Rosa could not deny her excitement. Of course she was excited - she was about to introduce her two new friends found in the Lanka twins to Elliot. She knew dear Elly wouldn't be particularly friendly, but she still hoped they would at least be civil. Perhaps they would work with her for once.

However, she wanted to make sure she ended up breaking down Elliot's well-built wall before the Lanka twins were introduced into the situation. She might be able to mold their mind enough to make them acceptable when it came to meeting someone new. It wasn't often either of them met anyone new.

As a matter of fact, it wasn't often that anything "new" happened at Cloisterham. Most of the students knew each other from former schooling and had been at the school since freshman year of high school. They lived together in the boarding school, which was just large enough that secrets could be kept but small enough that, upon a well-intentioned whisper, those same secrets could spread throughout the school in moments.

However, as so little happened in the school, it wasn't often that secrets were created. Therefore most of the rumors that floated around were just that - rumors. Any bit of truth within them was usually miniscule, completely covered up by all of the fancy which surrounded it. There was no way to tell, either.

Rosa, of course, worried of whatever rumors might end up floating out about her or Elliot. She'd already heard murmurs about the Lanka twins, but she decided to ignore them. She would much rather glean the truth from Neville and Helena themselves. Certainly they could give a better view of it all.

However, Elliot most likely would listen to those rumors - they hadn't met Neville or Helena yet, after all. Rosa would have to tell of how Helena rushed in to save her from the terror she'd felt before Mr. Jasper...but, of course, she couldn't tell Elliot about how horrifying their dear uncle was.

"Elly, Elly," Rosa called out, meeting up with her enbyfriend in the large expanse of grass between Cloisterham Academy's various buildings. This was normally the spot where they would converse about one thing or another, but today it would be where she would facilitate the meeting between them and the Lankas.

"What are you so excited about, Peaches?"

"Well, I...I have something which I wish to share with you. I desire to share with you a new friendship I have forged with two newcomers to our school, here at dear Cloisterham."

"You don't mean you've made friends with those two...what were their names?"

"Helena and Neville," Rosa said. "And yes, I have become friends with them. I do believe they deserve friendly relations - they have been only kind to me despite only knowing me for a matter of moments. I believe you will find them wonderful as well once you meet them..."

"Oh, Peaches, god! You didn't think that maybe I don't want to meet anyone new?" Elliot asked. "And you didn't think that I've heard tons of rumors about the two of them already? The whole reason they're here is because both of their parents are dead."

"What about the two of us? I suppose we shall become a merry band of orphans - not one of us has a living parent remaining."

"Peaches, they had a stepfather who the boy - what was his name?"

"Neville. Neville Lanka."

"Neville always used to fight with. I've heard he has a real temper, that he might've had something to do with that stepfather's death."

"He was sweet when I met him," Rosa replied. "And I don't think you should believe all of those rumors, especially a rumor as vile as that! It's simply slander, I promise you. You will realize what he is truly like upon meeting him."

"Of course I will," Elliot sighed. "And I'm guessing that you're going to make meet the two of them any second now?"

Rosa bit her lip - she knew Elliot was going to be rather tough to convince, but she hadn't expected such a horrible reception before they even met the Lanka twins. Something had to come together or else Rosa's plan would end up falling through at its core.

"I invited the Lankas here to the grass in order to meet you. I thought it would only be suitable if my new friends met my enbyfriend of approximately four years..."

"How could they be your friends already?" Elliot asked. "You've only just met them, what, a week ago?"

"Well, yes, but I-"

"I don't want to hear it. I don't want to meet them. I don't want to meet either of them. I can meet them some other time, when I actually want to."

"Elly, you weren't even here for my birthday," Rosa mumured, pursing her lips. Most people would immediately sink under her spell of placing guilt and looking as pitiful as possible, but Elliot was not so easily moved.

"I'm sorry, Peaches, I was busy," Elliot said, releasing yet another sigh. "But fine. You've convinced me. I'll meet them, but I'm not going to guarantee that I'm going to fall in love with them at first sight the way that you have seemed to."

