Colby Haskins's Story

Noctrem’s former headmaster was about as keen on early mornings as most of his students. Less so, perhaps. If he hadn’t been billeting himself at the same motel as the kids, there wouldn’t have been a shot in Hell of him getting aboard the coach bus he’d hired to transport them to Arcana. He’d probably have still been in his apartment, asleep, if that were the case. He would have liked to have slept through the entire day, if he could have. Maybe the entire year. Maybe the rest of his life. Cain, he reminded himself, We’ve been over this. What you’re describing is basically suicide.

He had been in rare form for the days leading up to the move. Yes, on a rational, adult level he understood that this was a good thing. That in the most technical sense, Leo was doing him a solid allowing his misfits and miscreants to take up semi-permanent (Oh Gods he hoped it was only semi-permanent) residence at his ostentatious school. Until Noctrem was rebuilt, it was a much better option than any of the others that they’d manage to come up with, even if it was slowly withering his soul away. He hated the idea of owing Leonardo Marinos anything other than a beatdown that was hundreds of years behind schedule. He was repulsed by not having utter control over the school, never mind his classroom.

He’d taken the front, rightmost seat of the bus. A pair of dark aviators hid his bloodshot eyes from the students as they clambered aboard, and he was sipping often from a metallic thermos of… let’s call it coffee. It was at least half coffee, so, that would work. His cheeks were lined with salt-and-pepper stubble, and his hair was getting long. Too long. He needed to get it cut, he noted, as he ran a hand through it. When the bus finally rolled to a stop in front of Arcana, he rose solemnly and turned to address his students.

The pause that he waited was significant enough that they might have been expecting some sort of big speech, if they weren’t all aware of his undying hatred for big speeches. Instead, he took a gulp from his “coffee” and, with his sunglasses still in place, nodded. ”Give ‘em Hell, kids. It’s your school now too.” He swung around and slunk off the bus, lighting a cigarette the instant he crossed the threshold. Many of the students would be able to get ahead of him, since he was walking slowly and chainsmoking. He left a breadcrumb trail of three crumpled cigarette butts to lead the slower ones to the entrance doors, having used the first to light the second and the second to light the third. Reeking of smoke, he made his way in, not bothering to remove his sunglasses once he was inside.

He saw a few kids already gathered around the list and ambled up himself, perverse curiosity drawing him to see what sort of arrangements Leo’s lackwits had made. When he laid eyes on it, he did finally remove his glasses, just to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. He let out a bark of laughter. ”Oh, this is fucking priceless.” His morning grumpiness and general surliness had been replaced by a Christmas morning grin. He dragged out his phone, stabbing his finger at the screen and starting a text message, only using one hand (which isn’t to say he was good at it- nope, it was laughably clumsy). He then used the option to attach a picture that Jade had shown him just after showing him how to download stupid games, and took several seconds to snap a photo that had the list legibly in frame. He hit send.

A second or so later, Leonardo Marinos would receive the following text message:

u r such a tool.
<Insert Picture of List Here>

Looking extremely self-satisfied, Cain stowed his phone, laughing again in his harsh, guttural way. He took another long gulp of his spiked coffee, not to give him strength this time, but in celebration. This, he decided, might actually be interesting. Give ‘em Hell indeed. Smirking, he sauntered off to find some breakfast.

---

”Wouldn’t it be like… totally awesome if we end up roommates? I mean, like, how cool would that be, haha?”

Colby grinned toothily over at Landon as they made their way down the hallway. The speedster brimmed over with excitement even on the most everyday sort of day, but this was something special. Something big. Nothing so big had happened since the Noctrem kids showed up in the first place after their school burned down. He’d always been an early riser (at least, if he hadn’t partied the night before), and was already bright-eyed and alert, ready to carpe the diem.

He’d turned up at his best buddies room as planned, dressed in a pair of clean jeans and a pristine white polo shirt, and simply let himself in. Modesty was fairly pointless between the two of them, so he’d dragged the covers off of Landon and chattered away a mile a minute while the other boy got ready. He’d speculated wildly about who they might have wound up rooming with. As far as they knew, Arcana students would be boarding together, and so he’d been crossing his fingers in hopes of landing Landon as his roomie. Easier quickies aside, he couldn’t imagine anyone else at the school he would rather have shared space with. They got along so well that there wouldn’t be any problems.

”I guess Izzy wouldn’t be so bad either,” he proclaimed with a wicked grin. Colby also harbored a secret, stupid little hope that, somehow, a clerical error or shortage of beds would result in him sharing a room with their headmaster. He’d related as much to Landon, in his room, and easily dodged the pillow that his friend had chucked at his face. ”I’d totally dig rooming with Izzy. Haha, Izzy is so cute.” Colby’s thoughts often tended to emerge from his mouth in a rapid stream-of-consciousness.

”I just hope it isn’t Jaysin. He’d probably like, pin me down and strangle me in my sleep.” Judging by the way Colby’s eyes glazed over, he was very likely imagining a few of Jaysin pinning him down and doing something else entirely. He shook his head, so quickly that it seemed a flesh-and-hair colored blur, then delved into his pocket for one of his high-protein breakfast bars. He usually put down about three of them every morning in addition to breakfast in order to keep his infernally fast metabolism sated. On his lazy days he ended up burning through 10,000 calories; most days, it was more in the vicinity of 15,000.

He bit into the bar, still walking along with Landon, who was no doubt fighting to get a word in edgewise, like always. Colby eyed Cain Montgomery suspiciously as the man headed past them, chewing his energy bar laboriously. When they were about thirty feet away, though, with Noctrem students flocking around the announcement, he grinned a chocolate stained smile at Landon and then… vanished. It seemed that way at least. If it weren’t for the gust that kicked up behind him, he might as well have. He was only gone for about two seconds. He blurred into the midst of the Noctrem kids, scanned the list until he found his name, frowned, took another bite of his breakfast bar, and then blurred back over to Landon to resume their walk at a more normal pace.

”Who the fuck is Drakethrean?” He asked, his brow knit up in not-at-all unfamiliar confusion. ”Did we get a new kid? I wonder if he’s hot, haha.” How the Hell was he supposed to remember a weird-ass name like that? He’d practically already forgotten it. He’d also forgotten, in typical self-absorbed fashion, to see who Landon was rooming with. Of course, he knew who Drake was. If the stupid paper had just said that, he would only have been confused by the fact that he was from Noctrem. Not recognizing his full name only compounded his lack of comprehension.

As he and Landon closed in on the group of students, he began looking for Sky. He finished unwrapping his energy bar and then ate it at super-speed, chewing and swallowing so quickly that the thing basically disappeared. He ran his tongue along his teeth in similar fashion to clean them off, then turned a bright smile on Landon. ”I’m not all like, chocolate mouth, right?” He glanced away, seeking out his best friend from Noctrem once more. His hair was very recognizable; the best hair in the school, really, so Colby looked for that. Colby had been jealous of Sky’s hair since day one. Even the most rigorous styling products didn’t hold up to moving at just shy of 400 M.P.H., so Colby was forced to wear his own hair short. Such a drag.

