Young Writers Society

Caroline. 2:25pm. Room A3.

Caroline sat on the bed in her room, a huge book spread across her lap. When she had gotten back to the room, Jaunie hadn't been there, but she hadn't complained. She wanted to get some reading done, and try to practice her powers again.

The words in the book were tiny, and the scrawled handwriting hard to make out. Caroline had learned much of what she had read of the book, though, so it was second nature to decipher the mess now. The book contained all of the legends and lore of her tribe, including tales about her ancestor, Storm. Every time she read about the feats the woman had managed to accomplish, Caroline couldn't help but be awed. She ran her fingers over the pages of the book and lay her head back for a few seconds. "Maybe someday I'll be that powerful," she said to herself, and a smile came across her face. It was quickly followed by a frown, and she shook her head and sit up.

She muttered words under her breath and repeated them several times. "Okay," she said.

She closed her eyes and her forehead wrinkled as she concentrated. Her breath began to come heavier as she concentrated. The room seemed to grow darker, and she begins to shake with her effort. Nothing happened, and she opened her eyes.

She threw herself back with a yell, and for an instant, the room grew deathly cold and the things she had taken out of her bag to get to the book flew into the air and hovered for a few seconds. The temperature was obviously different, but she couldn't feel a thing. As soon she realised what was happening, she froze and the things fell to the floor.

Caroline bit her lip. "Okay. I've got something. Now, I just have to work with that something. If only I was angry more often." She grinned ruefully, and began to pick her things up from the ground. After a moment's hesitation, she picked up Jaunie's things and put them neatly on the girl's bed as well.

"Something's better than nothing," she said. She walked out of her room with a grin, hoping no one else had noticed how cold the block had gotten.

Feel free to interact with her from her, if you want. Although if you ask her about the cold, she is just going to divert you.

Orelia, 2:26 pm, A block hallway

Nobody really seemed to be around in the B block. I headed towards A, looking for someone to talk to. The air was really cold here... frighteningly so. "Okay. I've got something. Now, I just have to work with that something. If only I was angry more often." I heard someone mumble from inside A3. A few moments later, a girl walked out.
"Something's better than nothing." I said. I wondered if she had caused the cold.
"My name's Orelia." I offered.
"Caroline." she said, smiling a little bit.
"So, Caroline, who're you descended from?" I asked. She looked fairly normal. She shot me a look.
"You first." she said. I smiled slightly.
"Sure. Dark Waverider was my great-grandfather...er...well... in an alternate dimension, if you want to get down to the basic facts." I said.
"So, did you know him?" she asked.
"No, he was driven off into space by the avengers after he caused superman to die. At least, that's how the family story goes. There's all different versions, some where Superman never died at all. But I never met him." I sighed.
"Huh. Guess you have a bone to pick with the principal, then, huh?" she asked.
"No, not really," I lied. "I mean, he was evil, and I'm certainly not." I said, laying it on kind of thick. "So... who's your ancestor? I just spilled." I asked, changing the subject.
"If you must know... Storm. From the X-Men." she admitted.
"Cool!" I said, but inside I was thinking of Storm's weaknesses. Being buried alive, for one... complete darkness... I wondered if this Caroline girl was the same. Those were both things I could use against her, if she was.
"So, Caroline... why are you here?" I asked, making conversation. She seemed like she would be nice enough to have as a friend, at least for now.

Zeke: O-Week, Monday, 2:10pm

Zeke wondered how many times he'd be visiting the infirmary today. Not that he had anything better to do. And he was meeting some interesting people. Never mind if they were unconscious... or borderline insane... or toting a sword twice his size...

Most students were in the dining area outside the cafeteria at this time, so he and Kumo had elected to take a more roundabout way to avoid them. However, one student had chosen this same strategy to come back to the dorms, and as she approached she marvelled at the chocobo (as Kumo had called it).
"Aww, look at the pretty birdie!" she crooned, reaching out to stroke it.
"Careful!" Kumo warned hurriedly. "He doesn't take well to... strangers?"
The surprise in Kumo's voice was evident, as Pez had lowered his head for her to rub, and begun nuzzling her hand.
"Awwww..." the girl murmured. "He's so sweet! What's his name?"
"It's... uh, Pez," Kumo stuttered, confused. "Do you... have some kind of power over animals or something?"
The girl shrugged. "Nope. I'm Jen, and I'm magical! Who are you guys?"

