Nova Tricon's Story

Boone sighed heavily as his feet carried him to his destination, his gait more like a slinking panther than anything else, his feet kind of gliding across the floor like an elegant phantom of sorts. His face did not match the sophistication, bags smeared under his eyes and hair obviously untouched. Mr. Keating was not a morning person. Having a profession that required it was taxing on him, to say the least. It was days like these that he dreamt of the times he was allowed to wake up whenever the hell he wanted- but when he thought about it, those only really existed before he started elementary school and the short time he was a complete wreck about eight or so years ago. He couldn't say he'd really want to go back to either of those times, so perhaps an alarm clock or two wouldn't kill him. One of his squarish, calloused hands rubbed his face in attempts to wake himself up, though his lidded eyes conveyed that they weren't helping much. He stopped at the end of the hall when he saw a feminine figure outside his classroom. It struck him rather peculiar. It wasn't like he was a popular kind of guy. He was a real asshole, really. So who was there?

He silently inspected. She turned and he saw the face of Rhea Xior. "Huh." he thought simply, his face remaining stoic. It wasn't an unpleasant surprise but a surprise nonetheless. The girl was a closed book with the pages all glued together, in a lot of ways. She pointed to her bag, levitating it til it rested on her shoulder. "At least in this place I'm allowed to use my powers." She'd muttered. A small smirk finally found its way onto his lips for the first time in this day, amused by her display of both teenage broodiness and stark honesty. Of course, it wasn't just teenage broodiness- he could guess that much, at least. In a sense, Rhea's ability to lock up all of her feelings made her potentially one of his best students. He knew well enough that it'd also be her greatest down fall with time. He could personally vouch for that. Still, he wasn't one to press things so stupidly. Things like these took time, eroding at their barriers until they slowly crumbled as opposed to ramming it and destroying yourself in the process... Ugh, he was not good at metaphors before a good cup of coffee...

He was taken out of his moody reverie when she snapped her fingers and shot at marble with flame. It landed square on her target. His brows shot atop his head and, again, that smirk found its way right back to those lips of his. "Another boring day in school." she grumbled again. Tired of simply standing there, he clapped four times, each one loud and condescending, though not overtly so. He approached her- or rather, his room- with a slow and steady pace, his classic oxford shoes clacking against tile with each step he took. "Impressive, Xior. I hope you don't think your show will land you extra credit, though. I'm not quite that easy." he said, voice smooth as honey. His jilted smile should be standard in her book by now. While a newer student might be terribly offended by his somewhat mocking nature, he was sure that Rhea wasn't the type to be too offput by such actions as she'd be used to it after these years. He made it to the door, pulled out his keys from his pocket, and stuck one of them in the lock easily before swinging the door open. He didn't enter his classroom, though, instead leaning against the door way with one of his arms outreached to keep it from shutting. To enter the classroom, you'd have to duck under the crook of his elbow, but it was less imposing than simply going inside and leaving her out in the cold. "Did you need anything, Rhea, or are you just a fan of seeing good old Mr. Keating at his worst?" he asked, referring to his current early-morning-state. He hadn't made eye contact during the entire exchange up until his last inquiry, in which his crystal gaze snatched her eyes directly.

---

Nova lay sprawled out on the courtyard bench without a care in the world, his entire essence just screaming lackadaisical spring afternoon. He held a book high above his head, both arms stretched above his face in his favorite reading position. It was really the only reason he had a moderate amount of arm strength, to be honest. He was devouring The Sun Also Rises for the second time and was shocked by how much he seemed to have missed the first time 'round of peeking into the brain of mister Hemingway.

She looked up to be kissed. She touched me with one hand and I put her hand away.
"Never mind." 
"What’s the matter? You sick?" 
"Everybody’s sick. I’m sick too. "

He frowned big at this, disheartened by the sadness in the quote. His arms slowly drooped until he'd let the book just sit atop his face as he thought, coverage from the sun but obscuring his view of any possible passerby. His limbs flopped down to the ground, hanging off the metal seat, and now he just looked like a damn fool. "Hmmm," he hummed, closing his eyes (not that anyone could tell with the hard cover binding covering them from public view). He suddenly had an urge to fiddle with machinery, but knew he didn't have much time before class (why he found himself out here in the first place) so he settled for drumming his fingers on his flat, skinny stomach. "Well, it's a pretty day outside. And you're having a terrific hair day. You're wearing your lucky socks, too. Today will be a good day, Nova, no matter what Madame Georgette or Sir Jake think." he chirped to himself, dismissing the literary prostitute and the deeply flawed protagonist who was so sure everybody was sick from his brain. He wondered where his twin was about the same time. His mind had a way of thinking too many things at once.

The girl smirked at him like a fox and he merely rolled his eyes, sighing for what seemed like the billionth time this morning as she sassed off. "You know I'm not much of an over achiever, Mr, Keating" To this, he nodded tiredly, one of those expressions that said "fair enough" or "I'm not gonna argue with that logic" crossing his stubbly face in mock agreement. He was getting impatient of holding the door open and he knew she was dilly dallying with walking inside for the sole reason of annoying him, so he was relieved when she finally slid inside with a comment of missing his class room. He propped the door open with an old text book as a stopper so that anybody could enter before traveling to the corner of his classroom where a convenient coffe maker was. "Nothing like left over teenage anxiety in the morning." she said. To this, he snorted, truly amused by her clever joke, as he brewed himself a cup and trailed over to his desk where he plopped down and took a comb through his short, curly mane - a bit of necessary primping so he didn't look like a neanderthal before the lesson had even began. "Mmm, help yourself." he muttered with his mouth on the lips of his signature mug, not very stingy when it came to his supply of caffeinated beverages.

"I'd say this is my most adored class, but don't take it in the wrong way, I'll just wait for some more student to show up, if you don't mind." she added, taking a seat in her usual spot. "Yeah, yeah, Xior. We all know how much you adore me. No need to publicize it." he drawled sardonically. A yawn broke his banter in half, and his next words skirted the tails of it. "Someone's feeling particularly witty so early in the morning. Tell me, how do you do it? What is your secret?" he mewed, stretching as he did. He spun in his chair to write on the board "ASSESSMENT TODAY" in white chalk. His hand writing was atrocious - barely even legible - but it was there and you could distinguish the words if you tried hard enough. "You remember that today's evaulation day, don't you?" he asked. He knew very well that Rhea would pass with flying colors but it felt like a necessary motion.

---

At the sound of Clover's charming voice, he started, bolting upright and ultimately losing track of his page as the book hit the ground. "I always thought Lady Ashley was much more interesting than Georgette, anyway... But I imagine that you'd prefer Pedro." she drawled. "Ah! Clove!" was his lame response. Embarrassed that she'd clearly heard his little self-pep talk, a rosy blush crept onto his cheeks and his green eyes widened like saucers. Well, at least it was just Clover. Reassured by that, he sorta flopped back down to a laxed position as he let out a humiliated chuckle and scooted his legs to let her sit down. "Where's Lukas?" she asked, and to this, he frowned. "Oh, I'd assumed he was off with you... You know, doing smoochy-smoochy things..." he admitted. Bothered by his twin's currently MIA status, he quickly racked his brain for just what the other was doing. He was sure it was Clover related when he thought about it. "I'll bet he's out searchin' for ..." his sentence trailed off as the devil himself appeared as if conjured by speak of his name. "...you." he finished as the sibling snaked one of his hands around her waist and kissed her. "Smoochy smoochy indeed," he mumbled, averting his gaze as another blush spread itself on his face, suddenly feeling as if he were some invasive voyeur or something of a similar nature.

He would have left the two to their coupley, anniversary, early morning fun out of curtesy but he suddenly had forgot all about it when he remembered her comment from before. "Wait, Clove! Hey, Clove, what did you mean when you said I'd prefer Pedro?" he asked, donning an air of innocence as his head cocked to the side. He was a lot like a pestering small child asking questions as his parents tried to have a normal adult conversation, his input currently irrelevant enough that it could easily be brushed off. "Hrmmm," he grumbled, disgruntled, trying to read into the comment by himself but being unable. He noticed the new bracelet around her wrist. "OH, so that's what you were doing!" the chirpy boy thought, an explanation for Lukas' absence there in hard evidence. The craftsmanship was dinstinctly that of his brother's and very skilled. Suddenly, he realized he was being rude again. "Oh, erm, sorry! Haha!" he said, standing up and grabbing a hold of his books. "Way to ruin a romantic moment, Nova." he scolded himself. He should really ought to be heading to class now...

Rhea made a jab at his handwriting, and Boone had begun to defend himself in his typical Boone manner, but then Kitty had popped her little head inside his classroom and his entire persona had switched, followed by yet another flip of composure when he realized, once more, that Rhea was indeed still in the room. It was a hodge podge of inflection and a rather silly thing to behold indeed. "Oi, shut it, Xior! At least I - Kitty! Good morning! Er! Ah, Ms. Caspary! Ms. Capsary, good morning." While he was a big fan of the aloof child, he had to admit that he was relieved when she scooted off, ensuring him that she'd do well on the assessment. A tiny smirk found its way onto his face, and soon he was chuckling at the whole situation- both Kitty and he looking like fools. He covered his mouth with his hand like he usually did when he laughed and it naturally leads into him resting his head on his upturned palm. "Yes, and what can I do for you, Ms. Caspary? I'm assuming you're only here for paperwork and file management, right?" he snickered before hopping out of his chair and going over to the corner to make her a cup of coffee.