"Thank you, Elly," Rosa said. "I am certain you will not loathe them, regardless of what your perspective on them is at the current moment."

"I'm not," Elliot grumbled, but Rosa was already distracted.

"Oh, look, here they come now!" Rosa exclaimed, a smile stretching upon her lips. "Come on, Elly, this will be lovely!"

Rosa clutched onto Elliot's hand and began to drag them along towards the approaching Lankas. Elliot couldn't remember a moment when Rosa had been anywhere near as thrilled about going to see and talk to any other person.

"Helena, Neville!" Rosa exclaimed upon finally stopping before the twins. "I am so pleased to see both of you once again - I haven't talked to you fully in several days and I wish to alter that!"

"Good to see you too, Rosa," Helena responded. "Apparently I'm moving into our room today."

"Oh, it is a joyous day!" said Rosa, clasping her hands together in glee. "I will do my best to help ease you into your new dorm room - and I suppose that Neville is moving in too? Wait, never mind that - we have something else to attend to. Or, rather, someone else. Elly?"

Elliot stepped forward, refusing to let their lips bend either up or down. No, Elliot would stay stoic and quiet for as long as they possibly could.

"Elly, this is Helena - she's to be my roommate in the near future, as she's joining Cloisterham Academy for our next semester! And, of course, this is her brother Neville. They're twins - isn't that just perfectly marvelous?"

"Perfectly marvelous. Maybe not the words I would use, but...sure," Elliot said, placing a smile upon their lips. Unfortunately, it was all too clear just how false his smile was.

Rosa, however, kept her lips in an enormous smile. "Helena and I have gone through the phase of acquaintance and into complete friendship in just a matter of moments. And, of course, I already consider Neville to be quite a friend. I believe you'll see their virtues..."

Neville and Helena remained quiet as Rosa spoke, mostly because they were not quite sure how they were meant to speak. Rosa launched herself in front of them, acting as a wall of sorts between the twins and Elliot. Perhaps she knew something that neither of the twins had the faintest idea about. It would only make sense, after all - she had known Elliot for quite a long while.

"But I suppose you cannot view their virtues if they're silenced by my words," Rosa said, realizing how much she'd been babbling. "Neville, Helena...meet Elliot Drew, my enbyfriend. My enbyfriend of four years now."

"Four years," Neville echoed.

"I can hardly believe it either," Rosa said, releasing a contented sigh. "Usually relationships formed between two thirteen year olds can hardly be expected to last much past a month, but here Elly and I have been together for forty eight...well, approximately."

"You two must be very close," Helena said. "I mean, you two have been together for so long."

"I suppose we are," Rosa said. She attempted to gently nudge Elliot to get them to speak, but her efforts weren't quite effective.

"I hear you're Mr. Jasper's...what's the word?" Neville asked, taking on the effort of moving the conversation on.

"Nibling," Rosa said, unable to keep herself from beaming. Already Neville was getting the hang of it! "The gender neutral term for niece or nephew is nibling."

"Mr. Jasper's nibling. I met Mr. Jasper the other day, and-"

"Are you really just going to talk about my uncle?" Elliot said, rolling their eyes. "You came from some far off place, why don't you just go on about that for some time?"

"Well, I was curious about how it feels for you to have-"

"To have an uncle as a teacher at my school. I've heard it all before. Anyways, why did you decide to come here from some far off place."

"Far off place?" Helena echoed. "I think you're mistaken. Neville and I are from Cleveland, Ohio. We're not from that far away."

"You're from the north, that's far away enough for me," Elliot replied. "And it's not like you look like you're around here or anything..."

"Elly!" Rosa gasped, unable to keep her shock back. She could have easily gone off on a tangent about such matters, making sure to point out that she didn't have the white skin characteristic of most students at Cloisterham either, but she managed to bite her lip and silenced herself

"Peaches, I don't see what's so shocking about it. It's true!"

"Well, Elly..."

"Well nothing, Peaches. I'm just stating the facts."

