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The rabbit narrowed her eyes. "She what?"

"Has her own room," Regina repeated. "She's on my floor."

Ava watched Cynthia all but give off steam as she glared at the classroom wall, her black ears trembling. The rabbit hadn't managed to get her own room, despite her parents being a rich alumni to Rayburn Academy; only merit and seniority earned you a place in the best dorm, and somehow a new girl from a family no one had heard of showed up and got a fine spot in Brentwood Hall? Ava wasn't nearly as annoyed as she was damn curious how the girl had managed it.

Brianna, one of the other girls in Cynthia's little circle, leaned over. "I heard it was one of those rooms for the disabled." The lynx paused for effect, her eyes darting around to make sure everyone was paying attention, before she finished, "but she doesn't look handicapped at all."

Cynthia pursed her lips. Regina said nothing and only looked mildly curious. She kept bouncing her foot, the squirrel filled with her typical anxious energy

Not getting the reaction she was expecting, Brianna started one of those boneless feline stretches that she knew showed off her broad body, and asked mid-way through, "When are we starting?"

"When Sam decides to grace us with her presence," Cynthia said, loud enough for the whole room to hear and with an exaggerated eyeroll. "If I were in charge, I'd have been here early." The rest of the girls around her smiled and flicked their tails.

Across the room, two of Samantha's friends bristled and glared at Cynthia. While the retriever just kept her ears back, the ringtail said, "Well you're not."

Cynthia shot back, "Only because we haven't voted for this year's officers yet."

Ava sighed through her nose. The goat considered just hanging out in the hall instead of dealing with this. Fortunately, Mrs. Rondez came through the door, halting all conversation. "Good afternoon, girls." The raccoon glanced around the room. "Is there a reason you have not yet started?"

"Samantha is still at soccer try-outs," the retriever said. "They started an hour ago but..."

"Well that is unfortunate." Mrs. Rondez glanced at her watch. "I know you all likely have meetings to attend in the next hour, so let's give her twenty more minutes, then I'll assume her duties until she can get here. Yes, Miss Waits, faculty sponsors can do that."

The ringtail lowered her hand.

As conversations started to sprout up again, Ava glanced back towards the rabbit. Even after summer break, she still felt a sting of anger every time she saw Cynthia. She could still see in her mind the picture of Cynthia with a new lover, taken not two days after she and Ava had broken up. Cynthia knew it would hurt her, had probably done it just to hurt her, but the slut never even acknowledged it after sending the gloating picture to all their lesbian friends.

They shared this club, two classes, and too many friends for her to just avoid Cynthia outright, and it wouldn't be fair for her to force her friends to choose. So she had to make nice in the other girl's presence, and had to resist calling her a whore behind her back when with mutual friends.

Worse, while she was still hurt, Ava often found herself lingering on how pretty Cynthia was. The black fur only served as gloves, socks, and the rabbit's face; the rest was a rich chocolate brown, giving her an exotic look, and her long, straight hair was coffee brown and had the healthiest sheen to it. Ava's dull cream fur and hair just didn't compare, even after she spiced things up with a new bob haircut. She had only briefly been with one other girl since Cynthia, and that was months ago; maybe her body just missed the rabbit, even if she still wanted to skewer one of the other girl's ears.

"That's her, the one on my floor." Ava heard Regina's whisper from two seats away. She glanced over.

A vixen hesitated just inside the doorway. Ava recognized her from History. She was grey furred, wore an even more severe calf-length version of the uniform skirt, and held her fluffy tail close to her body.

"Are you sure you're in the right place?" Cynthia's helpful tone came out coated in frost. "The Purity Alliance is down the hall."

The vixen's ears flattened back and she touched the cross on her throat. For a moment she glanced around, then took a breath and stepped further into the room. "This is the... 3S meeting?"

"This is the Sapphic Support System, yes," Mrs. Rondez said. "I don't recognize you - who might you be?"

"Kristin Winters, ma'am."

"Alright, Miss Winters, please have a seat."