Before the woman had a chance to reply, however, in came slipping one Chloe who looked like she'd just crawled out of the sea. She howled his name from down the hallway and slid into the classroom door like a character in Scooby Doo and, upon seeing Kitty, she too switched from crying Boone to clucking Mr. Keating. He grinned as she frowned, their expressions completely opposite. Boone personally found the whole predicament quite amusing. "B--Mr Keating, I dove into the lake, splashed water on Everlie. Well, the water just jumped out, it wasn't really my fault. Anyway, gonna' be late to class. Don't fail us? Thank you so much! You're amazing." Suddenly, his smirk had been replaced by a bit of a scowl - though he did snort in amusement from the line "the water just jumped out" - and he protested through grumbles and semi-growls as the skinny child wrapped her arms around him in an unwanted embrace, leaving the man virtually soaked. "Chloe!" he growled, but she was already off and he lead a hand to his face in a very standard face palm. He tried to wipe off the water from his wrinkled dress shirt, but it was to no avail. He found himself chuckling again as he looked up at Kitty.

"I swear I'm not usually so popular." he said simply, trying to walk to the corner where he had paper towels but slipping a little bit in the puddle of water on the floor that reminded him a lot of Peter Pan's shadow. Yes, it was rather suiting that Chloe's phantomesque comrade would be a pool of shallow liquid. He sighed as he grabbed the roll and wiped up the mess on the floor. He finally glided back over to hand her a mug - one of his own - full of the hot beverage.

---

Ms. Caspary came by quickly, looking fresh and dewy, and greeted the three of them. He smiled brightly at her and offered a good morning of his own. It seemed like that would have been the end of that, but then she had gone on to say ,"Oh, Nova, Lukas? Now that I have you here, can I ask a favour? Could you have a look at the grandfather clock in my office? It's broken." Nova clapped his hands together excitedly, a small round "o" shape forming on his lips. "Of course, Ms. Caspary!" he cried, looking like a toddler who'd just been given an early Christmas present. He couldn't recall working on a grandfather clock before - never really got his hands on one - but toying with clocks and watches in general was one of his favorite things to do. He'd suddenly found his motivation for the entire day in that single "favor".

He got so wrapped up in his own brain from then on out and he sorta just… trailed off in the general direction of his next class. Nova was too far off from them to hear Clover's very simple, not at all Freudian explanation of  "I just meant that he reminds me of Pedro." He strolled by like a easy breeze, too stuck in his own head to realize that it may have been peculiar to walk away from a semi-conversation like that. The bracelet wrapped 'round the redhead's wrist had got his mental cogs working and then the promise of fiddling with that clock made it so that he was really, really itching to make something right about now. But, alas, History with Ms. Molly called.

He heard his other half shout out at him, "Two man job? Later on maybe?" and he was suddenly snapped out of his dream-like reverie. "Huh?" he asked, spinning on his heels to look at him, "Oh! Oh, right! Definitely. I'll catch you later, Lukas!" he shouted as well once he realized what his twin was refering to. "Bye Clover!" he added before turning and trailing off to the room that he was taught history in by someone only a few years his elder. When he got to the room, it was unlocked but empty, which really didn't surprise Nova all that much. He just took a seat and waited patiently for the day to begin, reading onward in his book until then.

Kitty's oh-so-true proclamation of "You've never been student -friendly, Boone." served as an cue of her dismissal and the young pupil's arrival. Boone gave an amused yet somehow disappointed grumble of agreement, wishing she could stay and chat but knowing that work called for other such things. His students poured into the room, all taking their usual seats, and he ran a hand through his hair before wiping his left eye . My, they were rambunctious this morning. He just sat silently at his desk, waiting for everyone to arrive, watching each one of them trickle in with his tired stare. Clover, Lukas, Lennon, Rhea, Sinclair, Ava... that was it? Where the bloody hell were his students? Well, Chloe and Everlie should be off saying farewell to their fish friends, that he knew, but other than those two... He sighed, deciding that while he could be peeved at the students for coming late and wasting class time, he could also just not give a damn and cherish the down time. Less work and all the same pay, really. Just for good measure, he rolled over and scribbled, "No... seriously" underneath the original scrawling of "ASSESSMENT TODAY" but made no other move as an educator.

They were rather content yakking away. Apparently it was Clover and Lukas' anniversary and being that he had both of them in his class, lucky him, it was the hottest topic of the morning. Oh, teen love! He was sure this one was going to last a lifetime! He sighed again. Rhea came spilling in and dropped her locket onto the floor. The thing was busted - clearly - and a piece had slid under his desk. At first, he remained in his perpetual state of boredom but when he glanced up to see if she planned on picking the thing up, he faltered, a bothered frown tugging on his lips as he winced. Uh oh. Apparently the jewelry meant something to the girl. He was half afraid she'd broken down and would start to malfunction - pulling out a katana or something and going on a mass murder rampage. Instead, she just kind of deflated into her seat. He felt bad for the thing, especially so after Sinclair (weren't they supposed to be good friends or something? He'd always assumed so.) just kind of brushed her off. He picked up the piece and tried to make eye contact with her as he wiggled it in his fingers but, ah, she'd become too distracted with looking outside the window. Bad day for the girl. He pocketed it, vowing to simply return it after class.

Next thing he knew, Lukas and Sinclair were spatting off, flexing and unflexing their possessive ultra-macho masculine powers in front of Clover. He rolled his eyes at the dominance charade (he half expected the two of them to leap atop the desk, pull down their drawers, and reveal baboon buttocks to settle the dispute like true wild animals) and wondered if they'd even begun to think about whether it'd make the very lucky girl feel uncomfortable being bartered over like she was some object to be won. Again, he didn't have much of a desire to voice these opinions and would have gladly just tucked his opinions into his pocket, but he was pretty sure it was his job as teacher to keep his kids from spitting literal fire at one another. For the first time since everyone'd streamed in, he spoke.

"Ehem, Mr. Tricon," he began, fluttering his downcast eyes up to level with the kid, "while I'm very glad your big anniversary day has been apparently very hot so far, I would be much obliged if you were to... erm, simmer down a tad." he said. He finished it with passive shrug, as if his interjection was merely an idea to consider before he'd thought of another valid point to add to his argument. "Damaging Mr. Burton-Lake's luxurious locks on a day he'd actually dragged himself to class seems like a crime, after all." he drawled. To add to the point, he gave a feigned smile, a couple short claps, and a simple "Bravo, Sinclair." After he'd spoken, there was a bit of an awkward silence in the class and he chuckled. "Class, carry on, by all means. We're waiting on a couple of your peers to begin today. There's a group-evaluation to be done which means we can't do it without the whole class present. I'm sure you'll all pass with flying colors considering how well you all get along, though."

He grinned again. "Coffee, anyone? No? Okay." and then he continued to scribble nonsense onto paperwork he had to get done by the end of the day.

---

MEANWHILE: The young boy had been sitting in the empty class room for entirely too long, reading in the relative dark. Suddenly, he perked his head up as if he were having a psychic vision. "Aw crud, Ms. Molly's history class isn't for a couple hours!"

Face palm ensued.

When Clover meekly muttered back a half hearted joke as a response, he'd become sated, the smallest of grins twitching amongst the stubble on his chiny-chin-chin. His only reply was a roll of the eyes and then he was getting back to his work. It wasn't that he was particularly displeased seeing the couple - not like he was plotting their demise and the such - but as far as their anniversay went, he just didn't... care, quite frankly. It was one of those things like people showing you pictures of their lap dog. It's fine and dandy that you have one (by all means, go get twenty of them) but you couldn't possibly expect him to be sitting at the edge of his seat begging you to continue scrolling through your phone's internal memory to show him the "cutest thing Fido did the other day". Still, he meant no harm by it. The kids were happy and that was undeniably nice.

He didn't look up from his papers until he smelled more smoke. He half expected to see Sinclair running about the room like a victim of Nanking (don't google it if you don't already know for fear of mental scarring) but realized quickly that it was just Rhea being Rhea and flicked his eyes back donward... Yet he couldn't seem to turn off his ears. Okay, so he was curious. Who wouldn't be curious about the locket and its effect on the girl? It was a mystery begging to be solved and without him meaning to, it wasn't long before he'd overheard Lennon asking her out. He winced inwardly (outwardly he continued to scribble) expecting immediate rejection. His eyebrows shot up on their own when Rhea actually agreed and he found himself approving of this. He could honestly see them together, when he thought about i-

Wait a second.

Wait a bloody second.

Holy shit, the dance was today. Oh fuck, he had to chaperone.

Honestly, his dreading of the event had less to do with his disdain for being grown kid's baby sitter and more with the fact that the image of Kitty had fluttered into his mind before he'd had the chance to shut it out and now he wouldn't be able to even really speak to her without wondering if it'd be more rude to ask her to go as friends or not to mention it at all. They were planning on hanging out after classes, after all. And now he was picturing her in a silly prom dress slow dancin - Jesus fucking Christ, what was that thinking? By now he'd stopped what he was doing and craddled his face in the palms of his hands. Right then, one Ezekiel came storming into his class room, throwing a bit of a fit, eyes watery and face all scruffed up with that emotion that Boone knew so well. The boy was the hardest out of all of his students for him to see because if anybody knew a taste of his hardships, it'd be him. He looked at the blonde incredulously, mouth opening and closing several times as he tried to come up with a response to the fuming child. Finally he just shook his head and raised his shoulders as if to say, "I don't even know" and answered. "Well, alright then. Welcome to Power Control with Mr. Keating. We're having a test today so I'll just mark your score now and you can sit out later, I suppose." Because, really, what was the harm in that?

Then came skadaddling Chloe and her unfortunate victim. "Oh Mr Keating, you didn't have to wait for us! We were on our way slowly, you could have started." Chloe chirped. He gave her a scowl but he really didn't mean it and he was certain she'd be able to tell. Then she was mentinoing Kitty and he was lickin his lips in attempts to surpress a boyish grin from taking hold of him (unsuccessfully). By the time he'd gotten a grasp on a retort, she'd already said something else about drowning others and the like. "Can it, Huntington." he said with a smile in his voice, waving her off to snuff out the conversation entirely. The girl who'd grown to become a little sister to him knew entirely too much about him, he thought in the moment. She had way too much leverage.

