halcyon_houses

Who: Sydni and Simon
What: Home Cooking
Where: House of Fire kitchens
When: After classes, around suppertime

Simon had been waiting for Sydni after the last class of the day. He knew it was her last class because he was stalking her. Actually, no, that wasn't the case at all. But she was his only real friend (girlfriend excluded) and he did have an idea as to what she was up to a lot of the time. Besides that, they shared a number of classes.

His backpack was heavy and his stomach was empty. Could Sydni cook? He couldn't remember if she said she could or not. Maybe, since she was a college grad, she could do that kind of cooking that used the microwave oven and maybe a toaster. Either way, food was food and Simon was hungry.

"You!" he said, catching her as she stepped out of the classroom. He grinned when he turned to her. "You have to tell me what you and Cissy talked about. I asked her, but she just giggled all secretively and kissed me on the nose." He followed Sydni down the hall, weaving hs way through the crowds. As they headed back to the common room, Simon waited until the noise of a crowded hallway died down before pestering her again. "Was she nice to you?" he asked. "Were you nice to her? What did you guys even have to talk about?" His eyes got wide. "Oh, no, you didn't talk about me the whole time, did you?"

Who: Titania & Sydni
Where: House of Fire's commons room
When: After classes
What: Introductions and possibly homework help!


Titania felt bad that she didn't go to her last class of the day. She kept thinking that her teacher probably hated her by now, and never wanted to speak to her again. Being as social as she was, that was going to hurt her pride - like nothing else did around this school. She was just someone who held it in and kept it locked inside.

And as she sat there - well, laying there now - trying to get this science assignment finished, something around the room kept trying to distract her. The CD player next to her wasn't helping much, even though she kept changing the track or CD every second. Yeah, she wasn't up-to-date with the whole ipods. A cellphone is still new to her. So is the computer! Maybe she should have done her English assignments on there, but writing them out in her notebook was helping her - with her wrist dying every so often.

You know, thinking about it, someone could easily sneak up on her and she'd be scared shitless. Slowly, she turned her head around toward the entrance to the common room, arching a perfectly drawn on eyebrow, but seeing no one there or walking by it. She was being panicky. But why? Shaking her head and basically laughing out loud at herself, Titania went back to working on her homework. Staring at it more like it.

But she finally moved a few seconds later to change the CD. That was when she saw something in the corner of her eye, causing everything to bounce out of her lap because she jumped probably a foot off the couch, almost having her whole body slam against the floor. Luckily the table was there to break her fall, both hands clenching onto the side while she stared at the stranger with wide eyes.

It was a girl once she was able to calm her heart and learn how to breathe again. "Oh, god. Wow. Hello. I didn't know you were there.. I'm so sorry!" Let's see how long it takes for Titania to say her sorry before someone kindly tells her to shut up.

Who:  Sydni and Charlie
Where:  Charlie's room
When:  Friday night, later

Charlie had really made Sydni's evening by extending the invitation to sleepover.  She had been feeling rather isolated recently, and Simon was totally right - she was throwing herself a little pity party in her room.  She would rather have thought of it as film and food therapy, but the young man had hit the nail on the head.  In all honesty, the surprise visit from the youth had lifted her spirits a bit.  Helping friends really did distract her from her own problems.  Really, in that respect, Sydni's way of dealing with her shit was not all that different from Charlie's - she needed distractions just as much.  Hers were probably just less self-destructive.

After the chat with Charlie, Sydni finished her movie (The Goonies seriously had to be her favorite comfort movie) and then tried reading a bit.  He had said he was working, and even though he had also said she wouldn't be a distraction, she didn't want to chance interfering anyway.  But, she was having a hard time focusing.  She hadn't seen her friend really outside of class since he'd returned and she missed spending time with him.  It was also comforting to know she'd be spending the night.  Considering how lonely she'd been, sharing a bed with someone, especially someone she'd grown so close to, was something to which she really looked forward.

