only this and nothing more

Prologue

"Hello! I'm Principal Weems and I'll be helping you through orientation today," a tall blonde-haired woman says. A young girl, with fiery, red hair stands in an office. She wears a jacket, long sleeve shirt, and leggings: all white. She says nothing, "Well, let's start, shall we? Go ahead and have a seat."

The girl obeys and sits down in a faux leather chair in the office. The principal opens her Macbook and begins to look up the student's information.

"What is your last name again?" she asks, smiling.

"Adler," the girl answers quietly. She does not smile, instead wearing a blank face.

"Right, I have all your information here. It says... your parents are no longer with you?" Principal Weems asks hesitantly.

"Correct."

"I'm very sorry about that... Nevermore will be your new family, I assure you," she smiles. The girl does not respond and after a moment of silence, the principal continues, "Well, your dorm hall is Othello Hall, shall we go meet new your roommate?"

"Okay."

"Lovely," the principal smiles. She stands up and leads the way out to the dorm halls. Othello Hall is named after Shakespeare's tragedy Othello. The girl only has two suitcases with her that she carries as they head to the dorm hall.

Lots of other students walk around campus, as it is the weekend before the semester begins. All kinds of outcasts are welcome at Nevermore Academy; vampires, werewolves, gorgons, sirens, psychics, shapeshifters, and many more.

Principal Weems leads the girl into the hall, taking her to a room on the first floor.

"This is your roommate, Enid Sinclair," she introduces her. Enid, a girl who has blonde hair but has dyed it at the tips, turns around. She's already moved in.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you!" she beams with excitement. She runs up to hug the other girl, who is dressed in all white. The redhead allows Enid to hug her but doesn't hug back. Enid jumps back, "Ow!"

"Sorry, I got nervous," the redhead meekly apologizes. She runs her gloved hands through her red hair. She avoids her roommate's gaze.

"Enid, this is Tana Adler. She has the psychic ability to control fire. She wears all white to protect herself and others from burns," Principal Weems explains.

"Oh, okay, that's so cool!" she smiles. Tana looks up, knowing Enid isn't going to yell at her, but she keeps her blank face.

"Well, I'll let you get settled in. Mrs. Thatcher should be stopping in to meet you soon," Principal Weems says. She leaves their room, shutting the door behind her.

"Do you need any help unpacking?" Enid asks as the redhead walks over to her bed.

"No thank you," Tana replies quietly. The blonde-haired girl sits back on her bed, her side of the room already set up. As the redhead unpacks, Enid grows uncomfortable with the silence.

"Do you wanna play 21 questions?"

"What is that?" Tana asks, turning to face her. Enid's jaw drops.

"You've never played 21 questions?" she exclaims. The redhead nods her head 'no', "Well basically, it's just a game to get to know other people. You go back and forth asking questions about each other until you've asked 21."

"Okay."

"Where are you from?" Enid starts.

"Anchorage, Alaska," Tana replies.

"Wow, that's far," she says, "Now you ask a question."

"Where... are you from?"

Enid laughs, "San Francisco, California. Do you have brothers or sisters?"