This would be about where he'd start the lesson but then there were other, more teenagey things to be addressed first, it seemed. "Clover Alice Thurston. Will you do me the great honour of accompanying me to the formal dance?" Well, now that his students were all present, he didn't much feel obligated to wait around and listen to more dance proposals. "Oh yes, yes, Lukas. Yes~! Of course I'll go to the ball with you~!" he said in the highest voice he could muster, a mock "so-happy-I-could-cry" reading on his face as he stood from his chair. He suddenly felt a pinch of guilt - this could have been important to the two of them, he'd only just realized. "Er, ah. Sorry. Maybe that was crossing a line or two." he muttered, back with his own vocal chords, his guilty conscience shining through. He glanced from side to side. "Ah, whatever. Go on and answer, then. But after that we're starting the assessment." He had to prepare, anyway. He was suddenly slinking over the the edge of the room, bringing out a small kennel meant to carry yappy puppies or kittens alike and carrying it back over to the front. He waited for the class to settle down, setting the barred cage on a stool front and center and then stood there expectantly.

---

Nova had scrambled off to class as quickly as he could, running down the campus like wild fire. He was missing Cadwell's class, which really was unfortunate. It was the only class in the history of classes he'd ever taken EVER that he didn't excell in. To most, this meant avoiding it at all costs, but to Nova it meant that he almost obsessively tried his hardest - taking down notes and listening as intently as humanly possible to all of the instructions. Being late meant that he'd already be in a funk for the class before it already began. His lungs burned with each heavy breath he took, his chicken legs not doing much of anything impressive for him in the running department.

Yet, he got there soon enough. At least he wasn't missing the actual lesson. When he arrived, out of breath, to the arena, everyone had only just begun walking around to get suited up. He dropped his books in the grass and toppled over, putting a hand on either knee.

"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Cadwell. I was being a forgetful ninny." he explained honestly and earnestly. He then went over to the lockers to grab some armor and smiled when he saw Arissa there. "Hey!" he chimed. "Good morning, 'Rissa. Nothing like a little bit of general humiliation and physical exertion in the morning, huh?" He went through the motions of strapping on the bulky armor, a wry smile on his lips. "How're you?"

As Arissa was getting an armor on the nearby locker she was silently contemplating of who to add on her team. Mr. Cadwell specifically stated that they will have a non-contact battle and she can confidently say that she'd do well. Being a Child of Zeus, Arissa is naturally proud of her abilities. Not only can she produce lightning bolts as she wished and control the static electricity on contact but she is also more powerful than the other demigods. Well that is aside from those Children of Hades and Poseidon but Arissa doesn't really care about them. For her, Zeus is the greatest god of the three and because of that, he is undoubtedly undeniably the strongest. Period.

Having absolute confidence of her ability, she then decided that she might as consider teaming up with Tristan. He's the most bearable person here in this class, and while she knew he can't be that much of help with regards to non-contact battle, she'd rather have him than Juliette any other day. She also really can't imagine herself teaming up with Portia-- 'Honestly what can she do? Hit them with strawberries?' or worse Peter, who is only good for his lying skills. She can't help but cringe imagining them as her team mates.

She had been so absorbed in her musings that when she heard a new voice pipe up next to her, she instinctively let out a surprised shriek and took a few steps backwards. She almost dropped her armor but fortunately caught herself in time. "Good morning, 'Rissa. Nothing like a little bit of general humiliation and physical exertion in the morning, huh?" "How're you?" It was Nova Tricon, who obviously just came in class.

She raised an eyebrow when he noticed his appearance, "Is that grass stains on your pants Nova?" She stared at Mr. Cadwell again and turned back to the boy in front of her. "And yes, I think it'll good for you... the exercise that is," she added not really insulting him but coming of as such.
"I think I'm just peachy. How about you?" She asked in return, trying to be polite.

For Arissa, Nova Tricon is one of the greatest mystery in Olympus. She knew that he is a son of Hephaestus and because of that is a skilled craftsman. She's also aware that he is nice and an optimistic person but that was all the general things she knew about him.

His friendliness with her is another thing, it greatly astounds her. Ever since her childhood, she discovered that most people tend to get far away from her or are just acting friendly with her. It has something to do with her bossiness or endless pursuit for control --or her usual rude and haughty attitude to them, but always without fail she easily gets into the bad side of other people. Not that she minded that. For Arissa, if they don't like her, then she don't like them more. That's it. She won't ever change herself for something the society wants her to.

Not Nova, she can see that he's genuinely amiable and accommodating. For a person who's so clumsy and very optimistic, he's someone you can't hate... he's just so... adorable. Not that Arissa will ever try to tell him about that though.

Boone practically began to rear back like a feisty stallion when Clover had caught onto Chloe's prodding at this morning's, ehem, "moment" with Ms. Caspray. "Damn that girl and her big mouth." he thought in his head, giving Chloe a signature pointed stare. Next thing he knew, Sinclair had joked about an affair between himself and Lukas and he'd suddenly decided that his romantic life (or lack thereof) should be a nonexistent conversation. "Hey, hey! This is completely unprofessional." he chided, bringing both of his hands together in a cross as if to say "time out". "Ha, as if you've had a single professional day in your life." he contemplated. Truthfully, these were just the sort of things he didn't like to talk about, be it with pupils or not.

Luckily, his cage served as a damn good distraction. A knowing, somewhat sinister smirk found a neat little place on his face and it only broadened with each of the comments made about it. "You think he's going to put one of us in that?" - "So....this assessment....what exactly are we doing?" - "Well, he's not exactly the sort of person who'd buy us a puppy, is he?" - 'Yeah what are you planning Keat?..." -"I know I've said this already this morning, but the fuck is that?" - "Whatever you plan to do just spill it, they don't pay you to sit around and threaten students." With the class roaring their objections to the mysterious cage, he realized it was high time that he get the show on the road, a chuckle beginning the test for his class this morning.

He opened the cage, reached an arm inside, and pulled out a snow white fur ball that kicked and thrashed violently in his hands. He set it down on the stool and it instantly stilled, pink nose sniffing and long ears twitching before it finally sat up on its hind legs and cocked a head at the class. It appeared to be a rabbit - a cute, fluffy bunny rabbit. Boone clapped his hands together and walked away from the creature before turning to his class and giving a malcious smile. "Alright, class. This test calls for power control beyond simply conjuring a flame or spitting a bit of electricity. I'm testing you on practical application of your skills and an ability to diplomatically come to a reasonable decision. What you see before you," he made a gesture towards the rabbit, "is a 'cerberbunny'. It's a highly deadly creature that will be growing exponentially more dangerous and violent as time goes by. Its fangs are filled with lethal poison and its tempermant becomes increasingly more brash. We don't have much time before it begins to attack. It is, despite its appearance, a monster. I offer you a simple assignment: make a decision." he said, stroking his chin. "The only real problem comes in this: more than half of the class must agree on the choice to act out on or nothing can be done. Furthermore, if you're on the incorrect side, you will get a zero for this assessment." he explained, "This is not to say that the popular side is the correct side, though. If you play your cards particularly foolishly, the whole class could fail. Furthermore, you have to carry through with whatever your solution to the problem is."

He scratched his head and scrunched his face making sure that he'd remembered all of the aspects to the test. Somewhat confident that he'd covered it all, he nodded. "Well, I'll leave you to it. I'll be silent from here on out until a choice has been made and carried out." And then he sat in his chair and stared expectantly at his class.

---

Arissa had very cooly asked the boy if he had grass stains on his pants followed by telling him he could use some excercise. His response? To chuckle sheepishly, a shy shrug rising from the blonde male. "Yeah, I guess a run or two might be beneficial for my cause." he agreed shamelessly, acknowledging his midly scrawny stature. He then took the time to check his pants for said staining and, indeed, found them. He smiled down at the girl. "Yes, it appears I have indeed managed to destroy yet another article of clothing." he said, not really sweating it. This sort of thing was routine by now for him, as klutzy as he was. He liked Arissa. She was wildly organized and a very active member of Olympus Academy, something that he could really appreciate considering the helter skelter that was his existence. She took charge and was incredibly passionate about what she believed in. She was refreshing, basically.

"I think I'm just peachy. How about you?" she had asked and he gave out a contemplative mew as he thought about it. "Ah, I guess I'm pretty peachy keen, too." he decided, answering honestly. He was nervous for class, but other than that, he didn't have anything to bother him. "Bet you're gonna kill this lesson today, huh?"

Danielle River

Danni looked up as Nina entered the room. "Good of you all to join us," Mr.Cadwell said witha smile. "Like I said, we're practising non-contact battle, today. So you'll get a chance to excerscise your powers. Try to make Mr. Keating proud. Split into two teams; one team will be attackers, the other the defenders." Danni grinned and stood up. She supposed she would just go on whichever teamneeds an extra player at the end. Mr.Cadwell grabbed two pieces of cloth from his desk, on red, the other blue. "Tie these up at opposite sides of the field - you know the rules of Capture The Flag by now."

Danni rolled her eyes as she realized she doesn't have a power. Unless you count ignorance as a power. "You all have powers." Mr.Cadwell tells them. "Portia, you can make people descend into madness. Jules, you have foresight - you know what attack they're going to make before they do; you can make a pre-emptitive counter-attack. Aria, Tristan, Will, your clarity is phenomenal, you see everything, and, y'know, all is fair in love and war. Chance, you have the Midas Touch. Arissa, you have the ability to lead your entire team. Ethy can make it pitch-black. Nova, one word; fire. Peter can leave people so confused they forget what they were supposed to be doing. Nina, you can use plants...haven't you ever thought of poison ivy? Danni, you're not afraid of anything. Do you get it?" Danni let out a small laugh. She may be pretty brave, but she wasn't the only one. And it was hardly going to help her beat someone like Nova, who could burn her ass off. She glanced around at the rest of them, noticing none of them looked too impressed either. "So, who's team will I be on?" she said to no one in particular.

