Chapter Text
In another world...
Gwen could not quite believe the words written in black ink before her. She read them a third time to try and force them to sink into her head.
“Dear Guinevere,
We are so pleased and honoured to inform you that you have been accepted into Thornebush Academy.”
The letter had gone missing in the post and finally made its way to her today, just a week before the term was due to start. She had always dreamed of going to Thornebush Academy, and though her sister was supportive, Jan had never outright said she thought Gwen could do it. Her cheeks began to burn, a sudden heat from the mixed emotions. Gwen rarely cried, but if she ever had a reason to, this was that reason. The pressure of getting ready so quickly, the excitement, the fear of not being good enough all hit her like a Bloom.
In fact, Gwen had been so concerned with how her family would respond, she didn’t even read the entire letter, informing her that she would have a roommate.
-
Jonas looked at Astrid as he put the letter down. They were both thinking the same thing.
“Though we understand your special circumstances, it is for the best interests of all our students to be separated into male and female dormitories. You will each be paired with a roommate we find to be suitably fitting.”
“They’re not going to separate us, Astrid,” Jonas fumed, “We will find a way.”
“They can’t stop us,” Astrid agreed.
The air cooled around the twins as they thought about being separated at their new school. This was the third school in two years that they were being sent to. Often the schools they went to were Catholic, usually for “misbehaved” children, but this was the first boarding school they had ever been sent to. They knew exactly why, it was the government’s way of saying “You’re not our problem anymore”.
-
They had finally reached the moment they were dreading; the map of the school led Astrid and Jonas to their dormitories, and this was the point where their paths diverged.
“Here, ten minutes time.”
The agreement was made. They would go their rooms, spend just enough time to meet their roommates and put away just enough clothes to look like they were staying, then meet back in this spot to plan what they were going to do. They looked at each other one final time before walking to their buildings.
Astrid was used to roommates more than Jonas was, in several of their homes they had been split (never for longer than a week since they were so adamant), and there always seemed to be more girls than boys, though Astrid believed it was to “encourage” her to pursue more “ladylike” hobbies. The staff were always so worried Astrid would become too gothic for their liking. Either way, she had an idea of how meeting her roommate would go. Her roommate would pretend to be nice, stare at her pale appearance, and they would drop the act and avoid each other until Astrid was able to room with her brother again.
She opened the door and the first thing she was confronted with was chaos. Astrid enjoyed chaos, thrived in it, but in this moment, she felt disconcerted. There were beautiful plants on the shelves, piles of large books on the floor, and several violins with ornate carvings lying across both beds. In the corner, her roommate sat on the floor, breathing rather heavily.
“Don’t touch the violins!” The girl in the corner said.
“Cutting the crap and getting straight to it? Good, glad we don’t have to pretend. I don’t want to touch your stuff and I don’t want to stay here so don’t worry about your precious violins.”
The girl stared at Astrid like she was talking in a different language and calmed her breath before replying.
“You seem mildly hostile. I’m Gwen. Do not call me Guinevere and don’t touch the violins unless you want Bloom Shock.”
“Astrid,” she said, cooly. “I don’t know what Bloom Shock is, nor do I want to. If you stay out of my way, I’ll stay out of yours, Guinevere.”
The room seemed to warm as Gwen’s cheeks flushed and a look of indignation spread across her face.
“Well, obviously I was practicing a Bloom before you came in and it blew up in my face. The violins are still sensitive, and you’ll get a shock if you try to use them.”
Astrid tried to make sense of Gwen’s strange words, and when she couldn’t, she grew bored and changed her attention back to her brother.
“I see, they finally decided we were well and truly crazy so sent us to a crazy school. Wow. I’m going now.”
With that, the blonde left the room and Gwen stared as the door slammed shut. Clearly Astrid had never heard of Bloom, which was strange since this was a school for magically inclined people. That, however, was the last thing on Gwen’s mind. Guinevere! Why had she told Astrid not to call her Guinevere, of course that’s the exact way to get someone to call her just that. Her shiny blonde hair was immaculate compared to Gwen’s frizzy plaits, and she clearly looked down on her. A spark danced up Gwen’s chest, and she decided she was going to show Astrid exactly how valuable she was.