For a while, she tried to soothe her restlessness by debating whether her sleepwear was appropriate for the evening.  After changing several times, she decided that her original choice was totally appropriate - it wasn't too revealing, and it was comfy enough to lounge around in.  Checking the clock and determining she'd wasted enough time, she removed her sacred jewelry and made her way to Terrene House.  After a couple of abandonned efforts, she finally snuck in and made it to Charlie's room.  Even though she knew the door was unlocked, she knocked before entering.  She would have simply died if she walked in on him, and the knock would give him a chance to warn her away if he wasn't in a situation to see her.  "Hey," she said softly as she entered.

Who: Simon and Sydni
Where: Sydni's Room
When: Friday Evening

Oh God, oh God. Simon was pacing in his room. He'd been fidgety all day, ever since Cissy had left this morning. His feet wouldn't stop tapping, his fingers were itching to tear up paper, bend staples and pull at the threads in his jeans. His thoguhts had been all scattered and off in the clouds. It was about seven at night and still he couldn't stop feeling so twitchy. It was a good twitchy, but twitchy all the same.

He decided he couldn't stand it anymore. There was only one person he could talk to (as he only had one friend at Halcyon) and he'd been avoiding it because he knew a friend of hers had just gone, and she probably didn't want to hear his lovesick babbling. Well, too bad for her. Simon zipped up his hoodie and headed out to invade Sydni's personal space again.

After taking very few seconds to check that all was clear (since he wasn't supposed to be there and he knew it), Simon tapped on Sydni's door. Waited .04 seconds. Tapped again. Gave her a full 2 seconds this time, tapped again. It wasn't that he needed to be let in right away in case he got caught (although that was important too), but he felt like if he didn't talk to someone about this he would burst.

As soon as the door opened, Simon's voice leapt out of his mouth. "I have to tell you something!" he declared urgently.

Who:  Sydni and Mircea
What:  Checking up on his victim?  Heh.
Where:  Sydni's room

Being a werewolf was incredibly unfair, Sydni had decided.  Pixies and sprites got to be all cutesy in the fairytales, while werewolves were bloodthirsty killers - point one that sucked.  Point two was the insanity prior to the full moon.  She knew she was not herself before the full, and try as she might, she couldn't control her mood swings or the urges that sprang on her.  Sucked for someone who prided herself on being in control (had to be when you worked in the conditions she did).  Point three was that after the full, after the lunacy had passed, did she get to enjoy the relief of it all?  Oh no.  Not one bit.  Instead she felt like she'd been tossed around by a tigershark looking for a snack.  Her body ached in places she didn't even know she used.  Being a werewolf sucked.

This was pretty much her thought process as she sat at her desk, trying to get some work done.  She'd really slipped up this past week, and she needed to get caught up.  Especially since she wanted to be able to celebrate Lammas tomorrow - she'd never been anywhere where one of her holidays was celebrated by the general populace.  It was really very cool.  In a fit of restlessness over the weekend, she had decorated her altar a bit in a harvest theme.  She had stalks of dried grain bundled in the right corner, and a cornucopia in the left.  If she'd been more focused, she'd have made one herself.  Instead, she bought a little wicker one, and filled it with nuts and fall-themed Hershey's Kisses.  Once the harvest season was over at Samhain, she would toss the Kisses (unwrapped) and nuts outside for the faeriefolk and forest critters.  Maybe she could work some of the nuts into a bread for her cakes and ale.

In any case, she wanted her homework done so she could enjoy the holiday - perhaps there was a coven or even a group of solitaries who would be holding a ritual?  She didn't really know anything about the Pagan community on the island.  With 'real' magic, perhaps there wasn't much focus on the spiritual kind.  Whatever the situation, she'd be able to enjoy the festivities, and if she needed, she could certainly return to the school to perform her own personal ritual and then finish off the day enjoying the public celebrations.  But, she needed to have a clear day to really enjoy the holiday, so despite the aches in her body, she was trying to get her work done.