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

---

Landon rolled his eyes for possibly the 80th time this morning as he and Colby walked along the dormitory hall. His best friend had been chattering about roommates all morning but his excitement proved to be contagious as Landon returned the grin. Rooming with Colby would definitely be ideal, it wouldn't ever be awkward and the only disagreements they would have would be over stupid things like what movie they planned on watching that evening. Besides, any argument they had could be resolved with hot make-up sex. “It'd be pretty cool,” he said in his dispassionate way of speaking, “It wouldn't even be much of an adjustment considering the way you already barge into my room like you live there.”

If it had been anyone else throwing himself into Landon's room and ripping away the nest of blankets he slept tangled in they wouldn't have made it past the door. There wasn't a chance that they'd make it passed the door before being stopped, shoved out, and confronted with a slamming door with three simple motions from beneath the nest. Colby, however; served as an alarm clock of sorts, one that most certainly did not have a snooze button. The roommate talk started immediately and continued while Landon tore away from the bed, showered, got dressed in his grey button down and dark jeans and even now as they walked down the hall. Colby had speculated on every single pairing for both boys that seemed possible, each Arcana student followed by a perceived compatibility,which Landon would toss in a comment for every so often, and even one lonely headmaster, which warranted a severe toss of a pillow.

Whenever he questioned why they were such good friends despite vast personality differences moments like that served as a reminder. The goofy antics, cheeky comments, and that infallible confidence were a few things about Colby that had kept them close and what they lacked in shared traits they made up for in similar interests and an appreciation for each other's humor. Whatever it was that bonded them so, Landon knew Arcana just wouldn't be worth it without him. If it weren't for that goofy speedster he would have kept to himself, not really connecting with anyone and would eventually leave, go back to his uncle's.

As it were, though, they walked down the hall running out of roommate combos. Izzy, he'd be all right, Colby definitely had it right, he was cute but other than that Landon didn't know too much about him. Jay, the former and still would be Noctrem would be a shit roommate, but he knew what Colby's blurring head meant and laughed at the horny mess that is Colby Haskins. They made it down to the first floor where everyone was gathered and as Colby munched on his nasty protein bar thing, Landon scanned the room at a much slower pace taking note of the mix of Arcana and Noctrem students crowding around the bulletin board. Not seeing the one person he was looking for he scowled at the small cloud of smoke gathering above several students and faculty members. Sure he'd smoked in the past and been around people who smoke all the time, but the cheap smell always brought back memories of his filthy mother and their home life in Seattle. He looked back to his friend, but instead he only found a slight breeze.

There wasn't even time to sigh before Redline was back and cursing in confusion. “He's not new, just drop the 'ethrean'” he said with a slight grin. Landon wondered how that would work out and he also wondered what it meant that Colby was paired with a Noctrem, they couldn't all be mixed could they? Curiosity piqued, he moved closer to the throng but was stopped by Colby's question. “Yeah, right...there” he licked his thumb and wiped the chocolate smudge off the corner of his friends mouth, in as motherly a fashion as possible. Not bothering to ask who Colby was trying to impress, he went ahead through mass of student's to the list.

If there was one good thing about mixing the two schools it was that the Arcana students at least got to keep their own room. As for his roommate, he hardly recognized the name. He searched his memory for anything distinctive but came up with almost nothing, he could hardly put a face to the name after a month of being at the school together. He walked back into the middle of the room and waited for Eriol to find him.

Sky Byrnes

'Get away from me. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.' The words swirled around in Sky's head as Tom approached him, but the words stuck in the back of his throat and would come out of his mouth. Tears ran down his cheeks as his stepfather grabbed him by his hair and threw him against a wall. He tried to scream for his mother, but everything was silent. His heart pounded in his chest as he tried to crawl away from the grown man.

"Leave me alone." He managed to beg, before recieving a kick in his ribs from Tom. "Shut up, you little fucker." Sky groaned as he rolled over on his back, looking up at man above him. "Please stop. I'll be good, I swear. I won't tell my mom. Just please, Tom, stop it." Tom just shook his head and smirked. "You don't have the balls to tell your mom." He undid his belt and threw it across the room, before getting on top of Sky and pinning his arms to the ground. "Your just a little bitch. Now shut up and stay still." Sky closed his eyes as more and more tears streamed down from them, waiting for what was to come.

Sky woke with a jump, looking around the motel room to assure him that he was back in reality. His breathing was heavy and there was sweat on his brow. Damn. His nightmares had been getting worse lately. His flashbacks too. He grunted as he looked as his alarm clock. Just a few minutes until he would have had to wake up. Whatever. He got out of the motel bed and went to the bathroom to begin his journey to perfection. After showering for twenty minutes, brushing his teeth for fifteen, and shaving/applying moisturizer/gazing at himself in the mirror for ten, he was almost ready. Now, he just had to make sure his pride and joy was ready to amaze the world.

His hands worked like machines, spreading various gels and mousses through it, and sculpting it like a fine statue. "Perfecto!" He exclaimed before spraying it with his favorite hairspray, some strange brand from Spain that his Tia Jenny got for him. He walked to a chair next to the bed, on which he set down his decided outfit the previous night. He quickly dressed, but decided to throw his beanie into his bag. He was not going to ruin his hair after all the work he just put into it. And it was time for the finishing touch. He grabbed his two diamond studs and placed them in his ears. Sky turned around and checked himself out in the mirror. "How you doing, Sexual?"

Sky grabbed all his bags and he was just going to walk out the door when "Oh shit!" He dropped his bags and raced back to the bed, sliding a large box from underneath it. "Almost forgot you." He said with a sigh of relief. This was his sacred "Party Box". The things contained in this box could transform any gathering of people into a banging party. It was heavy, but Sky could manage as he grabbed his luggage again and made his way to the bus.

He slept the way to Arcana, with his head against the window and his earbuds blaring music into his ears. Sky woke up and walked off the bus, grabbing his lucky lighter and a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He placed one in his mouth and lit it, looking around. He noticed several other people were smoking as well, including Cain and Addi. He put the pack and the lighter back into his pockets before getting his luggage and the Party Box. The cigarette hung from his lips as he followed everyone to the list of roommates, but he couldn't hear anything because of his earphones. He set the Box down before moving through the crowd, trying to get a peep at the list. He saw Cor's amused face as she looked at the list and Sky decided to take his earbuds out, catching the end of her sentence.
"-and Sky? That’s just a disaster waiting to happen.” Sky raised an eyebrow. "Who am I rooming with?" He uttered, his cigarette still between his lips. He puffed some smoke out of the side of his mouth as he ran eyes over the list. He noticed immediately that the rooms were mixed between the Arcana and Noctrem students. He really hoped that he got roomed with Colby, but if he did, they would be very...distracted most of the time. Let's just say they wouldn't spend much time doing homework.

