Young Writers Society

Arthur-10:00am-Potions room
So I am not the only person to be late. Thank God for that! I just ran in and called a female teacher sir. Still, she seems friendly enough, so that is alright. I don't believe I thew my BOOKS on the ground, like that! I hope my room mate doesn't stand on them. If that person does, they are a idiot!

Distil potion, I wrote on the page. Oh why did I call the teacher SIR? Sir=male ma'am=female. Damn my confusion! Still, it was nice of the girl next to lend me the pen. Things do seem to be getting slightly better. Maybe I'll actually MAKE friends, now that would be good. I'm not good at friends. Oh well, I'll just look at this potion. Colic acid, dragon's tongue and a hint of mandrake... Interesting, it does seem that this potion is highly potent, to make it you have to be extremely careful. Boil together for three minuites... Well, I think I'll try making it myself, when I get back to the Dorm. I think that If I put about a litre more of Colic acid into it and half the required Dragon's tongue, it should work. I don't have any lessons until Friday, I can try it out in that time.
"Yes, that could work", I mumble.
"What could work, mister Gravesend?", The Teacher asks me. Oh Crap, she heard me!
"Nothing, ma'am", I reply, quietly. Oh how I wish I didn't say anything.
"Well stay quiet", she says to me.
"Y-yes ma'am", I reply. I am so embarrassed, why didn't I keep quiet? Oh great everyone is looking at me...

Yes I am very ahead, but I am also very bored.



After my less-than-cheery meeting with Dawno, I needed a way to blow off some steam about earlier. I was in no condition to fight, and no mood to either. I just wanted to run. If it wasn't for the fact my leg was still torn from the knife, I would have ran forever, and no where. But it wasn't the case, so I would have to settle for training.

I got to the track, and I found some weird little mouse thing sleeping. He jerked his head a lot, as if he liked to run Twenty-five-eight. The track was probably a quarter mile, like all tracks, so I stood at the long end, ready to run the length a few times. I would have to dash for now, Which was good I guess, I had some trouble going medium distances. Its hard to stop when you get the momentum.

I reached into my pocket, hoping for my Ipod, and was greeted by the metallic cold of my beloved device. I grabbed it like the last bit of food on the planet, and hit shuffle. A loud, and a fast song blasted through the head phones, and I almost went deaf.Highway Star by Deep Purple. Perfect. I took my first sprint.

The wind rushed passed me, I smelt a bit of smoke, remembering my Gauze, they were probably getting some holes from sparks. At half way came the challenge, I didn't have enough space to gradually slow myself, and if I stopped short I would probably tear my leg open again. I ran right passed the track edge, and into the wall. "Ow...." I groaned and turned back around. I did it again, pumping up my speed, and then attempting to stop short. My body was flung forward, and I did a back flip, landing on my ass. I looked over to see the Mouse chuckle at me, as he ran in place, ready to start running himself.

One more try, I told myself, and went right back to the other end. II felt the electricity going through me, power surged. It didn't feel dangerous this time though. It felt....good, empowering. Awesome. The crazy thing is, I also felt in control of it for once. I mean weakly, but still, it wasn't all some battery that gave off random surges of a million volts. I sucked in the sparks that were floating around me, and felt a warm, gentle buzz on my skin. Suddenly I just stopped short, but I never even meant to, and didn't land on my ass again.

I looked back, and saw a trail of black chunks of gunk. it ran all the way to me, where there was a puddle of melted rubber at my feet. I tried to move, but the stuff was like....Super-duper glue or something. I pulled at it desperate, while I heard chuckles that hummed softly and loudly around me, as the crazy mouse ran.

I saw a blue flash, and turned to see someone run around me too. What, no one could help a kid glued to the floor. "Hey, Jack-Ass, mind helping me out?"

(That's Zeke by the way.)

Nolan Lehnsherr - First Week, Dorm Block B, 5.00 PM

Nolan stared at the door in front of him. Honestly what was wrong with girls? They seemed a lot easier to deal with back at home. None of them got mad at him and none of them rebuffed him whenever he tried to do something nice for them. Damn it.

He hesitated before raising his hand to knock on the door. Why was this so hard? A simple apology ought to do the trick, but he better not say "You'll forgive me, right?" That would make her think he was trying to influence her and would make her even more furious.

