I looked down at the key I had been given to my room. Kallan had helped me to get ready for life on campus, which was basically buying me school supplies, helping me get my schedule and finding out my living accommodations. Sadly, the room I had woken up earlier was not mine, but it was Kallan and Talia's. Luckily, though, their dorm wasn't too far from mine. Kallan said I was welcome to stop anytime I needed to, but I knew more than likely I would not be stopping there often.

Now all I had to do was go into my dorm and meet my roommate. Kallan had told me that the girl that used to live with her left the Academy recently when she was diagnosed with some rare disease and had died a week or two later. I stood there, wondering what lied on the other side of the door. I shook my head and gently chided myself. You know how wrong you were about Xiao, so don't go assuming things. Just introduce yourself, and then see where the road goes from there.

I took a deep breath and swiped the room key across the lock and watched as the small light glowed green and the door popped open. I turned the handle and paused for a bit before finally pushing the door open. Before I even saw anything, my nose was immediately hit with the scents of cinnamon and pumpkin. I was immediately reminded of the pumpkin pies that Tracy would make halfway between Halloween and Thanksgiving—a tradition passed down in her family from mother to daughter—I learned how to make it three years ago, and we've been making it every year since.

I frowned at the realization that this year; we might not be able to continue this tradition, but I shook my head. Why was I thinking of that all of a sudden? I was here to meet my roommate, not wallow in my own self-pity, so I swung the door open, not quite knowing what to expect to see.

The room was about as wide as a classroom, with two beds on both sides. On one side, there wasn't anything particularly worth noting, but on the other side, I felt like I had just stepped into a greenhouse. The windows had roses that grew entirely around the frame; from the ceiling, there hung many assorted potted plants; the room was mostly decorated green, but there were also a lot of bright colors that accentuated it. The most significant thing that I saw was a small cherry tree sapling in bloom on a night stand.

And in the middle of all this, there was a petite girl rushing around and singing a cute little oriental song while watering the plants. Her hair was pale pink and braided to the side, a daisy resting behind her ear. She wore a blue knit parka and khakis with what I assumed were UGG boots on her feet. She suddenly stopped what she was doing and looked at me with the greenest pair of eyes I had ever seen.

"Oh, you weren't supposed to come until later!" She said, smiling widely. "I'm glad you're here, though."

"Thanks, I-"

Before I could finish, I was glomped and wrapped in a hug. "It's nice to meet you, new roommate!" She let go and started bouncing up and down. "I'm Hazuki Omori, but everyone just calls me Hazu. I'm super happy to meet you! How old are you? What's your favorite color? Do you like flowers? What's your name?" As she was speaking, room suddenly smelled strongly of citrus.

"I'm fifteen, my favorite color is white, I've neither really seen flowers up close before now, nor taken interest, and my name is Scarlett Kaida." I answered, trying to keep up with her intensity. "What's up with the changing smells in this room?"

Ignoring my question, Hazu began to go off on her own tangent. "Cool!" She said, clapping her hands together. "As you can see, I'm a bit of an anthophile, or I really like flowers! I guess it's because my dad was a flora dragon. It's funny because the scent in whatever room I'm in changes depending on my mood. Also, I-" She stopped talking for a bit. "Oh, wait! I almost forgot!"

Hazu ran over to the roses that grew up the windowsill and gently spread her hands over them, making them bloom fully and a few of the stems grow longer. She made a snipping motion with her hands and five of the flowers fell into them. The roses suddenly hovered in the air and began weaving themselves into a headband. Hazu spread her arms, and then the crown of roses flew towards me, resting atop my head. "Consider it a welcoming gift! Pink roses are a symbol of happiness in the language of flowers!" She squealed. "Hanakotoba wa sugoi, nee?"

I cocked my head. "Huh?"

Hazu immediately stopped what she was doing. "D-Do you not like them?"

"What? I never said that." I quickly said.

