The library, where Mackenzie gets a reprieve

Mackenzie sighed loudly in relief as she stepped out of the freezing wind and into the warm air of the building. She took a moment to focus on her surroundings and realized that they were in the campus library. This immediately brought a few embarrassing memories rushing back to Mackenzie's mind. Despite not even spending all that much time here in her fall semester, she'd already had several embarrassing mishaps in the academic building.

"C'mon," Cass said, gently taking hold of Mackenzie's hand (the one not clamping her robe shut) and leading her out of the entryway. "Let's find a more secluded spot."

Thankfully for the redhead, since it was the first day of classes for the spring semester, the library was virtually deserted. But even so, there were still a few employees dotted around the first floor of the building. So Mackenzie let herself be dragged along by her new friend. That spot turned out to be among several tall rows of books in the back corner of the first floor.

Cass had inadvertently chosen a spot where Mackenzie had accidentally wound up completely naked while foolishly trying to complete a scavenger hunt for her stolen clothes. She blushed at the embarrassing memories. She wasn't sure if she was standing in the row where she'd reluctantly stripped bottomless or in the row where she'd had her shirt ripped off by a book cart, but it was almost certainly one of them. Mackenzie made extra sure that she still had her robe in place, still eternally grateful for the cover.

"We can wait here for the weather to clear up a bit," Cass said, taking a seat on the carpeted floor and leaning against the bookcase. "Then we can try to get you back to your room."

"Works for me," Mackenzie said, sounding much more weary than she'd expected.

The redhead plopped down on the floor too, a few feet to Cass's right. Then, Mackenzie let herself relax ever so slightly. It was a bit of a strange moment, sitting together in the isolated corner of the mostly empty building, just the two of them. She could still occasionally hear the wind howling from outside, indicating that the girls had a bit of a wait ahead of them.

"Um, Cass..." Mackenzie ventured, glancing over at her, "I just wanted to say thanks again. For everything. You have no idea how much worse today would've gone if it hadn't been for you."

"Aw, don't mention it," Cass replied, stuffing her phone back in her pocket. She'd just gotten a text from the SSFC asking for an update, and she genuinely wasn't sure what to tell them. For now, she was just interested in helping Mackenzie. The art student made a mental effort not to stare too much at the deep gap in the robe over Mackenzie's chest, showing a narrow but long window of pale skin. "Um, I, yeah! H-happy to help! Who wouldn't be?"

"You'd be surprised how rare offers of help are in my... situations," Mackenzie muttered, a bit dourly. After a minor hesitation, she began telling Cass about her earlier misfortune in the library. From there, the two girls kept the conversation going naturally.

But Mackenzie needn't have focused so much on the past, though. Because, as she'd sat down beside her friend, the fluffy fabric of her robe had gotten snagged on the rough wood of the bookcase she was now leaning on. The redhead didn't know it yet, but she was very soon about to suffer yet another wardrobe complication the moment she tried to stand back up...