Chapter Text
‘Fran… Fran, look,’ Eloise said while trying to show the new student announcement.
‘Apparently there’s a new student coming into our class today. Heard she’s been living her teenage years differently than us, full-on partying and not caring about her future, so her parents forced her to study here otherwise they’d cut her allowance.’
Francesca glanced at Eloise’s phone with a bit of curiosity on who that new student was, but didn’t care much since new students came all the time.
Fran answered, ‘Eloise, I really am way too occupied trying to learn French by reading this book, so I really do not care.’
Before Eloise could respond, the bell rang and they had to go to their last class of the day.
But of course, Eloise was curious about who that student could be.
‘Fran, try to be more open to knowing new people, just like you did with John. Who knows, maybe after that you’ll have a real friend instead of hanging out with me, your sister, all the time. But hey, imma go to my dorm building, so good luck with that student.’ She patted Fran’s shoulder and left.
Francesca sighed at what Eloise said and entered the classroom alone.
Seated at her table, occupied by her thoughts, there it happened.
‘Hello class, even though this is today’s last lesson, we have a late new student to welcome! Michaela, it’s her first day here in Westbridge Royal Academy, so make sure to show her around.’
The teacher scanned the classroom and noticed Francesca staring out the window, then appointed her to help Michaela around.
‘Francesca, how about you do the honors and show Michaela around?’
Francesca, surprised by hearing her name, focused and stared at the teacher.
‘It seems like the window is more interesting than my lesson, so you don’t need today’s class. You can pack your bag and show Michaela around, as you’ll have to head to your room directly after the lesson ends and you won’t be here. Thank you.’
Francesca rolled her eyes, annoyed, but didn’t argue. She stood up with her belongings and walked toward Michaela to direct her to the hall.
Michaela slightly smirked after seeing the annoyance on Francesca’s face and let Francesca guide her out of the class.
‘Well, my name is Francesca as you may know already, but that’s not important. Let me show you around the school and then your room so you know who you’ll share a room with.’
Francesca said while nervously fidgeting with her fingers.
Michaela noticed and responded teasingly.
‘I know your name, Francesca. I heard it when the teacher called you out, but no need to feel stressed or anything. I promise I’m not gonna bite you, ahahah.’
‘Oh, my fingers,’ Francesca said while looking at them. ‘Oh, I-uh, it’s nothing. It’s just something I do automatically but t-thank you, I appreciate your kindness!’
Michaela let out a soft laugh but reminded Francesca about the tour.
‘Ahah, of course, but let’s not forget the tour. I still need you, Francesca, to show me around this beautiful boarding school.’
‘Oh yea, I’m sorry, I’m an idiot. Let me show you the library.’
In the library, Francesca talked about how she loved reading books from there because Violet would always read something new with her when she was younger. Whether it was learning a new song to play on the piano or books about flowers, she loved books.
But books weren’t the only reason Francesca often visited the library. There was also a piano there where she would practice whenever she wanted to clear her mind.
‘Woah Francesca, I’m amazed that you can play the piano. I honestly thought you’d only be a book nerd, but why don’t you show me a song one of these days?’
Francesca felt flattered by Michaela’s compliment and blushed a little.
‘Uh, I-um, sure. I can play you a song one day. I’d be glad to play a song for you!’
‘That’s awesome, I’m ready for it. But yea, show me the cafeteria and then my room?’
Francesca replied, ‘Yes, of course. Here is the cafeteria, basically where we eat with our year since the other years eat at separate times. Just make sure to not miss your eating time or you’ll miss your food because the private cooks only cook for the day. But enough of that, let me show you your room. What’s your room number?’
‘One second.’ Michaela pulled the room paper from her side pocket and checked the room number. ‘It says room 23B. Do you know where that is?’
Francesca, confused, responded.
‘Yea, I do. It’s my room, ahaha, but didn’t know you’d be my new roommate.’
Michaela responded, ‘That is okay. If you prefer that I get a different room, I could ask the staff to change it.’
Francesca, slightly offended internally, responded, ‘No, there’s no need. You seem fun, and perhaps you might only be bothered by my boyfriend’s presence when he comes to visit,’ she talked casually.
Michaela felt disappointed by the remark but didn’t show it.
‘Oh, you have a boyfriend? That’s nice. Well, he sure is a lucky guy to be with you. What’s his name?’
And in that exact moment, the last bell rang and John pulled up.
‘Michaelaaa, happy to see you arriving! Well, didn’t think that you already spoke to Francesca, my girlfriend I’ve been talking to you about!’
Francesca looked between the two of them in confusion.
‘You two know each other?’
Michaela still felt slightly disappointed after hearing John call Francesca his girlfriend, but decided to let the feeling go since it was her cousin after all.
She smiled lightly.
