"The Academy": by Desslok

--

Amiko carefully placed the small flowerbox on the windowsill of

her new dorm room. Stepping back, she took a moment to admire her

handiwork. It had taken awhile, but her half of the room was

finally complete. Books lined her section of the shelves,

organized by subject and author. Her clothes had all been

transferred from suitcases to dressers and closet with minimal

need for re-folding. She had even made her bed. True, the

walls on her side of the room remained bare. It wouldn't do to

hang up posters that her roommate-to-be might not enjoy. Amiko

couldn't imagine why anyone would find Monet prints

objectionable, but better safe than sorry.

With a content sigh, she glanced at her watch and saw that there

were still a few more hours until dinner. Plenty of time to see

who else had been assigned to her floor. Before leaving the

room, she checked herself in the mirror. She brushed some dust

off of her jeans and tugged her gray sweatshirt down over her

slim hips. Her dark black hair had begun to slip out of its

ponytail holder, so she simply took it down and let it settle

about her shoulders. With one final adjustment of her glasses,

she was all set.

Opening the door, Amiko could see that many folks were still

moving in. By her count, there would be 20 or so on this floor.

Many she knew and greeted with friendly waves. Some she had

never seen before. Dodging through bodies carrying cardboard

boxes and suitcases, the young Japanese girl made her way down

the hall toward the elevators. Underneath a banner that read

"Welcome First-Years!", she found a list posted. Amiko skimmed

it with her finger, finding her own name first.

'Keri,' she noted, seeing the name of her roommate. 'I hope she's

nice.' Amiko couldn't place the name, so it must be a new

student. She scanned further down the list until she found the

name that, until then, she hadn't realized she'd been looking

for. With a wistful smile, she headed back down the hall.

--

tap tap Kim looked up at the light rapping on her door.

Running her hand through her long, blonde hair, she called out,

"Come in, it's open!" The door opened tentatively, a familiar

shock of dark hair eventually poking through.

"Amiko!" Kim shouted happily. Wiping her hands quickly on the

back of her jeans, she strode over to the door. "Well, don't

just stand there, silly, come on in!" She quickly moved a box of

CDs and books onto the floor to make room on her bed.

Amiko entered the room slowly. "Are you busy? I see you're

still unpacking. I could come back," she offered.

"Don't be silly," Kim declared, turning toward her guest. With a

bright smile, she hugged Amiko. Amiko halfheartedly returned the

gesture, color touching her cheeks lightly.

Ignoring the space Kim had cleared on the bed, Amiko leaned back

against a bare wall near the dresser. "So, how was your summer?"

Seeing that her friend was not going to sit, Kim flopped down on

the bed and resumed rummaging through the open box on the floor

before her. "It was Ok. I didn't do much. Dad was on

assignment overseas and Mom was pretty busy with her job, so it

was mostly just me and Lupita." Kim looked up and smiled sadly.

"Lupita is the maid?" Amiko asked. "Sounds kinda lonely."

Kim shrugged and took an armful of books over to her shelves,

splatting them down haphazardly. "It wasn't so bad," she said

blandly. "I'm glad to be back, though. How was your summer?"

"I went to a couple camps, computer, music, then I came back

here. It's very quiet here during the summers. I couldn't wait

to move into the upper dorm, though."

Kim perked up, scanning the room with an excited air. "Yeah,

it's something in here, isn't it? Perks of finally making it to

high school, huh? It's so much bigger than our old dorm." The

tall blonde shifted her attention to hooking up her stereo

equipment.

"It doesn't look like your roommate is here yet, either," Amiko

said, noting the unoccupied half of the room.

"Nope, not yet. Her name is Nisha. Sounds subcontinental to me,

ya think?"

Amiko thought for a moment, "Indian, I think, at least the name

is. It's hard to tell much just from a name. My roomie's name

is Keri, but she's not here yet either. Do you need help with

that?" Amiko approached the corner of the room where Kim now

squatted, cursing at a tangle of cords.

"No, I think..."

The rest of Kim's reply was blasted out of existence by a sudden

burst of noise. The books on the shelf began to vibrate and

inexorably make their way to the edge, keeping time with the

throbbing floor.

"What the heck is that!" Kim shouted over the noise.

"I think..." Amiko yelled back through cupped hands, "I think

it's... the Go-Gos?"

--

Struggling their way down the hall through the buffeting waves of

"We Got the Beat", Kim and Amiko soon found themselves outside of

Amiko's room.

"I guess your roommate is here," Kim screamed as Amiko pushed the

door open. The 11-level volume drowned out Amiko's gasp at the

sight that greeted her.

