NOTI

LAURA

Laura Medina had lived in Domina City her entire life, without much more than her dad for company. She didn't have many friends. It wasn't that she was shy, it was just that she spent too much time doing other things. Reading, writing, studying... she had better things to do than hang out in a coffee shop and chat about boys. And, she supposed, she was protecting herself as well. She had been burned in the past.

Floor six of the AU dorms was the same as all the others, which meant it was clean but bland. Her room was number sixteen, about equidistant from all the stairs. She had taken the elevator this time, because of her bags, but she was planning to use the stairs from now on. It might actually be faster, and she needed the exercise.

She knocked twice, and when she heard no answer, shifted her burdens to get at her keys. It took her a few minutes to do it, with about a half dozen different bags hanging from her shoulders. Of course, exactly as she found the keys, the door opened.

“Laura!” Elizabeth screeched as she tackle-hugged her. Laura managed to keep a hold of her bags, but only barely. “Isn't it great to see each other again? I have so much to talk to you about! Just this morning I saw an absolutely adorable purse that would look great on you—”

“Lizzy, let me in,” Laura grunted. Lizzy just squeezed tighter. Laura tried to maneuver them into the room, leaving her larger suitcase behind, but it was slow going. Lizzy didn't stop clinging to her, or indeed even notice.

“—they came out with a violet eyes cosmo that would just look dazzling with your skin tone. Oh, and maybe we could color your hair a little darker to complement—”

Laura threw her bags onto the unoccupied bed on the right side of the room. It was the only part that hadn't been touched; Lizzy had gone overboard on decorating, covering everything in posters of her favorite bands and pictures of the two of them from when they were kids. At least she had selected pictures that only had the two of them in them. Laura was thankful for that.

“—clothes, obviously, but that's fine because a great new shop called la Boutique Française and it just has these little skirts to die for—”

Laura went back for the bag she had left behind, dragging Lizzy as she babbled the whole way. Laura didn't really have that much; her dad lived nearby, so she could get a lot of what she needed from him. Mostly, it was just clothes and textbooks.

“—don't you think? Laura? Don't you think so?”

Lizzy had finally come out of her little dream world and was willing to have a real conversation. “I didn't hear you. What was that?”

She pouted. “Laura, you never listen to me when I talk. I said we need to set up a study schedule. We can't flunk out after all this effort.”

The first thing anyone noticed about Elizabeth Greene was that she was tall, a little over six feet. She sprung up pretty quickly when they were kids, so Laura had been shorter than her for a long time.

The second thing was always her eyes. Pure gold, shining like the sun. Laura still wasn't sure whether it was a cosmo or not. She had them for as long as Laura had known her, but she never showed any interest in other toys. Her brown hair and tanned skin matched her eyes. In the right light, she looked like a shining statue made from gold.

By contrast, Laura's hair was a bland black, her eyes matching, and her skin so pale she was pretty sure that one time she got sunburned by a light bulb. Lizzy was great, and always had been, but sometimes it was hard to be her friend. Everyone always focused on her, and it was like Laura didn't even exist.

Laura did have one advantage, however: She was ever so much smarter than she was.

“I'd be happy to help you study,” Laura replied, finally managing to extract herself from Lizzy's arms. “You signed up for the same classes as me, right?”

“Yeah, mostly.” Lizzy sat on her own bed, legs held to her chest. “I skipped the advanced history, biology, and physics courses. I'm just sticking with four classes.”

“But that just leaves you with three. What's your fourth?”

“Normal history.”

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Laura nodded. Honestly, she had expected her to drop more. “Ah, well, that's not so bad. And I can still help you if you need it.”

“Hm,” she shrugged noncommittally. She didn't say anything else.

Laura started unpacking. There wasn't much; mostly clothes, her laptop, and...

Sheets.

She searched for ten minutes—despite the fact that the problem was obvious in the first ten seconds—before Lizzy noticed and spoke up.

“What's wrong?”

Laura cursed under her breath. “I forgot sheets.” She glanced around the room. “Are there any spares in the room?”

Lizzy shook her head, but didn't say anything else.

Laura sighed. Lizzy could get like this sometimes. Go from a little bundle of energy to a closed-off shell for no discernible reason. Probably because Laura hadn't been paying enough attention to her. She wasn't very helpful when it came right down to it. She was very... reactionary.

Laura was already beginning to regret choosing to room with her, but it had been either this or some random stranger. Lizzy had lots of problems, not least being that it seemed like she couldn't do anything by herself. But she was better than whoever Laura would have ended up with otherwise.

Laura packed away her clothes in the closet; she didn't have many, so it didn't take long. She started up her laptop and logged into the dorm's wifi, then tried to get some more information on any nearby stores.

Lizzy still wasn't doing anything, just sitting on her bed and watching her. Laura sighed again.

“I'll be back,” she said after a moment. “I'm going to go buy some sheets.”

“Hm.” Lizzy didn't get up.

Laura shrugged and left the room, closing the door behind her. As she headed for the stairs, she flipped out her phone and called MC.

“Can you tell me where the closest linens store would be from my location?”

“One moment.” There was a pause. “There is one at the intersection of Abigail and Limbo. I can check their inventory if you like.”

Laura started down the stairs. “Sure, but I just need sheets. I'm sure they'll have them.”

“Yes, you are correct. Though it depends on what type you need.”

“Something that will fit the dorm beds.”

“They have plenty in stock, then.”

“Thank you, MC.”

“Not a problem, Miss Medina.” She disconnected just as Laura reached the bottom of the last flight of stairs.

Lizzy and Laura had grown up together, right here in South Central. Laura lived across the street from Lizzy's orphanage, and she always went over to play with the kids. Lizzy was one of the only ones her age; with kids, a year or two was a big difference.

Still, she was never really someone Laura felt very close to. Their personalities just don't mesh well. Lizzy was interested in boys and clothes and talking, while Laura had her nose buried in books and strategy games.

But when Laura decided to move back to the district for college, she knew she needed a roommate. When she first moved to North Outer, her dad had set up an apartment for her, but her social interaction dwindled to zero. Elizabeth wasn't her first choice, but she wasn't ready to let AU just pick one for her at random. Maybe next year.

Laura had spent seven years alone in an apartment, since she was eleven years old. Dad came over for holidays, and she went out for school and food, but that was it. Luckily in Domina that didn't completely eliminate a social life, but she could count the people she talked to on a monthly basis on a single hand.

At least that was something Lizzy could definitely help with. She liked talking, after all, so she had a lot of friends and acquaintances she was ready to introduce Laura to. Unfortunately, knowing her, it would be mostly boys.

Why couldn't Lizzy take a hint? Laura didn't need a man in her life. Of course, every time she said that, Lizzy immediately came up with a list of lesbians for her to meet, which she needed even less.

But she could deal with Lizzy's endless parade of forced blind dates. There were always a few diamonds in the rough, and she did need a social life. As long as she didn't run away again, she'd be fine. As long as she didn't have to deal with—

“Laura?”

She looked around. She was only a few feet away from the linens store on Abigail and Limbo, and a plain looking man was coming out of the toy shop next door. But next to him, the man who had called her name...

“Derek.”