As time shows our saviors. [Open]

[Tobias Fordson]

    Hallways... something that seemed very familiar to Tobias. Most of his life has been spent in hallways just like this. School life wasn't one of his strongest suits, but he pushed on through it anyways. You aren't exactly the social highlight of school when you're considered the creepy nerd sitting in the corner of the cafeteria. Then again, Tobias never wanted to have a normal life before, so this was something new to him. However, it would have been a miracle that the people who brought him here actually tell him what's the normal social standings or, God forbid, where any of the major rooms are.


    "There's gotta be some way of navigating this maze of a building," thought Tobias. Clutching his necklace every once in a while, he glance back and forth, taking all kinds of hallways and stairways navigating the place. To his surprise, the halls were eerily quiet. It seemed like a graveyard in here... not a very welcome feeling. The very thought of graves was bringing up some very unwanted memories, but he kept working to let them fade from his mind. "Keep it together... It can't be good to think about, so just focus on finding someone... there HAS to be someone around here."

[Oliver Grey]

No matter how many times he thought about it, Oliver always found it funny how rarely he was actually in the hallways of Ashford's main school building. After all he had classes there, and the prefect lounge was there as well. Still, between his rounds, all the time he spent with Kim, and training, he hardly ever found himself there. Today, however, was a special case. For once, he was free of duties for the afternoon, which meant of course that he had time for once to wander the halls between his classes. It surprised him how quiet it was. For some reason he'd expected students to be rushing everywhere; loud footsteps and many people crowding the narrow halls, loud chatter as friends bustled between classrooms; but it was strangely empty. Perhaps all the students knew where they were going and rushed there. Maybe it was just the section of the school building that he was in. Regardless, it was almost eerie, the way his footsteps echoed back at him as he made his way along.

He couldn't imagine what it would be like to be lost among these empty halls; as a prefect he had the layout of the school nearly memorized. But he imagined it would have been quite unnerving...the flat gray stone surrounding you, every sound echoing off the walls...it must have seemed like a tomb. It was so quiet in fact, that Oliver nearly jumped out of his skin when he rounded a corner to see a student, walking just a ways ahead of him. The kid was damn near silent, his feet making very little noise even against the stone floor. He looked a little hesitant though...perhaps nervous. Maybe even lost. Very lightly he spoke up, brushing a hand through his nearly platinum blonde bangs as he did so. "Excuse me. You look a little lost...can I help?"

[Camila Reyes]

The hallways did not seem to be a place to linger unless there was no one around. The "traffic", so to speak, was always moving at a rapid rate, with some students heading one way and others, well, the other. There were the occasional group or gaggle of friends that stopped to talk to each other, but, more often than not, they continued to walk, fully aware of the pattern of students roaming around them. The student body wanted to move and be done with the school day, that much was clear. Who could blame them, though? They were trapped for what seemed like forever in a school full of other hormonal, superpowered teenagers, much like themselves.

Her pace had been slowed, thanks to the row of deep, black x's against the fair, creamy skin of her lower right calf. She walked with a slight limp, though she had tried to keep up with traffic before giving up and just showing the teachers her leg as an excuse to be late. She did not look very healthy, that particular day. She was more pale than usual and she seemed to have acquired dark circles under her eyes. Her blue eyes seemed glazed over, as if she was in some kind of trance. Even the chocolate hair that was usually bunched in a high ponytail seemed to hang limp on her head, and the limpness did not have much to do with gravity. Despite looking how she did, she managed to force a small across her thin, pink lips. After all, there was no more time for being a downer; things had to eventually go back to normal, right?

While lost in her thoughts, she had turned down the wrong hallway; however, she quickly realized her mistake and went to turn back. In doing so, however, she smacked right into a familiar figure with hair only a few shades darker than platinum blonde. She rubbed her forehead and mumbled an apology to the prefect that she had stumbled into. She just hoped that he would not mind that she had basically walked into him. After taking a moment to rub her eyes, she stepped back a little and observed the situation. It seemed that Oliver was offering his help to a young man who looked rather lost. She thought she saw a twinge of sadness in his eyes, but she could not be entirely sure. She did know what it was like to feel lost and lonely, so she thought that she would help make sure that did not happen to anyone else.