The corner of Hazu's lips turned downwards and her eyes began to water. She let out a high pitched whimper and cast her face into her hands as she began crying. "I'm sorry! I...I thought you'd like them. Mari did, so I naturally assumed that you'd like them too, but you're not Mari! I'm so terribly-"

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "No, I really do like them, they're pretty. I could never grow anything like this. I think it's cool that you're into botany. I was just surprised that you could do something like this."

Hazu looked up at me. "You really think so?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I do."

Hazu breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great. I've always loved roses, mainly because of the way they look and smell, but also because the first meaning in Hanakotoba that my dad taught me was the rose. Also because I met Jian that same day, and then we became best friends. He can listen to me talk on and on, and sometimes I think I bore him, but he insists that he doesn't mind. Speaking of talking, I remember the first time I met-" Hazu let out a girly giggle. "Lucian D'Ange."

She looked at me. "You probably don't know him since you're new to the school and all. He's the son of the Peacekeeper of Sciana, Lady Haizea. I remember the day I met him as clearly as the day I first met Jian—which is really clearly in case you didn't get what I was implying. I was attacked by this weird monster thingy, then the monster picked me up and tried to strangle me, but luckily, Luc came and defeated the monster and lifted me up in his arms and then asked me, 'Are you alright, miss?' I mean, what a gentleman! I know he likes me, and I really like him, and I just know we're meant to be together forever and ever! He's just not ready to admit his feelings for me, which is fine. I know that he's planning to ask me out to the Eternal Ball next week. It will be our first official date as a couple! What sounds better, Luzuki or Hazluc?"

I bit my lip. Did Luc have a girlfriend behind my back? No, he already explained how the mating thing worked. Maybe she just felt the spark and he didn't. He certainly never mentioned a Hazu before.

"What's wrong?" Hazu's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I looked up. "Nothing. Just...well, what if Luc has interests in another girl besides you? Maybe, what if he's dating another girl?"

Hazu's big smile suddenly turned into a frown. The room stank of rotting meat now. Her eyes began twitching crazily as she let out a series of quick laughs that made her sound like a psychopath from a murder movie. "Luc...Luc would never ever leave me. I wouldn't punish him. It wouldn't be his fault. My love isn't like that. However, if I ever found any girl that forced my sweetie pie into doing something that he didn't want to do..." Hazu picked up a pair of shears from her dresser and walked over to the cherry blossom sapling, cutting off a twig, then snapping in in half. "Bye-bye~! She'd pay for ten times whatever she did to my flower."

I now felt extremely scared. I couldn't tell her that Luc had, no more than two hours ago, became my boyfriend. I valued my life, thank you very much.

Hazu immediately perked up and placed the shears back, smiling like she did in the beginning. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason." I said dismissively. "I was just...curious." I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. From now on, I'd have to be extremely careful what I said. I was dealing with a grade-A madwoman.

Hazu laughed. "Jian sometimes says I'm a yandere, but I really don't see it. I only do what other girls would do if the love of their life was defiled by some low-life, man-stealing piece of scum that dares call themselves a woman! Oh, you would be surprised at the sheer audacity that some people honestly think that they are meant for my man, the dirty filth!" I was surprised by the fact that she was able to say that like she was explaining this to little kids. "Anyways, nevermind all of that. You must be hungry! I was about to head out for food with a few of my friends if you'd care to join."

I raised my eyebrow. "Depends on what you mean by 'friends'."

"Oh, well, I'll tell you their names. Gao Jian, Madoc O'Brien, Adrian Skalanias, Metalia Stalin, Kallan Wells, and Luc! I can introduce you to him if you'd like."

I nodded. I was only going with because I had a few words that needed to be exchanged with a boy. "Sure. Why not?"

* * *

When Hazu said we were going to head out for food, I didn't know she meant that there was an actual restaurant here on campus. It was a white, one story building with a vibrant blue and grey sign above it that kept switching between different languages. When it finally turned to English, it read: "Drake Cakes".

"Drake Cakes?" I asked. "Is this some sort of bakery?"

"Yeah!" Hazu chimed happily. "Well, actually, they sell just about any food you can think of, but they have the best cakes of anywhere in this realm. They're delicious!"

