Sacheal

⚗️ ONE ⚗️

The sound of a single set of footsteps ricochets off the stone walls of the hallway. Everyone else has long gone to their dorms, the thrill of a new semester in their veins. Well, everyone but me.

I exhale deeply, my eyes scanning the numbers along the girl's side of the Adler dorms.

Room 502. Where's Room 502? This is the 500's hall.

Yeah, that's 500...so it should be–

Looking up, above the solid wood door is the number 502 in glimmering gold. With a sigh, I release the two trunks, wiping sweaty hands on my robes before stepping toward the door, fingers reaching for the knob.

Behind the door, everything's dead silent.

Maybe I got lucky and have a room all to myself for the next few months - or maybe my roommate's one of those perpetually late transfers. From what I've overheard, Atler transfers are among the least punctual students here.

The knob twists under my fingers, causing me to jerk back. Yelp catching in my throat, I inhale sharply as a bright blonde girl with an orange bow appears in the doorway - equally surprised. Swallowing the surprise, I slip into a practiced calm.

"I see you're already settled in" I state, seeing that the left side of the room is already decorated, "I'm Althea - if you've got any questions throughout your time here, don't be afraid to ask me."

For a moment, the blonde is frozen, staring wide-eyed in shock before a broad smile takes over her face, "nice to meet you! I'm Lemon!" Her grin falters slightly, glancing from me to the door and back again before opening it wider for me to get through, "oh, sorry about that!"

I nod appreciatively, pulling the trunks over the threshold and guiding them to the empty side of the room before ending the spell. The heavy thuds of the trunks hitting the floor echo slightly as I wipe sweaty palms on my robe once more.

"I thought continuing students already moved in?" Lemon thinks aloud as I begin the unpacking process.

"Most do" I reply, delving into one of the trunks to grab my books, "but I spent my break in the infirmary and pretty much lived there. Since all my stuff was in there and my roommate from last semester didn't really care for me, I'm here now."

"Oh no" Lemon gasps, "I hope you're feeling better."

A dry snort escapes me, "I was there to help out - they run a novice clinic during breaks for those who can't afford to go see a professional healer."

"Oh wow, I didn't know about that" Lemon states, wonder in her voice, "you must be a pretty good healer to do that all summer."

"Most don't know about it" I shrug, carrying the books over to the desk and setting them down, "and I wouldn't call myself an amazing healer - but I get the job done."

With that, I head back to the trunks, fishing around till I find my bed raisers. After a simple spell to raise the bed, I slip the risers underneath, adjusting them as I slowly lower the bed. Once I'm satisfied, I end the spell.

"Woah!" Lemon gasps from behind me, "You do those spells so easily - I had no idea we could raise the beds."

Tugging the hair tie off my wrist, I pull the navy-blue hair back from my face, before tying it up in a sort of bun thing, "would you like your bed raised too?'

"Oh– no, I mean, you only have one set right? I don't want to take them from you."

A chuckle slips past my lips before I use a spell to duplicate the risers, "there's enough for both of us."