That's when Sky saw it. The lit end of his cigarette grew brighter and brighter, practically setting it on fire and quickly burning it down until it was nothing but a stub. He spit it out and wasted no time before saying how he felt. "Are you fucking kidding me? I'm in a fucking room with fucking Jay?" He was livid as a flurry of fast and angry Spanglish left his lips. "I can't believe they put me with that pinche cabron. Fucking pendejo. Hijo de puta." Sky muttered some other words under his breath, still obviously switching between English and Spanish as he ranted to himself. Out of all the people at Arcana, he got stuck with one of the very few people he didn't like. In fact, he disliked Jay. Maybe he even hated him a little bit. "Whatever." He said, finally coming down from his anger high.

He started to walk away from the list when he saw someone by the list for a split second. Did Arcana have a teleporter? Sky didn't think so and he spent a moment puzzled until a grin came to his face. Colby. The pyro looked around for the speedster, grabbing his bags and the Party Box. What couldn't he have gotten a room with Colbs?

(Will post for Amber and Eden soon. ^-^)

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

Dead.

Dead.

Dead.

Dead!

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

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

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

Noctrem’s ex-headmaster was still looking delightedly smug when his phone vibrated. He finished off the last of his Irish coffee as he pulled the device from his pocket and toggled to his messages. Reading Leo’s reply, he snorted and began composing as he walked toward the cafeteria.

It’s “braggart”, you anachronistic ponce.

He slid his phone away, suspecting there would be no further texts from their illustrious headmaster that morning. He was frankly amazed that Leo had given him his phone number in the first place. It took all the fun out of getting his hands on it unconventionally and then prank-calling him, sadly.

He headed into the cafeteria fully intending to breeze in and out before there was a chance of his getting caught up in any trifling conversations. He grabbed a large blueberry muffin, an orange, and after surveying his options for a few more seconds, several pieces of bacon wrapped in some napkins. He wasn’t staying in the large eating area; that would have been like an invitation for people to intrude on his rare good mood and ruin it with their tedious comings and goings. Juggling the food items that he’d selected so far a bit, he managed to twist the top of his travel mug off. He refilled it, leaving about two ounces unaccounted for, and didn’t bother adding cream or sugar.

The orange went into one of his pockets, along with the bacon. The muffin seemed like it might explode into crumbs with the slightest provocation, so he wasn’t taking any chances. He beat a hasty retreat, quick-stepping out of the caf and then turning to head toward the classroom he made use of for Power Control. He was still very sore that Leo hadn’t managed to provide him with his own office, and as such was completely boycotting the “teacher’s workroom”, which might as well have had cubicles and Scott Adams cartoons to complete its utter lack of charm.

If he passed by any students on his escape, he had a perfectly crafted scowl at the ready for derailing any attempts at socialization. He needed solitude, so that he could think. The implications of the students being mixed were staggering. He had to wonder if Leo really had known about the list. If he had, why hadn’t he done anything to change it? It would have taken Cain all of ten seconds to correct the error. Did the immortal actually want the kids mixed? He had to, at least subconsciously. Otherwise he would have been unable to rationalize leaving it as it was. He apparently had time to exchange snarky texts, so he obviously had time to hand-write out a bunch of pairs of brats.

He shifted his coffee into the crook of his arm and fumbled in his non-food-carrying pocket for his keys. He kept the classroom locked for a variety of reasons, not least of which was the bottle of Maker’s Mark that he kept in his desk. He wouldn’t have put it past the little bastards to steal it, but really, half of them could have gotten into a locked room and a locked desk anyway. Oh well. As long as it was still there, he wouldn’t have to launch an inquisition.

He kept the lights off, preferring dimness, and used his hidden bottle of booze to top off his coffee before securing it in the drawer once more. He laid out his breakfast on the large desk, unwrapping the bacon and chewing on a piece as he pulled open yet another drawer. This one contained weeks and weeks worth of trash tabloid and celebrity magazines, and after rifling through them, he selected a copy of Life & Style.

Leaning back in his seat, he kicked his feet up on the desk. His pant legs rode up a little bit, exposing the clunky looking monitoring device that was affixed with some sort of space-age strapping to his left ankle. Eyeing the blinking green light on it crossly, he shifted so that his food was in reach and flipped open to a random page in the trashy magazine. He’d alternate between bits of this or that and sips of coffee, saving the messy orange for last, and read about Katy Perry and John Mayer. An announcement from Leo about an assembly intruded on his not-so-guilty pleasure, and he sighed, eyeing the clock on the wall.

---

He’s not new, just drop the ‘ethrean’.

Landon’s explanation helped not at all. It really only made matters worse. The exact spelling of the name he’d seen next to his had already slipped away from him, and he had to wonder, briefly, if Landon had gone nerd on him and started speaking in some kind of weird Middle Earth language. Drop the ethrean, drop the ethrean. He repeated the phrase over and over in his mind.

The riddle went unsolved. Landon had taken it upon himself to fix up Colby’s lips, wiping at the corner of the speedster’s mouth with a saliva-wet thumb. Colby didn’t mind at all. Landon’s saliva was very familiar to him, and he secretly enjoyed the way his ex-boyfriend/bestie was always looking out for him, motherly or otherwise. He wound up blinking when Landon just wandered off toward the list. Only then did it occur to him that he could have checked to see who was rooming with Lando, or Sky. Oh well, he’d figure it out eventually. Landon’s just abandoning him didn’t bother him; he’d actually been doing that more and more lately, but nothing had changed when they did hang out, so he wasn’t worried. Whenever he asked Landon where he’d gone off to, the response was always running, which… whatever, really. Just because he didn’t have any secrets didn’t mean his friends weren’t entitled to them.

Speaking of Sky, there he was. He was looking for… oh, him! Their eyes would wind up meeting, and there was another blast of displaced air as he sped on over to the shorter boy, wearing a big dopey grin as he came to a halt. He held his hands out, a silent offer to help the pyrokinetic sex-pot with his luggage. About, oh, a second or so later he just dove into conversation.

”Did you see who you’re staying with yet? I’m so totally bummed it’s not me, but like, at least we’re in the same place now, haha. I think my roommate is like, an elf or something. Drakka-whatever. Seriously, it’s like… something out of the Lord of the Rings, haha.” It should be noted that Colby didn’t really have an “inside voice”, and that Drake might very well have heard Redline’s assessment of his name if he happened to be passing by or within, say, twenty feet? Sky would, of course, have difficulty getting even a syllable in until Colby was finished. ”Hopefully neither of us get stuck with prudes. Drake-whatever- OH! DRAKE! Wait. He’s from Noctrem. Why am I roomed with someone from Noctrem? Ugh, his sister is such a bitch-skank. Well, he’s hot at least.” He started looking around for the shadow-manipulator. ”I bet-“

Sky would never find out what Colby would have bet. The announcement came over the loudspeaker. Mr. Marinos’ voice never failed to captivate Colby, and he fell silent (which almost never happened) to listen to the message. News of a mandatory assembly completely disrupted his frenetic train of thought. His idol and crush sounded pissed. Maybe the roommate thing was some kind of mistake, and they’d straighten it out at the assembly? That gave him a little hope for scoring a more preferred roomie, but when his mind went back to the living arrangements, he renewed his verbal assault on Sky.

