Erin Hawthorne's Story

Cor had woken up with a minor headache. Just a tiny one. After yesterday she’d needed alcohol and she might have stolen some of Drake’s – the good stuff, of course. And so… now she was being punished. Served her right, she supposed. Things were just… one big mess. Right now she was on the bus with the others, dressed in this. After her shower at the motel she’d grabbed a shower before Drake had even woken from his slumber; she’d been sharing a room with him. Not because they couldn’t have had separate rooms, but because after the fire, Cor had sort of needed to be around someone with a level head, and who was more levelheaded than Drake in emotional situations? After getting ready, for once straightening her hair and all, Cor had grabbed her two suitcases and gone to fetch Erin. Together they’d gone to the bus waiting for them as every other morning. Except this one was bigger. Big enough to fit all of their baggage. Right now it was 7:30 AM and she was half asleep with her head on Erin’s shoulder. Her best friend was of course seated beside her and Cor wouldn’t have it any other way. Well… maybe except… if, you know… Jay could… oh no, no no no. No thinking about Jay. Off limits.

The young blonde’s eyes snapped open the second the bus stopped and it was announced over the speakers that they had arrived. She got up, rolling her shoulder before she took Erin’s hand. “C’mon, Blondie.” She said, “we need to go have lots of fun in our amazing new home.” She laced her tone with feigned eagerness, overdoing it so much that even people who didn’t know her would recognize it as deliberately fake. Honestly she wasn’t really pleased in the least, but she didn’t want to go back to Harrogate either. So there was that. Besides, all of her friends were here, and she supposed Jay’s presence at Arcana made things bearable. Somewhat. She didn’t let go of Erin’s hand until the girl was out of her seat and then Cor walked out of the bus, taking her luggage from the driver who was in the process of getting all of their belongings out of the bus for them. She waited for Erin to get hers before she moved again, this time heading for the Academy. A place she’d been many times over the last month; a place where she’d more or less had to deal with a lot of shit she hadn’t had to before. Punishment for instance. Cain always let her get away with most of her shit. Marinos didn’t. Or… at least he didn’t used to, until she’d caught him and Roerig in a preeetty compromising situation about a week ago. Now she had free reign for 4 months. Not bad.

She didn’t really pay much attention to the other students. She didn’t care much. She was more focused on who she’d have to live with. She had no idea, but she couldn’t imagine Marinos pairing her up with any of his precious little angel babies, for instance. So they were probably rooming with someone from their own schools. It didn’t make sense not to do it like that. Cor entered the reception are, glancing at Erin. “Something tells me we’re going to regret this in the end, you know.” She shook her head and looked around her. She knew there would be a list hanging here somewhere with rooms and room-numbers and all that bullshit. Ah, there it was, off to the side. Both her suitcases rolled behind her as she made her way over, looking over the list. Her eyes widened slowly. “Uh… Erin, I think you need to see this,” she said, indicating the list. “They’ve mixed us. What kind of bullshit it that? I swear, sometimes they’re just too fucking stupid.” She wasn’t angry, or annoyed, because she’d been lucky enough with L. She was alright with rooming with L. Better than most others. Then she frowned. “Loralei?” She repeated off of the list, shooting Erin a look. “You’re rooming with gypsy girl? Fuck.” Her expression went from pity of her best friend to amusement when she spotted two other names. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, already laughing. “Jay and Sky? That’s just a disaster waiting to happen.” And it really was. Jay had already said that he wanted to beat up every guy she’d ever slept with, and she knew Sky hated Jay in turn. That room was going to be a war-zone.

---

The dream was beautiful; beautiful and peaceful. Just… Leo and her alone in the most beautiful meadow filled with violet flowers, the sun setting in the horizon. She couldn’t remember what they were doing there or how they’d ended up in this place. Only the happiness and tranquility of that perfect moment, until the tress on the far side began moving, becoming students and fellow teachers, walking towards them. That’s when Leo let go and pushed her away, immediately resuming his professional eyes. The ones that didn’t belong to her Leo. Eyes that shut everyone safe for a select few, out of his heart. That’s when he said her name, his soft, masculine voice emanating, but it felt weird… like it didn’t belong in a dream, then her eyes fluttered open at the contact of his lips, the soft static and the touch jolting her awake. She smiled sleepily against his lips as he whispered. She was glad he’d woken her up before her dream turned into even more of a nightmare.

She kissed him softly once more before letting his lips move away even just a little, “mmmmorning” she murmured, stretching with a soft purr before smiling more properly as the memories of their night together resurfaced and then turned around to make him lay on his back, leaning over him. She let her hands rest on his chest as she raised herself a little, not caring one bit that she was completely naked. Then, as she looked him over, she tsk’ed and shook her head, “you haven’t slept all night, have you?” She hadn’t slept much herself. Honestly she’d only had maybe two or three hours of sleep at this point, if she was lucky. They’d had sex for the first time. Not first time in the virginal sense, but she’d been holding back since that night where Cor had found them; her lying on her desk, Leo’s head and fingers between her legs. That had just been… very unfortunate, to say the least. And extremely embarrassing. She’d also just been a little insecure. How could anyone measure up in the bedroom toa guy who had been having sex for the last odd 2500 years? He hadn’t seemed unsatisfied, though, so she was feeling quite relieved.

Amy leaned down to kiss Leo’s perfect lips before smiling softly and a tad thoughtfully at him, then biting down on her lip as the smile disappeared, her dream coming back to her and she sighed, unsure of how Leo was going to react now. They hadn’t really talked about their relationship’s status as such, but after the dream, Amy was feeling even more certain that they needed to let the cat out of the bag as such. She knew he didn’t want to, but she didn’t want to be stuck in a secret relationship for whoever knew how long. “Baby?” She began, kissing his jaw softly before looking up at him again, her violet eyes worried; worried about his reaction and how this was going to go down. She was ready to take an argument if that was what they needed, “when are we going to tell people? I mean… we can’t keep this a secret forever… right? And… people are going to find out anyway. It’s just a matter of time.”

The taste of alcohol from the night before lingered on Addison's lips as she stretched a bit, seeing that Cor was already awake. The night before, the girls had drank a bit -- of course Drake's stuff, hopefully he wouldn't mind. Or notice. She had woken up and showered, got dressed, did her hair, make up and everything else along with it. Leaving Noctrem was like leaving home, it gave Addison this empty feeling inside. Although she loved new adventures, she also loved having a stable thing in her life. Noctrem had become one of those to her, and ever since the fire her safety zone was gone. Of course, the fire had hit everyone hard, just in different aspects, Cain was the most devastated, because that was his pride and joy. Thoughts buzzed through her head, as she mindlessly went through some old magazines she'd found in the motel lobby that morning.

Oprah's shining face was on the cover of one of them...Addison glared a bit, shaking her head, opening up to the article about Oprah's new escapade of Godliness. Oprah was helping a young couple who came from nothing, had a kid and needed money big time. She was showing them their new car, a totally new wardrobe, and a brand new house. She probably bought them the finest yacht along with all that and gave them 1,000 dollars to spare.

Addi's theories? Oprah is probably a God sent down to earth... think about it, the lady’s got everything. She’s got enough money to go build hover crafts, pay the world’s greatest scientist to make a replica of her so she could live on forever, all while we are under her rule. Not only did she have the money goin’ for her, but she had this God-given gift to take the most depressed man who has had all his dreams shattered and probably cure him with her phlegm. She was Oprah. She was perfect in the people’s eye because she came from nothing and worked her way up to the top and still admitted she had some problems.

Of course, Addi was sure Oprah wouldn't approve of using alcohol, drugs, or other harmful substances in order to cope with living circumstances. She would most likely suggest something like grabbing a pint of ice cream, and powering through it with your gal-pals...

“Kudos, Oprah.” She mumbled, throwing down the magazines on the empty seat next to her.

The girl's train of thought was suddenly lost when she felt the bus slowing down. Her eyes flickered up as she heard the bus come to a screeching halt in front of the glorified Arcana Academy. Arcana seemed nice from the pictures, and it was a bit better in person than she'd expected. Lots of forestry around the place, good places to hide and such.

With a stretch and a sigh, she stood up, following Cor and Erin off the bus, her luggage dragging behind her. She stopped outside, leaning against the wall and fumbled through her purse. She takes out a pack of cigarettes and puts it in her mouth.

"Where did that fucking lighter go?" She mutters, fishing through her purse and her fingers grasp around her white lighter. Cupping one hand over the cigarette, she flicks the lighter, lighting it and taking a long drag. It's not that Addison was really craving one, it was just stress smoking. What she was dreading the most wasn't the people or anything... But the roommate schedule. Roommates are everything at boarding schools. They're who you're living with for the rest of the year. Inhaling a long drag she slowly exhales, blowing a few smoke rings here and there, watching Cain stumble off the bus, and he took a drink of his "morning coffee". Which normally consisted of a whole lot of alcohol and a drop of coffee.

Addison wasn't one for rushing, she knew she would get things done on her own time. She listened to Cor complain, and Cain say, ”Give ‘em Hell, kids. It’s your school now too.”

She watched the end of her cigarette burn, blandly staring ahead.

"Hell doesn't even cover what we're bringing to this school." She says flatly, a devious smirk flickers onto her face as she flicks the ashes from her cigarette.

Bells was sleeping curled up on her side when she woke up to her alarm going off she slammed her hand on it to turn it off without opening her eyes and sighed, she was glad that she didn‘t have a headache from last nights little party, though for some reason she didn‘t drink as much last night as she usually did. This was the day that she was hoping would never come, the day they would have to move in with the Arcana students. She laid in bed for a few minutes before getting up looking around the room, it didn’t look to neat, clothes where thrown over a chair and books where on all over the desk. She wasn’t one that didn’t keep things too clean and she knew she should of packed yesterday but she really didn’t feel like, though this morning she really wished she did. Slowly opening her eyes and swinging her legs over the bed, she was definitely not a morning person. She got up and looked around the room, grabbing her suitcases she started folding and packing her clothes, putting her books into her backpack she looked at the time knowing she will only be able to take a quick shower or she would be late which isn’t something new but she had a feeling Mr. M really wouldn’t be too happy with her being late today. She took a quick shower then got dressed in the outfit she picked out to wear today and then went to look at herself in the mirror. She knew she wouldn’t be able to straighten her mess of a hair today so she left it cury but used some mousse so it wouldn’t be frizzy, after applying some makeup she took one more look at herself in the mirror and nodded “pefect” she said out loud before she grabbed her suitcases and made her way out of the room.

She knew she was a few minutes late and made her way quickly to the bus, walking up the stairs she saw Mr.M “yeah I know im late” she said as she made her way down the aisle, seeing Jade she took a seat by her. “This is the first day of hell, lets just hope we are still going to be roommates” she said as she got settled into the seat. She then sat there quietly as the bus moved on, not making much conversation with everyone, she still needed some sort of caffeine to wake her up till she became the talkative Bells. As the bus rolled to a stop she looked to the front of the bus as Mr. M got up ”Give ‘em Hell, kids. It’s your school now too.” Bells grinned and nodded, yes give them hell is exactly what she was going to do especially Izzy. When Noctrem got burnt down and they where told they where going to Arcana all she could think about is Izzy. At the time she hated that she was going to have to be in the same school as Izzy now she was having to live in the same place he was. She made it clear to Izzy the first day she was there to stay out of her way and he wouldn’t have to feel the pain she has made Izzy feel before. Since then they have hardly said two words to each other and that is the way she hopes it still going to be.

Following everyone on the bus she walked through the doors carrying her suitcases. She saw Cor and Erin enter the reception area and she followed right behind them. As she entered she caught the end of what Cor was saying “…disaster waiting to happen.” Bell’s now didn’t have such a good feeling as she walked over to the two girls “So what kind of disaster are you talking about?” she asked but before they said anything she answered her own question as she looked over the list “he just had to do it this way, fuck this” but as she said that she found her name and saw she was rooming with Beth “well I guess it won’t be so bad with Beth, could of gotten worse…” she said knowing that the relationship she had with Beth was very confusing. Some days they talked like they where good friends, some days they didn’t talk at all and then some days they would just flirt like it was natural. She took a few steps back to let the others get in and wondered where her new roommate was, though she really needed to get coffee before the people she disliked with a passion came around.

