Arogen

Chapter IV

"Star! I see you made a friend."

I turned around to discover the person behind the voice. A tall, slender brunette who seemed to be in her thirties shot me a welcoming smile as she walked towards us.

"I'm Anne, overseer of the White wing. And you must be Saron. I was told you'd be joining us. We're happy to have you. We have your things already and we'll bring them to whatever bed you choose."

"Saron, there's an empty bed beside me," Star piped up, tugging on my sleeve.

"Very well," said Anne laughing. "I'll alert the movers to move your things there and let Star show you around. I'll be here if either of you need me."

"Thank you so much!" I replied, happily. Everyone here was so nice. It was a breath of fresh air to be around people who didn't look at me like they hated me. I smiled as I felt myself being dragged away by Star.

"You're going to pull my arm off Star!"

"Sorry!!" peeped Star sheepishly, loosening her grip.

"Okay so here are the bathrooms. The boys section is on the other side." Star led me into a bathroom and began pointing at a section of the wing with rows of stalls in private sections. I sighed in relief as I noticed private showers lined along the opposite side.

"That's how I felt too. I couldn't imagine showering in a communal," Star agreed, gagging dramatically.

I rolled my eyes in amusement and followed her as she led me to a huge lobby with private study rooms with students crouched behind computers. There were students laid out on couches laughing and playing games. I ignored the eyes watching me and tried to pay attention to Star's voice introducing me to the wing.

"This is the Common. People study in the rooms and hang here during the day and after hours when people are sleeping."

"Where do we sleep?" I asked.

"That's next," replied Star, smiling from ear to ear.

We walked out of the Common, going deeper into the wing until we came across a set of rooms,  each labeled alphabetically by letter.

"I'm sleeping in F. You'll be with me."

We walked past each letter until we came to our designated room. To my surprise, I walked in to find what must've been a hundred girls. Some were napping. Others were huddled whispering. Others were reading or on their phones. But all the chatter fell to silence once me and Star walked in.

Suddenly aware of the eyes upon us, Star came to a halt with me stopping right beside her. I eyed her nervously but was met with a shrug.

"She must be a new one," said a girl.

"Yeah I've never seen her before," another agreed.

"Hey, what's your name?" asked a blonde girl walking towards me.

"Saron."

"Welcome. I'm the leader of our section. As long as you keep your space clean and you're respectful to the girls we'll get along fine," she said, smiling at me coldly, sending shivers up my spine. I didn't believe her at all.

"I'll finish showing her around," Star said quickly, pulling me out of the room.

"Nice to meet you," I said, smiling fakely on my way out. I could already tell I didn't like her but no reason to start off on the wrong foot, right?

"Who was that??" I hissed at Star.

"Alice. She's the oldest so by default she became our leader but nobody actually likes her. She's terrifying so the less time we spend talking to her the better."