"I can help too. I know pretty much every nook and cranny of the school, save for the places I'm not allowed to go. I have a friend who always gets lost so I've wandered these halls many times before. It took us almost an hour to find the nurses' office one time."

She chuckled quietly at the memory before giving the brown-haired young man a gentle smile. She supposed that this was a step in the right direction for her. Sure, she would keep her sarcastic quips for when she needed them, but, maybe, kindness was not such a bad thing. That did not mean, however, that she was going to start letting anyone too close anytime soon. She was not going to have a repeat of what happened right before her arrival.

[Stephen Paulinski]

     “F***. THIS. SCHOOL!”

     Stephen’s hands were in his hair, his head arched toward the ceiling. His outburst was one of exasperation and dark humor more than anger. This had been, what, the hundredth time Stephen had gotten lost?
He chuckled, lower his head and rubbing the bridge of his nose. Where in the hell was he now? He looked around the seemingly abandoned hallway and came to the conclusion that it was definitely not the hallway that contained the physics room. “Oye, vey...” Stephen chuckled quietly, “I am soooooo going to be late, again...”

     Stephen headed back the way he came, finally arriving at a crossroads. There were two options: left or right. Stephen was pretty sure he turned right to get to where he was, so he took the left path.

     “Oh, for God’s sake!” Stephen shouted with a bit more irritation. Fearful that someone was lurking, Stephen began to berate himself internally as opposed to outward shouting. You went the wrong way, again! How is that even possible?! There were only two, freaking options!!! How could you forget such a simple direction?! Stephen continued to walk around, finding himself even more lost with every step. His irritation rose, and he began to feel his arms itch. He closed his eyes and began to steady his breathing. He promised himself he would control his anger. He would not let himself lose control again. Never agai-

     Smack! He felt himself walk into someone lighter than himself. Without thinking, Stephen outstretched his arms and steadied the person he had collided with. He snapped open his eyes and saw that the person he was holding was Camila. He looked into her eyes momentarily, feeling a blush across his face. After a brief, awkward second or two, Stephen took his hands off of her, backed up, and coughed into his fist.

     “H-hey, Camila,” Stephen mumbled, “Fancy meeting you here...” He hadn’t seen her since the funeral, and even then, he did not speak to her. He wasn’t sure what to say, although he knew she deserved more than just a “hey” and a cheesy line. She had went through hell. She almost died. He looked down and saw the black stitches that marred her flawless skin (something he would never say out loud).  His hand drifted to his right side.  Sure, the skin had completely healed, but his accelerated healing was only skin deep.  He was sure that the wound was bad, internally, but he refused to go to the nurse.  The school had just tried to kill all of them, there was no way he was going to a hired adult for help.  He would just buck up until the wound healed.  

    Stephen had so many things that he should have said to Camila. He should have said something comforting, something reassuring. But, as he had no idea of how to express these thoughts, he simply smiled and waved instead. Idiot, he chided himself.

     Looking around him, he saw two others with Camila: Oliver, and a dark haired boy that Stephen had never seen before. Stephen was a bit surprised. The hallway they were in was abandoned and unused, save for them. Stephen arched an eyebrow and cracked a smile. “What? Did I find the top-secret, cool-kid hangout? If so, I think I better leave before I cramp everyone's style.” He said this with a chuckle and a grin. He knew that no one except for him wanted to talk about the chaos that had transpired, so he put on a happy facade and tried to make light of the situation, acting as if hell-on-earth hadn't transpired a few short days ago.

[Tobias Fordson]

        I... This is.... wow... Tobias was at a loss for words and even thought... usually the last person anyone ever talked to, he now had not one, not two, but THREE people, one of which seems to be an important figure, what with the symbol. This was a surprising, if not pressuring, chain of events.

        "Umm... this is... a bit out of the blue, but yes... I am lost here." Feeling himself tense up from the sudden change in atmosphere, he took a second to calm down, take a deep breath, and begin explaining himself. "I just recently joined here for... personal reasons, but none of the administrators seemed to think I would need a introductory tour of the facilities. If any of you could even lend a decent map, I would much appreciate it."

