Saturday, August 30th, 2013 - Girls' Dormitory: Room 221

'Sky is light…'

'You caught the light…'

Victoria's green eyes flutter open, slowly adjusting to the morning light that filters through her blinds as the dreamy, almost ethereal music playing through her speakers swells and then begins to fade away, leaving behind only soft, soothing vocals to serenade her awake.

She smiles dreamily, raising her arms over her head as she lifts her hips up from the surface of her silk sheets to contort into a languid, luxurious stretch. Her lips part to release a high-pitched, satisfied "heeee…!" as her spine pops, sending waves of pleasant tingling throughout her body.

'You carried mine…'

'You caught the light…'

She crosses her outstretched arms in front of her while sitting up into another lazy stretch, curling her toes into the fuzzy carpet at her bedside. She has no idea what time it is save for a vague-sense of mid-morning, and loves the fact that said knowledge is wholly unnecessary. It is days yet before classes will start, and while she has any number of errands to perform between now and then, she's in no particular hurry to tackle any of them at the moment.

The music swells again into the track's outro, and she reaches over to adjust the volume knob upward, rolling her neck as she does. She idly contemplates the dream she was having just before she awoke, now mostly faded like so much mist, leaving behind only vague sensations of brightness, comfort, and warmth. Like the promise of a new day. A good day.

She is one of the first students to have moved into the Blackwell Academy Girls' Dormitory, and, as far as she's aware, the only one so far on this floor, so she settles on leaving the volume at just under 'mild cacophony'… loud enough to be heard from the bathroom down the hall that is even now calling out its sweet siren's song to her bladder. She shivers as the cool morning air teases goosebumps out of her mostly bare skin, so she grabs a pair of ankle length socks and an oversized t-shirt from her nearby dresser to accompany the lacy underwear she'd been sleeping in before braving the empty hall beyond her door.

The stereo shuffles to a poppy 80's-era track, one of her favorites, and she grins with nostalgia as she lopes to her door, exulting at the feel of the bass and synth-heavy music vibrating through her body. Opening the door wide and feeling a bit impish in her current attire, she takes a running start to perform a Risky Business-esque slide along the freshly buffed hallway floor.

It isn't until she hears the surprised, melodic laughter emanating from the unexpectedly open door to her right that Victoria realizes she isn't, in fact, alone on the floor this sunny morning. The sound of it causes her to nearly leap out of her skin, a startled and decidedly non-demure squeak escaping her mouth in the process.

Her socks fail to gain enough traction to stop her skid until she's about a foot past the source of the mysterious sound, but once she finally manages it Victoria turns to face the girl - her new neighbor, presumably - standing in the open entrance to room 220, hand raised to hide her laughter in an adorably lady-like fashion.

The girl before her has honey-colored hair done up in a loose, tasteful bun. Perhaps a bit old-fashioned but it suits her well. She's wearing a thin sweatshirt that doesn't quite do the job of hiding the curves she has hidden underneath, sneakers, and a pair of unassuming blue jeans that Courtney (and, ok, Victoria too, she is a catty bitch after all) would surely refer to derisively as "Mom jeans"... but again, she has the hips to make them just work.

On top of that, her face is striking. Flawless pale skin. Red lips that curve deliciously. Expressive, hazel eyes that are twinkling with mirth and amusement at the sight before her.

Sure, she may not be what is commonly considered Victoria's "type", if such a thing even exists.

But...

This girl is cute. Like, really cute. Like "Hey, I know we just met, but I just realized that I don't have a stitch of make-up on right now and my hair is probably a mess and can we just rewind a few minutes back so I can make myself a bit more presentable please?"-kind of cute.

Oh well, nothing for it now. Victoria feels as though she already looks like enough of a goober as it is. Fleeing to the safety of her room at this point to do herself up would only compound the issue. Might as well just try to roll with it.

"Hi!" the girl calls out over the thumping bass, punctuating it with a friendly little wave. "Kate Marsh!"

Victoria steps in closer so that they don't have to shout quite so much to hear each other (because sure that's as good an excuse as any right?) and holds out a hand to her new neighbor.

"Nice to meet you. Victoria."

She always, always stresses that she is, first and foremost, a Chase. But today it just doesn't feel that important. Victoria will do for now.

