[Dec. 16th, 2020]

Sara grabbed her bag and began to her friend's dorm. She had sensed things change between them since that party, but time was ticking down and the semester was ending. A lot of their professors were putting in last minute papers and assignments that were not on the syllabus. This wasn't even including the breakup Nyssa had had with Abbey, too, so it really didn't seem too horribly surprising for her to act differently.

She stood outside of Nyssa's room, waiting for her to come out before they got to their finals. They had decided to take a walk beforehand in order to clear their minds. It was something Samantha had suggested she do with Nyssa, gauge how she felt towards her. Sara wasn't too sure because while Nyssa appreciated the silence, she hated being alone in her thoughts. She needed noise to distract her from everything else.

Nyssa opened the door, and slid out of it, trying to keep it as tightly closed as she could. According to her, Ashley was a heavy sleeper, until it came to light disturbance and if Nyssa learned anything, it was not to mess with Ash's sleep.

"She still out?" Sara asked.

"I hope so. I don't need a repeat of midterms."

"Yeah, so what exactly happened? I couldn't really follow from your texts."

Nyssa slung her backpack over her shoulder as the headed for the stairs. "Well, I was getting ready for our walk and let a bit too much light in and she woke up. After that, I had hell to pay because after I came back from our final, Ash was drinking what was apparently her third cup of coffee because she couldn't go back to sleep after I "So rudely interrupted her slumber". I literally just checked to see if you were outside for not even 5 seconds."

"Oh, so that's why you told me to meet you up here."

"Yeah."

Sara held open the door for Nyssa before they headed for the trail to the quad. It was still a short while before their class started, so Sara suggested they take the longer trail to waste a bit of time. It had seemed like that time passed in mere breaths as they talk to one another about school, the kind of test Professor Wright had described it being, and about Abbey.

"How's she doing?" Sara asked.

"She's doing fairly well. She said that her teammates were already getting ready for beach volleyball season and that they were getting together after finals for a party."

"Sounds fun. I always wondered what it would be like to play a sport at the collegic level."

"Collegic? You mean Collegiate?"

"Yeah, I think I did." Sara chuckled. "This is why I'm not an English major."

"Oh my god, talking about spelling, did I ever tell you about my English 2 teacher?"

"I don't think so."

"How have I not told you that yet?" Nyssa chuckled. "Anyway, so she wanted to show us something interesting about the human mind when it reads. So, she wrote out a sentence where… actually, it'd be easier if I just showed you. Can you grab my journal and pen from the middle pocket?" She asked, turning around.

"Sure." She nodded, unzipping her pack and pulling out a green notebook and a pen from the side mesh pocket.

"So here." Nyssa wrote out a sentence as they walked down the stone path. She handed it to Sara and explained, "So they say that if you mix up the middle letters of a word, as long as the first and last letters are the same, your brain can reorganize the letters in the middle and understand what's been written. So, what does that say?"

Sara cocked her head to the side and read the scrambled words from the paper;

"It deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod is, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae."

"Umm… It doesn't matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter is in the right place."

"Yup, that's what my professor wrote up on the board, well, partially what she wrote."

"Let me try," Sara smirked, writing down a sentence. "Here you go."

"M'kay." Nyssa agreed, reading it. "Are you free for a pre-Christmas party over at Alpha Sig this Saturday? Clever, but I can't. I'm packing up before I head back home."

"When are you leaving?" Sara asked taking back the notebook and pen before placing them back into Nyssa's backpack.

"Friday."

"So soon?"

"Yeah."

"Well, can I help?"

"Sure. I'm gonna start packing after the finals."

"How much do you have done?"

"Most of it. Now I just need to pack up all of my personal items I used to decorate my room."

"So, what're you doing when you get back home?"

"I'll probably just work and spend time with my friends."

"Why not with your family?"

"Well, I don't celebrate Christmas, so there's no reason to spend that extra time with my awesomely tense family."

"You don't?"

"No. I mean, I'm not Jewish or Muslim, well my dad is and my mom grew up with Buddhism, so we just didn't celebrate it when I was young."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"I guess I just assumed that you grew up with Christmas. You know, if you ever want to have a taste of the holidays in the Lance household, you're always invited. I'll even let you sleep in my room."

