Chapter Text
Coming to EWS was supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime. An opportunity to be away from her family, away from all the bullshit back home. The chance for her to become someone. Something.
Maybe that was what Andi’s intentions were as she was signing in and grabbing the key to her door and the welcome pack after assuring her mom she’d be okay. Watching her leave pulled on her heart a little bit more than she thought it would, seeing the bickering between her and the man she had decided to marry prickled the corners of her eyes. Andi dug the key into her hand harshly, feeling the cold metal dig in sharp and real, pushing the tears back.
This would be good. Good for her. Good for everyone, even her stepfather.
Andi breathed out, level and careful. She placed the key into her pocket and carried her bag to her room. It seemed no one had moved in yet; she’d been informed of a welcome tour from one of the seniors happening in a couple of minutes.
The room was spacious, much bigger than she was ever used to. It was clean, modern, almost hospital with the lack of colour. Andi threw her bags onto the bed at the top level and leaned against the wall.
It already seemed too good to be true. And maybe Andi had always spent her life like that, always waiting for the catch.
Perfect loving father: dead.
Caring mother: distant and unknowing of how to connect with Andi.
Stepfather: borderline abusive and just a dick.
Her track record wasn’t running too smoothly.
She checked her phone and headed back down to the reception just in time for the tour. She wasn’t going to pretend that she was too cool for a tour, she’d almost gotten lost after just following the corridor straight to her dorm.
Andi walked, phone in hand, texting her mom to let her know she’s found her room and she was about to join the tour when suddenly her phone was flying out of her hand and a
girl
woman was reaching out to steady her by her shoulders.
“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” Andi said on autopilot, her eyes scanning up from the floor to the woman in front of her, her hands still firmly on Andi’s shoulders.
She laughed, “You okay?”
Fuck. Her smile. She was absolutely gorgeous. Out of everyone, she could’ve bumped into it had to be the most beautiful person she’d ever seen.
Andi shook her head almost ridding her thoughts, “Yeah, yeah! I’m good, are you okay?”
She finally took her hands off Andi’s shoulders, missing the slight warmth she could feel radiating through her jacket.
“Of course, just watch where you’re going, yeah?” She bent down to pick up Andi’s phone, silently inspecting it for any damage before handing it back, a smile on her face.
Andi grabbed the phone, eyes never leaving hers.
She turned to leave, down the corridor Andi had just come from.
Snapping back into reality Andi turned and asked, “What’s your name?”
“Emilia,” she almost laughed as she stopped to look at Andi.
“I’m Andi…Agosti.”
She was definitely laughing now, “I’ll see you around Andi Agosti.”
Andi watched as she walked off, weaving past groups of people with practised ease. She looked at her phone, pocketed it and continued her walk to reception as best as she could remember.
Of course, because luck was never on Andi’s side, she should’ve followed Emilia because now she was almost certain she was lost. She almost gave in to her pride and checked the map they’d given her until she heard loud English and assumed, she must be near some people that might know where she should go.
The voice led her back to reception miraculously to witness an American girl arguing with her parents over facetime - an overly stuffed suitcase by her side. She almost had the idea to go over and speak to her, but her train of thought was interrupted by a voice.
“Welcome to the new EWS, formerly the Elite Way School.”
Emilia. Of course. Andi could not catch a fucking break.
Emilia had managed to catch her eye, a smile ghosting her lips as she spoke.
Andi followed the group, hanging around at the back hoping to avoid whatever it was that was happening. Trying to process how out of everyone she could’ve had to have an awkward run-in, it had to be the absolutely drop-dead gorgeous co-captain of the most important group at the school.
They finally reached the auditorium and Andi wasn’t going to lie, everything was super impressive. Not that she wasn’t expecting a school with the word ‘Elite’ in the title to be anything but that.
The step back as Emilia explained the MEP and the Battle of the Bands gave Andi a moment to look at Emilia, like really look at her. She was stunning, confident, and arrogant in just the right way. The way that almost made Andi want to risk it all right there and then, the way that gave her just the right amount of cocky. Sarcasm dripped from her every word and punctuated everything that left her mouth, a complete contrast to how she acted with Andi earlier.
