Chapter 7

Sansa Stark POV

The Homecoming dance is tomorrow, and I haven't even bough tickets. Since I found out about what Ramsay's been saying, I've noticed more people whispering about me and wanting to talk to me less. My friends are still treating me okay, but I feel like it's only a matter of time before I get phased out of the group. I don't feel like I can show my face at the dance.

After school, I'm walking past Mr. Baelish's room when he calls my name. I stop and walk into his classroom and up to his desk. "Yes?" I ask.

"Are you doing okay?" He asks me. "You seemed kind of far away in class today."

"Oh," I say, not sure how to respond. "I'm okay. Just a little stressed about some stuff."

"Friend stuff?" He asks me. I just nod.

"You know," he continues. "If you ever need to talk to anyone, my door is always open. I think of you like family, you can always talk to me."

I smile at him. "Thank you, Mr. Baelish," I say. "I think I'll be okay."

"Well don't hesitate to come by if that changes." I smile, walking out of his room. It's nice to feel like I have someone in my corner that isn't my brother. I feel like Jon judges me, so it's nice to have someone older and wiser.

…

My mom is taking me and Arya shopping to a craft store, it's Saturday after my cheer practice and Arya's fencing practice. The Homecoming dance is tonight, but I'm definitely not going. I can't show my face there. Sometimes my mom will randomly take us to a shop or something to try to bond with us. I've always felt like she doesn't have the connection with her daughters like I see a lot of mothers have.

"Have you eaten today?" Arya randomly asks me. We're looking in a paint aisle while my mom went off to a yarn aisle, even though the whole point was to do something together.

"What?" I ask her.

"I haven't seen you eat anything, and I was just checking."

"I have, Arya. And we're having lunch after this, so don't worry about it." I haven't eaten today, I just want her to stop talking about it.

"I just noticed you aren't eating as much," Arya continues. She's just now noticing? "And I found the scale in our closet."

"That's to make sure I'm maintaining the right weight for cheer," I quickly respond. "Drop it."

I can tell my snapiness upset Arya, because she falls silent. "Did you have fun at the game?" I ask her to try and make up for it.

"I did," Arya responds. "Daenerys and I had a good talk."

"About what?"

"She seemed really interested in you cheering and she asked me if I was going to do cheer in high school." I just laugh at that, I can't imagine Arya as a cheerleader.

"What did you say to that?" I ask her.

"I said probably not," she responds. "I can't imagine wearing those outfits, but the routines might be fun."

"You would hate it," I say, chuckling.

"I saw Gendry before the game," Arya says, after a pause. "He was coming out of school."

"Yeah?" I ask. "Did you talk to him?"

"A little, but I got nervous." She's so cute. I know she's embarassed, but I think it's adorable that she has a little crush because she never gets crushes. At least, not that I'm aware of.

"Keep talking to him," I say. "Maybe something will happen. You never know."

"He's way older than me," Arya says. "Plus, I think Jon would skin him alive if he even thought about me remotely like that."

"Doesn't hurt to try," I say, shrugging. "Turn the flirt on." Arya turns beet red, and my mom walks up to us before I can keep teasing her.

"You girls ready?" My mom asks. She already has bags in her hands.

"Did you check out?" Arya asks.

"Yeah," my mom responds. "Let's go get a snack." She wanted to take us here, but she didn't even tell us she was ready or ask if we wanted anything. This is how my mom tries to bond with us.

Daenerys Targaryen POV

I arrive at Jaime and Cersei's apartment complex, I'm really excited to stay with them and meet their new friends. I offered to stay home and go to the Homecoming dance with Jon, but he said it really didn't matter to him. I get that, and it would be a little weird for me to go back now that I'm not in high school anymore. I park in visitor parking and go up to knock on the door, but Cersei is already standing outside.

"Hey girl," I say, hugging her. "I missed you."

"I missed you so much, you have no idea," Cersei says. We take my bag and go into the apartment, Jaime is sitting on the couch playing a video game.

"Hey," I say to Jaime.

"Hey, Dany," he says, not looking at me.

"So who are your new friends?" I ask, going into the kitchen with Cersei.

"Their names are Bronn and Jorah," she replies. "They live on campus. Jaime seems to get along with Bronn really well."

