She checked her uniform in the bathroom mirror. It was perfect. High heeled boots. Perfect. Hair. Perfect. Everything about her was perfect, Eliza thought. Her intestines clenched and seized at the thought. She was used to the feeling now, in fact, she'd been expecting it. It wasn't a big deal, she reminded herself. It was just pain. Pain didn't mean anything. There was a little pill bottle in the cabinet in the bathroom, glass with a white cap, like you saw in old movies. Eliza pressed her hand down, wrenched it open, took out a tiny white tablet. She parted glossy lips and placed it under her tongue. It only took a few seconds to dissolve, but the bittersaccharine taste lingered when it was gone. She wasn't used to taking medicine; she had always been perfectly healthy. All the Herrings were. She resented the medication for soothing the cramps almost as much as the pain they created. She hefted her bag over her shoulder. It was a beautiful thing, made of elegant black leather. A birthday gift from an older sister. It was probably worth more than some of the teachers' monthly salaries, and Eliza felt a little strange about relegating it to textbooks and a laptop, but it fit her look. She left the room, heading to her morning classes. Some people thought better while they were moving - Ace was one of those, always pacing back and forth - but not Eliza. She found the walk interminable. She felt most poised, most capable standing still. Every step made her wish more and more that the day was already over. Classes went... fine. She didn't really pay attention to them. The student council assembly was also fine. She whispered encouragement to Acacia, kissed her boyfriend on the cheek as they left the stage. Normal. Nothing to worry about. Everything was going to be okay. The pain was gone. But there was an empty spot where it had been, and she didn't know how to fill it. --- Eliza stared into her salad with displeasure. It wasn't what she'd expected. She picked through it with her fork, pulling out little bits of things that looked distasteful - mostly olives. She hated olives; they looked, she thought, rather like grapes covered in slime. She had always been a picky eater. For a time, when she was maybe seven or eight, she insisted on eating the same three meals every day, and they always had to exactly identical. One morning, someone had tried to add blueberries to her oatmeal, and she'd nearly thrown the bowl through the dining room window. She grimaced, thinking about it. Mom had yelled at her when she'd found out. It was disrespectful, improper. She was right, of course, but being right didn't take the sting away. Eliza just didn't like it when things were changed. She had an early lunch period on Mondays, which wasn't ideal, but it wasn't all bad - she and Acacia were the only seniors in it. They were both so busy, Eliza worried about whether they'd find time to spend together. She scanned the cafeteria for her friend, and found Acacia still standing in line. Like most of the buildings at Caelbury, it was beautiful, but the dining hall was relatively new. It had a sort of modern-meets-classic theme that let it fit in with the other campus buildings while still looking modern, and Eliza felt the designers had really pulled it off. The main room was large, with high ceilings supported by dark, wooden beams and big, floor-to-ceiling windows lining the walls and heavy wooden tables. All the food was served buffet-style, down at the end, and Eliza was lead to understand it was surprisingly high quality for a boarding school. She didn't have anything to compare it to, but she didn't really care for most of it. That was fine, though. Salads were all she needed anyway. Acacia was heading towards her now. She lifted her head a little to make eye contact, and smiled widely as her friend sat down. "Good morning?" She said, intending it as both a question and a greeting. "Good morning." Acacia returned with a nod and a smile. "How does it feel to be back in school?" Eliza shrugged. "I mean, I guess it's nice not to be home. I miss my car, and having a big, empty house. Plus, my roommate's a bitch." She grinned. Acacia absently poked through her own salad as she replied with a grin, "Tell me about it. I've heard that your roommate is terrible! But then again, mine is pretty horrible too." "I'm sure you'll find some way to placate her," Eliza said. "Did you have classes yet?" "Just the normal core classes so far." Acacia shrugged, "Anyways, guess what my mother said? She's being more pushy than usual." "What does she want?" Eliza tilted her head and watched Acacia. "No, actually." Acacia giggled, "You know how she's a fashion designer?" "Sure, yeah. I mean. Does anyone not?" "She wants me to advertise her latest designs..." She sighed, pressing her fingers to her temple. "Don't you wear them already?" "Most of my clothes are her designs, yes. But she wants me to advertise her new fall line, the formal wear." Acacia groaned as she pressed her hands against her temple. "What am I supposed to do, organize a dance and make people wear her dresses and things?" Eliza let Acacia perseverate before speaking. "I mean, it's not as though you'd have to force them. I love her stuff. I dunno, what did she mean by advertise?" "Let everyone at Caelbury admire them, I suppose. We do have a lot of really wealthy people who could buy them." Acacia shrugged helplessly, "But besides for making a Caelbury fashion