Trying to distract himself, Tobias reaches into one of his pants pockets and pulls out a candy bar to snack on. However, after realizing it might be rude to do so without offering to the others in turn, reaches again for some extra candy bars. "It'd be rude of me not to ask, would you guys like a snack? Not like they're anything special." Yeah, next time, try doing that before asking for stuff, dummy. Now feeling less in the way of stressed and more in the way of slightly depressed at his apparent lack of foresight, Tobias tries to pull a slight smile across his lips, though it is painfully etched with some sort of remorse on his part.

[Angus McMillan]

"Aye lad! I'll take that off your hands!"

Without warning, the strange brown haired student's candy was snatched from his hands. As if from nowhere, Angus appeared to take what was rightfully his. "Thanks a bunch boy! I really needed a pick-me-up, this school is built like a lost city, ya know? Just like the ones that don't have vending machines? SERIOUSLY WHERE DID YA GET THAT!?" His Irish accent penetrated the air as it rose from being chipper to anxious. His demeanor was convincing enough to show that he was serious. Angus hadn't found anything to eat since he got to Ashford.

It had been nearly three weeks since Angus threw his mother's car across the street. He had no idea he possessed such strength, or as the administrators worded it, "You're capable of lifting and throwing objects with your mind." He was still confused about the whole ordeal. He was told he had supernatural powers, and immediately thought he had super strength. It turned out that he had access to his "mindscape," a sort of mind storage unit. Filling it up would increase his strength, or something like that. All he knew was the staff was slowly going to teach him how it works. He was actually supposed to go see someone in the gymnasium to help him, but hunger kicked in...

Seeing the young man's expression transform from lost to confused, Angus directed his attention to the others in the hallway. "I suppose one of you could help me out, I need directions to the gymnasium, got some kind of training goin' on there, and I'm late. Oi you there! Goody goody!" He directed his voice to the lone Prefect. Angus spotted the badge and remembered that they were the ones that could direct him through the campus. "I see you're one of them first-class boys the professor was talkin' about! Good to see YOU here lad!" A friendly smile stretched between Angus' ears. "You'll point me in the right direction now won't ya?" he asked, right before taking a bite into his candy bar.

[Deleted]

Walking through the hall Ken was still new, and sad to say lost, but part of that was his own fault. While glancing around to see where he is he can't lie and say he was really paying attention. In his hand Ken held a book. He did fancy to read as it helped him keep his brain active. The book he is reading today is The dark minds. The first story in the series written by  Alexandra Bracken. Ken enjoyed this story because it is about a young girl with strange abilities it is much like himself and the people here on this island. Most students here focus so much on battle, and honing their physical skills, or at least by some of the people he has noticed thats how it seems. Ken himself wants to learn some fighting skills, but keeping his mental skill up is what he needs so that when he gets home instead of just helping his elderly father with the business he can actually take it over so his old man can retire.

Ken noticed a little ruckus down the hall. Peering up out of his book he smiled some as he saw people. Good now he can get some help, and hopefully meet some friends. Ken was new, and he didn't know anyone so making friends was high on his list. Ken didn't know about anyone else, but he for one doesn't like to be a loner.

"Hey there excuse me can you help me?" Ken shouted some trying to make sure he was heard.

Putting a book mark in the book, He closed it as he got close to them. Man the amount of people in this hallway right now just standing here talking is lucky for Ken. Who could have hoped for more, help,and lots of people. There is no way Ken is walking out of this without making a friend or two.

[Camila Reyes]

Camila has not been expecting such a large group of people in the hallway. She looked at the brown-haired young man, who still seemed quite nervous. A familiar voice echoing through the halls made her hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She let out a soft huff and turned a little to see which direction barbecue boy was coming from. Even though he had saved her life, she still managed to find it in her to keep using his cute little pet name. She did it to almost everyone, so why should he be an exception, right? The thoughts dancing in her mind made her shake her head vigorously to get rid of them. She was not about to delve into the depths of her own, twisted mind in the middle of a conversation! The last thing she wanted to do was get pulled back into the darkness...

