When Tawny arrived to her room, she was surprised to find another girl occupying the space.

It wasn't Elaine, however; this girl was shorter and stockier, with a mess of unruly red curls and and freckles. 

She was in the middle of hanging a science poster on the wall, and adjusted the bright red-framed glasses that sat atop her nose.

"Hello," said the girl.

Tawny didn't respond; she was through being nice with the awful people at Ivoree Gates. She went straight to her closet.

The girl spoke again. "Are you the new girl? I was told I'd be switching dorm rooms and bunking with you now. Elaine's pretty picky about her roommates."

So she jumped ship as soon as the poor girl moved in? Fine. Tawny didn't care anymore. She emerged from the closet, a suitcase in each hand, and threw them on the bed.

The girl continued talking. "My name's Madison. Friend's call me Maddie."

"Tawny," was the blonde's curt reply. She went to her dresser and began grabbing her clothes by the armful, then proceeded to dump them into her open suitcases.

Maddie sat on the bed, watching her. "What are you doing?" 

"What does it look like?" snapped Tawny. "I'm getting the hell out of here."

When the two girls' eyes met, Maddie noticed for the first time that Tawny had been crying.

Immediately, Maddie jumped off the bed and ran over to Tawny, spinning her around to get a better look at her.

"Hey, hey...what happened out there?"

"Those girls...Elaine and her evil posse..."

"You mean the Mean Girls from Hell?" asked Maddie. "Ivoree Gates own Terrifying Trio? I'm guessing they pulled their welcome wagon prank on you?"

"They tried to poison me!" yelled Tawny, feeling herself get worked up again. "I don't understand! I was so nice to them...I didn't deserve any of that...!"

"Hey, shh-shh...calm down," Maddie sat Tawny down on the bed and sat beside her. "Deep breaths....in...out..."

After a few minutes of this, Tawny began to feel better. "Thank you. Why are you being so nice to me?"

Maddie smiled. "Because it's the right thing to do? Because, contrary to popular belief,  having money does not automatically make you an insufferable witch?"

"Well, thank you for reminding me that. I was beginning to think otherwise."

"If it makes you feel any better," said Maddie. "They did the same thing to me when I came to Ivoree Gates. I know exactly how you feel: you take a bite expecting chocolate and caramel, and instead wind up gagging on Lysol and bleach."

"They also spat into a mug and gave it to me to drink," Tawny added.

"So it's gotten worse..." Maddie said under her breath.

"You've been here longer than me," said Tawny. "How did you do it? What made you decide to stay?"

Maddie wrinkled her nose and looped a ringlet around her finger as she thought. "Well...I suppose it was the knowledge that I had as much right to be here as those pampered spoiled brats.

And also, unlike Elaine who probably got in with 'Daddy's money', I earned my way here the old-fashioned way: with good grades and an iron-clad determination."

Maddie placed a hand on one of Tawny's suitcases and closed it. "If you're here, then you deserve to be here. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Now....have I convinced you to stay?"

Tawny sighed. "Yeah. By a hair. Thanks, Maddie."

Maddie smiled and jumped off the bed. "Great. Now that the pity party's over, let's make our way to third period. You coming?"

She held out her hand for Tawny to take. Tawny wiped her eyes with her sleeve and graciously accepted. "Yeah. Let's do this."