With a little more patient coaxing, Amelia managed to lure Lily to the showers. She could’ve just washed her hair at the sinks, but it seemed the girl could do with a proper shower while at it. And she figured she might as well take one herself. After all, she’d taken one on most days back home, too, usually together with her mother.

 From how nervously Lily kept glancing around the bathroom, it occurred to Amelia that perhaps the reason she didn’t shower was simply out of shyness. She helped the younger girl with first lathering her hair and then rinsing it. Then, given the state the hair had been in, they did it a second time. After they were done and had towelled up, Amelia stood Lily in front of the mirror and took out the hairbrush again. Tentatively, she ran it through the slightly moist hair as Lily glanced at her via the mirror.

 “See?” Indeed, compared to earlier, the brush went through the hair quite effortlessly. This prompted Lily to raise her hand to her head to feel her hair. Much to her surprise, Amelia thought she saw a brief change in the girl’s expression. Unsure whether she’d imagined it or not, she resumed her brushing.

 They’d only had each other for company during lunch since the others were at school. They’d spent most of the day building puzzles, something Lily mostly just observed after failing to make much progress, as well as playing a memory game of matching cards, something Lily turned out to be almost eerily good at, whereas Amelia found herself struggling. Being so completely outdone made her pouty, which in turn seemed to confuse Lily.

 There had been surprised looks due to Lily’s unusual behaviour in the morning, but her post-haircare dinner debut took it up several notches. The hair still appeared roughly cut, and there was only so much one shower visit could do to long-neglected hair. Even so, the difference was still noticeable. The red colour had already been quite striking before, but now it was positively gleaming and orderly by comparison.

 Miss Ursula and Miss Sandra didn’t fail to notice the change either, and after some more hushed conversation, both smiled warmly and nodded at Amelia as she was bringing her food back to the table. Lily herself didn’t seem to take much notice of the looks she was getting, however. Which was just as well, as Amelia figured they would’ve only served to make her uncomfortable.

 In the evening Lily only hesitantly agreed to go to her own room, as Amelia thought there might be trouble otherwise. However, come morning, she found it to have made little difference – Lily was sleeping peacefully next to her. She’d not crawled under the blanket, though, so Amelia wondered how she wasn’t feeling cold. And just as she thought that she could see the girl shiver and shift slightly. She took the part of the blanket that was covering herself and threw it over Lily, who woke with a start as a result.

 “You’ll get a cold,” Amelia muttered. She realised that she’d slept much better than during the previous nights. Was it because of Lily, even though she’d not even noticed whenever she might have sneaked into her room? At least it didn’t feel like she’d been crying this time. She considered this over breakfast, and afterwards, she sought out Pauline in the day room.

 She wanted to ask if she’d mind if Lily shared a room with her instead. Pauline shrugged and said she didn’t mind. That would allow her to move to the lower bed. She’d been in the upper one until now, as she’d moved to the room later than Lily, who’d already occupied the lower one.

 The next step was to talk to Miss Ursula about it. But it turned out no convincing was necessary – apparently, she’d already been having thoughts towards the same solution even without being aware of Lily’s nightly adventures – something Amelia still didn’t fill her in on. Therefore, after confirming it with both Lily and Pauline, Miss Ursula gave the okay. And so, Lily’s scant belongings were moved from room C to room D.

The next night was their first as official roommates. Things sure were happening fast, Amelia mused while putting on her pyjamas. Just a few days ago she’d felt disconnected from this place, but now... even without Miss Ursula’s encouragement, she was certain she would’ve wanted to get closer to Lily. Despite her not talking much and being quite passive most of the time, something about the mysterious loner girl kept piquing her interest.

 Technically, the upper bed was now Lily’s. However, when it came time to go to bed, she just stood next to Amelia’s bed with an uncertain look on her face, hugging a pillow. It didn’t take more than a moment for Amelia to figure it out.

 “Okay, okay. Come.” Lily climbed into bed next to her, and Amelia threw the other half of the blanket over her again. Though the beds weren’t wide, they were both small enough that it didn’t feel cramped at all. It did feel strange lying in bed with someone like that at first. Before Lily, she’d not slept in the same bed with anyone but her parents occasionally, after all. Even so, she soon found that Lily’s presence felt soothing. She didn’t feel quite like falling asleep just yet, though. “Hey. Would you like a story?” She dug out the storybook, which was again hidden under her pillow. Lily nodded, eyeing the book with apparent curiosity.

 They adjusted themselves into a sitting position at the end of the bed so that they could both better see the book. As Amelia opened the book to the table of contents and was trying to decide which one she might read, Lily’s hand appeared from under the blanket and pointed at one. ‘The Rose and the Lily.’ Well, of course, Amelia thought. Then she had another thought. “You can read too, right?” Lily nodded. Of course, a ‘normal’ girl her age would’ve likely known how to read at least a little, but after what Miss Ursula had said, Amelia hadn’t been sure of that in Lily’s case. “Okay. Let’s read that one together.”