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone walking into her. She let out a surprised 'oof!' and opened her mouth to yell at whomever had bumped into her. She was saved from falling backwards, thankfully, by a pair of hands. However, said hands were resting on her chest, much to her embarrassment. She snapped her head up and gritted her teeth, getting ready to give the perpetrator a what to and wherefore when she caught sight of familiar, blue eyes. She stumbled backwards in surprise, a crimson blush staining her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Of course, it would be Stephen that would accidentally grope her chest! What is it with guys and groping my body parts by accident? First my ass, then my tits... Seriously! She shook her head again, stepping to the side a little as he removed his hands. She managed to mutter an awkward greeting to him before hissing quietly at him.

"J-just watch where you put those next time-!"

She snickered a little, rolling her eyes a little bit at Stephen's quip about finding the "cool-kid hangout". She muttered something akin to 'my presence makes this place uncool' before she started to examine his face and posture. She could certainly tell that he was forcing a happy attitude, due to his straining face muscles and the shaded tone of his voice. She smiled sympathetically at him before she let out a soft yawn. The sleepless nights were starting to get to her, though she would never admit it out loud. When the new kid offered them all a candy bar, she shook her head while feeling nausea creep up from her stomach to her throat. Eating was hit or miss those days and, on that day in particular, the last thing she wanted was food. She smiled weakly at the lost boy, shaking her head to politely decline the treat, despite the fact that it was one of her favorite things in the world.

"Thanks, but no thanks, kiddo. My stomach's been givin' me hell, lately. I'm Camila, by the way. What's your name?"

Her body started tilting sideways a little and another yawn tore through her. She decided that she was going to lean on whoever was close to her and rest her eyes for a few minutes. With that in mind, she tilted herself and rested her head against the side of Stephen's arm, since she had stumbled beside him after he had taken his hands off of her. Her black eyelashes fluttered and, after a moment or two, she let her eyes fully close. She thought she was going to take a short nap on her friend's arm. That was, until another loud, shouting voice reached her ears and instantly awoke her. Her sapphire eyes opened and her head shot up. She narrowed her eyes at the red-headed stranger who had rudely swiped a candy bar out of the new kid's hand. Who the hell is this? she thought bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest. She turned slightly to face the boy with the Irish accent and spoke to him while glaring at him with piercing, sapphire eyes.

"Two things. One, the goody-goody has a name. It's Oliver. Second, just to warn you, leprechaun, the food her sucks, so I suggest you get someone to bring you stuff. Seriously, the food here tastes like regurgitated dog food..."

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed another new person approach the group. Camila looked at Stephen in exasperation and smacked her forehead against the side of his arm, muttering to herself. She had been so tired lately, she did not care what she laid her head on. Honestly, it was probably more comfortable to sleep on Stephen's arm than the wall; however, she also knew they would look more like lovers than friends. I feel like that line was blurred long ago, though, she thought to herself, a blush heating up her face again. She lifted her head up and smiled weakly at Stephen before mumbling to him.

"Sorry. I've just been really tired lately. You don't mind right? Think of it as payment for accidentally groping me earlier."

[Angus McMillan]

Angus began to focus on the candy's taste after hearing the girl's words. It was perfectly nutty and chocolatey. It actually tasted like heaven! If what she said was true, then this kid brought this candy from the mainland. "But how could he have gotten away with that?" Angus thought, "They wouldn't let me bring anything, not even my basketball!" Perhaps the girl was thinking Angus was bullying the kid into giving up his candy? "I'm not a bully!" he thought, "At least I hope not." Angus did harass the younger students joining the basketball team at home, but it was part of the initiation. If you couldn't take a bit of teasing here and there, stand up for yourself, and fight back, you weren't going to be good at anything. Keeping good grades was another part of it, since school activities couldn't interfere with education, otherwise you wouldn't graduate.

Angus took a swallow.