It was kind of hot, dare Andi say it.
Perhaps she stood a bit closer to her for a reason, maybe she was testing the waters a little bit. The challenge in the band room of ‘you break it, you buy it’ coursing through her veins. The look Emilia gave her completely intoxicated her. That look of utter ‘don’t try me’ pushed Andi along.
And now the way Emilia looked at her after their hands brushed, the way her eyebrows knitted together just slightly as she flicked her eyes across Andi’s face. She could already feel the smirk growing.
And maybe it was something other than confusion, but maybe she’d made that up. Andi couldn’t be sure.
She spent the rest of the tour staring unabashedly at Emilia, watching for every little quirk of an eyebrow, every time she flashed that fake smile that just didn’t meet her eyes, every word punctuated perfectly and had an air of importance dripping off; Andi could be lying, but she wore she saw a light pink colour Emilia’s face after she checked her out for the tenth time already.
Soon enough they were dropped off back at reception with instructions of changing into their uniforms as soon as they got to their rooms with an hour to kill before the welcome assembly.
The group had a light buzz about it as people were chatting and milling about to find their roommates, talking about what classes would be like and what their hopes for first year would be. Andi caught eyes with the American girl who seemed lost and waved a ‘hello!’ that was awkwardly returned.
She quickly pulled out her map and Andi could just make out a room circled in a light purple colour that looked vaguely in the direction of hers. And just before she could say something the girl vanished, walking off in a direction Andi thought could be towards their room.
The school was an absolute maze of rich, entitled assholes and hallways decorated with marble accents and potted shrubbery in-wall indents. Plaques and awards were hidden behind supposedly bulletproof glass she’d heard.
Andi eyed Emilia one last time. She had an intense look on her face as she typed furiously on her phone after being relieved of her duties as tour guide.
Fuck it.
“Hey,” she said nervously, Emilia looked up from her phone.
“Nice to see you’re in one piece,” Emilia’s smile threatened to turn into a small laugh as she pressed send and pushed her phone into her pocket.
Andi could feel the blush rising up her face, “Not the best first impression.”
“Awh, it was cute,” Emilia tried upon seeing Andi’s reaction, she laughed, “it was kinda funny though!”
Andi couldn’t help herself from letting out a little chuckle, she was infectious.
“So…what are you doing after this?”
Emilia cocked an eyebrow, “We have that assembly.”
She nodded in return, “I know, but getting changed isn’t going to take me an hour or whatever it is until that starts. And I don’t think I’ll be able to get lost because everyone’s going to the same place,” Andi smiled.
Emilia fidgeted, stepping from one foot to the other; the first time Andi had seen her nervous. So, leading a group of at least fifteen around the campus didn’t affect her, but this did?
“Andi Agosti…”
Andi could tell Emilia was mulling over her next move, how she would play this. She’d been at this school for less than two hours and was already flirting with the first girl she’d laid eyes on.
“Yes.”
“You’re lucky you’re cute. Give me your phone.”
Emilia put her number into Andi’s phone, a light dusting of pink on her cheeks as she handed it back. “I’ll see you around, Andi,” she almost sighed.
“I’ll see you at that assembly,” Andi winked.
Where the fuck had Andi gotten the audacity from? Flirting with a senior, a co-captain of the MEP no less, someone who was very much so out of her league. But Andi could’ve sworn to God she saw Emilia blush as she walked away.
Meeting her roommates was smooth enough, MJ – the American girl – seemed nice, albeit a bit nervous.
Jana Cohen Gandia was, in all senses of the word, a pop star. All senses of the word include but are not limited to sensational, arrogant, picky and confident.
She seemed okay enough on the basis of a first impression.
Andi toyed with the idea of texting Emilia, inviting her to her room, kicking her roommates out, and properly meeting Emilia. Learning every little thing about her, what made her tick, what she liked, disliked, why she chose to come here out of everywhere in South America, what she dreamt about, what her whole façade was for. Everything.
Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard, shaking slightly from a mixture of excitement, nerves, and pure exhaustion. She typed ‘hi’ and stared at it until it became foreign to her. All too cliché.