"Sometimes the facts should be kept silent," Helena replied. She remained cool over the matter though it was clear she was boiling within - she could find a way to keep it contained, while her brother had an angered flush appearing across his cheek.

"Why didn't you just stay where you came from? I mean, you don't seem like much of the types to come to Cloisterham."

"We didn't stay because we had no reason to stay. All of our guardians died," Neville replied.

"All of them? Really?" Elliot asked. "How...convenient."

"They're orphans just as you and I are, Elly," Rosa said. "I mentioned that to you previously. Surely, you must recall when we spoke about that just minutes ago..."

"Yes, yes, I remember," Elliot replied. "I just was saying that it seems interesting how they've managed to get all the way to Cloisterham Academy in Virginia after all of their guardians died in Cleveland, Ohio. Almost like they knew things would take a really good turn after it all happened."

Rosa, despite her anger, forced herself to remain quiet. She knew that letting a single word burst out of her would end up having all sorts of horrible effects.

"So, Elliot..." Helena began, knowing that it was up to her to attempt to salvage the conversation. "You have to have some major plans for your future."

"Of course," Elliot said. "I've had the same plan for years."

"We'd love to hear about them," Helena said, although it was clear she didn't care all that much.

"I'm going to travel the world once I'm old enough, and I'm going to photograph it all. The whole world is mine for the taking, and I'll be taking Peaches here along with me."

"Does Rosa want to go along with you?" Neville asked, glancing over to the girl.

"Oh, I do! I desire to see the world. I wish to see it immensely," Rosa said, somewhat caught off guard by the question.

"You wouldn't let yourself get carried off unless you wanted to be," Helena said, sending a small smile of reassurance over towards Rosa.

Elliot, on the other hand, scrunched up their nose as they said, "Why wouldn't Peaches want to come with me? Everything that's planned for me...well, it's better than anything else I can think of."

"I...I think that traveling the world sounds marvelous," Rosa said, bending her lips into a smile. "But that is not what we need to speak about - my future exploits are of no concern of the Lankas."

"Oh, of course," Elliot exclaimed.

"I suppose I should inform you of the circumstances under which I met the Lanka twins," Rosa began. "Your uncle...I was singing a song under the guide of your uncle, and I...I became rather...I was weakened. And then I nearly fainted, but Helena and Neville came to my rescue."

"You were weakened?" Elliot asked, far more interested in the earlier portions of her story than anything that had to do with the Lanka twins. "What on earth would end up making you feel weakened? Did you just faint after you had an audience?"

"No...I suppose I hadn't eaten enough that day," Rosa lied. "But I would've ended up on the floor had these two not come to save me."

"Save you."

"Yes..." Rosa began. As she realized that this conversation had already fallen apart at the seams, she decided it was up to her to walk away from it all. "Well, Elly, I can tell you more later - I can tell you as we go to get lunch, I suppose. Helena, Neville...farewell. I look forward to seeing you again."

The twins both said goodbye (mostly to Rosa, of course), but after Rosa clutched Elliot's hand she ended up whisked away within moments. The conversation had fallen apart completely, and now the better part of it would occur with the two separate pairs in a more private manner.

"I hate the way they treat her," Neville said, shaking his head. "They don't deserve someone like her."

"Neville..."

"You can't deny it."

"I wasn't going to," Helena said. "I was going to say that Rosa wasn't the only one they treated badly. You must have heard the way they spoke about us. They have no filter, nothing to stop them from saying everything. It's not good and I won't defend them. But it's not just Rosa."

"I just don't see why Rosa lets them continue to act in that way."

"Can't you see?" Helena sighed. "Rosa is used to this sort of thing. She must've been around Elliot for years now - that behavior is something she just knows and expects in her life."

"I hate the fact that she was forced to get used to it to begin with," Neville said. "I wish that she could be freed from that."

"So do I," Helena agreed. "But for now, all we can do is try to make our way here at Cloisterham. I'm going to head off to my dormitory now...I'll see you later, I'm sure."