"Aye, your name's Oliver then? Well then Mr. Oliver, could ya point me in the right direction?" A more serious face appeared on Angus. With food entering his stomach, he could focus on the situation at hand. He had training going on regarding his powers. Angus had only exhibited part of his gift during his meltdown back home. There was a whole slew of feats he could master, including telekinesis, super strength, and the mindscape, which the professors said was the most important of all. "It's pretty important, I'm in a hurry!" Angus said quickly, waiting for Oliver to reply.

[Tobias Fordson]

The waves of people coming in were a bit much for Tobias... Never a talkative person before, he's now bombarded by 5 people from the sounds he's hearing. He's not really able to pay attention, though... the sudden influx of people is pressuring and, to his mind, this is a major shift... one he wasn't prepared for.

Alright, keep it together... it's just like school... except they're all talking to you, or somewhat about your situation...aaaand they could probably all flame-roast you in 2 seconds... Just stay calm, and try... not... to panic. Tobias takes in a long, deep breath, focuses, and then notices that one of his candies were taken. Scanning the group, he notices a red-haired boy, roughly a year or so older than him, mouthing about needing to get to power training. That reminded Tobias the reason he's here... the reason he needs to stay calm.

The blonde-haired guy is named Oliver, hmm? Tobias mulled over the figure... it seems the man was part of an important group here... And it seems the lady here is Camila... He made sure to know who these people were... It was important to know anyone he came into contact with. Luckily, if he was understanding his powers right, that shouldn't be as much of a problem

Noticing the red-haired student started eating the candy bar, Tobias quickly pointed out, "I uh... hope they taste good... It's a new recipe I've been working on for milk chocolate candy bars. Personally made at the cafeteria, which is about the only place I know I can get to with certainty... Again, if you guys could help, I'd appreciate that." Tobias turns to Camila "It's... alright... I did offer them. I just hope he likes them."

[Angus McMillan]

Angus looked back to the brown haired boy in astonishment. "You made these yourself? Ya did a fantastic job! The name's Angus!" He swallowed down another bite. Angus saw the blonde haired prefect already helping out another guy that walked up. The student reminded Angus of a teammate back home that looked just like him. He could tell the olive haired student worked out from the size of his muscles. Perhaps another basketball player? Angus had high hopes for joining a basketball team here, if they even had such a thing...

"By the persecution of St. Oliver Plunkett! I'm going to be late!" Angus took one last bite into the candy bar before running off towards the nearest door out. "I'll get your name later chocolate guy!" he looked back and shout out to the brown haired student. He made it to the door at the end of the hallway. That candy bar had some calories on it, but not enough for what training he had coming. It actually made him hungrier thinking about it. "I need to find the cafeteria. I hope they're still serving something up!" Angus charged away in search of food.

[Camila Reyes]

Camila seemed to stay rooted her her spot beside Stephen. All of the talking was starting to give her a headache. Of course, the leprechaun shouting certainly did not help anything. She had to restrain herself from lobbing a yellow sphere at his face to stop him from talking at a louder level than normal. She forced herself to shuffle sideways a little so that she could face the group properly. Her head still rested on Stephen’s arm, as if she had claimed it as some sort of pillow. She noticed another young man with brown hair wander toward the group and let out a soft sigh. Where were all these people coming from? Classes weren’t over for the day, so why were they all just lingering in the hallway? She also wondered where all of the new faces were coming from. It was odd to say, but she felt uncomfortable and nervous around most of them and the only way to remedy that was to shimmy a little closer to Stephen. Friends did that kind of stuff right? Of course they did! She was doubting herself for no reason; the dimwit that she was. She let out a soft sigh, letting her eyes close again for some time. Occasionally, she let out a soft puff of air to indicate that she was alive in some capacity.

She heard a shuffle of feet and her eyes snapped open a little. She saw the unfamiliar young man looking in her direction. She looked up at her friend before glancing back at the young man. She let out a soft sigh at his words and ran her fingers through her own bangs. She had always hated bullies, even as a child, so seeing someone being rough and mildly rude unsettled her. Thankfully, the overgrown leprechaun had left due to being late. She wondered idly if she should make her way to her next class and glanced at her watch. The school day was almost over; she did not see the point of going to class. She could come up with some kind of convincing excuse later, when she was not deprived of sleep or taking a nap on her best friend’s arm. She shrugged a little, waving a weak farewell to the odd, Irish-sounding lad before moving her head from Stephen’s arm so she could cough into her fist. It was a deep cough that sounded like it was from the chest. She rested her head against Stephen’s arm again, glancing at Tobias and speaking quietly and kindly to him.