"Really? I think I might just take that on. Just remember that you offered."

"I will cross my heart."

Sara walked out of the classroom to the stairwell. The final wasn't too hard, but it did take her a while to finish; unlike Nyssa who finished the test 15 minutes before her. Her friend was sitting under the steps on a bench on her phone.

"Hey," Sara greeted.

"Hi," She nodded back. "Wanna go to Jeepers?"

"Sure."

Nyssa grabbed her backpack and got up. "So, what'd you think about the test?"

"It was not as bad as I thought it would be."

"Yeah, I'm kind of surprised too. He said that it'd be, like, tough."

"I think he was trying to scare students away."

"Really, so late in their college career?"

Sara shrugged and held the door open for Nyssa. "So, what are you thinking about getting?"

"I'm gonna get the usual. What about you?"

"Well, if you're going to be boring, then I'm getting something new… their daily special, then."

"What is it?"

"It said outside, but I didn't read it."

"If it's a tuna or fish special, then you're not helping me today."

"Fine, my back up's the California Burger, then."

When they finally got to the front of the line, Sara let Nyssa go first to order her usual turkey club with extra mustard and no mayo. Sara glanced at the far left board where they had drawn the special; detailed colored chalk drawing of a sandwich named the "Pacific Island Fusion". Sara glanced at the small print list of ingredients and ordered it.

"No fish." She informed Nyssa.

"Then get it." She shrugged finding a table.

Sara joined her by a small booth wedged in the corner of the restaurant, placed the numbers so they were visible.

"So, what made you choose criminal justice?" Nyssa asked.

"If I'm being completely honest, because I was a little shit growing up," She joked. "I was! God, I was such an idiot as a teen. I have no idea how I got away with it- I mean I do, but I don't know why my dad let me get away with it."

A young man came out with their sandwiches, setting them down to each woman's spot.

"Yours looks really good." Nyssa nodded.

"Yeah, I wasn't really sure, but now that I see it, and it actually looks great."

"Anyway, so what made you change your ways?"

"Well, when I was a senior, this guy Detective Hilton, who- at the time- was not a big fan of my father talked with me. He basically said that I should respect what my dad goes through every day to keep Starling safe. He then invited me on a ride along to see how bad it could get. After going through the Glades, I saw that I was lucky to have him protect me and others so selflessly and so I decided to follow in his footsteps, but I think I'd enjoy being a part of the CIA or FBI." She explained. "What about you?"

"I just… want to make the world a better place." She cryptically explained.

"Wow, that's really sweet, but I feel like there's more to it than that."

Nyssa chewed on her lip for a moment before letting out a short huff. "Well, my dad's not really a great guy and I just don't want to fall in his footsteps as my sister did."

"What about Saracon?"

"He's still young, but I don't think he's gonna be like my dad. But, anyway, I just want to help keep peace around the world."

"So you can stay away from your family." She pried.

Nyssa rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw at the personal question, "Yes."

Sara glanced at her, "I'm sorry," and took a quick bite of her sandwich.

"It's fine." She shrugged. "Hey, wanna come over?"

"What about Ash?"

"She should be gone by now."

"I didn't realize she was leaving."

"Yeah, she's driving back to Connecticut, so that's why she slept in."

"Okay, oh, can we watch Bram Stoker's Dracula? It's on Netflix right now."

"Okay… why that one?"

"Because it's just so bad."

"All right." She laughed.

Nyssa glanced at her and took another bite of her food.

"I didn't mean to pry, sorry." Sara apologized.

"It's fine, I haven't really told you about my whole family situation. It's a bit complicated."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Nyssa." She said handing her a napkin.

"Do I have something on my face?"

"Yeah, mustard on the left side of your chin."

"Oh." She took the napkin and wiped her chin with it. "Did I get it?"

"Yeah, enough."

"Bitch." She jokingly hissed. "What about now?"

"Yeah." Sara laughed in response. "You got it."

"Thank you." She nodded. "So how was your sandwich?"