The rest of the girls began to talk again, but Ava stopped. Cynthia's expression - a thoughtful smile, ears straight up, dark eyes hooded and shining in the black of her face fur - gave her an instant bad feeling.

For a moment Cynthia leaned over and whispered among her little group. Regina glanced several times at Kristin, but Ava had the feeling her frown was caused more by what she was hearing. Regina had always been too nice to disagree with Cynthia, so she just shrugged under the rabbit's attention.

The rest nodded their heads, giggled and murmured. Cynthia apparently had gotten the appropriate answer from the yes girls, and she slid out of her seat and came over to lean across Ava's desk. "I bet you anything that within two days I can find out how she got into that room."

Immediately Ava's stomach clenched. She showed her teeth. "How about this," the goat hissed back, "give me a week to find out, and if I can't, I'll do your laundry for a week."

Cynthia's eyes and smile widened. "Oh, really now. Deal. If you can bring proof you screwed her, I'll do yours for two weeks."

Ava's nostrils flared. For Cynthia, proof meant pictures, and she didn't trust Cynthia with pictures. She was not about to let her ex get her fangs into someone else, not over something as petty as a room assignment. Oh sure, Cynthia didn't see it exactly that way, but Ava wasn't going to stand by while the rabbit did what she always does. Not anymore.

She stood up, ignoring the rabbit's eyes, and moved to sink down into the desk behind Kristin. "Nice scrunchy."

The fox glanced over her shoulder and gave a smile. "Thanks." She touched the hairband holding back her dark, curly mass. Most girls spiced their uniform up with earrings or wrist bands or really anything they could get away with; the purple scrunchy stood out as the only splash of personality on the otherwise drab fox.

"I don't remember seeing you here before."

Kristin's ears flicked low before she picked the after school activities schedule. "This isn't the first meeting? I thought everything was-"

Ava cut in, "It is, but I was here last year too."

"Oh. Well I'm new here this year." The caution was nearly palpable in her smile, and Ava noticed she was avoiding eye contact.

"I'm Ava, by the way."

"Kristin." The fox paused before asking, "So, everyone here is..." She looked around while wagging a paw.

"Gay? Yep. Except for our nanny over there. And, well ok, there are a few girls who go both ways, but mostly yeah."

Kristin flicked her ears, glancing sideways. "Well I uh... needed to fill in a club." Rayburn Academy was rather strict about its after-school activities; the minimum requirement was active participation in two programs for a year each. Part of the package to make the high school students more appealing to colleges and employers, but everyone suspected it was about keeping them busy. Being a junior, Kristin probably had to start earning hers immediately.

She could only smirk at that. "That's fine, but now you just might have a few girls really curious about you."

Kristin added, "But I'm also still kind of... well I don't know-"

"Just thinking about it?"

The fox dipped her nose. "Yeah.

Ava shrugged. "That's totally ok." She crossed her arms and leaned forward. The fox smelled too much of nothing, like she had rolled around in scent dampener. Sure, foxes had a slight odor to them, something that Ava didn't entirely mind, but this was just overboard. Was she in heat?

Samantha burst into the room in a cloud of fetlocks and mane. "Sorry everyone," the horse announced as she plowed her way to the head of the room, still in her sweat-stained gym uniform. A similarly dressed and panting Dalmatian hurried in her wake.

"Excellent, you're here - we were just about to start without you," Mrs. Rondez said. "Begin when you're ready, please."

The mare nursed from her water bottle for a moment, then said, "I see a couple of new faces so that's great. I'm Samantha Green, vice president of the group from last year. Since our president graduated, I'm calling this year's first meeting of the Sapphic Support System to order." There was a brief bit of news, updated school policies, and then Samantha dove right into voting for officers. Brianna nominated Cynthia for group president, and one of Samantha's friends nominated her. For non-academic clubs, leadership positions earned merit.

The goat whispered, "Can you do me a favor?"

Kristin swiveled an ear and glanced sidelong.

"Vote for Sam."

She tilted her head but only smiled.