‘Yea, I’m John’s cousin, Michaela Stirling. I haven’t exactly been the bravest kid, but I’m technically next in line if John ever decides to let go of the title or if my parents start seeing me as a better fit for it.’ She shrugged casually. ‘But honestly, I don’t really care about all that royal stuff that much. It’s okay though, imma just put my suitcase in the room and change. You guys can go.’
John immediately felt a little rude leaving Michaela alone on her first day.
‘Hey Fran, do you mind staying with Michaela so you can help her unpack? I’ll let Eloise know you said goodnight, babe.’
Francesca nodded and kissed him on the cheek before following Michaela toward their room.
Back inside the room, Francesca awkwardly stood near the door while Michaela placed her suitcase down.
‘Hey, sorry for the long conversation earlier and that you had to wait. I didn’t know you and John were cousins. He always talked about this cousin of his and how fun you were, but I didn’t know you were a woman.’
Michaela smirked immediately.
‘Did you want me to be a boy for it to be different?’
Francesca’s eyes widened as she realized how wrong that sounded.
‘Oh no, please don’t take it the wrong way. I only meant it as a compliment.’ She awkwardly fixed the sleeves of her shirt while talking. ‘Most of the time when John talks about your antics, you’d think it was some guy doing all that stuff because it’s honestly kind of bold that you do snowboarding and archery and all those things. I tried snowboarding once and it absolutely did not end well for me.’
She let out a slightly embarrassed laugh.
Michaela chuckled softly.
‘I promise I’m not that much of a chaos child, but maybe one day I could teach you snowboarding or archery if you ever come on one of our ski trips.’
Then Michaela finally looked around the room properly.
‘But enough about that… where exactly am I supposed to sleep? There’s only one bed. I think my second bed arrives tomorrow?’
Francesca looked at the bed, then at the sofa, then back at Michaela.
‘I could sleep on the sofa. I-I mean, I really do not mind until your bed arrives tomorrow.’
Michaela stared at her for a second before laughing quietly.
‘Francesca, I reassure you, you do not need to sleep on the sofa. I’m not gonna let England’s perfect princess sleep on a couch for me, even if it’s only for one night. I’ll sleep there instead.’
After putting her clothes away into the wardrobe, Michaela eventually laid down on the sofa and tried to sleep.
Francesca, on the other hand, sat on the bed staring at her.
The room itself was bigger than most dorms at Westbridge Royal Academy because the Bridgertons, the Stirlings, and the other royal families all had suite-style rooms instead of normal dormitories. Most students only had small studio-like rooms with shared bathrooms, but Westbridge treated royal families differently.
Still, despite how large the room was, Francesca suddenly felt uncomfortable at the thought of Michaela sleeping on the sofa.
She kept staring at her for several minutes before finally giving in to her thoughts.
‘Michaela, wake up,’ Francesca whispered while lightly shaking her shoulder.
Michaela had only just started falling asleep, so she looked at Francesca with confusion.
Fran awkwardly looked down at her hands before speaking again.
‘I thought that maybe we could share the bed because… I don’t really feel comfortable seeing you sleep on the sofa. It’s doing something to my brain that you cannot understand.’
Michaela found the sentence strangely funny and laughed softly to herself, but didn’t argue.
Instead, she let Francesca guide her toward the bed by the hand.
Francesca slightly turned red without realizing it herself. She was wearing striped pajama pants and a loose shirt without a bra underneath because she preferred being comfortable while sleeping.
Michaela, on the other hand, was wearing a silk nightgown, which made Francesca feel nervous for reasons she didn’t fully understand.
‘Here,’ Francesca continued awkwardly, ‘we can share the blanket. You can sleep on the right side and I’ll sleep on the left side. But uh… if you prefer another side, you can choose. I do not want you to feel forced into sleeping somewhere specific.’
Michaela smiled slightly.
‘I think I’ll survive whichever side you give me, princess.’
She climbed onto the bed and ended up laying on one of Francesca’s plushies.
Francesca realized Michaela was probably too tired for another conversation, so she quietly laid down beside her.
For some reason, sleeping next to Michaela made her stomach feel strangely warm and nervous at the same time, though Francesca didn’t really understand why.
Eventually she fell asleep.
Unfortunately for her, Francesca had the habit of moving around in her sleep, which resulted in her unconsciously wrapping her arms around Michaela sometime during the night without realizing it.
In the morning, Francesca woke up earlier than usual and immediately realized she was basically wrapped around Michaela.
She quickly removed her arms as fast but calmly as she could since Michaela was still sleeping.
It was two hours earlier than she normally woke up, but Francesca liked waking up early to practice new songs on the piano in the private library that no one used.
After brushing her teeth and taking a shower, she changed into her academy uniform: leggings, boots, a skirt, blouse, and the red blazer with the academy’s logo on it.
A few minutes later, she was already in the library playing the piano with headphones on.
