forum I Went To The Woods Because I Wished To Live Deliberately || Brookestone Academy || Fem DPS || Closed

Started January 10, 2023 by @emilyevewrites group

tune

(Aww ❤️ But you know I can't resist slipping Farah in somehow)

Emaria stepped out of her parent's car and shut the door firmly behind her. She eyed the building and the other students rushing around her with disdain. This hadn't been how her high school experience was supposed to happen. She was supposed to go to the school her parents taught at where all of her friends she'd had since kindergarten were. Not here. This was ridiculous. Her third year in this hell hole.

She heard the passenger-side door shut, and her mother's voice came from over her shoulder. "Emaria, what have we told you about slamming doors?"

The teenager rolled her eyes before turning to face her mother. Farah looked every inch like the intimidating headmistress she was. While Emaria hated it here, she had to admit that she would've hated it even more being under her mother's jurisdiction at home and school for four years. But she never admitted to her mother that she preferred Brookestone. That would mean letting Farah win, and that wouldn't happen more than it was supposed to if Emaria had any say in it.

"Farah, relax," came the voice of her father. Emaria turned to see him wrapping an arm around her mother's waist to soothe her. "It's her first day back. Let her be mad if she wants to be. I'm sure it's because she'll miss us." Saul looked at Emaria with a grin at the same time Farah looked up at Saul with eyebrows arched incredulously.

"Please. If she misses anything, it will be your runs and little self-defense sessions. It won't be me," Farah remarked, looking back to her daughter. "Do you want any help with your bags? We could help you carry them up to your room."

Emaria was already shaking her head. "No, I'm good," she insisted, but she noticed that her father had one of her bags in his free hand already. She sighed reluctantly. "Fine."

As the three made their way up the stairs, Emaria maintained a strict ten-foot lead on her parents. God, they were embarrassing. Emaria glanced at the wrinkled letter in her hands and checked the room number. Please don't let there be someone else in here, she prayed, but when she pushed the door open, she had no such luck. There was already a pale blonde girl hanging clothes up in the wardrobe on her side of the room. Fantastic.

She would've said something to the girl, but her parents were already in the doorway. Farah studied the room while Saul set down all of the bags he'd been carrying. He grinned down at Emaria before pulling her into a quick hug. Emaria reluctantly hugged him back before glancing at her mother. Farah hesitated a moment before offering a hug of her own. Emaria obliged her mother for a moment, then each of them took a small step back.

"Have a good semester," Farah said before Saul took her hand and led her back out into the hallway.

Thankfully, he shut the door behind them, and Emaria let out a long sigh before turning back to her roommate. "Uh, hey," she greeted simply. She reached for her bags and began to toss her suitcases on her bed so she could begin to unpack. "I'm Emaria."

Juniper turned around when she heard a voice. The girl who had come into the room was lithe and delicate looking, and she looked a little bit startled. Juniper smiled and waved.
"Hi! I would hope you're my roommate, because I don't think I could feel quite at home in a space this big by myself. I'm used to having a sibling or at least an animal in the room with me. This is much nicer than what I'm used too. Oh! Where are my manners!"
Juniper stuck her hand out.
"I'm Juniper. Choose whatever side you like. I'm not picky. Do you need help with anything? I've already brought my things in. I didn't have much. Also, this may sound like a weird question, but have you gone here before? This is all new to me, and I'm going to need help navigating around this place. Technically I'm not supposed to be here, but by some wild chance, I'm here on scholarship until I graduate. Are you on scholarship too?"

Gayle blinked, taken aback by the sheer extroversion of her new roommate. This was going to be a lot, wasn't it? Hopefully they would get along. She would do her best, even though the chipper words of her roommate already seemed as if they might tire her out if she spent too long around the other girl. For a moment she just looked at Juniper's hand before shaking it, her grip gentle. She took in a breath before she responded to all of Juniper's comments.

"My name is Gayle, and yes, I've gone here before," she said softly, meeting Juniper's eyes for a moment before quickly looking away. She supposed she might look a bit like a startled deer in this state. "I'm not a scholarship, though. I guess…if you don't mind…I'll take the left side." As she spoke, she released her grip on Juniper's hand and slowly moved towards that side of the room, taking her stuff with her. Gayle actually did enjoy unpacking; it was somewhat therapeutic, almost. She loved decorating a living space. She had brought some posters, polaroids, and string lights to liven up her side of the dorm. She loved the soft lighting they gave off.

