As Long As You're Mine

Dear Old Shiz

"Yeah, pretty ugly," a guy says from behind Laura, nudging her and bursting out into laughter.

"Just. Stay the hell away from me," the girl growls before she frowns and promptly runs away from them, grumbling but clearly hurt by the guy's words.

"Have I seen you before?" the guy asks Laura.

She frowns. "No, I don't think so. And what you said to that girl? Not nice."

He shrugs without comment and walks away.

Another guy walks up to Laura, and he seems much more warm and friendly. "Hi, little hottie."

"Laura," she replies.

His eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What?"

"My name is Laura. Kind of insulting to just call me 'hottie,'" Laura explains gently.

"Oh! Sorry!" He seems genuinely apologetic. "Laura, have you seen my sister? Well, she's adopted, but she's still my sister. She's, uhm..." He clears his throat awkwardly. "Green."

Laura perks up. "Oh, yeah! You just missed her. She went..." Laura starts to point in the direction the girl left in, but is interrupted.

"Ah! Wilson Kirsch," a young man greets. "Your father asked me to look after you. I'm William Luce. You can call me Will."

Laura's eyes widen. "Will! My name is Laura Hol--"

"I don't care," he says dismissively, keeping his attention on Kirsch. "So, I was thinking--"

"There you are," the green girl says, not needing to push her way through the crowd to make it back to Kirsch. "I told you to keep up."

Will looks her up and down, his lip turning up in disgust. "You must be... Carmilla. The orphan."

She narrows her eyes at him. "Must I be?"

"Your adoptive parents told me about you. Or should I say, warned me?"

"My parents sent me here to keep an eye on my brother," Carmilla snaps. "To make sure he stays on top of his schoolwork."

Will sneers at her. "Ah, yes. I was told about this whole Sarah Jane situation."

Laura feels a tap on her back and she turns around, before realizing she has to adjust her line of sight—downward.

A munchkin with red hair stands before her. "Uhm. Hi."

"Hi," Laura greets brightly.

"I'm Danny. Danny Lawrence."

"I'm Laura."

Danny smiles up at her. "Well, I noticed you're new here. And I wanted to tell you that if you ever need anything, to let me know. I'm the resident advisor, as well as the teaching assistant for a few of the freshman courses."

Laura perks up. "What about Matska Belmonde's course?"

Danny laughs at that. "She hasn't taught here in years. Will won't let her unless there's an explicit order from the Wizard."

"But if the Wizard tells him to, he'd do it?"

Danny nods.

"I'm gonna ask him to make sure," Laura says excitedly, wandering over.

"...So sorry to hear your fiancée died so suddenly. Here at Shiz, I'm pleased to say whether you're here to study logic, literature, or linguification, I know I speak for my fellow faculty members when I say we have nothing but the highest hopes for some of you," Will is saying to Kirsch. He pauses before a devilish smile creeps onto his face. "Would you be willing to live with me? I know it might be weird for a student to live with the headmaster, but I think it would make looking after you much easier, as well as appease your father, as he made his concern for your wellbeing quite clear. So, I think it would be best if you share my private compartment where I can assist you as needed..."

"No," Carmilla answers just as Kirsch begins eagerly nodding. "That is not happening. Besides, who would I live with?"

Laura steps forward to interrupt. "Will, I would like to--"

Will smirks. "Great! You do have that lovely private suite. Carmilla, you can live with this random volunteer."

Laura and Carmilla's eyes widen at the same time and they both share a look and shake their heads.

"No! I wasn't volunteering! I just wanted to say I would like to speak with you about a Matska Belmonde course--"

"Later," Will replies dismissively, already walking off with Kirsch, who waves a sheepish goodbye to Carmilla.

But Carmilla doesn't notice, because she's glaring at Laura.

Laura clears her throat awkwardly as Carmilla lets out a long sigh. "Guess I'm your new roommate, sweetheart."