Jen continued to lavish attention on Pez for a good few minutes after everyone was introduced, until Zeke coughed and pointed to Bart. Kumo looked like she was about to excuse them, but Jen had noticed Bart too, and opened her mouth first.
"Oh my God... have you guys been fighting!? You're going to be in strife if you have!"
"I don't get into strife," Kumo retorted, possibly peeved at the unintended use of her name. Zeke sensed trouble and jumped in.
"We haven't been fighting!" he exclaimed. "This kid just burned himself out, that's all. Apparently his electricity can build up and overload him if he's not careful. And he's not," he added.
This seemed to mollify Jen, and she waved as she continuted back to the dorms. Zeke and Kumo continued towards the admin building until they reached the infirmary.

"Geez, is this punk seriously the third casualty on the first day at this place?" Kumo remarked, taking in the sight of the unconscious Samantha and the writhing Gratian. Zeke just shrugged. Once Bart was taken care of they made their way back to the building entrance.
No sooner had they stepped out the door than a girl, apparently having just entered the Academy itself, ran over to them.
"Hey, you guys! Do you know where the dorms are?"
"We're on our way there right now, right?" Zeke replied, turning to Kumo. But Kumo was atop Pez and on her way already.

"Looks like my fellow student would like to race," Zeke remarked with a grin. He took the arm of the girl and took off after Kumo, the girl only having the chance to exclaim, "Thanks, my name's Alexiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssss!!"

Nolan Lehnsherr - Anti-Villainy Counselling Classroom, 2.42 PM

"Welcome, Mr. Lehnsherr. Good morning, Corda. How can I help you today?"

Oh right. This was one of his classes. Still, something about this room made Nolan uncomfortable. As if there was some powerful being in the room. Nolan silently scanned the room, uncharacteristically ignoring Isaac's greeting. It couldn't be Corda. This presence was...new yet old at the same time.

Then it had to be - Isaac?

Nolan narrowed his eyes and absent-mindedly let Liam drop to the floor, where the snake grew to his full eight-and-a-half-meter-length. Nolan pasted a polite smile on his face, where it settled in and looked quite natural, not at all forced. "Mr. Dawno. We had a...ah, problem getting around. I'm afraid we may have walked into the wrong room." Crap. He screwed up there, repeating "a". Would Mr. Dawno notice? "Very sorry to bother you."

Mr. Dawno's face scrunched up and a growing horror settled itself in the pit of Nolan's stomach. Dawno knew. Dawno could resist Nolan, and so much more easily than Corda could. He shot a careful glance at Corda, who seemed to be registering the same questioning panic, except hers was written all over her face.

"Your powers are quite remarkable, aren't they, Mr. Lehnsherr? Nothing like your ancestor's."

This time Nolan knew what to say. "I don't like talking about him."

"About Erik? Why? He's one of the greatest villains of all time!"

Nolan raised an eyebrow. That actually sounded as if Dawno was impressed by Magneto's criminal nature, as he ought to be. Nolan's great-grandfather was someone to be revered. A genius in the purest sense.

"You ought to be proud of him," Dawno chided.

Yep, Dawno was impressed.

"And you, Corda - your ancestress - such power. One can hardly forget her."

Corda blushed but Nolan crossed his arms over his chest. Wasn't this anti-villainy? Was this a test to gauge how much of their ancestors' villainous tendencies they had?

"They deserve so much more than the infamy attributed to them."

This was most definitely not what Nolan expected. He kept quiet and waited for Corda to make a move. Hopefully she would be the one to walk out of the classroom first. Something was wrong here, and he only hoped she would ignore the compliments and rise to the occasion.

Samantha, the Infirmary, 2:45 PM

Sam moaned and sat up, rubbing her forehead. It had happened again... How long had she been out of it...? She looked up at the clock and gasped audibly. An hour and a half?! She leapt off of the bed she was in. With a quick glance at the other two people in there, she slipped out of the room, hoping that she wouldn't be noticed.

Too late.

A hand caught her shoulder. She turned, startled. A man was standing there. He was relatively tall with black hair, and looking at her in a very concerned way. "I'm sorry, but you can't leave just yet. You just went into some kind of coma. This hasn't happened before; I need to see if you're alright."

Sam tried to argue, but he was already pulling her away from the door. She sighed and allowed him to check her over.

He looked at her. "Do you know anything about this?"

