It's Magical! [Ariana]

[Vicky Barnes]

Vicky was happy. Maybe happy was even an understatement, but how else could one call it? Euphoria? Yes, euphoria sounded pretty accurate.
Today had been one of the best days she’d had in a while. Not only had she finished up all her work early – thus allowing her some spare time to go shopping – but she’d found something that looked and sounded like it had fallen straight out of heaven into her undeserving hands.
A chocolate fondue set! And it was on sale too!
The teen almost jumped for joy as she ran out of her bedroom and into the shared common room, dressed in comfy, loose-fitting clothes to celebrate the occasion. It was evening anyway, she didn't plan on leaving the room anymore for today, so who cared that she looked like she'd just rolled out of bed?

Of course, she’d heard of fondue sets before… but those had been cheese fondue sets, and though those could be fun and tasty too, nothing beat chocolate. Absolutely nothing.
Humming a cheerful song she’d heard in a store a few hours ago, she scanned the back of the box for instructions before opening it and beholding the treasure that lay within.
She almost squealed with joy. This was going to be so tasty! She wasn’t sure if her taste-buds could survive the encounter, she sure as hell was going to try though.
“Oh yes! Come to mommy!” she took out one of the little forks and hugged it tightly before putting it back down and rummaging through her bag of groceries. She’d bought enough chocolate to fill a bathtub, and while she was at it, she’d also bought some fresh fruits. You couldn’t fondue without having something to dip, after all.
“Ooh, Jingle-bells~” she began to sing quietly to herself as she moved the box over to the coffee table before returning to the small kitchen area where she began to chop up the fruits whilst fantasizing about a swimming pool filled entirely with chocolate. Maybe she needed to contact Dr. Neville soon to discuss her unhealthy obsession with it… nah.

As she chopped up the fruit and put them in a neat row next to one another, she couldn’t help but glance over to her roommate’s door. Ariana was her name, wasn’t it?
Truthfully, she barely even knew the girl, having only exchanged quick “good mornings” and “good nights” before going their separate ways once more. They’d spoken to each other briefly when the girl first moved in, just a month ago, but afterwards, they’d been more like strangers than friends. Which was quite sad, because Vicky always enjoyed having roommates, and had felt terrible when hers graduated and left a little while back.
Now she had a new one that would barely leave her room, or so it seemed. Maybe Vicky was to blame as well, for she hadn’t really tried to get the girl to open up much, having been too caught up in her own life to worry about someone else. She’d figured the girl just enjoyed her privacy, and wasn’t going to push her. Different strokes for different folks, and all that…
…but this was different! This was chocolate fondue, chocolate fondue! Who in their right mind wouldn’t want to give that a try?

Vicky bit her lip and went back to chopping. “No Vicky, leave her alone… if she doesn’t want to leave her room, that’s none of your business.”
Again she stopped chopping. What if Ariana was just shy, and what if she would actually like to join her? It would be so mean not to at least ask her, and besides, food always tasted better when shared.
That decided it. Putting the knife down, she walked around the counter and up to Ariana’s door, politely knocking three times and giving her a second to process it before slightly pressing the door open. Not far enough that she could see inside though, just far enough that the girl would properly hear her.
“Hey Ariana?” she started with a soft and gentle voice that surprised even herself, “Guess what I bought? A chocolate fondue set!”
There it was, the excitement had managed to sneak its way back into her voice, and the joy showed on her face though of course her roommate wouldn’t see that unless she came out of her room, “I’m setting it up now, care to join me?”

[Ariana Cypher]

Ariana laid on her bed, a large book laying open in front of her. But rather than reading it she seemed to almost be staring through it. Indeed, her mind was wandering far beyond the Midlands. Normally she would be enraptured, eager to discover what trials Richard and Kahlan might face next. Today though she merely thought. Her parents had come to visit earlier that weekend to check up on her. She still wasn't attending classes or socializing whatsoever. It was rare she even left her room to get food. She simply couldn't motivate herself. At least in her room she was safe. She wouldn't have to deal with all the people. But she had begrudgingly agreed to try harder, solely for her parents sake.

She sighed heavily, closing the book and flopping over onto her back to stare at her ceiling. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she thought. After all, no one knew her, and she definitely was not the sort to attract attention. Many considered her quite pretty but Ariana couldn't see that in herself. She thought of herself as plain, most certainly a wallflower. It was hard to think that just over a year ago she had often found herself in the limelight and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, if anyone paid her the slightest bit of attention she was absolutely petrified.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she heard a soft voice through a crack in her door. Ariana recognized her room-mate's voice. The two had exchanged pleasantries before the few times that Ariana had left her room, but otherwise they were complete strangers. She sat up slightly, considering. She didn't really want to talk to anyone but... it was chocolate fondue. One of Ariana's greatest weaknesses was chocolate. Even now it proved to be too much of a temptation for her. Besides, Vicky was her room-mate. They were going to see each other, especially if Ariana started leaving her room more often as she had promised her parents she would. Might as well start with Vicky. "Sure, I'll be right out," she called meekly. She got out of bed, not even bothering to look in the mirror. Once she wouldn't have dared be seen in her pajama bottoms and tank top with her hair in a messy side-ponytail. Now however such thoughts didn't even occur to her. She slowly opened her bedroom door and stepped out into the common area.

She walked over to the kitchen area where Vicky was working on chopping fruit up for the fondue. "Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked softly, her voice barely audible. She stood hunched over, as though she were trying to fold into herself almost. Her hazel eyes were wide as she watched Vicky warily, seeming entirely unsure of how to handle the situation.

[Vicky Barnes]

Though Ariana’s response came as a bit of a surprise, Vicky couldn’t stop herself from grinning. Wow! Had she just managed to lure her roommate out of her bedroom? Score!
“Alright!” Vicky called back as she walked back over to the counter. “Vicky, why do you have to be so awesome all the time?” she whispered proudly to herself as she began chopping once more, occasionally looking over at the coffee table. She really couldn’t wait to set it up.

It didn’t take the other girl long to leave her bedroom and make her way over to the kitchen area. “Looking comfy!” Vicky smiled as she noticed Ariana’s extremely casual look. Comfy was good, even Vicky had decided to go for her most comfortable clothing tonight.
“Aren’t you cold in just that tank top though?” it was winter, after all. Then again, the windows were closed and the temperature was kind of nice in here.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Ariana asked softly. So softly in fact, that Vicky barely heard her at all and just stared at her for a few seconds as she puzzled it out.
Ariana looked really nervous, almost afraid. Vicky frowned and picked up a fork to check her hair, she didn’t look that scary, did she? Had she forgotten to properly remove her make-up and looked like a crazed clown now?
“Hm? Sure!” Vicky said finally when she figured out what Ariana had said, “I’m pretty sure I bought some marshmallows too, could you check the cabinets?” the more they had to dip, the better.

“So… how did your visit with your parents go?” she asked with genuine interest as she glanced over her shoulder to look at the girl, “Those were your parents, right?”
She’d noticed two adults by their dorm last weekend, but rather than introducing herself, she’d figured they were there for Ariana and really didn’t care much about speaking to other kids. She had work to do in the library anyway, so she didn’t mind avoiding her dorm for a day to give her roommate some private time with her mom and dad.
“They seemed really nice!”