There. Perfect.

Exhausted, Mira planted herself face-first onto her new sofa as she finally finished decorating the last part of her new apartment – the living room. She'd spent the last hour and a half arranging and re-arranging furniture and paintings and antique pieces and although it'd been really satisfying, her legs now felt like they'd fall off if she stood for even a second longer.

The last painting, in particular, had been a pain in the neck to place. It was a vintage map of the world with a mythical feel to it – each country was colored in with a faded dark, brooding color, and at every other corner were tiny pictures of mythical beasts and sea-creatures from the past. It was one of Mira's most prized possessions, and she'd decided long before she'd even picked her new home that it would be one of the first things to go up. But if ensuring the map wouldn't tear until it was on the wall had been a daunting task, placing it had been a trying life experience not unlike a trial in hell. Making sure that it was right in the middle of the wall behind her 3-piece sofa, that the other paintings were the same distance from it, and that everything had been aligned together in a straight line…ugh, perhaps this what was really meant by the phrase "beauty is pain."

But that was just the living room. Mira had actually spent the better half of the past two days setting up the rest of her apartment at the expense of her own time and energy and therefore, by extension, social life. The first Friday and Saturday of college were the two days meant for freshmen to rid themselves of the remnants of their old lives, make some new friends and party their hearts out. Things would change, come the following Monday – classes would begin and each student would be thrown into the maddening haze of courses, bills and general self-responsibility. It was therefore an unspoken given that if one was to secure themselves a solid friend circle for the years to come, they would have to willingly join the battlefront these two days and make alliances with whomever they could.

But Mira wasn't very keen on participating in any battles to begin with, and it wouldn't have mattered even if she had been, because the apartment came first. The apartment would always come first, no matter what. How many wishful nights had she spent dreaming of this exact day? How many miserable days had been endured with the promise of a new life fresh on her lips? How many tears had she dried with hopes of newfound freedom? It wouldn't have mattered, no, because this – her newfound chance at self-actualization – was far too important. Even if it came in the form of deciding where to place old maps on bare walls.

With the ghost of a smile on her lips, Mira shifted to her right, so that her back was to the sofa, and pulled her legs up to her chest. Her second night alone in her new home. What were her two younger siblings, Lisanna and Elfman, doing right now back at their parents' place? Were they done eating? Were they fighting over who had control of the remote tonight, or were they dining in silence? Who'd cooked dinner? Elfman loved cooking food, and would make dinner whenever Mira couldn't, but now that she wasn't there anymore, maybe he'd take over completely. Or maybe, she mused, Lisanna had decided to give it a try.

Lisanna would make a wonderful cook. She'd baked a cake for her boyfriend Bickslow once, and it'd been delicious. It'd also been a miracle. Lisanna, who'd adamantly refused to even enter the kitchen on countless occasions, had simply woken up early one morning and baked an effortless cake all by herself. Oh, if God did exist, he'd definitely had a helping hand with the whole thing.

Then again, there was no underestimating what that girl could do once she put her mind to it. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," had said the man who clearly hadn't had his butt kicked by her yet. Hell hath no fury like Lisanna, that was simply it.

Chuckling to herself, Mira shifted a bit to her left and stared at the ceiling. She'd known her solitude would inevitably lead to loneliness, but who would've thought it would be so quickly?

She was about to close her eyes, for a much-deserved nap, when someone knocked loudly on her door. If it was even possible to jump in fright when one was lying down, Mira'd done it just then. She hadn't been expecting visitors today…what the heck? Jumping to her feet, Mira quickly smoothed her hair down before rushing to the door. Whomever it was probably wanted some directions or something, she could send them back in a jiffy and go back to sleep. She was new to the area too, after all.

But what greeted her outside was something else entirely.

Clad in a blue and yellow diamond-patterned…bra…and a red and gold long skirt with large slits at the side, paired with black leggings, stood a woman who looked to be around Mira's age. She had gorgeous brown hair that fell to her hips, and wore a smile that told of mischief and games. With her left arm she somehow clung onto 3 large bottles of beer and with her right she held a tray of brownies. How she'd managed to knock on the door so loudly with both her hands occupied was a mystery to Mira, let alone carry so many things at once. The woman, on the other hand, seemed to be completely unfazed by her apparent skill. Her grin only grew wider as, after what Mira daftly realized had been her checking the woman out, they made eye contact.
"Wow your cheeks turn really red when you blush. Oh, wait…they're turning redder! Man, I didn't even know that was possible. Incredible. I'm Cana, by the way, Cana Alberone. Your new neighbour. Well, technically, you're my new neighbour, but I don't think there's much of a difference. Loke says there is, but he's an idiot. Never mind him. What's your name?"
"Mirajane Strauss."
"Oooh, that's a pretty name! Mirajane. So, Mirajane, may I enter your humble abode?"
"Oh, yeah! Sorry, step right in. Here, I'll take some of that off your hands."

The entrance to Mira's apartment was a small verandah-like section for shoes and jackets, to the right of which was her living room. Her T.V was placed in front a counter separating the two sections, and opposite to it was placed her 3-piece sofa. A large table stood in between. To its right was a small fireplace and to its left was the kitchen. Her bedroom was right beside it, and so was the bathroom. It was a pretty small apartment, but was enough for Mira to manage in.