Sam sighed. "It's natural; happens all the time, really. I didn't mean to alarm anyone. Sorry."

Finally he reluctantly let her go. She slipped out of the room, feeling incredibly embarrassed. It was so hard to avoid attention when you went into unexplainable comas every so often.

Alicia Foley - Room B3. 2:50 PM.

"Okaaay," Alicia said quietly. "B3 - here we go."
Damn, I'm late. Really late. She sighed as she walked up the corridor in the B-Block. But better late than never!
Alicia opened the door of B3, smiling widely in preparation to meet her new room-mate. But the smile was met with an empty room.
No room-mate then, she guessed. But at least that means I get the best bed ... more cupboard space ... it's a good thing, really.
All the same, Alicia was worried about meeting people here. She hadn't arrived in time for the welcoming speech, thanks to her plane being delayed by a few hours, and she'd only seen a few people in passing as she'd walked up to her room. She had seen a medical centre, though, which had boded well for her. At some point this week she would go and introduce herself there; ask if they needed a volunteer or something.

Alicia's stomach growled and she grimaced slightly. The plane food had looked disgusting, so she hadn't eaten anything since a slightly soggy panini she'd bought at Heathrow Airport.
Time to get some lunch, I think. There must be a canteen somewhere around here.
Grabbing her iPod from the top of her hand luggage, Alicia stepped out of her room and readied herself to join the school

Just to get her in here. If it's needs fixing or anything....yeah, you get the idea.

Elizabeth – B block hallway, 4:02 pm:

I was late, incredibly late. I just knew I was as I rushed down the hall, looking at the different doors and just confusing myself. I fingered my necklace, frowning.

Closing my eyes, I turned around for a moment then opened my eyes. Okay, that wasn’t normal behaviour. Stupid place, I thought and then blinked. Hang on a second. That wasn’t me just now. I shrugged and approached the door, gently pushing it open. Just don’t think about it too much, Liz. You’ll make yourself feel dizzy again.

“Hello?” I called, peeking around the door. “Is this B4?”

No one answered so I decided it probably wasn’t my room. I slowly backed away from the room and turned to look around again, bumping into someone. I almost swore-which is very unlike me and looked up to see a girl about my height with blonde hair and amber eyes.

“Sorry,” I muttered and then felt the switch in my head. “You shouldn’t get in my way,” I told her in an extremely nasty tone. Oh crap, I thought. This is where I start running.

She narrowed her gaze at me and then burst out laughing. I stared at her, wide-eyed. What the heck? I thought, watching her.

“It’s okay,” she laughed. “I guess you’re lost? What room are you in?”

I hesitated, some little voice at the back of my mind was telling me to say shut up, go away or something much nastier. I told it to shut up and tried to ignore the insulting commentary in my head that definitely wasn’t the normal me.

“Yeah, I’m lost,” I mumbled. “I’ve been assigned B4 but I can’t seem to find it.”

I sighed. The plane ride had made me tired, not to mention the hostess who had started to avoid me because of my little....outbursts. Surprisingly, the food wasn’t too bad.

She laughed again and turned away. “That would be my room too.”

“What?! We share rooms?” I said loudly, too loud.

She winced but walked off down the hall to another door a few down on the other side of the hall. She disappeared through the door, leaving it open. Shrugging, I followed her into the room.

“I’m so sorry about before,” I said as I entered the room. “I keep having these weird personality lapses. It was freaking my parents out so they sent me here. Still don’t...know...why...” I trailed off, frowning. Um, where had she gone?

Corda - Anti-Villainy Counselling Classroom - 2:46 PM

"And you, Corda - your ancestress - such power. One can hardly forget her. They deserve so much more than the infamy attributed to them."

Corda flushed, not from the compliment, but because she had been noticed. Mr. Dawno made her uncomfortable with the way he looked at Nolan and her, as if he knew more about the both of them than he was letting on. He probably did, Corda chided herself, considering he had their files on hand.