Kate accepts the offered hand with one of her own, and gives it a gentle squeeze. Looking up and to the left, she says "Vic-tor-i-a", teasing out the name as though testing the feel of it on her tongue.

Apparently approving of the result, Kate beams at the person in question… and it's one of those smiles that makes the room seem suddenly twice as bright. Victoria's breath catches in her throat.

...but I only want to see you smile again

The sight makes her want to smile and cry at the same time. Victoria opts for the former.

Realizing that she has perhaps squeezed the delicate hand, an artist's hand, in hers a touch too long, Victoria reluctantly lets it go. Nonchalantly running her own newly empty hand through her hair and oh Christ it's awful and frizzy and kinking up at the ends and this is why you take an hour to get ready every morning dumbass, she leans her left shoulder up against the wall and asks "So, what's your obsession?"

This seems to startle the hazel-eyed girl, whose dirty-blonde eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Her left hand raises up to her chest as if to clutch at something Victoria can't see, but she lets it fall back to her side. "Ob- obsession?" she stammers.

Victoria can't help but appreciate the way her lips curve into a little "o" shape at the end of the word. Seriously, is she wearing lipstick or are they just naturally this red and delectable—

Now the girl is giggling again, biting one of those very same lips and smiling shyly.

Shit, she just caught me staring, didn't she? Real smooth, Vic!

Returning her gaze back to those twinkling hazel orbs, Victoria does her best to recover while her cheeks grow hot. "Y-yeah, what's your area of specialty? Please don't tell me you're one of those nerds taking up a spot at an art school to study Chemistry."

"Oh!" she laughs, and there's that shape aga- nope, Vic, her eyes are right there, keep it together please.

"I guess if I had to pick only one it would be illustration. I've always wanted to draw children's books, among other things."

"Géniale! I'd love to see some of your work. I'm a photographer, perhaps we can exchange portfolios sometime?"

"Yes, that would be great!" the girl grins, a flush starting to form on her own cheeks. After a moment she looks up toward the ceiling, nodding her head and twitching her hips a bit in perfect time with the beat. "This song is really interesting. I don't think I've heard it before?"

Victoria returns the grin. "Ah, it is a bit before our time, I guess. It's called 'True Faith', by New Order." The girl's hazel eyes widen a bit at this, before her smile takes on a rueful tinge as though she were just reminded of an inside joke. "Most people know it from the night club scene in American Psycho."

Kate most certainly did not need to know that Victoria discovered the song several years back while googling "Neon Genesis Evangelion Anime Music Videos", or that it led to a secret obsession with synth-pop from 80s classics all the way to avant garde modern bands like Jack Antonoff's as-yet unreleased Bleachers project. Not really a "just met" topic of conversation as far as Victoria was concerned. Hell, a lot of people she's known for years don't know most of that, and she aims to keep it that way.

"Umm… sorry about the volume, though. I thought I was the only one here" she grins sheepishly.

"No, it's fine. I really like it!" Kate beams again, and Victoria's stomach lightly flutters as she considers her next words.

Finally she extends her left arm, bending the wrist back to present her phone to the mysteriously captivating girl. "Well... I could send you a link to the video. If you don't mind giving me your number, that is."

Kate doesn't say anything for quite some time after that. She just looks at her, quizzically. Contemplatively.

Victoria's glad she doesn't have any place in particular to be at the moment, because she feels like those hazel eyes are pinning her to the wall.

That wasn't too weird an ask, was it? I mean we're neighbors so it would make sense to exchange info anyway, right?

Those delicate artists hands hesitantly reach out to take her phone. Then, with one final, questioning glance, she looks back down at the device and begins tapping quickly. Her face is lit up with one of those half-shy smile/half-lip bites as she finishes up and hands it back.

Victoria just smiles back for a long moment, not really saying anything but not particularly feeling a need to fill the silence. But when the sound of heavy tromping feet begin to echo out from beyond the propped-open stairwell door, the other girl's eyes widen. "Oh! Umm, my dad is bringing in more boxes from the car..."

"Yeah?" Victoria asks, her brow furrowing in confusion. "Does he need help or something...?"

Kate just grins sheepishly, spots of red blooming on her cheeks. Then she glances down at Victoria's legs.

When Victoria's eyes follow Kate's she realizes that aside from her socks and t-shirt, which hangs low enough to conceal the lace of her underwear from view but only just, she doesn't have a bit of clothing on.

