"The end or the beginning?"
27
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It all started with rain.
It all ended, with a fire.
Wide flames licking up the sides of the building, smoke raising up into the night sky.
Sirens in the background, hot orange light coming from the sides. The building, completely on fire. The people still inside, a smile over her face.
10 days until graduation. 50 years since her neighborhood was turned into the slum that it is today.
Genevieve is crouched down over a chair. Her hair is still silver, although now it's newly dyed. Her legs are spread as she stares down at her roommates on the floor, playing some game she doesn't care much about. Seven has colored her hair again too, now it's a dark purple, she claimed it was for a play but Genevieve knows she just wanted to dye her hair now that she also did. Minnie is chewing on old cookies while staring at them, she's feeling homesick apparently. Lucky her, only ten days left and first now does she feel homesick. Genevieve has felt homesick since she first stepped on these grounds.
Azure is of course, nowhere to be seen. She was arrested for assault, kidnapping and threatening with a gun. Thanks to her sob story, nobody believed that it was Genevieve's gun, and she's walked free ever since. The gun "mysteriously" disappeared, and is still securely tied to her thigh, even now that one and a half years have passed since the incident. To think, only ten days left, ten days of her life here.
Genevieve has to admit, it's not been as bad as she first believed.
After Azure was arrested and Adeline left to take over the mafia, her uncle died almost a year after the incident, things have been pretty peaceful. Minnie, Seven, the twins and the rest of the roommates quickly apologized to Genevieve and explained their side of the story. It took a few weeks, but Genevieve forgave them and moved back to the dorm. Some nights she spent with Cori and Cosima, cozy up in the red leaders room, while other nights she spent with her roommates. They earned her trust again through various methods.
The first method was simply including her in everything. Minnie took over the leader spot after Adeline, and made sure that Genevieve was included in the meetings and the work of a leader dorm. Seven started accompanying her to school again, and Anni followed. She claimed that she didn't like it but Genevieve saw her secret smile. The twins painted with her and the two ballet dancers always wanted her with them when they practiced. At first Genevieve felt overwhelmed, but after awhile, she learned not to be so closed off anymore. Things started to look better. School didn't feel so hard anymore, not when she had so many friends at home and two "girlfriends" by her side. Yeah, they haven't made anything official yet, purely not to complicate things in the political world of Aconite Academy.
The second method was to help her. Nights when she was relapsing, going back to drinking or couldn't sleep, but Cori and Cosima were too busy to help, they would be by her side. Minnie would drink with her, make sure that she didn't drink too much, or simply rip it from her hands and watch a movie instead. Anni would gladly read a long and boring book for her until she felt so sleepy it was easy to fall into dreamland. Together, they earned her trust and friendship, after months of spending time together and fixing their mistake.
They earned not only her trust, but a lot of other things. They earned her protection. With her skills and gun, she made sure that they always felt safe, even with the loss of Adeline and Azure. When things got tense between departments, they could always trust Genevieve to help them through it and make the right decisions. They also earned her wisdom, her quick thinking, and their ears were blessed with her amazing piano skills. Maybe best of all, her relationship with the two other leaders earned them a safer, kinder and better atmosphere between the leaders. Slowly but surely, the three departments learned to coexist, at least a little bit.
Genevieve rests her head against the palm of her hand.
"Having fun?"
Seven turns her head to meet the green students eyes. She has a big smile over her face, and Genevieve can't help but smile too. The theater major giggles out her answer.
"Yup"
"You look beautiful"
Genevieve smiles shyly, a blush spreading across her cheeks. Cori looks over her body, staring into her gray eyes with her own focused ones.
"So do you, the both of you"
Cosima slithers her arm around Genevieve, kissing her neck lightly and smiling. The soft summer breeze flies through the window, creating an even warmer atmosphere. Outside, the birds are singing, the white pathways are worn out and dry, the sky is a fresh summer blue. In Cori's dorm, roses are planted outside. It's tradition that each senior plants their own rose for graduation. It's like planting your own hard work, and then harvesting the reward. Cosima planted her rose next to Cori's in the red leaders dorm, having grown a little distant from her own friends. It's a white rose, which she painted blue the day before.
Cori planted her rose as well as she could, and it now stands mighty under the sun, a perfect red color. Genevieve, through forgiveness, planted her rose at her own dorm. It's a luscious white rose which she didn't bother to paint green. She doesn't belong in any department. She hardly belongs at this school at all.
"What are we doing after graduation?"