Corda's head was still foggy from Nolan's earlier lie, but she had enough wits about her to wonder if this were a test. Considering she had plans to be on her best behavior so that she could quickly drop this class and free up time for another, Corda replied, "If by 'more than infamy', you mean admiration, then I'm afraid I must disagree. I am unaware of Nolan's lineage, but speaking of my own ancestress, she deserved every iota of infamy attributed to her with all the misery and suffering she caused. But that is not why we are here." She saw Nolan stiffen and Liam (who she knew had not been that large this morning) become more irritable, but she pressed on; the Anti-Villain Counseling teacher might be their best bet at getting out of the trouble they were currently in. "You see, we're in a bit of trouble. One of the other students, a young boy, stepped on my familiar, so he bit him. We were about to bring him to the infirmary when his roommate came across us, and she started accusing us of harming him on purpose, which was clearly ridiculous, but she didn't give us, well, me really, a chance to explain before she dragged the boy off. Seeing as how we're both descended from villains and that she accused us both of harming the boy, even though Nolan was really just a bystander, we knew the chances of us being believed were slim, so we came to find someone who would believe us. You do believe us, don't you?" Corda wrung her hand and chewed on her lips in obvious distress. The emotion was not feigned as Mr. Dawno felt... off, and Liam was watching her with a hungry gleam in his eye even as Nolan stood, dangerously relaxed.

Mr. Dawno's gaze dwelt on Nolan for a moment before it returned to Corda. "Of course I believe you, Corda, and you did the right thing in coming to me."

"So you'll straighten things out?"

"Rest assured, I shall," Mr. Dawno said with a smile as he slouched back in his chair. "If that is all, then you are both dismissed."

Corda smiled back wanly before stepping out into the hallway. Nolan followed shortly after, closing the door behind him. Liam was slung over his shoulders, back to his regular size, but no less intimidating as he glared to match his master.

"Tell me, Corda, what was that?"

"What do you mean? It worked, didn't it?" she snapped back, the fog in her mind, still not fully cleared, making her irritable. "What were you planning on doing? Finding another teacher and using your power on them?"

"As a matter of fact--"

"And what if they were just as unaffected? What if all the staff have taken precautions against your power? Mr. Dawno was aware of them, so it's not at all far-fetched."

Nolan looked outraged, and Liam looked ravenous, ready to strike, before Corda realized what she was doing. Fortunately, there was no one else in the hall. Before things could escalate, she buried her face in her hands and moaned, "I'm sorry, Nolan. That lie you told to Mr. Dawno is still messing with my head. I think I'd better go to my room and rest."

Nolan's expression changed from one of barely-restrained fury to slightly guilty. "That would be a good idea," he said, reining Liam in. "I will see you later?"

Corda nodded tiredly, and Nolan was off. Corda snorted to herself; he definitely wasn't one to wait around. She headed to B-block at a more sedate pace and made her steady way to Room B2.

To Corda's relief, the other half of the room was still empty, and she felt slightly hopeful that she'd escaped having a roommate. In any case, as soon as she shut the door behind her, she staggered to the bed and flopped down upon it, mentally exhausted. What a day! And to think it wasn't even over yet. In the meantime, though, a nap wouldn't hurt...

It was with this thought in mind that Corda fell asleep.

Bart- 5:00 pm

I was awoken by the lurching of my empty belly, which yelled at me to get up and get food. I slowly scanned my surroundings, spotting a girl and very young boy with me. Along with a man who I guessed was the nurse, though in this place, he was probably like an epic doctor.

I yawned loudly, purposely to make the doctor turn his attention to me. "Oh Bart, you're awake," he said and with two long strides had arrived at my bed. I shake his hand and then he checked my vitals. "Well, aside from a bit of a high temperature, which I assume is your powers, all seems to be all right."

"Yeah, its happened before, its unpleasant, but not that bad over all, my body has to be resistant to the stuff, I mean I'm supposed to learn to go at the speed of light at one point," I rambled, and Mr. Banner smiled. "Well everything thing is fine, so can I go?"

"If you wish, I would rather you stay put, but I can bet you wo-" Before he finished I had dashed from the room. I bet he was going to say I wasn't going to stay anyway, he was good.

Only after I had gotten away from the infirmary did I think where too go. I couldn't go to my dorm, I mean not with a roommate carrying a sword my size, and a vengeance. I was hungry too, but dinner wasn't till seven, so I was out of luck. "I guess I could train" I said to myself. I checked my pockets trying to find Bolt, and then grabbed him out of my head. This little guy didn't feel anything, he was just sleeping away.

"Come on Bolt, I'll need a charge for training, " I said and scratched under his chin, he gave me a big open mouthed smile, and I felt him transfer some of his power to me.