"Shit!" she yelps, and nearly jumps again as she flees past her giggling new neighbor for the safety of her room. So much for not looking like more of a total goober!

"A pleasure to meet you, Vic-tor-i-a!" Kate calls after her in a sing-song voice. Once Victoria peeks back out from behind her doorway, she can see the girl grinning... eyes once again twinkling with amusement. Despite her cheeks and ears blazing from embarrassment, she can't help but return it.

"All mine, Marsh."

Monday, September 2nd, 2013 - Girls' Dormitory: Shower Room

Letting out a long, languid sigh, Victoria closes her eyes and allows the just-shy of too hot water continue to rush over her for a couple more minutes. Tomorrow is the first day of class, and since most of the student residents will be moved in by the end of the day, this is her last chance to really enjoy a nice shower without having to worry about the hot water running out or stepping out to see a line of floor-mates lined up with their resting bitch-faces and snitty comments about shower-hogging prepped and ready.

Not that she wouldn't do that a few times on purpose anyway, obviously. It was good to show people who was in charge right from the jump... but these past few days of just being Victoria and not the Bitch Queen of Blackwell or Sole Heir to the Chase Family fortune had been especially pleasant.

Victoria smiles. Of course, she'd be a liar if she said her new neighbor hadn't been part of what made it so.

After that fateful meeting a couple days ago, Victoria had spent several minutes face down on her bed with her head buried in her pillow, trying desperately to will the embarrassed flush from her face. She hadn't been at all prepared to meet someone new that day. Hell, she hadn't even been prepared to meet someone she already knew, for that matter. Her armor, the very persona of Victoria Chase that she carefully crafted over years of parental neglect, social climbing, and self-protection wasn't up yet. She had been caught in a moment of vulnerability. It was... unthinkable. Unacceptable.

However, the more she went over it in her mind, the more she thought that maybe it wasn't so bad. Sure, she'd looked like a disaster running through the halls unkempt and half-naked. But she made a pretty girl smile in the process, and even got her number to boot, so... that sure as hell wasn't nothing.

She and Kate had mostly only seen each other in passing since then. Each time Victoria saw her, she was struck by the sense of quiet grace the girl seemed to possess, reserved but always quick with a greeting and a sweet smile. Sometimes she would look into those hazel eyes and would get a feeling like that of hearing a beautiful song that you've associated with a painful memory. Joyous and inexplicably sad at the same time. Bittersweet in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on.

They had also texted back and forth a bit, which made Victoria a bit more comfortable being flirtatious. Test the waters with an innuendo here, an "xoxo" there, that sort of thing. Of course it was still early days yet, but there did seem to be some potential there. At least she didn't get the sense from Kate's responses that a door was being slammed in her face, so there was that at least.

Victoria even took Kate on her invitation to drop by and "pet her rabbit", and while she was slightly disappointed that it was not, in fact, innuendo after all, she couldn't complain too much. You could tell just from a glance that she was soft and warm, and you felt like you could just cuddle her for hours and hours if given the chance.

And the rabbit, Alice, wasn't half-bad either! BA-DUM tsshh...

But seriously though, snuggling with Alice was just the best thing. It made her retroactively hate her parents even more for not letting her get the orange and gold striped kitten she'd desperately wanted when she was ten.

She had brought one of her favorite photo albums along with, and watching Kate's eyes as they pored over the shots, her shots, was at the same time thrilling and nerve-wracking. She may have squeezed Alice a bit too tight each time the girl would gush over some particular aspect of a shot she really liked. Alice may have agreed, if the little warning bite mark Victoria received on her right arm was any indication.

She also found out that she and Kate would be sharing Mark Jefferson's afternoon photography class, which was another little something to look forward to.

At one point Victoria worked up the nerve to float the relationship question. After all, as cute as Kate was, if she was already dating someone or, more importantly, wasn't into women then she would know to back off, much as she didn't like the thought of it.

"So, do you have anyone waiting for you back home? Like a boyfriend or...?" Statistically speaking that was most likely. Blackwell may primarily be an art school, and thus one of the most liberal in the state, but there's no way everybody there could be gay.

Right?

But the way Kate's face fell before she turned to look away made Victoria feel like an asshole for asking. She didn't want to bring up a sore subject or anything, since it was just a fact finding mission after all. Not wanting to push it any further, she settled for quietly petting Alice some more instead.