---

Izzy was already awake, he has been awake since 5:30am and had his books on his bed as he was working on his home work and some extra credit work. Most people thought Izzy was nuts for getting up so early to work on school work but for Izzy it was something he liked to do. When he finished his work it was around 6:30am and he decided he needed to get ready. He put all his books in a neatly pile on his desk and then went to his dresser where he pulled out a pair of khaki pants and a white plain shirt, then went to his closet and grabbed a green plaid button down short sleeve shirt. He neatly put them on his bed then walked into the bathroom, though he didn’t open the door he just walked through it. He got in the shower and just let himself relax, the shower took about twenty minutes. He liked taking his time in the morning, he wasn’t one to rush things at all. After he got dressed and combed out his hair, ruffling it a bit so it wasn’t so neat looking. Seeing it was 7:00 am he knew he still had sometime before he went to find his friends. He pulled out his guitar and quietly strummed some music for awhile letting his mind wander in thought.

What really didn’t make him happy about the Noctrem students now staying at Arcana was one person, Isabella. He saw her that first day they started coming here and she gave him a straight talking to. It was the last thing she said to him and that was all he wanted to hear from his cousin. He disliked a lot of the Noctrem students because of their actions and just how they held themselves. He mostly stayed out of there way, though some of the girls from there flirted with him just to get to him which he hated a lot.

When his alarm went off at 7:15 he decided it was time to go find his friends. He grabbed his books and put them in his shoulder back pack then quickly put his timberland boots on and swung his bag over his shoulder. He walked through his door and looked down the hallway wondering where Colby, Elijah, Landon, or Ellie was. He walked slowly down the hallway and stopped at Colby’s door and knocked but no one answered so he kept walking this time stopping at Ellie’s. He knocked on the girls door “Ellie are you awake” he said quietly but loud enough for her to hear. Ellie was one of Izzy’s good friends and he always liked the girls company. He knew a lot of people didn’t like to be around Ellie that much because of her power but he really didn’t mind, though he tried not to think about the feelings he started feeling for Ellie lately, he really didn’t want to cause and tension between them and he wasn’t even sure how Ellie felt so he just kept it to himself for now. He stayed there patiently waiting to see if Ellie would answer.

---

Spencer heard his alarm clock go off, but he paid no attention to it. It was one of those annoying bell ones that nobody could stand, but somehow Spencer was able to keep sleeping. Although for every thirty seconds that passed, the ringing got louder and louder until even Spencer couldn't sleep. Then something happened that someone from the outside would see an unusual, but anyone that knew Spencer well enough saw as normal. He took out a dark gun, but it wasn't the usual kind. You could say that Spencer, "tricked it out". It was more futuristic, but it had the same function, being a dart gun. Although it was ten times stronger than a normal one. Spencer didn't even look up from his pillow and he took the shot. The dart flew across the and hit the alarm right at the eight hour mark. The clock flew backwards and broke. It was silent for a while and Spencer once again tried to sleep. Then the alarm clock moved around as if something was inside and at last it broke apart into two pieces, with another alarm clock inside. Although this one sported mechanical legs and started to run around the room for a few minutes until it reached Spencer's bed, and finally Spencer himself. Then it spouted a hammer and started banging Spencer on the arm. This forced him to wake up and as he tried to catch it, it just jumped away. Without missing a single ring, the "alarm clock" went into hiding in Spencer's already ready suitcase.

Spencer finally gave up on the thought of sleeping. I'll just sleep on the bus he thought. He got out of him bed, fully dressed in a green t-shirt with a gaping hole on the bottom of the shirt, a torn pair of jeans, and his signature lab coat. He went to the tiny motel bathroom. There was some green slime on the bathroom mirror after he tried to create a new type of toothpaste that cleaned teeth on its own. Sadly it was unsuccessful. Then he put on his glasses and tried to settle his unruly hair, tried. Meanwhile, his alarm clack was still ringing until Spencer went to his suitcase and dismantled it. Then he took a pen from the nearby desk and took out his notepad from his pocket and mumbled to himself, Note to self: Find a better way to wake up. Or just don't wake up at all.. Spencer sighed. He liked having a room to himself, even if it was just a normal three star motel room.

Finally he decided it was time for him to get at least another ten minutes of sleep on the bus. Sparky he called to his little robot assistant. A small robot no bigger than a teacup was carrying his two big suitcases. It put them underneath the bus, where all the luggage goes then the little robot just jumped into Spencer's lab coat pocket. As he entered the bus, he saw Cor and Erin sitting next to each other. Of course, what would anyone expect anything else from them. he thought to himself. He found himself an empty spot, and the best one on the bus too. That one seat behind the back door, the one that has its own window and great leg room. Yeah, that amazing spot. Finally he could sleep, but the bus was so noisy he couldn't and that kinda pissed him off. Right as he was about to finally fall asleep, they reached Arcana. Spencer sighed once more as he got of the bus. He released Sparky once more to carry his luggage as he just started walking toward the school, mumbling to himself and taking about fifty pills that he made against headaches. He slept way to little last night. Fifteen hours just doesn't cut it. From the corner of his eye he already saw three people smoking, of course. Cain was smoking way to many, Likely due to stress Spencer thought, Addi also, but Ben was just addicted. He couldn't even go an hour without smoking and everyone at Noctrem knew that. Spencer saw Ben a drag that no right person would able to take if they needed oxygen. He then decided that its none of his business and with that thought he forgot about them all together as he mind switch to other topics. Such as, who will he room with?

As he reached the entrance of Arcana, he saw a group of students all around a list. The roommate one. Many people had dissatisfied looks on their faces while others were just neutral. Spencer scanned the list and found his name, Room Twelve with Jackson Murphy he mumbled to himself. Spencer grimiced, he wanted a room to himself, so he could experiment freely without some stupid roommate complaining. Also Jackson was notorious for his parties. Not in my room Spencer thought. He looked around the room to see if he could find Jackson, scanning the faces quickly.

---

Ben yawned as he opened his eyes, he was beat. Last night he went to some club in the city and got completely wasted. He was surprised that he somehow got to his motel room in one piece. He glanced at the clock. It read 4:45, way to early for Ben's liking, but since he's awake why not go for a early morning stroll. As he sat in the motels garden, he took out a cigarette and lit it up with his lighter. It had an orange paw print on it with the name Lucifer, for his very own cat. Since Lucifer was with his sister since the fire, he kinda missed the orange fur-ball. He took a long drag.....and then blew it out. This was his stress reliever and he couldn't quit even if he wanted to. Ben just sat outside until the sun came out and even a bit after. Then he decided that he should get ready.

Turns out Ben was longer than expected outside. When he came back to his room he only had about ten minutes until the bus left. Shit! Ben yelled as he pretty much threw everything he owned in the ginormous bag that he owned. He hurried up to get dressed in jeans and a white and black striped t-shirt. I woke up early and yet still i'm late, I don't even have enough time to find Eri and play some last minute pranks on those motel workers. Ben and Eriol were torturing the motel workers for the past two months, over ten workers have quit.

Ben ran as fast as he could to the bus. Man, Cain's gonna kill me Ben said out loud to himself. He threw his bag under the bus in the compartment and quickly boarded the bus, with two minutes to spare. Ben let out a sigh of relief, but then he noticed he was wearing his slippers. Not any slippers. His Winnie the Pooh ones. Oh great Ben thought to himself. Its not like the Noctrem students have never seen them, but Arcana haven't. Although after a while Ben just didn't really care anymore because what was done is done. Ben saw Bells come in late. At least I'm not last he thought. After that, they started the bus and they were on their way to Arcana.

When they reached Arcana, Ben was one of the last people to leave the bus. Lets say he's not that excited about the new arrangement. He was far more happier being where he was in the motel, even though the food tasted like shit. He always went to the nearby liquor store and bought tons of munchies. There can never be too much food. Hey he was hungry even now, but first things first. Ben took out another cigarette and started to smoke again. Who knows if his new roomie will be a bitch about it, but truthfully if he was, Ben didn't care. Although Ben doubted someone from Noctrem would care since half of them smoke. He saw he wan't the only one smoking, even Drake took one from Addie.

Finally he finished and just threw the bud on the floor. Ben started to walk towards Arcana and saw everyone huddled around something and from all the commotion, Ben could tell it wasn't good. He read the list, he was in room eight with Elijah. Oh great Ben said out loud. Then he saw who was in the next room, Cor. Now this is going to be hilarious.

Sitting in the bus, Drake felt like he was about to burst and he had no idea why. Today, of all days he’d scurried off to sit by himself in the bus. He’d noticed a lot of the others; his sister and Erin for instance, probably both hung-over from drinking the alcohol most of them thought he didn’t know they’d snatched. Of course Cor knew he always kept tabs on his alcohol. Those were fucking expensive drops, and a lot of the chicks liked to mix it with soda. If you wanted to mix alcohol with soda, you should buy the cheap cat-piss and leave his 20-years whiskey alone. Of course he had trouble getting through to his sister who drank like there was no tomorrow. He doubted she even enjoyed the taste of it. Just, down it goes and yay, drunkness. He sank deeper into his seat, sighing at the softness. He didn’t really have reservations about stayed at Arcana, that was fine, really, except he felt like it meant they’d never have a Noctrem again. Probably not while he still studied, anyway. Then again, he had like half a year or something left and that was only because he’d chosen to stay longer. Ah, the joys of being 19.

As the bus pulled to a stop and the announcement rang out that they were there, followed to Cain making his own kind of ‘speech’, Drake smiled wryly. It was really more of an encouragement to wreak havoc on the school then a welcome. You had to love it. This was, at the very least, going to be entertaining. He couldn’t even imagine the shit that’d go down the first week. He smiled to himself, waiting until the worst throng of people had scurried out the vehicle until he hopped down the small stairs, landing on solid ground. Much better. Maybe his unease came from driving. He hated driving when he wasn’t behind the wheel himself. Which, yes, had made this last week hell for. Especially if he hadn’t had his coffee in the morning. He took his bag from the driver who was grumbling by now. Drake just grinned at him. “Hey, at least it’s the last time you have to drive these crazy fuckers.” And with that he made his way over to the Academy’s front doors, which was where he spotted Addie with her back to him. Perfect.

Drake quietly made his way over to the gorgeous brunette, silently putting down his bag to snake his arms around her. “Morning, gorgeous,” he whispered, chuckling. His lips were right by her ear, his warm breath on her skin. “Nervous?” He then added, his voice normal again as he straightened, still holding her, and snatched her cigarette to have a drag, letting the nicotine smooth out the last bits of unease from the drive. There, much better. He let the smoke slip out through his lips. “You drink my alcohol, I smoke you cigarettes.” He merely added as an explanation. Of course he would’ve snagged it anyway, but hey. He glanced inside the reception and raised an eyebrow when he saw his sister laughing. What the hell was so funny about roommates? He’d decided to wait until the worst of the crowd had had their look and then stalk in there like a boss, but now he found himself growing curious. He took another drag of Addie’s cigarette as he mulled it over. Should he give in to temptation or not. Nah… he was quite content here. Besides, he didn’t really give a shit who his roommate was going to be. Didn’t really pay it much mind. He’d see soon enough, anyways.

Working on Jade now.

