A/N: I am so sorry for delaying the second chapter. I was extremely busy with school and personal matters and a humongous writer's block suddenly came out of nowhere and knocked me over. It took a while for me to get back up and start writing again. I would like to thank my friends for encouraging me to start up the second chapter and for continuously supporting my crazy ideas.

"Good morning, Sieg-kun! (｀・ω・´)"

The blonde chuckled at the affectionate nickname the Japanese girl had given her and quickly sent back a response.

"Good afternoon, Rose. How are you so far today?"

A rather lengthy pause followed so Sherry decided to check her e-mail in another tab for anything from the boarding school's administration but only found several Steam notices about sales and prayed that the allowance her parents had given her, albeit rather extravagant, would hold up for another week despite practically burning her money away for all these games she knew her computer wouldn't have space for. She checked her Facebook tab every two minutes only to find it devoid of any messages from her friend.

She was just about to go downstairs for a glass of water when the horrid "socializing" website made that annoying notification sound. Finally, a long awaited message from her friend.

"I'm so sorry for replying so late! I got some mail from a friend! 。(⌒∇⌒。)"

"Handwritten letters are very hard to come by nowadays. It's all about text and messaging. Anything special about it?"

"Well, I haven't gotten any mail from him in two months, so yeah, it's special! (^∇^)"

The blonde felt a strange twinge in her chest but decided to ignore it, thinking it was probably from the huge breakfast she'd made for herself. Thinking for a bit, she suddenly remembered that it was Rose's birthday today and slapped her forehead in frustration. Frustrated with her own forgetfulness, the young woman typed back.

"Dammit, I forgot. Today's your birthday, isn't it, Rose? I forgot to get you anything..."

"It's okay, Sieg! You can just finish up that painting you promised me a while ago!"

Sherry's heart immediately jumped into her throat, remembering the digital painting she'd finished two weeks ago. It was a portrait Rose, or at least, what the blonde thought her friend looked like. She was smiling at the viewer, her brown eyes glimmering with happiness as she absently twirled a curl of dark red hair.

Everything had been painstakingly time consuming due to her perfectionist nature. A whole month had been spent on this painting but she didn't feel like ever sending the file to her friend. She was scared of the possibility she'd gotten her skin tone off by a shade or that her neck wasn't colored in enough and all those other stupid excuses. But now... she didn't feel like running again.

"I actually finished the painting two weeks prior. I'll send it to you now over e-mail."

Two hours had passed and the young woman hadn't received word from her friend ever since sending the file. Now she was allowed to worry. Had something gone wrong? Was the hair not what she'd imagined? Sherry had decided to curl up into a ball on her bed, not moving from her position while staring at her computer in worry. Heavy silence hung in the air of her room.

The sudden buzzing of her cellphone nearly made her jump in surprise before she picked it up. "Allo?" she greeted quietly, trying to calm herself down.

"Sherry, what did I tell you about how to answer the phone?!" The blonde groaned in frustration, recognizing the voice as that of her mother's. "You are going to America in a week! You are supposed to say 'Hello'!"

"Oui, Maman..." Sherry answered in French, because she felt like being a shitty little rebel. Her parents were trying to "convert" her to American speech to somehow fit in better. Her English enunciation and vocabulary were enough to her. After all, it wasn't like she was planning on communicating with anybody. Forming friendships and so-called "bonds" weren't her best skill. It was, in fact, probably her worst next to socializing. Handheld console games were somehow much more appealing than gossiping with her classmates.

An exasperated sigh was heard on the other end before her mother continued speaking. "My daughter, you will fly off to New York City in a week! Are you not at least excited or nervous? Oh well... you were never like any of the other girls anyway. You always stay in your room and play games on your computer." Sherry sighed and began to contemplate hanging up on her mother but deciding that she should stay on the line just in case her mother wanted to tell her something.

"It's alright, Maman. I've packed up all my essentials for the trip and I'm sure the school will send me my schedule soon. Besides, I will be sharing a dorm room with another girl. It won't be so bad," the young woman reassured, trying to sound confident and excited when really she was rather deflated about leaving. Sharing a room with another person was an absolutely frightening thought. She preferred to be in a room by herself, less people to disturb her while she was playing video games or drawing.

"I am just worried about you, Sherry. You've always had trouble getting along with people and I don't want that to ruin your first experience in America. It is a lovely country. Stormy and chaotic weather at times but New York City is wonderful," Madame LeBlanc said softly. Sherry was surprised to hear the sudden warmth in her mother's voice, having become accustomed to her rather monotonous and cold tone of authority. "Oh no, my own plane is arriving right now. I'll speak to you as soon as I can. Bye bye!"

Before she could respond, her mother hung up, leaving the young woman with nothing to occupy her time with. Then the blonde realized she was still agonizing over the fact that Rose hadn't responded and resumed her fetal position on her bed. Finally, whatever higher beings existed decided to grant Sherry a bit of peace and Facebook rang up a notification. The Frenchwoman bolted to her computer, reading the message from Aki.

"It's so beautiful, Sieg-kun! (≧∇≦)/ You did a really really nice job! I especially love how you colored in my hair! It's so red!"

She leaned back in her comfortable chair with a sigh of relief before responding.

"Thank you. It took a very long time to finish. I got worried you didn't like it since you haven't responded for two hours."

"Oh it's because my father gave me some surprising news! I'm going to attend a boarding school in America next month. 。ﾟ(ﾟﾉД｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡"

"My parents are doing the exact same thing to me. I'll be in New York City, though. Where will you be going?"

"Me too! I'm also going to New York City! Maybe we're going to the same school! (^∇^)"

Sherry froze in her seat, staring at Rose's message before doing a quick Google Search for boarding schools in New York City. There was only one for adolescents between the ages of fifteen and eighteen. Sighing, she typed back.

"I did some research. We'll be in the same school for sure. Hopefully the same dorm as well. I heard their rooms are not as bad as they seem."

"Exciting! Oh no, I have to go now. My father is bringing me to my favorite restaurant right now. And thank you again for the painting!"

"It was no problem. Have fun, Rose."

With a small smile on her face, the blonde stared at the clock nearby. It was only 10:25. She had time to go for a morning run.

A/N: And thus, the second chapter concludes with no cliffhanger but a definite... ending? A third chapter will be written as soon as I can manage the time for it. Special thanks to my best friend (you know who you are) for giving me even more ideas for the next couple of chapters. Please leave a review. You will receive a basket of cookies. -u-