What did he do wrong?! All he did was try to help her. He knew she wouldn't like being cornered by Dawno. Besides, it wasn't as if Dawno accepted their proposition yet. He was still thinking about it.

Nolan wished Liam was with him now. Corda had a soft spot for Liam. Nolan let out a defeated sigh and glared at the door in front of him.

"Nolan! You're here - but isn't your dorm all the way in the other side?"

Great. Just what he needed. Crazy Liz. He smiled at her. "Liz."

She frowned a bit when he called her that. Crap. He made another mistake. What was it with him and mistakes today?! He was a mess without Liam. Dear Lord where was Liam when Nolan needed him?

Oh right. In the infirmary. Stupid electric lizard.

"You look like you had a bad day," she observed.

Nolan's eyes widened. Really? Did he look tired? Dirty? Messy? He smoothed out a crease on his shirt and she laughed.

"You're adorable when you do that. You don't look messy, or dirty for that matter. But there's something about your eyes..." she approaches him and soon she was close enough to brush him whenever she moved.

And now Nolan was unsure again. Didn't Liz...hate him?

Elizabeth|Week 1-B Dorms hallway-5:02pm:

Nolan was transfixed, staring at me-no us-in confusion.

"Oh, stop pouting," she said. The voice had taken over again, hadn't she? And yet I was with her all the way, saying things I normally wouldn't say. She moved me forwards until I was almost hugging him. "Shall we go for a walk?"

"Um, sure?" he said, looking a little flustered. I smiled and the voice laughed.

Grinning, I linked an arm through his and started to walk off. Nolan seemed a little reluctant to go anywhere-his gaze straying to the door he'd been standing outside as we got further away.

"So," she said, using me to distract him. I didn't like this. I knew her intentions and she wasn't going to use my body or my voice like that. Don't, I hissed but she ignored me. "Bart, the horror. You thinking of revenge or just wanting to get Dawno off your back? Is this why your ignoring the speedster and concentrating on Corda?"

I turned towards him, watching his face. He looked a little upset. Uh oh. And just at that moment I stumbled, realising that the voice was gone. Ah, crap.

Nolan gently removed my arm from his and gave me a wry smile. " Is it my fault I want to protect my only friend?"

"N-n-no," I stuttered and Nolan narrowed his gaze. Was he suspicious now? Did he realise that I'd just changed personalities on him mid-talk? "I mean.... It's not like Bart is better than you and Corda, well. I would be...confused? Upset? Just a little upset, really..." I shut my mouth, realising that I was starting to babble.

Suddenly I realized he was frowning, concern written all over his face. "Are you all right? You seem...different."

I backed a way a step or two. "No, no. I'm fine...just....um...."

"Scared?"

I gave him a slight smile. "Not really..." I hedged and forced myself to stop backing away from him. "Well, that snake of yours is pretty scary sometimes..."

"Not everyone likes snakes," Nolan said with a chuckle. "But I'm sorry if I'm personally offending you in any manner."

"You're not," I said quickly, too quickly.

"I'm sorry?" Nolan looked so confused and concerned now. "Maybe I should....just...leave?"

"No," I gasped but then there was aloud bang and a huge flash of light. Then the dorm started to shake and I started screaming.

Arthur- Dorm-5:00pm

Thank God! I have now got the ingredients for my potion! I just need to make some final calculations. I got my ancient Mac 128K and turned it on. As I was typing, a girl walked into the Dorm. Wow, I hope she's my room mate. Focus Arthur, focus. Make the calculations.
"Oh, hi", she said. I don't believe it! she spoke to me!
"Hello", I reply. Lame. So damn lame! Damn my accent! OK back to the calculations. OK, they're done!
Beaker, check, Colic acid, check, Dragon tongue, check and the Mandrake, check. I put them all in the beaker very carefully, trying not to trigger a violent reaction. Now, all I have to do is put in a couple more drops. Done it!
"Yes!", I shout, "Yes, I knew it would work!", shout some more.
"Are you sure it should have changed colour?", the girl asks me. Hang on, it shouldn't have done that. "I do believe we should get out of here!", I shout, shoving her out the door. It's bubbling up now. Oh cra-FLASH.
"Where am I?", what a cliche thing to say!
"You're in the Infirmary, very lucky to be still living", the nurse replies.
"Are my books OK?", I ask.
"You are a very lucky boy! They are OK, you are OK! And your room mate is OK, too!, she shouts.
"Oh, good", I reply. Everything goes black.