Hazu walked to the front door and held it open for me as I walked inside. Most of the tables were filled with what I assumed were fellow students, but that didn't make it hard to find the one we were to sit at. How was it so easy, you ask? Talia was up on her feet, shaking her fists and threatening a guy in Russian. Hazu looked back at me.

"That's Talia! She's funny, but not when she's yelling at you, so my adv-"

"I met her before." I said quickly.

Hazu nodded and then looked back to the table. "Now where is my..." Her jaw dropped and she let out a deafening squeal as she ran over to the table with inhuman speed and wrapped her arms around what I assumed was Luc's face from this distance, probably suffocating the poor guy. I slowly and carefully approached the table...not because I was jealous or anything. I was just...curious.

"Lukie! I missed you so much!" Hazu said in a babyish voice.

"We saw each other yesterday, Hazu..." Luc said, rolling his eyes.

Hazu pushed out her lower lip and gave sad, puppy eyes. "It's felt like centuries. I know you must feel the same way, right...? Right?"

"Yeah! Right, right." He replied, attempting to pry her off.

I had to resist myself from throttling the smaller girl and telling her to back off. Not only did I want to look like a civil human—I mean, Scale Child—but if Hazu found out, I have a feeling she could do a lot worse to me than I could to her. Besides, it wasn't like Luc felt anything for her. I could see the obvious mixed look of annoyance and discomfort on his face as he was struggling to breathe through Hazu's embrace.

"Hazu, don't you think hanging on him like that is a little overkill?" A guy with purple hair asked as he sat down next to Kallan. "I mean the two of you aren't-"

She silenced him with a look that said something along the lines of If you say one more word, I will cut you into pieces and feed you to the ants. Hazu turned her attention back to her focus of interest. "So, Luc..." She started, gripping his arm and looking into his eyes, which Luc tried to avoid. "I was thinking maybe tomorrow we could hang out and go see that new movie."

"I'm studying for the Vistra test." Luc said quickly.

"What about the day after?"

"I have a scheduled battle against Taryn Hoffsteader."

"Then Saturday?"

"That's when I plan on starting to tutor Scarlett, and that will go on for three months or so."

Hazu froze, frowning. Her normally big and happy green eyes narrowed and filled with hate. "Tutoring? Alone?"

"Well, yeah." Luc said. "I'm teaching her so she can get caught up to the current curriculum. It's not like I'm teaching her and everyone else."

Hazu's head snapped in my direction. "Alone with her?"

Luc suddenly realized what was going on, like this had happened a million times before. "Well, of course."

"That's...That's not okay!" Hazu yelled, smashing her fist onto the table, drawing the attention of most of the people in Drake Cakes. The room began to smell like rotting meat once again.

"Calm down, Hazu." The guy with the purple hair said. "It's not like she's going to have sex with him."

"You want to have sex with my Luc?!" Hazu screeched, pointing her finger at me. "I am taking Luc's virginity! No! One! Else! You can seduce any other guy you want, but don't you dare touch my man!"

Kallan shook her head. "Great job, Madoc."

"Hey!" He protested.

"Virginity? That's what you're concerned about?" I muttered to myself.

Hazu began laughing nervously. "Luc is mine!" She reached to the flower that was growing in her hair, and it suddenly began to grow at a rapid rate. The petals fell off, and before I could process what had happened, Hazu was holding a scythe that appeared to be made completely out of thorn-covered vines. Her eyes glittered with that same malicious glare I had seen earlier, darting all over me as if to decide which place she should make her first incision.

She more than likely would have if she wasn't tackled by a large, orange-haired guy. The scythe was knocked out of Hazu's hands and fell to the floor, now nothing more than the flower that had been in her hair. The guy grabbed her wrists and manipulated her arms until they were crossed over her chest in an x-fashion.

"Jian!" Hazu yelled, "Gao Jian, let me go!" She began thrashing wildly, much like a toddler when throwing a temper tantrum. "She's after Luc! I need to protect him!"

"Omori-sama, take deep breaths." The guy said in a calming voice.