“I’m sure they’re delicious. Anything homemade is fantastic. And compared to the slop they give us here, your food is probably ten times better. Hey, Olive, if you’re done staring into space, maybe you can take him where he needs to go? I’m not feeling too well and I don’t want to get him sick…”

[Stephen Paulinski]

     Stephen silently said a prayer of thanks. He had immediately expected to be smacked after he had accidentally touched Camila’s chest trying to stabilize her. Instead of letting loose on him, she instead blushed and half-heartedly berated him. He was thankful that she didn’t hurt him. In the middle of his prayed, he realized something: she didn’t hit him. Yes, he had already known that, but a possible meaning behind it suddenly came to his attention. Could she…? he wondered, before replying to his question with a stern, No. He had already tried this with her, and the attempt had hurt them both. He wasn’t about to sacrifice his friendship for another failed attempt at courtship.

     The sight of the candy bars made Stephen’s stomach both rumble and turn simultaneously. He wanted to eat one, he really did. His mind went back to the time in the cafeteria where he had met the student council secretary. He remembered the shooting pain that emanated from his wound as he tried to eat solid food. Recalling that pain caused him to instinctively wince, then place his hand on his wound. Realizing how bad that might look, Stephen felt like he should explain himself. “Thanks for the offer,” he said, “Thing is...” He gently patted his wound before continuing, “I’m not exactly in the best shape to eat solid food.” Just to make sure that the new kid didn’t get the wrong idea, Stephen flashed a broad smile before thanking him, again, for the offer.

     The kid with the red hair was loud. Stephen probably would have been more annoyed with him, had his mind not been preoccupied with something else. He felt a slight pressure on his upper arm. Assuming that someone was pushing him, Stephen turned his head, wondering why someone had decided to get physical with him. Instead of seeing a fist, or an open hand, like he had expected, Stephen’s eyes were greeted to a much more… pleasant sight.

     Camila was resting her head on his upper arm, and, except for a few instances where she would lift her head to talk, she kept it there. She even closed her eyes. When she “asked” for his permission, he immediately thought he should respond by saying something suave and flirtatious. He instantly felt like kicking himself after the most debonaire thing he could say was, “D-um, s-sure.” He could feel a hot blush spreading over his cheek To hide his fluster, he covered his face with his hand, pretending to yawn. When she moved closer to him, his heart began to beat faster. Feeling her pressed up against him, smelling the scent of her hair, it took all of his willpower to prevent his mind from wandering into unsavory territory. They were just friends. They would only ever be friends. She had no interest in him, and he had no interest in her…

     Right…?

     His confusion and embarrassment took the backseat when Camila got off of his arm and mentioned she wasn’t feeling good. With a laugh meant to cover up his concern for her, Stephen remarked, “Oh, so you don’t want to get the new guy sick, but you’re perfectly fine getting your germs all over me...” He stood in front of her and flashed a smile to indicate that he was joking. The smile immediately became a frown of concern as he placed one hand on the top of her back to bring her closer, so he could place the back of his other hand on her forehead to check for a temperature.

     “How long have you felt sick?” he asked in a soothing, concerned voice. “Do you need some medicine? I’ll go with you to the mall if you need some Motrin, or something like that.”

[Camila Reyes]

Camila was not really in the mood for being violent, especially after what had transpired. The thought made her scowl more, though she tried to take it off of her face since there were people who did not know her around. She had to keep up the kindness, since she had started with it. She noticed that Stephen was staring directly past her. She waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention, but that did not seem to work. She shrugged a little; maybe he had gotten lost in his own head. He did not seem very disturbed when he seemed to “resurface”. Secretly, she wished that she could do the same thing; it seemed like trips into her own mind left her more depressed or angry than before she had taken said trip. She shook her head a little; now was not the time! Sure, there was not a large-scale conversation going on, but she needed to stop getting so distracted. It might tip off the one person she did not want to talk to about her feelings, lest she say something stupid and ruin their friendship.

