Follow love and it will flee, flee love and it will follow thee (Morissa)

Chapter 3: Love's Sorrow

Quietly, Laelia sizzles into her room, short hair damp from the shower she had just taken, pale skin flushed at the shoulders from the scalding water. She smells of bergamot with a hint of vanilla that the planifonia orchid she wears, delicately braided into her locks.

In her hands, she has her uniform, freshly washed and ironed, tailored specifically for her.

Exhausted, Laelia collapses into her bed, mind blissfully blank before a certain someone sneaks her way to the forefront of her mind. Her dorm monitor, Mrs.Addams. A blush makes its way onto her cheeks.

For some reason, she feels a knot twisting in her stomach, her whole body yearning for a gentle touch. Why did she feel like that? What was wrong with her? She feels as if she's swallowed needles, walked on burning coal, as if a knife had been buried deep into her gut.

Maybe she was just ill, she concludes, sitting up with a stretch and a groan. Her legs feel sore from walking all around the school. She wonders how long it'll take for her to memorize its layout. Maybe she'd make it a challenge. Fun little game, where no one wins and there is nothing to lose, none of that risk Laelia associated with the roll of a die, the flip of a coin.

She feels her heart pull at her, and changes her diagnosis. She was just homesick, surely. But she was of age now, she needed to handle herself as an adult.

She stands up from the bed, walking over to her luggage before beginning to unpack. One of the cases contains her books, another - clothes, the third holds her violin and the fourth the equipment needed to maintain it. And there's another suitcase packed to the brim with more clothes.

She picks up a handful of books, walking over to the bookcase provided and starting to sort them by topic. It takes her less than half an hour. She really likes her books, could read for days nonstop if she found anything worthwhile, if she was honest, she has lost count of how many sleepless nights she's wanted away with the help of an interesting novel.

Next came her clothes. She folds the socks, underclothes, homewear. In her closet, she hangs the dresses, the four pairs of uniforms the school provided, streetwear and skirts.

She sets the violin down carefully on its stand, before starting on her appearance. She brushes her hair, applies her chapstick and picks out some casual evening wear. One last deep breath for courage and she's out, going down step after step, down to the dining hall.

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The hall is crowded with sleepy-looking students when she arrives. Some of them talk with friends, leaning on each other as they eat their dinner. Others stand in line with empty trays, waiting for their turn at the canteen.

Amused and nervous, Laelia takes a tray, pretending to know what she's doing as she imitates another student and follows them to stand in line. The nice lady that was serving gave Laelia her recommendations when the girl turn around, kind smile playing on her lips, laugh lines and frail hands handing Laelia her tray back with a plate of pasta, a cut of apple pie and a glass of water before kindly whispering to Laelia some basic instructions of where to sit and how to act. Laelia makes a mental note of buying the elderly woman something sometime soon.

As she goes to sit down at an empty bench, however, two girls approach her. One of them is blonde with blue and pink highlights, the other's hair is dark as the night falling steadily outside.

"Hello there!" the more bubbly of the two starts, bouncing on her toes excitedly with a smile that could light up a room.

"Hello?" Laelia greets back, feeling awfully misplaced. The girl seems to pick up on it as she continues on her own.