”We should get you settled in and stuff, haha. Maybe there’ll be time to head back to my room.” His eyebrows waggled; Sky probably already knew what heading to Colby’s room meant, but the eyebrow waggling would erase any doubts. His gaze panned over the students who were buzzing around the roommate list and he spotted Landon again, standing all by himself, like he was waiting for a bus or something. ”Dude!” he called, but then stopped. What if Sky and Landon were roommates? He was somewhat aware of some hints of jealousy, mostly from Sky, regarding the two of them. For some reason, he got a really weird, bad feeling in his chest when he considered the two of them sharing living arrangements. They were both so different, but he cared about each of them way more than he was capable of expressing with his limited vocabulary and discomfort when it came to emotions.

It would all work out, he decided. It always did. They were both just friends anyway. Nothing to worry about, right? Besides, Sky had no right to be jealous. He was having sex with like, one out of every five girls in the school, it seemed like. Colby’s nose scrunched up as he thought of that. He’d grossed himself out. Shaking his head, he realized he’d kind of just been standing there not saying anything and blinked, trying to catch up with whatever Sky had started saying to him.

---

He heard quick-moving footsteps behind him and tensed; it was only Zac, false alarm. He arched a skeptical eyebrow at the other boy when he laughed and made light of the enormous duffel bag. It really was heavy. The strap of it was cutting very painfully into his shoulder, and he had brief thoughts of tossing it to him. The duffel, nearly as tall as he was and packed with everything that Theo owned, probably would have slammed Zac into the wall. That urge passed pretty quickly; instead he just shrugged, and nodded once they reached their room.

Of course, upon entering, he realized that it was actually Zac’s room. He was just a going to be taking up the extra bed. His eyes fell on the stand of drums and some arcane muscle in his left cheek, an inch or so below his eye, began to twitch. Perhaps Zac was not the best roommate after all. There were very few things that Theo could tolerate less than amateur musicians, and his understanding of that particular subculture was that drummers were the worst of the lot. His lips pressed together into an extremely thin smile as his eyes neatly quartered off the room, inspecting every inch of it. The muscle-spasm stopped a few seconds after it started, when the announcement about the assembly came on and he dutifully listened to it. He respected Marinos, the teacher, not the girl, and was curious enough about what the convocation would entail that his facial tic died away. When it was over and Zac said his piece, Theo said a single word: ”Thanks”.

He’d let Zac decide what precisely he was thanking him for. It could ostensibly be showing him to the room (which he could have found on his own). Or it could have been accepting him into the room (which he actually had no choice about). It could even have been for clearance to do what he wanted (Zac would not have liked what he wanted to do very much at all). Theo wasn’t really thanking him for anything. He was possessed of no gratitude whatsoever, at least in his current situation, but it seemed like the socially appropriate thing to say. He liked Zac well enough, but that had been when they’d only shared a few classes. Being thrust into living together would no doubt change things, but it would be better if they could get along. It wouldn’t be easy, but Theo actually did want them to have an amicable relationship, if only because anything else would probably have involved even more effort on his part.

”See you later,” he added as an afterthought when Zac took off to eat. He would, after all. It was inevitable. He’d see this boy every single day for the rest of his time at Arcana. He definitely needed to work a little harder at not disliking him as much as the drums made him want to.

He heaved his duffel onto the newer looking of the two beds, which he presumed was his. He’d contemplated heaving it into the drum kit instead, but… that would have been very noisy and troublesome, however satisfying. Rubbing at his shoulder, he moved to close and lock the door, and then settled his backpack down on the desk that was opposite his bed. He returned to the duffel bag and fought to unzip it. He’d brought all his cunning and organizational skills to bear on fitting every single article of clothing, book, and other miscellaneous item that he owned into the thing, and it was just a solid, tubular mass after being hung off his shoulder for the walk. He tugged and jerked until he’d finally managed to get the duffel open. He proceeded to somewhat solemnly pull out the neatly folded shirts, pants, and shorts, spreading them out in tidy piles on the mattress in order to decide how best to store them. Some wound up in drawers, others on hangers. It didn’t take very long, mostly because he’d managed to maintain some semblance of order with his insanely methodical packing process.

Socks and boxers wound up in his top drawer, the former balled into pairs and the latter neatly folded in half. Unlike many teenage boys, Theo did not own a single pair of comically printed underwear. His were all solid colors and extremely unflattering. He only had two extra pairs of shoes, some rundown sneakers and a pair of nice shoes that Scott had bought him for his last birthday that he’d never actually had occasion to wear. Those went on the floor of the closet.

Next came electronics. He settled his laptop on the desk and plugged in his power strip, then went about connecting a few wires. Beside that was the most expensive thing he’d ever actually bought himself: a 22 inch flat screen monitor, which he used for watching movies. He connected the single cable that would allow the video feed to transmit to the larger, high definition screen, and then set up the pair of decent-but-unremarkable speakers he’d obtained for the same purpose. Last of all were his clunky, noise-cancelling headphones. He was going to really value that descriptor by the end of the week, he realized.

He booted up the computer, his fingers flashing over the keys with terrifying speed to check his email and start up a few torrents. Hatchet 2, The Cabin in the Woods[i], and [i]Martha Marcy May Marlene. He liked having options, and by the end of the day, he suspected he’d very much need to unwind with some horror. His thoughts strayed briefly to Jade, to Drake, to Jaysin. Maybe if he was feeling sociable he’d see if one or more of them wanted to join him. Or maybe he could bond with Zac over a scary movie. They could argue about the schlockiness of Hatchet 2 easily enough, or the meta-horror-comedy elements of The Cabin in the Woods. Maybe that would be the key to their successful cohabitation: arguing. He did enjoy taking Zac on in Philosophy.

Once his downloads were underway he finished up. There were his school books and supplies, which found their ways to shelves or drawers respectively. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, the book he was slowly working his way through when he didn’t just feel like dreaming, ended up on his night stand, along with his very basic alarm clock and the charger for his phone. He plugged both in, checked his phone in order to set the blinking red 12:00 12:00 12:00 of the alarm clock to the current time. After that, there was nothing more to do than roll up the empty duffel bag and stow it in the closet.

He didn’t have any truly personal effects. Some of the content of his laptop’s hardrive might qualify, but that was as close as he came. No posters, no knick-knacks or tchotchkes, no photographs framed or otherwise. If it weren’t for his desk and school books, Zac might have wandered in later and thought Theo had decided to move into a broom closet instead. There was absolutely nothing he owned that would give any insight into who he was save for the single pair of shoes that he’d probably never wear. Even then, the meaning behind them would probably be lost on anyone who thought to question their existence. Everything else was utilitarian in nature, things that he used every day.