Without much else to say to her new roommate, she began unpacking. She didn't turn her back on Juniper though, not wanting to seem rude. She was trying not to feel the anxiety roiling in her stomach from this sudden meeting. Juniper seemed nice though, at least. That was good. She could work with nice, even if her roommate was also loud. She really did want to be friends, despite her nervousness around the girl.

Meg mumbled the numbers under her breath as she counted the doors until she found the one she had been assigned to. She sighed softly in relief as she opened the door and walked in. “Oh, hello.” she said politely as she noticed her roommate before moving to set her things on the left side of the room.

Birdie looked up, staring at her new roommate with her wide, doll-like eyes.
"Hello," she said dreamily. "I'm Bernadette, but you can call me Birdie."

She stuck out her hand for a handshake, it was caramel colored and thin, the wrist bone poking out dominantly.

Gayle blinked, taken aback by the sheer extroversion of her new roommate. This was going to be a lot, wasn't it? Hopefully they would get along. She would do her best, even though the chipper words of her roommate already seemed as if they might tire her out if she spent too long around the other girl. For a moment she just looked at Juniper's hand before shaking it, her grip gentle. She took in a breath before she responded to all of Juniper's comments.

"My name is Gayle, and yes, I've gone here before," she said softly, meeting Juniper's eyes for a moment before quickly looking away. She supposed she might look a bit like a startled deer in this state. "I'm not a scholarship, though. I guess…if you don't mind…I'll take the left side." As she spoke, she released her grip on Juniper's hand and slowly moved towards that side of the room, taking her stuff with her. Gayle actually did enjoy unpacking; it was somewhat therapeutic, almost. She loved decorating a living space. She had brought some posters, polaroids, and string lights to liven up her side of the dorm. She loved the soft lighting they gave off.

Without much else to say to her new roommate, she began unpacking. She didn't turn her back on Juniper though, not wanting to seem rude. She was trying not to feel the anxiety roiling in her stomach from this sudden meeting. Juniper seemed nice though, at least. That was good. She could work with nice, even if her roommate was also loud. She really did want to be friends, despite her nervousness around the girl.

Juniper went to the right and began putting her clothes away. She took out some family photos, a camera, and Star Wars posters. They brought her comfort, because even though she was farther from home than she'd like, she still felt close to some fantasy heroes in a galaxy that didn't really exist. She wanted to start some simple conversation.
"So Gayle, where are you from, what do you parents do, and what do you want to be when you go to college?"

Gayle glanced over at her roommate's side of the room, curious about what decor she was using. The way someone decorated their room could say a lot about a person. Clearly, Juniper was into Star Wars and most likely already missed her family. It seemed she also liked taking pictures? Beyond that, though, there wasn't much that Gayle could gather. So far, her side only had a few music posters and polaroids on it. Her friends beamed from the polaroids and the faces of a few fairly popular groups–The Ramones, Boney M., and Duran Duran, to be specific–watched from their posters. She was starting to get into rock music recently, despite her past favorites being on more on the side of pop, disco, and R&B. It was nice to decorate the space, and she began to relax a little as she put up the string lights near her bed, adding a cute lavender bedspread and white blanket on top of her bed to compliment her current setup. Gayle was loved decorating and fashion, making everything she owned a way to express herself since she was often too shy to talk about it instead.

Juniper's question made her turn again, glancing her roommate for a moment before moving on to adding some more polaroids to the small collage she was building. So they were going to be chatting then. It might not hurt to get to know her roommate a bit better, maybe it'd even make her a bit more comfortable with the girl.