She deleted it and stared at her phone once more. She crossed and uncrossed her legs as she sat on the sofa as MJ unpacked singing some cheesy pop song. Jana had gone to go catch up with her boyfriend, Andi had just managed to catch before she headed out the door with a bye.
‘I’m in 206 if you want to come by’
“Why are you blushing? Who are you texting?” MJ practically squealed, dropping the clothes she was folding straight back into her suitcase coming to rush to look at Andi’s phone.
“No one, my face just looks like this,” Andi would admit that’s not her best work.
“You’re definitely texting someone, show me! Who are they? Are they from home? Do they come here?” MJ pestered further, a teasing laugh pouring out of her.
Andi’s phone buzzed.
“Is that them now?” MJ reached for Andi’s phone, just missing it.
“I will tell you if something comes of it, I promise.”
MJ thrust her pinky out, “Pinky promise?”
Andi laughed, “I pinky promise.”
MJ nodded and stood up to return to folding her clothes, every so often glancing up to catch Andi’s eye and giggle all over again.
Andi checked her phone to see a brand-new message from Emilia.
Oh no.
The message must’ve been sent.
Oh no.
She couldn’t bear to look at it, she schooled her face just to avoid any more questions from MJ. Andi opened the messages app to see the notification.
EMILIA
You’re forward
ANDI
That was meant for someone else
EMILIA
Of course, it was. But just on the off chance it was intended for me, I’ll stop by after the assembly
ANDI
Why not now, we’re not busy, we have a solid half an hour until the assembly seems plenty of time to me
EMILIA
You are trouble, I’ll stop by AFTER the assembly
Jana came back just before MJ and Andi were leaving for the auditorium, they hadn’t spoken further about the phone incident, but MJ definitely knew there was new information.
“Why are you so giddy?” Jana asked as they started their walk.
“Andi has a secret lover,” MJ practically shook with excitement.
Andi rolled her eyes, “I do not.”
Jana cocked an eyebrow in disbelief choosing not to comment, MJ quickly rattled into a new topic that Andi tuned out in order to subtly search the crowd forming outside the auditorium for Emilia.
Turns out it was not so subtle as MJ nudged her with a bright smile on her face, no ounce of genuine teasing in her and just pure excitement for her. She’d seemed to have settled down since Andi saw her at reception on the phone.
Andi had never really done friends. More accustomed to being the ‘kid whose dad died so we need to be sensitive’ or the weird kid always listening to music. It just so happened that both led to her being alone most of the time.
And that was fine. Andi was fine by herself. People were a struggle and needed so much time and effort and always ended up letting her down no matter what she did. So really, it was fine.
But somehow MJ had already managed to worm her way into the very exclusive list of Andi’s friends. The nervous, anxious, hyper-religious girl who was ecstatic most of the time was already becoming one of Andi’s closest friends.
Which considering that they’d known each other for less than an hour, was pretty sad.
And based on MJ’s next move she was about to be promoted to a best friend really soon as she’d managed to stumble into a seat next to Emilia on pure accident. Andi stared for a moment before taking her seat, Emilia hadn’t noticed just yet, lucky for her.
MJ nudged Andi once more before the assembly started, “So is your secret love in this room?”
Andi groaned, placing her head in her hands.
“I’m taking that as a yes,”
“I don’t have a secret lover, MJ. I swear,” Andi was practically pleading through clenched teeth in an effort to keep her voice down so as not to draw attention to the conversation.
MJ just smiled, her voice having a definitely excited trill to it that was not helping Andi in the slightest, “Then who were you texting that had you all smiley, you don’t seem the smiling type,” Andi shot her a look, “What! You don’t!”
Andi couldn’t help but laugh, she looked up and Emilia was staring at her. A few seconds passed and she winked before turning back to talk to her friends.
She winked. Andi could’ve died on the spot right there, just declare her deceased and wheel her out on a gurney.
“You’re blushing, there’s definitely a someone in this room you have a crush on!”
Andi had never wanted the entire world to swallow her whole more than right that moment. She trained her eyes forward as she watched the principal take the stage with her assistant.
