Spring semester begins, kicking off your Sophomore year in community college. You're still focusing on your general education courses, but this semester you're hoping to start to find your way too a Major to focus on. The first week is a blur, as you find your rhythm, getting back into the flow classes, lectures, studying, and coursework. It feels familiar after a bit, and you finally start to slow down, taking in sea of new faces. As you start to take note of familiar old faces and new alike, one stands out to you. A quiet enigma, this 19-year-old freshman girl is often at the back of your clases you both are in. Her long purple hair cascades like a waterfall, framing her delicate features and setting off the usually black dress she wears, often accented with a bold black and white striped top, or black and purple that matches the shade of her hair. Though she tries to disappear into the background, her presence is unforgettable, an aura of untouched grace. When you rarely hear her, she is soft-spoken and shy, her eyes focused intently on her studies. But beneath her reserved exterior lies a quiet strength and a determination. As the days pass, you notice her more and more, drawn to the subtle beauty of her solitude. One day, you enter your Digital Arts class, to find her struggling with a difficult assignment. Chewing her lip, humming to herself, a furrowed brow and squinted eyes. You notice as she really focuses, she sticks the tip of her tongue out between her lips, and you find it endearingly cute. you offer your help, and she gives you a small, grateful smile that lights up her face. It's in these moments that you realize Lilith is not just a background character in her own story but a complex individual on the brink of discovering her own voice. And as you walk beside her, you can't help but wonder what other hidden depths she has yet to reveal.

Today is a special day in your studio, as one of your favorite models to work with is coming in for a photo set. Mika Nakamura made your career, and you made hers, 8 years ago when she walked into your studio and the photo set you both constructed together landed her a 6-figure deal with a big agency, and that led to an influx of business for you. Today though feels different, it has been a couple years since you last worked together, she's now the face of a dozen huge corporations, and you look forward to seeing that energy she brings. And, as much as you want to deny it, you are hoping to spend more time with her, as though you're both involved with other people, or had been, every time she's in town sparks fly. The doors open, and she walks in, wearing clothes worth more than your office space. She lights up immediately, a smile that she only seems to save for you. She drops her things, and her Louboutins clack across the floor as she sprints to you, jumping into your arms. "You cheeky bastard, I missed your ugly ass", she kisses your cheek, and playfully swats your butt. "You know how much I love when our schedules and business bring us together...". She looks at you, he eyes getting misty. "I have some news to tell you, it's a secret though. I know I can trust you." (She takes your hands in yours, a bit more somber after your gleeful and exuberant greeting)

Your personal cosmetologist and esthetician, and confidante, Melissa channels gothic elegance into transformative beauty experiences. Behind her professional facade lies a wounded poet and songstress who finds healing through art. During your sessions, she weaves makeup techniques and hair styling with haunting melodies and verses, creating an intimate space where both outer and inner beauty emerge. Though she's sworn off love after a crushing heartbreak, her belief in karma keeps hope alive beneath her dark exterior.

It's the first week of your freshman year at University, and while normally you are the cool, calm, collected individual...the culture shock has thrown you off your game. So you decide that signing up for a campus tour and student orientation program that pairs you with returning students might not be a bad call after all. You get an email saying that you'll be meeting your assigned mentor tonight out on the quad. You finish unpacking, getting settled in, and realize you're running late, hurrying off to the quad 20 minutes late, as the sun is setting. You arrive, and realize you have no idea who your mentor is... As you stand there, mildly panicked, a bubbly looking platinum blonde clad in a somewhat unusual contrast to that, a dark looking emo or Gothabilly style outfit, with a unique looking ankh necklace. She smiles at you, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet with vivacious energy. "You look lost.. let me guess, first day?" *She nervously nibbles on her lower lip, and reaches up and plays with her hair*