Arissa stared at Nova, perplexed. It really seems like it takes a lot of effort to make him angry. Instead of getting insulted the boy just shrugged it off like he was used to being clumsy and being told about it. "Bet you're gonna kill this lesson today, huh?" Hearing that she can't help but smirk smugly, she looked at him in the eyes and said: "I won't just kill this lesson-"

She was about to say more but a hurrying Aria barelled on to Nova, surprising both of them. She raised an eyebrow at her and stared mutely when Ava's half-sister quickly moved away from them. "I...uh...sorry. I was late, and I wasnt paying attention, and.....sorry." Arissa heard her mumbling and she didn't know if she should feel annoyed or amused by being cut off. The poor girl was blushing madly and she can bet that it wasn't because of her embarrassing entrance.

"'S'not like you to be late, Nova.So d'you guys" She then heard Tristan speak beside them. Gesturing at the three of them, he said, "Want to team up?" Team up? When she processed his words, she was suddenly reminded of their task for today. Non-contact battle. She quickly gazed at Mr. Cadwell and saw him preparing his armor. Smiling, obviously besotted with the older guy, she turned back to Tristan and happily replied, "Sure, I'm fine with it. How about you Nova?"

A while after Nina entered and Tristan nudged her. "What's the matter with her? I mean, I imagine that it's William-related...obviously," he informed pointing at Nina's quiet form. She stared at Nina and noticed that she really looked sad. It seems like things didn't go well with William. Arissa was about to answer him, figuring that if Ava wasn't here maybe she and Tristan can go comfort her or something. They're not really that close but still, they do get along and because of Ava they're together most of the time. But suddenly Mr. Cadwell spoke and got her whole attention. She just shrugged at her friend and faced Mr. Cadwell.

When he was done with his inspiring speech, Arissa can't help but beam happily. Arissa, you have the ability to lead your entire team.

Arissa, you have the ability to lead your entire team.

Arissa, you have the ability to lead your entire team.

His words were resounding in her head and she just continued to smile at nothing in particular. Her whole face lighting up, the earlier issue about Nina totally forgotten, she just stared dreamily at the Battle Strategy teacher. Her trip to Lala Land was only broken off by Gregis' entrance. Malcolm's dog. She thought irritated. He seemed to have something to give to the teacher, something about Malcolm and Emilee's absence, she figured.

"Well? Get into teams, quick." And when Mr. Cadwell uttered moments later, Arissa immediately went into leader-mode looking at her classmates.

"Danni you want to be on our team?" She asked the other girl when she heard her question. "After all it will be Peter, Juliette, Portia, Chance and Nina", she added seeing the liar approach Nina. "It won't be fair if there's only three of us." She then gestured to herself, Tristan and Nova, assuming that Nova's fine with the teams.

"Ethy?" She turned to the Child of Hades, a little reluctantly. As much as she could Arissa would rather not want her for the team, but seeing as they were outnumbered she figured she'd have to do with it. She was planning on asking Nina when she came in class but apparently Peter got to her first. "Do you have a team in particular?"

"Danni, you want to be on our team?" Arissa asked her. "After all, Peter, Juliette, Portia, Chance and Nina -" she noticed Arissa look over at something and followed her gaze. Peter was walkning over to Nina. Was he trying to comfort her? Danni raised an eyebrow, and turned back to Arissa. "It won't be fair if there's only three of us," Arissa finished, gesturing to Tristan and Nova. "Ethy?" Arissa added. "Do you have any team in particular?" Danni groaned inwardly. She was pretty good friends with Nova and Arissa, at least, in her opinion, but she didn't really know Ethy, and hadn't been planning to, and Tristan... just, annoys her. For no reason, really. Kind of bitchy, but hey, she was a daughter of Ares, what do you expect? But she understood Arissa's logic. It only made sense for the five of them to be a team. "Sure, I'll be in the team," she agreed.

((Sorry for the short post, I guess I'mjust not feeling very creative at the moment :/))

Ethy had just made her way over to Cadwells class with the remainder of breakfast in her mouth after deciding it was more hassle than it was worth skipping a lesson when she received an invitation off Arissa. Her grey eyes drifted over the group of youths who had gathered to make a "team" with the least enthusiasm. "Ethy? Do you have a team in particular"

Ethy glanced back over her shoulder at the other team whilst chewing the rest of her mouthful. There wasn't really much of a choice. The other side was over populated and she knew why...not many including herself wanted to team up with the likes of Arissa and Tristan. Swallowing her mouthful she cleared her throat and wiped at the corner of her lips. 

"Doesn't look like it" she muttered whilst running a hand through the front of her hair once again. Rolling up her sleeves she glanced to Nova and gave the little ball of sunshine the closest thing to a smile Ethy could be bothered to give. Just to show she was friendly...enough to work with.

"Sure, I'll be in the team" Hearing Danni's reply Arissa let out a genuine smile, not that she's desperate to have the said girl in the team but she figured if she's going to be in the team, there will be another tolerable person around. Danni is somewhat a great girl after all. Nova, well if Nova's okay with their team up, is a nice addition. He's interesting to say the least, but Arissa usually gets mixed feelings about him that just scares her off. Having Danni in her team makes her much more enthusiastic and optimistic than before. She knew about Danni's dislike with Tristan but she just hope that the other girl can live with it. After all wherever Tristan goes in this class, he will surely have Arissa's support.

Arissa then turned to Ethy and listened to her reply with mixed feelings. She didn't let her apprehension show though. No matter how scary the girl acts, she knew she will need her too. Having the ability to control earth will be advantageous for not only defending or but also even for attacking the other team. "Doesn't look like it", she answered and Arissa smiled hesitantly at her, somewhat grateful but still annoyed with her answer. The girl made it seem like they was the last resort and Arissa didn't like it. "Perfect," she replied sarcastically in a false happy voice.

"Ah, Aria, sure you can be with us," She added still in that sweet voice when she heard Aria's inquiry, turning to the girl. She knew she won't be an advantage in the team but since she chose theirs instead of the other, made her efforts a little endearing. Though Arissa also clearly knew that she's with them because of Nova, still she'd have to make up with what she have and maybe like Tristan they can use her clarity, who knows?.

Looking over her teammates and making a mental head count, she groaned inwardly.They're still outnumbered! "Tristan, Danni, Nova, Ethy, Aria and I, I think we should get more," she stated, staring at them one by one. "I'm seeing Chance approach Malcolm and Emilee," the brunette gestured and pointed to Chance who was approaching the two she mentioned. Not that she had a problem with that, she was just calculating the disadvantage they will have.

"What's are strategy? 'Cause we seriously need something to work with, or, lets face it, they'll probably beat the shit out of us. They have some pretty good powers."

"I agree with you about the strategy Danni," she uttered staring at the slumped form of one of the many child of Ares in the Academy. "But really they're not that great and we have interesting abilities too. I have some ideas but I need to make sure of our team first." She then turned to Mr. Cadwell, hopefully, he heard Danni's statement and approve of it. She knew it would be just wishful thinking though, he did specifically told them it will be a non-contact battle. "Don't worry, I have a plan for you it will just depend on what Mr. Cadwell assigns us, will we be the defending or the attacking team?"

"Seems I've no choice but to be on the other team." When she heard this from Lloyd Scarlet a while after, she stared at him a little confused. Whose team, she wanted to ask. She knew nothing much about him aside from the fact that he's a child of Hecate. But noting his arrogant form, she knew he had something up. She shrugged at him to show she heard him but other than that she did nothing.

Instead she stared at Danni and replied nonchalantly with a tinge of smugness, "I'm looking over the dresses my mom sent not long ago. Do you want to see them later?" Everyone else seemed to be hyped up for this dance. Arissa normally attends these events-she also likes organizing these things! But unlike them she doesn't bother herself that much. Of course she always make it a point to become perfect and beautiful, but she's much more interested in seeing Mr. Cadwell in another of those formal tuxes or other form of clothes more than anything. "However let's first focus on this activity, we need to win this one." She concluded smiling expectantly at her.

When she saw their reactions, she tried to think of the words to say. "I'm certain we will think up of something..." she trailed trying to sound cheerful or something of the like. She's not really good with this encouragement thing. She usually demands others to execute their tasks accurately but now that she figured how useless some of them may feel because of this way of fighting, she thought they might need it. She needed them to be in their best condition after all. They won't win if most of them are hesitant and nervous. "Everyone of us is gifted after all..." Flushing lightly as she saw their looks, she then stopped speaking and tried to regain her composure and stated, "I'm expecting each one of you to follow their tasks. I'm going to tell Mr. Cadwell we're going to be the attacker, if that's fine with everyone?"

She approached the other child of Zeus when she finished fastening the armor on. Setting a brilliant smile on her face, she stared at him from under her lashes and asked,"Mr. Cadwell, do we get to choose who will be the attacker or the defender? Because if we could, can we be the attacker?"

(I edited some things, :D)

Arissa had begun to go on a confident spiel about how she would excell in today's mission (he himself was doing more nervous gulping that boasting) but before she could spit out the words, Aria came flying in and crash landed into his chest with a distinctive "thud". She sputtered out the quickest apology he'd ever heard and skittered away red as a tomato. "It's- it's fi-" he was saying, yet he was still teetering around off balance, trying to regain his footing but finding it exceedingly hard with this bulky armor making him lopsided. "Ah! Ah!" he he cried, swaying to the side before ultimately plopping onto the ground. "Mmm, looks like more grass stains for me. The more the merrier, really." he joked, scrambling to his feet. He wondered why he'd even tried to regain his balance. If he would've just let himself fallen down he probably would have saved himself some embarrassment. Oh, well. He brushed off his pants to get any flecks of grass from him and gave a little side glance back at Aria who was now chatting with Peter. A smile crept onto his lips.