Unpacking hadn’t taken him very long at all. He hazarded a glance toward the locked door of the room. Did he want to go get breakfast too? Trying to recall the last time he’d eaten proved as useless as ever. His naps and dreaming made time blur together, and so he resorted to patting his flat stomach to see how angry it seemed with him. Mildly, it turned out. He forged a quick plan: light breakfast, running, a quick shower, and then the assembly. He pulled open the drawer he’d assigned his athletic wear too and briskly changed into a pair of meshy black shorts and a white tanktop, which he pulled his t-shirt back over. He trod to the closet, switching out his school sneakers for his running sneakers, and stooped to lace them up tight. He gave one last look around the room, then headed out.

Sighing, he unlocked the door and made his way into the hall, then toward the cafeteria.

(Ingore the Lora tag!)

Eden Haven

Buuuuzzzz. Buuuuzzzz.

A groan escaped from Eden's mouth as he lifted his face off of his desk to look at the vibrating phone by his hand. He slowly sat up straight, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked down at his desk to see the outline for his newest comic strip. In this one, the hero Redline took on the Fearsome Five, a group of flirtacious villainesses trying to reek havoc on Arcana City. Though, it really didn't matter how flirtacious they were, because Redline wasn't exactly interested in...people like them.

It dawned on Eden that he fell asleep drawing, but it wasn't exactly the first time he did it. He shook his head and grabbed his phone, looking at the text he recieved from Kali. Oh Kali. She was one of his best friends and he was slightly excited to read what she sent him.

Hey you. Where are you? Are you awake?

Eden cocked his brow and looked at the time on the upper corner of his phone screen. 'Oh bleep.' He thought. He had slept in way to late. He jumped up from his chair, grabbing a tee shirt, jeans and some shoes, before running into his bathroom and rushing to get ready. He couldn't have picked a less perfect day to sleep in. The Noctrem students were coming today and he had to see who he was getting roomed with. He was assuming he would share with another Arcana student, because that was the only way that made sense. Everyone would be happy that way. He came out of his bathroom, dressed, and looked at Mary, who was frozen right next to his bed.

He walked over to her and placed his hand on her hand. "Hey Mary." He greeted her as her face began moving and she blinked. "You got to get up. We have to see who we're going to be living with." She flexed her fingers, which made noises that sounded like cracking, as if she was stiff from staying still for long. Mary nodded at Eden, moving every part of her body before cracking a smile. "Alright. I'm ready."

Eden grabbed his cellphone and started to respond to Kali.

Hey Kali. Overslept lol. Nothing unusual. Mary and I are going to see the roommate list. Wonder who I'll get.... Talk to ya soon :)

He sent the message and left the room with Mary not to far behind. "Do you know what time I fell asleep last night?" Eden asked Mary. She was rolling her neck, stretching and she seemingly took a deep sigh. "About two." Her wings flapped behind her, almost as if they were made from flesh. She looked around the hallways as they soon, they saw the crowd of students around the list. "I hope we get someone good." Mary said. Eden shrugged. "As long as we don't get anyone mean, I'm fine." Mary nodded in agreement as the duo made their way to the mob of students.

They got some strange looks, which Eden could understand. It didn't matter if people knew about Eden's ability, seeing a statue move and talk was a weird sight for most. Eden scooted and politely pushed past several students, saying "Sorry" and "Exuse me." until they made their way to the list. He scanned the list, but his mouth dropped when he saw that the rooms were mixed. "What? What's going on with this?" He asked. "Who'd we get?" Mary asked, attempting to make it look like she was raising an imaginary eyebrow.

Eden shrugged before looking back at the list and finding his name. "Uhhh...Room Fourteen: Eden Havan and Marcurio Espenosa." He read aloud. He turned to Mary with an annoyed look on his face. "They spelled Haven wrong. They put H-A-V-A-N. They put an A, not E." Mary chuckled, making a sound similar to rocks clacking together. "Again?" She asked and Eden shrugged his shoulders. "It's alright, I guess. I wonder who this Marcurio guy is." Mary nodded. "Let's head back to the room. Maybe he's there." Eden thought for a moment and shook his head. "I'm going to try and find Kali. Want to come with?" Mary nodded and smiled. The angel liked the girl. She had spunk.

Eden took out his phone and quickly called Kali. After the ringing stopped and she picked up, Eden began. "Heeeeeeey Kali. Where are you? I'm being to lazy to look around

Amber Romano

Amber woke up early that morning. She had to get everything planned before she moved into the new school. She sat up in her bed, with the infamous Black Book in front of her. She held a pencil in her right hand, scribbling down notes and thoughts to herself. "Hmmm...Note to self-" She said aloud as she wrote. "Pay attention to Jaysin. He seems nervous around me." She put the pencil down next to three knives laying on her bed. She picked up the red one by the tip and with a fluid flick of her wrist- Thud!- the knife whisked through the air and embeded itself into the dartboard she had set up on the wall oppisite of her. A smile came to her lips as she closed the book and jumped out of the bed to get ready for the day.

It wasn't like she needed to put real clothes and make-up on. She could just shift to make it look like she had clothes on, but she liked the process of getting ready. It was...fun for Amber. After her shower, she put on her make-up, deciding which eye color she would choose for the day. "Hmm....blue maybe?" She closed her eyes and when she opened them, they were crystal blue. She frowned. "Green?" She repeated the process and grinned at the result. She walked backed to her bed, putting the Black Book, the knives, and her pencil into her purse. Then Amber took the dartboard off the wall and placed it into her luggage. She smirked and thought to herself. 'Get ready Arcana. I'm coming for ya.'

Amber got off the bus, fully dressed. She smiled and looked around at the school, purse slung over her shoulder. She strutted over to her luggage, grabbing her bags, her heels clicking and clacking on the floor. She studied the faces of those passing her by, her emerald eyes gleaming with a michievious light. This was going to be fun.

She walked over to the list and read all the names. 'Actually...' She thought, taking out her phone and snapping a picture of the list. It would be useful to know where everyone was living. She walked away, staring at the picture on her phone, looking for her name. "Hayley Stanhope?" Amber asked aloud. It took a moment before the image of the other girl popped into her mind. "Oh. Her." Though Amber wasn't thrilled with her new roommate, at least she wasn't with someone she couldn't stand. Like Sky was.

She laughed as she saw him cursing in a mix of English and Spanish. That was a telltale sign of the pyro being pissed off. She walked past him and Colby, looking around for something to do. She heard Mr. Marino's voice boom over the school and a smile came to her lips. She didn't know why, but she liked going to assemblys. They gave her time to look at everyone, time to get to know their facial expressions. It was a personal hobbie of Amber's.

She whistled as she walked to her room to put her stuff down. "Room Thirteen." She said to herself as she walked down the hallways. She found it and let herself in, laying all her bags on her bed. She took out her dartboard and set it up on the oppisite wall facing her bed, just as she had done at the hotel. A smile came to her face. This was going to be great.