Leo couldn't stop himself from smiling as the beautiful woman next to him rose up from underneath the duvet, baring her naked body to him without a care. "Good morning." He spoke, letting himself being pushed back down onto the bed, Amy leaning over the top of him. He couldn't say that he disliked the view in front of him, and for a brief moment, the male felt himself being taken back to the night before, where the woman had been practically in this position, her breasts bare and bouncing, the first time they had made love... He was however quickly brought back into the present, when the stunning woman spoke to him, asking him about sleep. "Not true. I slept a little last night, just... not as much as I probably should have." He smiled gently, bringing up his left hand to delicately brush away a strand of hair that was falling in front of her face. He had never been so happy before, never been in a position like this where he had cared about someone so much that he let them sleep next to him in his bed. Amy was the first woman that he had loved in two and a half thousand years, and he couldn't be happier about that fact.

He let his hand cup her cheek softly as she kissed him, smiling against her lips. Every little touch between them sparked electricity into the males hands, his lips, his heart. However, then, he watched her smile disappear, and he instantly knew that something was wrong. Something that she was going to tell him, and something that he was not going to like. Leo shifted slightly in the bed, raising himself up so that his head was resting against the headboard, her lips working on his jaw. He, however, didn't enjoy it as much as he should have. Instead, he was a little worried as to what Amy was going to say, and he could see that same feeling mimicked in her own eyes.

Yup, he didn't like what she had to say at all. The male closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath as she began to speak about their relationship again. She just didn't understand; she didn't get his need to abide by all rules, and especially his own. How would he look in front of Cain, in front of everyone, when they found out that he was breaking his own rules. Leo shook his head, moving out of his position from underneath her, exiting the bed. "Really Amy?" He asked her, an exasperated tone taking over his voice. "You want to do this right now? After an amazing night, and before one of the most stressful days of my life in millenniums? Really?" He took up his mobile phone from the side, angrily pressing in the buttons, his fingers missing the keys every now and again. He really wasn't the most techno-savvy person in the world, and it took him a moment to find the send button, sending his text back to Cain.

You sir, are a grammatically challenged braggard. Yes, I know about the mistake, and I don't like it any more than you do.

Leo put his phone down on the side, and moved over to the main telephone in his room, the one that if when he pressed in a number of buttons, he was able to speak over the tannoys around the school. [u]"All students, please note that there is an assembly being held at ten o'clock in the main hall. Non-attendance will result in an immediate detention, and a loss of free periods."[/s] Then, he slammed the phone back down into it's holder, turning back to face Amy. "Look, we've got to get ready. We'll talk about this later." He sighed, before making his way into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

---

[font=georgia]Erin had woken up with a bright smile on her face, unlike most of the other Noctrem students that morning. She was happy that they were leaving that god-damned motel, and moving into the Arcana Academy, a place they had been going to study for the past month or so anyway. She had no feelings about the "life long battle" or whatever that was supposed to be going on between the two academies, she didn't care about it at all. In fact, she had no qualms with any of the Arcana kids, minus ones that had offended her since her schooling life there had begun - she disliked more of the Noctrem students than those from Arcana. There was one thing on the girl's mind that morning, one thing that had the smile stuck on her face for all the world to see - and that was Keirol Rancora. The one boy who had ever wriggled his way into her heart, settling himself there for the rest of time.

As she stood there, looking into the mirror, the girl took in her appearance. The one thing that caught her eye however, was the glistening sword necklace around her neck - the one that Keirol had given her a few days prior. Her hand came up to aimlessly play with the pendant, turning it around in her fingers. The smile on her face was that of a girl in love, her eyes glazing over slightly as she went back in time to that moment on the hill. A sigh escaped her lips as she day-dreamed, still turning the locket over in her fingers. Then, a banging on her door broke her out of the trance, the girl snapping her head up quickly.

The quick movement had jolted Erin out of her daze, and into the reality of pain. Her head was throbbing as she walked towards the door, rubbing at her temple softly to try and rid herself of the drink-induced headache. Of course, Cor had been the one who had gotten her drunk, the one who had literally forced her to down her brother's bottle of vodka, despite the fact she despised the drink. She took in a few deep breaths before opening the door, before the whirlwind began. Cor had been there to shift her into gear, and within in the minute, the two girls were downstairs, shoving their bags into the bus and sitting down next to each other.

The bus journey to Arcana Academy had been another blur for Erin, letting her head loll softly on top of Cor's, slipping in and out of sleep. The headache was progressively getting worse, and somewhere deep down, she felt like slapping her best friend for forcing her to letting her drink so much. Soon, the bus was pulling to a stop, and the two girls were exiting, hand in hand, being one of the first to collect their bags. No-one really messed with Cor, and Erin was guilty due to association. She chuckled at the sarcasm in Cor's voice as they walked into the school, taking in a deep breath. She moved away from her blonde best friend, her eyes glancing over at the crowds of people beginning to swarm the reception. She was hoping to see Keirol, to pick him out of the crowd, but he didn't seem to be there. She spotted the speedy guy coming in to check the board, Colby, she believed his name was, and she witnessed the sickening sitaution between Drake and Addison. The girl physically grimaced as she looked upon the scene, before Cor's voice again hit her ears. Addi deserves so much better. She thought to herself, before turning around to see what had gotten her friend so het up.

There was a defnite reason, all right. As Erin's eyes scanned the list of roommates in front of her, her expression turned quizical, before turning angry. She wasn't "angry angry", but she was definitely irritated. "What the fuck?" She repeated Cor's words, her mouth hanging open slightly as she realized that the two schools had been mixed. "We're not rooming together? Well, this just turns everything on it's fucking head, doesn't it?" She sighed loudly. When she found her name, and saw that she was rooming with Loralei Evans, the gypsy girl, she shrugged. "I don't mind. It's better than say... rooming with darling little Lulu or sickly sweet Ashleigh." Erin forced a laugh, but it soon turned to a real one when she saw who Jay was rooming with. "Oh, c'mon, it's not that bad." She put her arm around her friend's shoulders, sarcasm lacing every word that escaped her lips. "Come on, they may even... become friends?" Then, the girl burst out laughing, turning to apologize to her friend "Oh, I'm sorry Cor. That's just... oh, that's going to make your life fun." She grinned.

"So," Erin spoke, the grin once again evident on her face, turning to face Cor, "what shall we do until this stupid assembly?"

---

Tears fell softly onto the bed as Jackson stood there, holding his precious baby daughter in his hands. She was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen, the one thing that shined so brightly in his life. Holly Millicent Murphy, a little girl with a head of soft brunette locks, and the most beautiful blue eyes in the entirety of the world, inherited from her mother. Jack slowly looked up, looking over at his girlfriend, smiling with largest smile ever at her. She looked so weak, so tired, but so beautiful. He moved over to sit next to her, holding Holly in one arm, and wrapping his other around Beth. The two of them looked down at the life they had created, their smiles never falling from their faces.

However, the scene soon changed. The room turned dark, and Jackson snapped his head up, the smile falling from his face, wondering what was going on. He wasn't in the hospital any more, he was in Beth's bedroom, still in that same position, his arm wrapped around Beth, however, Holly was in her arms this time. Tears were falling down his face, but he couldn't move his lips to ask her what was wrong. He knew something bad was going to happen, something terrible, but he just couldn't think as to what it could be. Then, his daughter stopped moving. She turned a horrible shade of grey, loosing all colour in her skin, but Jackson couldn't move. All he could hear was Beth screaming, tears falling down his own face landing on his daughter's pale face. They were then in a car, him holding Holly. She was cold, and she wasn't moving; all Jack wanted to do was to touch his daughter properly, to hold her close, hug her and kiss her, but he just couldn't move. He couldn't do anything as they arrived at the hospital, and Holly was taken out of his arms. The same word was then repeated over and over again, resounding in the male's ears.

Dead.

Dead.

Dead.

Dead!

Jack's eyes snapped open, and he flung up in his bed. His breath was hard and ragged, his heart pounding at a thousand miles an hour. He hadn't had a dream about Holly and Beth for a number of months, and it took him a moment to realize why his past was coming back to haunt him once again. Beth Phillips was now a student here, or had been for the past month - and he hadn't noticed. He had only wondered about her being a student at Arcana when he had heard her name floating around in the corridors. He couldn't believe that she was here, coming back into his life, in such a place as his school. It wasn't as if he didn't want her here... well, that might not be in the case. He didn't want his ex girlfriend, and the mother of his dead child here... but there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it, was there?

He spent a maximum of ten minutes in the shower, letting the warm water wash away all of the sweat and worries from his dream. It didn't take him long to get dressed or ready either, wearing this plain, yet smart outfit, smelling like his favourite cologne, his hair styled in his usual damp mess. He wasn't much of a conformer, but he had decided to go down to the reception hall anyways this morning, to look at the roommate list that had been posted up. Just after he had left his room, he received a text. Pulling out his iPhone, Jack checked his messages, smiling as he saw Lulu's name appearing. The male made his way down to the reception hall, instantly spotting the blonde that had been his best friend through the hardest times in his life.

Instead of going to check his new roommate, he made a beeline for Lulu, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, a bright smile on his face as he pressed his lips to her hair, a soft, friendly peck. "I'm here." He grinned, moving so that he was now standing in front of her, pulling her into a proper hug this time[u]. "It's great to see you again, Lu."

When Erin made a comment about the rooms being mixed, Cor smiled wryly, “damn right it does,” she noted, shaking her head. She raised an eyebrow when Erin merely shrugged at rooming with Lora. “Fuck that,” she said, rolling her eyes, “she’s a little Marinos-puppet and you know it.” In truth, maybe she hated Lora primarily because she’d spotted Jay’s clone practically following her around at times, and she didn’t like how his attention was wandering so much. It wasn’t just gypsy girl, it was others too. Even Addie, Jade and Bells. Her friends. And she’d damn well noted some looks back. It bothered her more than anything, but as long as it was no more than looking, she could deal. Sort of. What she couldn’t take, was his relationship with Freya. Friends? Fine. Kissing? Not so fine, and then he had the nerve to ask her to fucking trust him. She hadn’t had a chance to talk it over with him much yesterday, because he’d distracted her with sex… a lot. She’d skipped English as usual and met up with Jay, but this time it had been more than a quick fuck somewhere.

This time she’d finally been in his room. He’d told her how much he loved her, how much he wanted her. Told her she was the only one he wanted an he’d made love to her in a bed for the first time in over two years. Then they’d left the grounds for lunch and, well… the day had passed with just the two of them, wrapped up in each other. He still wanted her to drop her fuck-buddies, but she wasn’t giving him anything serious until she knew she could trust him. Back at Arcana, Jay had only had eyes for her. He’d never even looking at others with want like he did now. Now, however, he was still with his girlfriend while fucking Cor and flirting with others. ”What can I do to prove that you can trust me, Cor?” he’d asked as she was on his lap yesterday, but she hadn’t answered him. Today she was cursing herself, thinking she should have told him to prove that he could be with her alone. No sideways glances. She knew he wasn’t the Jay she’d dated, but she hated that this particular side of him had changed because she still loved him.

She shook out of her metaphorically Jay-induced coma when she saw who he was rooming with and made a comment. It was just too hilarious. Bells chose that moment to stop by and Cor grinned at her, “oh, you know… rooms.” She said in reply to her friend’s words. Then turned to look at Erin again. Her comments made Cor laugh and she shook her head, “sure, and then the moon fell from the sky and they lived happily ever after,” she finished the ‘story’ her friend was weaving. She smiled wryly shaking her head when Erin apologized. “Oh, fuck this. They’re going to kill each other.” That when Sky’s comment reached and she whirled around with a mischievous smile on her lips. “Have a look,” she told him, still laughing, and she only laughed harder at his reaction, Spanish mixing with his words. “Oh, baby, it’s not that bad. Erin was just telling me how you two might bond over this.” At the comment, she only laughed harder. Sky added a “whatever” and walked away. She called out, “don’t forget to give him a big hug, love!” She smirked.