The vote was a secret ballot of names on paper. Between the twenty girls, Samantha won by three. However Cynthia easily managed vice president. Once the rest of the officer positions were filled, they set a weekly time for the club, and finally ended the meeting.

Just as Cynthia's throng was gathering up to leave, Ava fired a quick text to Regina. The squirrel looked up, hesitated just long enough to make the goat frown, before she peeled off and darted over. "What's up?"

Ava made quick introductions between the two, before an apologetic, but appreciative and smiling Kristin begged off.

"I'm not keeping you am I?"

Regina looked in the direction that her friends had gone. "Nah; they wanted to go to Rino's, but Brianna's dieting and didn't want the temptation, so no one could decide." Since Cynthia didn't care to go many places without Brianna, they had to decide to either get pizza or stay near Cynthia. "Do you wanna go to Rino's?"

"Maybe. So what was she saying about me?"

"It was mostly about Samantha. I would love a White pizza so bad."

Ava crossed her arms and waited.

The squirrel's tufted ears flicked back. "Or maybe some bread sticks. Or do they only do garlic knots?"

Ava forced eye contact.

Regina blew a frustrated hiss through her pursed lips. "When you get something in your head you sure don't let it go, do you? Okay!" Then her features sank at the, for Regina, overly negative outburst. "She only said that you're going to have sex with that new girl on a bet for two weeks of laundry."

Resisting the urge to raise her voice, Ava instead said with unnecessary quiet, "But that's what you think."

Regina glanced back, then away, her bushy tail twitching. "No - I don't believe everything she says, you know."

Instead of asking why then was she still friends with the slut, Ava brushed the squirrel's arm. "I know." She tilted her head, bumping her nose against Regina's temple. "Thanks for still being my friend."

She wrapped her arm around Ava's waist, her bushy tail brushing the goat as they slipped out of the classroom.

* * *

Pushing into History as early as she could the next afternoon, Ava dropped into her seat and waited. She did not have the same lunch period as the vixen, and the single shared class was really the only place she knew how to find the other girl. When Kristin arrived - also quite early - the goat waited until she had a seat. It wouldn't do to ambush her the second she stepped in, that would look desperate and just crowd the girl. So as Kristin took her things out of her messenger bag, Ava sidled up. "Hey."

Kristin looked up. "Oh hi," she returned with a small, and what Ava thought merely polite, smile.

"I wanted to talk to you a little longer, but you left before I could ask you your number. I have most people's number in my phone," Ava said, holding hers up, "practically everyone in the Sisterhood."

The fox's ears swiveled. "Sisterhood?"

"Oh right, you don't know. See, while there's an official name of the club, what 3S really stands for is 'Sexy Sapphic Sisterhood'."

Kristin nodded, a little 'ah ha' grin forming.

Ava quickly fiddled with her phone. "So...?"

"Oh." The vixen hesitated, then almost reluctantly rattled her number off, and Ava started texting her.

The bell rang.

She hit send, said, "There, now you got mine," and started for her desk. Too slow; the aging rabbit standing up from his desk cleared his throat. "I prefer to start On Time - Avarice, please be kind enough to join us." From there Mr. Deton launched into a stiff lecture.

She winced and sat down. A stray glance over her shoulder spotted Kristin looking back at her with perked ears.

They were given an assignment while Mr. Deton passed out the results of the previous day's quiz. Ava sat back, letting the information process while she stared off into space. A stray comment by the girl behind her - a joke that dragged a laugh out of her - turned the goat around.

Mr. Deton approached Kristin's desk. He held her quiz at the fullest extent of his arm, while eyeing her like something that might burn him, or maybe someone with a contagious disease. She looked up, flattened her ears, and took the paper while shrinking back while he turned away, and passed the next paper, and the next, in his usual in-your-space way.

She forgot entirely about the assignment, far more intrigued by that little exchange.

* * *

Ava smelled arousal.

She looked up. On the room's other bed, her roommate sat cross legged, staring at her monitor and typing with the same intensity she had been for the last ten minutes. The rat wore an expression of focus.

"Piper."