"Not too far from here," she answered the first part of the question. "I only live about an hour away, so sometimes I can visit for the weekends when my parents make the drive. My dad owns a successful business and my mom's a professor. Um, and I'm going to go to med school and become a doctor. I've always been good at science and biology, so it makes sense." She gave a small smile. Her parents had wanted her to be one of the stereotypical "prestigious, high-paying" sort of jobs since she was young, trying to get her to be lawyer (which she had too much social anxiety for), a surgeon (which she had too much anxiety for), or a doctor (which Gayle had reluctantly agreed to). If she were a pediatrician it wouldn't be so bad. She would mostly be interacting with children (who she could handle) and their parents (so at least the adults weren't there for themselves), and most of her duties would likely be checkups or general stuff. So she had accepted her fate a while ago; besides, being a pediatrician really wasn't something she was opposed to at all, but it was still frustrating to not be given much of a choice. Gayle wasn't sure what she would choose if it were up to her, which it wasn't, so it was no use thinking about.

"What about you?" she asked, turning the question back on her roommate.

Juniper laughed.
"I live about three hours away. It's around 120 miles. It's about a five day ride by horse. Just in case I needed to get back and the car doesn't work. That's happened before. I rode my horse to school for weeks. Let's see, I'm nothing too fancy. My parents are immigrants from Scotland. So I'm a first generation student here in the United States. My mom teacher British history and literature at the high school I should be at right now. My father is a farrier and blacksmith. He makes horse shoes and makes sure horses are ready to go. He looks after their hooves and legs. He's the best in a ten hour radius, and he's always willing to travel. Which means we have some wealthy customers. On his free time, he makes whatever people need, and I help. He rarely charges for the items he makes. But sometimes we need the extra cash. We've never been well off. That's why my mother jumped at the opportunity to send me here. This school offered to pay for my two years here. As for what I want to do, I've thought about being a veterinarian, and I would love to be one, but I also like making things with my hands. I got that from my dad. I would also like to be a prosthetist. It would be really cool to make limbs for people. But ya know, I could combine the two and make my own career and make artificial limbs for animals. Who knows?"
Juniper glanced and saw the Boney M. poster.
"Hey, didn't he do a new album? Something like Night light to Venus? Night flight? Star light? Oh whatever the title is. I just know I like his song Rasputin on the new album."

Birdie looked up, staring at her new roommate with her wide, doll-like eyes.
"Hello," she said dreamily. "I'm Bernadette, but you can call me Birdie."

She stuck out her hand for a handshake, it was caramel colored and thin, the wrist bone poking out dominantly.

Meg set down her bags and nodded at her roommate. “I’m Mehan Hill.” she replied, politely shaking Birdie's hand. Though her hand was clearly different with small scars, callouses, and a sun-kissed tan. “It's nice to meet you. I hope we can get along as roommates.” she added sincerely.

There was a lot of pressure to get this right, that much had been implied by her father. Lisette knew that he would never say it out loud but he expected a lot from her.

Her brother had visited that week before school started and as usual, Aaron and her father got into a pretty serious fight. There had been a yelling match that lasted for a good while before silence took over the mansion, their echoes stopping briefly before Aaron stormed out.

She didn't understand why her father was so hellbent on wanting Aaron to pick up on the family business, he was doing his own thing and that was enough, he was making a lot on his own, and he was successful.

Last night she hadn't gotten any sleep thinking about the events that had unfolded that week, thinking about how everything was better before her mother died, the family was well put together, Aaron and her father didn't dare fight because they knew it would put more stress on her mother, but after she had passed everything fell apart. Things were worse off and Lisette wished that her mother were still alive to help mend things, but there was no repairing their broken relationship. Lisette found herself in the middle, stopping both parties from hurting each other, and somehow she was supposed to pick a side. Aaron was a good brother, he didn't ask that of her, and understood if she decided to stick with their father, but her father didn't want Lisette anywhere near Aaron.

Lisette had been put under a lot of stress before and she found that the more stress was added to her, the better she performed, yet she wished she didn't have to deal with family issues as soon as she started school again.

Part of her was grateful she was starting, it would take her mind off things and she would be away.

Lisette was in the middle of putting up some of her clothes, still lost in thought, when someone else entered the room. Her eyes trailed the other smoothly, eyeing the girl and her parents. Lisette didn't say anything and kept unpacking her stuff until everything was laid out in front of her on the bed. She was still deciding where she was going to put everything.
When the girl spoke, Lisette closed her suitcase, locked it, and started shelving things. Putting the current books she was reading on the small desk beside her bed.
"A pleasure," Lisette said, resorting to formality. "My name's Lisette and it looks like we're stuck with each other" She spoke, not really giving her words much thought. Lisette stopped and looked over at Emaria for a second. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any trouble with her as Lisette took her studies very seriously. She didn't need anyone interrupting her when a big test would be coming up.

