Yes, I know that I said that I would post this on Saturday. Yes, I know that this is a day late as it is. My apologies. I was detained first by a cold, then by two huge projects that were both due today. But those are done now. And that leaves me to write a long-awaited chapter.

We were in another tie. (Sky always seems to vote with the minority. :P) I really, REALLY did not want to make this decision. It seriously came down to "There's still a tie? Oh, crap... Okay, I've got to go find a quarter..."

In the end, Sissi won. That means more work for me. Sigh... Let's get started.

"Aelita Stones doesn't have a roommate yet."

Xandra's heart leapt, then sank. Though she would have liked to stay with Aelita, who was always very kind to her, Xandra knew that she could not. If Jeremie and Yumi were right, andXandra really did turn out to be XANA, staying with Aelita would be a huge risk. Xandra did not feel like XANA, but... There was no way to be sure.

"And my own daughter, Elizabeth, does not have a roommate either," Principal Delmas continued. He waited expectantly for her reply.

Xandra made her decision. "I'd like to stay with her, then," shetold him."Elizabeth." Delmas paled visibly. "Or not," Xandra added hastily. "I'm okay with-"

"No, no," Delmas said, recovering remarkably fast. "This arrangement is fine."

"This is your room," Delmas said, taking out a little gold key and opening the door. "We'll have you- Oh, Elizabeth, you're still here!"

A girl with long black hair and narrow blue eyes whirled around, half her face covered in makeup. "Daddy!" she screeched. "I told you never to come in without knocking and... Who is that?" She had spotted Xandra.

"This is Xandra Lee," Delmas answered before Xandra could say anything. "She's going to be a new your new roommate."

Elizabeth jumped up. "What!" she howled.

"Now, Elizabeth, calm down..."

She refused to calm down, however. Instead, she grabbed his sleeve and dragged him out of the room into the hallway. Xandra watched their conversation curiously, trying to read their lips. She distinctly saw the words "school board" and "favoritism". Smirking, she put her bags down in the corner of the room and looked around. Everything about the room struck her as - there was no other word for it - girly. The bed was covered in pillows, and the shelves were all covered in plushies, perfumes, and makeup. A picture of a boy-band on the wall, along with a photograph of someone that Xandra recognized as Ulrich. She wondered briefly if they were friends, but decided that this was not likely. Her eyes fell on the lighted mirror that Elizabeth had been fixing her makeup in. Xandra suddenly felt that same overpowering needas she had experienced on the bridge. Moving so quickly, she almost tripped over her own feet, Xandra made her way over to the mirror. She bent down to examine her reflection.

Her skin seemed unnaturally pale, due to the fact that her hair was a very strange color. Stark white with black tips, it fell untidily around herheart-shaped face. High cheekbones made her eyes seem to slant downwards. Her eyes, Xandra remembered, leaning forward to examine them more closely. The only thing that was different from XANA. They were so dark that they were almost black, but if she looked closer, she noticed that they were actually a very dark raspberry color.

"Wow," she said, tracing her lips. It was amazing. The face belonged toher, yet it might as well have belonged to a stranger. She did not recognize herself at all.

"Hey!" came the voice from the door. Elizabeth stormed in, looking sullen. "You better not have touched anything. Don't EVER touch my stuff, got it?"

"Sorry," Xandra said quickly, stepping back. Her new roommate strode past her to finish her makeup. A slightly awkward pause followed. "Um... so..." Xandracast around for a conversation topic. "Where should I put my stuff, Elizabeth?"

The girl scoweled. "Don't call me that!" she snapped. "No one calls me that. My name is Sissi." Sissi paused to apply mascara. "And stop looking at yourself in the mirror," she added. "You'd think that you'd never seen yourself before." How close she was to the truth.

Yes, I know it's short. To make up for it, here's a sketch of Xandra.

EDIT: The sketch didn't work. Dunno why. Trying again.

i157. photobucket. com/albums/t71/threebluedolphins/Xandraimg1 .jpg

There. Hopefully that works this time. Remove the spaces.

This question does, in fact, pertain to the next chapter. Should there be any form of romance?