Then Leo’s voice rang out over speakers, and Cor rolled her eyes. As if you’re going to do anything if I don’t show, you fucking pussy, she thought to herself, smirking visibly. Pussy, oh, wasn’t that ironic. She blinked a couple of times when Erin spoke, then shrugged, grinning. “You know, I think we need a guide. I don’t want to carry these suitcases around all day, and I don’t suppose Kei’s up as he’s not getting a roommate, sooo… walk with me? I’ll just bet you Jay the Jerk isn’t up yet either, but he’s going to be. On that note, I have a shitload of info for you.” She said as she began walking, knowing that Erin would tag along. “Remember how I texted you that I wasn’t riding the bus with you guys? And I wasn’t home until 8:30 pm and all? Well, I was with him.” She couldn’t keep the happiness out of her voice. Jay made her heart beat faster. He was the only guy who had and would ever have power over her.

Cor headed for the second floor, riding the elevator with Erin, “it was a fucking weird day, if you ask me,” she said, shaking her head at the memories, “mostly because it wasn’t just sex.” She glanced at her friend, smiling wryly, “yeah, I know… it’s pretty crazy.” She laughed a little. She and Jay had been strictly “fuck and leave” until yesterday, and she hadn’t had a chance to be alone with Erin really until now so she hadn’t relayed any of the new information. “He’s such a fucking asshole, and I don’t trust him for shit… but he’s still got me.” She turned her eyes skyward. “And I have no clue in hell how I feel about it.” With that, the ping of the elevator signaled that they could exit on the second floor, so Cor hurried out, looking around her. These halls would be swarming with people in a little bit and she didn’t want to risk anyone hearing her talk about having feelings for a guy. Jay was a weakness.

Soon, they reached the door Cor knew belonged to Jay (at least she’d found that out yesterday), and she knocked, pondering if she should just barge in there, but she didn’t really want Erin possibly seeing Jay naked, which was so fucking ridiculous. “Baby?” She called merely, knowing he’d recognize her voice.

---

Drake turned his head when someone bumped into him, smiling when he noticed Lulu. However, the smile turned into a slight frown as she scurried off without a word in his direction. It was so weird. Ever since Noctrem had burned down, he and Lulu had been sliding further and further apart, like something was causing a distance now that they were no longer able to have their nightly talks. He missed them a little, honestly. He missed Lulu’s company when he couldn’t sleep in the night. The way she’d poke her head out and tell him to go back to his room with a glass of milk. Really, it had become more of a greeting than a wish on her part after a little while; after he’d refused enough times. Of course, he couldn’t just refuse either, so he’d begun asking her to join him, and she had. The evening ritual had gone on for whoever knew how long before Noctrem burned. Now he was more or less alone in the night. He didn’t much mind solitary, really, but he’d rather have her company than not.

Thinking about it, maybe she was avoiding him because of the girls; his sister mostly, probably. Cor was a force to be reckoned with; Drake knew that better than anyone, and if accompanied by her bitch squad, as he liked to call them – in his mind, she was even worse. Back-up was not something one should issue to psychopaths. Not much long after, he heard a ”shit” from behind and glanced over to see Kali. He grinned but she too was running off before he got a chance to say anything. He was starting to feel like he smelled or something, what with everyone fleeing his presence. Geez. Or maybe it was just sort of amusing. Okay, it was very amusing. Mostly because he knew why. How could he take it personally? Everyone knew he was great, and he was positive he’d used cologne this morning, anyway. He was drawn back into reality when Addie shook her head and he grinned. “Of course you are,” he said. “You’d be in there looking at roommates if you didn’t have to calm your nerves with a smoke.” He teased. Of course he couldn’t be sure, but he thought Addie might’ve misunderstood his question. Oh well.

When Addie commented on him smoking, Drake laughed. “My ‘mama’ practically tossed them at me. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she wanted me to die sooner.” Of course no one at the Academy actually knew how strained his relationship with his parents was, but he’d never felt the need to tell them either, so it wasn’t public knowledge. He knew Cor wasn’t going to tell people. Not because she respected his right to tell that stuff himself. Oh no, Cor just liked it better when people considered him more of a mystery. At least he thought that was why. What the hell did he know? His sister was a fucking mess. Image was one thing, among many, he’d never really cared about, as oppose to his blonde baby sis. His eyes took a round of the area he was in and spotted Erin looking at him and Addie, making a face. He chuckled, winking at her. It was completely ridiculous, really. She fucked him more often than most of the girls he had ‘intimate relations’ with, yet she didn’t think he was good enough for any of her friends. Good thing he wasn’t really interested in dating any of them. He just liked sex, and flirting. But most of all he liked the company of women. What was so wrong about that? He didn’t need to have sex with them to like talking to them, or just looking at them, really.

Drake let go of Addie when he felt her wiggling out of his embrace, shot her a wry smile in reply to her ‘goodbye’, and watched her ass as she walked inside. He wasn’t a pervert as such. He just recognized good craftsmanship, really, and her parents had done wonderfully, he had to admit. Kudos to them. Then he smiled to himself and picked up his big duffel bag, mulling over his options now. He could go check out the list of roommates, annoy his sister a little and maybe find something (or someone) interesting to do, but eh… he wasn’t much in the mood. He did want to lose the bag though, so he supposed he’d have to go inside sooner or later. His eyes ran over the people already there. Maybe he could locate Lulu and get her alone. He was sick of his sister scaring people off. Or maybe just sick of her scaring Lulu specifically away. Of course Lulu only had herself to blame for Cor’s open hostility towards her, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t hang out? Since when did Cor have anything to say about the people he associated with? In reality, he liked being around people she didn’t like, just to tic her off.

Then again, he didn’t want to get Lulu into more trouble. Very few people were as targeted by Cor as Lulu. Actually, he was fairly certain Lulu was the only girl hated by every single one of Cor’s bitches. That was a first, and he couldn’t help being a little impressed with her. Not a lot of girls had the guts to. He shook his head, scratching the back of his neck. Why did he even give a shit? That’s when he spotted Lora and noted that his sister and Erin had skipped off to wherever. Destination decided. Drake made his way inside, easily slipping through the crowd despite his size and his bag. He paused by the list of rooms and raised an eyebrow. Noctrem/Arcana rooming? His face lit into an amused, mischievous grin, his mood improving immediately. Well this changed the game entirely – and made it all the more entertaining. He chuckled to himself when he saw that he’d be living with Colby, but the laugh died down when he noticed they’d used his full name. Seriously? He was pretty sure he hadn’t told anyone at Arcana his full name. Ah, bugger. He hated his name. Shaking off the slight irritation, Drake moved through the next line of people and headed for Lora.

He made his way over just as Leo’s announcement rang out – which he more or less ignored – , and wrapped her in a tight hug, grinning down at her. “Did you grow taller since yesterday?” He teased her. It had become a joke since she’d grown so much since he’d last befriended her in Harrogate, a couple of months before his going to Noctrem, and since they’d started going to school at Arcana, they’d more or less re-established that friendship. With a fuck-load of attraction on top of it. For once, however, Drake was fighting his womanizing tendencies. Lora was one girl who was going to stay just a friend. He’d decided that much. No fucking this up. Excuse the pun.

* Amy will be added in a bit. =D

To say that she wasAn arm was thrown across her shoulder and Addi smirks when she hears her best friend's -- Jade-- voice.

"Hey there sexy... We ready to raise a little hell?"

Addi lets out a bark of a laugh, "Hey baby," She winks, wrapping her free arm around Jade's waist and she takes a long drag of her cigarette, offering it to Jade, as she exhales slowly, "And a little!? Shit, it will be raining fire soon, Hell won't even begin to cover what we're doing this goddamn school."

Addi liked Jade, she could joke around and have fun with her. They had become good friends ever since they both made it onto campus. Jade and Addison were like a package deal for the most part, you could always bet one was close to the other. Cain learned to live with that after a bit, if Addi got sent to the office, Jade would come too. And vise versa. They practically were conjoined by the hip. For the most part. Though, they never roomed together, they would probably kill each other if they did that. For as much as Addison loved Jade, sometimes best friends needed to be smacked around a bit too.

"Wasn't it your idea to drink our weight's worth in alcohol last night? If so, I'm shunning you."

Addi turned her, blinking, giving the epitome of an innocent face, lips pursed into a perfect, soft 'O' and eyes blinking, "What? Me, drink? Jade, how could you think I would do such a thing? Alcohol kills your liver, sweetie and intervenes with thinking clearly."

Her innocent face fades and smirks a bit. Of course, it was Cor's idea to steal Drake's booze and drink the shit out of themselves. Addi just kind of agreed and went along with it. Luckily, Addison didn't get hangovers like she used to, she'd learned to cope, by drinking more in the morning. It normally made her feel better. You could say Addison was relevant to a functioning addict. She could down a bottle of vodka and still be able to have a decent head on her shoulders, even if black out drunk.

"So...should we head in through the gates of hell now? Or...wait it out and push off our impending, completely undeserved punishment until later?"

A devilish smirk flashes across Addi's face and she places a bag of weed in Jade's hand, "I was thinking of jammin' on a Jerry before we head to the assembly. Take a walk, smoke a J, come back for the assembly blazed up... Make things a bit more interesting... Hmm?" She raises an eyebrow towards Jade with a smirk. Jade was her smoking buddy for the most part, and they always had the best weed in the school. Sometimes even Cain would take some for himself.

Which was funny, in a way, the guy was a teenager wearing his forties badly. Addison smirks, flicking the ashes of her cigarette and giving Jade's waist a bit of a squeeze.

"Should we go find the girls?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

Jaysin Dennis & Killian Jackson

The night before was turning into the biggest blur since Jay had been at Arcana due to Killian throwing him a little party before the Noctrem kids invaded their space. "You've got the be fucking kidding me!" Jay rolled over to find himself in the bathtub of Killian's bathroom, not remembering how much he had drank the night before. "Killian! Get the fuck up! We're late!" By the time the clock was showing, Noctrem had already arrived at the school. "Fucking fuck. Shit, fuck." He said when he stepped out of the bathtub, revealing his drenched attire. He looked in the mirror to see marker all over his face with the word 'Pussy' written across his forehead. 'Oh, I'm going to kill him.' The thought was matched with two clones appearing by Jay's side as he walked into Killian's room to beat the shit out of him.

--------------------------------------------

Before he could wake from the shouts coming from his bathroom, Killian woke to the feeling of fist in his back and hands pulling him to the floor. "What.The. Fuck!" His eyes opened to see three Jays standing above him, causing the pain. That's when he read the word across his face and busted out laughing as he released his arms to wrap and trap Jaysin. "Fucking pussy!" He said as he shoved the three Jay's across the room getting up to explain himself. "That was drunk Killian my friend!" He shook his head until he felt the headache coming on. "Go ahead and head to your room. I need a quick shower and some new clothes. I'll be there in like ten minutes." He hoped Jay wouldn't want to have another counter-attack, so he was cautious when he made his way to the drawers beside Jay to get some underwear and under shirt.

Instead his friend headed to the door with the most pissed off look on his face, slamming the door behind him. Killian hopped into the shower to the coldest water he could handle, so he could wash away the alcohol that was still swimming around his head causing the worst pain since he'd started drinking. Shutting the shower off after a quick scrub down, Killian wrapped his towel around his waist to make his way into his bedroom. He grabbed the most clean cut outfit he could find to look his best for the new Noctrem girls that would be in the halls any minutes now. He smirked with his completed look, grabbing his book bag and headed to Jay's room.

--------------------------------------------

Jay had stormed out pissed because he would have to scrub the shit out his forehead to hide the letters that "Drunk Killian" wrote across it. He ignored the new faces that were already making their way to their new rooms. He didn't even want to imagine who was in his room, but hoped that they would just end up pushing all the Arcana students together and leaving the Noctrems to themselves. As soon as he touched the doorknob, Jay felt his phone vibrate seeing the text from Freya run across the screen. He smiled at the idea of a present from her, and quickly replied back,

Pretty, pretty Freya. I have missed you more than you know. I'm in room sixteen if you'd like to come by now. I'm hoping in the shower, but my door will be unlocked.

