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Coraline flipped her thick French braid to the side as she adjusted the headphones on her head. It was finally after she unpacked, dividing the room into two equal part with no protest from her roommate as long as she got the darkest part. A beautiful small tank lied on her desk, a poisonous sea plant of black and blue swaying lightly in the clear water, lovely gift from Ms. Thornhill.

Her eyes shifted to her roommate, who was drinking the red liquid from the decorated cup, "Is that blood?"

Yoko took her lips away from the straw, thin red coat covering her lips as she grinned, "Nah, it's just tomato juice silly."

She moved around the room with twirl of her feet, dancing to a steps of unheard song as she decorated the one side of Coraline's part of the room. Yes, Yoko had been so kind to offer Coraline her help while the girl just sat on her bed.

"I was so happy when Weems told me I was getting a new roommate," She spoke, placing the ceramic cactus on the small table by the balcony.

"Hm," Coraline said, flipping the page of her book, "you didn't have anyone here before?"

"Nope. Almost everyone at Ophelia Hall got a roommate except for me and Enid."

"Well, lucky you I guess," Coraline said with a dramatic sigh.

And like that Coraline spent her first night at Nevermore listening to the stories her new friend had to say to her.

She dressed in her white fencing uniform in the morning as she made her way to the hall. Wednesday stood odd among them, dressed in entirely black.

With her mask tucked inside her arm she let her eyes travel across the room. Bianca Barclay was speaking her mouth off, "Seriously, Coach, when am I gonna get real competition? Anyone else want to challenge me?"

"I do." Her sister spoke up.

"Oh, you must be the psychopath they let in."

"You must be the self-appointed Queen Bee," Wednesday bit back, "Interesting thing about bees. Pull out their stingers, they drop dead."

There were several laughs around them, a small smile tugging on her lips as well.

"Rowan doesn't need you to come to his defense," the girl said with a grim expression, "He's not helpless, he's lazy."

"Are we doing this or not?" Wednesday said, always straight to the point.

And so they started. The air around the room started getting tense as clashes of swords echoed through it. Coraline stepped aside, the hairs of her neck raising up as she turned her head to the side.

Xavier Thorpe was staring at her, and he didn't not look away even when he was caught. His expression was unreadable, a mix of grim and a certain glint of interest.

Normally Coraline would've stared at them back, until they couldn't any more. But this time she was failed to do so, her eyes leaving his prying Hazel ones. He stood a lot different than the last time she saw him, tall and handsome with his shoulder length chestnut hair. And he certainly didn't look like the short kid who was up to her shoulder back in the day.

Her attention was snapped back to her sister when both she and Bianca removed their mask. A cocky smile grazing the lips of the siren.

"That first point was clearly beginner's luck."

"Let's finish this," Wednesday said, her eyes hard, "For the final point, I would like to invoke a military challenge. No masks. No tips. Winner draws first blood."

The smile on Bianca's smile fell, her eyes travelling towards their coach.

"It's your decision, Bianca." He said.

"Let's see if you bleed in black and white." Bianca said, putting the mask over her head.

Rapier tips sliced again each other, the two fighters occupying the room in their dance of swords.

A small gasp leaved Coraline's lips as she saw the small cut on Wednesday's forehead. Her sister grazed the small wound with her finger tips while Bianca chuckled.

"Your face finally got that splash of color it so desperately needed."

Coraline let her eyes wander over to the siren, her tongue pocked inside her cheek as she contemplated the idea of challenging her, herself. However she looked away, gritting her teeth and giving her attention to back to her sister.

Neither of the sisters spoke as they left the nurse's room, both of them silent after their small conversation with Rowan. Coraline knew her sister didn't want comfort nor her to fight for her. What she knew was, that silence was the best thing she appreciated at times like this.

But despite the silence physically between them, their was a constant buzzing inside the younger girl's head, almost giving her a headache. Coraline circled the ring on her finger, silently wishing for it to help.

The ring her mother gifted to her has been immensely useful. Her mind was warded from all the unwanted thoughts around her and she managed to get a ounce of control at only welcoming the thoughts that she wanted to hear.

But right now it didn't seem to do the magic as the incoherent whispers nagged inside her. It happened so fast, the unrecognisable whispers were clear as her head was invaded with the image of the statue falling down, crushing Wednesday down with it. The sound of stone scraping and chilling choir filled her ears.

She saw it before it happened and like that she shouted, "Wednesday!"

Coraline tackled her sister to the floor in a mere minute of danger, her head hitting the hard floor in the process.

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sorry for the sucking short chapters 😭
hope you enjoyed it tho <3