Knock, knock, knock—
The curtain was yanked open, and moonlight spilled into the room, brightening everything in an instant.
Maya's head snapped up. She saw the opposite bed's curtain pulled aside, revealing a figure so breathtaking that words failed her. Silvery straight hair fell over the shoulders, ice-blue eyes looked sharp but carried a trace of warmth, and the lips were thin and coldly alluring. A girl.
No… too beautiful. Beautiful to the point of blurring gender. That was Maya's first impression.
"Wh-who are you?" Maya stammered.
"Idiot." It was the first word the mysterious girl spoke to Maya.
Maya froze, still trapped in the ghostly grip.
The girl lazily raised her hand with a flick. The ghostly hand screamed like it was being burned by fire, then vanished instantly.
That person sneered. "Me? Your roommate."
Maya was stunned. "R-roommate…?"
She mumbled under her breath: "My roommate? But the name on the list was Lucian…"
"That's right."
Maya blinked. "Huh? But Lucian is… a boy's name, isn't it?"
"It's rude to nitpick someone's name when you've just met," Lucian replied calmly.
"S-sorry!" Maya, like a startled kitten, immediately hopped off her little bed.
Lucian gave a cold hum. "Names have no gender."
Maya's wide eyes blinked in disbelief—never had she imagined her new roommate would turn out to be such an icy beauty. She stammered: "J-just now… that thing… y-you saw it too, right? Was that… a ghost?!"
Lucian snorted. "You're too noisy."
Maya's heart was still pounding. Fear mixed with tears, but she still whispered, soft and cute: "Th-thank you…"
"Go to sleep. If you don't want to die, stop moving around." With that, Lucian turned as if nothing had happened, sat on the other bed, and pulled out a book to read.
Maya shrank back under her blanket, her heart thumping wildly. It was her very first day in this new dorm, and she was already scared to the verge of tears. Yet her eyes couldn't help but sneak glances.
In the moonlight, Lucian's profile looked too perfect to be real, expression as cold as ice—but somehow, that coldness gave Maya an odd sense of safety.
Hugging her plush bear, Maya whispered: "S-so fierce… but… so cool…"
Lucian's ears turned faintly red, though she quickly cut her off with a frosty tone: "Shut up! Sleep. If you die, it won't be my problem."
Her reading slowed, then finally stopped. Lucian closed the book, pulled her curtain shut, and lay down.
Maya dared not make another sound. With her heart still shaken, yet strangely comforted, she slowly drifted into sleep.Her bizarre first day at Saint Lynne Academy's dormitory came to an end.