No response. Then the goat noticed the earbuds, their white color blending in with her fur. Ava plucked up a stray bit of clothing off the floor and tossed it the other girl.

Piper jumped, looked up, and tugged the headphone out of her cupped ear. "What?"

"What are you doing?"

"Typing?" the rat replied with a chuff.

Not raising to the bait, Ava said, "And you're working on..."

Piper hesitated, then closed her laptop. "Nothing." Frowning always flared Piper's nostrils and drew her upper lip back, flashing her incisors. Ava was momentarily fixated on the rat's teeth, which saw a lot of daylight.

Ava said nothing, simply staring while her roommate squirmed. Finally the rat curled her tail and broke the silence. "What?"

Rolling onto her side, Ava simply reached up and tapped her own breast. It took the rat a moment to get it, but when she glanced down at her own chest and noticed the perk of a nipple pushing against the fabric of her t-shirt, she squeaked and coughed, grabbing a pillow to put in her lap.

Ava laughed. "Come on, I caught you, spill it."

"I wasn't aware you were so interested in anything I do."

The goat smirked. "I am when it makes you blush."

"You are the worst roommate!"

Ava said, "Didn't you tell me that your last roommate thought Cosmo was literature?"

Piper glared. Or tried to, before removing her reading glasses.

"And she had phone sex at least once a week, one time while you were studying for a midterm?"

After a long and nasal sigh, Piper said, "I was writing slash."

Ava's mouth formed a little 'o', her ears swiveling forward. Then she paused. "... of what?"

Piper squirmed and answered into her pillow. "Undercover Groove."

"The... boy band?"

With gritted teeth, Piper said, "Yes." The insides of her ears and the pad of her nose practically glowed.

To avoid laughing directly in her face, Ava turned her head and tucked her muzzle into the crook of an elbow. She still shook with the contained laughter. It was several minutes before she looked back. "Is it any good?"

Piper's scowl was both mortified and suspicious.

"You're writing something, that's good," she said, trying to smooth things out. "I mean you can't get extra credit in English or shove it in the school magazine but... do you write well?"

"Anyone I show it to thinks it's fantastic," Piper mumbled.

"That's great." More incredulity. The goat put her hands up. "I'm serious. I'm not going to make fun of you, and if you're good at it, more power and all that." Piper had, after all, reacted to the prospect of a gay roommate with a shrug and a request to just warn her before any sex was going to happen, so she could vacate. Compared to some tales from other 3S members, that was a welcome parade.

She turned back to her phone. The rat quickly squeaked, "Don't tell anyone!"

"I'm not."

"Some famous authors have wrote porn under pen names!"

"I'm sure they have."

"And I don't write about that Chad Bellacose guy.'

Ava looked back over her shoulder.

The rat shrugged. "I don't like lions." When the goat merely watched, Piper eventually added, "I mean, I'm not attracted to male lions."

Now she rolled back over. "Is there a story there?"

"No story to them all being assholes." Even the rat winced at her words. "I mean... ok this is going to sound really dorky but-"

"You, dorky? Get out."

Piper's front teeth made an appearance as she continued, "When I was a kid I watched a lot of Whose in Charge."

Ava shook her head. "My parents wouldn't let me watch TV; said it would 'stunt my intellectual and creative growth'."

Piper smirked. "Because I turned out so awful."

"What was it I just caught you doing, exactly?"

"Ha ha ha. Anyways. It was all about how much of a lazy, uncaring deadbeat the dad was, while the women did all the work and catered to his whims. All he ever did was look for fights and drink and tell them what he wanted. I don't know, maybe it stuck with me. I can't help but feel that they're just... jerks."

"And Coach Odafin being a math teacher doesn't hurt that?"

The rat chuffed. "I never said I thought they were stupid."

Sensing the conversation had ran its course, they began to go back to their own devices Then Ava sat up. "Oh hey. I want to ask you something."

Piper smirked. "Right, because our chat has been going so well thusfar?"

"Anyways, you're kinda awkward and really dorky-"

"And somehow the conversation is still not improving," the rat said with a roll of her eyes.