He pressed send, finally making it into his room seeing the newly placed bed that would soon be filled with somebody he could stand. He stripped quickly, jumping in the shower to enjoy his last bit of privacy before it was taken away. He didn't mind the extra person in his room, but it had to at least be somebody he could stand. He couldn't imagine living with somebody that had fucked or was still fucking Cor. He caught himself daydreaming for too long when he heard a voice from outside his room. "Fuck.. Be right there!" He yelled the last bit so whoever was at the door could hear. He still needed to dress and brush his teeth, so he was lucky enough he had the outfit hanging in the bathroom with him. He would need to hurry.

--------------------------------------------

Finally making his way to Jay's room, Killian spotted two girls already hovering outside of it. "You've got to be fucking me." He approached the girls until he noticed that one of them was Cor, who he had seen pictures of. He pushed in front of the girls to put a space between them and the door. "Hello Cor.. And?" He said as he looked over to the girl that he couldn't place. [i]"Obviously a Noctrem.. Nothing against that. It's just I don't know you, and you're outside Jay's room.. So.." He kicked against the door until he heard another yell. "Must be in the shower! Please enter!" He said as he turned the knob, hoping it was unlocked. It was very unlike Jay to ever lock his door, so this time proved beneficial for the smoothness Killian was trying to accomplish.

Walking into Jay's room, he noticed the bathroom door was closed, so he smirked at the opportunity at hand. "So Cor.. How does it feel to be back with Jay? He tells me you are both going steady again." He knew Jay would kill him for his remark, but he couldn't resist.

--------------------------------------------

"Ignore the bastard." Jay said as he walked out of the bathroom, seeing Cor and Erin standing near the door. "Hey sweetheart." He said as he kissed Cor in front of Erin and Killian not caring what the two thought. "Sorry, I wanted to be down there as soon as I could, but.. Late night." He said as he rubbed his forehead, hoping the word had disappeared enough not to be noticed. [b]"So are they sticking Arcana together? If so, whose my roommate?"[/i] He shot Killian a look as he asked the question, who was appearing to check Erin out.

Cor smirked when Jay called out from his room. He was probably in the shower, the idiot. She glanced at Erin and was just about to say something when she caught sight of a guy heading their way, looking at them like they were somewhere they weren’t supposed to be. She recognized him as someone Jay hung around with a lot, but she couldn’t remember ever being told his name. So when he greeted her with hers, she raised both eyebrows, looking him over thoughtfully. He was a handsome one – actually, he was hot as hell. It seemed she wasn’t the only one who had a knack for making hot friends. She gestured towards her best friend. “That’s Erin. Who the hell are you?” Her voice held a harsh edge. She didn’t like it when people knew her without her knowing them. There was something creepy about it, and she honestly couldn’t say she was a fan. She felt like he was holding the cards and she despised it, especially as he then invited them into Jay’s room. Who the fuck was this guy?

She moved to lean against the doorframe casually, watching the guy with an assessing, cold look in her eyes. It was pretty much how she regarded any new person she met, and probably why she had so few friends. Or maybe that was because she disliked more people than she liked, but hey, now that she thought of it, maybe it was because she was such a bitch to people. Hm, yeah, the latter was probably the major reason here, and she couldn’t honestly say that she gave much of a shit. If they couldn’t handle the flames, they simply shouldn’t start the fire. Or… wait, was that not more appropriate for Sky? Probably. She mulled it over. Why hadn’t she ever thought of this before? One could say that Cor’s thoughts weren’t really on Killian, even though her eyes looked like she was staring him down intently. She didn’t really care. As long as he wasn’t going to get in the way, he could do whatever the hell he wanted.

When he commented on her and Jay, however, Cor was brought back down to earth and she frowned, narrowing her eyes at the guy in front of her. “Does he now?” she said thoughtfully and a bit coldly, obviously not taking it in a very positive fashion. Apparently he was closer to Jay than she’d thought which merely made her wonder why she hadn’t been introduced to him yet. Obviously it was also bullshit. The only one Jay was going steady with was his girlfriend, Kate, and though Cor hated that fact, she dealt with it… for the time being. She was starting to feel herself giving in, though, because letting go and opening herself up to Jay completely would maybe result in his eyes staying on her. The way he looked everywhere else was worrying her. She knew she held his heart, just like he held hers, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t fuck around like she did. He’d told her he was doing it to make her jealous, but could she really trust that? She didn’t feel like she could trust him, and she’d told him that. Everything was just such a fucking mess.

Her eyes soon fell on Jay exiting his bathroom, fortunately dressed, as he told her to ignore Killian. She smirked at him. “’The Bastard’”, she began, “isn’t easy to ignore when he talks about things he shouldn’t know shit about.” She raised an eyebrow at him, but grinned when he greeted her with a kiss. The proximity made it possible for her to make out what was written on his forehead, and she couldn’t help laughing, “morning, ‘pussy’,” she teased him, letting her fingers dance over the word. “Hey, I’m glad you didn’t come down,” she then added, a naughty glint in her eyes, “gave me an excuse to come up here instead.” With that she snaked her arms around his neck. Hey, if he was going to kiss her in front of the others, she sure as hell wasn’t going to hide anything either. She started laughing again when he asked about roommates, “oh, love, you are not going to be happy.” She told him, still laughing a little as she spoke. She then cast him a mischievous smirk after calming down a little. “They’re mixing us. Arcanas with Noctrems. I’m with Lauryn, Erin’s with Loralei, and you…”

She paused, pursing her lips in thought as she looked up at him. She couldn’t help it. Drawing it out made it so much better, “you are going to need to reign in your temper in a second...” She leaned up to let her mouth dance over his neck and ear, nibbling and placing tiny kisses to get him in a good mood before she whispered in his ear, amusement in her voice, “you get to room with Sky.”

---

Drake laughed at Lora’s comment about him shrinking and shook his head at her. “Maybe we should start measuring height every day, just to be sure and all.” He countered playfully, “I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t start shrinking just yet.” He chuckled, pulling her closer. He couldn’t help it; she felt good in his arms and her body was a perfect fit for his. So, he liked his girls petite, was there anything wrong with that? He just wanted to whisk her away and do naughty things to her. The thing was, Drake could see the thoughts mirrored in her eyes, which made it even harder to resist. But… he had to. He’d promised himself that nothing of the sort would go down between them, so nothing would, and that was that. Besides… Erin did have a point, he was no good for any girl. Of course, if you wanted pleasure in the bedroom, he’d never had any complaints, but if things went beyond that, he was probably the coldest bastard you’d ever meet. He didn’t turn the girls who fell for him down. He played with them, and he didn’t give two fucks. They were entertainment to him, and nothing more. Sure, they didn’t know that, but whatever.

"So what room are you in? I'm in nine. Rooming with...Erin Hawthorne? I think that’s her name. I only just glanced at the list. The crowd was sort of suffocating me." Lora then said, and Drake grinned down at her. “Erin?” he chuckled, “that’s Cor’s best friend, so you’re probably going to have to get used to her presence soon.” Then, thinking a little, Drake’s smile grew, “she’s cool, though you probably shouldn’t piss her off. She’s a bit of a wild one.” Then he finally let go of her – mostly because he wanted to do so much more to her body than hug it, and he wasn’t going to, so letting go was the best option. “I’m with the speedster in room 2.” He then told her, his voice more or less indifferent. He didn’t really care. Colby was an alright guy. A little too out there sometimes, but hey, he was sure the guy wasn’t as bad as some of the others and the sexuality bit didn’t bother him either. He’d grown pretty used to that stuff after rooming with Theo’s ex Scott. He’d known about their relationship pretty much from the get-go. It was hard hiding things from your roommate. Especially if your roommate was as perceptive as Drake.

At her next words, Drake looked her over, smiling wryly before glancing at the clock on the wall. “Well, you could always show me where room 2 is,” he told her, smiling down at her before picking his huge duffel bag up from where he’d dropped it to hug Lora, “I’m getting sick of carrying this monster around,” added as an explanation, referring to his bag. “Then we can always sneak off,” he said with a playful glint in his eyes, “we still have a couple of hours until the assembly starts. I guess we’ll have to go to that. I’m not too keen on getting more detentions right now.” He flashed her a crooked grin. “I think I’ve had plenty lately.” He began walking towards the stairs, knowing that Lora would keep up, “if I didn’t know better, I’d say our headmaster doesn’t like me.” Then he chuckled. He was perfectly aware that Leonardo Marinos was far from his biggest fan. Probably because Drake spent a lot of time trying to get inside the guy’s head. He was making progress if he said so himself, especially since he’d noticed a change in the guy about a week ago. The same kind of change he’d noticed in the school nurse. And Drake, well… he didn’t believe in coincidences.

He was alone in a massive steel fortress, the clouds dark and stormy as he surveyed the world around him. The entire landscape was bleak and desolate, fires raged around the fortress as demons of rage, lust, envy, and greed; as well as spirits of valor, justice, tolerance, truth...they all beat at the steel walls, trying to claw their way in. Vincent knew exactly where he was too, this was his mind, and he stood upon the battlements of the fortress that protected it. At times, the young man hated his power, because he didn't know true rest like others did. His mind was always active, always alert to the emotions and dreams of others, that attempted to invade his mind, seeking to drive him to the point of raving. He just glared balefully at all the emotions at his walls before forcing himself to wake up.

As the man rose from his dreaming, Vincent merely looked out the window and sighed to himself. He knew that today was the day that the Noctrem students would be coming to live with the Arcana students, and tensions would be running wild along with the emotions that went with it. So, he got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Stepping into the hot water, he sighed outloud this time as he felt the raging emotions through the school. He felt them battering at his walls, trying to get in, but with a simple pulse of his power, they were driven back into silence once again. As he rinsed off, the young man stumbled and fell as he felt rage and anger so powerfully close to him. He knew those emotions...they belonged to Amy and Leo. I wonder what happened between them...or was there relationship issues? Vincent mused to himself before stepping out and hurridly drying off and changing into his usual gray suit with a red tie.

After moving from his bedroom, the young man grabbed some bagels and jam from his kitchenette before walking out his door and locking it. The empath was hit with a new wave of emotions as he noticed the Noctrem students already within the grounds, and probably seeing the room assignments. Vincent shuddered before collecting himself and moving on, forcing his way deeper into the emotional maelstrom. Eating as he walked, the man stopped in front of Leo's room before knocking loudly. "Leo? Are you in there?"



After walking back in through his window, the young man surveyed his single room before grinning to himself and stretching. Oh, how Keirol just loved to excercise in the training grounds. He suspected that he'd need to repair the place after accidently blowing part of the wall apart with a punch. "Oh well, the Old Man will tell me to do it later anyway." Shrugging to himself the young man quickly stripped off his clothing and walked into the shower to get the sweat and grim off of his body.

As he stood there, feeling the water run off his body, the young man merely smiled slightly to himself as he thought back on the month he'd spent before today, with the Noctrem blonde that encompassed his thoughts. As he got lost in thought, he couldn't help but think back to the day where he offically obtained a girlfriend, where Erin Hawthorne and he became a couple. That evening on the hillside was one of his most cherished memories, and he couldn't wait to meet her again. "Wait...isn't today the day where the Noctrem students come to live with us?" He asked himself aloud before grinning and hurridly drying off before throwing on a pair of jeans with sneakers and a button-up shirt and leaving his room. Using his key to enter the teacher's living quarters, he blinked at Mr. Steele at Leo's door before snagging one of his bagels and yelling inside the room. "Hey Old Man! Up and at it! We got work to do today!" Nodding to Vincent the young man left the teacher's section once more.

As he walked the halls, Keirol noticed the students milling about aimlessly, but he couldn't really care less. His attention was on trying to find two blondes. Once he walked further down the hallways, he found the two outside Jay's door. I wonder what they're doing here. He simply mused before leaning on the wall and looking into the room. "Erin, Cor. Good to see you two." He stated conversationally giving them both a smile. He knew what Cor thought of him, being an Arcana student and essentially Leo's son, but he actually liked hanging around her. The bitchy blonde had a way of spicing up life. He then winked at Erin and faced her completely. "How was your trip over?" He just looked at Jay and nodded to him in hello but he shot Killian a small glare.

