Wilted

An Unfamiliar Garden

The misty fog of winter hung lazily in the air as the sound of train wheels grinded to a halt. Orchid looked up from her journal, a thick sludge of drool obscuring the blue pen ink.

'How long was I asleep for?'

Her mind raced, running her hands through her messy braid, ignoring the worried stares of the lady in the cab nearby as a handful of long dead flower petals sprinkled out. Orchid gave the lady an apologetic smile, who only shook her head and buried her face in the magazine she was reading in response.

'Fantastic...'

Not five seconds in Norway, and already? She scolded herself as she tugged her hood over her head, a bag full of old clothes slumped over her shoulders as she finally stepped off the train. The winter had not been nice to this place it seemed, when anyone in the sea of people in the station saw her, they quickly averted their gaze, some even quickening their pace as she approached.

'Yikes...What happened here?'

Orchid sat down in the station, taking a second to redo her braid. For the special occasion, the flowers in her hair had been arranged in a halo-like crown, all various bright colors, adding a pop of vivacity to her dusty brown hair.

Even with all the seemingly strange things she wore or had around her, she felt so terribly drab. Take away all her trinkets, and maybe she was a bit shorter than normal, maybe a bit more thin? People in Norway, Hell, even people in Denmark were ethereal and gorgeous, like wood nymphs with elegant long, light hair, and piercing eyes. Yet, here she was, A hoarding goblin in a beautiful forest of elves.

'Its going to be a long day, isn't it?'

---

The walk over to the college was relatively short. If was like a hub, close to everything worth walking too. Orchid's teeth chattered quietly as she stared at the paper she was given by the blithe lady at the front desk. She repeated the number over and over again in her head.
'404, 404, 404...'
Her grandma loved her very much. No doubt, You would have to love someone very much to send someone to such a nice college in a new, different place; But the woman wasn't rich, and room 404 was a double room. Knots tightened in Orchid's stomach as she read over the name, again and again.
'Orchid Erickson and Linnea Berg, 404'
Linnea Berg. Lin-ay-ah, Lin-ee-uh, Lin-nay...
Even her name was pretty. Orchid tightened her grip on her stomach. A roommate? The idea excited her, but brought with it a special kind of anxiety, She had no siblings, very few friends, and none that weren't miles away, brought together by the written word.
'Calm down. You can do it, just like you were writing, just say-'
"Hey!" The clear voice of a woman shot through her heart, turning her veins into pure ice. "404?"

Orchid twirled around, nearly dropping her things in the process. Surely this was her? "Ye-Yes! 404, yes, I'm here!" She giggled nervously, her voice cracking as she spoke. "Are you Linnea?" Her eyes scanned over the girl, taking in what she could without lingering.
Linnea was tall, with soft blue eyes that glittered when she smiled, showing an absolutely adorable gap in her front teeth.
"That's me!" She declared, flipping a strand of silvery blonde hair behind her shoulder. It was hard to tell in the dim hallway light, but one could make out two bold streaks, One ocean blue and the other cherry red. "Orchid right? What's happenin, roomie?!"
Orchid couldn't help but smile at her, new colorful roommate. She was infectious in her good mood, it seemed. "Mmhmm! It's so nice to meet you. I was really worried a physics major would be so, well, drab." She admitted, turning the knob to their new living quarters. "Not to say that physics is drab! I mean, you have to be really smart to do all that, I mean, not to say you don't look smart!"
To her surprise, Linnea only laughed in response. "Girl, don't worry, I get it. You should see some of the dorks in my classes, laaaaame!" She made a face, making Orchid's stomach untense itself a bit, "Oh, Dibs on the Lefty!" She squealed excitedly, rushing past Orchid to leap on the leftmost bed in the small dorm.
The room was small, as one would imagine, two beds on either side, a window between them, midday light spilling through cheap plastic blinds. Orchid nodded, setting her things on the other bed, "That's alright." She smiled, sitting beside her bag and beginning to root around in it, "Would you mind if I burned some sage?"
Linnea gave her a quizzical look, "Sage? Is that like...?" She made a motion like a cigarette with her free hand.
"Oh, Oh gosh no! It's uh, well, actually, nevermind..." Orchid trailed off, stuffing the pungent stick of spice back in her bag, "It's just a, hobby of mine, is all."
"Oh, I get you, yeah, we can do that after inspection, I totally know a guy who can get you all the 'Sage' you need, girl." Linnea winked at her, lifting herself up off the rickety bed to unpack some of the things out of her suitcase. Fuzzy pillows, handmade quilts, the cutest new My Little Pony figures, a shelf to put them on, all piled around her on the foot of the bed. "Sorry about the clutter, I promise I'll have this all worked out here in a sec..."
Orchid smiled, adjusting her pillow, giving her a quick nod to show it was okay, but not truly finding the proper thing to say. Her bed looked oddly stark next to her roommate's, only a small down blanket with several ducks printed on it and a raggedy old pillow filled with fabric scraps adorned her bed.
'She has to notice...Thank Loki she's nice enough to not say anything..."
Once the beds were finally made to the girl's liking, Linnea yawned, turning to Orchid, "Hey so, I start classes Monday, do you wanna see the grounds with me?"
Orchid paused, shoving the frog deeper down her throat that lodged itself in there as soon as she saw her. "I would love too!"
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