Chapter 1

Cosette smiled as she finished hanging the last poster on the wall of her side of the dorm room. Everything was perfect. Her favourite stuffed animals were arranged neatly on her bed, which was made absolutely perfectly, her clothes were neatly folded in her dresser, and her supplies for class were all ready to go, three days early. It was Sunday, move in day, and classes wouldn't begin until Wednesday, so she was ahead of schedule on that, just the way she liked to be. Feeling a sudden twinge of nervousness, she glanced at the door again, wondering when her roommate would arrive.

She had been too anxious to go to her school's Facebook group for their year and try to find her roommate, so she had no idea who the girl would be. She hoped it would be someone nice and that they would get along. Just relax, Cosette, she told herself, taking a deep breath. Even if you don't get along, you just have to make it to the end of exams in April and then never speak to her again. Just September to April... Only 8 months. And you're getting ahead of yourself, maybe you will get along and will end up being the best of friends, like Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked! She hoped that would be the case, only without the arguing at the beginning. She hated conflict.

Feeling a bit anxious again, she sat on her bed, playing with her chestnut hair, almost wishing that she hadn't decided to go to university in the first place, and wondering why she had insisted to her papa that she was fine and he could leave. Just try to relax, take deep breaths and think happy thoughts. You made it here. You worked hard. You deserve this and you can succeed, you've got the right support system- The sound of the door opening pulled her out of her thoughts, and she quickly jumped off the bed and quit playing with her hair, eager to make a good impression on her new roommate.

A thin yet muscular young woman with dark brown hair and dark eyes walked in, pulling a suitcase with her, and Cosette could see a few boxes in the hall behind her, presumably also belonging her.

"You must be my roommate," the woman commented, giving Cosette no more than a single, momentary glance.

Cosette nodded, smiling. "Yeah, it's nice to meet you!" she said cheerfully. Her roommate nodded in response, walking over to the other side of the room and leaving her suitcase by the bed before returning to the hallway to get her boxes. Cosette hoped that she wasn't being too awkward. "Would you like some help bringing your things in?"

"No, I've got it. Thanks though," the woman replied without even bothering to look. Cosette felt her heart sink slightly, but reminded herself that this didn't mean she didn't like her. It was move in day, her roommate was probably feeling as anxious as she was, especially since her family was nowhere to be seen.

She nodded, and turned her attention back to her own things. Was there anything she had missed? Something she could do to at least appear a bit occupied rather than awkwardly watch her roommate unpack? She soon found herself rearranging her pillows and stuffed animals for the third time, absentmindedly chewing on the left corner of her bottom lip as she did so. Should she introduce herself now or later? What would be more awkward? Did her roommate even want to know her? Swallowing the lump in her throat, she finished rearranging her bed, deciding to rip the band-aid off and introduce herself.

She took another breath and walked over to the other young woman, who had finished bringing her things in and was beginning to unpack. "We should probably get to know each other," she said shyly. The dark haired young woman looked up at her.

"Yeah, I guess we should," she replied after a moment.

"So, I'm Cosette," she said, smiling a bit. Her roommate froze, staring at her as if she had just grown a second head.

"What?"

"Uh, Cosette... That's my name. Cosette Fauchelevent." She bit her lip, the anxiety threatening overtake her again. Had she done something wrong by introducing herself? Why did her new roommate look ready to explode? "It's just a silly nickname though, my real name is Euphrasie... But no one ever calls me that..."

Her roommate's dark eyes were icy, and she seemed to be trembling. Cosette felt her stomach twist and flip, and she began to wonder if she should just walk away. Something about the icy stare felt uncomfortably familiar though, as if she had experienced it before.

"This cannot be happening," she heard her roommate mutter.

"I- is something wrong?" she asked nervously, resisting the urge to play with her hair again.

Her roommate stood up, crossing her arms, continuing to fix her with the same, icy stare. "You're seriously going to just stand there and act like you don't remember me?"

Cosette blinked, confused. "Remember you? Why would I-" she frowned, trying to think of how she could possibly know the young woman she was going to be sharing a room with. Is she mistaking me for someone else? I've never met her in my life, unless... She looked again, studying the other woman's dark hair, eyes, and freckled face, trying to place her. There was something a bit familiar, she had to admit, but it couldn't possibly be, could it?

