Ivy sighed as she rode the smelly, yellow, noisy bus to the new school in town. There were so many humans crowding the bus. Musicians, cheerleaders, jocks, nerds, and so many more. There were way too many people around her, and it made her want to be somewhere, anywhere else. She wasn't very social, in fact, she hated most people she met. They bored her, too polite and too predictable. She instead spent as much of her time locked inside her room, or in her basement on her treadmill. One thing she did like was running. It kept her occupied, and in shape. It didn't require any socializing, any it let the mind wander. She exited only for mealtimes, and when her tutor couldn't limp his way up the stairs.

Her tutor had been a lazy, grumpy, old man with a lame leg. It pained him often, so he hated walking on it. Apparently he had been in the war of Auroi, though Ivy and her parents strongly doubted that. He had a wrinkled face, what could barely be called a beard, and only a few hairs still left on his head. Ivy loathed him more than she loathed most, as he seemed inadequate to be a teacher, and senile to boot.

The bus crashed to a stop, causing Ivy to roughly tumble into the dark gray seat in front of her. She stiffened as she hit it, and glared around the bus to make sure no one witnessed. She quickly brushed herself off, and picked up her bags. She ran as quickly as she could in a slow moving, single file line out of the bus. She was to be shown her dormitory that day, and had the rest of the day to explore and unpack. She hoped with every fiber of her being that there would not be roommates, which would be the worst case scenario.

Entering the school, Ivy was overpowered by the sharp scent of lemon and wood. Everything was nearly spotless, though it obviously wouldn't last long in a school. They might as well not have bothered to clean at all. It would just be ruined like everything else in this tragic world. Too many people in one place was a sure fire way to catastrophe. That was just the way it was.

The next problem was deafening noise of humans. Talking, laughing, running around, the things were everywhere. Perfumes mingled with sweat and the lemony scent of floor cleaner, creating an unpleasant musk that made Ivy's eyes water. She hurried over to a large map on the wall across from her, pushing past some preppy girls and cocky guys trying to impress them. The office was just down the crowded hallway, apparently. With a sigh, Ivy mentally prepared herself for the dive into the crowd.

A quick stop at the office, and one awkward encounters with a human later and Ivy was well on her way to her new dorm, number 101. Sliding the cold iron key into the cool metal slot, Ivy swung the door open, and, to her relief, no one else was inside. Quickly closing and locking the door behind her, Mitsuki took a deep breath, inhaling the deep, rich scent of lavender and sandalwood. She soon stiffened as she realized there were two neatly made beds in the  large and homey room.

A single click behind her filled her entire being with a horrible dread that seemed to suck her down into a treacherous pit of overwhelming despair.

A girl about Ivy's height entered the room, though she may have been an inch shorter. She had beautiful chestnut brown hair that reached just below her chin in a straight haired bob. Her gorgeous eyes were a sparkly and cheerful yellow, and she smiled with her entire face. She wore a long sleeved, light lavender top and a black short skirt. She had brown boots with gold colored buckles, and white above-the-knee socks. She was stunning, and Ivy felt her face redden. What was this...spark that she had felt? Never before had Ivy had such a spark, but...it felt so nice, so very, very nice.

"Hi!  I'm Autumn! What's your name?"  Her voice, Autumn's voice, was so light, so pure, so innocent.  It made Ivy feel warm inside.  "Hello?"  Ivy realized that she was being spoken to.  She felt her face warm, and imagined how red she must be.  "Oh...u-umm...I-I'm Ivy..."  Ivy whispered, cursing herself for being so idiotic.  "It's nice to meet you, Ivy!"  I guess we're roomies!"  Ivy felt a smile slowly crawl onto her face.  Perhaps having a roommate wouldn't be so bad after all...

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Finally, they had finished unpacking.  Ivy had learned a lot about Autumn.  She loved cooking, autumn was her favorite season (fitting, Ivy had thought), her favorite colors were purple and yellow, her favorite animal was the red panda, and she lived at home with her mother and baby brother.  Ivy wondered how close she was to her family.

In return, she had asked Ivy some questions. She had learned that: Ivy loved bitter, sour foods, that Ivy was allergic to seafood and peanut butter, Ivy's favorite color was navy blue, that Ivy wasn't particularly fond of animals, and that Ivy lived at home with her parents and was an only child.

Ivy stared at Autumn as she stretched, her arms going high into the air. To Ivy, all she could see was perfection. "Come on, Ivy! Let's go explore!" Autumn's perfect voice wrapped around Ivy like a warm hug. Numbly, Ivy nodded, and the two girls exited the room happily.