Margaret Wright

Margaret watched in quiet amusement as more and more students began to fill up the reception area. This was going to be more fun than she imagined, judging by the... intense student feedback. Although most of the chatter was incomprehensible, she did hear the louder outbursts quite well.

“Who the fuck is Drakethrean?” Came the unmistakable voice of one Colby Haskins. “What is this bullshit?” “Well, this just turns everything on its fucking head, doesn’t it?” Went along with the symphony, along with some angry Spanish ramblings.

The teacher knew things were going to have a rough start. That much was clear from the beginning. But... perhaps this could be just what this school needs... She still hadn’t revealed her plans to anyone. They were more like speculation, half formed theories of ’What Ifs’ that just might have been given a foundation. If she was to tell someone, it would probably be Cain, since he was the only one who would probably see eye to eye with her in the first place. She caught a glimpse of him walking through the cafeteria. He seemed in a surprisingly good mood. Margaret frowned. What could he have done to Mr. Marinos so early on in the day?
Leo’s voice suddenly filled the room, announcing the assembly at 10 o’ clock. The man didn’t sound too pleased. It was obvious that he wasn’t happy with mixing up the students, and Margaret was curious as to why he decided to do it in the first place. He might just have a looser grip on this school than the teacher imagined. If she was headmistress, such an error wouldn’t possibly be overlooked. Or maybe he was just distracted... Margaret had her suspicions of what was going on with him and a certain teacher. Margaret could know in an instant, just asking the question, seeing the response, even if it wasn’t verbal. But she didn’t. She needed Leo’s trust, and she wanted to show him that she did have some moral guidelines, as forced as they were.

Margaret checked her watch, noticing she did have some time to spare before having to head down to the Main Hall. Not in the mood to stand in a cafeteria of racous teens, she was about to head to her own room, which she had the opportunity to look over previously, when a familiar voice caused her to turn her head.

“Mr. Marinos really doesn’t know what the hell he just started with bunking us with the fucking goody students...” Margaret heard Bells say. Her lip twitched up a bit, amused. Bells was an... interesting girl. Margaret had somehow gotten to the point where she considered the girl her friend. “So, how is Ms. Wright and what are your thoughts on this?” The girl continued, “I know for sure I am going to have some fun messing with the angels, especially the ones that cower, including my cousin.”

Margaret had a small smile on her lips as she began to reply, “I imagine most of us are thinking the exact same thing.” She hoped Bells didn’t miss the fact that she said ‘us’. It was obvious that she meant the people coming from Noctrem. “If everything goes the way I think they will, things will turn out for the best. For their sake, I hope they accept the fact that things are going to be quite different around here from now on. Oh, and I’m assuming you’ll be passing up this charming assembly?” She asked, eyebrows raised mockinigly as she looked Bells in the eye.

Ellie sat quietly in the corner of her bedroom, rubbing gently at her temples. She had become attuned to the voices of the Noctrem students and the Arcana ones individually, and with all of them in one small school, it was beginning to take a toll on her brain. Her head was hurting, unable to ignore some of the louder thoughts coming from downstairs; the protests of Corentine Quellen, Colby Haskin's excitement, the slight fear in Sky Byrnes. She wished that there was some way to stop the voices from entering her head against her will, but there really was no way to do it; she had tried many different ways, and researched for months, but to no prevail. She was just stuck in a vicious cycle of pain, and knowing every body's business. Rubbing her temples was one calming way that she had found oddly soothed the pain, however, that was it. That was all there was that she could do. "Stupid power." She grumbled to herself, her eyes closed as she concentrated on peace.

However, peace was not what she found. A few seconds later, there was a knocking on her door, and the girl's head was snapping up, a smile on her face. She didn't even have to hear the voice of the person outside to know who it was - she could hear his thoughts well enough. Izaiah Dorson was one of the people who's voices she could pick out of a crowd, an extremely difficult feat for a mind-reader. She slowly got up from her corner, her eyes opening as she moved. Izzy was one of her best friends, one of the only people in the entire school who wasn't afraid of her power, and didn't mind being around her despite of it. It was nice, not being treated like a freak and a leper for once, and it honestly made her smile. Izzy was such a lovely guy, and there were butterflies in her stomach as she moved towards the door, opening it with a bright smile on her face, one only for him.

"Good morning, sunshine." She smiled, leaning head throbbing head against the door frame, hiding her pain as she usually did. "How are you today?"

---

They had survived it; their first proper argument. Leo couldn't stop himself from smiling as he felt Amy relax a little into his arms after he had pulled her into his loving embrace, literally feeling the tension leave her body. He felt that something was wrong with her, by the way that she was taking in longer breaths than usual, and the strange way that her body was moving, but he just put it down to the fact that they had just finished arguing. It had to take a few minutes for the anger and the hurt to properly die down at least, and that's what he believed her to be doing. With a smile still on his face, the immortal male held her close to his body, never wanting to let her go. "I'm sorry." He whispered again as he pressed his lips into her hair, taking in the beautiful scent of his Amy.

However, the moment was soon taken away from him as Amy quickly pulled away, after his little joke. "Wha--" he began asking her what he had done to upset her or something, his eyes changing from calm and serene to worried and a little frightened. But, she hadn't just moved away from him. No, the woman that he loved had dashed over to the toilet seat, and she had began to throw up the contents of the wonderful dinner that she had cooked last night, despite how little of it the two of them had actually eaten. Leo moved over to her and pulled her head back gently, brushing it around her ears, moving it off of her face. The man held her brunette locks back with one hand, the other he used to gently rub her back. He had always found that helped when being ill, the soothing motion of a hand rubbing your back, and so, he was trying to pass that on to his beloved.

His eyes were filled with worry, his body tense as he looked down at her. She hadn't been ill the day before - she had been perfectly fine. He had no idea what could have caused this - it definitely wouldn't have been food poisoning, as he had eaten the exact same thing and felt fine. Once Amy had stopped throwing up, the male quickly moved from his position, grabbing his water glass from the bathroom side, filling it up with fresh, cool water. "Here you are, baby." He spoke softly, soothingly, holding it out to her for her to take.

The male then heard a knock at the door, so he put the glass down next to Amy, popping his head around the bathroom door. Vince's voice floated through to his ears after a short burst from Keirol, causing the male to grown inwardly. He called out through the doors, obviously not wanted to leave Amy alone in this state, and... well, his manhood was only being covered by a towel. "Vince, kinda' busy right now. Can it wait?" He then moved his head back inside the bathroom, smiling at Amy. "Sorry baby."

---

Erin didn't pay much attention as Cor dragged her up to Jay's room, her eyes still scanning the crowds of people, looking for her beloved Keirol. She pouted ever so softly when she couldn't see him, ignoring the stupid wink that Drake had shot her way, before following Cor up to the elevator shaft. However, soon, she was listening to her best friend speak, nodding along to what she was saying. "Yeah, I can't see him around. Jay's probably the next best idea." She smiled softly, dragging her suitcase behind her, pulling it by the handle along the linoleum floor. Her heels clicked as she walked, mimicking the noise of Cor's, echoing around the halls of the school.

"It wasn't just sex? My god, Cor, you're going soft!" Erin nudged her best friend, a playful smile on her face as the two of them made their way towards Jay's room. The room that he was going to have to share with Sky. Oh, that was going to be hilarious. Erin thought that there was probably going to be a lot of late night noise coming from that room, from Cor, from Jay and from Sky. The girl inwardly shook her head, thinking of how she was mostly going to be spending her nights. She wouldn't be in the room with Loralei, the gypsy girl for much of the time that they were here. Oh no, she was going to be sleeping in the arms of her beau, of her Keirol. A stupid smile came onto the girl's face as she walked, thinking about her boyfriend. Her free hand came up to gently touch the pendant moving around her neck, before bumping into someone. "Shit." She muttered as she bumped into Cor, who had stopped in front of Jay's room.

The blonde hadn't realized that the door had been opened, that Killian person standing there. She let her hand move once in a short wave as Cor introduced her to the male, the one that she had seen around a couple of times. He was friendly with Jay? Eesh, bad move, Elastic man. Soon, Jay was entering the scene, wrapping his arms around Cor, enveloping her in kisses and what not. The girl faked being sick, poking her tongue out as she did so. "Do you guys have to? Honestly?" She grumbled, before a deep voice made her turn around quickly. The feigned sicky expression on her face was replaced instead by a bright smile, one she only had for Keirol. The girl leaned her bags against the nearest wall, before moving closer to her boyfriend. She wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him close to her. Well, if Cor was going to flaunt her relationship, why couldn't Erin. "Hi." She murmured softly into his shirt, before craning her head, looking up at him. "It was fine. I think Cor drooled on my shoulder as she snoozed, but other than that..." She smiled, pressing her lips to his in a short, sweet kiss. Then, she noticed the look on his face, a glare being shot at Killian. She was going to ask him why, but it was then that she felt the male's eyes on her body, and felt herself chuckle quietly. Erin wrapped her arms tighter around his waist, continuing to look up at him through her eye lashed, a grin on her face. "Down, boy."

---

Amy hated throwing up. It was the most disgusting, repulsive thing ever, and she couldn’t even breathe as the little bit she’d had to eat the day before kept forcing its way up and into the toilet she was bent over, blocking out airways. Soon, she could feel Leo’s hand gently gathering her hair, his other hand caressing her back and she felt herself growing thankful once more that this man loved her, even as she sat there, fighting to breathe while the lumpy, yellow substance forced its way up. Maybe this was a delayed allergic reaction to the red wine from last night? She was grasping at straws though, because she knew her body would’ve reacted sooner if that had been the case. The thing was, however, that others possibilities didn’t fit with this random pattern either. Tears began streaming from her eyes in frustration at her inability to breathe. When it finally stopped, Amy fell down onto her bum, heaving for air as she took some toilet paper and wiped her mouth, throwing it into the toilet afterwards.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Leo moving from her, filling a glass with water and she closed her eyes, trying to calm her body from the shock it had just experienced. Normally if a student had come to her with similar issues, she would’ve asked about sex, protection and the likes, because it would be one of the first signs of pregnancy. But with her, that simply couldn’t be the case. She’d only had sex last night, and before that, she hadn’t had sex in something like half a year or so. Besides, she was on the pill, not that it was a certain guarantee of anything, but still. The mere fact that she sexually couldn’t be suffering from morning sickness already, completely erased that possibility, so what was it? Then she heard Leo’s voice and her eyes fluttered open to see him. She smiled weakly at him as she took the glass, shaking a little. She would calm down in a bit, but right now her body was still adjusting. “Thanks,” she said hoarsely before taking a big gulp of the water, closing her eyes as it soothed her aching throat and made her breathing much smoother.

Her eyes followed him as he poked his head out the bathroom door and she wondered who was knocking. Probably either Vince or Keirol. If it was important, Leo would merely take care of it. She wasn’t helpless after all. She could handle herself and she didn’t want him forsaking his Academy merely because she couldn’t keep her dinner down for some odd reason. Her ears perked when she heard Vince’s voice, wondering what he wanted. She frowned slightly as she thought it over. He’d probably felt the emotional explosion between her and Leo. She sighed, shaking her head a little. She’d have to talk to him about that. What if they’d still been arguing? All in all, she didn’t want Vince coming by every time Leo and she had a blow-out, because she knew there would be more to come. Fine that he hadn’t tuned it out; he couldn’t help his powers any more than she or Leo could theirs, but he didn’t have to act on it. She knew he’d be understanding enough and respect her wishes on this. She couldn’t remember Vince ever being difficult in that department, which was why she loved him. As a friend, of course. Never more.

