“You already barely exist. Disappearing entirely won't be that much of a change.” — Scott Adams

Missing                          

Monique hummed happily as she stepped out of the bathroom stall. Unlike her old school, Pandora Hill Academia kept their girl's bathroom sparkling clean, had soft toilet paper, lemon scented air freshener, rose scented soap, hand dryers, free pads, tampons and warm water. 

The benefits of being in a boarding school with wealthy students. 

She went over to the sink to wash her hands when she heard a stall open behind her. Monique paused in rubbing the soap into her hands, not expecting another person to be in the bathroom. She had thought that everybody had headed straight towards lunch or the dorms.

Monique looked up at the mirror and saw a slender bronze skinned white curly haired girl stepping out of the bathroom stall. It took only a few seconds for Monique to recognize who the other girl was. She was the student council president, Katrine Roseburg.

Monique looked back down at her soapy hands so she wouldn't be caught staring. She listened to the clacks of Katrine's shoes against the tile floor as she washed the rose scented soap off her brown skinned hands. Katrine walked past the sink beside Monique and stopped at another sink.

Leaving one sink between the two girls as Katrine squirted soap on her hands and began washing it off. Silence hung in the air besides the sound of the running water from both the faucets. Monique glanced over at Katrine, who held a small frown on her face, before breaking the silence. 

"You're the student council president of this school right?" Monique asked politely as she turned off the warm water.

"Yes, I am." Katrine responded while washing her hands. "Based on that question,I'm assuming you're one of the new students of our school."

"Correct, Miss president and since I'm a new student you wouldn't mind answering a question of mine would you?" Monique smiled while trying to shake off some of the water on her hands into the sink. 

Originally, she had planned on finding Headmistress Roseburg's office so she could ask Headmistress Roseburg the question. However if there was a chance Katrine knew the answer, then she wouldn't have to go through all that trouble. Monique didn't want to take too long with Vallin waiting to eat lunch with her in front of the cafeteria. 

"Go ahead and ask. There is no guarantee I know the answer but I'll do my best to answer your question." Katrine finished washing her hands and turned to face Monique with a straight face, no longer frowning. 

"Great! You see, Miss President, my parents and I were told in my acceptance letter that I would be sharing my dorm room with a roommate." Monique took a step closer to Katrine and put her wet hands on her hips with a tilt of her pink head. "Yet, when I arrived at my room on the first day of school, there wasn't anyone there. There was no sign that another person lived in that room, not a trace." 

"I was really excited when I learned that I was going to have a roommate. You could imagine my disappointment when I saw that she was not there. That is why I wanted to ask you, Miss president, do you know why I don't have a roommate?"

At first, Katrine did not answer and looked down at Monique silently, her expression blank but Monique noticed the taller girl stiffening and her wet fingers twitching. Finally the white curly haired girl spoke.

"Unfortunately, I know the answer to your question. But first, I must ask for your name."

"Monique Rivers."

"Ms. Rivers," Katrine addressed her by her last name with a troubled expression on her usually stony face. "I'm afraid that you'll not be meeting your roommate anytime soon. It's sad to say, but she went missing shortly after we sent out acceptance letters to our new students. Her grandparents reported her missing to the school over the summer. They told the school that the girl went on a walk and never returned."

Monique's purple-red eyes widened at Katrine, processing  the words of the student council president. For the past few days,in the back of her head, Monique had a feeling that her missing roommate was well missing but she couldn't believe that her guess was actually correct.

Monique hoped that her roommate was alive and would've prayed to the gods for her safety if it weren’t such a waste of time. The gods left their world a long time ago, praying to them for the safety of another would be the same as wishing for someone’s downfall. There is no point in praying to something you know that will not hear nor grant your wish. 

"I apologize on behalf of the school for not informing you of the absence of your roommate. However, her grandparents made it clear that they didn't want to publicize the news of her disappearance, so you must understand why the school did not seek out to inform you and your family of the matter."

Katrine's frosty blue-yellow eyes locked with Monique's purple-red eyes as she said this, sending a shiver down the pink haired girl's spine. Detecting a warning in the taller girl's tone Monique had no choice but to nod her head obediently and agree with the taller girl. Katrine's chilly voice left no room for her to argue or disagree.

"No worries, Miss President! I completely understand the situation. I'll keep that information to myself." Monique lied as she quickly reassured the other girl, giving her a shaky thumbs up and a nervous smile. She was definitely going to be telling Vallin about her roommate situation.

"Good." Katrine's face turned back to stone and turned away from Monique. She walked over to the door and pushed it open to leave the bathroom.

"Wait! I have one more question." Monique called out to Katrine holding one of her hands out despite being too far away to grab the student council president. There was one more thing she needed to know.

"What is it?" Katrine stopped with one hand against the partially open bathroom door.

"Can you tell me her name?" 

For a split second, Katrine's eyes clouded over, the corners of her mouth slightly tilted downwards and the hand that hung by her side twitched. Monique blinked and Katrine looked calm and collected with her usual stoic face. It almost made Monique question if she was seeing things.

Key word on almost. 

"Rose, that was her name." Katrine said in a quiet voice then she pushed the bathroom door open fully and left without saying another word. Leaving Monique alone in the girl's bathroom with her thoughts. It took a few minutes to organize all her thoughts and process the information given to her by the student council president.