Soon enough, Kate turned back to look at her, rolling her eyes as she wiped at a tear trying to form in the corner of one, her cheeks pink.

"Sorry, I'm just being ridiculous. There's... someone I've had feelings for for a long time, but... I guess you can say it's one sided. It's only ever been real for me."

Victoria reached over and gave Kate's knee a gentle squeeze. "Hey, that is not ridiculous. Like, at all. But if this person doesn't like you back, it's their loss. A cute girl like you won't have any problem finding a special someone here, I promise."

Kate gave her a long, searching look, her face growing another shade redder. "You... You really think so?"

"Oh yeah. They'll be lined up down the hall. You'll probably need to hire a doorman."

That earned her a roll of those hazel eyes, but Kate smirked despite herself. "Yeah right. Does that mean you're volunteering for the job?"

Victoria coughed, and it was her turn to blush. "Mmm, I don't think you want me to be your doorman. I can be very... selective."

Kate looked away again before murmuring something like "can't possibly be more selective than I've already been..."

From there the conversation moved on to more mundane things, nothing especially heavy or invasive. The fact that Kate plays violin. Class schedules, and which they were least and most looking forward to. Hometowns, and options for shopping (or lack thereof) around Arcadia Bay.

And soon enough they had to part ways for the day, as Kate still had a lot of unpacking to do and Victoria had a hang session with Nathan planned. But when she left the room Victoria felt nice. Kind of floaty. She certainly felt like there was a vibe. And while Kate having baggage of the unrequited love variety wasn't ideal, she had said "someone". Not "a guy" or "he" so... Victoria could work with that.

Victoria sighs wistfully, blowing tiny droplets of water back toward the wall beneath the showerhead. The "couple minutes" she'd allowed herself were long gone now, and if she stays much longer she's risking coming out all prune-y. However, standing there in a swirl of steam and warmth while thoughts of Kate played in her mind just felt so nice.

Maybe a little too nice. It was kind of hard not to notice the way her hands, which had started out cradled against her chest in an almost prayer-like pose in an effort to get as much of her body under the hot stream as she could, seemed like they wanted to migrate further south when particular thoughts crossed her mind.

She grins sheepishly. Those darn hands sure can be inappropriate at times, but it did seem like a theory interesting enough to be worth testing, so...

Sure enough, recalling the gleam in those hazel eyes when she'd called Kate "cute" had those awfully disobedient hands travelling across the swell of her breasts. Her fingernails scrape gently over her taut stomach at images of red lips and musings on how they taste. Imagining helping the girl shimmy out of those "Mom jeans" had them making a detour to her hips, as though mimicking the motions. Victoria bites her lower lip at the thought of honey-blonde hair shaking loose from its bun, her fingertips caressing her thighs as they inexorably move inward...

The sound of the bathroom door opening has those hands instinctively shooting back up to protectively clutch at their opposing arms. Shit.

Not that it was unthinkable for Victoria to continue or anything, but that particular moment with those particular thoughts isn't something she wanted to experience with some random dorm-rat standing nearby. Not when the solitude of her room, where she can really take her time with it, is less than a couple dozen feet away. Also, unless Samuel has magically become a master plumber over the years, she's pretty sure the sinks being used would still likely send a blast of ice-cold water coursing out of her shower-head, which would be a mood-killer if there ever was one.

Heaving out a third and final sigh, she finally turns off the water and reaches past the inner curtain for her towel.

She stops mid-grab, however, when she hears the melodic humming of a decidedly familiar tune emanating from the direction of the sink on the opposite side of her shower curtain.

When the humming evolves into a sweet voice quietly singing out the words to a very particular song, she has half a mind to turn the shower back on.

Instead, she grins devilishly.

"I used to think that the day would never come... I'd see the light in the shade of the morning sun... My morning sun hmm-hmm-hmm hmm brings me near... To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear..."

...

So... here's the thing.

What Victoria does next is, admittedly, slightly more bold a move than she'd usually consider. Normally she'd go for something a bit more subtly seductive, like toying with the buttons on her blouse and offering to let her "draw me like one of your French girls..."