Bouncing in the middle of the floor, surrounded by... stuff..., a

girl with spiky hair dyed dark blue sang along with the music.

Two speakers as tall as her shook in time with the song. The

wall over what had been Amiko's bed was covered in posters

showing a variety of 80s bands and TV shows. Apparently, the

girl had rearranged the furniture, because Amiko's bed,

previously closer to the window, had been pushed up against the

wall where the bookshelf had been. The bookshelf, with the

books toppled all about, had been moved to a different corner

of the room and now housed the flowerbox.

As Amiko struggled to make sense of what she was seeing, the girl

began scooping up armfuls of clothing and tossing them into the

open drawers hanging out of the dresser. Turning, she finally

noticed the stunned Amiko and amused Kim. "'Sup!" she shouted

over the music.

--

Out of the east, a breeze stirred, rustling leaves still green

but tinged with red and yellow. The lush fields of the Academy,

newly restored after a summer's respite, lay in dread of the

inevitable trampling of hundreds of students' feet soon to come.

Brownstone buildings cast shadows across lawns and asphalt

pathways as the sun began to set, but one shadow roamed free.

New students exploring their new home, returning students

reacquainting themselves with the grounds, none noticed the dark

figure slinking across the campus. Neither the squirrels in the

trees, nor the birds nor the bees, noted her passage. And so,

the shadow woman made her way closer and closer to her

destination.

--

Realizing that the loud music was not very conducive to

conversation, the spike-haired girl moved over to her impressive

stereo rack and turned it down.

"How's it going?" she asked, turning back to Amiko and Kim as

they tried to shake the ringing out of their ears. She walked

over to Amiko and extended a hand. "You must be Amiko. I figure

one of you must be my roomie and I've never heard of a blonde

with a Japanese name like Amiko, well outside of 'Sailor Moon'

anyway. Name's Keri!"

Amiko tentatively shook Keri's hand, looking over to Kim for some

reassurance that she was not the only one feeling a bit

overwhelmed. "Yes, I'm Amiko. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And I'm Kim," Kim announced, offering a hand to Keri. "Welcome

to the Academy."

Keri grinned, taking a moment to eye Kim up and down. "Thanks,

Kim. Damn, are all the girls on this campus as fine as you?"

Amiko blushed beet red and lowered her eyes to the ground, but

Kim simply laughed. "Some yes, some not so much, thanks for the

compliment. So, looks like you've made yourself at home." Kim

knew Amiko well enough to guess that the room had looked nothing

like this before her friend had left it.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I guess so," Keri replied. "I hope that's cool

with you, Ami-K."

Amiko shyly looked up, a confused expression on her face. "Ami-

K?" she whispered to herself. "I suppose it's all right," she

continued in a louder voice. "I guess it doesn't really matter

which side of the room I sleep on."

"Yeah, besides, you wouldn't want me crawling all over you in

your bed late at night if I'm sneaking back in after curfew,

would you?" Keri smirked at Amiko in a challenging way. She did

not fail to note the deepening blush, nor the slight glance Amiko

darted at Kim.

"Ohhh, that makes sense, I guess. Do you mind if I hang my

posters up?" Amiko asked, even as she began to rearrange the

books on her shelf.

"Well, you two seem to be hitting it off," Kim declared with a

giggle. "I'm going to go see if my roomie has shown up yet.

Have fun, kids."

"Come back soon," Keri purred as Kim went on her way. "You go,

Ami-K! Put up whatever you like," she replied, turning back to

Amiko. "Let's see what you've got here." Without further

warning, she went over and popped the top off of Amiko's poster

tube. "Hmmm, impressionists, huh? So, is this whole 'kawaii

chick' thing an act or are you the real deal?"

"I don't know what you mean. Don't you like my posters?"

Keri snorted, "The real deal, then. Knock yourself out, Ami-K."

She tossed the tube over to Amiko, who managed to grab it out of

the air just before it beaned her on the head. "Monet is cool

with me, though I'm more into the Cubists myself. I'm gonna head

out and get the lay of the land, so to speak." She chuckled to

herself. "Catch ya on the flip side!"

"Bye, Keri," Amiko called out to her roommate's back. With a

heavy sigh, she turned her attention to the maelstrom that was

her room. As she surveyed the damage, she was quite surprised to

realize that it wasn't all that bad. Aside from moving the bed

and shelves, Keri hadn't made too much of a mess of her things.

In fact, somehow the blue-haired girl had managed to put most of

her own stuff away. Only a few things lay scattered about.