Then Cadwell was explaining their assignment today and he found himself getting increasingly more anxious. Oh no. Not capture the flag. The last time they played this, Nova'd left with two black eyes. The worst part? Both had been accidentally self-inflicted. "Nova, one word; fire" he had said, which only made him all the more nervous. See, sure Nova could spark a light or two, but his command over fire was about as good as his command over urination. If he was particularly antsy - and especially if there were people watching - he had a seriously hard time performing. He was no awesome, walking blow torch. More like malfunctioning microwave flicking out embers here and there. Still, he appreciated that Cadwell went out of his way to be nice to he and the rest of the class. He really meant well but, ah, it woudln't stop the sense of impending doom from pounding in his ears.

"...late, Nova." Tristan had said. Nova had sheepishly not heard the start of his sentence, too wrapped up in the tangle of thoughts his brain was spinning like a spindly spider. He just grinned bright at him and nodded, a vague answer to whatever his statement had been. He was fan of Tristian so his friendly face was a nice temporary distraction from the challenge. Then he'd proposed that Arissa, himelf, and Nova would team up. "Yeah, totally. We're like a match made in heaven." he joked, eyes trailing over to the dejected Nina in the back of the class. "Oh..." he said, and he'd just begun to make his way over to her when Peter'd beat him to it. She followed him back to their team and he frowned. He didn't want to have to go up against Nina, a good friend of his, when she was feeling so down. Well, it looked like he didn't have much of a choice.

Nova wasn't able to greet most of the new additions, the rest of that portion a bit of a blur because he'd volunteered to go up and tie their flag to the pole at the end of the field like Cadwell had asked. It was clear that Nova was stressing out. Anyone who knew him would see the strains in his feigned smile, the shutters flexing behind his eyes as he calculated the many ways he could humilate himself during today's class. When he'd gotten back, Danni and Ethy were both on his team. Each of them offered him a small smile - relatively uncharacteristic of the two of them - and he grinned right on back, this one more easy going than before. "Wooo! We got the bamf girls!" he cried, throwing his arms in the air with enthusiasm that was only partially done for comedic purposes. Really, they were spectacular additions to the team.

Then Aria had shuffled on over, mewing out a shy "Need an extra?" perhaps he'd been stepping some lines onto Arissa's team leader position, but he wooted out a "YEAH!" followed by, "Only if you promise not to shove me to the floor again, that is." It was clear there was no ill intent in his little jab. Then they were talking about strategy and Nova'd found that words had escaped him once more, any of that easy going brightness quickly being replaced with uneasiness once more. If anyone'd paid attention, they'd hear a nervous little twitter at the word "attacker". Nova was not an attacker - not offensive on any level of the word. Still, objecting would mean putting their whole team at a disadvantage if what Arissa said was true, and voicing complaints about his own inefficiencies seemed hardly the route to go to foster team spirit. "Yeah...!" he'd weakly crowed to his group, the lamest input yet. He looked over his team and kind of chuckled. They were not really a cohesive unit of friends, but more class mates who'd been wrapped together for a common goal. He looked over at the other, larger team to see that all of them could probably be seen hanging around each other after class very happily. His eye trailed to Will who was just kind of standing there in the center of the field and a frown tugged on his lips.

Before he knew what he was doing, his feet had begun to trail over to where he was standing. He and Will were not really friends. Not friends at all, actually. He hadn't recalled speaking to him once in his life, but he was sure they knew of each other and he couldn't simply stand by as he was literally ostracized from every single class mate. Sure, he'd done some mean things and sure a whole lot of people disliked him for said mean things, but no one deserved to be so... alone. He'd gotten all the way over to him, standing a couple feet away, before he realized he had no idea what he'd planned on saying. He'd merely acted on impulse. "Ah, eh, hey Will." he peeped. "Are you feeling alright, man...? Do you want to be on our team?" he asked, not even taking into consideration how little some of his other team mates liked Will.

---

Boone sat in his desk, chuckling here and there when the time called for it, but indeed, remained silent throughout their debate. The children were only just now stating their initial opinions on the fluffy white thing on the stool. The real fun would come when they seriously had to pick a resolve and go with it - something that could be harder than you'd imagine, especially with such a large group.

When Ruby and Ducky came slinking in, giving him the shittiest excuse he'd ever heard, he let out some annoyed grumbles but other than that rolled his eyes and made a motion directing them to take a seat. While he would love to chew them out for being late, he really couldn't talk for the rest of the assessment. If he explained the assignment again, he could bias their opinions or say something misleading. Besides, how the students framed the evaluation in explaining to Ducky and Ruby would alter how they perceived it, which would be interesting to watch nonetheless. He remained the silent observer for now.

Chloe Huntington

Chloe's head swivelled from the delightful conversation about how they were, or if they were going to kill a defenceless bunny rabbit, when Ducky walked in, and she couldn't stop the laugh from escaping her mouth as he rambled his elaborate excuse for being late. "I take it that you took the Hobbits to Isengard too in the process? That would explain the length of time." She spoke to him, ignoring the fact that he had spoken to the blonde bitch. Then, she turned back to their group and frowned. The conversations flew around her; half of the group saying that they should kill the bunny, repeat bunny, and the others saying that it was a poor animal who should be spared. "I still stand on the ground that Keating over there is playing us, and I don't want to stand around and watch you kill a little rabbit." She stood up from her chair, grabbed her back and walked over to Boone's desk, a smile on her face. "Mr Keating, sir, I'm not feeling too well, so I'm going to head back to my dorm and sleep a little. My answer is 'don't kill the rabbit, it's a rabbit for fuck sake.' That okay? Thank you, I'll catch up with you later! Bye!"

And with that, she whirled out of the classroom door.

Okay, so Chloe didn't really feel unwell. However, she didn't want to see the guts of a rabbit all over the classroom, and her ears filled with the screams of vanity coming from Ava, so she had decided to escape. An idea popped into her head about what she could do in her spare time, but before she went in the direction of Cadwell's class, she turned around to look behind her. Boone wouldn't follow her out; he knew her well enough to know by now that when she was gone, she was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. Besides, he had her answer; she had done his test. It was just up to her classmates now to finish it. There was a skip in her step and she swung her bag as she made her way towards the Training Area. She watched the class from behind the trees for a moment, and when she magically caught her best friend's eye, she signalled for him to run away with her, only for a little bit.

She winked at him cheekily, before turning away once more, hiding behind the trees. Come on Chance. Come hang with me.

---

William Hawk

Will almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a weight on his back, and he flung his arms backwards, to catch the mysterious woman who was clinging on to him, like a koala onto a eucalyptus tree. "Well, hello Jackie. Yes, I was thinking, something which I don't do too fucking often. I actually think I've broken my bloody nose. Can you look? What do you think?" He paused for a moment as he showed her his bleeding nose, knowing that it wouldn't affect her like it would affect other girls. She wasn't scared of a little blood. Also, she was the only person that he would actually trust, with something like this, other than Nina of course - but she wasn't speaking to him. To every other girl in this place, he had to be the "macho man" that his reputation showed him to be, and he couldn't let that facade down. But Jackie knew him better than that, and he couldn't hide anything from her any more. He had tried, as hard as anyone had tried to do anything before, but she always found him out; but that was Jacqueline Christie for you.

"Yeah, 'lots of girls' are going to be swooning over me with a purple and bruised face, aren't they?" He sighed as she pulled back from inspecting him, and they made their way to class, slowly but surely. He felt slightly dizzy from his accident, and really wasn't in the mood to fight any more. His power was pretty crappy anyway - he was able to see every move that someone could make, his eyes being extremely sharp, but that was it. On a pirate ship, he would have been the one with the wooden leg, up in the crows nest on look out. That was all he was good for. "What about you, eh? All those guys after you? Anyone in particular yet, honey?" He nudged her playfully, but then winced almost instantly, the movement sending shocks up to his face.

Soon, they were in the lesson, and everyone was getting ready, except him. He was standing in the middle like a lemon, not knowing what to do. It was strange to see William Hawk just standing around not socializing with anyone, or flirting with girls, so it was a surprise to him that Nova cautiously made his way towards him. He didn't like Nova, purely because of his sissy-like attitude, but it was pretty ballsy of the guy to come up to him, and ask him to join his team. He reached his hand up and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as they stood there in a strange atmosphere, trying his best to muster up words from the bottom of his stomach. "Erm... Thanks, Nova. But, I've kinda' injured myself. So, I might s-sit this first one out. But... y'know... thanks, man, for offering. Maybe when I'm feeling a little better?" He said, nodding to the guy, making the first friendly gesture he had ever made to him. When Nova returned to his group, Will turned around to Cadwell, looking sheepish. "Yeah, I've destroyed my nose. Is it okay to sit out for a little bit? I feel a bit... woozy."

---

Lukas Tricon

Luke didn't pay much attention to the two new people entering the classroom. He was kind of in his own little world today, too busy thinking about other things to focus on the comings and goings of other people. Then suddenly, he felt a sharp pain running through his ear, and he whipped his head around, glaring playfully at Clover. "Excuse me, missy?" He asked her, raising his eyebrow at her actions. However, his playful anger soon fell away as she mimed being Cerebus, the guard of the underworld. He laughed at her as she did so, and slowly put his hands on top of hers, bringing them down onto her lap. "Now now, Clover. What have we said about imitating mythical creatures? Yes, honey, it makes you look like a lunatic." He smiled to her, before placing another soft kiss onto her cheek, just to reiterate to her that he was only joking around. The bracelet on her arm glinted in the sunlight for a moment, drawing his eye to it, making him smile. He thought back to the expression on her face when she first saw it around her wrist, and in that moment, he realised how lucky he actually was to have such an amazing girl. Ironically, with her being the daughter of Tyche.