Taking the bottles of beer from Cana's hands, she placed them on the table in her living room. The brunette followed suit, placing the brownies beside them, and jumped onto her sofa. Mira took her place beside her.
"So are you new to Magnolia?"
"Nope…I've always lived here, except for with my parents, about an hour away from this place. I just moved in here for college."
"So you are in college! Do you go to Fairy Tail Academia?"
"Yeah, I'm a freshman there. Do you?"
"Yes! Oh. My. God." Cana leaned forward, beaming at Mira. "I'm not exactly a sophomore this year, since I'm repeating the first year, but it's my second year at the Academia. Ah, dude, you have no idea how glad I am to have you here – there's nobody else in this whole freakin' community who goes there too. Things will liven up here, I think, now that I've got some company."

She was repeating the year? Cana seemed like a really friendly person, but if the bottles of beer she'd brought were any indication of how seriously she took things, Mira supposed she wouldn't make the best company to surround herself with. That being said, Mira reminded herself, she wasn't exactly the brightest lightbulb in the room either, so who was she to judge? Cana seemed friendly enough. It wouldn't hurt to have someone around. Especially if nobody else in the building went to the same college as she did.

Realizing she was being too quiet, Mira smiled at Cana before deciding to ask her something that had been bugging her for a while now.

"Are the courses hard? I heard they're really time-consuming, and the professors are merciless."
"Ahh…well that's a difficult question to answer. Are they hard? Not really. But they're definitely time consuming if you need the time to digest info, like me. As for the professors, they're no help at all. Their lectures aren't worth much either, if you can't grasp everything in class. College is all about you – how much effort you put in, how many nights you spent over concepts. I wish I'd realized that earlier…miss even a day's work and you're screwed, but I doubt you'll be in any trouble." Cana gestured around the room. "Judging by the fact that you've already set yourself up, even though you literally just moved in two days ago, I think you'll do fine. That, along with your good-girl outfit," she teased, a playful smile tugging at her lips, "gives me the impression you've got your stuff together. I wouldn't worry much about it if I were you."
Mira couldn't help but smile in response, even as she felt her cheeks heat. "I am not a good-girl. I just have a particularly modest sense of fashion."
Cana burst out laughing. "A long-sleeved black turtle neck and a long skirt. Yeah, perfect for the femme fatale not-goody-two-shoes ninja-girl. Sweetheart, if that's modest for you, I can't even begin to image what you must think of me."
Despite herself, Mira began giggling too. This girl really didn't hold back, did she?

They discussed everything from favorite foods to cute boys to worst films to most cliché college misconceptions. An hour had passed since Cana'd come over, and even though she'd initially been tired, Mira realized she didn't mind having her around. It was refreshing to have someone so unguarded, so open, to talk to. Especially since she was so reserved herself. She began to regret not having gone out to socialize, if these were the kinds of people one would find at college, but at the same time, she was thankful she hadn't. Befriending Cana meant having someone to be close to, close to her. It wasn't exactly something one could go looking for.

"I've been meaning to ask, by the way," Cana said, "what's with that old map behind us? It looks like something you could dig out of the depths of a thrift shop."
"It used to be my grandma's. She gave it to me on my birthday this year, as a sign of finding my place in this world. A lot of this stuff is hers, actually! Like my clock, some of these paintings and some of my fine china. She loved collecting things, and it's something I like doing too. Although, I haven't really begun collecting anything yet…"
"Oh wow…no offence, but your grandma must really mean something to you if you're even hanging that thing on your wall, despite it being so ugly. I mean, that's true dedication right there."
A soft smile crossed Mira's lips. "She died this summer. I took as many of her things as I could."
"Oh…I'm sorry, I didn't mean –"
"It's fine! Everyone's told me to get rid of it. I just like the idea of it, as a sign. Plus it's got this vintage-y feel to it that I really try emulating in the pieces around my house. My grandma had a lot of old things with her…my mom calls her a hoarder, but I personally think it's great. How else will your family remember you and your past when you're gone, if not through the things you hand down to them?"
"I know what you mean…my mom died last year too, and these bangles are all I've got left of hers. Well, there was more stuff, but our house actually burned down in a fire last year, and that's when I moved, so…"

An uncomfortable silence passed over them.

"Actually," Cana suddenly said, lifting herself off the sofa, "on that happy note, why don't we bust open the beer?"
Glad at the sudden change of topic, Mira happily obliged. What could possibly go wrong?

Nothing, she discovered as, half an hour later, the two women had lost themselves to laughter as they waltzed around Mira's kitchen floor. Cana had placed one of her hands flat against Mira's back as the other held hers with a strange warmth and firmness. Mira, on the other hand, hung her free arm around Cana's shoulder and leaned against her. Together, they swung each other around the room to the beat of their own drunken heartbeats for what felt like an eternity, until it was finally time for Cana to leave.

At last, Mira flopped on her sofa and closed her eyes. Cana was loud and really open, but she was also fun to be around. Her carelessness seemed to be infectious, in the good way. Mira didn't know if she could still keep her close when the time to go back to books finally arrived, but at the moment, she didn't care. For the second time that day, the ghost of a smile graced her lips as the memory of dancing with her played through her mind. Her second night alone in her new house. True, she hadn't really been alone, but she hadn't been lonely either. It was definitely something Mira could get used to.