Her mind tuned out everything they were saying, far more interested in thinking about what was going to happen when Emilia came round afterwards. What’s she going to say, is she going to get shot down, is she going to come into her room?
Andi regretted not fully unpacking and remembered the pile of clothes lying on her bed as she couldn’t be bothered to hang them up. What would she even say to MJ and Jana? ‘Sorry guys, someone I met once and now have a huge crush on is coming round could you leave for an unknown amount of time for me, please.’
She could almost laugh at herself and the situation.
And then everyone was clapping, and people were starting to stand to leave. Andi stole one last glance at Emilia before she stood to exit the row, she caught Emilia looking at her also with a shy smile.
They walked back to their room as MJ unlocked the door to let them in. Andi pulled her jacket off and quickly stuffed the clothes from her bed into the open duffel bag on the floor and pushed it underneath. She climbed back down after pulling on some sweatpants and loitered by the sofa with MJ and Jana.
“I’m going to be out a little late tonight,” Jana said, picking at a thread on her shirt.
“But the curfew?”
Jana smiled at MJ, “I know, if Lourdes comes round can you please cover for me?”
MJ gave it some thought and then nodded, practically singing, “Are you meeting up with your boyfriend?”
“Not quite,” Jana said, checking her phone, “I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow, have a nice night!”
“Don’t get caught,” Andi chimed in, checking her phone also.
A text from Emilia.
EMILIA
Sorry, I haven’t been round yet; I’ve had some stuff to do. Do you mind coming to mine?
Andi smiled. She wasn’t going to lie, the lack of message and knocking on the door was starting to worry her. Had Emilia been leading her on whether that was in a platonic or romantic sense?
ANDI
It’s all good, where am I going?
“Are you texting them again?” MJ asked, unable to keep the laughter from bubbling up inside her.
Andi shook her head with a chuckle, “You obviously know I am.”
She received a sigh in response causing her to lift her head up from staring at Emilia’s contact. “What’s up?”
“It’s silly,” MJ sounded defeated.
Andi bumped their knees together, “I’m sure it’s not.”
“Okay,” she breathed out and twisted to face Andi, legs crossed, “it’s just you and Jana are just so beautiful, and you’ve only been here for a day and already have boyfriends, I’ve never been to a mixed school before I don’t really know what to do.”
Andi clicked her phone off and copied the way MJ was sitting, “First off, there’s no competition here, we’re all absolutely beautiful in our own ways in the cringiest way possible. Secondly, it’d be a girlfriend if we were together…which we’re not. Thirdly, I’d hit that,” she gestured up and down at MJ.
Immediately a blush of pure disbelief climbed up MJ’s neck, “Are you flirting with me?”
“Ew, gross. No, I don’t flirt with my friends. But, if we weren’t friends,” Andi trailed off, selling it with a wink that caused MJ to giggle.
A moment passed before MJ spoke once more, “Can I hug you?”
“Dude, of course.”
MJ hugged her tightly and Andi tried to put as much effort into it as she could. She guessed people were okay sometimes.
Her phone dinged and they pulled apart.
“You good?” Andi asked.
“Yeah, thanks. I needed that,” MJ said, wringing her hands out.
“Anytime.”
Andi tentatively grabbed her phone, glancing up occasionally as she watched MJ start to get ready to get into bed.
EMILIA
101, don’t get lost ;)
ANDI
That was one time
EMILIA
One time too many
ANDI
I’ll be round in five
She pocketed her phone and walked into the bathroom to check herself out in the mirror.
“Will you be alright if I pop out to meet a friend?” Andi asked as she popped a piece of gum into her mouth.
“Only if you admit you have a secret girlfriend.”
Andi sighed.
“We’re not girlfriends…yet.”
MJ perked up, “I want details as soon as you’re back, I don’t care if I’m asleep.”
Andi saluted her goodbye.
101 shouldn’t be too hard to find. She knew it was one of the single rooms they had for seniors so it must not be too far.
She wandered around for a good few minutes, walking past numerous potted plants that all looked the same and didn’t act as any form of a landmark. Andi was too proud to admit straight away that she was lost. She was just…misdirected.