Nolan Lehnsherr - 5.05 PM Dorm B Hallway

Nolan didn't mind the explosion. It helped him escape that pathetic conversation he was ruining. But now Liz was scared, and Liz was shaking. He couldn't leave her like that.

The explosion still rang a bit in his ears but otherwise he was fine. Therefore she should be fine too. But just to be sure Nolan studied her before kneeling down beside her. She was fine, yeah. Shaken, though.

"Liz, it's all right," he said, putting an arm around her shoulders, shushing her.

She continued to cower, her head in her hands.

"Liz? Honestly you're fine. We're fine."

She was shaking so hard he didn't know if she was laughing or crying. Nolan stayed where he was, awkward, his arm around her shoulder.

And then Corda comes out of her room and sees them. "What in the world -?"

Great. GREAT. Just what he needed. The perfect end to the perfect day.

For the sake of the plot, Public Relations from 12-2pm was cancelled for this week for some reason. And can we please not ultra-fast-forward during the first week anymore, or at least while there are people still doing things inbetween? It throws everyone off because they think they have to follow the last timestamp or something.

Zeke
3:00 pm, Monday, Week 1, D-Block (Transformation)

"Master Hedgehog, would you kindly step forward?"
WHAT? Zeke gulped. "Maybe... maybe Kiat wants to, instead?"
The other students laughed: Kiat a little apologetically; Corda especially hard and scornfully; and the girl he hadn't met before, Elizabeth, quietly at first and then loudly all of a sudden. The teacher, Collumon, simply smiled.

Collumon had introduced himself when he'd entered the classroom. He was a Didgerimon or something, and had originally existed as computer data until he'd found his way to the "real" world, though in Collumon's words, "the real world is a misnomer created by humans. The Digital World is no less real than any of us."

"Master Hedgehog," Collumon now said gently, "you have less to fear from me than from an ordinary garden hose. Kindly step forward, please?"
Zeke, who'd been smacked in the face by a flailing garden hose in his youth, reluctantly made his way to the front of the class. He nervously grinned at Kiat and tried very hard to ignore Corda's venomous glare.
"I am now going to show you what Master Hedgehog here will be able to accomplish when he has passed my class," Collumon said quietly. Although the students were already silent, it felt like they had somehow become quieter.

Collumon closed his eyes and focused on Zeke, who looked sideways at him with increasing foreboding. The pattern on Collumon's forehead, four triangles arranged into a strange symbol, began to glow.
Without warning, the symbol flashed brightly and Collumon shouted "YA!" At the same time, Zeke's pocket began to glow. He reached in and revealed his Chaos Emerald which was nearly blinding him. He was also gradually feeling flooded, and began to wheeze as he struggled to breathe. Yet there was no water. It was more like... energy?
"Tap into it, boy!" Collumon shouted.
I haven't exactly got a choice, Zeke thought, and without more hesitation he drew the energy in.

There was a bright white flash, and Zeke opened his eyes. Everything looked shorter. The other students were staring in astonishment, and Kiat was clapping. He looked down at himself.
His skin and quills had turned from turquoise to a glowing golden. and the reason for everything else being shorter became apparent: he was floating in midair. He tried moving about, and found he could flit about the entire room faster than he'd ever moved. He whizzed past Corda's desk and blew all her papers apart. Perhaps that would teach her to take an unwarranted dislike to him.
At this point Collumon called out. "That will do, Master Hedgehog." Within a split second Zeke was back at the front of the room.
"This," Collumon stated, "is what is known in Master Hedgehog's world as a Super form. It is unique to his world. However, the basic principles used to attain this form are largely the same as you will all use when transforming."
Collumon closed his eyes, and the symbol on his head faded. Zeke felt the energy sucked from him and, turquoise again, he dropped and landed face-first on the ground. Corda sniggered.