"You know how I feel about animals, Clover. I love them to pieces. But... I don't really want to take any risks." Lukas almost had to stop himself from spinning around and incinerating Sinclair then and there at his next comment. Lukas had always been a kind soul, but ever since he had started dating Clover, and Sinclair had turned more sarcastic and cynical towards him, Luke felt like he was slowly loosing that kindness, his patience, and his caring nature towards all living things. "All living things" now did not include Sinclair in his eyes. It was like the male was slowly trying to torment him, to turn him insane in his own mind, to make him feel unworthy of being with Clover by upsetting her with his actions. Sinclair knew all of the ways to push Lukas' buttons; that was what happened when friends became enemies.

"I still think we should kill it, even though I want no part in it. We could always use Sinclair as bait, to see if it really is a monster. If anyone's going to bring out the monster in someone, it's him." He smiled sardonically. His arm came around the back of Clover's chair, wrapping his arm around her shoulder like a normal boyfriend would do. He felt himself calm down more and more as he relaxed, and when he took her other hand into his, he felt completely at ease.

Keating's eye twitched once or twice during the "class discussion". It peeved him a tad- okay, maybe a tad was a bit of an understatement - that so few of his students were taking this whole ordeal seriously. His irritation only grew as they idly chattered on as if this wasn't a large portion of their grade. It even got so bad that Chloe went so far as to perkily swoop out of his class after he'd just waited for her arrival to begin. It was her grade and she had the right to throw it away if she wanted, yes, but it was his ego and when it was being poked at he had a tendency to snap. He pinched the bridge of his nose, focusing on heavy breathing so he didn't explode. "Temper, temper!" he could picture his wife always saying. Suddenly, the urge to growl obscenties at the infernal blue eyed girl had dissipated and he was left with a twang of hollowness. Well, there went his rage but it seemed to have been replaced by an unwelome memory.

By the time he'd been through sulking in the past, he looked up to see Sinclair approaching the front of the class room. If he hadn't been so sobered up at the moment, he might have reacted more than simply raising his brows a tad. Oh, he wasn't... he woudln't possibly... Ah, well, it seemed all logic and reasoning had, in fact, vanished from the building. He kept his face straight the entire time though he had to admit, he honestly had not expected this. When the stupid boy had even gone so far as to pet the fluffy creature, though, he coudln't help it. He face palmed and laughed one of those laughs that weren't actually a laugh but more of a grim and dark expressions of "are you fucking kidding me?" The boy turned around to grin like a proud babboon (seemed to suit him this morning) which was the exact time that the sweet little bunny rabbit a mere inches away from his face began to act peculiarly.

Suddenly, it began to twitch and sputter as if it was choking on something large, but the convulsions turned more violent and disturbing in a very short amount of time. Suddenly its whole body was racked with the shivers and then... two gnrarly heads sprouted on other side of the bunny's, and its body began to grow in size, doubling in a matter of seconds. The sound of joints cracking and skin tearing roared like a symphony in front of the class room. It leapt from the stool onto the floor where it hissed and snarled at Sinclair, fangs bared. It made gestures like any intimidated beast did - not necesssarily like it was just dying to take a bite out of you, but like it was frightened and would attack if you didn't back off. Boone had to hide his smirk behind his hand, but he really wanted to laugh at the whole class' expressions. He was able to hold it back so that only one snorted chuckle came out but he pretended it was a cough. "What idiots." he thought, still bound to his vow of silence.

---

Okay, so maybe walking up to some guy he didn't even know when he was clearly somewhat out of it hadn't been the best social move on his part. As soon as he saw William raise his hand to sheepishly rub the back of his neck, shying away from the entirely awkward exchange, Nova suddenly wished he had been born with the power of invisibility or to turn back time or even levitation so he could immediately fly off into the distance where he could berate himself for his innate ability to screw up most every social interaction up in space. He sort of cringed- not the full fledged "I'm in pain" sort of cringe but more of a casual face you'd make when someone proposed that you all go skinny dipping completely sober - and nodded in response. Well, at least Hawk had been nice about it. "Yeah, er, ah... don't... mention it." he muttured back in response, not quite able to meet his eyes. The words were more sincere than he'd care to admit. Indeed, mentioning this awkward exchange again didn't seem to be in the best of interest of either party memeber. What had he been thinking? He gave a half hearted wave before slinking back off to his group like an injured puppy dog.

He came back to his group with a feigned smile but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Well, ready to attack like a pack of vicious sloths?" he asked, cracking his neck on either side as he did. He would be an optimist, he would be an optimist, he would be an optimist... He met the nervous face of Aria who seemed to be thinking the same thing he was. How in the hell were they going to pull this assignment off? He grinned wryly at her.

Still smiling expectantly, Arissa patiently waited for the battle strategy teacher's answer. She knew that Mr. Cadwell is not the one to favor a group to another, being a man with a strong sense of justice and fairness, and because of that he may resort to have them draw lots or anything of the like just to decide who will be the attacker or defender for this game. Seeing that her team can't afford to lose the chance to be the attacker, she opted to speak out several of the reasons why they should be allowed to strike first.

"Mr. Cadwell, I think the best choice for everyone of us is to be the attacking team, I don't think the other group has a problem with it. Besides you can clearly see how outnumbered we are. If we are to be the defending team, we will surely lose without batting an eyelash."

She gestured nonchalantly to her teammates, making Mr. Cadwell see how few they are compared to the other group. As she expected, Emilee and Malcolm did join the other team together with Lloyd Scarlet and because of that she strengthened her enthusiasm to show her favorite teacher that though they are receiving the short stick for this game, her team will still be the one winning this battle.

She became silent for a moment before gracing Mr. Cadwell one her indulging smiles, "Thank you Mr. Cadwell, we will certainly do our best for this task!" Arissa beamed at the black-haired teacher, assuming that he will not argue with her logic and started walking back to where Tristan and the others are.

Now that she's walking to where they are currently situated, the brunette can see how truly disheartened her team members looked. She knew perfectly well that they are thinking how are they going to pull off as the attackers but she paid much concern. Once they agreed to have her in the team; she decided that if they wanted to win this, they would have to at least tolerate her being the leader, along with that her decisions and strategies for the group. She may not be a great battle strategist like the children of Athena or Ares, but still she have common sense and enough wit to think of the most plausible scenario to succeed in this one.

Impishly smiling at them, she stopped in front and called their attention. If these people were her own mandatory group-mates for a certain class activity or assignment, she'd surely do all she could to make them snap into focus and out of that depressed bubble they coated themselves in, unattached and without one care for their emotional being. But they are not, and studying this scene in another perspective, she knew that of this would be the most critical one where she can't afford to lose team members.

She really needed their help if she wanted to show Mr. Cadwell how dedicated and devoted she is to his classes.

Looking at Aria and Nova, both of those who looked more flustered out of the five, she tried nodding to them encouragingly. She knew that she will have to try being a little 'compassionate' for these groups else she'd face utter embarrassment in front of Mr. Alexander Cadwell, the only teacher who's most worthy listening to in this Academy.

Squaring her shoulders and gathering all of the patience she can muster, she pasted an innocent smile in her face. "OK, now that we have confirmed the standings for the set-up of each team, I would like to explain the plans now. If any of you has problems with it, I would hear about them after I speak."

She spoke to them in an authoritative manner, her voice loud enough to be heard but still softer than normal to avoid eavesdropping from the other team. She stared at them individually, looking at each one of them before addressing the group as a whole once again.

"I know we're not close and because of that I don't think we'd have enough team dynamics to win this battle if we are on the defense. If we are to defend for this round, we will be pulverized in a matter of seconds into the game. I know this because in order to successfully defend a base you must have general awareness and trust with each other. Which a thing we lack, obviously. My only condition for you guys is this, do your task well. Perform your best and I'm dead certain that we will win." She stopped talking and watched their different reactions.

Moments later when she thought she'd given them enough time, she continued still maintaining the same stance from before. "I'm going to give your tasks and parts for this team." Arissa approached the Child of Hephaestus and the one who can control fire in their group. She knew how clumsy and accident-prone he is and she considered not having him with the attacking group. She looked at him and pointed to the pole with their flag nearby.

"Nova, I want you to create a ring of fire around the pole that would make a barrier for our flag from the other team. I saw how arrogant Lloyd looked before and I'm sure he's got some annoying plans. Do not let them take our flag at all cost."

She then turned to the others, her eyes casting calculatingly towards Danni and Tristan first before going over to the remaining team members, "You two will be the ones who will approach the other team and attack them. Tristan don't fail to use your ability, like what Mr. Cadwell told us. Aria, I want you to sneak behind the other team if you can, be discreet about it as much as possible. But if you cannot continue with this task, also use your clarity to ensure that none of us gets mad with Portia's ability. Ethy, you and I will support Danni and Tristan. I want you to create earthquakes or anything that would disrupt their formations and defenses. I would do the same. We should make sure to attack Portia, for obvious reasons and then Juliette and Emilee since that foresight things of theirs would be a hindrance to our team. Do you have any objections?"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



Once she entered her room, the first thing that Nissa did after setting her things on a nearly table, is to open the curtains wide open to allow the morning sunlight to enter the darkened room. She aired the little dust that accumulated out of the room deciding against opening the air conditioner so early during the day. Tucking some of the stray hairs away of her face, she started her morning routine of partially cleaning things, this time every bit of dirt she can find.

After finishing this, she went over her table and neatly arranged her things on top of it. She's not normally this orderly daily but there are certain times that Nissa spontaneously cleans every dust and dirt that her eyes comes across.

Remembering her class schedule and having an inkling to what the planned lessons of Mr. Keating and Mr. Cadwell are- adding to the fact the ball which will be held later that night, the brown-haired girl can simply deduce that her students will not be focused on the class this afternoon. She'll have to change that though. Some of the students easily take Greek Mythology for granted because they thought they knew everything they had to know about it.

As a lover of the Greek Mythology itself, Nissa can clearly (and adamantly) attest that there's more to be learned about the subject. She will make it certain to have her students see that too.