Her concentration (well, that's what she was trying to do) was broken by a knock at the door.  Startled, she dropped her pencil and sighed as it rolled under her bed.  She was not getting down on the ground to find it right now.  Too sore.  Getting up stiffly, she went over to answer the door.  And the person standing there was probably the last person she expected to see.  She stood, open mouthed for moment, before she realized she looked like an idiot, and was being a bit rude.  "Oh, I'm sorry!  Um, come in."  Her confusions showed on her face, though, even as she gestured for him to enter.

Who:  Sydni and Vinnie
What:  An intro
Where:  House of Fire Common Room
When:  Evening

Sydni was beginning to feel claustrophobic in her room.  Usually she'd go for a walk when that happened, but tonight she had to finish taking notes down on the reading Miklos had assigned to her.  She'd be up late doing it, too.  It was almost a boon, being bitten on Thursday - all the time off had given her a chance to catch up on sleep and assignments.  She'd been running on around 5 hours of sleep most days.  That had been no problem when she was a college student, but she'd expected it would kick her ass now.  Perhaps due to her were-stamina, she was able to keep going with very few problems.  Sure, she was tired all the time, but she wasn't falling asleep in class - something she'd never done - but nor did she have to worry about falling asleep while driving - something she had done.

In any case, she had set herself up in the House of Fire common room, her book in one hand, and a pad of paper and her pencil in the other.  She also had some notes about the author, and even some general information.  This stuff was so cool - she couldn't stop soaking it up.  And Miklos was such an awesome instructor.  At least, from her point of view.  He had been a bit grumpy last week, so she hadn't stayed as late, but she was looking forward to tomorrow's meeting.  He was just one of those people whose brain she could pick for hours on end.  There was so much learn.

Sitting back a bit, noticing a cramp in her neck, she realized she'd been down her for over an hour and the ideas were not coming as quickly as earlier.  Time for a snack break.  Rubbing her eyes, and the back of her neck, she pulled the bag of chex mix out of her messenger bag and sat back munching away.  Per usual, she was wearing a pair of denim board shorts and a tank top.  She hadn't been outside earlier either - instead she'd gone swimming in the pool.  Lazily, she watched the rain fall through the window.  Her newest tattoo continued to drive her mad with itching, and she just patted it through the material.  No rubbing - you'd remove some of the ink in the scabbing.  That was very bad.  It was as she was watching the rain fall that she vaguely heard someone enter the room.  Smelled like Frankie, but not.  Then again, lots of people smelled like Frankie in this House.  This was closer, somehow.  Turning to look at the other person, she tilted her head and studied him.  Nope, not someone she knew.

Who:  Davia and Sydni
What:  An apology, or at least some talking
Where:  Davia's room
When:  After classes

It seemed like everyday this week was going to cause insane amounts of stress for Sydni.  Monday and Tuesday she was concerned about her meeting with Miklos, and Wednesday, the day of the meeting, was nearly unbearable.  Luckily for Sydni, that meeting had gone well, and she had felt better Thursday morning, even after going to see the custodial staff.  At the lunch break, she had checked the journals, and Sydni's heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw Davia had left a message for her.  It only said, "Nevermind", but that was something, and she pounced on it.  The rest of the day she spent nervously contemplating how their talk would go.  Her initial hope had been dimmed somewhat when Davia had said she wasn't about to give second chances.  But still, she was willing to talk, and that was more than Sydni had expected so soon.

Sydni left her last class in a rush - usually she was one of the last to leave.  One of her ways of staying invisible - stay out of the mob of students.  Today she wanted to hurry over to Terrene House and see Davia.  It was a much less happy reason than the last time she'd been to Davia's room, and her heart squeezed a bit.  Hope and fear fought a tremendous battle within her, and while her heart raced with anxiety, she couldn't quell the hope that told her maybe things could fixed, or at least made better, even as she tried to logic herself into a more realistic view.  It really wasn't possible for her to expect the worst, even when she knew it was a possibility.  She was too optimistic.