I let him crawl back into my hair, and focused on the new power. I had to try and let it out, the excess made it easier, but it only would hold so long under my will. After ten minutes of nothing, having the electricity from Bolt leave my control after a minute, I decided to risk going back to the dorm rooms. I would have to be fast, and I would have to be quiet getting in.

I didn't have my key, so I check the window, it was cracked open a bit, with Kumo asleep, a book or something in her hand. Okay, so far so good. I wedged the window up just enough to squeeze through, closed it slowly, and then grabbed a pillow and blanket off my own bed, and crawled to my closet. I then prayed Kumo wouldn't find me before dinner, I didn't like the idea of my last thoughts being "I should have had Pork Chops."

Alexis Pyreta, Outside Dining Hall, 5:42 pm

It's all a game, Alex.

The others walked by, hands bundled to themselves, nerves escalating as they neared the pale girl seated by the window. With one leather boot draped over the other, hands folded in her lap, and violent green eyes scanning each passerby, she gave off a stigma-- almost an understated aura-- that told all around her to stay away. Maybe it was her black nails or her scarlet red hair, but whatever the trick was, it worked.

Alex's thumb turned in a circle and the world around her drowned beneath twelve decibles of trance music.

Yes, Alex; drown yourself in sound. They're just bubbles. Careful not to pop them!

It had to be her eyes. Alex nodded, not in rhythm with the music, but to her own syncapated existance. Mostly subconsciously, she began to sing her own twisted words, eyes moving once to see Professor Dawno coming through the doors from the main yard. She didn't like the way he looked at her, almost like he could feel her hatred inside her.

Anger is an emotion; it is natural and healthy. It is also controllable and must not consume you.

"Damn the counseling," she muttured, and returned beneath her waves of trance depth. Many moments passed, and the clock in front of her read 5:56 pm. Her eyes shifted as a new face walked in front of her-- a face from her Anti-Villainy class. Suddenly, Alex couldn't breathe. Her hands clenched into fists and her throat tightened.

Run?

Her luminous eyes shut tightly, her muscles tightened, and she lunged forward from the bench, covering an entire four feet before hearing Smack! Bump! Hiss... Her eyes opened and she was on the ground across from a boy. And the hiss... Her eyes grew wide, a scream condensed in her throat until it began to suffocate her, driving her wild as she swatted at the snake around her waist.

Time slowed down; the bubbles started popping around her. Oh, God, there wasn't enough air for Alex. She couldn't breathe or move or think. The scream let out of her throat, the suffocation engulfing her mind spreading through her fingertips in a fiery panic. Her eyes opened as she was being pried away from the snake. She could hear gasps and hisses and a boy's voice calling out, "Liam!" but all she could hear was the sound of bubbles popping, sizzling, burning under the heat of their own vapor. She was boiling.

Nolan Lehnsherr - 6 PM, Outside dining hall

Red hot pain - literally. It was all he could feel, and doubtless all Liam could feel too. Tears flooded Nolan's eyes and he clenched them shut. No, he would not cry. No matter how much this hurt, he would not cry.

He was on all fours, trying to survive whatever this girl was doing to Liam and he tried to open his eyes but he was so damned afraid those stupid tears would fall out.

And Liam, dear God Liam, what was happening to Liam? Nolan sensed his snake tightening around the girl, trying to kill her before she caused both of them any more pain.

Liam, no.

The girl was shrieking, panicky and now she was throwing freaking fireballs around. Damn it, where was Corda when Nolan needed her?

"Oh, what's this? Interesting."

A bystander - heaven sent.

"Don't just stand there! Get this snake off of me!" shrieked the other girl.

"Oh my God, right! Help you! Oh wait. GOD THAT'S A SNAKE!"

Great. Just great. Nolan didn't care of Dawno was around anymore. Dawno could watch Nolan lie and cheat and manipulate others for all he cared. Nolan just wanted the pain to stop. "You're not afraid of snakes - you can't be afraid of snakes!"

"Oh...right. My God that's a big snake."

Just their luck. An insane girl had to be the only person to pass by.

"Get it off me!"

A moment of panic - then the pain started to subside and Nolan finally dared to open his eyes. Liam lay on the grass, more or less unharmed. Nolan checked himself. Odd, no harm done. But that was so painful. How could there have been no harm done?