Or, given her current audience, something cutesy and innocent like a note under her door that reads: "Do you like me? Circle one: Yes || Oui || Si"

However... she is still a bit "revved up" from those final, interrupted shower moments. Plus, the girl on the other side of that thin sheet of plastic did have the audacity to make Victoria think filthy things in the middle of a public bathroom. So, at the end of the day, who is really to blame here?

Then there's the fact that adding another facial expression to the collection of still frames taking residence in Victoria's mental DSLR is just too delicious of an opportunity to pass up.

So while the girl at the sink merrily sings away, Victoria balls up her towel and stuffs it out of sight as best she can. She'll come back for it later, but for now maintaining the ruse is of paramount importance. Then with one hand on the shower curtain, she awaits the perfect moment, channeling all the confidence she can muster to keep nerves and shame at bay as she takes a quick peek from behind the curtain. There will be time for those later, too.

Right now, she is a Huntress. And Kate, clad in a white tee with a floral stencil on the chest and cute green PJs that do not do much to hide that shapely little butt of hers, is a tasty little morsel of a rabbit, unaware that she is destined to become Victoria's next meal.

"... hmm hmm hmm a very small boy, very small boys talked to me..."

Victoria takes a deep breath and holds, pursing her lips and tilting her chin up to give her neck that perfect contour to match her body-line, her green eyes half-lidded and blazing with anticipation.

The Huntress takes a deep breath and holds, drawing a bead on her prey as she pulls back the taut string of her bow.

"... but now that we've grown up together, they're afraid of what they see..."

"Are you...?" Victoria calls out, her voice a throaty half-purr. She waits half a beat and then...

She takes the shot.

Cocking her hip to the side, she yanks open the curtain with her right hand just in time to catch Kate in mid-turn toward the sound of her voice. Just in time for the girl to see her in alllll her God-given glory.

"... afraid of what you see...?"

The rabbit has only time enough to look up to see the doom that swiftly approaches her.

Victoria has to fight to keep the sultry pout on her lips and the look of feigned indifference on her face as Kate freezes, eyes going so wide they appear to be trying to swallow her entire head. Her mouth hangs partially open, either from shock or from half-formed words left unsaid, and her cheeks color from pale to salmon to pink to crimson to bright, nearly glowing scarlet in record time.

She can't help but break into an amused smirk as a look of realization passes over Kate's face that she is, indeed, standing there staring at Victoria, fully nude save for her rubber shower shoes and still dripping from the shower. Then the girl jumps - literally jumps - in an effort to turn away from the sight before her... and actually yelps when the motion ends with her staring at Victoria through the mirror instead.

"Vic... VICTORIA!" she cries out, making a final 45-ish degree turn to safely face the tiled walls in the far corner of the room.

"Oh I'm so sorry, Marsh. I forgot my towel you see and, well, I guess I'm still getting used to not having this place all to myself. Good thing it's just us girls, right?" She lightly brushes the girl's back with still damp fingertips as she moves to pass by, and ohoho did she shiver just now?!

Victoria casually lopes toward the door, for all the world as though she has no particular place to be and is in no hurry to get there. She keeps an eye cast over her shoulder as she slowly creaks the door open, and her smirk shifts to a delighted grin at the sight of Kate taking the quickest of peeks at her retreating form. Victoria doesn't miss the dark glimmer in those hazel eyes just before she turns to face the wall again, her cheeks burning even redder than seemed humanly possible. Oh yeah, the image of that look is definitely getting saved for later.

Victoria closes her eyes and bites her lip again as the door swings closed behind her, suppressing the urge to do a little victory dance.

Staaaarting to get a feeling this year is gonna be fuuunnnn~~!

Only then does she realize, having not thought this phase of the plan through as fully as she perhaps should have, that she's now standing naked in the middle of the short passage leading from the main hallway to the shower room. On the morning of the final day before classes start, with each minute that passes bringing the risk of even more kids and maybe even some parents strolling on in to check out their new digs. She can actually hear excited chatter coming from an open door somewhere to the left.

Herself now blushing furiously, Victoria leans to take a quick glance up and down the main hall. Thanking God, Satan, Buddha, and anyone else who's listening that the way is clear, she makes a full on bolt for her room, hoping all the way that Kate can't hear the moist, slapping SQUELCH her shower shoes leave behind with each hurried step.