Luckily, a lot of students were coming in and out of the Houses at this time of day, so Sydni was able to slip in without too much of a hassle, and she wasn't going to a men's floor, so she figured she was golden once she was in.  Her heart continued to race as she neared Davia's door.  She briefly thought that maybe Davia wanted round 2, and perhaps she was walking into another cat fight.  Davia wouldn't do that, she quickly concluded.  She was too sweet.  Much like she'd been too sweet to hit her.  Both times.  Surely she had calmed down from that time, however.  Swallowing her fear, to some extent, Sydni knocked solidly on Davia's door.  Softly, she said, "Davia?"  She didn't realize she was holding her breath, but she was.

Who: Frankie and Sydni
Where: Sydni's room, House of Fire
When: 9:00ish

Frankie didn't have a lot of homework, what with it being the first day back and all. She had some reading to do, and she was expected to write a short story, but that was all fairly simple and quickly accomplished. Frankie could handle bigger work loads, especially considering she wasn't working a part-time job at the same time. Halcyon wasn't easy, but the challenges were different than she'd experienced in human schools.

Once she finished up her work, she checked the clock. Shit, she was supposed to meet Sydni in ten minutes. Oh well, seemed she wouldn't be showering before their night of drinking and junk food eating. Didn't matter. She'd probably just need another shower afterward. Frankie could get a bit clumsy as a drunk. She also giggled like a mad woman... well, unless she had far too much, then she just bawled her eyes out. Considering how screwy her emotions were right now, she'd probably do a bit of both.

Since a shower wasn't an option, she just threw on her PJs. Nothing fancy tonight, obviously. It wasn't Clove she was seeing, so the barely there lacy number got to stay in the closet tonight. Nope, she just went for comfort, and that meant a tank top, that allowed her wings to be free, and a pair of matching shorts. She really did love Victoria's Secret. Throwing her fluffy red robe over the top of it all, for warm in the drafty hallways, and slipping on some fuzzy flip flop slippers, she was just about to set off to meet Sydni, before she realize there was one more thing she should probably bring with her. Snatching up the item, she chuckled a little. Kinda scary, but still funny!

The door was open, just as Sydni said it would be, but Frankie still knocked on it as she walked in, not wanting to startle her friend. "Ok... booze and sweets... I need both. Oh, and don't mind this," she said with a little laugh as she set down a bright red fire extinguisher on the ground. "I find that it's a good idea to have one around when I'm feeling moody. Just in case." See, to Frankie, that was funny. To other people, it probably wasn't.

Who: Serghei and Sydni
Where: Sydni's room of sexy
When: Wednesday evening
What: Serghei no read english good. He knows just where to go if he needs a helping hand or two...

Classes were...hard. It was so disappointing to think of that word in English and not get a little trill of excitement. Once upon a time he could have muttered that into a man's ear in his thick accent and look down to see what would happen. Instead, the only groaning was in his own head and it wasn't pretty. Serghei had spent about an hour at the library trying to distract himself from distracting himself to focus on his work.

The fact was that he didn't have the focus to remember what he was studying from one moment to the next. When he replied on the journals he'd had an easy reference dictionary by him and just hard translated what was written, then wrote a reply, then translated it back. It took forever and was hardly accurate. Verbally he was okay, but the way the words were spelt and pronounced were foreign from what he actually knew. Serghei was more familiar with the arabic alphabet than this one.

He'd met a lot of brainiacs at the school. Some of whose brains he tried to pick less figuratively than one might imagine with parts of his body one might not readily expect. Unless, of course, one knew one was speaking about Serghei.

What he needed was some help and a more conducive studying environment than the library. Like an entire floor full of women. He'd made some easy inquiries to "Seed-nee", his pool galfriend. Flip-flops, cut off camo cargo pants and a tank top. Serghei rapped on her door with two of his large knuckles and leaned against the doorframe. He wasn't in the mood for learning today. Just getting his homework done.