Camila noticed the slight twist of Stephen’s face out of the corner of her eye. After she had politely denied the boy’s offer, she craned her neck upward to look at her friend. She quirked a thin, brown eyebrow. They had spent several lunches together, and she knew him to have a larger appetite than what he let on. She noticed him pat his abdomen and a chill caressed her spine. She swallowed a little, blinking rapidly to prevent tears from coming to her eyes. I should have stayed, she thought, feeling guilt well in her chest. Her sapphire eyes darted around the group before she gently patted the back of his free hand, quickly withdrawing her own as her face turned a light crimson color. She did not want to give the other people around them the impression that they were dating, though, her leaning her head on his arm was not helping the situation either. She could always make excuses later, but, really, what she wanted, was something, no, someone, familiar. He did not have to say anything; as long as he was there, that was all she needed. She let out an internal huff. She sounded like some kind of lovestruck teenager! I’m guessing this isn’t how Juliet felt, she thought wryly, a small smirk playing on her lips. She would never be so silly as to compare her life to the great tragedies of Shakespeare. She knew much better than to do that.

“Are you alright? Or did you forget how talk around a pretty girl?”

Camila let out a quiet giggle and smirked up at Stephen to indicate that she was only teasing. She could not hear it where she had her ear, but she was sure that his heart rate had sped up, since she could feel more warmth from the surface of his skin. She tried to ignore the warmth of her own cheeks and, in trying to do so, pressed her face into his upper arm. She was still trying to figure out her own feelings; she was not sure what she would say if someone had asked her to explain her behavior toward one of her best friends. She blinked at Stephen’s statement, quirking an eyebrow again. She could see the concern in his eyes, despite trying to mask it with a good-humored chuckle. She shook her head a little, with a sad smile on her lips. Always so concerned about others… He has such a good heart, she thought to herself, glancing at the floor, How are we even friends? He’s way better than I’ll ever be… To play along, she let out a snort and crossed her arms loosely over her chest.

“Well, it’s more of a thing where Olive here knows the school better and I’d rather not get this poor kid lost.”

Camila’s eyes conveyed a different emotion than her words. Her words were nonchalant, but sapphire irises spoke of a crushing loneliness that was only worsened by lack of sleep. She knew that she could talk to Carter, but she felt that it would be a burden on the other young woman, who had to live with Camila every day. Her train of thought was interrupted when she felt something pull her forward and she felt something on her forehead. She blinked rapidly, looking up at her friend in surprise. Her face flushed a deeper crimson and she attempted to stagger back a little, trying to get out of his grip. She hoped that no one else was watching. What was he on about all of a sudden? Her confusion knew no bounds, and she had to answer his questions. If she did not, he would further embarrass her. She let out a soft huff, reaching up to brush her bangs from her face.

“S-stephen, I’m fine, really! It’s just a little cold and headache.”

Camila knew that what she said was an outright lie; however, she did not want to trouble him. The last thing she wanted to do was keep him up at night. She let out a frustrated huff, mainly directed at herself. She wanted to talk to him about the battle, but she did not want him to lose sleep over it. What the hell was she even thinking anymore? Her thoughts were coherent, but they were also contradictory. After a few moments, she leaned forward and rested her forehead against his arm, trying to hold all of the emotions she was feeling inside. She took a few slow breaths in and out, but she did not move from where she stood. She was tired. She was tired of thinking, remembering, processing her emotions. She wanted to just exist, even if it was only for a few minutes. Camila let her senses take in Stephen’s familiar scent and form. She let her eyes slip closed for a few moments, even though they fluttered open a few moments later. She had seen crimson again, which had jolted her from the rest she had nearly taken. She looked up at him with tired eyes, smiling weakly as she whispered loud enough for only him to hear.

“Thanks for caring. I-I really appreciate it…”