Chocolate Warmth [Annabelle]

[Mia Inocencio]

Mia sighed at the mint scent of her hot chocolate after taking a quick sip, shuddering at the warmth it gave her. The feeling it left tingled her tongue and she set the thermos down on the table satisfied with the taste. She returned to her homework after, turning the ruler to fit the angle she wanted before proceeding to draw a straight line on the banner paper. For a second time she turned her ruler and drew another line, tilting her head as she looked over her sketch so far. It looked right, the Eiffel Tower didn't come as a challenge once you've done your research.

She brushed away eraser bits for a better look and pouted upon finding a smudge at the top of the tower. Mia wasn't a perfectionist, but she liked to be neat, who liked lead smudge on their work? No one. After a moment of debate on whether she should erase part of her tower and start again, she came to the decision of not ruining her work any further and tried to ignore the smudge on the top of the page. After a few more minutes, Mia set aside her pencil and got up from the lounge table. She took her thermos and started pacing the room slowly, staring out the window as she took little sips from the metal container. It felt nice to have the lounge to herself, it was such a rarity since she would always wake up later than six, but guessing today the opportunity finally struck her. She had the space and silence until the alarm bell rang, and students would start pouring into the hallways eventually making their way into the lounge.

She paused in her step, finding herself leaning against another table while staring at a window enjoying the morning view outside. The sun was barely up, but the courtyard was visible no doubt and to Mia's eyes the trees were almost glistening under the light. Crossing her ankles she began tapping her thermos, creating a rhythm with her nails while enjoying the view.

[Annabelle Coronova]

It probably wasn't very healthy that Bells wasn't just a night owl, but a morning bird as well. She liked to sleep sometimes, and would often fall asleep in long car rides, but sleeping when the traditional time to sleep came around, Annabelles didn't care much for that. It would be like wasting precious parts of her life, you know? Being asleep and all could make her miss out on certain things had she been awake. Well, that's how she put it anyways.

Up again at 7:00 in the morning, Bells had made it down to the student lounge, mandolin in hand within thirty minutes, and still, only a sprinkling of people in the hallways. It was nice this way, you know; no one running into her or shoving her aside because they obviously had better places, more important places, to be than she did. Well no hard feelings really. It was best to let go of the little things and worry about more important things. But all that worrying was not in her agenda this morning. With so few people up at the crack of dawn, Bells preferred to spend her time relaxing and watching the sun pop up over the coniferous trees that surrounded the back side of the school. Luckily, she had the most opportune chance of seeing them from the large, three-paneled glass window in the student lounge closest to her dormitory complex.

Making a straight shot towards the room, Bells slowly turned the handle, and with a click, the door opened up to her. She walked through the small narrow part to reveal the larger section of the room, suited up with big comfy couches and a large coffee table, assorted chairs and tables, a television, and then there, just the thing she was looking for: the glorious window. Anna smiled and headed straight towards it, plopping a squat on the couch facing the window. Had she not been so busy strumming away on her mandolin, she would have noticed a fellow student, leisurely relaxing upon one of the tables in the room.

[Mia Inocencio]

She wondered when she'd be able to see Eiffel again, he promised that he'd visit her at some point, but with news in a recent letter he had sent her things weren't going as according to their plans. The orphanage didn't think it would be appropriate to simply hand her over without proper evidence that she and her Taekwondo teacher were close as a family and not just for business from all those competitions Mia had went to. It was more difficult that she would've hoped, leaving her application pending and Effiel trying to get things sorted out. He still paid for her tuition fees, but Mia had started getting butterfly feelings in her stomach whenever she thought about what her foster father had been doing to give her a successful future. Was it all too much? It seemed like it, and she felt it that she was to blame for his recent problems. If by any chance another family happened to get a hold of her before Effiel, Mia hoped that it was a good family. Just thinking about it gave her chills.

"Burr." She shuddered, taking another sip of her hot chocolate and continued to ponder while staring through the three glass windows. She should really get back to her work keeping in mind that her project was due tomorrow. She was almost done, the shape was there and the details were left to do which isn't much since she did half of the tower already before taking a break. Wait, was that strumming? It sounded familiar, the instrument. She'd heard this sound before.

Looking about, Mia finally turned towards another student who had slipped her way in and was now strumming a Mandolin. Mia smiled in excitement and nearly hurried over, though kept her distance taking the time to examine the student creating wonderful music. She looked friendly, and looked to be approachable. Taking another sip of her drink, Mia slowly made her way over to the couch, clutching her sealed thermos for protection if the other girl proved to not be so friendly. "Good morning." She greeted with a smile.