“101, 101, 101. Fuck,” Andi was scanning the door plaques, she was in the 150s. She followed the descending numbers all the way to 110 where they just stopped.
She pulled up her phone, to check to see if Emilia had left any directions, but the last message had just been confirming Andi’s short arrival. Short arrival that had gone from five minutes to ten and was dangerously pushing into fifteen minutes.
ANDI
Emilia
EMILIA
You’re lost, aren’t you
ANDI
Nooo
Before Andi could type again, Emilia appeared from around the corner.
“What did I say? Don’t get lost,” Emilia said, feigning annoyance.
“I wish I had a better excuse, but the layout doesn’t make sense at all,” Andi followed Emilia as they walked towards her room.
The numbers climbed back up to 110 and then right next to it: 101.
“Oh,” Andi said, almost laughing at herself.
“I heard you walk past and wanted to wait until you found it, you talk to yourself a lot,” Emilia held the door open for Andi to walk in first.
She nodded a thank you and went to go sit down on the sofa pushed to the side of the room.
“So, you just let me suffer?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
They laughed and god, that was quickly becoming Andi’s favourite sound. Everything about Emilia was melodic, the way she spoke, the way she let her laughter crash into her words distorting them a little bit, the occasional slip back into her native language, and of course, the accent.
Andi was a goner.
Emilia sat next to Andi, their knees brushing.
A few moments passed.
“How was your first day?”
Andi could’ve laughed at the small talk but obliged regardless.
“Not too bad, my roommates seem alright. Everyone is so much richer than I thought- “
“I had that same exact thought when I first came here, I’m the only scholarship kid in my year so everyone was obviously super stuck up. It’s insane,” Emilia turned to lean her back against the arm of the sofa.
“How was your day?” Andi asked, bumping her shoulder off of Emilia’s.
She shrugged, “I didn’t really have much to do, all of my stuff is already here. I practically live here full time so I didn’t have to move everything in like you. It’s honestly one of the best decisions I’ve made. And all I did today was that tour.”
Andi paused for a moment, “How do you do it?”
“What do you mean?”
Andi turned to look at her, like really look at her. She wasn’t as put together in private as she was in public, her hair pulled up into a messy ponytail and her face free of makeup. A plain white vest and EWS branded sweatpants. She looked real for the first time that Andi had seen her. Real and still amazing. Emilia had an air of nerves about her in her own space rather than the confidence she practically radiated earlier during the day.
The distinction between private and public Emilia was already evident and Andi had only spoken to her a total of two times. She was no longer this caricature of an upper-echelon figure. She smiled more freely. Her words were purposeful and kind, not laced with whatever brand of sarcasm she’d picked out for people.
A shelf stocked full of books, a keyboard in the corner with pieces of paper littered on the stool indicated heavy usage, decorative pillows and clothes were thrown into the wardrobe. Everything about Emilia’s space screamed colour and excitement and freedom. It felt like a space Emilia had made for her and just her. It was unapologetic with a pinboard of drawings above the desk and half-finished pieces of art strewn on the table in the middle of the room.
“How do you go from this ‘you’ to the other ‘you’ that toured us around?” Andi asked carefully.
There was a moment where Andi almost apologised, took it back, left and never returned. But Emilia would never stop surprising her.
Emilia let in a shaky breath. “I have to be a winner, that’s how I keep my spot here. That’s how I’ve lasted until the final year. And rich people like the poor aesthetic when that’s what it is, an aesthetic. Not when it’s my life, something they can actually see. So, I change to be something that can win in this world.”
Andi noticed how Emilia failed to meet her eye and how she wouldn’t stop playing with the ring on her index finger. She looked tired. Not in the physical sense of the word, but emotionally, and spiritually exhausted from playing this character. This person doesn’t even exist. That could never exist. An amalgamation of what ‘perfect’ is.
She placed her hand carefully on top of Emilia’s, stilling the anxious movement. Her eyes darted up to look at Andi.
A shy smile shot her way, “You don’t have to keep pretending, Emilia. Not around me at least, I know it’s tiring to be something you’re not. Anytime you want to be you, even for just a second, I’m your guy.”