"I'd definitely order it again. Too bad it's just a daily."

"We'll have to come by to see if they bring it back next semester." She noted with a final bite of her meal.

Nyssa stood up and placed a tip on the table before stacking their plates and silverware into a neat stack for the bussers. They walked through the campus to the other side where the dorms were. It wasn't late, but the sun was getting lower and lower by the moment.

"So is Sam still here?"

"Yeah, she has to get ready for our party as well as she's been in charge of the study halls until the end of the semester."

"Sounds really nice."

"Yeah, Sandra said she'd log it in as volunteer hours."

"Great, and Sam's major is in education, right?"

"Yeah, she wants to be a high school science teacher."

"Wow, so what does she want to teach?"

"She always loved chem in high school, so she'd probably try to teach that."

Nyssa opened the door for Sara and followed her in, letting Sara quickly show the security guard her key card before they headed up the small staircase to her room. Nyssa jogged up after Sara, holding her keycard out to scan lock and open the door. She took a moment before turning to Sara.

"Everything good? You've been actin' a bit different."

"I'm just… thinking."

"Okay, if there's anything on your mind, you can talk to me. We're friends, you know?"

"Yeah." She nodded, walking into her room.

Sara watched her as they pulled out Nyssa's laptop and logged in to her own Netflix account. She began to search for the film.

"There is actually something bothering me…"

Sara partially closed the laptop and looked at her. "What's up, dude?"

"I just… I feel like I can tell you, but I don't know if I should." Nyssa processed, waiting for Sara to maybe tell her to not tell her, but at the same time, she knew that she could tell her anything and Sara would respect her. "I know I've been cryptic about my family, to say the least, I just don't really know where to start. I could start with my sister's mom leaving my dad when she was 4 or my dad moving here with his family's business. But I don't know."

"Take your time."

"Well, ever since I was born, I lived in a beautiful house in a less than ideal area most Iraqi refugees moved to or were drawn to. I never knew why people treated me and Talia so well compared to the other girls. When I got older, I learned that my dad provided protection with less than legal tactics." She explained; Nyssa really didn't know why she was telling her these details about herself, but the words flowed out faster than she could stop them. "Then my mom got deported in 2018."

"What, why?!"

"My dad said that he wasn't able to keep her here because she was living here on a green card and not as a refugee like him and Talia." She glanced at Sara for a moment and lifted up the laptop screen. "So if cheating won't make things better, then we should just make the world better."

Sara grabbed her hand at the top of the screen and waited. "I'm sorry that that happened."

"You weren't the one who sorted through and rejected green cards, and then sent I.C.E. to my front door to send her back to Taiwan."

"No, I wasn't, but I'm still-"

"Let's just watch this crappy movie. I mean, how bad can it be. It has Winona Ryder. She was awesome in Heathers and Beetlejuice."

"Oh, you would be so surprised," Sara smirked as she played the film.

Sara pulled the laptop further up onto her lap as dramatic music swelled in the background of this dark red and black film. A cross fell onto the ground as Gary Oldman explained how the Turks took invaded Transylvania. As usual, they chimed in with their usual commentary.

"As if it wasn't enough to show their symbol covering the fuckin' map." Sara chuckled.

"Turk, Turks, Turks are scary." Nyssa sang as a hand with a sword cheesily graced the screen. "Wait, what the heck?"

"Ooh, hot Gary Oldman." Sara pointed out.

"Wrong audience. Where's Winona?" She asked, "Wait, are they Anubis soldiers? Oh, there's Winona."

"Wow, that is some age difference."

"Woah 'kay, they are just suckin' face in front of God."

"Yeah, again, the fuck?"

"Wait, wait! Did we just switch to kabuki theatre?"

"Hmm… yeah, why the jackal helmets? I that even historically correct?"

"Oh, they're actually speaking Romanian."

They watched as Gary Oldman cursed god in Romanian at his wife's death.

"He just stabbed a cross," Sara remarked.

"And there's blood everywhere. Why is the cross bleeding?"

"Wait, that's a lot of fuckin' blood."

"What?"

"And welcome to Bram Stoker's Dracula."

"What?!"

