Cielle

New Friends?

Cielle arrived back at the building and was greeted by six pairs of eyes. She smiled tiredly, realizing she had missed lunch and arrived a bit early for dinner.

"Are you okay?" said the strawberry blonde girl with the softest pair of hazel brown eyes she had ever seen. She blushed slightly.

"Yeah, I'm alright, just a bit of homesickness, I guess," Cielle replied as she sat down on an empty chair in the corner.

"Did I miss anything?" she joked, glancing at the three new faces in the room.

"Hi, I'm Peach," said the strawberry blonde. Claire snorted, and Ruben shot her a dirty look.

"This is Jade," Peach pointed at a boy with jet black hair and the sharpest pair of turquoise eyes Cielle had ever seen. He nodded in acknowledgment.

"I'm Ruby!" a voice chimed in from a corner. Cielle turned to see a blonde-haired girl with hazel, almost golden eyes and a magnificent smile.

"Hi everyone, I'm Cielle," she introduced herself with a smile. The dinner bell rang, and they all filed into the dining hall.

Cielle sat quietly, eating her dinner while the rest of the group chatted among themselves, getting to know each other better. When dinner was done, she quickly and quietly excused herself from the table and made her way to her room.

As she opened the door, something slipped through her legs, and she squeaked in surprise. She turned on the light and was greeted by the prettiest orange tabby cat she had ever seen. It eyed her with interest while casually licking its paw.

"Hi!" she cooed, reaching out to pet the cat's fluffy ears.

"Are you lost?" she asked, searching around the cat's neck for any sign of an owner.

"Meow," it replied, its eyes twinkling with mischief. Cielle scooped it up and continued petting it.

She sighed. "I should probably take a bath now," she thought to herself. The cat suddenly jumped off her and started cleaning itself. She took that as her cue to take a quick, cool shower and head to bed.

After her shower, she quickly dried and dressed, then covered herself with her sheet, letting the soft, warm bed envelop her. As she lay there, she thought about the events of the past day. She couldn't wait to receive her package from the church, anything to stop herself from making a fool of herself in front of her family and the church. As she drifted off to sleep, the orange cat jumped onto her bed.

In her sleep, she grunted and turned, only to find herself wrapped up in someone's arms. She squeaked and pushed the intruder off her, quickly piling the sheets up on top of her.

"What the f**k!" cried a voice as a mess of auburn curls appeared from the bottom of her bed.

"If I knew you were gonna pelt me off the bed, I would've never slept here with you," the voice said. Cielle's eyes opened wide as she took in the stark naked female in front of her.

"P-p-peach?!" she stuttered, realization hitting her as she looked around her room.

"You're the cat?!"

"Yup," Peach replied, looking quite proud of herself. "I'm a shapeshifter."

A small knock on the door brought them back to reality as Cielle remembered that Peach was buck naked at the end of her bed, and the maid would soon come in, raising a lot of questions.

She tossed a sheet at Peach as Maya opened the door.

"Miss Cielle," Maya said, taking in the situation.

"You're awake and have company,

I see."

"Miss Peach, is it?" Maya continued, not bothering to spare the bedsheet-clad girl another glance.

"Would you like to be escorted to your room? I'd like to get Miss Cielle ready for breakfast," she said, giving Cielle a withering glare.

"Ready for breakfast," Maya added, reaching for the bell and tugging it twice, signalling for a maid to come and take Peach back to her room.

Maya worked in silence, putting Cielle's hair into a simple design before dressing her in a baby blue frock.

"Off you go," Maya said as she opened the door, revealing Prince Donovan standing there, seemingly in a knocking gesture.