Genevieve turns to the two taller girls and looks up at them with big sparkling eyes. Cori approaches the two girls, Cosima's arms snaked around Genevieve's waist and hugs them too. Cosima raises an eyebrow at the shorter girls question.
"I thought we decided? Me and Cori are coming over to your place and then we continue on from there, you know, with our plan"
Genevieve hastily nods. She has the attention of both leaders on her, and for the first time in a few weeks it feels intimidating. She always manages to feel smaller when Cori and Cosima stare her down like this, and she won't admit it, but it's kinda nice.
"Yeah I know, I meant right after. We only get to go home tomorrow"
Cosima glances at Cori with an expression Genevieve doesn't understand. She unknowingly ducks deeper into Cosimas grip and takes a deep breath of her perfume. It's calming, to say the least. Being able to acknowledge that the blue leader is there, just like she always has been. After a few silent seconds Cosima answers her vaguely.
"Me and Cori have something planned, I'll text you the address. Come there directly after graduation"
The green, blue and red departments have their graduations separately. With 24 thousand students, eight thousand per department and around 2,5 thousand graduates per department, they can't have it at the same place. The green department holds their graduation in the big theatre room, the red department holds theirs on a big field and the blue department in their auditorium. Each one is just big enough to fit all 2,5 thousand graduates, plus teachers and some other staff. Genevieve is thankful that she is now on good terms with her roommates, thankful that she is no longer being bullied, and thankful that school went by pretty well. Now she can graduate with a peaceful mind, and do the one thing she has been waiting for, for years.
"You won't tell me what it is?"
Cori leans down to her neck while she speaks, Genevieve looking up at Cosima. At first it only tickles when Cori kisses her neck and collarbones lightly. Genevieve doesn't pay it any attention, not even when her shirt is pulled slightly to the side. it's a normal occurrence for them, especially Cori likes to leave her marks on her in case any of her red department roommates wanted to try anything. Cosima coos, not answering her directly.
"Don't worry, you'll find out soon"
"Congratulations, I heard you got a prize too"
"Yeah, for genius talent in piano, but honestly my entire class deserved it. They played well too"
Genevieve accepts the compliment gracefully.
"Well maybe, but not genius like you! Anyway, good luck to your future then"
Her white rose stood out among the crowd. Genevieve accepted yet another praise from yet another teacher, thanking them and bowing down respectfully whenever they complimented her or wished her good luck in the future. Of course, they probably shouldn't be wishing her good luck, with the things she is about to do. But how would they know?
She looks to her side, seeing Seven, Minnie and the rest of her roommates reading through their grades and hugging each other. Seven got a scholarship for theater for an art university, Minnie got a scholarship to the University of law politics because she was the leader for almost two years. The twins received no scholarships, but offers from several art schools and companies to paint for them. Anni is no longer interested in school, as she managed to become a successful enough author already. Finally, the two best friends and ballet dancers received scholarships to different dance schools, and have been crying for the past few minutes. Genevieve feels a big smile stretch over her face. She doesn't need a scholarship or a university degree, she is finished now. Finally, finished.
Genevieve doesn't even notice Minnie approaching her before she stands right next to her.
"Are you coming with us to have dinner?"
The silver haired girl remembers Cosima's words and shakes her head with a smile.
"No thanks, Cori and Cosima have something planned"
Genevieve stares into the empty bathroom, frowning in confusion.
It's dark in the corridor behind her, and the bathroom in front of her is not much lighter. She is in the main building of Aconite Academy, the one where they hold meetings or enter different trains. She walked up the stairs, a little confused about which floor to go up to. The location on her phone is precise, it says that she needs to be in this exact bathroom. But there must be something wrong with it, why would they meet in this bathroom? What could they possibly have planned here?
Genevieve walks inside, expecting someone to jump out and yell; "surprise!" Or something corny. But she is met by silence, the door wide open as she steps around in the restroom. Suddenly, as she takes a step backwards, the lace on her shoe gets caught under her other foot, and she looses balance, falling backwards. Genevieve thankfully lands against the bathroom wall, not falling all the way to the floor. The moment her back hits the wall painfully, she remembers everything.
The door to the bathroom is wide open, Genevieve standing under the gray doorframe and staring with wide eyes and an open mouth at the scene in front of her. It's not only the fact that they are kissing, it's the fact that they are Cori and Cosima. The two girls who fight, both verbally and physically almost every single day. Did the stairs that she walked on lead to a different alternative universe? There is no way that the blue leader and the red leader are kissing in a random bathroom, five minutes before the meeting is about to begin. There is absolutely no way.
