaoran by his lapels, "Whaddya mean, 'All this over a computer?' My life is on that stupid thing! All my stories, my sounds, my settings, all my favorite websites! Everything!" she shook him for emphasis.
"Didn't you back it up?" Bill asked.
"Of course I did, baka! But I couldn't back up everything! What about all my programs? All gone! And I have 3 papers to write! Finals are next week!" Ann buried her face in her hands, "What'll I do?"
Syaoran and Bill exchanged worried looks. In all their time at the dorm Ann had been the voice of reason, okay, except for her weird Pokemon obsession. She had always protected them from Kim and Heather, but now…
"Uh oh," Kim commented, "I think she's gonna go Battosai."
"I am not." Ann snapped, "Besides, that's Heather's job."
"I do not go Battosai. I keep telling you. I'm not violent!" Heather protested.
"Yeah, sure." The rest of them said, giving her a disbelieving look.
"Anyway," Bill said, "Back to the issue. Why don't you just use the computer lab in the basement? You can type your term papers there, can't you?"
"Yeah, but I can't check my e-mail, or work on the webpage from there. Not really anyway," Ann said reluctantly.
"Well, It's better than nothing."
"Wait a minute." Syaoran broke in, "Did you just say that you can't work on the webpage?"
"That's right."
"B-But, what about the translations! I only know
what you know! I want to know what happens next! And what about that story
you're working on? Who's that Eric kid? Does Yukito san like the present?"
Syaoran stammered.
"I can't work on any of that now. I don't even have anything longhand.
And even if I could type it up, I couldn't post it. And I just finished
that cute little pen cup too…" Ann looked sadly at the useless
seven pound hunk of plastic on her desk and caressed it absently. It was
such a good computer too…
Syaoran ran over to the phone and started dialing. "Ann, what's your PID number so I can dial out?"
"Who the hell are you calling?" Kim asked.
"Her parents. I need to tell them to get her a new computer."
"Oh no you don't, brat." Kim hung up the receiver. "She has enough problems without her parents knowing that she actually lives with two anime characters. They'll put her in a mental ward and then she'll never get her hands on a computer."
"Why not? It's not a sharp object." Heather pointed out. "I thought it was just sharp objects you weren't allowed to write with."
"Yeah, but I bet even a laptop is heavy enough to do some serious damage with."
Ann eyed her computer thoughtfully. She considered giving it a symbolic funeral by tossing it into the Red Cedar River. No, better not. It might land on one of the ducks.
Bill waved his hand in front of her face. She didn't react at all. "Uh, guys? I think she's going catatonic over here."
"Ann, Ann, snap out of it." Heather shook her gently.
"My poor computer..." Was all Ann said.
"Hey, look, it's Keanu Reeves! And he's wearing a trench coat!" Kim exclaimed, trying to distract her.
Syaoran sighed, "Baka. That won't work. You're the only one who likes him."
"Shut up brat."
"My poor computer..."
Bill grabbed the purple notebook with the Chichiri sticker that Ann was always writing in and pressed it into her hands. "Here. Look, you can write all your stories in this. And then when you get a computer you can transfer it all. See? It's not so bad."
Ann slowly blinked at the paper in her hands, the blank look slowly fading from her eyes. "Oro?" There was lined paper that was just begging to be written on.
"Ann?" Heather asked hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay now?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Wahoo! I don't have to room with a psycho!" Heather danced around the room.
"Are you really okay?" Syaoran asked, "You were just sitting there for awhile. It was creepy."
"Yeah. It was like those Kenshin spoilers." Kim added.
"Really? Wow. Well, I'm okay now. Sorry I went a little psycho there. I guess I'll just have to be patient, right? God, I hate being patient." She looked down at the blank paper in her hands, "I guess I'll just have to write it out longhand."
The room sighed collectively. Things were back to normal. They would all just have to wait until Ann got a new computer.
Later that night Ann turned to Syaoran, "Was I really that scary?"
"Oh yeah, you had this weird blank look in your eyes, and you didn't react to anything."
"Hmm. That gives me an idea about what happens next in the fanfic."
"WHAT!?"
The End.