A small tear escaped and slowly dropped down Emilia’s face, “Thank you.”
Andi grabbed Emilia’s hand rubbing her thumb back and forth soothingly over her knuckles. Maybe she wasn’t dreaming when she thought she felt something between them, this unspoken connection, this willingness to just bare all with each other.
It’d already felt like they’d been together a lifetime when Emilia shifted herself to rest her head against Andi’s shoulder.
“Tell me about you,” Emilia spoke quietly, whether that was another difference between public and private her or whether it was due to the silent tears falling down her face, Andi would never ask.
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything.”
Andi felt Emilia’s tears slowly soaking through her shirt, she wrapped an arm around her. Secure. Emilia practically crawled into her skin as she shuffled closer.
She was warm and soft and lovely. No more spiky edges for the world to see. It was just them.
And so, Andi did tell her about herself. Anything she could think of. Starting off with easy things like her favourite colour, what her favourite season was and her favourite food. Before levelling up to junior high school trauma and how her parents took her coming out, if she could ever see herself getting married and having kids and how she wished she had a sibling growing up.
Emilia had eventually stopped crying and was listening intently, her hand resting on Andi’s thigh absentmindedly drawing circles into the skin that felt like fire in her stomach.
And Andi was impressed that she’d managed to speak for this long without either drawing up a blank or combusting from all the physical closeness.
“But, yeah, that’s pretty much me,” Andi had left out a couple of things she reckoned you didn’t tell people you’d just met, regardless of how much she wanted to.
“Wow,” Emilia sat up, somehow still remaining in contact with Andi.
“What?”
“I just think you’re so interesting, and the way you talk it’s just so…nice.”
Andi chuckled, their hands now linked, “Nice? That’s the best word you could come up with.”
Emilia ducked her head, laughing slightly, “I like the way you see the world.”
“How’s that?”
“You think you’re all ‘I hate the world and everyone in it, everything sucks’ but really you seem like the sweetest person I’ve ever met. You try and do the best you can in every situation and seems like you rarely put yourself first,” Emilia looked at her through her eyelashes.
Andi had no response to that. Emilia had dissected her after a mere half an hour of them speaking.
“Do what you want to do for yourself for once, Andi. What do you want?”
Emilia’s grip on Andi’s hand tightened slightly. What did Andi want?
She thought she’d moved here for herself but really it was for her dad. So, what did she want?
Andi looked up to see Emilia waiting expectantly, she flickered her eyes down to Andi's lips so fast she almost missed it. Undeniably, Andi wanted nothing more than to kiss Emilia right here, right now, on the sofa in her room after they’d just poured their hearts out to each other.
God, she was a cliché.
She leaned in and watched as Emilia swallowed in anticipation.
Their noses were practically touching when Andi’s phone rang, and they leapt apart.
Emilia had let go of Andi’s hand, her breathing noticeably quicker.
“Lourdes is making the rounds of the dorms apparently; I’ll have to head back.”
Andi watched as Emilia nodded, unable to look at her.
“I can stay. If you’d like?” Andi offered an olive branch; she wasn’t sure what the energy between them was.
Emilia shook her head, pulling a smile back onto her face, “It’s alright, sorry for crying all over you and stuff.”
Andi stifled a chuckle, “It’s not a problem, happy to help.”
They both stood and Emilia walked her to the front door. They stood much closer than they were previously. Close enough that they could kiss if they wanted to. Emilia’s gaze remained to the ground and Andi bent down ever so slightly, placed a gentle hand on her cheek and pressed a gentle kiss to Emilia’s hairline.
“Text me if you ever need anything,” Andi smiled, a slight worry lacing her tone.
“You too, don’t hesitate to come round or anything. I, uhm, liked having you here,” Emilia finally looked up to see Andi beaming at her.
“Of course, I’ll see you around?”
Emilia nodded. Absolute. “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.”
Andi stepped outside and waved a quick goodbye before walking off towards her room.
By the time she’d arrived back, she had a new message from Emilia.
EMILIA
Tomorrow, same time?