This was going to suck.  There was no other way to put it.  Sydni had been thinking long and hard about her relationship with Justina, and while it had been a good time, and she still cared for Justina, she didn't see it going any further.  Justina had been taking days to reply to her e-mails, and even seemed to be avoiding her phone calls.  Sitting on her bed, Sydni dialed the number, as close to in person as she could do here at Halcyon, she listened to it ring, and half-hoped she didn't pick up so she could put it off another day.

No such luck, of course.  Justina's voice rang through clearly on the other end.  "Hey, babe.  What's up?"

Her stomach turned, but she said the words.  "Hey...  We have to talk.  You have time?"

Who: Davia and Sydni
When: Night
Where: Davia's dorm room in Terrene House
What: Slumber Party Madness!!!!

Davia was probably more excited about this than any girl ever had been in the history of a slumber party. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but being her first one, she was definitely more psyched for it than a girl that had been to several ever would have been. She had spent the entire day getting everything prepared for it, and as soon as the sun had gone down, she had been out to get the rest of what she needed that she couldn't gather up around the school.

There was ice cream, ice cream toppings, a whole array of nail polish in varying colors with some cotton balls and remover just in case. She had rented a couple of movies that were stereotypical girl films, romance movies like Titanic and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

In addition to all of that, she had assured she had extra pillows and blankets for Sydni to use, but instead of making up the second bed in her room, she took the mattresses off of both of the beds and put them in the floor, side by side, right in front of the tv, the beds themselves pushed back against the wall out of the way. She had hair rollers and face masks and cucumbers and all the things that the girls in all the movies she had seen had had on hand for just this sort of occasion.

Davia was ready. And now she was just waiting for Sydni to show up, waiting amidst the plethora of fluffy pillows, her pajamas already on, cute pj pants with a cammy style t, pink and covered with little pictures of kittens. She had big fluffy bedroom slippers on her feet, cats of course, their tails poking up from behind her feet and their cute little faces, whiskers and all, in front.

Who:  Sydni and Noah
Where:  House of Fire Common Room
When:  Saturday Night
What:  An introduction

It had been a much better week this week than last.  First of all, last week had been the full moon and Sydni still felt that the full moon was a horrible nightmare that came once a month.  If only her memory of the full moon was like her memory for dreams.  Unfortunately, it was not.  It was still like a bizarre nightmare - she felt like her brain functioned on a different level when she was transformed, and her 'human' brain couldn't process the information properly once dawn came.  She vaguely understood that it would become clearer with time, but really, she'd rather it not.

More importantly, though, this week, Sydni had met several other students.  Most memorable, of course, was Frankie.  The girl had the energy of, well, not to be redundant, a ball of fire.  She had met a few others as well, and she hoped that she could develop friendships with some of them.

Sydni was musing on these developments  in the common room on Saturday Night.  She had her notebook with her, writing.  She was trying to write a 'happy' poem to fit her mood, but everything she had turned out so far was crap.  That was ok with her.  She crossed out what she didn't like, or she turned to a new page and started over.  Part of the problem was she didn't know what to write about - she wanted to create a happy mood, but she needed a subject, and couldn't figure out what fit.  Eventually, she would hit on something she liked, and she was patient.  It was like clothes shopping.  She knew other people who hated shopping because it seemed they could never find something they liked.  Sydni never forced it.  If she couldn't find what she liked, she'd go back another day.  Same with poems.  If she didn't find what she liked today, she'd get to it another day.  No big deal to her.  Not like anyone else ever saw them.

She had just finished another pathetic attempt, and she needed to stretch.  She unfolded her legs from under her and stretched her arms up over her head, and her legs straight out, toes pointed.  She was already in her pjs - jammie pants with cute little strawberries on a pink background and matching short-sleeved top with a single strawberry and the word "Yum" written across the chest.

It was really very quiet at the school tonight.  Sydni figured that most of the other students had gone into town.  It was Saturday night.  Or perhaps they were locked up, studying.  In any case, Sydni didn't mind the quiet.  It was easier to write when there was no one else around.  Sydni was just settling back into her curled up position on the couch when she heard someone else enter the room.