Juniper laughed.
"I live about three hours away. It's around 120 miles. It's about a five day ride by horse. Just in case I needed to get back and the car doesn't work. That's happened before. I rode my horse to school for weeks. Let's see, I'm nothing too fancy. My parents are immigrants from Scotland. So I'm a first generation student here in the United States. My mom teacher British history and literature at the high school I should be at right now. My father is a farrier and blacksmith. He makes horse shoes and makes sure horses are ready to go. He looks after their hooves and legs. He's the best in a ten hour radius, and he's always willing to travel. Which means we have some wealthy customers. On his free time, he makes whatever people need, and I help. He rarely charges for the items he makes. But sometimes we need the extra cash. We've never been well off. That's why my mother jumped at the opportunity to send me here. This school offered to pay for my two years here. As for what I want to do, I've thought about being a veterinarian, and I would love to be one, but I also like making things with my hands. I got that from my dad. I would also like to be a prosthetist. It would be really cool to make limbs for people. But ya know, I could combine the two and make my own career and make artificial limbs for animals. Who knows?"
Juniper glanced and saw the Boney M. poster.
"Hey, didn't he do a new album? Something like Night light to Venus? Night flight? Star light? Oh whatever the title is. I just know I like his song Rasputin on the new album."

Gayle listened as her roommate talked. She didn't mind listening much; it was nice to learn about other people and hear their stories, though she disliked talking about herself. Juniper had shared more about her family and life than Gayle had cared to. Gayle really only said what she had to in order to answer Juniper's questions, and not much more than that. Maybe if they got closer and became good friends Gayle would talk more, but for now she was mostly limited to sharing in smaller chunks. It still felt as if her and Juniper were virtually strangers.

She looked over at the poster, smiling a little at Juniper's guesses. "You're pretty close; it's Nightflight to Venus. I really like the new album," she responded, glancing back at her roommate as she spoke, but quickly looking away again. She didn't like eye contact much: it felt too personal. "Rasputin's a good song." She had liked Boney M. since their debut album came out, before she had started to get into rock music, but there was something about their style that she adored. Her favorites now included a mixture of different genres, and she felt cool for branching out. She liked to listen to music when she studied sometimes, or the rare moments of true alone time she had. She had slowly become more into it. Perhaps she would play a few of her records while her roommate was here if she didn't mind. She was building up a collection of records, which may someday in the distant future rival her book collection if she kept it up. Her mother had always been happy to feed her love of books.

She didn't start any new tracks in the conversation, most likely because she didn't know what to say. What if she said something stupid? Or went on a tangent that Juniper didn't like or didn't care about? What if she tried to tell a joke and Juniper thought she was the least funny person on the planet? Gayle didn't want to jeopardize a possible friendship by saying the wrong thing. So she supposed that she would let Juniper keep the conversation going–if she still wanted to talk to Gayle. At least the other girl seemed to approve her music taste. Gayle seriously needed to stop caring what her peers thought, but that was about as easy as scaling Mount Everest for her. The idea that she would do or say the wrong thing could be paralyzing sometimes.

Meg set down her bags and nodded at her roommate. “I’m Mehan Hill.” she replied, politely shaking Birdie's hand. Though her hand was clearly different with small scars, callouses, and a sun-kissed tan. “It's nice to meet you. I hope we can get along as roommates.” she added sincerely.

Birdie nodded slowly.
"I hope so too, I hope you don't mind I took the right side, I was going to wait but last year my roommate didn't get in until about eleven, so I was unpacking until midnight, which was not a good idea before the first day." She said apologetically, with an air of dreaminess.

Gayle listened as her roommate talked. She didn't mind listening much; it was nice to learn about other people and hear their stories, though she disliked talking about herself. Juniper had shared more about her family and life than Gayle had cared to. Gayle really only said what she had to in order to answer Juniper's questions, and not much more than that. Maybe if they got closer and became good friends Gayle would talk more, but for now she was mostly limited to sharing in smaller chunks. It still felt as if her and Juniper were virtually strangers.