Oh wait. There, on the cuff of his sleeve, was burn. Crap. That, and he was dirty. He knew white was not a good color to wear today. He ought to change as soon as possible, or else all this filth would get to him. His immune system was never that incredible and he couldn't take chances here.

Deep breaths, Nolan. Deep breaths. When he finally regained his composure he stood up and brushed the grass off. Liam moved towards his master and Nolan picked him up, slinging the snake around his neck.

Then he turned to glare at the two girls. What kind of morons were -

Wait. He knew that other girl. The one helping the panicked girl regain her senses. He met her somewhere before.

She turned to him after a while. "You all right?"

"Fine," he said. Then a smile. "Thank you. For the help." He studied her face for a while more before it dawned on him.

Insane, red-haired girl. Someone he knew. Elizabeth. Yes, that was her name. Elizabeth. He'd met her once or twice before, but they'd never really gotten past pleasantries.

And now he was awkward, not knowing what to do.

Elizabeth, Outside Dining Hall-6:02pm:

I spent two hours in my dorm room, trying to settle in. The room was bland. Blank, pale cream-ish walls and plain white blankets. Everything was so damn plain. I sighed, straightening up and then I blinked. Suddenly, I was watching a girl getting strangled around the waist by a snake. Er, when had I moved? Oh wait, I remembered leaving the dorms as if in a trance. Must have been bored or something.

I blinked for a moment then rushed over to help her. Eventually I got the snake to let go and helped the girl up. Looking around a few minutes later, I noticed a boy.

"You all right?" I asked, turning towards him. He was on his feet and had brushed off his clothes, and picked up the snake. Oh, god. A snake! I hesitated, eyeing the snake.

"Fine," the boy said. "Thank you. For the help." He paused, studying my face for a moment and then he blinked and started acting awkward.

I frowned, watching him. He looked familiar... Had I seen him before? Meet him before? I hesitated as a name surfaced. A name that went with the face. Nolan. Oh geez.

"Nolan?" I asked, startled. He gave me a small, wry grin and turned to look at the other girl, his expression suddenly very dark and thunderous. Ah, crap. "Don't tell me I did something awful," I muttered and heaved a sigh. Damn these stupid ticks.

The girl laughed. "You did nothing for a moment," she snapped. "What the heck is wrong with you?"

I blinked. Err, what? I swore and stormed off a few paces. Just because I sometimes said things that weren't my thoughts didn't mean I was... I cut my thoughts off there. The voice was back.

Oh, but you are, Lizzy, it whispered. You're crazy and you love it. You know you do. I know you do.

"Who are you?" I whispered. It just laughed at me. "Shut up!" I yelled and after a few moments, the voice vanished.

"Something the matter, Elizabeth?" Nolan asked. I yelped and spun round to face him and the girl.

"Um, no, no," I said, a little rushed. "No. Nothing wrong. Nope, not at all."

Nolan and the girl stared at me and then I turned and ran off, passing some teacher as I left the area. Why did I have to have conversations with myself like that? It freaks people out.

I told myself to shut up and kept running, all the way back to my dorm room.

Alexis, Outside the Cafeteria, 6:03 pm

I stood there, shaken, rattled, and a bit confused, but in-tact. I was alive. I stared at the girl--Mallie said to call her my savior--and watched her spazz for a moment before turning to the boy with the burn mark on his wrist. "I..." My voice seemed brighter than I felt. "I'm sorry... F-For hurting you." I bit down on my lower lip and stared into his eyes, though he fought it. "Your giftedness... It's... weird to me." My bright gaze fell to his wrist, which he held in one hand. "That probably won't..." Mallie stopped me in my tracks.

He--the boy and that snake of his-- they're out to get you. Have you forgotten already?"

Instinctively, I shook my head no. I looked back up into his eyes and then off into the small crowd around us. "I... Should...G--..." The snake's eyes, beady, piercing, looking through me, at Mallie; that's right. He wanted Mallie, not me. Because she was prett-...

"I should..." There I went again, zoning out of my own thoughts. I tilted my head to the side, ignoring the left headphone as it fell out and to my neck. I hadn't noticed the crushed iPod in my hand yet, but then again, I really didn't notice anything. I looked back up at the boy, Nolan... "Nolan..." Such a kind name. Kind face. With a snake.

He's evil. His heritage envies yours. Run while you can before the serpant has time to rest!

I moved my lips to speak again, but stumbled over my own thinking and into the second after the girl staggered back: "No. Nothing wrong. Nope, not at all."