Her roommate scoffed. "You always were dim. I can't believe this."

Cosette felt her heart sink. It was. "Éponine...?"

"Oh, so you do remember. Great."

Cosette took a small step back. How could this be possible? It had been over ten years since she had last seen Éponine, and she'd spent all of that time trying to get a new life since then. How could she be stuck sharing a room at university with her?

"Well, it looks like we're stuck together again," Éponine said dryly after a few moments. "Great..." Cosette wondered if she should be happy or disappointed that Éponine appeared to be as frustrated with the situation as she was.

"I- what a coincidence?" she stammered, her voice shooting up an octave. Her brain chose that moment to remind her that it was only Sunday afternoon and that classes didn't start until Wednesday, and Éponine was the only person at the entire university she had met so far. Her heart pounded in her chest so loudly she was certain that Éponine could hear it as well. She wished that she could drop dead.

"Yeah. Just lovely..."

"I- I'll just let you finish unpacking..." Cosette managed to squeak out before backing away, returning to her side of the room. It was an absolute nightmare. How is this even possible? This isn't even the same province we were in back then! She sighed, and tried to ignore the sound of her roommate's grumbling as the other woman finished unpacking. First year was clearly not going to go the way she'd planned and hoped.

"Will you stop pacing? You're giving me a headache! God, you're even more annoying now than you were when we were kids." Cosette cringed at Éponine's comment.

"I can't help it, it's just something I do when I'm nervous."

"Well do something else instead of being a pest."

Cosette bit her lip again, her teeth settling into the same spot in the bottom left corner of her lip that they always did, ignoring the feeling of guilt that came with the realization that it had become such a habit in favour of the slight comfort it provided. Taking a deep breath, she quit the pacing, slumping onto her bed and hugging her pillow, carelessly sending a few of her neatly arranged stuffed animals onto the floor of the dorm room. Beady, empty black eyes stared up at her from the floor. Adjusting slightly, she covered her face with the pillow. This is officially the worst day ever.

"Oh, hi Marius!" Éponine's voice sounded cheerier than Cosette had thought possible. "You're all moved in? That's great! Want to meet up? No, I'm not busy at all, just hanging alone in my room. Yeah, I've met my roommate." Éponine moved past Cosette's side of the room towards the door. Cosette pulled the pillow closer to her face. "She's the worst so far, I doubt you'd like her..." Éponine's voice trailed off as she closed the door behind her.

So, Éponine had at least one friend at the school already. Cosette contemplated getting up and following her to investigate, curious about who could be friends with someone like Éponine, but decided against it. Whatever had made Éponine hate her when they had been children clearly hadn't gone away. The hatred appeared to be as strong as ever.

Sighing, she pulled the pillow away from her face. Maybe I should just go out to the common area and try to meet people, she wondered as she got up, picking the stuffed animals off the floor and fixing her bed. It's at least worth a try. A knot twisted in her stomach at the thought though, and she sat back on her bed, pulling her phone out. She had a text from her papa, asking if she was alright and if her roommate had arrived yet. For the second time in fifteen minutes her teeth found that familiar spot in the bottom left corner of her lip, and she considered lying.

How could she tell her papa that Éponine was her roommate? Her time with Éponine's family had been awful, and her papa had done everything he could to keep her far away from them once he had adopted her. She was certain he would be horrified to learn that their paths had cross again.

On the other hand, lying would be horrible. She had never lied to him before, and the thought of doing so made her skin crawl. Besides, how could she even lie about her roommate? He was bound to find out at some point, it would be impossible to keep it a secret forever. She chewed on her lip for a few moments before firing back a response, saying that she was fine and her roommate hadn't shown up yet. I don't have to lie about who she is, but he doesn't need to know just yet. She still felt uncomfortable about the lie, but the thought of having to explain the situation to her papa then and there was just unbearable.

Setting the phone aside, she lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She wondered who Marius was, and how Éponine had met him and become friends. She was always so horrid as a child, why would anyone be friends with her? Did she change? No, she seems the same now as she was back then. Marius must be a jerk too. She sighed and sat up again. Lying there moping wasn't going to fix anything.

She got up and looked in the mirror, fixing her hair and adjusting her clothes before grabbing her keys and chucking her phone into her bag and leaving, locking the door behind her. By the end of the day, she would have a new friend, no matter what.