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013 - Girls' Dormitory: Room 221

Victoria studiously inspects the reflection peering back at her from the standing mirror beside her door. She may have agonized over her appearance longer than normal this morning, but hey, it is the first day of classes after all. Her first day as a senior. Her first day as the reigning, undisputed Queen of Blackwell Academy Class of 2014. It's crucial to ensure a strong sense of brand awareness amongst her peers right from the start.

It's also the first day that... any new students will be getting the full-on Victoria Chase experience. That thought inspires more nerves than she would ever admit aloud.

Let's see now... Hair? Every strand perfectly straight, perfectly in place. Check. Make-up? Even Courtney would be proud. Check. Outfit? Favorite red top with resplendent gold collar, accessorized by the fantastically expensive gold watch on her left wrist and matching gold bracelet on her right, and of course her customary crystal necklace. The look completed by a tantalizingly short black skirt, complimentary leggings, and cute silvery shoes polished to a shine.

Check, Check, Check annnnnnd CHECK.

She opens her door just a crack, leaving her hand to rest gently on the knob while she takes deep, measured, calming breaths. All that's left to do now is wait, and listen.

After a couple of minutes, the shuffling she's been hearing through the thin wall separating hers from the next room starts making its way to the door.

Victoria tries not to think about the fact that this is the first time she'll have seen her neighbor since the encounter in the showers the day before. She especially tries not to think about all the dirty things she did to herself after making it back to her room following said encounter.

The door next-door creaks open.

Victoria breezes through her own doorway, her lips pursed in a mask of casual disinterest as she pretends to keep her focus entirely on closing the door behind her. Yep, just an average run-of-the-mill morning where we just happened to be leaving at exactly the same time. How are you?

"Good morn..." starts a cheerily nervous voice to her left.

Victoria can't help but smile as she looks up. So much for casual disinterest.

"Morning..." she trails off herself when her eyes make their way over to the girl standing next to her.

Oh...?

Kate does not look anything like what she expected to see this morning. The tasteful bun is still in place, but the sweatshirt and jeans are gone. In their place are a flattering but old-fashioned grey skirt, a conservative white blouse, and a black cardigan.

But it's the girl's body language and expression that have Victoria truly taken aback. To say that Kate looks taken aback would be a gross understatement. She appears to have shrank back into herself, with her shoulders hunched forward as she stares back at Victoria. One of her thin hands covers her mouth as though to hold back a startled cry, the other clutches at her chest, covering something that appears to hang from a gold-chained necklace. All of the color has drained from her face.

Kate's hazel eyes certainly do not display the emotions Victoria was hoping for. No happiness, or attraction. No wistful lustiness or apprehensive flirtation. No, these are shocked eyes. Horrified eyes. Kate's looking at her like she's not even the same person anymore. Kate looks at her like she sees a ghost.

"... Marsh?" Victoria finishes lamely, desperately trying to think of something, anything else to say.

But before she can, Kate is reaching back out to open her door with the hand that had up-til then been clutching at her blouse. It's not until the door has slammed shut behind her that Victoria's mind catches up to what she saw glimmering in the morning sunlight as it fell back to her chest. A small, golden cross.

Oh.

Had... had she misread things that badly? Certainly she hadn't caught onto the fact that Kate was, apparently, a devout Christian. Devout enough to proudly display a cross on her chest on the first day of class, which is saying a lot when you're attending a liberal art school sure to be packed to the rafters with all the gays.

Not that Victoria could blame her for keeping that to herself the past few days. It's not like she had put all her cards on the table, either. Kate caught her off-guard, without her armor up, and Victoria had just... kept it that way, for as long as she could manage. She didn't get to see the Bitch Queen of Blackwell. Victoria's true self.

And now, Victoria can see that Kate has her own armor in place as well. She realizes that all the things she thought she saw in her - flirty texts, longing glances, inviting smiles - were just Victoria seeing what she wanted to see. Kate was being kind to her new neighbor and that's all it took for her hormones to take control. Fuck, she basically sexually harassed the poor girl, after literally only knowing her for two whole days.

Because... that's what that look she got when she was leaving the showers was, wasn't it? That dark gleam in Kate's eyes probably wasn't desire after all. It was more likely disgust.

...

I mean... whatever right? Not like it would have worked out anyway. What, would our first date be, going to Sunday school so she can help me repent my sinful ways and find a good husband? Besides, it's not like she's that cute anyway.