Ava sighed and rubbed her nose. "Ok, there's this girl who I want to talk to, but she's not really talking to me because I think she's really shy. So if someone wanted to talk to you, what would be the best way to do it?"

Gasping, Piper put a paw over her chest, her whiskers trembling. "Ava the social butterfly is asking me on advice about making friends? Up is down, left is right, suddenly I find lions sexy!"

Ava deadpanned, "But who would really want to talk to you after spending five minutes with you."

With a satisfied grin, Piper sat back, her nose beginning to wiggle in curiosity. "Ok, ok. Are you trying to hit on this girl?"

"No."

"Does she think you're trying to hit on her?"

Ava paused. She did approach Kristin as soon as she got to the lesbian club. "I don't know, maybe?"

Piper flicked a furless paw in a 'there you go' gesture.

She shook her head. "Let's assume that she doesn't think that."

"Well then either she just doesn't want you to talk to her, she's generally shy and uncomfortable, or maybe she's a recluse who'd rather die in a fire than talk to anyone."

Ava snorted. "That doesn't tell me anything new... except the hermit one, but really?"

The rat flopped her tail about. "I have those days. Anyways, what's she into?"

Once more Ava shook her head. "I don't know."

Piper clicked her teeth in satisfaction. "Well there's your problem. Find out what she likes, look it up and find out a little about it, then strike up a conversation on it. If someone wanted to talk to me about the stuff I liked, it wouldn't really matter if I didn't know them."

And if she is still stiffed, then Kristin just doesn't want to talk to her. Or the fire thing.

A little chirp announced Ava had a text. She glanced at it, then quickly fired off a response before hoisting herself up off the bed. "Thanks Piper - that should really help."

"Don't tell anyone!"

"Promise," Ava said as she pulled the door open.

* * *

"You're not even watching!"

Ava's fingers fluttered over her phone. "First, there's very little physical comedy, so I can hear it just fine. Second, I saw this episode at a friend's house, so I'm fine. And third, my friend is lost."

Edie's response was a raspberry, halted mid-way through by a giggle at the TV.

Breaking her general rule of not chatting during a show, Simone glanced over. "Lost? Really Ava, who is this girl?"

"Very new," was her only response.

"Well I hope she can handle my presence. I don't want to make her insecure." While Simone smiled like she was making a joke, it was never quite clear how much of that mock-narcissism was an act. Then the deer caught her with eye contact before flipping her hair.

Ava was still suspicious that Simone was intentionally trying to tease her, too. Did she know that Ava once had a crush on her, or did she just assume? After all, how could Ava not be into her at least a little bit: Simone was beautiful and when she competed, the doe had a ballerina's grace. Sadly she was not into girls in the least, having firmly rejected two girls in the Sisterhood, and Ava suspected it was merely the attention and appreciation of her looks; it's not like she had many boys to flirt with, after all. That realization had smothered her crush - that, and finding those who were actually available - but Ava had never called her on the teasing either. Maybe she didn't want the possibility it would stop.

But this was about hanging out with a teammate, her roommate Edie (whose company she enjoyed more than Simone's), and simply watching a show they all managed to like together.

"Well, if she's coming then I'll make some more," Simone ventured and reached beneath her bed for a box of popcorn.

"She's a fox," was all the explanation Ava needed to send the doe back to reclining. Kristin wouldn't eat it for the same reason Edie didn't; pointed teeth and popped kernels didn't go together.

The plush chair squeaked when she sat back to watch the flatscreen on the wall. Simone and Edie's room was one of the most well-decorated Ava had seen, the tiny space packed with furniture and shelves full of stuff; even the bed linen were lavish and went with the color scheme. It wasn't that most couldn't afford it, but few bothered.

Just when she had started to follow the conversation on the show, her phone chimed with a text. Before Ava could read the message, a knock came to the door.

"Thanks for coming by," she said to Kristin. The fox hesitated on the threshold, glancing around the cramped room, before stepping inside.

Ava made introductions. Edie bounced up off the bed. "Nice to meet you!" the ferret said, snapping Kristin up in a quick hug.

