FOR TWO HORRIFYINGLY long seconds, they were nothing but a tangled mess of limbs in the middle of the floor. Sophie stared at his painfully beautiful face, entranced by his glistening azure orbs. It was around the time she figured out how to close her mouth that his face twisted with annoyance and she was abruptly shoved off his person.

"Watch it," he hissed, eyes flashing angrily.

Sophie's eyes popped out of her head as she watched the pretty man collect himself and stand. He sent her one last look of disgust, and reached down. His hands curled around her arms and she was pulled upwards, onto her feet. She stood almost a foot shorter than he. He loomed over her like death.

The air in her lungs froze. It became so rock hard that it hurt. Sophie couldn't tear her gaze away from the startling man in front of her. His dark hair was short, but several tapered strands fell around his chin. It framed his slender features and stood out against his pale ivory skin. He wore a simple button-up, colored a pale blue, with his sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm and black slacks. Unconsciously, Sophie tugged at her shorts. She'd felt under dressed before, but that was nothing compared to what she felt now.

He bent down again and gathered a stack of papers --the papers were written on, and looked almost like graded quizzes. Then he stood and turned on his heel, disappearing around the corner.

She gaped after him.

"Hey," a familiar voice called from the opposite end of the hall, and Sophie barely managed to turn to look at Aubrey. "Don't keep me waiting," the model said, looking cross.

Sophie bent and collected her suitcase. A sharp pinch pulled in her wrist --which she disdainfully realized must have been sprained when she'd collided with the mysterious man. Careful not to use it, Sophie tugged her suitcase down the hallway toward Aubrey. Aubrey's foot tapped impatiently on the floor as she waited for Sophie to approach, and when she did, the blond whirled around and started walking.

"Come on." Aubrey's voice was clipped and cold. "I'll show you around the school."

Sophie remained quiet, trotting along beside Aubrey like a loyal dog. Whatever had been bothering her earlier was still obviously in her mind, and it wasn't until they exited the hallway that Aubrey broke the silence.

"This is the main foyer," Aubrey said. She gestured to the large room they'd entered through earlier with a dramatic sweep of her hand. Ms. Liza looked up and smiled again at them--which Aubrey ignored. The model clicked her way toward the massive double staircase and Sophie had to pick up her suitcase when they started up it.

When they reached the level where both staircases met and stretched into two long hallways opposite of each other, Aubrey motioned toward the one to their far left. "That wing leads to the classes, whereas this one leads toward the dorms." She pointed to the hallway to their right.

Sophie nodded, and Aubrey started into the right hallway. "Welcome to the dorm wing," Aubrey said with a sigh.

The hallway morphed into a room, which held several more hallways and a different staircase. When prompted, Aubrey told Sophie that the upper level belonged to the Night Class, and that the Day Class wasn't permitted entry unless specifically invited. The teachers also took residency up there, near the back of the upper wing, but they used an elevator to get down to the main level.

"How do you know that?" Sophie had asked, as they walked toward one of the lower level hallways, marked with a pale pink number.

"Because," Aubrey said, cracking a small smirk, "I live up there."

"So you are part of the Night Class?" Sophie's question was more of an assumption. The man she'd ran into earlier crossed her mind. Was he in the Night Class too?

One of Aubrey's perfectly sculpted eyebrows lifted. "Headmaster told you about the Night Class?"

Sophie nodded. Aubrey gave her a quizzical look, but didn't say anything else. She had a strange look on her face though, as if she'd smelt something nasty.

The hallway opened up into an even smaller room, colored a pale pink. Several couches were strewn about the area, facing four large television screens, and in the very back was a separate room with an arched doorway. Sophie could see white counter tops and matching cabinets that were pressed against the furthest wall through the archway, so she assumed it was a kitchen-like area.

"This is the girl's dorm," Aubrey said as she strutted past a group of girls, who were stretched out on one of the couches. Sophie took note to the way their heads pressed together as the whispered tones of gossip filled the air.

Aubrey lead Sophie down a hallway, away from the cluster of girls, and stopped in front of a doorway. She gave an exasperated sigh and shot Sophie a mean smile. "Your dorm. Your loser-mate should be inside waiting, so our little prolonged conversation ends here."

Sophie felt one brow lift. Was Aubrey being serious right now?

"So please, if you pass me in the hall, don't try to talk to me. Okay?" Aubrey's mean smile curved upwards even more, and she patted Sophie's head as she sashayed past the girl back down the hallway.