She looked over at the poster, smiling a little at Juniper's guesses. "You're pretty close; it's Nightflight to Venus. I really like the new album," she responded, glancing back at her roommate as she spoke, but quickly looking away again. She didn't like eye contact much: it felt too personal. "Rasputin's a good song." She had liked Boney M. since their debut album came out, before she had started to get into rock music, but there was something about their style that she adored. Her favorites now included a mixture of different genres, and she felt cool for branching out. She liked to listen to music when she studied sometimes, or the rare moments of true alone time she had. She had slowly become more into it. Perhaps she would play a few of her records while her roommate was here if she didn't mind. She was building up a collection of records, which may someday in the distant future rival her book collection if she kept it up. Her mother had always been happy to feed her love of books.

She didn't start any new tracks in the conversation, most likely because she didn't know what to say. What if she said something stupid? Or went on a tangent that Juniper didn't like or didn't care about? What if she tried to tell a joke and Juniper thought she was the least funny person on the planet? Gayle didn't want to jeopardize a possible friendship by saying the wrong thing. So she supposed that she would let Juniper keep the conversation going–if she still wanted to talk to Gayle. At least the other girl seemed to approve her music taste. Gayle seriously needed to stop caring what her peers thought, but that was about as easy as scaling Mount Everest for her. The idea that she would do or say the wrong thing could be paralyzing sometimes.

Juniper smiled. Everything was going pretty well. Her new roommate seemed pretty cool. She didn't talk much though. That was okay. Juniper knew she could be a lot sometimes. So she said some words to hopefully ease her roommate's mind.
"Ya know, you can be whatever you want to be around me. I'm an easy going person. Plus this is your room too. So it's a safe space. It's open for communication and ideas. Speak your mind. Play music. Dance around and have fun. You only live once, so you might as well have fun."

Gayle blinked. She supposed the girl was right, though it hardly did much for her anxiety. It was easy to go wrong within those parameters. At least her roommate was nice, which was comforting. But it wouldn't make her any more comfortable around the girl at first. If anything, that was a little anxiety-inducing. Did her roommate want her to be louder, more confident, more like her? Was she secretly disappointed in how shy and introverted her new roommate was? It made her feel awkward.

But she had to at least act like she was unbothered. People tended to get awkward and tried to help her when she was too outwardly anxious. She hated when people felt bad for her or got awkward because of her. She wished that she had the same 'you only live once' mindset, but Gayle was always worrying about her future. One night of making the wrong choices and she could jeopardize her future forever. Not enough studying and she could jeopardize her future forever. So Gayle had to do things the slow way, the careful way, so that everything in the future looked fine.

"Okay, thanks," she responded, giving her roommate a small smile before turning around to continue decorating her room. She didn't want to make things weird, so the easiest way to do that was just not talk much. It was her go to strategy with new people. The only time she said more than she had to was around her family or friends, who she felt more comfortable with (well, maybe not her parents, but other family). Maybe that circle would include Juniper, but that would take time. For now, the girl was just her roommate who she barely knew.

Juniper pursed her lips and crossed her arms when Gayle turned around.
"No problem!"
She chirped.
She had been too much. Her new roommate probably thought she was too loud and bubbly and careless and probably messy, even though she hadn't been messy. Yet. She needed to find her adhd medication. She was struggling to focus. to her it felt like she had checked through every bag and couldn't find it. She looked around kind of panicked, and then saw the little bottle on her bed where she had taken it out and throw in carelessly earlier. She sighed in relief and put the bottle on the nightstand beside her bed. She went over to her belongings and picked out one of her favorite books that was in her suitcase. She sat down on her bed and began reading To Kill a Mockingbird.

Birdie nodded slowly.
"I hope so too, I hope you don't mind I took the right side, I was going to wait but last year my roommate didn't get in until about eleven, so I was unpacking until midnight, which was not a good idea before the first day." She said apologetically, with an air of dreaminess.

Meg shook her head, almost chuckling at the explanation. “No, I don't mind. I don't really have a preference anyway.” she assured. “Though I have to agree; waiting until midnight is not a good way to start a school year.” she smiled faintly before moving to her side of the room to unpack.