Opening her lesson plan, she compared her notes from previous activities for the day. She never lets herself get into a monotonous way of teaching that would surely add fuel for the excuse of seeing Greek Myth as something boring. Recalling the plan she conjured during the crack of dawn, she was glad to see that she never tried this kind of approach before. No doubt, her students will be surprised with what she have for them later on.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=



Lance shut his phone off forcibly, irritation playing in his features. Running his right palm over his face, he lied back down on his bed with a soft plop. He stared at the ceiling of his room, lost in his thoughts. The latest conversation with his girlfriend is still running through his mind.

"I can't talk to you right now, Lance."

He can still hear her voice, weary and full of exhaustion. It was as if this thing had been making a great toll on her, which the Child of Poseidon knew quite well. He himself is getting tired of the fighting over and over again. Judging things from before, their relationship months ago had been much more tolerable than it was right now. He didn't know what went wrong, but every time, without fail, they will always find something to argue about. Be it her disappearing acts or his suffocating ways, anything seemed to easily ruffle both their patience into oblivion.

He let out a tired sigh and unconsciously stared at the alarm clock near his bed. He never bothered to use the damned thing, he preferred to wake up by himself during the time he usually wanted to. The annoying penguin shaped clock had been a gift from his father, back when he thought it would be a great idea to prank his 16 year-old son.

Grabbing the clock, feeling his irritation ebbing away, he noted that he should have been at Boone's class an hour ago. Figuring that he was too late to attend, he might as well pass class for today. He took off his crumpled shirt, the one that he slept with since last night and went into the bathroom. Taking off his other clothes, he entered the shower and turned it on, clearing his head away from the negative thoughts.

And it did help a lot. There is something in the water that soothes him,. It may be of the fact that he is a Child of Poseidon, the god over the waters and oceans but also because there is some sense of tranquility that water never fails to provide. He can never explain it, but the water calls to him in ways he can't give words into.

He didn't know how long he had stayed in there. But after he turned off the knob of the shower close; he had felt more relaxed than before. He decided he'll just give Jessica some time. It was what both of them needed anyway. Approaching their situation with hot heads will not make it better. A day. He concluded. He'd give her a day, one full day to cool off and after that, he will allow her to explain her latest disappearance.

Chloe Huntington

Chloe's head popped out of her bedroom door, peering sneakily around. She was on the look out for any of her brothers, well, half brothers really, or that silly boy Chance. Most mornings, it was a race between the children of Poseidon to reach the banks of the lake, to try and nab the best spot that there was for swimming, and keeping towels dry. Sometimes even Nathan Hensleigh, the good old History teacher sometimes came to the lake in the mornings, for a wake-up dip. She was the only daughter of Poseidon at Olympus Academy, which meant she had a reputation to uphold. Her dorm room was one of those closest to the lake, so she had a little of a head start when it came to getting there first. She spotted no movement with her eyes, and decided that the coast was clear. She felt like she was part of MI5, as she crept her way cautiously towards the lake, keeping her eyes open for any signs of a water demi-god.

With her towel slung over her shoulder, and the lake in sight, Chloe was soon whistling a happy tune as she walked. It seemed as if she was the first one to arrive, with no other towels around or any movement in the water. She could be totally wrong; they didn't all rush to the lake every morning, maybe the boys were having a lie-in? Who knew. She plopped her towel down by the big oak tree that stood next to the water, the only large mass of shade around, and slipped out of her outfit, revealing her bikini underneath.

Then, she disappeared under the waves, diving in perfect form into the deepest end of the lake. She stayed under the water for a good few minutes, her eyes open, looking around at the scenery she had grown so accustomed to over the years that she had been at Olympus Academy. She let out a few soft breaths, the bubbles appearing in front of her making her giggle. They always did - sometimes, in moments like this, she couldn't believe that she actually was breathing underwater, or her father was the brother of the all powerful Zeus - but it was all true. After a few tranquil moments of being under the water, she began to kick her feet, propelling her body upwards. Within seconds, her head broke the surface, her eyes closed, blocking them from the already scorching sunshine.

---

Lukas Tricon

Lukas groaned and buried his head deeper under his duvet, as the insistent beeping of his alarm clock rung through his ears, begging him to wake up and get a start to the day. But today, he wasn't feeling like waking up, getting out of bed, and being the happy boy that he had been a few weeks ago. Because he wasn't that boy any more. Nope, he was shriveling, weeping mess. That sounds really unmasculine and soppy, but it was true. Lukas had barely left his dorm room in weeks, only for food, occasional lessons, or when his twin Nova had literally dragged him out into the sunshine. He couldn't help it though - everything reminded him of her. His Clover.

She had been at this school, the Olympus Academy for Demi-Gods for a little while, but had dumped him and left the campus on their one year anniversary. She hadn't given him a reason; she had just stopped talking to him, packed up all of her things, and left. She had even dropped off the little silver charm bracelet onto his doorstep on her way out. He had never felt about anyone the way he did about Clover, and she had literally crushed him, and took every bit of happiness and life out of him with her, wherever she had gone to. Going outside reminded him of her, the sunrise reminding him of her gorgeous red hair, the chirping of birds reminding him of her melodious voice when she sang, the laughing of other girls around the campus reminding him how much he had loved hearing her laugh. He hated himself for feeling this way, for not hating her for leaving him like this, for feeling so sorry for himself that he couldn't do anything any more - but he just couldn't help it. She had been his rock, his life, his everything, and she had broken him.

Without her around, Lukas had closed up - not just himself into his room, but he had closed off her personality, his happiness, and his friends. Many had tried to coax him out of his room, but he hadn't wanted to leave - when he was in this sort of mood, Lukas was an extremely stubborn boy, and it would take a miracle to get him to move now. His hand reached out from underneath the warmth of his quilt, smacking the button on top of his alarm, snooze.

Today wasn't the day to be getting up and out into the world again.
Today was another wallowing-in-self-pity day.

---

Vanessa Tate

R.I.P. to the girl you use to see.
Her days are over, baby she's over...

Rita Ora's song played through the headphones, leading the song into the ears of the Latina woman. Her feet pounded against the forest floor as she ran, each foot smacking against the dirt in time with the beat. Her breath was steady as she made her way through her ready-made path, weaving in and out of the trees, dodging roots and ducking underneath branches. Every morning, Vanessa woke up at six AM, put on her jogging clothes, plugged her iPod into her ears, and left as quietly as she could, heading out into the woods for a two hour run. When she was running, Ness felt a sense of freedom flow through her, as if she could never be caught, never be confined, and never be ensnared. She was at her very best and happiest when she was running, and she always had a smile upon her face.

Ness had been a runner for as long as she could remember, and coming to Olympus Academy hadn't changed anything. Her running time had grown, from only being half an hour when she first arrived here, to the two hours that she would do every morning now. Sometimes she takes her bow and arrow with her, and do a little bit of archery practice, but she found that it was slightly irritating to run with, even with it slung over her back. So this morning, like most, it was just her, her music and the nature surrounding her.

Ness' mood instantly dropped slightly as she came out of the glades, as it usually did, her sense of freedom and care-freeness disappearing as she left behind the comfort of the trees. She slowed down, stopping her run, so that she was walking, and pulled her earphones out. She paused for a moment, resting her palms on her knees, taking in a few deep breaths. She could see the dorms now, and knowing that a shower was just minutes away, her mood brightened back up again. Reaching up to her hair, the Latina pulled out her ponytail, letting her long brunette waves tumble down her back. A small wave was sent in the direction of Jules, daughter of Apollo, who was walking past her, before she entered into her room.

After just under an hour, she was out of the shower, ready made up, and exiting her room dressed in this, heading towards her history classroom.

When it came to the Tricons siblings, it was almost kind of funny how often their roles switched. Lukas was seen by the general public as the more mature, practical, and functional of the two - truly more of an older brother than an identical twin at times... which was true. Nova couldn't deny his childish antics and overall naievity. But it had always seemed that when heart break struck, suddenly Nova adopted a new disposition, a guard dog of sorts. Even when their grandmother (who'd raised them as children like the mother they'd tragically lost at an early age) died a few years back, Lukas had been absolutely torn to pieces and continued to be for ages, while Nova was somehow able to move on and understand a loss for what it was- a building block to new grounds. Then again, perhaps Nova's reaction was less mature because of this, too, like a child barely bothered by much of anything at all. No matter who was wrong or who was right (did that even exist anymore?) Nova couldn't help but be reminded of that time now as he watched his brother crumble to pieces among himself over his ex-girl, Clover. He doubted that the boy had even heard him enter his dorm, but he knew he wouldn't really mind all too much. This was the kid who'd bathed with him for years as children, so privacy kind of goes down the drain at that point.

"Lukas, I made you some brownies." Nova said simply, voice chipper but not overbearingly so- just a dash of sunlight piercing through the dark room. Speaking of which, he waltzed in and placed the tray on the table before kicking off his shoes and scurrying to turn the lights on in one motion. "Gotta get outta bed today, Lukey. Got class." he stated, less of a nag and more of a fact. He used the nickname their grandparents had given him simply by habit, not really realizing that it could have somehow been an emasculating gesture. He made his way back over to where his twin was situated, unwrapping one of the chocolatey treats, plopping down next to him, pulling the covers down his face, and waving the baked good in front of his nose. Nova completely disregarded any signs of tear staining or runny noses, treating the moping boy like he would have any other day.

Nova may have been somewhat bad at handling social situations, but he knew his brother, and knew not to mention anything about Clover or how he was feeling. That much was apparent. Clover had destroyed him, one hundred percent. She was a great gal, but Nova couldn't say it was terribly surprising. She was prone to fits of wild mental afflictions and sometimes, no matter how great those are around you happen to be, you just have to get out of somewhere in order to feel free. It was a rude and selfish thing Clover had done, but Nova could understand why she'd done it. Naturally, he wished it hadn't affected his other half the way it had. He was surprised when the voice of Ava could be heard after a quiet knocking. “Lukas, I know you don’t want to talk to anyone, but I brought you some breakfast... I’ll just leave it outside ya door.” she had said. Nova's eyebrows raised and he regarded the surprising visit. When he thought about it, he supposed they were rather good friends. "They love ya, they really love ya!" he called out, more to humor himself than his brother. But it was true! Lukas had tons and tons and tons of friends who were just dying to see him bright and happy again, and Nova wanted that more than anything as well in this current moment. As if being snapped out of a reverie, he began waving the brownie back in his face again. "Come on, eat up. They're really good. I already had six so I'd know."