Caught up in my personal time warp, I staggered backwards, into the broad shoulders of Professor Dawno. Swiftly, I turned, my summer-grass eyes fearful and shaky in front of him.

You've done it now, Alexis... You're being expelled and sent back up north to freeze in your hellhole of an empty home...

"Miss Pyreta? Is there an issue...?"

Suddenly, I welcomed suffocation again. In fact, I demanded it.

Nolan Lehnsherr - 6.05 PM, Outside the cafeteria

For a moment he felt like telling her she was scheduled to jump off a cliff and that doing so was the only way she could save herself.

But then she looked so terrified for absolutely no reason and he almost felt compelled to ask her why she looked like that.

She stammered every single time she tried to speak. He tapped his foot impatiently, keeping a polite interested look on his face. He ought to stick around and find out what she wanted to say before excusing himself.

Then Mr. Dawno came up behind her, confident as ever, and Nolan's hair stood on end. Liam stiffened as she backed into him, stepping on his foot.

"S-sorry," she squeaked.

"Miss Pryeta? Is there an issue?" Mr. Dawno asked.

And suddenly Nolan felt defensive of her. "She's feeling a little woozy, Mr. Dawno. I'm afraid Liam latched onto her a while ago. I'll take her back to her room," Nolan cut in. He moved towards Miss Pryeta and offered her an arm.

"T-thanks -" she began.

"Mr. Lehnsherr. Just the person I wanted to see. Would you excuse us for a short talk, Miss Pryeta?" Dawno boomed.

At this point Nolan felt heat radiate off Miss Pryeta. A fire demon. Wonderful. Nolan kept the smile on his face. "I'm sure it can wait, Mr. Dawno. She needs to rest now."

"And what if it can't wait?"

"I'll have to come by your office as soon as I drop her off, then." Nolan prayed, prayed to God his lie would work this time, that it wouldn't flop like the last one.

"I'm afraid after you drop her off it'll be time for dinner, and after that curfew will mandate your returning to your dorm."

Nolan tensed and Liam coiled, ready to strike. Dawno only looked amused.

"She really needs some help now," Nolan said through clenched teeth. This would definitely be one of the rare times he was backed into a corner.

Dawno searched Nolan's eyes before stepping aside. "I'll be expecting you first thing in the morning on the first day of class. Don't fail me. Make sure to bring Miss Pryeta and Corda along. Understood?"

Nolan nodded and led Miss Pryeta away. Silence hung between them as they walked and once or twice he felt her shiver. Not from the cold, definitely. It was warm tonight.

So much had happened, and this was only day 1. Corda would be a good friend, that he knew, but Elizabeth was a different case entirely. She was an x factor, something he could never predict.

He stopped only when he realized he didn't know where her room was and berated himself for making a mistake. Stupid. Why was he even so hostile towards Mr. Dawno?

Maybe because Mr. Dawno is likely to attack Magneto's morals later on.

That was a good reason. He turned to Miss Pryeta, a genuinely sheepish smile on his face. "I'm sorry - I forgot to ask you where you room is."

Alexis, 6:14 pm-- B-Wing

Alex remained quiet as they walked, keeping her shakey eyes on the garnet floors below. When he stopped, she turned to him, brilliant green eyes shaking in their sockets. "It's just a b-... A bit further down this... This hallway." She was fearful of him.

But he's so soft and easy to wouuuund, Alex... Imagine the fun we could haaaave...

Alex stammered, backing away a step before clasping her arms against her chest. Her eyes roamed up his statuesque form and to the snake's eyes. "I'm... I'm afraid..."

She closed her eyes, swallowing a lump in her throat as another couple walked by. Could she trust him? Should she? "I... I don't stay in my room, yet."

She had to appeal as a freak to him. "N-No roommate... No safety."

He'll rape you and make you his slave.

"N-No!" Her eyes shot wide. "Wh-what I mean is... Is... She...She doesn't arrive until later." Alex bit down on her lip, growing close to freaking out again. "I-is there any way you... You could just calm me d-down...?" In her eyes, the lights were radiating, flourishing in white light. Her heart pounded. "I'm r-really not cr-crazy... I just..." Her blood began to boil in her veins. She gasped, latching herself onto Nolan's chest. Muffled into his shirt, she gasped out her words: "Ihaveviolentpanicdisorderandneedtocalmthehelldown."