Setting her posters to lay flat on the bed, Amiko moved over to

the stereo. "'Our Lips are Sealed.' I love this song," she said

to herself. Turning the music up to a reasonable volume, she

went to work.

--

Adjacent to the upper class dorm on the hill overlooking the main

quad of administration and classroom buildings sat the circular,

glass-walled cafeteria. Most of the students referred to it as

"The Spaceship". Amiko had never eaten there, because it was

restricted to the high school students. She had heard tales, of

course, but one heard tales about nearly every aspect of the

Academy. Fortunately, the stories of the Spaceship were less

ominous than most.

"Amiko, over here!"

Walking uncertainly with her tray, Amiko sought the voice calling

her name. Soon, she could make out a frenetic waving across the

round dining room.

"Have a seat, Ami-K," Kim teased, gesturing to an empty seat at

her side.

Across from Kim, a stern-looking redhead looked up from the book

she'd been reading. Her green eyes glittered sharply. "What the

hell is that? Ami-K?" she demanded. Before she could get an

answer, she stood and gave Amiko a squeeze around the shoulders.

"It's good to see you again, Amiko."

"You too, Meg," Amiko answered with a happy smile. "I like what

you've done with your hair. When did you decide to let it grow

out."

Meg reached up to brush her hair, which hung down around her jaw

line. "Did it grow out? I knew I forgot to do something this

summer! Oh well, might as well keep it until it starts getting

in my way. Now, what's this Ami-K business?"

"That's the nickname her roommate gave her," Kim explained,

stifling a giggle.

"Yeah, Ami-K! Nothing wrong with that, is there? Mind if I join

you guys?" Without waiting for an answer, Keri appeared with a

heavily loaded tray and plopped down next to Meg. "I'm the

roomie in question. Name's Keri. I remember Kim." She eyed the

amused blonde before turning to the girl at her side. "So,

what's your name, Red?"

"That's Meg," Kim offered. "Meg, this is Keri, Amiko's roommate."

"Thanks, Einstein, I hadn't figured that out," Meg replied

drolly. She offered a hand to Keri which was happily clasped.

"Did you enjoy your tour of campus?" Amiko asked.

"It's all right." Keri somehow managed to get her words out

around the heaping piles of food she was shoveling into her

mouth. "Nothing around here for miles, though, is there. So much

for sneaking out to hit the arcade or the mall or something."

"Nope, it's just us here," Meg agreed. "The Academy and then lots

of wilderness. I wouldn't advise sneaking out anyway. The Dorm

Mistress is a real tight-ass."

"Dorm Mistress?" Keri chuckled. "Sounds kinky. Who's that?"

"She's the woman who is in charge of the dorm. In the lower

dorm, it was the gym teacher. She was really nice, especially to

the little ones who aren't used to being away from home." Amiko

smiled at the memories of nights when Ms. Reilly had comforted

her as a child.

"But, in the upper dorm, it's something else altogether. The

Dorm Mistress doesn't teach any other classes," Kim added,

picking up the story. "She doesn't even let you know her real

name. She says it dilutes her authority, or something like

that."

"Sounds like a real head case," Keri opined. "Hey, Kim, did your

roommate ever show up?"

"No, she didn't," Kim replied with a vaguely worried expression.

"I hope she made it here all right."

--

After a fun evening of walking and talking with her friends, new

and old, Kim had no trouble falling asleep. She had brushed her

hair out a hundred times, as her mother had always insisted, and

done her stretching exercises. Being as tall as she was, no more

than a couple inches short of 6', made it that much more

important for her to remain limber. She couldn't wait for

volleyball to start, but that was still a month or so away.

Finally, she had settled down into her bed and drifted away into

sleep, not too displeased that, for one night at least, she had

the room to herself.

--

beep beep beep Kim rolled over and slammed her hand down

in the general direction the "off" button on her alarm clock.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and stretching languidly, she

rolled over onto her back and sat up. The sight that greeted her

almost knocked her onto the floor.

In the bed across the room, a dark form lurked under what

appeared to be black satin sheets, raven hair splayed out across

her pillow. The bookshelves and dresser that had been empty when

Kim had gone to bed were now full of books and other knick-

knacks. There was even a wall scroll hanging up that most

definitely had not been there the night before.

"What? How?" she sputtered until she realized that her roommate

was awake. Tiny points of light sparkled in the black pools of

her eyes as they took her in impassively.

"I am Nisha. Good morning," the mysterious girl whispered. "I

will sleep more." Without another word, she rolled toward the

wall.

'It's going to be an interesting year,' Kim realized.