She smiled softly when Leo returned to her and she took another sip of the water, looking up at him through a veil of dark, thick eye lashes. “It’s fine,” she said, still smiling that soft smile of hers, “I’m fine. Really… I don’t know what just happened.” Truthfully, she did feel much better already, even though she had a terrible taste in her mouth, and probably even worse breath. Yuck. “Just need to brush my teeth.” She struggled to her feet again, quickly regaining her balance as she stood and went to the sink. She felt weak. Not only tired, but weak. Was she coming down with something? That was weird. She was literally never ill. Ever. Her magic provided some kind of shield, she supposed, supporting her immune defenses. She shook her head a little, trying to calm it as she took her toothbrush, adding toothpaste before she began brushing her teeth, getting rid of the vile remnants of her dinner. She’d actually puked in front of Leo. That when it hit her. This was downright embarrassing. What came next? Peeing with the door open? Gods. She shivered at the thought. What was he thinking? She glanced at him with toothbrush in her mouth, gauging his reaction for the first time since her ghastly display.

---

Drake laughed at Lor’s comment. Ah, this girl. He loved how she always played right along with his bullshitting. Not a lot of people had the wits to. Granted, he was good so it was understandable, but he always like a good game with an opponent who actually proved a challenge. “We could,” he said thoughtfully, grinning down at her. “But I think it would qualify as damaging school property so Scary Marinos might give us a talking to.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her and chuckled. He knew how close Lora felt to Leonardo Marinos, which was funny because the guy hated Drake. In truth, maybe that made Lora all the more appealing. It was just entertaining. In reality, Marinos had a stick lodged up his ass and Drake couldn’t help wonder what would happen if someone pulled it out. Ah hell, he had so many tongues up there it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference. Thinking of that, wasn’t Colby one of them? The thought made Drake smile. Maybe rooming with Colbs might end up pretty entertaining after all. As it was, however, he was considering how they’d swing things because the way he saw it, they were both pretty sexual guys. In different ways. Very different ways, thank you.

Drake snorted in amusement at Lora comparing gypsies to Erin, “no, I mean… that’s her power. Erin goes all Hulk when she’s pissed, and she’s got a bit of a temper.” He smiled secretively at how much that benefited him in reality. Then he laughed a little. “So yeah, I don’t think you can quite compare it, sweetheart.” Soon, she was commenting on his roommate and Drake smiled casually. “Nah, I’m good, really. It’s fine.” He didn’t mention how he was starting to consider the entertaining aspects of rooming with Colby. Honestly Drake rarely voiced his actual thoughts. He never lied either; he just withheld certain information he didn’t see fit to share. Not that people noticed. They were too caught up in his smiles and the fact that he always seemed so carefree and casual in everything he did. So they didn’t even notice. The same way they very rarely noticed that he didn’t actually give a shit about them.

He could easily narrow down the people he himself considered friends to one degree or another; Cor, Lora, Lulu, Jackson. Now, why was his sister on the list? Well, he sometimes disliked his sister to an extreme degree, but he knew she cared about him, just like he did her. They never showed it, but they did. Jackson had a stick up his ass, but Drake considered him a friend nonetheless. Maybe because Jackson was the kind of guy Drake knew he would be able to count on in a sticky situation and honestly they’d grown to become pretty good friends this last month. Lulu spoke for herself; she was Lulu, and the same could be said for Lora who he’d known for years. So yeah, considering how many people thought themselves his friends, he didn’t really return the feeling a lot. Of course, Jaysin would’ve probably been on the list years back, but then he’d fucked Cor completely up by leaving and ignoring her existence, and now things were just fucking bungled. Theo’s ex, Scott would’ve been included too, but he was dead, so… yeah.

When Lora commented on him being Lazy, Drake merely smirked at her. “You say that like it’s something new,” he countered. Of course, Drake wasn’t usually lazy. Not really. He was the kind of guy who’d get up at 5 am in the morning just to get a good work-out before school, and he wasn’t being lazy right now either. He just frankly wanted to get the whole room-introduction thing over with so he could move on with his life. With her next comment, Drake laughed, ruffling up her hair just to show how easily he could reach. “What kind of gypsy are you, forgetting your magnifying glass? Really, Lor. What would your mother say?” He said playfully, feigning outrage at the fact, before grinning down at her. “Besides, I thought we’d already settled that you need to stop dreaming about being taller than me.”

“Strict?” Drake repeated her words about Leo thoughtfully, almost tasting the word before laughing. “That’s an understatement. He’s such a rule-rider, it’s almost embarrassing. He’s going to have his work cut out for him now that all these idiots from Noctrem are moving in, though. My sister and her bitches are going to be hell to deal with while they get settled in, for instance. Now, they’ll need to establish their little social order for real, and it’s going to cause trouble because those chicks want to be on top.” He shook his head, smiling wryly before giving her a half-concerned look, “better stay out of their way for the next couple of weeks, love.” It was a rare show of affection from Drake. Mostly because it was genuine; not faked in any way. He actually was worried about Lor now that she was staying with Erin, and he knew Cor didn’t like his little gypsy friend. Never had. He didn’t want her getting hit in the crossfire, so to speak. Not that he didn’t know she could handle herself, but compared to some of these girls, Lora’s control of her magic was shady at best.

“Yeah, are you ready for that? You'll have to work out some kind of sock-on-the-door system to avoid walking in on each other.” He smiled mischievously at the thought of how Colby might react walking in on Drake fucking some girl. This roommate situation would be throwing a wrench in several student's sexual interaction that had previously gone unchecked with people doing whatever they wanted behind the closed door of their own private room. That would all have to change and it would make for plenty of awkward moments.

Colby seemed a little more off the wall than usual today, all of the move-in excitement probably had him distracted. Landon watched him as the box he was holding rattled loudly with all the foot tapping going on. They knew a hell of a lot more about Eriol than he did and he started to get an idea of who his roommate might be. Funny, prankster, weird, but also cool an 'so not cute'. He thought of Ben, a known prankster, he knew who Ben was so Eriol must be the guy that walked around with him. He could picture him now, vaguely. Weird was definitely a word he would have gone with, but trusting their opinions he felt slightly relieved.

Hearing that Sky got stuck with Jaysin he pulled a grimace. “Jay? That really blows, man. Sure, I'm good to head up there. Hell, with the three of us, he can make as many copies of himself as he wants and he'd still wind up all beaten, charred and whiplashed.” He said with a typical half smile, “and if we're there anyway, I might check to see if Eriol made his way to my... to the room. After we make sure Jay's not in the killing mood, of course, then straight for to the Cafeteria. ” He headed up the group out of the Reception and up the stairs and down to Sky's new room.

He thought about putting in his earbuds and playing some music. The room he shared with Zac was one of the last dormitories, and that meant he’d have to pass almost every single room on his way to the cafeteria. Having his earbuds in wouldn’t preclude anyone trying to converse with him entirely. He’d learned that the hard way. It would help, maybe. A slight frown tugged at his lips as he wondered why he was feeling so misanthropic today. Well, moreso than usual, anyway. Even he had to admit that the impulse to wreck Zac’s drums and how terse he’d been were somewhat over the top. Was it just the move? He’d gotten used to having his own motel room and the freedom that it entailed. Or was it something more, something that he wasn’t fully conscious of?

Speaking of Zac, he spotted the boy heading in the opposite direction of him. Feeling ever-so-guilty for how he’d behaved before, Theo lifted a hand in greeting and managed to reorder his thoughtfully frowning lips into a smile. When he heard the sound of Zac on his drums soon thereafter, he found himself very glad that he’d decided to eat rather than read or catch a nap. Ear plugs, he decided. That would be his concession, his act of kindness. He’d just invest in some ear plugs, and Zac could practice with a brass band for all he cared.

As he passed Room Sixteen, he heard Jaysin’s voice, and slowed down just slightly. There were other people in the room- Erin and the strange boy from Arcana, Keirol. He heard the voice of Corentine Quellen afterward and abruptly picked his pace back up. His dislike of Cor outstripped his fondness for Jaysin by whole orders of magnitudes. He didn’t feel like enduring her presence, and the room already seemed quite crowded anyway.

He kept walking. Spotting Amber heading into her room, he tensed slightly, and then let out a captive breath when she just slipped in without seeing him. He’d been avoiding her for… well, a while now. When she saw him, her eyes tended to spark with interest, and her body language suggested that she was going to approach and engage, and he really didn’t want to allow that to happen. He had a sneaking suspicion about what she wanted, and he had far too many secrets to be comfortable letting that girl get close.

He tensed yet again when, closer to the atrium where the list had been posted, he spotted Colby, Landon, and Sky. Just walking by the three of them made him feel very much like he imagined fairly attractive women felt when they walked past a construction site. He was waiting for a cat-call, a proposition, some comment on his arms or his shirt or whatever detail of his appearance that they might bring up today. He wasn’t being entirely fair. Sky wasn’t nearly so bad as Landon, and Landon wasn’t anywhere near as aggravating as the speedster. He nodded awkwardly at the trio. Well, mostly at Landon. Landon, who’d managed to stumble onto one of his secrets. He’d sworn he wouldn’t say anything, wouldn’t mention it. Theo believed that he’d stay quiet, but he worried about the price. He knew the other boy was interested in him, probably even more so after their encounter the week before. How long would it be before it occurred to Landon that his knowledge would give him leverage over the object of his affection?

Perhaps there was an upshot to having a memory-meddler as a roommate. He’d have to broach the subject with Zac cagily. He might have been from Arcana, but he had no qualms misusing his powers for the sake of schoolwork. Getting him to purge Landon’s mind of what he’d learned… well, he’d have to think about it. That would only mean he was indebted to Zac instead of Landon. He might be better off with the latter.

He glanced around at those still near the list, hoping to spot one of the few faces he considered actually friendly. Someone he wouldn’t mind talking to. His mind was busier than usual. That tended to indicate that he needed to get something out of his system. Oh well. Seeing no one promising, he soldiered on to the cafeteria. Maybe there would be someone there. Or maybe he’d just have to wait for his run to blow off steam.

Theo often forgot to eat, but when he did eat, he did it right. He got himself a tray and upon it gathered the following: one bowl of whole-grain cereal with two percent milk, two scrambled eggs and two thick slices of ham, a glass of orange juice, wheat toast, and a small pre-packaged fruit and yogurt and granola bowl that actually looked really good. Carrying his food to a vacant table, he sat down and got to work, eating little bits of this and that, diminishing each aspect of his meal proportionately, except for the yogurt medley, which he saved for lonesome last.

After a minute or two of persisting solitude, he slipped his earbuds in and started some music. Move Along by the All-American Rejects started up from his randomized playlist.

---

Colby grinned when Sky cracked his knuckles; it was a very different grin from the goofy standard he made of his mouth most of the time. It wasn’t so much the way his lips were curved that was different, but the competitive cast to his eyes. One might almost think that he wanted Jaysin to start something with Sky when he was there. He blinked when Sky seemingly held off on saying something when Landon arrived, but that was quickly forgotten because… Landon arrived, and the conversation sped on.

He burst into laughter when his buddy mentioned a sock-on-the-doorknob code for him and Drake. Was it really that funny? Probably not to most people. To Colby it was though. Putting a sock on a doorknob made him think of putting a condom on a carrot, like people did in sex-ed classes, and for some reason, thinking about that never failed to make him guffaw. ”Haha, totally,” he said once he’d calmed down. ”I’m going to have to buy a ton of socks, haha.” Apparently it didn’t occur to him to designate a single sock for that purpose.

He listened to the other two, nodding along as Sky put in his two cents on Eriol and Landon agreed to help back Sky up if need be. Maybe he’d been worried about nothing before. Sky and Landon were getting along just fine. Really, Landon was being his usually awesome self and joining the cavalry. He decided that things were totally copacetic (this was the most sophisticated word in Colby’s vocabulary, though the precise connotation escaped him) and moved on, flourishing another grin. ”Jaysin is a total babe though. Haha, he’s going to like, be sooooooo obsessed with you not seeing him naked.” He turned his grin on Sky as he said it. ”It’s kind of hilarious how mad he gets when I hit on him. It’s like, ‘dude, chill out, it doesn’t make you gay if a gay guy hits on you,’ right? He should be, like, flattered, haha.”