The fox recoiled, yanking out of the hug and nearly stumbling into Simone's lap.

For a long heartbeat, everyone was still. The vixen's ears turned a sharp red, barely noticeable with them flat against her hair.

"You ok?" Edie asked, placing a paw on the girl's arm - which immediately brought a flinch from the fox, but she tried to hide it under a cough. Edie at least got the hint, backing up and giving Kristin some breathing space.

"I'm fine, really I'm fine!" Her eyes moved pleadingly to Ava. Then she closed them, rubbing her face with a paw. "I'm sorry I - you surprised me and... I've been homeschooled for the last few years, and I'm not used to all these people... and being touched and stuff." She glanced between them, then with ears planted against her scalp, whined, "God you guys must think I'm a total weirdo."

Edie was the first to bounce back. "No, that's totes ok! My cousin has this anxiety thing? Gets like, paranoid or something in really big crowds. Went to this big video game industry convention thing with thousands and thousands of people, and he had a panic attack or something, and wouldn't leave his hotel room. It's supposed to run in our family or something. But we perf understand." Ava could practically see the ferret vibrating with the need to touch Kristin in reassurance, but thankfully Edie just beamed, her tail churning behind her.

With the tension slowly deflating, Simone changed the topic. "Kristin, have you ever watched Roomies?"

"It's really funny,' Edie added.

"Uhh... here and there?"

Ava said, "I hadn't before we started watching last semester."

"I've got into it late when it was still on the air. Now I have all the DVDs they've released - we've watched nearly through season two." Simone afforded a smile, turning the show back on. "This one's almost over."

Ava sat down on the end of Edie's bed, leaving Kristin the rolling chair. She took it, and the tension melted away with the last few minutes of the show. They watched the next full episode in full silence.

When it finished and Simone started to change the discs, Ava turned to Kristin. "Did you decide on a second club?"

She shrugged with her tail. "Well... there's nothing offered I'm really into? And since one of them has to be an activity or an academic thing anyways, I guess I'll join drama."

How could such a wallflower be willing to get in front of people and act? Ava kept the thought off her face. "I know someone in there, I hear it's really fun. You even get to go away and compete in competitions." The goat tilted her head. "So what do you like, that they don't have?"

Kristin paused, then said in a tone reserved for embarrassing secrets, "Fashion and interior design."

Simone's ear swiveled. "Oh really? Do you read Runway?"

"Subscribed online," Kristin said, her ears up and smiling with genuine interest for what seemed like the first time. "And to Decor, Trend and [/i]Strut[/i]. I also follow a couple of blogs."

Simone leaned forward, and for the next few minutes the two chatted about the ins and outs of things that Ava just didn't follow. Clothes were something she didn't worry about. She noticed though that the longer they talked, the more animated Kristin became.

At least she wasn't a recluse.

"You guys wanna go into town tomorrow?" Edie's tone peaked with hope. "The weather's supposed to be perf."

"Can't," Ava said. "Fencing tryouts."

Kristin snapped her head to peer at Ava, her tail swishing in wide swipes. "You fence?"

"We both do," Simone said. "Although I'm probably the best one there."

Snorting, Ava shot the doe a critical eye. "Remind me, which one of us scored two points on Delilah Collins."

Predictably Simone threw her hands up. "Yes, yes, I know, I was there Ava. But Delilah cheats."

"Cheats?" The laughter ballooned out of her over this one. "How does she cheat?"

As matter-of-fact as one could be, she replied, "She's a mink."

That put a bray into Ava's laughter now. Which forced her to cover her mouth, hating when she did that.

"They're just too fast, and her reflexes!" The doe added with an exaggerated pout. "Still, I've received more phone numbers from boys at competition than her, and she's a senior this year." The rivalry between her and Delilah was purely friendly; they roomed and went out together when away.

Kristin's eyes bounced between them. "What's it like, fencing? Is it like the movies?"

For a few minutes she let Simone field the questions. Glancing at her phone, Ava saw a text from someone else.

Misha: You still single?

