Caroline blinked awake to the sound of soft murmurs and shuffling. Morning sunlight dripped lazily through the dusty dorm window. Two girls stood at the foot of her bed, one with a bright, beaming grin, the other clinging nervously to her sleeve.
"He-hello, friend! Good morning!" the lively one blurted out, nearly bouncing in place.
Caroline rubbed her eyes and pushed herself up. "...Good morning?"
The shy girl peeked out from behind the first, mumbling in a voice barely louder than a whisper. "G-good… morning…"
The energetic girl plopped onto Caroline's bed without invitation. "We're your new roommates! I'm Stella Mary," she said proudly, then pointed at the other girl. "And this quiet little mouse is Anna. She takes forever to talk, but she's nice, I promise."
Anna shrank further at that comment, cheeks flushing pink. "I… I'm not a mouse…"
Caroline stretched her arms, blinking the last traces of sleep away. "Caroline," she said simply.
"Caroline!" Stella clapped her hands. "Perfect! We're gonna be best friends. But first — you need to get up! We're late for breakfast."
"I just woke up."
"Exactly! No time to waste." Stella bounced off the bed and started rifling through a trunk, pulling out a neatly folded black uniform with bold red accents. "Put this on. It's ugly but at least we match."
Caroline took the clothes, eyeing the emblem stitched on the jacket — two golden lions crossing over a thin line. "Royal Magic Academy," she murmured.
Anna quietly began changing, her movements delicate and precise. "Um… have you… been here long?" she asked Caroline, her voice trembling with the effort of speaking up.
Caroline slipped on the jacket. "Long enough to meet the headmaster."
"Really?!" Stella practically spun around. "Betty? Is she as scary as they say?"
Caroline cut her off with a small smile. "Who is they?"
Anna tilted her head, curious. "Ah! You're new here, aren't you? You haven't met the others yet?"
Caroline buttoned the jacket, her eyes drifting briefly toward the window as if she expected to see something watching her. "Not yet."
"Well, you will." Stella grinned, leaning in conspiratorially. "Everyone says this place is cursed. Students talk about disappearing doors, weird noises at night, and—" she lowered her voice, "—a big ugly thing that roams after dark."
Caroline's smile deepened, faint but sharp, like a secret she wasn't sharing. "I think i met something like that"
Anna fidgeted, hugging her arms. "I-I don't like talking about that stuff…"
Stella blinked. "Okay, that's… not the answer I expected."
Stella froze, halfway through tying her ribbon. "Wait—what do you mean you met something like that?!"
Caroline shrugged, as if it wasn't worth explaining. "Last night."
Anna's face drained of color. "Y-you went outside? At night? B-but the rules—"
Caroline tilted her head, still smiling. "What rules?"
Stella gawked. "I keep forgetting you just got here but You seriously snuck out on your first night here? And came back alive?!"
"That's… one way to put it," Caroline said, her tone almost playful.
Anna clutched the edge of her uniform jacket. "You… you shouldn't do that… it's dangerous…"
Caroline chuckled softly, the sound strangely at ease. "That's what makes it interesting."
Stella flopped back onto the bed dramatically. "Oh, great. We're roommates with a thrill-seeker. If you get eaten by some monster, don't expect me to avenge you."
Caroline's smile only grew, the kind of grin that didn't belong on someone her age. "Noted."
Anna glanced between them nervously, still pale. "C-can we… just go to breakfast now? Please?"
"Fine, fine." Stella leapt up, grabbing Caroline's hand. "But you have to tell us everything you saw on the way. You can't just drop 'I met something in the dark' and leave me hanging."
Caroline let herself be dragged toward the door, her smile lingering. "Maybe I will."