He started off behind Landon, still carrying the Party Box. ”So what do you guys think the assembly is about?” That actually hadn’t slipped through the holes in his mental colander. ”Sounds like it’s a pretty big deal, right? Maybe us being put with Noctrem kids was like, some computer mix-up or whatever, and we’re gonna get our real room assignments, haha.” He blinked, and then gave Sky a nudge with his arm. ”No offense dude, haha. I just wish you were with me. That would have been so awesome.” His eyes glazed a bit, and he imagined what it would have been like had he and Sky been put together. Awesome was certainly one way to put it. The other ways to put it warrant censorship.

He gave Theo McCaffrey a once over as the moody boy passed them, then looked over to Landon a few seconds later. ”Didn’t he like, totally shoot you down too? Soooooo glad I didn’t get stuck with him. I think I might have like, died of frustration or whatever, haha. Hopefully whoever he’s with can like, cheer him up some.” He looked over at Sky then, whipping his head quickly. ”Was he like, ever happy? Or did he always look like he was having a mug shot taken, haha?”

During the assembly, Amy let her eyes roam the grand hall, observing the students, trying to get an impression of the overall opinion on this entire ordeal. Leo had spent a lot of time in his office this past week, sorting everything out, which meant they hadn’t seen each other as much as she would have like, since spending several hours in your boss’ office at a time might call on some unwanted attention. She was quite aware that some already had their suspicions, which made the matter of publicity even more urgent. Better to tell people themselves, than to have rumours spreading, and considering the students they had just let in, it was probably going to happen sooner rather than later. With that thought, Amy’s gaze went from Amber, to Drake, to Theo… people from Noctrem she could imagine finding out about her and Leo. Sure, she didn’t think Theo was a bad kid, but she dreamt about Leo a lot of the time, although she supposed the most he could grasp from that, would be her infatuation with the gorgeous headmaster. Then again, who said Theo even had an interest in watching her or anyone’s dreams?

She instantly stored away those thoughts and her gaze moved on, now resting on the house captains being announced in turn. Her heart ached for poor Ashleigh, who was going to have a very tough time being captain in her house. She could almost see the poor girl turning paler by the second. She obviously hadn’t missed the fact that she had several of the most troublesome kids to deal with; Corentine Quellen, Erin Hawthorne, and Addison Lawler. Sure, they weren’t all bad people, but they were definitely more… wild, than average. To her knowledge, Sky and Scott weren’t the quietest of guys either, but she couldn’t recall them causing any severe troubles. However, that much could change. Then came Ben as captain of Causton , and well, Amy couldn’t really see that lasting long. He wasn’t exactly the most school-invested kind. Then came Bethany, and Amy felt a soft, unnoticeable sigh emit from her lips. That girl had to figure out herself and feel comfortable with that, able to take responsibility for her own life before she could start taking charge of anything else.

When Leo drew out Drake’s name for captain of Tyms, Amy’s eyes widened slightly, her gaze landing on said male. He looked more or less completely indifferent. Thinking about it, maybe Leo should have just decided on captains to make sure no disasters were chosen. The way it looked to her now, none of the captains were ideal. Her eyes hopped back to Leo, noticing his rigidity, the way his shoulders were shrugged back tensely, his usual smile abandoned in favour of an edgy line, his features drawn tight. Watching him, she felt glad they’d somewhat resolved their argument from earlier, because she couldn’t even imagine how he’d be feeling if he’d had problems with her to top off the day. What had she been thinking, even starting the argument this morning? She knew, yes, the dream, but she still felt like mentally kicking herself. She wondered what he was s nervous about, though. Her Leo was usually such a confident man, although she suspected a situation like this one would bring anyone to the edge.

Later, occupied by watching the throng of students and teachers leave the assembly, and especially seeing Lulu rush from the hall, Amy didn’t even notice the fact that Leo had turned towards her, or even sat beside her, so when he spoke, she almost jumped, her head snapping around, eyes wide in surprise before she registered the voice, followed by her eyes finding the most beautiful man she’d ever laid eyes on. Her lips curved into a smile filled with warmth at his question, and especially in reply to the vibrant smile he was casting her way. “Well, you definitely need to unwind some,” she said teasingly, a glint in her eye telling her precisely how she’d like to do that, before continuing, “but yes, you di-“ Before she could finish the sentence, Leo was cursing, the abrupt speed of his movements almost making her head spin. She blinked a couple of times, finally closing her mouth when he began explaining. Ah, yes, the new teacher. She remembered Leo talking a bit about a new teacher. He hadn’t told her much, and she hadn’t really asked. More pressing, Noctrem-related matters had been more important at the time.

“Ah,” she merely said in understanding before he was talking again. Leo hated being late, especially when others were depending on him, she knew that, so this wasn’t exactly helping him unwind, which she greatly disliked. Why hadn’t he told her he planned on getting Chris before the assembly? She would’ve reminded him, or at least gone to get the new teacher herself. When Leo extended a hand, inviting her to come with him, Amy bit her lip delicately, peering up at him through her dark lashes. “Yeah, sure,” she said, before eyeing his hand thoughtfully. Would it hurt her more to take it only to let it go moments later, or to not take it at all? Why did he have to do that? It’s not like she couldn’t get out of a chair herself. She sighed softly, taking his hand, feeling that same, familiar electricity, however, the sensation was brief due to the fact that Leo let go the second she was on her feet and she clenched her hand, savouring the brief contact, trying to quench the longing surging through her; the urge to hold him, kiss him, to run her hands through his hair. To see love and lust for her mixing in the gray pools that were his eyes, like last night.

When he began speed walking, Amy had to half run to keep up, but sensing his urgency, she didn’t complain like she most likely would’ve at another time. After all, it’s not like he didn’t know she had much shorter legs than he. And she did fall slightly behind, only catching up with him to hear the words, “-I’m late,” and those following. She took a deep breath to steady herself, curiously moving to the side so that she was no longer hidden behind Leo, and thereby able to see the new teacher. She took in all his features, her head cocking to the side slightly in thought. He looked familiar. Only when Leo finished speaking, did her eyes widen with realization. “Chris?” she breathed in disbelief, gaping at him. “That Chris?!” She blinked several times, then shooting an accusatory look Leo’s way, she almost squealed, “why didn’t you tell me?!” With that, a massive smile took over her features and she turned her gaze on her old friend again, the impulse to hug him causing her to rush forward and wrap her arms around him, somehow feeling like that alone would make him real.

She hadn’t seen Chris since leaving Arcana all those years ago, although they’d been pretty good friends. They just hadn’t kept in touch, truthfully, maybe because she’d, you know, gone to war and all, so she had only kept contact to her closest family. Thinking about it, their current lack of communication was probably her fault, but damn, was it good to see him again. “You look old,” she murmured playfully. She remembered teasing him about how much older than her he looked, despite the fact that she was actually the oldest of the two.

---

Drake almost chuckled at the blush coming onto Lulu’s cheeks, wondering in which direction her mind was taking her. Something told him it probably wasn’t entirely child-friendly, and the urge to tease her about it became nearly overwhelming. She was just so… susceptible, not that most women weren’t, but Lulu in particular could be very fun to play with, he realized. Why hadn’t he ever thought about that before? Well, if was definitely changing now. He wanted to see that red in her cheeks a lot more and he was going to strive to get it, because what Drake wanted, he procured for himself, and if there was one thing he could do, it was charm a woman out of her panties. But did he want to do that to Lulu? He mused it over. Why the hell did he ever give a shit? Normally he wouldn’t have given it a second thought, because it would be entertaining, but now he found himself wondering if she would be hurt when he left her after sleeping with her, considering if maybe he would be going too far. After all, she was a friend, one the few he actually had. Inwardly, Drake’s mind battled itself, but outwardly he maintained is usual, easy stance. It was something he’d taught himself to do quite well.

Soon, Lulu was rubbing her eyes as if trying to clear them, commenting on his slightly reprimanding words. A wry smile pulled at his lips, “ yes, that much it obvious,” he said teasingly. Yep, he was back. He wasn’t really worried anymore. She’d be fine, but… he still didn’t understand this odd need to help and take care of her. Shrugging it off, he guided the blonde on his arm out of the men’s toilets. When he noticed the three guys giving Lulu looks, he merely raised an eyebrow in their direction, as if saying, “got a problem? Take it up with me.” Drake might not be the violent type, or the kind of guy to go headfirst into trouble as such, but he wasn’t one you wanted to mess with, and his entire demeanor screamed as much when he wanted it to, which he did in this case. He relaxed a little once the guys scurried off; obviously deciding whatever they thought of Lulu wasn’t worth any actual trouble over. When Lulu spoke, Drake’s eyes found her once more and another sly smile came onto his face. “Showers, eh?” He teased, his eyes glinting with wicked thoughts. Then he just chuckled, shaking his head. “In your bathroom,” he then finally told her.

They both grew quiet then, Drake taking care to be entirely sure she wasn’t going to stumble and hit the floor with her nose while he could do anything to stop it. After all, the floors didn’t deserve that kind of violence, right? Oh, who am I kidding? He asked himself, inwardly sighing, I don’t actually want her to stumble. But again, that made him wonder why, because there was always at least slight entertainment in people falling over their own feet. And sure, he realized Lulu means something to him, but did that mean he had to go all protective super hero? Damn it, that really usually wasn’t his style. He’d begun growing irritated with himself when Lulu spoke again, and he completely disregarded earlier thought, a devious smirk curving his lips. “Help?” He murmured, his voice deep and seductive in itself as he looked down at her. “Could be arranged.” He deliberately let his eyes roam her body. How was he supposed to try and have morals when she kept tempting him like this? Women.

Her next words made him chuckle, wicked, dark brown eyes once more giving her body their undivided attention. He easily held on to her as she half stumbled, not even stopping in his track. He had a good hold on her, and she wouldn’t be hitting the floor. All she had to do was regain her balance, and as she did, her next words following, he grinned sinfully at her, his eyes intense, his entire demeanor completely in flirt-mode. Drake pulled them both to a stop only to skillfully turn them around and gently press her slight body up against the wall, both his arms winding around her waist now, so that his heat was completely enveloping her, even as his body trapped hers between it and the wall. He leaned down, his lips brushing against her ear as he murmured seductively, “now, what’s the fun in keeping our clothes on?” Of course, it wasn’t like Drake was actually going to have sex with her. Obviously, she wasn’t in a state capable of satisfying him properly anyways, but playing with her right now was extremely entertaining for some reason.

If he was going to fuck Lulu, it was going to be done right, and not in some stupid situation like this when she could barely walk by herself. Not that he was going to fuck her at all… right? Yep. Friend. He’d sort of told himself not to fuck the few people he considered friends, but in that case, he really needed to stop befriending hot girls who wanted him, because it was making his life damned complicated. Again, it wasn’t like Drake couldn’t resist and keep his dick in his pants, but he was starting to think he’d really rather not. Hell, maybe that was just because he hadn’t had sex in a while. What had it been? Two? Three? Weeks. Keeping your sex-life alive when he were rooming with Cor in some motel, proved to be harder than you’d think. Thinking about it, he felt pretty sure last time had been with Erin, because Cor actually left when it was her. He suspected it had something to do with the fact that Cor knew what kind of role Drake played in her best friend’s life.

Maybe he should exert some kind of revenge on his sister. Manipulation was a gift of his, and he could definitely use Jay in some way, but then… would using Jay be a bit too cruel? He and Cor didn’t really try to make each other miserable. Sure, they bickered like cat and dog, and they most definitely had a lot of differences, but they were still family and in some incredibly fucked up way, they did care about each other. Despite the fact that living with her had been hell. Good luck to Lauryn, was all he could say.