"I don't want to! Luc-" Swirling orange lines began creeping up Hazu's skin, and she began to visibly relax, a euphoric smile forming across her lips. I could tell that she was no longer in murder mode because of the intoxicating scent of orchid that now flooded the room.

"Omori-sama, did you take your medication this morning?" He politely prompted.

Hazu shook her head and giggled.

He sighed. "That explains it." He sat down at the opposite end of Luc, carefully propping Hazu up on a chair beside him. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small, red capsule, placing it in Hazu's mouth. He closed her mouth and rubbed her throat until she swallowed, a giggle following shortly after.

I looked warily around at the scene before me. "Is it okay to sit down now?"

"Yeah." The guy apparently called 'Madoc' said. "Don't worry about Hazu. She's just completely on the crazy side."

The other guy punched Madoc across the face, who made a comical sound upon contact. "Do not disrespect Omori-sama like that. Just because one has Schizophrenia and Bipolar does not make her crazy."

"Damn, Jian." Madoc said, rubbing his face. "I was only joking."

I sat down in between Luc and Kallan. I tried not to draw any attention to myself, but that plan completely failed without me even trying.

"Don't mind Hazu." Luc whispered. "Nothing's going on, I swear."

I nodded. "I kind of figured. They way she talks about you sounds more delusional than anything."

Luc gave me a thankful look just as Talia made her way to the table. I jumped as Talia sat down angrily and folded her arms across her chest, drumming her fingers against the inside of her elbow expectantly. "Where in the name of the Eternal Flame is Adrian!? I've been waiting too long for that fool to show up!"

A black-haired boy appeared next to Talia. It was like he had been there the entire time, but I had only now just noticed him. But that was impossible, I had been staring at that spot and hadn't seen anything until now.

"I've been here the entire time." He said. "I was just waiting until I was called for."

Talia squealed and flailed her arms in surprise, which should have come in contact with his face had he not disappeared and reappeared in an empty chair. "Your attempt to punch me is in vain. You see, there's this thing called teleportation. It's amazing, you should really try it sometime."

"I hate you." Talia growled, crossing her arms again with a haughty huff.

The guy appeared in the seat next to Talia and smoothed back a lock of her hair behind her ear. "We both know that's not true..." He leaned in and whispered in her ear, just loud enough so that everyone else could hear. "...Princess."

Talia slammed her fist on the table. "I do! I hate you with every fiber of my being!"

"You're such a liar, Talia. Aren't you what the Japanese would call a tsundere?" Madoc asked.

"Just admit you have feelings for him and we can get this all over with." The orange haired guy said.

Talia began to blush. "A-As if!"

"Liar." Kallan teased.

I laughed as her face flushed bright red. I held out a lock of my hair, walked over to her, and smiled. "Hey, what do you know? It's the same exact color!"

Everybody burst out laughing. As I sat back down at my seat, Kallan clapped her hand around my shoulder, speaking to me in between laughs. "Nice one...Scarlett."

The black-haired guy looked at me. "Well, well, well, we have a newbie." He looked over to Kallan, Luc and Talia. "And you didn't even think of introducing us, what a shame. No matter, let me do the honors. I am Adrian Skalanias, the orange-haired fellow over there is Gao Jian, and that idiot-"

"You called?" Madoc interjected, giving a small circle-wave.

"Is Madoc O'Brien." Adrian finished. He looked back at me and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Scarlett Kaida." I was about to ask him how he knew my name, but he quickly held up his hand before I could say anything. "Telepathy. Get used to it. Now let's order food. I'm quite hungry, and I'd like to eat before Hazu regains consciousness."

Hey! How do you like the minor characters? Don't worry, this isn't the last you'll see of them. Hazu is personally my favorite. She was so much fun to create and even more fun to write. It's kind of funny, because all of the characters in this story are based off of people I know. Madoc is based off of _Beyond_The_Galaxy_,  Hazu is based off of BANANAsriel, Adrian is based off of Brenna1219, and Jian is based off of illneverbeokagain. The main characters are based off me (Scarlett), my boyfriend (Luc), cinderpelt2402 (Kallan), and my friend Dylan (Talia). Well, until next time!

Signing off, Kiera Savage