At the end of the lesson, during which they had all tried and basically failed to make any kind of transformation (although Kiat managed to twist her rubbery body into some interesting shapes in the process), Zeke headed out to the outdoor area, intending to run a little and maybe try to tap that energy again, which he had realised had come from his Emerald. Instead, he found himself pulling Bart out of some goopy stuff.

"Are you sure you didn't melt your sneakers by running too fast?" he panted.
"No! My sneakers were designed specially to withstand my heat!" Bart exclaimed as he tugged. Zeke couldn't tell if he was telling the truth or not, but before he could even consider bringing it up a loud BANG echoed from one of the dorm buildings. Zeke was so taken aback that he unintentionally yanked on Bart's arm, pulling him free and sending them both sprawling across the grass.

"What the hell was that?" Bart shouted.
"I dunno!" Zeke muttered, rubbing his jaw. That was the second time he'd slammed it. "Should we go make sure the teachers know?"
"I have a better idea," Bart grinned, grabbing Zeke's hand. "How can we tell the teachers anything when we don't know ourselves?"
"NowaitIdon'tthinkweshouldgooooooooooooooooooo...!"

Orelia, 5:00 pm, track.

After Potions ended, I mostly hung around doing nothing. By dinner time I felt sluggish, so I decided to go for a run. I headed down to the track, wondering if anyone else would be there. I was very fast, and I figured I could only get better as my powers developed. I was no match for any of the kids descended from speedsters, but, who knew? Maybe someone with out speed powers would be there. I was pretty lucky. Two of the speedies, as I had nicknamed them, were leaving- Bart something and Zakee... or was it Zeke? Anyway, I was pretty much alone except for some mouse-thing that didn't do much. I started jogging around the track, whistling and thinking. So far, I hadn't really met anyone else descended from a villain. I wanted a friend someone who I could really trust, not some weak little hero who I could never really talk to. So far all I had done was scope out a few weaknesses, but I needed a plan, and I needed someone to plan it. A thought struck me. Dawno's would know every villain descendant in this school. I had a feeling he was one himself. Maybe he could help me. And besides, if he was a villain, maybe he could help me out. I glanced at the mouse-thing and jogged off the track towards the building. I would find Dawno. I wandered until I found his office, and knocked on the door.
"Come in, Miss Carmeline."
said a voice from inside. I began to wonder if it had been a good idea to come here, but I had no choice now. I opened the door and walked in.
"I'm...sorry to bother you, sir, but I was wondering... er..."

He looked at me, a bored expression on his face, and I trailed off.

"You're not sorry at all. But I don't care. I've been meaning to speak with you anyway." he said. "I wonder, Miss Carmeline, why you are here? Certainly you must have more intentions than simply to learn." he mused. I was getting a bit creeped out, but I needed his help.

"Me? I..." I took a breath. Come on, Orelia, he's just an old guy. "I'm here to increase my powers and use them for my own purposes. But that's not why I came here. I've had trouble finding people with...interests like mine, and-" he cut me off.

"Interests, Miss Carmeline? I think we both know your intentions are different than that. And I am not here to play matchmaker, regardless." Inside, I wilted, but I tried not to show it.
"Well... thank you, then. I'll be... leaving."

I turned towards that door, and began to leave.

"I believe you and Mister Nolan Lehnsherr would get along well." he called after me, and the door slammed shut. I walked down the hallway. Nolan.... I hadn't met him. I headed to the cafeteria. Any alliance was fine by me, and maybe he would be there. it was about dinnertime, anyway.

