Chapter Text
Laura Hollis takes a deep breath as she steps out of the huge carriage about a mile from campus. Her father had ordered the driver to not leave her unattended until she was visually confirmed to be with William Luce, the young man in charge of the school. But with a pout and some light begging, Samuel had agreed to drop Laura off away from the eyes of her fellow classmates. After all, them seeing her in an extravagant carriage would already turn some heads. And she just wanted to go to Shiz to learn.
She’d always wanted to go to Shiz. From the moment she learned that this was where her parents had met, she and her best friend Betty had dreamed about going to Shiz together and learning magic. To help save the world.
And when Betty died, that just made the need to make her dream come true-- their dream-- even stronger.
Except, when Laura started applying to Shiz, she found out that the new headmaster had declared they’d no longer be teaching magic.
Well, that just wouldn’t do, would it?
Laura waves goodbye to Samuel, promising to call for him if she ever needed him. After all, in recent years, she’d seen a lot more of him than of her own father.
She knows her dad loves her. And she knows that with the growing dissent across various citizens throughout Oz, his job was only getting more and more difficult.
Which is all the more reason why she doesn’t want her new classmates to know who her father is.
Because there would be an assumption that she has ulterior motives.
Which she does.
Just not the ones other people would think she has.
Laura’s so lost in her thoughts by the time she’s made it past the Shiz gates that she doesn’t look where she’s going-- and collides right into another girl.
“Watch where you’re going, spaz,” the girl growls.
Laura stumbles, trying to regain her balance. She vaguely realizes everyone is looking in their direction and can’t figure out why-- until she sees who she bumped into.
The girl was green. Her skin was green .
“Uh-Uhm. Uhmm.”
People weren’t staring at Laura bumping into the girl. They were staring at the girl .
Laura’s eyes quickly scan the crowd and their faces seem to be varying degrees of disgust.
She slowly looks back at the girl-- and can’t understand how anyone could be repulsed by her.
First of all, the green is a startling shade of emerald. It’s positively fluorescent, glowing and shining. In fact, it seems to electrify the air around her.
Second of all, there is some kind of profound loneliness in her eyes. A lifetime of being feared or regarded as a freak is evident the moment Laura gazes into them.
And, third of all… the girl herself is gorgeous. So gorgeous that Laura finds herself gawking.
Which is obviously mistaken for staring with another intent.
“What? What are you looking at? Oh, do I have something in my teeth?” the girl barks sarcastically. “Okay, let's get this over with. No, I'm not seasick. Yes, I've always been green. No, I didn't chew grass as a child. So with all that-- are you done?” she snarls. “Or do you want more time to come up with a proper enough insult for my skin color?”
“Insult?” Laura asks, confused. “No, I w-wasn’t gonna… If anything, I was going to… Uhm. Just. Wow. You’re really pretty, is all.”
The girl seems taken aback, if only for a second. She looks at Laura, really looks at her, and realizes she’s not regarding her with disgust like everyone else.
“Yeah, pretty ugly ,” a guy says from behind Laura, nudging her and bursting out into laughter.
“Just. Stay the hell away from me,” the girl growls before she frowns and promptly runs away from them, grumbling but clearly hurt by the guy’s words.
“Have I seen you before?” the guy asks Laura.
She frowns. “No, I don’t think so. And what you said to that girl? Not nice.”
He shrugs without comment and walks away.
Another guy walks up to Laura, and he seems much more warm and friendly. “Hi, little hottie.”
“Laura,” she replies.
His eyebrows furrow in confusion. “What?”
“My name is Laura. Kind of insulting to just call me ‘hottie,’” Laura explains gently.
“Oh! Sorry!” He seems genuinely apologetic. “ Laura , have you seen my sister? Well, she’s adopted, but she’s still my sister. She’s, uhm...” He clears his throat awkwardly. “Green.”
Laura perks up. “Oh, yeah! You just missed her. She went...” Laura starts to point in the direction the girl left in, but is interrupted.
“Ah! Wilson Kirsch,” a young man greets. “Your father asked me to look after you. I’m William Luce. You can call me Will.”
Laura’s eyes widen. “Will! My name is Laura Hol--”
“I don’t care,” he says dismissively, keeping his attention on Kirsch. “So, I was thinking--”
“There you are,” the green girl says, not needing to push her way through the crowd to make it back to Kirsch. “I told you to keep up.”
Will looks her up and down, his lip turning up in disgust. “You must be… Carmilla. The orphan.”
She narrows her eyes at him. “Must I be?”
“Your adoptive parents told me about you. Or should I say, warned me?”
“ My parents sent me here to keep an eye on my brother,” Carmilla snaps. “To make sure he stays on top of his schoolwork.”
Will sneers at her. “Ah, yes. I was told about this whole Sarah Jane situation.”
Laura feels a tap on her back and she turns around, before realizing she has to adjust her line of sight—downward.
A munchkin with red hair stands before her. “Uhm. Hi.”
“Hi,” Laura greets brightly.
“I’m Danny. Danny Lawrence.”
“I’m Laura.”
Danny smiles up at her. “Well, I noticed you’re new here. And I wanted to tell you that if you ever need anything, to let me know. I’m the resident advisor, as well as the teaching assistant for a few of the freshman courses.”
Laura perks up. “What about Matska Belmonde’s course?”
Danny laughs at that. “She hasn’t taught here in years. Will won’t let her unless there’s an explicit order from the Wizard.”
“But if the Wizard tells him to, he’d do it?”
Danny nods.
“I’m gonna ask him to make sure,” Laura says excitedly, wandering over.
“…So sorry to hear your fiancée died so suddenly. Here at Shiz, I’m pleased to say whether you're here to study logic, literature, or linguification, I know I speak for my fellow faculty members when I say we have nothing but the highest hopes for some of you,” Will is saying to Kirsch. He pauses before a devilish smile creeps onto his face. “Would you be willing to live with me? I know it might be weird for a student to live with the headmaster, but I think it would make looking after you much easier, as well as appease your father, as he made his concern for your wellbeing quite clear. So, I think it would be best if you share my private compartment where I can assist you as needed...”
“ No ,” Carmilla answers just as Kirsch begins eagerly nodding. “That is not happening. Besides, who would I live with?”
Laura steps forward to interrupt. “Will, I would like to--”
Will smirks. “Great! You do have that lovely private suite. Carmilla, you can live with this random volunteer.”
Laura and Carmilla’s eyes widen at the same time and they both share a look and shake their heads.
“No! I wasn’t volunteering! I just wanted to say I would like to speak with you about a Matska Belmonde course--”
“Later,” Will replies dismissively, already walking off with Kirsch, who waves a sheepish goodbye to Carmilla.
But Carmilla doesn’t notice, because she’s glaring at Laura.
Laura clears her throat awkwardly as Carmilla lets out a long sigh. “Guess I’m your new roommate, sweetheart.”