magazine or a fashion show or parading around school in the clothes... I have no idea what to do." "You could totally do that, though," Eliza said. "A fashion show. Honestly. Just have Wren model everything!" "A fashion show? You're kidding, right?" "Well... I mean, why not?" Eliza said. "There are lots of girls who would do it, we have to plan a fall event anyway, it'd be lots of fun. We could make it really classy and impressive." "So what, we're going to make a runway and have people walk with fancy clothes? Hmmm..." Acacia tilted her head, deep in thought. "Yeah! Yeah, we could. We can make it a thing. Have cameras, music, all of that. Why not?" She repeated. "If anything goes wrong, my mother is going to kill me..." Eliza leaned in and said, quietly, "Won't she find some reason to anyway?" With a grimace, Acacia gave a small nod. "Probably." Her fingers fidgeted around with her hair as she offered a strained smile. "Might as well go down having tried my best then, I guess." "We can bring it up at the next meeting," Eliza said. "And you know as well as I do we'll make it perfect. We always do." --- Seeing as his roommate was out doing god knows what, Max had taken the opportunity to invite Eliza over. He'd suggested that they watch some new disaster movie that everyone was raving about, but really, the movie had been the last thing on mind when he invited her. Still, he didn't hold back on the coziness: he had put out blankets and even lit some candles that he had found in one of the cupboards. Leave it to Caelbury to have candles stored in the dorms. Even though Max and Eliza had started dating over the summer, it had dawned on him that he didn't really know his new girlfriend. If you took away all the superficial things - like her looks, her wealth and her smarts - he wasn't really sure what was under there. They'd talked about that, a little, but he was never sure he was getting through... so tonight, Max had his sights set on getting at least some information. When the awaited knock on the door came Max hastily stood up and opened the door. There she was, Eliza Herring, gorgeous as always. She had changed out of her uniform, into a pink-cream colored, very high-waisted getup that looked like a dressy blouse on top, and shorts on the bottom. Max realized that it was actually a one-piece; she was wearing a belt to make it seem as though the shirt was tucked in. The top two buttons on her blouse were undone. Her hair hung loosely over her left shoulder in perfect waves. "Hello there beautiful!" Max shot her a bright smile and leaned in for a kiss. She pecked him on the lips, then stepped inside. He closed the door behind her, and couldn't resist looking her up and down as he turned back in her direction. She wore low-heeled white sandals. "Hey," she said, smiling. She walked the outskirt of the room, looking it over. "This is nice... for a guy's room. Did it come with candles?" "Well, you know I always go for the best." Max winked at her. "Uhm, yeah they stock these rooms with a lot of weird things." He sat down on the couch putting an arm up on its back indicating for Eliza to join him. She did, sliding in next to him so that their shoulders were touching. She smelled subtly like sweetness and vanilla. "Nothing but the best..." she echoed. "So - Sharknado versus. Megaoctopus? I thought Europeans went in for artsy stuff." "Yeah? I mean, I have Ingmar Bergman in my room, I'll go get it if you'd rather spend 2 hours trying to understand the Swedish depression." He half got up, then sat back down "Come on E, it's a tornado filled with sharks fighting a gigantic octopus!" He exclaimed and smiled at her. "Besides, if it sucks, we'll figure something out..." Eliza nodded. "Who am I to say no to shark-storms?" "Precisely!" Max chuckled and pressed play on the remote. They watched in silence for a few minutes, but it was clear Eliza wasn't all that interested - deadly and monstrous as the sharks and octopi were. After a few minutes, she readjusted herself to sit more facing him, and let her hands slide around his neck. He kissed her gently, thinking that was it, but she kissed him back more strongly. They made out for a few minutes, the movie going on in the background, before she pulled herself onto his lap. "Sorry I'm blocking the screen," she said, "I hope you don't mind..." She started to unbutton her shirt. She wasn't wearing a bra. Max's eyes widened. It wasn't that he wasn't used to the situation. He just wasn't expecting Eliza to be acting so fast, and he, well - he had been trying to make a change in his own behavior. "Come on, E..." He grunted and grabbed her hand to stop her from undoing another button even though every fiber of his body screamed for her to keep going. "I'm really trying here..." He slid her off his lap, down back onto the couch. Eliza looked up at him, and frowned. "Me too," she said. She looked away and started to button her shirt. Max sighed and took her hand in his "I know..." he shuffled uncomfortably, "I don't know what you've heard about me... or really what you think that I want out of this." He gave her a sincere look "I feel like, you know me better than most people do. For god's sake, you've met my family! And yet I don't know anything about you..." He trailed off, shaking his head. She met his gaze. Her eyes were big and brown, and much less friendly then Max was used to. "Look, I don't-- you know me. I'm Eliza Herring. What else is there to know?"