Still, Victoria can't help but feel like you do when you think you've just won the grand-prize in a contest, only to find out that nope, they just called the wrong name by accident.

...

She doesn't realize that Taylor and Courtney had been calling out to her as they approached from the other end of the hallway until they are basically right there in front of her. Realizing she must have been staring off into space, she tries her best to put on that same practiced smile of disinterest. "Oh. Bonjour Tay, Court. Took you long enough to get here."

"Whatever bitch." Courtney rolls her eyes, before they brighten appreciatively. "You know I gotta be on-point for the first day of class. Nice make-up by the way!"

Taylor gives her a customary surly grin before adding "...and hair this long doesn't just dry itself! We can't all roll out of bed looking perfect, after all." Oh, WHATEVER Tay. You know flattery will get you everywhere.

She then glances at Kate's door and back to Victoria with a curious expression. "So... who was that?"

Victoria's green eyes linger on the numbers 220 as she shrugs in response. "I don't know, new girl or something? Bible-freak I guess, by the look of her."

"Oh." Taylor accepts, before her expression shifts to one of concern and she reaches out to touch Victoria's arm. "Hey... you ok, Vic? Are you... crying?"

"What?!" Victoria scoffs, "no I'm not..." but she reaches up to swipe at the side of her nose with one hand and, sure enough, it comes back wet.

Seriously, what the fuck!?

Both of her friends are staring at her now, Taylor with worry and Courtney with that unique mix of suspicion and existential dread she seems to experience whenever she sees Victoria display any form of human weakness.

But Victoria just rolls her eyes and smirks at them before wrapping an arm around each of their necks and pulling them tightly into a three-way side-hug. "Duh, it's been three months! What, was I not allowed to miss you bitches?"

The beams of surprised happiness she gets from the two girls in return for her admittedly far too rare public display of affection go a long way toward making Victoria's day a bit better as they stroll off toward the stairwell together.

"Oh, hey!" Taylor chirps along the way. "You know that other new girl on the floor, Matt or whatever? Would you believe I saw her out in the courtyard just now, hanging out with that creepy janitor and taking pictures of squirrels... with a Polaroid?"

"Ugh, seriously? I think I hate her already."

"... Marsh?"

Kate slams the door behind her, then collapses back into it with a thump, her arms splayed out on either side of the door-frame like she's trying to barricade it with her own body. Her heart is pounding its way up into her throat. Her mind is racing. She's hyperventilating.

She can't believe her own eyes. This can't be happening. She feels like she might vomit.

But then again, how are you supposed to react when you find out the girl you've regularly dreamed about since you were thirteen years old, the one you've built up to angelic proportions in your own mind over the years, is not only a real person, but is standing right in front of you?

It's all real. She is real. How could Kate not have seen it before today?!

There had been hints, certainly. The piercing eyes of emerald green. The short, golden hair. The way Kate's chest hurt when she thought about how beautiful Victoria is.

She'd had false alarms in the past. Seeing a green-eyed face in a crowd, or on the television. Or that incident of mistaken identity back in middle school. Despite having dreamt of this mysterious girl nearly every night for months after her thirteenth birthday, and less regularly for years afterward, Kate never could quite remember the details of her face. And it made her so sad that she couldn't, but... she had started to wonder if she was perhaps too divinely beautiful for her human mind to comprehend. That thought made the sadness easier to bear.

This time, however, there had been actual, God-given signs that Kate didn't recognize until now. The way the sun framed her from behind when she saw her that very first morning, the beams of light and motes of dust giving the illusion of ethereal wings sprouting from her back. The way her new neighbor seemed so familiar, like Kate had known her for years despite having only just met. Even the name of the song that she'd been playing was "True Faith", as though Kate were being rewarded for her own after all these years.

But seeing her this morning, Kate knew. Without a shadow of a doubt, she just knew. Victoria had once again been framed by that resplendent morning light, but this time everything fit into place. Not just the golden hair and the terrifying beauty and those captivating green eyes that Kate felt she could happily gaze into for days and days. This time, every follicle of hair, every article of clothing was perfectly placed to match what she'd seen in those dreams she had over and over and over again throughout the years. And sure enough, thinking of those dreams now Kate can see every detail of Victoria's face as clear as if she'd always known it.