Who:  Sydni and Frankie
Where:  House of Fire Common Room
What:  An Introduction

Another day of nothing…  Sydni normally threw herself into her work when something was on her mind.  It was easier than dealing with it – being too busy to feel bad.  Since she joined the semester too late, she had no classes.  And no job, yet.  Reading and surfing the web were sufficiently brain-numbing to keep her from feeling much of anything.  Well, reading romance novels were sufficiently brain-numbing.  But even those had pulled a few unwelcome tears from her.

For the past week, she had spent her time on the beach or in the common room of the House of Fire.  The beach brought her comfort simply because it was where she felt she belonged.  If she had thought she had the possibility to be some supernatural race, she would have imagined herself as some sort of water race.  A mermaid, or maybe something with wings.  Anything less... uncontrollable.  But the beach comforted her.  The sun, when it was out, warmed her skin.  She was no sun-worshiper, and never really tanned, but the warmth of it on her skin was a feeling that just couldn't be substituted.  The sound of the waves breaking on the sand was rhythmic, like a heartbeat, and could lull her into a sense of peace, at least temporarily.  Usually a morning walk took her along the beach so she could start her day off with her own thoughts.

Perhaps spurned by these wanderings, she had rediscovered her flair for poetry.  In her opinion, it was seemed more like the kind of teenage angst she had spewed out in high school, but it was somehow therapeutic.  Despite the poor quality, she didn't throw any of it away.  She had learned not to throw away her writing - sometimes it could be the inspiration for something she of which she could be proud later on.  After her solitary mornings, she wanted to be around people, but she wasn’t really up for making friends, just yet.  She would head to the common room in the afternoons where she was fine just observing for now.  Besides, if the other weres felt as poorly as she did over the weekend, she couldn’t imagine them being that friendly.

Sighing, she removed her glasses and wiped her eyes.  Since the full moon she had felt lazy in general, so she hadn’t been wearing her contacts.  She liked the way her glasses looked though – rectangular, chic somehow.  Geek chic.  But, her eyes were not used to the slightly different view and moisture level, and so they kept watering.  Awesome, she thought.  Anyone looking on would think she kept crying off and on.  Which she wasn’t.  At least not in public she wasn’t.

Able to see again, she put her glasses back on and got back to reading the latest e-mail from Justina.  Right now, her laptop was her lifeline to the real world.  Right now, Halcyon was not part of her real world.  The life she had left behind was her real world, and this was just a temporary sabbatical.  She wanted to go through her classes, learn what she needed, and go home.  She knew, logically, that it was not that simple.  But right now she couldn’t face that.  MarineLab had given her six months.  She didn’t know how long Justina would give her.  They weren’t even that serious, so she doubted that she would get even six months

Reading Justina's e-mail did bring her some comfort.  Or at least, brought a slight smile to her face.  Justina was everything she wasn't - outgoing, and rather wild.  Sighing and shaking her head, she started to write up a reply to the e-mail.

Who: Jesse and Sydni and Open for anyone else who wants in.
What: Jesse is working on homework, preparing for his final tests and Sydni is chillaxin'. Will Sydni help the so not book smart teenaged werewolf with his homework? Only time will tell!
When: Week Nine. Monday. Approximately 2030 military time (8:30 pm for everyone else)
Where: House of Fire Common Room.

Jesse could not focus on his homework. It was the end of the semester and his grades were below lackluster. One could blame the fact that his change in lifestyle gave him extra stress to deal with so he let his grades fall. However, if you asked Jesse or anyone in his family, his grades were never that good. The class he did the best in was Math and even then, he usually got a B-. His worst class was English and History, mainly because he found it boring. Science was a toss up. It could go to the side of Math or it could go towards the other end of the spectrum. This time, it was his worst class. This is partly due to the first problem mentioned but also due to the fact that his science class had a slight spin on it dealing with the creatures until six months ago he didn't know existed. The army brat werewolf had to ace this final test or fail. If he failed that would mean he'd have to sit through the class again!