Sky Byrnes

He laughed as he held Cor's retorts. Especially the one about giving his new roommate a huge. "Maybe I'll even suck his dick!" He yelled back at her, chuckling as he walked along. Sky smiled as Colby appeared in front of him, with that huge goofy grin on his face and his arms outstretched to help out with his luggage. "Thanks." He said, before setting the Party Box into Colby's arms, the sound of glass bottles bumping against each other coming from inside. It didn't take the speedster long to start talking. He immediately went into a long (and loud) string of comments. He cocked a brow when he heard the part about Colby's roommate being an elf. Sky immediately knew who Colby's elf was, but he just smiled and waited for Colby to figure it out for himself.

Sky opened his mouth several times to try and get a word in, but then again it was Colby and that was very unlikely to happen. So Sky just waited for Colby to finish, but before he could, the speedster was caught off by Leo's message to the school. An assembly? Wasn't exactly his cup of tea, but whatever. They wouldn't have to force him to go. He looked back at Colby who, surprise surprise, was talking again. He said that they should get him settled in. A good idea in Sky's opinon, but he liked Colby's second suggestion better.

"Alright, let's make this snappy then haha." Sky laughed, eager to put his things away and go back to Colby's room. He imagined what they'd do this time and a dreamy smile came to his lips. "Well, let's go. I don't want to spend much time with my new roomie." He grimaced. "I'm in a room with Jay." He shuttered "I really would have rather been with you or that Eden kid." He bit his lower lip. "I'm sorry, but he's one yummy order of asian take-out." He laughed, but then he noticed that Colby was alittle zoned out. "Uh...Are you alright, Colbs? You seemed kinda...out of it. And I should know about that." Sky would and Colby was one of the few people who knew about his own flashbacks.

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

At the center of the room, most likely looking like a fool, Landon waited for someone he couldn't recognize. He was far from thrilled with the rooming list, having to share a room after having 10 all to himself for so long would be a pain to day the least. The fact that he had to share with a Noctrem made it worse, he would have been fine with almost anyone from Arcana but possibly the least favorable thing was that he didn't recognize the name, which probably meant he didn't care for whoever it was.

The Announcement over the PA caught his attention and he instinctively looked up, identifying the source of the sound. An assembly, Marinos must have wanted to welcome the Noctrem students, despite his obvious disdain for the whole scenario. Landon continued to scan the room hoping he'd recognize the face that he could not call to memory when reading the name off the list. Growing bored he picked at his fingernails and scratched the back of his neck. He sighed with relief when hit with a rogue “Dude!” He looked right at Colby with a generous grin. He would never find Eriol like this and gave up, heading over to his best friend and Sky.

“Did you figure it out, your roommate?” he said giving a nod and a motion of his hand to greet Sky. “At least we know who yours is, I've never even heard of mine, Eriol Adelart?” He considered that Eriol might have snuck passed him to his... their room but his growling stomach reminded him that he didn't care. Breakfast would have to take precedence. The Colbster and Sky were sure to be hungry too, Colby was always hungry and would drop everything at the mention of food. One word should do it as he looked at both of them, “Breakfast?”

Colby had accepted the honor or carrying the Party Box quite willingly, wrapping his arms around it. The sound of thick glass bottles knocking against one another made him curious, and he reminded himself to be careful while carrying it (and then promptly forgot).

He remained in his own little world of what he might have been able to identify as low-level anxiety if he bothered to identify any of the negative emotions that he occasionally came across. Anger was the most frequent visitor, especially with the Noctrem kids sharing the school with them for the last month. Even then, it wasn’t all that frequent. Sadness was almost unknown to him. He just didn’t see the point of it. Every day was filled with a hundred reasons to be glad he was alive. There were other more tricky ones that he couldn’t even supply names for that came and went, but none of them mattered. Neither did his misgivings relating to Sky and Landon.

He tuned back into the conversation and blinked. ”Oh, yeah, I was just thinking about something.” He looked at Sky quizzically. ”Isn’t it a little early for Asian take-out, dude? I mean like, I’m pretty hungry, but are there even any Chinese places open in this timezone yet? Haha. Man. I’m like, starving.” Just like that, Colby had forgotten his proposition… or really, Sky had screwed himself out of the quickie by comparing Eden to food. If there was anything that Colby enjoyed more than sex and attention, it was definitely food.

”Wait wait wait.” Another snippet of Sky’s voice caught up with him. ”Did you say you’re rooming with Jay?” Concern softened Colby’s features, and then he realized that the last twinges of worry about Landon and Sky being put in the same room were gone. He knew that the self-replicator hated Sky, though he wasn’t exactly clear on why. Somebody might have told him, once, but if they had his mind had already lost hold of the information. He opened his mouth to say something, but that was when Landon decided to come over, and Colby was distracted yet again.

”Yes, I figured it out.” And then, uncertainly: ”It’s Drake, right?” Reminded of his roommate’s identity, he glanced around, trying to find him. Ah, there he was, with Lor. And Lor totally looked to be in a good mood. He almost headed over to the pair to greet his new roommate and give the girl a big old hug, but then he remembered that he was talking to Sky and Landon. Oops. ”Isn’t… Ad-Alert like, some spyware program? Wait wait, no, Eriol. Eriol.” He tapped his foot so fast that it sounded like an outboard motor. It helped him think. ”Oh, he’s that weird kid who likes to pull pranks. Haha, better be careful.” His nose wrinkled slightly. ”So not cute. I don’t know. Maybe he’s your type though.” Colby shrugged.

He grinned at Landon, though, one of his bigger and goofier grins. ”Dude, we were just talking about food, haha!” Well. Not really. But he thought they were. ”Great minds, right? But… oh, Sky is in with Jaysin, like… okay. I have a plan!” He announced this exuberantly. ”Let’s get Sky settled in, like, all three of us, in case Jay’s still in there. Then we can get some breakfast. I hope they have French toast today. I am craving French toast like you would not believe. Sound good?” His head whipped back and forth, looking first to Sky, then to Landon, and then back to Sky.

Margaret Wright

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sky Byrnes

Sky's brows furrowed when Colby began talking about Asian resturants. Are there Chinese places open in this timezone yet? It clicked in his head what Colby thought they were talking about. "Oh, that's not what I mean-" He started, but was interupted by the speedster, who seemed to want to confirm who Sky's roommate was. "Yeah. That guy fucking hates me haha." He gave a small laugh, cracking his knuckles. He noticed a look of concern spread across Colby's face and a smiled came to Sky's lips. He was going to say something, but he kept his mouth closed when he saw Landon walk up. Damn. With Colby's mind on food and Landon with them, Sky seriously doubted his chances of getting laid. He gave a small sigh. He really wanted to fuck. Like really. But he got over the desire and focused on Landon.