Kumo, 5:00pm Monday, A block Girl's bathroom

Kumo stood in the bathroom, trying in vain to scrub the remains of potions class off her hands. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were tired, and she couldn't help but scowl. She hated theory, and was much more relaxed with a sword in hand than a beaker.
However, if she was ever to brew her own potions, she knew she had to ace her class. Which didn't look likely, judging by the scum falling off her calloused fingers.
She heard a 'Kweh' out the window, and looked down with alarm, afraid Pez had gotten out. Instead the chocobo had stuck his head out of the window, straining up to she his master at the sink by the window. "I know, pal. It's not nearly like running on the plains of home."
Kumo shooed Pez away, and turned to head back to her dormitary. In her pocket was her timetable, which she fished out and was pleased to see she had the day off the next day. It was a relief to have a break after her academical class. The next class, much to Kumo's delight, was Care of Familiars.
As she entered her room, she looked around cautiously for Bart. She didn't trust him enough to keep anything out of her locker, which was under lock and key, but luckily he was still off somewhere. Sitting on her bed she undid her harness, catching her sword and grabbing her polish reflexivly. Polishing was good for the stress, good for the soul.
Kumo stared into the worn but quality metal at the fuzzed out reflection of herself, and mused about her time at school. She had kind of hoped to find a friend here, but she seemed to be labelled as the white haired girl with the giant sword and chicken that flipped out every five minutes. Maybe she should apologise to Bart...
Bart. Where was he? Kumo realised with a start that she hadn't seen him all day. She was used to bumping into the blue haired kid, and he was usually in the dorms doing something by now. She sighed, and picked up her sword, restrapping it to her back. If she wanted company she was going to have to go find it.

Caroline - Infirmary - 5:10pm

I sat in the chair beside Arthur's bed. "I don't think he's going to wake up again for a while. At least until morning. He managed to wake up for thirty seconds just a little while ago, but he's gone again. You'll have a better chance if you come back tomorrow."

"Thank you," I say to the woman. She stands there for a few seconds, while I wait for her to leave. I frown and she turns. "I'd better get back to my other jobs."

I bite my lip. "I don't know if you can hear me, but thanks. You being where you were probably stopped me from getting hurt. Then again, if you weren't playing around, I guess that wouldn't have happened. What were you doing, anyway? Oh, I may as well be talking to a corpse. I'll come back and visit you again sometime soon. Maybe you'll actually be awake."

I put a hand on his for a second before I stood up and left the building. As I wandered onto the campus again, I saw Orelia heading toward the cafeteria. I waved, and she waved back. We hadn't really talked much since I'd dragged her to the infirmary during the food fight, but I knew I'd talk to her again sometime soon. After all, she was one of the only people I'd talked to at the school so far. Her, Arthur and Kumo, and Arthur had kind of blown himself up.

As I thought this, I heard someone yell, "Hey!" I turned to see Kumo walking towards me. What I supposed was a smile was on her face. "I'm bored. I'm lonely. Talk to me."

She fell into step beside me. "In my tribe, it is not typical for such an explicit display of emotion. The elders would disapprove and say that your feelings are your own business, and putting them on display for others makes you vulnerable. However, this is a different place, so I suppose I will admit that I miss social killing."

"..." Kumo blinked at me, and took a deep breath. "Yes. Um. I'm not good at this."

"I can see that. I'm also not good at this. It turns out that making friends is harder than one would imagine." I paused. "Perhaps the reason the elders tried to rein in my emotions is because of the time I got upset and accidentally destroyed the winter store of food."

"I'm not good with restraining my emotions. My father was too...um, contained. He never yelled at me, even when I got angry and chased away the delivery man. On my chocobo. Wielding a very large stick." Kumo looked amused. "They never sent him back, and they never let our stuff get damaged in transit again either."

"Your father sounds as if he was a good leader. Once, when a man insulted my father, he claimed his head on the spot. He was - is - a very proud man, and a brilliant leader." I smiled at thoughts of my father. "Explain something to me, though. I never had friends in my old tribe. We had groups of people we hunted and gathered with, but I was never allowed to associate a lot. I was the tribe leader's daughter, you see, and they were always grooming me. How - how do things work in a place like this? With people, I mean."

Kumo snorted, and gestured around. "This, I don't know. Back in my village I was somewhat of a celebrity. I got what I wanted, or I beat what I wanted out of people." She frowned slightly. "I had a few friends, but the rest were scared of me. Here, people are all scary. So, beating things out of people doesn't work as well. I am quite lost."

"You're a stranger to this area too! I've decided we'll be friends, then. Although I warn you. If you try to beat what you want out of me, you will be struck by lightning." I smiled at Kumo.

Kumo frowned, her fists tightening. "You've decided?" She stared for a few moments, before she rolled her shoulders and sighed. "Well, I guess it's better than having you as an enemy."

