Strangers: A FC/UC Short

Synodic

Lagom
The Nextus
L’accademia

Humanoid Era
xxxx, X.X.

A rapt knock on the door made Margaux rise from bed grouchily. Opening the door and squinting at the person, an irritated sentence left her lips. “What fucking time is it.” the person on the other side smirked, her curly hair up in a high bun that morning. “I’ll tell you what time it is. It’s time to go back to sleep. Good night.” She tried to close the door but the other blocked it with her foot, swinging the door back open and pulling an arm around the brunette’s shoulders. “What?”

“It’s the first weeked. Xandra told me that you needed more friends,” the girl chirped. Damn you, Xandra, Margaux cursed. Not wanting to risk probation by yelling, Margaux plastered a fake smile on her lips and nodded.

“You know what? She is right.”

“See – you’re warming up to the idea already,” the other girl chuckled. Not really. Finally used to the sunlight, Margaux allowed herself to properly look at the other person. She was tall with curly black hair, wearing a simple yellow shirt and brown shorts. High tops graced her feet.  

For some reason, Margaux thought her familiar.

And then she remembered watching the aircraft land and spotting blonde hair hanging down someone’s shoulders –

“-name is Althea Goldenrod.”

“I – I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“Althea. Althea Goldenrod,” Althea repeated. She held out a hand and Margaux shook it, suddenly feeling cold. “You?”

For a split second, Margaux almost let her guard down.

“Margaux Princeton.”

* * * * *

Margaux’s mind sped.

If her assumptions were right, the blonde person she had seen with Althea was her. That alone made her palms sweat; even being alone with Althea was enough to make her nervous.

That was why when she entered the cafeteria, the first thing she did was to go to the nearest napkin dispenser and take out a large amount. Althea eyed the brunette weirdly when she came back with a number of napkins.

“You okay?”

“Allergies,” Margaux replied, casually dabbing at her nose and then wiping her palms. Shrugging it off, Althea led her to a pastel pink circular table where a few were already eating. As it was early morning, they were the only ones present.

“She gave in easily,” Althea told a smiling Xandra. Xandra threw Margaux a wink, to which the other rolled her eyes at. “Okay. Guys,” she called. The rest of the table looked their way, “Hi. This is the one Xandra asked me to force out of bed this morning,” she joked.

“She wouldn’t shut up,” Margaux lamented. They laughed; a girl with white-blond hair gave an amused smirk.

“She never does. Roxanne Amaranth, by the way.” Roxanne nudged the girl next to her, someone with short black hair and wearing a lime green shirt. “Carmina Tiliaris. She’s too busy on her headphones,” Roxanne deadpanned, punching the other’s shoulder. Carmina jumped and glared at Roxanne, then saw Margaux and gave a wave. “Jeez.”

Althea tugged Margaux and sat her down, Althea sitting to her right. Immediately did Carmina push something to her, the plastic cup of fruit missing her by miles.

It stopped to the person on Margaux’s left, nearly falling into the female’s lap. Said female previously had her head on the table with a hood over her head. Carmina ended up laughing and removing her headphones, letting them hang around her neck. “Sorry, Skylar.”

Margaux’s pulse quickened.

The person growled and yanked down the hood, giving Carmina a look. “No you’re not.” She grabbed the spoon and started eating, Xandra’s jaw nearly dropping at her sudden action.

“…that’s Margaux’s fruit cup.”

“Margaux?” Xandra pointed to the person next to Skylar and the blonde turned her head, piercing green eyes meeting orange ones. Skylar blinked for a moment, looked down at the cup, and then slowly pushed it back to Margaux. “Oh. Sorry about that,” she apologized. “Bad first impression.”

“It’s fine. You can have it,” Margaux found herself replying. “Margaux Princeton.”

“I heard.” The blonde gave small, satisfied smile. “Skylar Viridia.”

From then on, the sound of laughter surprised the two out of their small conversation. Xandra was watching Carmina and Althea debate while Roxanne rolled her eyes and continously took sips from her coffee. Margaux, trying not to reveal herself, brought her eyes to Skylar’s once more. “Are they always this?”

“It gets wilder when more of us are together,” Skylar deadpanned.

“Us?”

“What, did you think Althea reeled you in for nothing?” the blonde smirked, “Xandra wanted you with us. Relish in it, Prince.”

“Prince. That’s your nickname and we’ve known each other for barely five minutes,” Margaux said suddenly. Skylar could only raise a brow.

“Yeah. Should I change it?”

The brunette forced herself to shrug and glance away. “You already started.”

Even while looking away, she could hear Skylar chuckle.

* * * * *

“Did you like them?”

Xandra was walking with Margaux back to the latter’s room. The brunette looked up at the other, seeing Xandra’s blue eye wide with curiosity. “Were they too overwhelming for you, Marg?”

Margaux wondered if she was going to tell the truth.

So she did. “I liked them. You have interesting friends,” she commented. They reached the room, Margaux fishing for her key card while Xandra leaned against the wall. “Althea, Carmina and Roxanne are their own little trio. And Skylar…”

She didn’t know what to say.

Apparently, Xandra took that as a legitimate answer.

“Yeah, V is also an enigma to the rest of us,” Xandra admitted. Margaux blinked. “She doesn’t talk as much. We initially thought that it was first week shyness or shit, but even Althea told me that she doesn’t interact too much. And Althea’s been with V since childhood.”

Skylar doesn’t talk?

“W-Would you know why?”

Xandra shrugged. “Not really. Either way, it’s none of my business. Maybe if we get closer, but…we never know with people. Maybe it’s just part of who she is.” Margaux just nodded. On the inside, she was protesting.

That isn’t her.

Skye – Skye is still upset.

“You’ll be okay?”

“Yeah. I want to take a nap,” Margaux admitted. Laughing, Xandra nodded and patted the other’s shoulder before walking away.

She was happy that Skylar didn’t recognize her.

She was sad that Skylar didn’t recognize her.

Who’s the stranger, really?