Sky smiled and nodded at him in greeting. Landon was a cool guy and Sky could see why him and Colby were such good friends. Well, friends with benefits. A pang of jealousy hit Sky as he watched the two speak, but he quickly pushed the feelings back to where ever they came from. It was ridiculous to be jealous of their relationship. Sky had to remind himself that him and Colby were just friends. Nothing more, nothing less. He snapped his attention back to the two, who were talking about Eriol. Sky smiled as he spoke up "Oh Eriol! He's really cool. Colb's right, he's super weird, but he's really funny."

He raised his eyebrows in a way to say he was interested in Landon's suggestion of breakfest. A small smile came to Sky's lips when he heard Colby say they were just talking about food. 'Oh Colby.' He thought, mentally chuckling to himself. He listened to Colby's idea about all of them going to get Sky settled in. "Well, Jay would be less likely to try and kill me if you guys came." He started. "I think it sounds like a good idea." He looked over at Landon. "You up for it?"

Eden Haven

Eden listened as he heard Kali's voice on the other side of the phone. "Yeah, I can go check for you. I got Marcurio Espenosa. Do you know who he is? The name sounds familiar, but I can't put a face to it." He made his way to the list again, the crowd getting smaller and smaller as more students went to unpack their things. He ran his eyes over the list, finding Kali's name. "You, my dear, are with Miss. Yvette Beatrix in Room 19." Eden smiled. "Alright, me and Mary will find you in a sec. See ya in a second." He got off the phone and looked at Mary.

"She says she's behind the school." Mary nodded and the started walking to the back of the school so that they could find Kali.
They found her soon, seeing her along with some other girls. Eden broke out in a sprint and jumped on Kali, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "Hey Kali!" He greeted, as if they hadn't seen each other in weeks. He gave a big, goofy grin and let her go, waving to all the girls. "Hey." Mary came up, smiling at the group and giving a wave.

"So, are you guys staying here until the assembly?" Eden asked, looking around and seeing Adina, another one of his angels, sleeping a few yards away from the group. "Just a second." He said, walking over to her and running his hand against her hair. "Wake up, Adina." He said sweetly as she slowly came to life. The rose petals in her hand slowly fell to ground as her fingers slowly cracked balled into a fist. A smile came to her stone face when she saw the boy in front of her. "Hello Eden." She greeted and he smiled back at her. "Morning Dina. The Noctrem student are moving in today."

She raised an imaginary eyebrow. "Really? Oh. Interesting." She slowly walked away from her previous spot and looked at the group of girls. "Hello girls!" She sang, dancing over to them. She was the most dramatic of Eden's angels, by far. Eden smirked and followed her. "I had to wake her up." Eden said, grinning at the group. Mary and Adina smiled at each other, the angels standing side by side. Adina waved to Kali. "Hello sweetheart!" She greeted cheerfully. "So I hear the Noctrem students are here today. Hope none of them break one of us." She chuckled, making a strange noise that sounded like someone shaking a bag of small stones. Eden's eyes widen at the thought of someone defaceing or breaking one of the angels. That would be horrible.

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

Amber was finally finished with putting her stuff away. She kneeled down, sliding a small jewelry box (containing some of Amber's favorite things) under her bed when she heard the room's door open and close. She stood up and turned around to smile at the head of blonde hair that entered their room. A polite smile rested on Amber's lips as she listened to the other girl greet her and welcome her to the academy. 'She seems nice.' Amber thought. "Thanks Hayley." She said, still smiling. "The school seems really nice. It's a nice change of scenery, especially coming from that motel." She pretended to shiver and grinned at the girl.

Amber stared at the girl for a moment, assessing all the little things about her. 'Light blue eyes. Curly blonde hair. Fair hair, not dirty blonde. Slim build, not many curves. Heart shaped lips. Tiny nose...' Every second that passed, more and more details were added to Amber's mental list. The Noctrem student kept smiling at the Arcana, then spoke. "You know, we haven't spoken at all since I've been going here." Her emerald eyes lit up as she spoke. "I hope we get to change that. We'll have a lot of time to talk now that we're roomies." Her friendliness seemed sincere enough, but most would be rather unsettled by the way Amber spoke. So...formal for a girl of her age.

She grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder. "I'm going to get some breakfast, but I'll see you at Mr. M's assembly." She walked toward the door and past Hayley, placing her hand on the other girl's shoulder. "I look forward to getting to know you." She said, smiling again, before she left the room and went into the hallways.

Amber walked down the hallways, ignoring all the action going around her and thinking to herself. She made a mental list of potential allies at the school. Now was a time to recruit. People were confused by what was going on and vastly different personalities were clashing. It was a perfect storm for gossip and rumors to bloom. Amber's buissness could flourish, but she just needed the right people to help her add fuel to the fire. Ellie was an obvious choice. Her gift would give Amber a huge advantage. No one would be able to hide anything from them. Then, after Ellie, there was Theo. Theo, Theo, Theo. He had been avoiding her for a while and Amber had an idea of why. He knew that she wanted his help, but for some reason, he didn't seem eager to join her. Next was Freya. That girl had so much potential to cause trouble. Nothing was in more demand on the Gossip Market than some juicy hook ups and romance. Amber wondered if the girl could make a straight guy fall for another guy. That would be an entertaining project.

The girl grabbed a tray, placeing some toast, a waffle, some bacon, and nice, bright red apple on it. She turned to look for a place to sit and- Oh! Was that Theo over there? Amber's lips curled into a devilish smile as she strutted over to his table, her heels clicking and clacking against the cafeteria's shiney wood floor. She sat down across from Theo, puting up her hand and daintily waved at him in greeting.

'Headphones.' was the first thing she observed as she took her seat. She gave Theo a polite smile, setting her bag down in the seat next to her. She reached into it, taking out the Black Book and a red pen. She flipped through the pages until she came upon a blank page. She scribbled something down on the paper, ripped it from the book and laid it down in front of the boy.
It read,

Let's talk

Amber took one of her knives out of her bag and held it in her left hand, apple in her right. She watched Theo as she cut a sliver of the fruit off, and ate it off the blade. She smiled at Theo as she chewed (with her mouth closed, of course) her bright green eyes gleaming as she thought of his potential in the buissness. 'We could do great things.' she thought.



Sky shook his head in amusement as he listened to the two best friends in front of him. It somewhat reminded him of his own relationship with his good friend Curio. 'Where is Curio?' Sky thought, but his attention was taken by the new information Colby has just dropped. Jay doesn't feel comfortable with guys hitting on him? An evil smile came to the pyro's lips as the wheels started turning in his head. "Oh poor guy." He started, smirking. "I'm going to make his life Hell." Sky started on a mental list of things to buy to make his new roomie super uncomfortable. He was going to need a bunch of gay dirty magazines, some Twilight posters (the ones with Taylor Lautner), and few other things that escaped Sky's mind. 'Note to self.' Sky thought. 'Turn any and all coversations with Jay sexual and hit on him whenever possible.' "Oh God, could you imagine what Jay would do if we all came onto him at once?" Sky broke out laughing, just imagining how Jay's face would look. "That'd be great."

