Sub-rosa

INTRODUCTION

Julianna Elise's POV

The biting cold chilled my back into numbness, cold seeped into my fingers and painfully spread throughout my body as though I were standing on pristine icy whiteness instead of the concrete ground. To a point where bursts of cold air ran down my spine. The burning sensation of alcohol tingled down my throat, leaving scars on my swollen and dry gullet. I was nearly unconscious. Breathing heavily. My hands fidgeted uncontrollably. I was
shaking--
shivering--
terrified.

Ah..the smell of fresh ... sweat... books.... and uh .. old teachers who haven't grasped the concept of deodorant? Yeah, can't really find a positive way to describe school. My first day at ASC was not turning out as well as I expected. Although TMZ (her real name was Sabrina) kept pestering me to take the same classes as her, I refused, what I loved more than anything in the world was art. Art was my only escape from the harsh reality of my life, especially since things weren't really turning out so great recently. I have been living with my grandmother not a long distance away from the campus after my parents decided they would ditch me, grandma would never refuse to take me in and I love her for that.

So anyway... back to school life. I'm just waiting for TMZ to finish up her dance class, then we're gonna grab some lunch. Her glistening figure emerged out of the room as she grinned with her braces filled teeth. She slung her bulky hot pink gym bag on her shoulders and sauntered towards me.

" Jules! how was PE?"

"Ugh, it was dreadful... Miss Adderly made me do 10 burpees"

"Lighten up girl, a little lunch will brighten up your day. Let's get some frappes and danishes"

I met TMZ during my last year of high school at Madison high, and we've basically been inseparable since then. She's your typical basic dance fanatic. Her short black hair, big doe eyes, and her signature pink bomber jacket are immediately recognizable even from across the hall. I still remember it like it was yesterday. Her small figure approaching me with a welcoming expression, as she proceeded to introduce herself and make me feel at home the second I walked into my first class. I'll never understand TMZ, honestly I had the worst (RBF) and no one has ever talked to me first...but anyway... she didn't want me to call by her real name, Sabrina, because she didn't like the name but I think didn't think there was anything wrong with it! I never got to ask her what TMZ stood for.. But I just went along with it. I wonder what made her approach me so abruptly.

Alec's POV

The crisp scent of my new home for the next four years of my life engulfed me. This was actually happening, ASC batch 2022 , here I come...Lugging my bulky bag, I entered eagerly into the room, setting my eyes upon the bare mattress and empty wardrobes. Ah... can't wait for all the mandatory college memories... frat parties...or maybe even sorority parties *wink* just kidding... or am I?

After I finished setting out all my belongings, I made my way to the main building where I would have my first lesson. Flip flops, board shorts, and a plain tee? Was that appropriate for a physics lesson? I highly doubt so but I went on with anyway since I had no other clean clothes to wear.

I decided to go for a little stroll around the campus. I wondered what this place would have in store for me. As I was walking down the aisle of lonely lockers, I saw a girl who I found very familiar, Her hair was thick with satin jet-black curls that blew softly in the morning breeze, and as they did so they looked as the black waves that fill oceans on stormy nights. Her brow was soft, quizzical, and serene with purity and wisdom. Her jaw was set and her mouth was thin, straight, and the color of dusty rose. And then her eyes- they were deep as a great body of water with an oil spill- indeed- and just as dark, they looked through you without fear as if they already knew what they were. Oops, I was getting a bit too poetic. She glanced at my direction as she was taking books out from her locker.

Familiarity was imminent...