It makes Kate wonder how many little signs Moses had missed before God finally set a bush on fire out of frustration. Kate would never be so prideful as to compare herself to an actual prophet of the Lord, but she feels as though her mind has been set alight just the same.

Tears stream down her face. She still has yet to regain control of her lungs. She fears that her heart could burst at any moment.

She's wanted this for so long. Something, anything to confirm what she's always known. That she's not crazy. That the things she sees at night are not just conjurations of her own sinful mind.

Her life has been so, so lonely for so, so long. She learned very quickly that her dreams were not something she could share with her family. It scared them too much. Nor could she tell any of her friends, because they wouldn't understand. How could they understand such a thing? How could anyone ever understand that Kate was in love with a girl that seemingly only ever existed in her head?

But now she is real, and she's so close that Kate can reach out and touch her. So close that Kate had been reached out and touched by her. And the knowledge of this is just too much for her. It's overwhelming. She'd never thought about what she would actually do if what she dreamed about, what she prayed for, ever came true. And now it is right there in her face and she doesn't know how to cope with the enormity of it.

It will be several days yet before Kate will have the courage to face this beautiful, terrible, nigh-mythical creature without feeling the urge to flee back to the safety of her room. For every time she sees her she feels unprepared, unclean, unworthy of being in her presence. The fear and insecurity will make her contemplate just giving up and going home, back to her normal life where she was a probably-crazy girl who imagined someone who loved her just to not feel so sad and lonely all the time.

However... she won't leave. She can't.

Because of how she will sometimes feel a burning sensation in the back of her mind, like a magnifying lens focusing light directly onto her brain.

And every single time that happens, her gaze will be pulled as if by an invisible hand, turning in just the right direction to see those lovely emerald eyes staring back at her.

And in those hungry eyes she will see things that she recognizes instantly because she feels them so deeply within herself. Yearning. Desperation. Pain, buried by years of avoidance, that constantly threatens to unearth itself. And above all a silent plea for someone, anyone to see her. To understand her. To protect her. To forgive her.

And so, Kate will stay. Even when her initial days of avoiding Victoria drives a wedge between them, one that Kate is too awkward and unpracticed in social niceties to easily overcome.

She will stay even when over the following weeks she is forced to watch Victoria fall in love with someone else, despite the hurt and shameful envy it makes Kate feel. Despite wanting to die every time she hears her call out another's name with passion and love.

She will stay even when the ember of desire Victoria lit within her that day in the showers, fueled by years of hormone-addled feelings and emotions that she never knew what to do with, is fanned into a raging inferno when Victoria claims Kate's virtue as her own. All the while looking at her with emerald eyes filled with challenge, with need, with pure, craven lust. Because despite all the sermons she has heard about how she must wait until she is married to a loving husband, in her heart Kate knows that if her body and soul are to be given to anyone, it is her.

She will stay even when Victoria hurts her, desperately so, in a moment of fear and vulnerability when all she needs more than anything in the world is for Victoria to just believe her. Because despite all the prayers and pastors and youth counselors, when Kate Marsh is hurt so very badly by someone she loves so very much, she will only have one way to respond. And that will be to love her even harder. To give of herself even more until there is nothing left.

She will stay even though it means she is destined to die.

Because that's what this is, isn't it? God did not simply grant her visions of the woman she was meant to be with, as much as she wishes with all her heart for that to be so. For each of those visions ended the same way... with Kate's death.

Kate doesn't want to die, not really. Not so soon after finally finding the only thing she's ever truly wished for.

But... now she knows for certain that she is experiencing something divine. She is witness to a prophecy come to life. An actual, God-granted miracle. And if such a thing is not worth dying for, then what is?

So, she will do whatever she must to stay close to Victoria. And she will be whatever Victoria needs her to be... whether that is a friend, a lover, a protector, or simply an admirer from afar. And when the time comes that God calls upon Kate to die for her, she will do her utmost to face that death with grace, love, and joy in her heart.

Back in her room on that first day of class, Kate falls to her knees and prays. She prays for her family, her mother and father and two little sisters. She prays for her friends, both those back home and those she will make at Blackwell. She prays for her darling rabbit Alice. She prays for herself, and for her immortal soul.

But mostly she prays for her. For Victoria Chase. The quite literal girl of Kate's dreams.

For her angel.