Sophie gaped at Aubrey's retreating form. "What a bitch!"

For a few minutes, all Sophie could do was stand there in front of the plain door and fume. Her fingers curled tightly around the handle of her suitcase and the strap of her bag. Then she took a deep breath and turned around, rapping her knuckles against the wooden door. A shuffling sound drifted through the door, and then it creaked open.

A tanned face poked around the door, chocolate eyes wide. "Are you Sophie?"

Sophie nodded, and the door opened wider. The girl stepped back and Sophie stepped over the threshold and into the room. The walls were a light violet color, and a chic ruffled rug covered most of the dark wooden flooring. Two twin-sized beds were pushed up against the two farthest corners from the door --one on either side of a long, low dresser. On the dresser were two lamps, one near each of the beds, and two large digital alarm clocks. Directly in front of Sophie, was a large bookshelf, and half of it was filled with small trinkets and books. There were two desks to Sophie's immediate right, pushed up against the wall, and a closed door.

"My name is Tabatha," the girl said, full lips pulled back over a brilliant white smile. She ran a hand through her mahogany colored curls, ruffling them up a bit as they bounced against her shoulders. "I'm your roommate."

"You already know who I am," Sophie observed, cracking a thin smile. Inside, she was still bristling over Aubrey --she had turned so quickly, was she bipolar or something? Sophie had a feeling through that Aubrey's niceness was simply a facade, and she'd only shared it with her in order to find out information on the new girl.

Sophie wondered if Tabatha had heard Aubrey, and after a few moments of awkward silence, Tabatha answered her mental pondering.

The dark haired girl scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "Don't worry about Aubrey," she said. Then she paused and, as if Sophie didn't know, elaborated, "She's the girl who showed you around. The Night Class has a lot of stuck up snobs, and she's no exception."

Sophie's smile widened. "So you heard her?"

Tabatha nodded, her own lips stretching into a genuine smile as she shrugged. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"It's alright."

A small awkward silence fell between them. But it wasn't just any awkward silence. It was that tense silence that happens when two people size each other up. Sophie's orbs traveled up and down --taking in Tabatha's dark leggings and crimson-colored blouse. An array of metallic bangles clanked on her wrists as she folded her arms across her chest.

Sophie's eyes darted back to Tabatha's face, and the girl smiled crookedly. She said, "The bed on the left is mine. I hope you don't mind, but I already picked. I've been here for a semester already so I didn't bother to really move my stuff."

She stepped back and gestured to the beds. The one on the left had dark sheets smoothed across the bed and a patched quilt for a comforter. It looked handmade, and each patch looked like the back of a jersey.

"Did you make that?" Sophie jerked her chin towards it as she moved to her own bed --which consisted of plain white sheets and a bleached comforter.

"My Granny did." Tabatha closed the door and then leaned against it, watching Sophie as she placed her suitcase on her bed and unzipped it.

Sophie glanced back at the quilt again, and then nodded. She didn't have any grandparents; her mother's parents hated her father, and hadn't kept in touch when her parents married, and her father's parents died ages before Sophie was born. They were heavy smokers, at least that was what she was told.

"That's really cool." Sophie grinned.

Tabatha's smiled back. "Yeah." She walked over and plopped down on her bed, the mattress squeaking beneath her weight. Her fingers clenched around the quilt and then smoothed it back over the edge of the mattress.

"I don't have anything specially made." Sophie took notice to the sadness that lurked inside Tabatha's chocolate orbs. She pulled out her plush and held him up, shrugging slightly. "This is it."

"What is it?" Tabatha's head tilted slightly.

"His name is Naruto," Sophie explained, hugging the blond plush to her chest. "And he's one of my favorite characters. He has been since I was little, and my mom got it for me off of eBay for my tenth birthday." She shrugged, "It's kind of the last thing I have from her."

Tabatha's eyes widened, and then hardened. "I'm sorry."

Sophie shook her head. "You didn't tell her to leave us." She cracked a thin smile and added, "But I know what it's like to have family issues."

Her roommate's head dipped low. Tabatha drew in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly, before lifting her head. She let out a bittersweet laugh. "My parents died in a car accident when I was little, and my Granny took me in. I found out last weekend that she has cancer."

"Oh." Sophie's face pinched up. She'd never known anyone with cancer, but she knew it wasn't a pleasant experience --for both the patient and their loved ones. "I'm sorry."

