So Sonsta was one of Mirala's old students from Belport (most professors have congregated at the university after teaching at their expertise academies, like how Mir used to teach at Snowshore during the war) and she decided to change her area of study just so that she could go back to the university, especially since one Ala had left she found it harder to tell when she was or wasn't hallucinating, and she was too scared to ask anyone to help her because they all teased her so much and made fun of her stims.
And, like, they'll always meet at lunch to stim together with blankets and teddies and stuff - Ala keeps one of Sonsta's favourite little stuffed bears in her drawer with a little silk dress on it that Dali helped make for Son's birthday once - plus the main thing is that they can confide in each other so much about how they're both so scared of some of the male professors, and especially the prince, since Curtis is literally terrifying most of the time, particularly since he's obsessed with the idea that the only reason Em's psychotic is because she's been taught by them, and he thinks that they've caused her to be like she is. Plus, he constantly calls Son slurs and if he sees her without Ala there sometime's he'll hit her too, and try to scare her into leaving because he's so adamant that she's the problem.