[center][h3]Zaylin and Athena[/h3][/center]
	Zaylin managed to find the dorm room without mishap. Hoping she had arrived first, she paused in front of the heavy-looking door, sat a suitcase down again, pulled her key from her pocket, then unlocked the door.
	The empty room was basically cut in half and created mirror images of each other. On either side, a canopy bed, mirrored dresser, a desk built into the wall, and a closet took up most of the space, the plush-looking blankets on the beds made up neatly. A window sat in the middle of the space between the two beds, burgundy curtains drawn over the glass and the evening sun shining through from outside.
	“Sweet,” she muttered, closing the door behind her, but leaving it slightly ajar for her roommate. 
	Her roommate. Zaylin took a deep breath at the thought of sharing a dorm with someone for the duration of the school year.
	[i]It’ll be fine,[/i] she reassured herself, going to the bed and tossing her suitcases on top of the covers, the relative silence of the room gratefully welcomed. She quickly began to unpack, placing a few arcane looking books and a jeweled jewelry box on the dresser.
	When she finished, wishing she had brought some sort of posters to put up to give it more of a personal flare, she tossed the suitcases under the bad, grabbed a sketchbook and pencil from the desk, and sat down cross-legged on the end of her bed. Placing the spiral-bound sketchbook on her lap, she flipped through the pages filled with detailed drawings, each one dated.
	She placed her pencil to paper, ready to write the date and begin a sketch of the school, when she heard someone outside the door. She looked up as an older, brown-haired girl dressed in similar colors as Zaylin entered with a cheerful introduction.
	She looked at Athena and cocked her head as she took in the girl’s appearance. Something about her seemed intriguing, though she couldn’t quite place what, no matter how hard she tried to figure it out. After a short moment, she returned Athena’s smile, realizing she should probably answer before the worry she saw in the girl’s eyes worsened. She could ponder later.
	Athena. Greek goddess of wisdom. I like it.” Zaylin placed the sketchbook on the bed, the blank page facing up, as Athena sighed in relief.
	“Thank you.” Athena entered the room, tugging her stuff inside with her.
	Zaylin stood, looking the girl in the eye as she offered a leisurely hand to Athena. “The name’s Zaylin. Friends call me Zay. Just transferred for my sophomore year.”
	“Zay… I like that! It’s easy to remember which is a plus. I’m quite terrible with names. But nonetheless, welcome to the Academy! I’m a senior here, and in the dance team so I apologize before hand for any sporadic dancing I might do here.” Athena laughed.
	Zaylin returned her laughter with a smile. “I have dance, too. Not sure if it’s at the same time, but it’s on my schedule.”
	“You’ve got dance?!” Athena’s brows rose in surprise. “No way, that’s great! Hopefully you’ll be with me.”
	As Athena went to her bed, sat her stuff down and plopped down on the fluffy comforter, Zaylin returned to the edge of her bed, thankful that the girl seemed nice enough so far. Picking up her sketchbook, she looked over when Athena spoke again.
	“Beautiful rooms, huh? I had some stuff sent a week in advanced so I have to check both closets later, if you don’t mind. I don’t know where they put it.”
	“Yeah, they really are. I didn’t see any packages or anything in my closet, but I’ll double check if you want.” Zaylin wrote the date on the upper corner of the page of her sketchbook. “I have a couple packages on the way, too. Kind of sent them late, though. Procrastinated a little too long.”
	“How are you liking this place so far? Have you met people yet?”
	“This place is gorgeous! I’ve never seen anything like it.” Zaylin smiled at the thought as she began to sketch the general shape of the main building, adding a heavier Gothic flare to the architecture. She felt Athena’s gaze on her as she drew, but didn’t look up, her roommate’s content smile going unnoticed. “Only officially met a couple people so far. So, where’re you from? How’ve you liked going here?”
	"Oh. Um. I'm not exactly from a certain place. I've been moving around a lot my whole life so it's difficult to say. I lived a large portion of it in South America though. My mom works for this company that's always sending her on business trips. How about yourself? How'd you hear about this place? My mom found out through a colleague of hers and immediately started doing research and calling in favors. I'm glad she did though because it has been a good experience..... Except...."
	Zaylin looked up as Athena’s words faltered, the other girl’s expression grave.
	"Except last year.... With the whole, uh, death ordeal. I'm sure you'll find out the story's entirety today." Athena frowned slightly, shaking her head.
	[i]I wonder if she knew the dead girl?[/i] Zaylin thought, but made a mental note to not bring up the recent murder with Athena, no matter how much she wanted to know. She didn’t need to get on her roommate’s bad side.
	That’s awesome you got to live in different places, though,” she answered, redirecting the conversation from the gloomy topic. “I actually got an invitation to come here. My grandma went here, and almost died when she found out they wanted to recruit me.” She snorted lightly at the memory. “Didn’t really want to leave my school back in Cali, honestly, but I’d rather take on a raging bull while dressed in red than Gram.”
	Athena stood. "I'm actually about to go have a look around the school. Try to find some of my friends. Would you like to come?"
	Zaylin glanced to her sketchbook, debating for a second,  then placed the pencil on top of it and sat it back on the bed. “Yeah, sure! It’d give me a chance to get used to the school’s layout before tomorrow.
	Zaylin stood and gestured to the door with a flourish of her hand. “Lead the way, my friend!”