Tabatha shrugged slightly and cracked a small smile, a smile that Sophie understood. Her apology was just like Tabatha's had been --more out of pity than empathy or anything else. It didn't really mean anything; it couldn't, not when neither truly understood what the other was dealing with.

"So you met with Headmaster, right?" The tension that had built up in the air began to fizzle out as Tabatha laid back on her bed and stretched out. "Did you pick your elective?"

"I chose the writing one, I think."

"You like to write?" Tabatha's brow quirked with interest, and Sophie grinned.

She pulled out one of the small notebooks she'd filled with story ideas and short stories. Sophie had about three of them, the first two completely filled while the last was about a third of the way full. The notebook felt like air in her hands, and she slipped it under her pillow. "I dabble a bit," she answered Tabatha, "but it's private."

Tabatha smiled. "Got it."

That made Sophie pause for a few moments. Usually people begged her to let them read her work, and it was a fresh --and very nice-- change for her wishes for privacy to be respected.

"You can put your stuff in your side of the dresser, but there's also a small closet space in the bathroom over there. I haven't put anything in it yet, except for toilet paper and towels." Tabatha lifted a hand lazily and pointed to the closed door on the other side of the room. "Classes start tomorrow, most of the students got here a few days ago. Every break, we are allowed to go visit our families and stuff."

Sophie pressed her folded clothes into the dresser drawer beside her bed, and tried to imagine visiting her father during the next break. She couldn't picture it being anything less than traumatizing and awkward.

"I'm pretty sure our schedules are close to the same..." Tabatha was still talking, and she sat up abruptly. "Can I see your copy?"

"Uh," Sophie muttered and moved towards her duffle bag, rummaging around. When she didn't find it, she shoved her hands into her pockets. Her fingers curled around the folded slip of paper  and pulled it out. She opened it before passing it to Tabatha.

Tabatha glanced it over and nodded. "We have first, second, and fourth together." She passed the paper back and grinned. "I'll show you to your other two classes tomorrow before we part. If you want, we can meet somewhere for lunch if you don't remember the way tonight."

"That sounds good," Sophie said, internally freaked out. Aubrey had only showed her the main entrance and the dorm room, and a map hadn't been included in her new-student-package.

Hopefully, Tabatha knew that and wouldn't pick a place too hard to find.

"Do we have a uniform?" Sophie glanced at Tabatha's attire again --it looked nothing like what Aubrey had been wearing, so she didn't think so. But this was a prestigious academy, and most private schools required them.

Tabatha shook her head and stood. She moved towards the desk; her movements were nowhere near as graceful as Aubrey's were. The dark haired girl picked up a small bleached box with the school crest stamped in maroon coloring on the top. She walked back to Sophie and pressed it into her hands.

"This is your class ring," Tabatha explained. She held out her own hand, a ring wrapped around her right thumb. Sophie lifted the top of the box. Inside was a thick band of silver, a clear jewel centered on it. An image was printed inside the jewel, depicting the image of a lotus flower.

Sophie pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her middle finger. The ring hugged Sophie's finger. It wasn't uncomfortable, but she wasn't used to its presence. She'd never had a ring before, not a real one. In fact, the only ring she'd ever worn was the plastic pink one she'd won from a claw-machine at her friend's sixth birthday party. It lasted for about a week, too, before she flushed it down the toilet by accident.

"Anyways," Tabatha sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair and opened the door to the bathroom, peering inside for a few moments long enough to make sure her hair wasn't a mess. "It's dinner time. You ready?"

Sophie glanced towards the clock, shock blistering through her. Her dad had dropped her off later in the afternoon, at around four o'clock, and now it was almost nine. She'd been here for five hours already and it felt like only seconds had passed.

"Isn't it a little late?" She asked uneasily as she closed her suitcase and set it to the side, preparing to leave the room with Tabatha.

Tabatha's facial expression became coy, almost a little smug. "My friends and I have learned that, the later we eat, the more likely we are to see the Night Class come down for breakfast." She wagged her eyebrows and added, "The girls might be bitches, but that's just a small price to pay for being able to bask in the hotness of the guys."

Sophie cracked a smile, kind of weirded out. But as they started down the hallway, she thought of the boy she'd ran into earlier, and she wondered if he'd be there as well.

A small, tiny part of her hoped he would be. Then she could pay him back the kindness he'd given her.

Or, the lack there of, at least.