Cori and Cosima let go of each other when they hear the door opening. They turn in shock to first look at each other, blush at what they just did, before worriedly looking at whoever just walked in. Cori's blue eyes widen in shock. She takes a step back and mindlessly points at the brunette, face twisted in an accusing expression.
"You!"
Genevieve smiles at the memory. Something white flashes in the bathroom mirror, and she turns around to see what it is. A small letter stands there, waiting for her to open it. Nobody is coming here anymore until next term, so Genevieve knows that the letter is for her. She reaches out and grabs it, opening it and taking out a yellowish paper with cursive handwriting. It must be Cosima's handwriting.
"This is where we three first met, all together. Do you remember?
Me and Cori were kissing, you caught us.
I believe in destiny, but do you? Come to this address xxxxxx"
Genevieve smiles at Cosima's short letter. It brings back so many memories. She quickly puts the note in her bag and walks out the bathroom door, on her way to the next location.
"Surprise"
Cosima and Cori smile softly. Genevieve walks down the last few steps of the pavement, seeing the two leaders ahead. The sky is already darkening, creating a beautiful golden glow as the sun goes down. Genevieve thinks that they have never looked more beautiful than they do now, under the sunset as they smile upon her. She blushes slightly, pink dust falling over her cheeks. Cori opens her arms for a hug, and in the past Genevieve would have hesitated, but now she doesn't even think twice before hugging the taller girl.
"What's this?"
This time it's Cosima that answers her with her smile still present.
"Do you remember this place?"
Genevieve lets go of the hug. She looks around with her wide gray eyes, seeing the familiar street that leads up to her dorm. The pavement is still as white as it was before, the lampposts on the same place. Genevieve recognizes the dorms around the street, as she has walked here for many years now. She tries to think. What could this place mean? Last time, the bathroom was where they first met...
Then it hits her again.
Genevieve's poor heartbeat picks up again, when Cosima leans in closer faster than ever before. She looks at the girls thick brownish black hair, her wide eyes and smug smile. Why does she have to be so beautiful? Why does she have to have a crush on the two most annoying people in the entire world who she happened to catch kissing in the bathroom once? Is the whole world suddenly against her?
Right before their lips meet, Cosima stops abruptly.
"I'll make sure you never forget your first kiss"
And so, Cosima kissed Genevieve.
Cori and Cosima smirk at her obvious blush. She looks down. Even though they have kissed hundreds of times now, her first kiss will always be special. To think that it was here, under the moonlight, right after being jumped by Azure. To think that it was over the dirty pavement, because they were trying to prove something to her. What it was exactly, Genevieve can't remember. She can only recall how weird it felt, how warm it felt, to be kissed for the first time.
"Looks like you remember now"
"I do"
Came out the whispered reply. Cori coos teasingly. After a few seconds of silence the two grow a little more serious, Cosima clearing her throat and Cori sighing to calm herself down.
"Well, it's been a few years now, and we've kept our relationship open. I'm really grateful that you've stuck with us regardless Viv, you deserve better than to wait for the two of us"
Cosima begins.
"Yesterday me and Cosima decided, that we love each other so much, that we want to be together. We also decided, or more like agreed on one more thing"
Genevieve giggles with a blush, feeling like a silly schoolgirl and not a graduate with a gun strapped to her thigh. She looks away in embarrassment when Cori and Cosima get on their knees, half playful, half serious. Cosima is smiling while Cori puts on a fake serious look, making Genevieve chuckle. The Greek girl digs through her pocket, finding a small velvet box, and Genevieve almost rolls her eyes if she wasn't so pathetically in love with the two dorks. They clear their throats before speaking, secretly nervous about being rejected because they know dating in the real world will be more complicated than just hanging out in each other's dorms.
"Genevieve Greenberg, fellow Aconite Academy student and our love"
Cori begins with a regal voice, Genevieve smiling like an idiot. Cosima continues with a sweeter voice.
"To us, you are the prettiest, strongest, scariest, cutest and most talented girl in the entire world. Despite the fact that you are this perfect, you have stuck with us for so many months already, even though we didn't give you the time you deserve nor enough love. A person like you deserves nothing less than heaven, so..."
Cosima looks at Cori and the red leader nods. She opens the red velvet box and shows a small golden ring inside. It's not a wedding ring, nor an engagement ring, but Genevieve knows that it's important nevertheless. She stares at the small thing with sparkling eyes, tears almost building up, and then focuses at the two girls kneeling on the pavement. Cori and Cosima continue the last few words in sync.
"Will you do us a huge favor, and be our girlfriend?"
Genevieve smiles.
"Yeah, Yeah I will"
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