Oh Misha Just seeing the name left her smiling and pressing her thighs together. Ava quickly replied.

Ava: Yes, why?

Picking up the distinct voice of the jaguar on screen, she glanced up to find the show back on. But Kristin was watching her, not the screen, with perked ears and a curious eye. Ava swiveled her own ears and smiled.

The fox slid her chair close. Dipping her muzzle close and tone low, she asked, "So... is your name Avarice?"

She bared her teeth, but good naturedly. Well, it was going to come up sooner or later. "Yeah."

Darting a look at the goat's face was enough to leave Kristin not pushing any further, despite the piqued glint in her eyes. That made her like the fox just a little bit more.

Might as well explain now.

Instead of trying to talk under the show, she hoisted herself up and beckoned Kristin into the hall. The fox was half-way to the door before Simone paused the show. "I don't think I've heard this story."

"Fine, fine. It's not that interesting. When my mother woke up when her water broke, right? So my father drove her to the hospital, checked her in, and went in for an early morning meeting with some clients. Said he'd be there at lunch. My mother was so mad, and delirious from the drugs, wanted to 'show him' - so she told the nurse my name was Avarice." Ava rolled her eyes."And the stupid nurse put that on my birth certificate."

"Oh my god," Edie said. Even though she'd already heard it.

Kristin flattened her ears despite the weakest of smiles. "Wow. Well... what did your dad do?"

"Nothing," Ava said with a huff. "Well... he did sorta dialed it back for a while. But the office was his real home."

Simone snorted. "What does your father do?"

"Investment banker."

The deer shook her head. "Well I can't imagine. My father is a CFO, but I... how did he put it? I'm the apple of his eye." Her smile was downright sated, but then, Simone was talking about her favorite topic.

Edie said, "My parents just invest in stuff; they inherited most of it, so we just travel." She had gotten the impression that for Edie, money was just 'there'; she didn' t have to worry about it, but at the same time it never mattered to her. Her focus was on people, or art, or any number of distractions.

"My dad's a lawyer." Kristin said it with such lifelessness, and while looking at her folded paws, that it made Ava's stomach tighten just a little. From the ferret's expression, Edie probably picked up on it too.

"Well, I'll be right back." Ava slipped into the hall and trotted down to the communal bathroom on this floor.

Stepping back into the girls' room was like walking into a sauna of tension. Everyone was quiet, and as if on springs, Kristin popped up. "Well um, thanks for inviting me! It was nice meeting you. Bye, Ava."

"Bye," Ava said, a loss for anything else.

"Right, you too," Edie said, her expression wilted.

"Another time."

As soon as the door had closed, Ava hissed low, "What was that?"

"I don't know, I just asked her about her family and she snapped at me!" Edie whined.

"No - when you asked, you called her Kris - that's when her hackles rose." Simone clarified, her tone soft. "And she didn't snap, she sounded defensive." Typically it was the doe who soothed Edie, as the ferret always dove in heart first.

Yanking open the door, Ava jogged down the hall, listening for Kristin's steps. She caught sight of the fox just outside the dorm, walking too-fast, her ears and tail down hard. "Hey!" With a small burst of speed she caught up to the other girl. "You okay?"

Kristin whirled, just the hint of tears in her eyes. "Why're you talking to me?"

Ava stopped short. "What?"

Her phone chimed.

"Why do you like me? No one else does, so why are you?" Her voice cracked a little.

Either from the raw intensity, or remembering the real reason for this whole thing, Ava's mouth moved but she couldn't find anything. "I.. I... because I-"

Again her phone chimed.

"Are you going to get that?" Kristin snapped

More to hide her face and gather her thoughts, Ava looked at her phone.

Misha: Sorry, phone died. I want to know b/c I want to show you my new piercing.

Misha: Would you be into joining a threesome?

Ava choked.

With a sweep like a fleeing stormcloud, Kristin turned and started away again.

"No, wait! Because - because I think you're cute!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted to stuff them back in. Where did that even come from? At least Kristin stopped, dead still, and just glanced over her shoulder like she was being chased by a monster.