Colby has gone onto a new subject (like he usually did) and nudged Sky's arm, making the pyro laugh. "None taken. And I really wish I'd got you too. That'd be fun." God, would it be fun. Sky's grades would probably suffer, but he'd still get a workout everyday. Sky bit his lower lip as he though about it but he stopped when he saw Theo. The kid confused him a little. He was never consistant with Sky. Sometimes he looked really pissed off at him, other times he look amused.

Sky shrugged at Colbs question. "I guess. Honestly, he was picked on pretty bad when he first came to Noctrem. Lots of kids thought his power was useless." The pyro thought if he'd ever seen Theo happy. "Oh wait! There was a point were he didn't seem like he wanted to kill everyone!" A grin formed on Sky's mouth when he remembered. "It was when, I think, he was dating..." His smile fell. "Scott." Scott was the only student to die in the Noctrem fire. The thought of what Theo must've been going through crushed Sky. He knew what it was like to lose someone close to you before it was their time. His own mother, drowned by her dead husband's brother.

He shook it off and continued the conversation. "So yeah, I guess he was happy for a little. I feel really bad about what happened to Scott. Maybe I could've helped." Sky's stomach growled loudly and he looked down at it. "Woah." He said laughing. "Just a second." He went in front of Colby and carefully took off the top of the Party Box, revealing several large bottles of whiskey and tequila, a few boxes of condoms (of assorted colors and flavors), a couple of firecrackers, and lastly, a large bag of candy.

Sky took out a green lollipop and popped it into his mouth before looking at the other boys. "Do you guys want any candy? I know it's the morning and everything, but just so you can eat something before breakfast?"

Scott Martin Andrews

Scott wasn’t much of a drinker, and if he did drink he was quite reckless. It would be to the point where he could possibly find himself sleeping with Addison the next morning if he did drink, so he wasn’t the biggest fan of alcohol. Don’t get him wrong, If he did randomly wake up to find Addison right next to him he wouldn’t be concerned, she is one hot piece of work.

“Addison you know how bad of a drinker I am” Scott coughed. He wasn’t only just reckless but infact, when Scott did drink he was massive klutz .He couldn’t keep his feet on the ground if his life depended on it, It was almost funny to watch. He would also have a tendency to laugh at everything, for some odd reason.

“I’ll leave you both to your little party, I’m just going to walk around a bit.” Scott gave a engaging wink to both girls and went back inside. The towel from the gym was still wrapped around his neck and the thought of working out again was tiring. He was going to room, maybe just to relax a little and take a shower.

On his way he sees Colby, Sky and Landon. The simple thought of Landon’s name made Scott want to kill himself. If it wasn’t for Colby Scott could of killed Landon on day 1. Nonetheless, Scott didn’t want to get in a fight so early in the morning. Both Colby and Sky on the other hand, Scott respected entirely. He got along with both of them fairly well and Colby is one of Scott’s closet friends. He’s one of the only guys from Arcana besides Jackson, who he likes to hang out with. It’s fun to hang out with Colby, He’s easy to tease. Not in that tormenting, bully way but in a playful way. Scott’s aware of how much Colby lusts over him so he finds it funny watching him scramble on his feet when Scott takes his shirt off or something. Sky is the same. He’s a major flirt but really, Scott doesn’t really care.

“Speedy Gonzales” Scott chuckled to himself as he passed Colby. As Scott passes all three of them he takes a glance into Colby’s box. He holds his gaze, trying to avoid eye-contact with Landon. Candy, condoms, firecrackers and just a bunch of other things were in the box, this had Colby’s name written all over it.

“I’ll be taking one of these.” Scott grabbed a rubber and slipped it into his pocket even though he wasn't going to use it, it smelt funky. Scott was about to make his way to the staircase until he stopped. He turned and spoke directly to Sky. “You’re with Jay? Right? I mean I have your back if anything goes down, just to let you know. You’re not the only one that slept with Cor.” Scott smirked and made his way to his room.

His stuff was still scattered everywhere, Izzy wasn’t here either. He had the place to himself, Scott got completed naked and jumped into the shower. He had put a fresh patch of clothes and organized everything that was his to the side of the room so that when Izzy arrived he wouldn’t get a heart attack. Scott jumped on his bed and stared at his ceiling. Minutes and minutes pass and he remained to do nothing, he was thinking, about everything. His thoughts were either about the assembly that was near by and the other half of his conscious was thinking about Freya.

Landon laughed along, making Jay uncomfortable would definitely be hilarious. Though he'd never said much to Jay himself, Colby had got himself in trouble enough times with his offhand 'compliments' for Landon to know he was far from interested. Overwhelming the boy with flattery from the three of them could at least make for some interesting extra curricular battle practice.

“I wouldn't mind having these assignments changed. I'm not exactly keen to the idea of waking up to some scene from the Parent Trap every morning and I'm sure Eriol wouldn't like the idea of being quarantined to some small section of the room all night.” He wasn't exactly a huge fan of pranks or surprises really, the two kind of go hand in hand. With Eriol's power Landon doubt he could really do much to stop them, so a new roommate would probably be an ideal outcome of the assembly.

Theo's presence in the hall made him forget completely about Eriol and the assembly. He looked grim, no surprises there, but otherwise he was as sexy as ever. Landon didn't say anything, no wolf whistles or comments on his appearance. The baggy clothes hid the body that was capable of so much more than what he presented to the majority of the school, a weak little dreamer hardly strong enough to carry a duffel bag up to his room. Landon had seen just how capable Theo was, but had promised to keep his athleticism a secret, though he could hardly see why it was such a big deal. He smiled and nodded back as Theo wordlessly walked passed the trio. He hadn't tried talking to the Noctrem student since their last meeting in the library, he was still trying to figure out how to work around Theo's advice: “Your time would be better spent going after someone else.”

Landon wasn't sure what made that so impossible. It could have been the pursuit that made Theo so irresistible, he was something that he couldn't simply have, it was a challenge. It could also be that the kid was so damn mysterious; hardly talking to anyone, hiding his exercise routine. There was nothing about him that was easy to understand, to win over, nothing. However, for all the times he'd been stand offish and rude, there were a few instances where he genuinely seemed like a nice guy who was shrouded in all of his own sadness and secrets, or whatever.

Colby's question, caught him off guard, “Yeah, a few times, actually.” or that's what he would have liked to say if Colby hadn't said everything so quickly. He instead settled for a nod but listened carefully to what Sky said. It seemed that Theo was only happy when dating, Scott? Obviously not Scott Andrews and with the few other things Skylar said Landon gathered he meant the Scott that had died in the fire. The guilt hit pretty hard. For the past few weeks, he'd been hitting on and bugging Theo and the whole reason he was so sad all the time was because his boyfriend was burnt alive. He felt like such an ass. Landon was visibly distraught over what he'd just learned as he quietly accepted the lollipop to suck on while he thought the whole thing over, including what he'd say as an apology.