I frowned, but decided not to ask why she was mad. "It usually is, I think. Are you hungry? If you like, we could go to the cafeteria and complain about how terrible the food is."

"Sounds like a plan." Kumo grinned, obviously not a well practised expression. It was crooked and tight.

We turned and walked back towards the cafeteria. I smiled, and wondered mine looked as awkward as Kumo's. I stopped myself before I asked her, though, sensing that this would be a bad thing to do.

Arthur-in a Coma-5:10pm?

"Where am I?", I ask. "Am I dead?", more questions. Why did I do it? Brilliant idea, Arthur, brilliant. I just had to be interested in what would happen if I mixed the potion so that it would take half the time to cleanse spells from objects! Damn my curiosity!
"Will he wake up-up-up-up?", a voice echoed. Where ever I am, it is very cavernous. What's that, it looks like a light.
"ARTHUR!", a voice belows. The light is getting brighter, I shield what I presume are my eyes. "ARTHUR!", voice again. No,no,no,no! It's-
"ARTHUR!"- Mistress Clocher! Why am I here? I am back at the Orphanage! For the love of God no!
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!", she bellows.
"Nothing, miss", I reply.
"YOU IN A COMA!", she shouts. My ears are ringing,"GET OUT OF IT! NOW!"
"Y-yes miss", I hope that she doesn't-oh my God! She is! She's got one of my books!
"If you don't get out now, I shall tear it", she says. She's got the page!
"Yes miss, I will!" I scream.
..........................................................................................
I am looking up at a unfamiliar ceiling. "Where am I?"
"You're still in the Infirmary", the Nurse says.
"What happened? I feel like I have lived through a Atomic Explosion", I say. I sound quite weak.
"You did, effectivly", she replied,"You're lucky that the Dorms have a Regeneration Charm in them, just for such a crisis", she says, shirtily.
"Oh, can I get up?"
"If you want", she says, as if I am unimportant.
"What is the time?", I say, while I am getting up. I am still in yesterday's clothing. Oh great, my top is completly burnt.
"11 O'Clock in the morning. If you are wondering what day it is, it is Tuesday",she says to me.
"Thank you", I say. I am still a little weak, but I'll go to the Dorm."Did I say anything, while I was asleep?"
"Well", she says,"You did shout ,my books, not my books, and something about some kind of Orphanage but other than that, nothing.
"Oh. Thank you again. I'd better make my way back to the Dormatory", I say and walk out.

Corda is now Level 1! She's had a minor increase in spellcasting ability.

Corda - Room B1 - First Day of Class - 5:00 PM

Public Relations had been canceled. That had been fine with Corda. She hadn't been in the mood to go to class anyway, what with the spat with Nolan. Now that she'd had time to calm down, she felt really bad about it. He was only trying to help, and she'd gone and bitten his head off for it. She'd have to apologize, but would Nolan even want to see her...?

And then there'd been Transformation. That hedgehog... Did he have a death wish? With how he kept scattering her papers (deliberately this last time around) and was friends with Bart, he seemed to. Then again, it could just be a huge misunderstanding. She did get him pretty good with the hot sauce, and those first couple times he scattered her papers were probably accidental... Corda decided, from where she lay on her bed, ignoring her (thankfully quiet) roommate, that she'd have to talk to the turquoise speedster and sort things out before they escalated further. Bart was plenty enemy enough for her to handle.

Corda's stomach growled, and she sighed and rolled over onto her stomach. She still wasn't used to the later dinners here, and she'd already gone over budget with buying snacks. She was mulling over the possibilities of getting the roaches to maybe nab her some food when an explosion rocked the dorm and sent her toppling off the bed and onto the floor. On the other side of the room, her roommate, Samantha, if Corda remembered correctly, suffered a similar fate and landed on the book she had been reading.

The pair looked at each other wordlessly before Corda got to her feet and marched to the door, opening it to find Nolan and Elizabeth right in front of her. "What in the world--?" Corda stopped mid-sentence as she noticed that the girl was shaking and that Nolan's arm was around her. "Is she hurt? Are you hurt?" Corda knelt down next to Nolan and looked him over. He looked flustered and nervous, shaken, but she didn't see any injuries.