"You really think that Cloisterham Academy is going to be good for us?" Neville asked, not quite ready to say goodbye to his sister.

"I think it will be. Even if it isn't, it's better than everything else we've been through. And we can both agree that Rosa, at the very least, is going to be kind to us. I'll tell you about living in a dorm room with her later, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, then."

"Bye, Neville," Helena said, trying to send a hopeful smile over toward her brother before she walked off.

As Helena walked around Cloisterham, she felt a strange balance of serenity and anticipation - she felt safe within Cloisterham Academy, but there was something more behind it all. She'd only been in the area for a few days, but she knew enough to find where the dormitories were. At the very least, she knew where she could sleep at night.

When Helena entered the dorm room, she was pleasantly surprised to find that Rosa was already sitting within the room by herself, a book within her hands. Upon the door opening, Rosa set the book down to peer at who had just entered.

"Helena!" she exclaimed. "I did not think you would come to our room so soon - but I cannot say that it disappoints me in any way."

"I didn't expect to see you here either, but this is a good thing," Helena said. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened with Elliot earlier today."

"Of course," Rosa said, her happy countenance fading. "I must apologize for that. It is due to the rumors that have been flying about as of late. You must know about them - and it is because of secrets that they come out. I assume that your secrets are what you desire to keep secrets..."

"I want to keep secrets from the general public, yes."

"Oh, I do suppose that everyone harbors their own particular secrets! It won't be any good to pry yours out, I'm certain - so I'll tell you mine first. It's not truly a secret, by definition, but as only few know...well. I saw my mother's corpse floating within the sea after she drowned to death. How it paralleled Ophelia's demise...although my mother did not drown herself in madness. Rather, she was caught by a riptide."

Rosa made every attempt to make this description sound airy and lighthearted, but the strain in her voice made it apparent this "secret" had scarred her. And, as a girl who was orphaned so young, most people who knew of her plight ended up doing their best to tend to these scars. Thus Rosa ended up growing up with silk pillows cushioning her falls - she'd been through enough as a child, and so she wouldn't have to suffer ever again.

"I...I don't know why I just told you that," Rosa said, glancing down at her bedding. Now that she'd admitted to such a thing she knew she had to change the subject. "I suppose it is something I feel you should know as my roommate. You wished to talk about Elliot, you said?"

"Yes. Neville and I were wondering if they always treated you like that."

"I suppose I must say yes if I am to be truthful - but it is something I have grown used to. And I need to be used to it, as he have been together for many years and shall be together for many more!"

Helena tilted her head as she said, "You're planning to date them until high school or college ends?"

"Indeed. And then we shall scamper off one day and be married, and I shall be called Mrs. Rosa Drew until my days cease. Or perhaps I could retain my own name...but taking on a spouse's last name reminds one of more idyllic times, don't you think?"

"You plan to marry them?"

"I thought that would be abundantly clear," Rosa said, pursing her lips. "Why, is there something amiss with such a plan?"

"You're a junior in high school! You're only sixteen-"

"Seventeen," Rosa corrected.

"-seventeen years old," Helena continued. "You can't decide that's what you're going to do."

"Suppose I enjoy having a plan," Rosa said. "You cannot fault me for that."

"You haven't experienced even a quarter of your life yet. You can't know how it's all going to turn out. And how do you know you'll be happy with Elliot? You don't even love them!"

Rosa nearly gasped in shock, as if this offended her.

"I will have you know that I love dearest Elly very much!"

"But-"

"Perhaps not as a sweetheart, but yes, love," Rosa said, now resorting to correcting herself. "I would not have stayed faithful to them for four years if I didn't love them."

"Faithful. To someone you don't care about, romantically?"

Rosa pursed her lips, seeing that by only looking at her Helena could compel her to admit truths that would normally stay bottled up within.

"I considered cheating. More than once. But only once for more that a few fleeting moments. But he is gone now, off in college...and I am glad I did not act on my emotions, for I know I would have regretted it."