---

Good ol' Mr. Keating was feeling rather... well... sour. He was seated in his usual classroom at his usual chair in his usual tie with the usual, signature coffee mug, and he was processing through the dull but potent heach ache that throbbed at the back of his temples. He hadn't done much sleeping. To be honest, he hadn't gotten any at all - and not because he was chasing up skirts but because he was too bothered to do it. It seemed lately that he was just increasingly more and more frustrated, a certain level of irritability crawling up his spine and locking him in a choke hold for the past couple weeks. Because I refused to acknowledge the possibility of him having feelings that possibly needed sorting through, that meant that he'd hit a lot of reading and had reclused more these days, spending less time in the teacher's lounge to socialize and more time in his own living arrangements, cooped up to spend hours at a time emersing himself in other worlds that were as far, far, far away from his terrbily fucked up one. That is, when he wasn't hassling Nate or Amarie.

Where was he again? Oh. Right. Power control class. Today would be an ordinary day where he'd order the class to work on demonstrating their skills and walk up to ones who needed appropriate guidance or congratulations. This meant that all the desks were pushed to the side, leaving a big empty space in the middle of his room. He sighed, taking a deep gulp of coffee before dipping his nose back into the spine of Everything Is Illuminated. Why was he assigned morning classes again? Oh, yeah, because the universe hated him.

Chloe Huntington

Everything about the water relaxed her - the feel of it against her skin, enveloping every curve of her body, the sound of it in her ears, reminding her of the sea that her father once saved her from, and the smell of it, that smell that you can only get from natural bodies of water. It was peaceful, tranquil, and with no-one else around to interrupt it and take it away from her, Chloe felt at peace. She moved in the water, shifting her body so that it was almost resting on top of the lake, her hands at her sides, moving her around as she pleased. Her eyes were closed as she floated there, and soon, a soft lullaby that her grandmother had sung to her as a child was coming from her lips. Only when she felt truly happy would she delve down deep enough to pull the lullaby from her memory, and have the courage to sing it out loud. That was physical proof at how tranquil she actually felt. She pushed aside all thoughts of classes and assignment as she floated, drifting through the water, moving through her lake, feeling free.

However, the peacefulness of her morning didn't last long, and soon, she began to feel another presence entering the lake. The sound of feet on the grass, the masculine breathing, and then the movement of the water as the person moved in, deeper and deeper, towards her. Her large blue eyes opened slowly, and she turned her head to the right, her half brother's voice hitting her ears as she did so. She was closer to Fen than she was with Lance and Nate; she didn't know why. Maybe it was because she felt she had to protect innocent little Fen, and cared about him more than she did about her womanizing teacher, or mysteriously confusing half-brother. She could feel some sort of tension radiating off of him, through that strange emotionally link that most of the students had with each other, and with at least one teacher. However, as soon as his feet touched the water, and he moved in deeper, the tension began to eradicate, and he joined her on the same, tranquil plain that she had been once since entering the water herself.

"Fen honey, it's never too early to be in the water. You should know this by now." Chloe smiled at him, her hand flicking a few droplets of water in her half-brother's direction. Her eyes slowly slid closed again as she continued to float, now not bothered by the new presence in the lake. If it had been anyone else, she probably would have swum to the edge and left. However, not Fen. Fen was one of her best friends, and her closest sibling out of the three that she had.

---

Luke Tricon

Lukas had nearly dozed back off into his dream world of no pain, when he heard that irritatingly happy voice of Nova hit his ears. He squeezed his eyes tighter as the boy began to speak at an alarmingly fast pace, talking to him about brownies. Then, he smelt the sickly sweetness of the chocolate as his brother waved it in front of his nose, and he buried his head into the mattress, trying to get away from it before it made him sick. He tried so hard to drift back off into oblivion, to go back to his dream world where he was happy with the girl of his dreams. In his dreams, Clover was still with him, still wearing his charm bracelet, and smiling every time he looked at her. He hated coming out of his sleep and realizing that it really all was just a dream, which is why he was willing himself, almost pleading with himself, to go back there.

"Ugh...Nova, no." Luke groaned to the boy that was chirpily bustling around his room, and he tried to pull the duvet back up over his face. However, his attempt was futile, as his younger brother was sitting on it, so he quickly gave up and went back to pressing his face into his pillow. Why couldn't Nova leave him alone? He wasn't interested in getting out of bed today, unless Clover was standing right outside his door. Then he'd be out in seconds. He knew that he couldn't stay in this bed, in this room, in this state for the rest of his life, but for the next few days and weeks, it seemed like the best option to the son of Hephaestus. His fingers were itching to make something, to fix something, to work on anything, but he couldn't even will himself to climb out of bed. His pathological needs would have to wait for a while, as he wallowed in self misery.

Then, he heard the beautiful voice of Ava Sawyer outside of his room, and his head briefly popped out from under the duvet, although not far enough to give him brother any false hope of him actually getting out. Awh, she had brought him some breakfast. How nice. Ava was the only other person on this planet who would be understand half of what he was feeling right now. She was Clover's best friend, and that meant that she was feeling the same emptiness and hollowness that he was. His head crept back under the safety of his duvet as Nova began to call out, too loudly for his tired ears. "I don't want any brownies... they're too sweet... not hungry anyway." His voice was dry and his throat was scratchy as he spoke, It had been ages since he had eaten a proper meal, or drank something substantial. He was becoming ill, but he didn't care.

---

Ness Tate

Vanessa hadn't really heard Ava's voice as she made her way to the history classroom that she had been avoiding. She hadn't been to a lesson since Nate had arrived and taken over; who could blame her? She was angry at him, infatuated by him, and cursed by him. Angry, because she had searched for him the moment she had turned eighteen. She had tried to call him, or get in contact with him somehow. She had promised him that she would as soon as she became an adult. However, she couldn't reach him. It was as if he had fallen off of the face of the Earth; and it practically shattered her heart. It was only then that she realized how he must have seen her. A sixteen year old, innocent little girl ready for the taking. Had he really just used her like that? She hadn't given himself over to her, which was a good thing in her eyes, but she had opened up her heart for him. And what had he done? He had crushed it, like a bug.

She made her way confidently towards the history classroom that she had been so happy to avoid, now with her head held high. Every girl in the school was cooing over this man, her man, and she had left her room early to make sure that she could have a few minutes alone with him, just to talk. However, as soon as that door opened and she saw him standing there, she felt her knees buckle. Three years, it had been since she had been this close to him. Three years since she had promised him that they would be together again someday. It took her all of her strength to not push him up against the wall right now and take them back to when she was sixteen, that day in the woods, the day he had first kissed her, and she had felt his passion. She couldn't believe that she was actually thinking like this; this wasn't her. But she couldn't help it. He brought out that wild side in her more than anyone she had met before. She wasn't that silly, innocent little girl that he had known back then - she had grown up, at least a little bit, and acted more like a woman now, than a child. Ness couldn't help but feel him stiffen slightly as he saw that she was there, but she kept her head high, and even forced herself to smile slightly at him. "Good morning Nate. Or is it Mr Hensleigh, now?"

Ness walked into the classroom and dropped her back down onto one of the desks, nearest the door. "Since when have you called me Vanessa, anyway?" She smiled, her confidence growing more and more, along with her smile. However, before she could do any more, or actually speak to him, she was interrupted by one of her best friends in the entire world, Jules. One of the two people she trusted more than anything. And one of the people that she almost despised for liking Nate. Of course, she didn't hate her - Jules was like her sister - however, she couldn't help but feel slightly irritated by the way that she had her eyes on him. "Hey Jules." She grinned brightly, pulling herself up on to the same desk, so that she was sitting next to her friend. "I'm good thanks honey, how are you?" Then, almost instantly after, the other best friend arrived - darling Ava. Again, they were like sisters, and again, this girl had a crush on the man that she had ... loved. "Ava! Morning, sweetie."

The sun shone through the blinds and cast it’s heated rays upon the fair face of Jaymie Wynters. It lit up her rich red hair and dragged the unconscious girl into the light of day. She squinted in the glare of the morning sun and rolled over with a groan.

“Gees who left the blinds open” she mumbled irritably.

Lifting her head up she glanced over at her sister Evie who seemed to also be stirring. Giving her eyes a rub Jaymie tossed her quilt away and staggered over to the shower. She hopped in and out barely giving the shower a chance to heat up. Strolling about in the nude knowing Evie wouldn’t mind considering she was still dozy Jay went through her drawers and pulled out some clothes to wear for the day. Judging by the sun it was down to be a scorcher.
Glancing in the mirror she ruffled up her gorgeous red hair and wiped away any excess makeup under her eyes with a cotton bud. Once her panda eyes were gone she popped on a new layer of mascara and left it at that.

“Boon is awaiting” she mused to herself before picking up her clutch bag that held her note book inside. Heading towards the door she called out to Evie.

“See you in a minute.”

Her stomach was rumbling something BAD and she was craving cheese like a mouse. Strolling in the morning sun wondering why she wore black today Jaymie slowed when she noticed a tray of breakfast sitting outside a room. Her stomach gurgled unhelpfully at the sight of it. With a cautious glance over her shoulder she approached it and picked up the apple sitting amongst other delicious edible items.

Taking a bite out of it she rapped on the door with her knuckles before taking liberties and moving over to the window to stick her head through.


“Hey you do know there’s a breakfast sitting out here waiting to catch flies right?”