Chapter 1: Vanilla

Mornings had always been Ren's favorite part of the day. With the first ring of her alarm, she searched for her phone with one hand and moved off a hair strand that was tickling her soft face with the other. She rolled off the bed and slipped on her slippers as she slowly walked towards her window. As though there was no better way to start the day, she slid the dark green curtains wide open, letting the sunshine engulf her room whole. Her skin absorbing the vitamin D as she stretched her arms and legs.

Although mornings were great, winter was never particularly favorable in her eyes. Just the thought of having to be out in the cold, snow covered streets, was enough to tire her out entirely. The sun was deceiving. It was mid February, and spring was fast approaching, but not fast enough, she thought. Given the fact that she was on Canadian grounds, it might even be till late April or May for the warmer weather to stick around. She sighed in defeat against nature.

After freshening up and getting dressed, she made her way towards the kitchen, where her roommate was sitting motionless at the dinning table. She was staring into the empty void with her curly bed hair crumbled up in a messy bun and no sign of life.

"Morning Liz," Ren greeted her with a hint of sarcasm as she started with the breakfast. "Why are you up so early?"

 "Coff—" Liz mumbled after a long pause, followed by Ren's completion of the only half comprehensive word the girl before her could utter while placing a freshly brewed, "fee?"

Her lifeless roommate looked up at her with puppy dog eyes, or... well, panda eyes… but puppy eyes were also an acceptable comparison, of some sort at least. "I… love you," Liz said as she gulped down her drink. It had a good amount of cream and sugar, allowing her to do so without burning her tongue. Though, not that she seemed like she would mind so long as some caffeine entered her system.

Ren looked at her friend helpless and heaved a sigh. This was not nearly as common an occurrence as one would think it to be. Once a month perhaps…? Oh, who was she kidding. Every time Liz had a lab report to finish on the last possible minute, she would make her zombie like appearance at the table following the all-nighters. She still had a full day of classes to attend. It was somewhat admirable really, for her to not skip.

"You know… you really should start them earlier," Ren advised. "The bags under your eyes… well… they're not getting any better really."

"Hush little one, let me celebrate my close victory. I'm still older than you. Mother knows best." Liz, now capable of speech, made her roommate start to regret reviving her.

Ren stared at her friend blankly, then after a moment she started, "you're 8 days older than me."

"And?" Liz replied instantly with a sly smile.

"Give me that coffee back," Ren protested.

"Too late," she took the last sip and slipped back into her room, which was situated opposite to Ren's.

"I'm never making you coffee again!" she announced.

"Thanks for the coffee!" Liz yelled from her room.

"Tsk," Ren scoffed, knowing all too well she'd continue to make the coffee. In a way, this sort of teasing was of the very few sorts of interactions she'd have with Liz as of late. They lived together, that was true, but Liz was a biochemistry student living most of her life past midnight, whereas Ren was a computer science student living most of her life in the day, with a strict 11 pm mental bedtime. It was stereotypically unrealistic, but time management was a talent of hers no one could refute.

By the time she finished her breakfast and headed out, it was eight in the morning. Her apartment wasn't far from campus, 10 minutes or so walk, making it rather convenient. The cold winter air was anything but refreshing. It would have been so much more convenient to bike, she thought, "I wish I had a bike right now." She voiced out to no one other than herself.

It was almost as if her wishes were instantly answered, the next few moments, however, made her wish she had been slightly more… specific.

"AHHH WATCH OUT!" A voice screamed from behind her? Beside her? Oh god how close was she to the voice, she thought, while turning to find it. She was trying to cross the street. She quite frankly had no where to go if she didn't know where the point of danger was. At that moment, a young man on a bike turning right collided into her. 'Today was going so well… why now?!' she cried in her mind.