Birdie nodded slowly.
"I hope so too, I hope you don't mind I took the right side, I was going to wait but last year my roommate didn't get in until about eleven, so I was unpacking until midnight, which was not a good idea before the first day." She said apologetically, with an air of dreaminess.

Meg shook her head, almost chuckling at the explanation. “No, I don't mind. I don't really have a preference anyway.” she assured. “Though I have to agree; waiting until midnight is not a good way to start a school year.” she smiled faintly before moving to her side of the room to unpack.

Birdie stared at Meg's back for a solid couple of seconds, with her wide eyes.
She then nodded to herself and turned her back to Meg, continuing to unpack the small things still left in her bag.

Juniper pursed her lips and crossed her arms when Gayle turned around.
"No problem!"
She chirped.
She had been too much. Her new roommate probably thought she was too loud and bubbly and careless and probably messy, even though she hadn't been messy. Yet. She needed to find her adhd medication. She was struggling to focus. to her it felt like she had checked through every bag and couldn't find it. She looked around kind of panicked, and then saw the little bottle on her bed where she had taken it out and throw in carelessly earlier. She sighed in relief and put the bottle on the nightstand beside her bed. She went over to her belongings and picked out one of her favorite books that was in her suitcase. She sat down on her bed and began reading To Kill a Mockingbird.

Well, at least it seemed like the issue was settled, but as Gayle glanced back at her roommate again, she wondered if the girl was hiding her true feelings. She had the feeling that she had messed up somehow, but she wasn't sure what she had done. She was pretty good at reading people and empathizing with them, but she still somehow seemed to always manage to mess things up with new people. She just didn't know what to say, getting too into her head and all anxious, and it ruined any attempts at communication that she didn't actively prepare herself for (and sometimes even those too). Gayle wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt and went back to decorating her side of the room. Hopefully the next time she talked to Juniper, things would go better. The two seemed to be total opposites as far as social settings went, but they did say opposites attract, didn't they? Maybe they could become good friends at some point.

Gayle bit her lip as she adjusted one of the posters, making sure all of her decor was artfully arranged on her wall. She would do what she could to befriend this girl, but in the end if their temperaments were too different, being friends might just be too difficult. She supposed that she would try to interact in small ways until she felt more comfortable around the girl. Or possibly just avoid her altogether. That might be best for her anxiety. But she did want to try and make more friends this year, be more outgoing, all the good things. She took a deep breath. Well, Juniper appeared to be reading now, so she wouldn't interrupt. Maybe another time.

After finishing her wall, Gayle set about making her bed and desk area pretty. She had a cute little collage and calendar ready for her desk, and a blanket and a couple of stuffed animals for her bed. Hopefully her new roommate wouldn't think her childish, with her colorful (especially pink) aesthetic and plushies. Those things just comforted her. She had brought a lot to decorate with, so it was taking some time. She hummed softly to herself as she put the finishing touches on everything, making adjustments as needed.

Juniper would occasionally look over at what Gayle was doing. She was decorating still, and everything was pink. It was so much different than what she was used too. It wasn't that she disliked pink, it was just something that stood out as odd to her. She was used to blues and grays, and brown and greens. What her home looked like. Her interest was still enthralled in her book, until Gayle pulled out her plushies. She was interested. She had left most of hers at home, but she had brought two. Her polar bear, and her kelpie plushy, that was made courtesy of her grandmother. She called out to Gayle.
"Hey, I have plushies too. I thought you would find it weird if I brought them out. That's why I kept them in my suitcase…"

Gayle perked up a little at the mention of stuffed animals, turning from where she had aligned the few she had brought on her bed. Her favorite plushie was a dog that she had gotten when she was practically a baby, and while it was beginning to fall apart, the texture still felt nice. She had a couple of other, newer stuffed animals as well that loved dearly, all neatly arranged in front of a small throw pillow.

Gayle turned to her roommate, leaning against her bed as she smiled. "You do?" she asked, eyes bright. "That's pretty cool. I was honestly hoping you wouldn't judge me for bringing mine." She glanced down at her feet for a moment before looking back at Juniper's side of the room. It was very different than her own, but not bad. She actually liked it, if she were honest. She should probably tell Juniper that, but somehow even adding that seemed like talking a lot for her.

