The first day of classes went better than expected. Most of the girls were attentive listeners , which Misty was not used to. It helped that Cordelia had agreed to sit in on Misty's classes for the first two weeks. She was usually reading over forms and grading papers, but the moral support was still comforting. A week had gone by,and Misty was still just as nervous as she'd been the first day.

"Do you think they even listen to me?" Misty asked one day during lunch.

"Of course they do," said Zoe.

"Cordelia would probably have them sent home if they even look at you wrong, "said Queenie licking the French fry grease off her fingers.

"But what happens when she's not there?" Misty asked nervously.

"I was just kidding. Well, sort of. I'm sure you'll do fine, " said Queenie.

Misty tried to hide her disdain been Queenie bit into her jumbo jack burger. The smell was nauseating, not that Misty was hungry anyway.

"Where's Zoe?" Misty asked.

"She went with Kyle on a campus tour. I don't remember where," said Queenie still chewing her food.

Misty walked away to keep herself from getting sick. This was a regular occurrence, especially when she ate lunch with just Queenie. There was no one else to talk to or look at. She made small talk with a few of the girls before deciding to go to her room. As she opened her bedroom door, she saw Kyle and Zoe naked and humping like rabbits...on Misty's bed!

"Oh," Misty gasped and immediately shut the door.

"So much for taking a nap before my last class," Misty mumbled to herself.

Then she accidentally bumped into a short stocky blonde girl.

"Sorry, Dawn, " Misty apologized.

"It's fine. What you doing up here?" asked Dawn.

"I was gonna nap before my last class, but my room is...occupied, " said Misty.

"I guess they got back from Tulane early, " said Dawn.

"Yeah..."

"You can use my room, " Dawn offered.

"No, thank you. I think I'll just go to the greenhouse, " said Misty.

"Well, if you ever change your mind about that nap, let me know, " said Dawn with a wink.

"Okay?" Misty said obviously oblivious.

After classes were over, Misty tried to catch Cordelia's attention, but she seemed to be purposely avoiding her. Cordelia did this a lot. The only time they really spent together was at night. Misty enjoyed sleeping in Cordelia's bed very much, but she also wanted to spend more waking hours with her.

"Miss Cordelia?" said Misty making one more attempt.

"Oh, hi, Misty, " said Cordelia distantly.

Before Misty could say anything else, Cordelia was walking away with her cell phone pressed to her ear. Misty hung her head in disappointment.

"Hi," said Zoe startling Misty.

"Hi,"said Misty awkwardly.

"Sorry about earlier. We weren't expecting you, " said Zoe.

"Obviously. You couldn't have used your own bed?" Misty said trying to shake the image from her head.

"Why? You never sleep in it," said Zoe.

"Then why is that exactly what I was trying to do earlier? " Misty snapped.

"I said I was sorry. What more do you want? " Zoe snapped back.

What more did she want? Maybe some consideration for once.

"I'm not in the mood to talk about this," said Misty walking away.

"Misty, what's wrong? " asked a girl with Misty hadn't recalled seeing before.

"Just tired, " said Misty still walking.

Misty spent the rest of the day in her room. She stripped her bed of its sheets and comforter and lied down on the bare mattress. She wondered if anyone in this damn house thought of anyone besides themselves...besides Cordelia. Cordelia never seemed to do anything but what she thought was best for those girls. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Leave me alone, Zoe. You have a key. Use it, " Misty said without looking up.

"It's not Zoe."

It wasn't? Jesus, what time was it? 12, 1 a.m.? Misty walked to the door and opened it.

"Dawn? " asked Misty scratching her head.

"So your roommates are out, huh?" Dawn asked letting herself in.

"Yeah. What do you want? " Misty asked impatiently.

"Who said I wanted anything? " asked Dawn taken aback.

"Sorry, long day," said Misty sitting down. Dawn sat down close to her.

"Well, since you mentioned it, there is something I wouldn't mind having, " said Dawn touching the swamp witch's knee.

Misty swallowed hard. This felt all wrong. Dawn's hand slid up Misty's long skirt.

"Wh-what you doing there?" Misty asked tensing up.

"Shhh," Dawn pressed a finger against Misty's lips, her other hand going into Misty's underwear.

"Stop! " shouted Misty forcing the other witch to the other side of the room using her telekinesis.

Dawn hit the wall with a thud. Her eyes grew wild with rage as she rose to her feet. The door opened forcefully.

"What's going on here?" Cordelia demanded.

"It's nothing. Go back to bed," said Misty.

"Dawn, I think it's best you go to bed," said Cordelia.

"Oh, we'll both go to bed...soon," Dawn said winking at Misty when Cordelia wasn't looking.

"Goodnight, Dawn," said Misty stiffly.

"What happened?" Cordelia asked taking one of Misty's hands.

"Nothing, " said Misty jerking it back.

"Misty, I'm not an idiot," said Cordelia looking hurt.

"Neither am I. I don't need you to fight my battles for me," said Misty.

"I'm well aware of that," Cordelia replied walking towards her.

"You could've fooled me. You don't seem aware of anything about me until the sun goes down," said Misty coldly as she walked out of the room into the hall.

Cordelia transported herself into the hall blocking the stairs.

"That's not even fair, " said Misty turning to go the other way.

"Can we please go to my room and talk about this?" Cordelia asked quietly.

"No, we can talk about it right here," said Misty stubbornly.

"Okay, " Cordelia sighed.

The women sat side by side on the stairs. Misty recoiled at every attempt Cordelia made at physical contact. Neither of them spoke for a long time. It was when their eyes met that Misty knew she couldn't freeze her out.

"Are you embarrassed by me?" Misty blurted.

"Of course not," said Cordelia in shock.

"Then what's wrong? Why don't you like being seen with me?" Misty almost shouted.

"Why wouldn't I like being seen with you? " asked Cordelia.

"I don't know. Maybe you're ashamed of the uneducated hillbilly you like to keep on a string," said Misty crossing her arms.

"Is that what you think? " asked Cordelia sounding hurt.

"Why else would you ignore me during the day and claim you can't sleep without me at night? " Misty demanded.

"It's not a claim. I can't sleep when you're not there," said Cordelia, " I've been busy-"

"Don't give me that bull shit! You said you were never too busy for Misty Day," said Misty, her voice rising.

Cordelia sighed deeply.

"Do you want to know why I've been avoiding you? Because I want everyone else to see how wonderful you are, to love you even a hundredth as much as I do because I know no one could love you more. I don't want anyone to think that you're only teaching here because you're fucking the supreme-"

"But we've never-"

"I know that. But they don't. They don't know anything if they think for one minute that I let you teach here other than because you're brilliant, and if you think that all I want from you I'd sex, you don't know me at all," Cordelia finished.

"Wow, Miss Cordelia. I didn't know you cared that much," said Misty letting Cordelia hold her hand at last.

"Of course I do, silly, and as hard as it is not to ravish you right here, right now on this staircase, I'd wait a thousand lifetimes if you wanted me to, " said Cordelia kissing Misty's hand..

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say, " said Misty blushing deeply.

"You have no reason to apologize to me, Misty," said Cordelia taking out her cell phone. This caused Misty to frown.

Every phone in the coven seemed to go off at the same time. Cordelia smiled at the perplexed expression on her beloved's face.

'What the hell?" Misty asked.

"I've just cleared my schedule for tomorrow. No classes, no meetings. I'm all yours, " said Cordelia kissing Misty's lips.

Misty grinned vibrantly and kissed back.