They continued to watch this trainwreck of a film from Keanu Reeves' poor on and off accent to the awkward no chemistry love between him and Winona Ryder.

"I love you, Mina." Sara mocked in Keanu's robot accent.

"The peacock feathers, you think that's a sign for-"

"Them boning, yup."

"How old is this movie?"

Sara shrugged and pulled out her phone. "Over 25 years old now."

"How long is this movie?" She asked reaching for the touchpad.

"A buh-buh-buh-buh! It ends when it ends." Sara smirked.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I want you to suffer through this without knowing when it ends."

"What is happening? Woah, crow guy's hand."

"I think I'd shit myself if I looked over that ledge."

"Me too."

"What the hell is that crappy editing?"

"The 90s man."

"Wow, he looks like Emperor Palpatine."

"I mean, I have to give it to him, his… accent it pretty good?" Sara said as Gary Oldman cut his hand with a sword.

"What the fuck are we watching?" Nyssa asked.

"I don't know."

They were only sixteen minutes into this movie and already, they could see how poorly aged it was.

"What's the pay off to watching this?"

"There's a sexy Winona, a lesbian kiss, and weirdly sexual moments and moaning instead of screams for some reason. It's a really sexual and sensual movie for, like, no reason."

"Hmm… well too late to turn back now."

They watched as the film continued on to Mina and Lucy back in England. Nyssa really did see how this film to become extremely sexual with the Arabian Nights section and Lucy feeling up one of her suitors. They had switched to the insane asylum with the doctor who eats bugs and crazily wants to own a kitten or wild cat to feed. Nyssa tried to watch the film, but not only was it so weird, but Sara was really distracting especially when they got to the more sexual scenes. As the vampires were about to go down on Keanu Reeves, Nyssa paused the movie and took a deep breath. Sara lowered the screen to hide the length of the movie.

"Too hot for you?" Sara taunted. "I mean, it was a lot of, like, nipple play and shit."

Nyssa shook her head and quickly kissed her.

Sara glanced at her, unsure at first about what was happening, and kissed her back. It was satisfying, the way Nyssa kissed her; and Sara admitted to herself that as her friend pulled her close by her crew neck collar, it really made her heart beat a bit faster. How her fingers reached up to the small blonde hairs at the back of her neck and threaded across until her hand was clamped over the back of her neck and she lightly squeezed her spine.

Sara slid over and placed her hand on her jaw. The laptop loudly clattered against the wall as she twisted closer to Nyssa.

"Fuck," Sara muttered as she reached for the computer.

Nyssa pulled away first, looking into her sky blue eyes. "I actually have a few things to tell you."

"You don't say."

"I really like you, Sara."

"Yeah, I can tell."

"No, I mean when I first met you, I fell for you," Nyssa explained.

"I… wait, so at that Halloween party, were you jealous?"

"Yeah." Nyssa muttered, "I was too scared to tell you how I felt, though."

"Well, you still had a girlfriend. I don't blame you." Sara nodded, "And if I'm being honest, then I fell for you pretty quickly, hell, for the longest time, you were the "Pretty One" in my contacts. I just didn't know how to tell you. I'm kinda glad you kissed me."

"Me, too," Nyssa smirked as she played the movie again.

Sara chuckled and lunged over to kiss her again, gripping her hip to stay balanced. Nyssa held onto her bicep as she tried to stay on the twin bed.

Sara chuckled as Nyssa pulled away again, this time steadying the laptop so they could continue to watch the movie.

"This is a better movie than Twilight."

"Yeah, but not much better."

Nyssa shrugged and continued to watch Dracula while Sara shifted into Nyssa's bright red and pastel yellow pillows.

It was almost completely quiet in the dorms; save for the muffled conversations from the hallway as Nyssa woke up. Sunlight blared into the small messy room that was filled with empty and partially full boxes, and rays refracted into her eyes. She looked at the fully opened curtains, squinting at the harsh brightness. Her gaze wavered down to Sara- who was no longer relaxed into the pillow, but tucked against Nyssa's embrace- as she slept soundly. She watched as Sara's chest rose and relaxed with every breath she took.