Michaela, woken up earlier by Francesca quietly closing the dorm door, eventually got ready too and wandered toward the library since she assumed Francesca would probably be there.
Fran didn’t notice Michaela approaching and kept playing ‘Je te laisserai des mots.’
Michaela tapped Francesca’s shoulder lightly.
‘Can I play with you?’
Francesca looked surprised.
‘You also play piano?’
Michaela nodded slightly.
‘John and I learned together when we were younger, but I never really got that into it since I was more interested in sports.’
Francesca moved slightly on the piano bench to make space for her.
‘Here, take this other earbud. I was playing “Je te laisserai des mots” by Patrick Watson because I really love how soft and tender the song is. Let me know if you know the keys already because I don’t mind teaching you.’
Michaela smiled.
‘Yea, I know the song. And definitely correct me if I press the wrong note.’
They started playing together and, to nobody’s surprise, Michaela eventually pressed the wrong key.
Both of them laughed quietly.
Francesca moved slightly closer to Michaela before gently taking her fingers to guide them toward the correct notes.
‘Here, let me show you.’
She carefully played the correct keys with Michaela while quietly explaining why those notes worked better than the higher ones.
Michaela smiled to herself before teasing her again.
‘Thank you, Miss Francesca. I would’ve never known how to play the notes correctly without you,’ she said sarcastically.
Francesca felt strangely flattered and answered back in the same tone.
‘It is nothing, Miss Michaela. As your roommate, it is my duty to teach you things.’
Michaela grinned.
After a few more minutes, Francesca awkwardly glanced at her.
‘Did I bother you in your sleep?’
Michaela looked confused for a second before realizing what she meant.
‘No, not at all. I actually slept comfortably, but when I woke up you were already gone.’
Francesca nodded slightly.
‘I always wake up around two hours earlier to play piano or study French alone because I refuse to get a tutor.’
Michaela laughed softly.
‘Oh, so that’s why you disappeared while I was sleeping? You didn’t want me to wake up that early? That’s actually really cute, thank you.’
Francesca immediately took it as a genuine compliment.
‘No problem. We can also walk outside later if you want. Or whatever you need.’
Michaela smiled.
‘It’s okay, Francesca. You don’t have to hold my hand around like I’m a little kid. I already have a few friends here, I just haven’t said hello to them yet.’ She paused. ‘But thank you for showing me how to play piano again. I’ll see you later.’
She winked before walking back toward the dorm hallway.
Francesca didn’t fully understand the wink, but that weird feeling in her stomach appeared again anyway.
She looked at the clock.
7:23.
Forty minutes before students officially had to wake up.
Eloise would probably join her in the cafeteria later, but Francesca suddenly remembered that John usually woke up early too.
She walked toward the boys’ dorm section at the end of the hallway and knocked softly on John’s door.
John opened it almost immediately and smiled before pulling her into a hug.
Francesca loved John.
Or at least she thought she did.
He was calm, handsome, patient, and one of the only people who never made Francesca feel strange for being quiet or reserved all the time.
But she had never really felt those butterflies people always talked about.
‘Your cousin Michaela is actually really fun to be around,’ Francesca admitted quietly. ‘I didn’t know she played piano. You never told me.’
John chuckled.
‘You never asked, which isn’t really your fault. But I’m glad you two are becoming friends.’
Francesca looked genuinely surprised.
‘Who said we were friends? Your cousin seems way too cool to be my friend. She also told me she already has friends here and that I should stop hovering around her so much.’
John immediately laughed.
‘I’m pretty sure she did not say it the way you just described it.’
Francesca frowned slightly.
‘Well… maybe not exactly.’
John shook his head while smiling.
‘But yea, she does already know people here. Beth is one of her friends — her actual name is Elizabeth but she hates being called that — and then there’s Mila and Ella. Michaela used to date Mila back when they were younger.’
Francesca looked surprised.
‘I didn’t know Michaela was attracted to women. She doesn’t really seem like one.’
John’s expression changed slightly.
‘Francesca, yes, Michaela is a lesbian, and I hope that doesn’t bother you. But what exactly do you mean by “she doesn’t seem like one”?’
Francesca immediately realized how wrong that sounded.
‘No, no, I didn’t mean it in a bad way,’ she explained quickly. ‘I have nothing against her sexuality. It’s just… I don’t know. Most of the lesbians I’ve heard people talk about are very different from Michaela. There’s also basically no openly gay people in our year, so maybe I just had the wrong image in my head.’
John’s expression softened again.
‘It’s okay. Michaela’s really open about her sexuality, so she probably wouldn’t even care.’ He laughed quietly. ‘Besides, it’s not like you’re gay anyway, so it wouldn’t really affect you.’
The word gay echoed through Francesca’s mind.
Francesca never actually thought about that before but maybe now she should.
Because after the revelation michaela kept finding her way back to her mind but francesca didn’t know what that meant yet.