"You're faithful to a fault, then," Helena sighed. "I don't see why you didn't go with that boy who you wanted to be with if it would've made you happier. I'm sure that even Elliot would've understood."

"I do not know if they would've," Rosa said, feeling rather sheepish upon hearing Helena's take on her actions. "Besides, I...I have not regretted the decision I made to walk away from back then."

"People do seem to adore you here, whether you choose to care about them romantically or not."

"Too many people, sometimes," Rosa agreed. "They adore me, but only when it is most convenient to them."

"And Mr. Jasper...you know he loves you?"

"Oh, don't!" Rosa cried out in response. "He terrifies me. He haunts my thoughts like a dreadful ghost. I feel that I am never safe from him, not even within the dormitory walls. I feel as if he may just pass through the walls when he's spoken of - he acts as a shadow, not as a man."

Rosa's eyes then flitted to the shadows playing on the walls as she said,"I am paranoid all too often when I am within Cloisterham Academy, worried of what he might do with me so near.

"I...I'm sorry that I brought it up, then," Helena said. "If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."

Rosa pursed her lips for a moment, giving herself a moment of still silence as if she could hear her fluttering heart beat. She'd never spoken about Mr. Jasper in such a way to another living soul - she never thought she would be able to. She had always been silenced by Mr. Jasper, even if he was not present in the room with her.

But with Helena nearby, somehow she felt as if she could speak freely.

"No, I must tell of how he ails me. He controls me with his gaze. He has forced me to understand him, without his saying a word. He has forced me to keep silence, without uttering a threat. Whether I be in chorus or speaking to Elly with him near, he cannot seem to remove his gaze from me. He pursues me endlessly, and he need not say a word of it."

"That's horrible," Helena replied.

"And I feel as if I cannot speak such claims about him to anyone, including Elly...they would not dare believe such vile accusations towards their dear uncle. Everyone has already made up their mind about Mr. Jasper, and therefore no one will view him from my perspective."

"Have you talked to anyone else about him?"

"I cannot," Rosa said. "I...I have indeed tried, but it never...it never seems to come out from my lips. He has silenced me even if he is not present, Helena. I can never escape from all he says and does."

Helena would've spoken another word of comfort towards Rosa, but the girl was continuing to move on to rant about Mr. Jasper for the first time within her life.

"The other week when we first met and you rescued me...those moments were as horrid as any before, I say! Perhaps even more horrid, even more dreadful...and I believe you are the only one who realized how dreadful they were!"

"Well maybe not exactly how dreadful...I wasn't in your position, after all."

"Oh, it was if he were kissing me as he watched my lips - forcing me into a kiss most vile, one I could not escape from no matter how I squirm and protest! And to think it was my birthday and he would dare defile me in such a manner..."

"I'm guessing that you tried to avoid singing the song but he refused to let you."

"But of course," Rosa said, pursing her lips. "He could not bear the thought of allowing me to escape without allowing my voice to sing the lyrics and melody of such a seductive song, by him and for him. Oh, I loathe it all! I am forced to spend so much of my time near him all due to my decision to pursue vocal music while here at Cloisterham Academy - when I made the decision I did not know he would be there!"

"Can't you change what you want to do?"

"Well, yes, I suppose...but I do not wish to change the vocal music, only my constant contact with Mr. Jasper. And, as I said, I made this decision prior to knowing Mr. Jasper would be there."

"So if you'd known he would be there you wouldn't have decided to do vocal music," Helena said, starting to decipher Rosa's behavior.

"I suppose not," Rosa replied, looking down to at the fabric of her skirt. "I...I met him for the first time when I was thirteen and I knew something was amiss, even then...but I didn't find out he would be teaching me until after I'd submitted everything to Cloisterham. Only then could he announce he'd received the position of choir director at Cloisterham Academy."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"There is naught to be done at this point in time. All you can do is swear to keep these words secret. No one can know that I have told you such accusations towards Mr. Jasper...he will find out, and I will be punished. But I can trust you, Helena. I know I can."