"Cool," I say. "Can we go to the store and get stuff for when they come over?"

"Of course," Cersei says. "I was going to ask if you wanted to do that." We get into her car and head to the store.

We get regular snacks like chips, dip and cookies at the store. Cersei makes a stop that I didn't expect on our way back.

"What are you doing?" I ask her. We're parked in front of a liquor store.

"I want to get some liquor," she responds. "I have my fake ID with me."

"Cersei, don't you have beer at the house?"

"Yeah, but it's not much. I want to get tequila and vodka." I'm worrying about her. We partied in high school of course, but we never drank this much.

"Okay fine," I say. "But I'm waiting in the car."

Cersei sighs and goes into the liquor store. When she comes back, we drive back to her place without saying a word.

Cersei Lannister POV

I don't know why Dany is up my butt about getting liquor. We always party and drink when we get together. And we're in college now, so what better time is there to do it? When we get back to our apartment, Jaime is putting away his game.

"Bronn and Jorah are heading over soon," he says. "I think you'll really like them, Dany."

"I'm sure I will," she responds. "Do you guys need help setting up?"

"Yeah," Jaime says. "Help me expand this table." They start folding the dining table out to make it bigger while I'm setting up the drink-making items in the kitchen.

A little while later, I hear a knock at the door. Jaime goes to answer it. "Hey guys," he says to Bronn and Jorah as they walk in. "This is our friend, Dany."

"Hi," Dany says, shaking Bronn and Jorah's hands. "I'm Daenerys."

"Nice to meet you," Jorah says to her. "How do you know Cersei and Jaime?"

"We grew up together," Dany responds. "I've been best friends with Cersei since we were 6. She's basically my sister." It means a lot to hear Dany say that, she's like a sister to me too.

We make some drinks and start playing cards, everyone seems to be getting along pretty well. I wish Dany was here at school with us, I miss her every day. I'm terrified we'll lose our close friendship because we aren't in the same town anymore.

"So Jaime," Bronn says. "Any girls you may want to score with? I can help be your wingman."

"None yet," Jaime responds. "But I'll keep you posted."

"Don't be like this guy," Bronn says, playfully shoving Jorah. "He can't get a girl to save his life." Jorah looks at Dany and rolls his eyes. I can tell he's eyeing her. I don't blame him. Everyone wants her the moment they see her. She's absolutely perfect.

Daenerys Targaryen POV

Cersei and Jaime's friends seem really cool, Bronn is really funny. Bronn and Jaime start having a drunken discussion on the couch about something that I'm sure they think is really deep, and Cersei went outside to go smoke. Jorah and I are sitting at the table.

"So I heard you were supposed to come to school this year with Cersei and Jaime," Jorah says. "Why didn't you?"

"Oh, my dad moved back to town so I've been helping him," I respond. "I saw it as a great opportunity to keep doing my volunteer work and build my resume."

"That's awesome," Jorah says. "I hope you'll come join us soon."

"I'm planning to next year. Are you and Bronn freshmen too?"

"No," Jorah responds. "I'm 19 and Bronn is 20. We're sophomores."

"Oh that's cool. Did you know each other before?"

"No, we got matched to be roommates and have been close ever since." Jorah seems nice, I feel like I can hold a great conversation with him. I excuse myself to go outside to find Cersei, she's sitting on the staircase outside.

"Hey," I say, sitting down next to her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," she responds. "Feeling a lot better about the whole college thing, but I still wish you were here every day."

"I wish I was here too. I will be soon. How is your writing going?"

"A lot more boring than I expected, but I just haven't gotten any good stories yet. I'll let you know when I do."

"Are you worried about anything else with college?" I ask her.

"Like what?" She responds.

"I don't know," I'm nervous to tell her what I'm thinking. "Like, are you worried you and Jaime will drift apart and meet new people now that you guys are at college?"

"I worry about losing the people close to me yes, but I mainly worry about losing you, not Jaime. Jaime and I will always be built-in best friends."

"You're never losing me," I say. "You'll always be my sister." She gives me a hug. Cersei's the closest thing I'll ever have to a sister, I wouldn't have ever gotten through my dad's breakdown or high school without her. I just hope she can keep her shit together.