Juniper laughed.
“Why would I judge you for bringing stuffies? And by the way, your side of the room looks good. However, I’m not used to the color pink. If you look at my side, it’s the color of the sea and forest. It reminds me of home. Pink just seems unnatural for me. But it’s fantastic on you. It suits you.”

There was a lot of pressure to get this right, that much had been implied by her father. Lisette knew that he would never say it out loud but he expected a lot from her.

Her brother had visited that week before school started and as usual, Aaron and her father got into a pretty serious fight. There had been a yelling match that lasted for a good while before silence took over the mansion, their echoes stopping briefly before Aaron stormed out.

She didn't understand why her father was so hellbent on wanting Aaron to pick up on the family business, he was doing his own thing and that was enough, he was making a lot on his own, and he was successful.

Last night she hadn't gotten any sleep thinking about the events that had unfolded that week, thinking about how everything was better before her mother died, the family was well put together, Aaron and her father didn't dare fight because they knew it would put more stress on her mother, but after she had passed everything fell apart. Things were worse off and Lisette wished that her mother were still alive to help mend things, but there was no repairing their broken relationship. Lisette found herself in the middle, stopping both parties from hurting each other, and somehow she was supposed to pick a side. Aaron was a good brother, he didn't ask that of her, and understood if she decided to stick with their father, but her father didn't want Lisette anywhere near Aaron.

Lisette had been put under a lot of stress before and she found that the more stress was added to her, the better she performed, yet she wished she didn't have to deal with family issues as soon as she started school again.

Part of her was grateful she was starting, it would take her mind off things and she would be away.

Lisette was in the middle of putting up some of her clothes, still lost in thought, when someone else entered the room. Her eyes trailed the other smoothly, eyeing the girl and her parents. Lisette didn't say anything and kept unpacking her stuff until everything was laid out in front of her on the bed. She was still deciding where she was going to put everything.
When the girl spoke, Lisette closed her suitcase, locked it, and started shelving things. Putting the current books she was reading on the small desk beside her bed.
"A pleasure," Lisette said, resorting to formality. "My name's Lisette and it looks like we're stuck with each other" She spoke, not really giving her words much thought. Lisette stopped and looked over at Emaria for a second. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any trouble with her as Lisette took her studies very seriously. She didn't need anyone interrupting her when a big test would be coming up.

Emaria arched her eyebrows and studied the girl – Lisette – at the same time Lisette studied her. "I guess we are," she remarked, leaning down to grab her biggest suitcase and hoist it onto her bed. "I think I remember you… didn't we both have Trig 102 with Mrs. LaSont last year?"

While waiting for her new roommate to respond, Emaria unzipped her bag and began to pull out her clothes, books, and other miscellaneous items that she'd packed. She set the deskset her mother had bought her lightly on the top of her desk like she was worried it would break if she set it down too hard. Despite being at odds with her mother most of the time, she loved her mom, and Farah felt the same way for her daughter. It was just difficult when they rarely saw eye-to-eye and Saul had to step in and be the moderator for their feuds.

Juniper laughed.
“Why would I judge you for bringing stuffies? And by the way, your side of the room looks good. However, I’m not used to the color pink. If you look at my side, it’s the color of the sea and forest. It reminds me of home. Pink just seems unnatural for me. But it’s fantastic on you. It suits you.”

Gayle wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that, but she was glad her roommate wasn't at odds with her side of the room. Well, at least she figured the other girl wasn't. She gave Juniper a small smile and simply said, "Thanks. I like your side too."

She really did like Juniper's side of the room; from what little she knew about the girl, it seemed fitting. She had always thought that you could learn a lot about a person just by looking at their room, and she was learning about Juniper by seeing the green and blue decor and the Star Wars paraphernalia. It was clear that she was a fan of the movie. Gayle had never actually seen it herself; fantasy was more her thing than sci-fi, and she rarely even watched movies in the first place unless it was when she was babysitting her siblings. They loved Disney movies with a passion. In fact, one of the stuffed animals that Gayle had brought was based off of The Aristocats because it reminded her of her siblings. They loved that movie.