three

so prissy, so awkward

Viridity University, spread out over a couple dozen acres and surrounded by tall, elegant fencing, is all ivy-covered stone and iron benches and sprawling courtyards shaded by squat maple and birch trees. Even the dorm buildings look like they've been transplanted from Europe long before the days of modern plumbing. Which makes sense, considering the Viridity has been around before America was even colonized.

Back in those days, Viridity was a finishing school for wealthy magic-users who didn't understand the meaning of inclusive - but that's not the point. The point is that Viridity sits right over the convergence of ley lines that Ella has felt the moment she stepped foot into Charmstone.

Getting a good taste of the walloping repelling and protection wards - probably carved right into the foundation of the building - Ella finally understands that the college is the center of Charmstone. Not the town square. Not the Adirondack park. But this - this school filled to the brim of people involved in the supernatural world.

A safe haven.

She immediately feels at home in a way that hasn't ever quite clicked. Now, it does.

She resonates at Viridity.

It must show on her face because Carlisle chuckles to himself as he hefts a box into her dorm building - Red Lily Hall, aptly named for the little pond on the nearest courtyard that exclusively caters to red water lilies. It's pretty. She wants to capture the bold shade of carmine, either on film or canvas.

Still, she narrows her eyes at Carlisle. He's red in the face and huffing a bit from the weight of the box. Ella rolls her eyes, mutters a short incantation under her breath, and then snaps her fingers at the remaining suitcase and boxes. Carlisle's burden lifts from his hands, hovering just above his palms.

He frowns at her. "Magic for an arbitrary purpose? Ella, you know better."

"But you're not exactly complaining, are you?" she points out wryly, shouldering past him and trotting up the stairs. The luggage and the rest of her belongings follow along, floating through the air obediently. She looks over her shoulder with a sharp smile as she reaches the second floor. "And it's not like it's cheating, is it?"

"Actually, use of supernatural elements within the dormitories is strictly verboten, unless in case of an emergency," a prim voice says in obvious disapproval. The face belonging to the voice is equally as pristine, with alabaster skin contrasting with a neat dark auburn pixie cut and light green eyes, like peridot. The girl is petite, an inch or so shorter than Ella, and dressed in white skinny jeans, a soft lemon yellow silk blouse, and strappy white sandals embellished with flowers. "Is this an emergency?"

"That sounds a bit judgey," Ella scoffs.

"Well, I am the Resident Advisor for Red Lily Hall, so I have a reserved right to judge as much as I want where applicable," she says, pointedly tapping the clipboard in her hands. "Name?"

She raises her brows and suddenly Ella's magic stirs in recognition of the odd shiver connected to the girl's pale grey lifeline - and the high-pitched whistle in her ears that she already knows only she can hear. Not human, then. Feels a bit cold, like a harbinger.

And kind of bitchy, so she must be a banshee, Ella thinks snidely.

Still, she bites her tongue, trying to keep her tone polite as she answers. "Cullen. Ella Cullen."

The girl pauses. "Cullen?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Oh, Alice," says Carlisle as he reaches the top of the staircase, deftly dodging the still-levitating boxes. He clears his throat, adjusting his glasses nervously.

Alice looks a bit disarmed. "Carlisle. What are you doing here?"

"Helping my daughter move in," he answers, and then makes a strange expression. "That is, my adoptive daughter."

"Thanks," Ella says flatly of his awkward clarification.

"Oh, Ella, I didn't mean-"

She rolls her eyes. "So, what, you two know each other?"

"Ah, that is, Alice is -" Carlisle stops himself, then tries again. "Ella, this is Alice Platt, my…ah, my biological daughter."

The atmosphere in Red Lily Hall just got a lot more awkward.

A/N: Characterizations are taking a sharp left as of now! You've been warned! That artistic license thing? Doing that.

As always, be brutally honest. I can take it.

~cupcakeriot