Nyssa felt her heart beat faster as she regarded Sara's position. She looked at her arm- which was lazily draped over her stomach- and her messy blonde hair that partially covered her face from the sun. Sara's head was a dead weight against her heart, listening in her sleep to every beat.

Nyssa remembered watching her friend drift off to the seemingly endless movie, but she didn't realize that they would end up in this position. She knew that she had to start packing before driving back to Newport, but she also didn't want to wake Sara as she got ready. Nyssa gently lifted Sara's arm from across her body and placed it next to her. She then slipped her hand under her friend's head and gently set it on the pillow.

Nyssa slipped out of her spot and began to pack the smaller items in a small box by the window. As much as she hated going home, she couldn't wait to see her friends again, something to distract her about what happened between her and Sara. It took so long for her to build up the confidence, she was torn between being with her or just focusing on her studies. Nyssa glanced back at her friend- still slumped into the bed- and placed her laptop in the box with the charger and mouse bundled up. Nyssa crawled to the edge of the bed and searched for the case.

THUNK

SSSKSH

Nyssa cursed to herself as she heard the case fall off of the cross hatch under her bed and slide even further under her bed. She hit her head against the mattress and crawled down to her stomach, pushing her way under to search for the case.

"Nyssa?" Sara called from the bed. "Whatcha doin' down there buddy?"

"Oh, you know, packing."

"Want help?"

"I mean, with some of my other things yeah, we never really got to it," Nyssa explained, sliding out from under her bed with the computer case. "You know… because of the… our… or the… kiss."

"Yeah, we… kissed, and I feel okay about it."

"Me, too."

"Anyway, what'd you think about the movie?"

Nyssa shrugged and smirked, "It was not a great film at all. I spent the rest of the time wondering when it would end."

"When'd you fall asleep?"

"I remember, like, a chase." Nyssa began to laugh as she packed her clothes, "Keanu Reeves' accent was so bad!"

"I know right?"

"It's like a surfer dude and an Aussie had a baby." Nyss chuckled, sliding a box closed.

"But we should really talk about last night." Sara offered, folding a shirt.

"Do we have to?"

"No, no we don't."

"But, we should, shouldn't we?"

"Probably." She shrugged. Sara sat on the bed after closing the clothes box, "Come here; this can wait."

Nyssa slumped down next to Sara, trying not to make eye contact with her, but feeling those icy blue eyes on her anyway. She kind of felt like a dog; while Sara wasn't in her sight, she felt like she was hidden enough to stay away from the necessary conversation. Sara wanted to reach out to Nyssa but knew that that would only make Nyssa more closed off.

"We don't have to actually talk about the kiss, we can talk about other things, too. You know, if you have any questions for or about me, now's the perfect time to ask me."

"How many people have you dated?"

"Oh, umm… three, four, four? Yeah, four people, officially." Sara explained. "Three boys and a girl. The only one my parents approved of was this boy named Clayton, but he was kind of an asshole."

"My dad never really approved of any of the boys I dated. He said that they weren't "The Right Ones" for me. He sort of accepted that I was gay, moreover that he didn't want to lose me."

"What about Abbey?"

"It helped that she was an Iraqi-Yemeni-Omanis girl, so I was kind of dating in my racial group like the other kids in my area, but she was fourth gen not second like me"

"Fourth gen?"

"Her great-grandparents immigrated here. It's just a stupid thing my dad had a problem with. I mean, why put that pressure on us when he was with my mom, who- by the way- wasn't even middle eastern? Anyway, what about you?"

"I mean, my parents weren't really surprised that I was bi. They just wanted me to find anyone who was good enough for me… or that I was good enough for." Sara glanced over at Nyssa, gauging her reaction, "And… I think I've found them."

"Oh, yeah, who?" Nyssa scoffed.

"Oliver Queen." Sara shrugged before rolling her eyes, "You, of course."

"So… what does this mean for us?"

"I mean, I wouldn't protest dating?"

"Neither would I." Nyssa shrugged, trying to control her blushing cheeks.

Sara chuckled and pecked her cheek, watching as a dark spread of blush spread across her face.