"No. No, we're not hurt." Nolan refused to meet her gaze, and it seemed to Corda that he was becoming even more flustered. What was he doing here in the first place? No matter; the girl was shaking so hard she seemed to be having a seizure, and Nolan was looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"Why don't we get her to her room," Corda said, more a suggestion than a question, as she grabbed Liz by an arm and hoisted the girl to her feet, Nolan standing up with her.

"And why don't we keep our hands to ourselves, hm?" Liz said as she pushed away Corda and wound around Nolan.

Corda just stared. What was with the sudden change in demeanor? Liz had been a quivering lump of terrified girl just a moment before, but now...? Corda's confusion took a backseat she noticed Nolan, looking like he was on the verge of a panic attack, trying to wiggle free, even as Liz was tightening her grip.

Corda straightened to her full height and glared down her nose as she countered, "And why don't we follow our own advice, hm?"

Liz opened her mouth to reply when, suddenly, her entire demeanor changed again, and she pushed herself away from Nolan, stammering and on the verge of tears, before she ran to her door, fumbled with the knob, and practically fell into her room, the door slamming behind her. Shortly after, the doctor and a couple nurses sped by with a folded up stretcher led by a student - Caroline, if Corda recalled correctly. They came out a moment later bearing a charred boy on the stretcher. They were out of the building within moments, the distraught girl trailing slightly behind.

"What was that all about?" Corda asked no one in particular.

"He was probably the cause of the explosion," said Nolan.

"Oh." Well, this was awkward. Nolan was the only other person left in the hall now, and Corda still hadn't figured out how she was going to apologize to him. "I, ah..."

((Drafts = My Best Friend))

Nolan - First Day of Class, 5.35 PM, B Dorm Hallways

And he thought what happened a while ago was awkward.

"This..." Nolan chuckled. "This has to be the most awful day of my life." He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "I'm all over the place."

Corda said nothing, but she played with the folds of her dress.

Nolan had to suppress a sigh. "Look, I understand if you don't want to talk to me anymore. I-I apologize for offending you. I was just trying to help - I thought - I didn't want Mr. Dawno to - I know he's up to something big -" Nolan stopped himself before he swallowed his entire foot. He couldn't even finish entire sentences anymore. Great.

"I know." She still wasn't looking him in the eye and her voice was quiet.

That was it. She didn't want to talk to him anymore. Understandable, he supposed. Nolan turned to limp away.

He was going to find out what Dawno was up to if it was the end of him. For his sake and Corda's. She may not ever want to talk to him again, but that wasn't stopping him from looking out for her. He owed her for always failing to fend off that little perverted speed demon.

((Oh dear. Continuity. It weeps in agony. But it shall have to wait until later for repair as I need sleep.))

Corda - Dorm B Hallway - First Day of Class - 5:38 PM

Nolan started limping away, and all sense of awkwardness evaporated from Corda as it registered that he was leaving, probably for good.

"Nolan! Wait!" she called out as she lunged after him, snagging his arm. Not the wisest of actions perhaps since she knew he didn't like to be touched, but she wasn't concerned with the wisest course of action at the moment.

Nolan stopped and halfway turned to look at her, surprise and confusion (and maybe even a flash of hope) obvious on his face. Corda let go of his arm as the awkward feeling returned with a vengeance and brought embarrassment along.

"I, ah... I'm... Um..." Why couldn't she just say it? Two words, two simple words, and they would not cooperate! "I'msorry!" she finally managed to blurt out, and it was as if a dam had been broken. Now that the words had been said, she couldn't stop speaking. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. I know you were only trying to help, but I was upset because you didn't consult me first because the decision involved my fate, but I knew the circumstances, and I really shouldn't have snapped at you, and I know it was completely uncalled for, and, and..."

"You mean you still want to talk to me?"

Corda couldn't help thinking that Nolan looked adorable with his hopeful, puppy-dog eyes, even as she vehemently answered, "Of course I do! You're my friend. What ever gave you the idea I wouldn't want to talk to you?" Nolan flushed, and Corda had a sudden urge to hug him. "You know what? Never mind. It's not important anymore. What is important is that we're friends... right?"

Nolan smiled, all trace of his earlier insecurity gone. "Right."