Chance Encounter (4)

Aria tossed her phone on her bed after reading the message from the dean about getting a new roommate. It had been 6 months since she last had a roommate and she couldn't help but be uncontrollably nervous and excited at the same time. Just the thought of sharing her room with someone and having to talk to them all the time was terrifying, but being alone was far worse.

She thought back to the beginning of the year when she'd been so excited for a chance at a new roommate, as her roommate the year before had failed too many classes and was kicked out after only several weeks.

When her first roommate of the year and moved in, she had given her a welcome gift and everything. Sadly, even though she gave the girl a welcoming gift and tried to talk to her about classes and hobbies, every time she was about to talk the words would get stuck in her throat.

Even when Nora had asked her questions, she would only be able to squeak out a half-hearted yes or no before she felt herself become unable to talk.

Gradually, Nora had grown more and more distant until one day she said she was changing dorms to be with someone who didn't hate her.

Aria had been confused about that for weeks, constantly thinking about it and why someone would assume she hated them. Eventually, she turned to the internet and asked the question anonymously.

When she saw the answers, it suddenly made sense and she became determined to be able to communicate better if she gets another roommate.

Several days later, she had been notified that she would be getting a second roommate the following day and prepared herself. She got an even better welcoming gift this time and practiced how she would act for hours.

Her roommate had arrived and been shocked by the gift, accepting gratefully. That time, she had been able to speak to her new roommate without issue.

However, by the end of the week her roommate simply disappeared without notice. Aria had initially assumed she was kicked out and too ashamed to say anything, but when she got to class the following Monday, she saw Sarah sitting at her desk surrounded by her usual group of friends.

As she walked past, she had heard them speaking under their breath about how she saw everyone as so beneath her that she got them expensive gifts just to make them feel bad.

Seeing how incorrectly people assumed what her actions meant and assuming she didn't care, she made a request with the dean to only give her a roommate if she knew about her beforehand and still accepted. When he had accepted, she had accepted the fate of not having a roommate for the rest of the year.

Now that it was time for her to get a new roommate, she was afraid that another person was going to leave her for some reason or another.

Coming to a decision, Aria got dressed quickly and made her way to the staircase. On her way down, she thought about where to go before deciding on a cake shop named Monocled Rabbit across the street from the school's entrance.

At the bottom floor, she swiped her door key and exited through the back door, ignoring the gazes of the people around her.

When she got to the Monocled Rabbit, she walked to her usual seat and pressed the button on the table to call for a waiter.

"Aria!" Devin rushed over to the table with his favorite customer sat at it and slid into the seat across from her.

"Hey Dev" Aria waved at Devin and smiled, glad to see the owner was here and not one of the younger waiters who flirted with her. The last thing she needed right now was for another rumor to start spreading about her keeping sugar babies.

Several months earlier, she had started frequenting the cafe and got somewhat friendly with the staff who worked their because they were all rather nice. After she started to get closer to them, an anonymous account on the school's website posted pictures of her chatting with each one of them and talked about how frequently she went to the cafe.

The rumors would of died away on their own quickly enough if not for Emma taking action to make them a lot worse. She claimed to have seen proof that Aria kept multiple staff members from the Monocled Rabbit as sugar babies. Even though she didn't provide any proof, people took the queen of the school's word over hers and came to the conclusion she was doing everything the anonymous post said.

Ever since then, whenever she came here Devin himself would come to serve her to help her avoid any more rumors floating around.