For tenth grade science, it was all about Biology. While the basics was self-explanatory, it was mostly memorizing and Jesse could cram enough before a test to get a C. However, what this test was on dealt with Biochemistry; proteins, amino acids, mono-saccharides, carbohydrates. All he could make out of it was single letters with lines going to them. He just could not make sense of it. The week he learned it was what became known as Queer Hell Week in which he didn't care what the teacher was talking about. He worried more about a date to the dance and what he would wear that day.

Speaking of Queer Hell Week, Jesse now also had a job because he owed his father money. While the ice cream place wasn't as bad as it could be, it still ate up a lot of time that Jesse usually left aside for his daily run (which he now pushed early into the mornings if he chose to get up_) and video game/internet surfing time. So essentially, he didn't really lose homework time. He just lost free time in general. Jesse worked on Monday but Puck, his boss, always sent him home before closing deeming him too young to handle the responsibility. Never mind the fact Jesse actually got the booth to himself for an hour at a time in which he could strike up deals with the piercing guy across the way or sneak a scoop of ice cream.

Jesse got off at 7:30 ish and headed back home. He opened up his science book to study in his room but it seemed like his computer and his PSP were talking to him to procrastinate a little longer. No. He had to get his act together. His father was already pissed at him... not to mention he knew it was worse enough that he got his lip pierced. He did ponder for a moment if it was worth it to just fall on the possibility that his parents would be so pissed at him for his lip ring that they may forget about his failing grades but then he decided it really wasn't worth it. If he failed, that means he would have to listen to the same boring stuff again next semester.

Finally, the temptation grew too horrible so Jesse decided to leave his room and work on his homework in the common area. He was dressed in what he slept in (which sometimes he would kick off in the night); a pair of gray sweatpants and a worn out west point t-shirt and a pair of white socks. His normally gelled spiked hair wilted a little from a long day and his new lip ring was a silver hoop. It felt weird for a variety of reasons. For one, there was on Sunday night after he had it done, spaghetti got caught in it. Silver felt weird in general but if he got it done in any other way, it would have healed over.

In a not too full common area, Jesse sat at one of the tables and opened up his science book and his notebook and prepared to study. Oh how he wish he took better notes. What he wrote down in class was the pictures of the different biochemical parts; lipids, carbohydrates, amino acids. And instead of explanations, he drew them with faces and holding swords dueling each other. Lipids for instance dueled Carbs saying, "I HIT YOU WITH MY SWORD OF ADKINS!" and Carbohydrates fell over with the words, "OH! THE PAIN!" That didn't really explain anything. The werewolf continued to look at his notes and his textbook with a blank face. Oh man, he was in deep trouble.

Who: Sydni (Narrative)
Where: House of Fire, Sydni's new room
What: New arrival

Sydni entered the room with some difficulty. She had packed only what she really needed, but she still had two rather clumsy bags to carry. She double-checked the room number several times. The last thing she wanted to do on her first day here was walk into someone’s private room. Thus far she had managed to escape any awkward meetings. She felt out of place in her own body now as it was, and now she felt out place, well, in this place.

After struggling through the door, Sydni set the suitcases down and looked around. It seemed spacious enough – more room than she had expected. Sighing, she set her books and laptop out on her desk. She only brought a few – she really didn’t know how much room she’d have. Since she had more room than expected, she’d write home for her parents to send her a few packages. Some more clothes, books, pictures… whatever else came to mind. She set out her pictures – a family one of her and her parents and one of her and Jason. She didn’t have any good ones of Justina, but she had promised to send one.

It had been interesting to explain her leaving – a leave of absence for mental health. Mom and Dad had been floored. And worried. She could hear it in the strained questions. Justina didn’t get it all. She was hurt that Sydni hadn’t said anything until it had gotten so bad. Sydni had desperately wanted to explain that it hadn’t been that way, that it was as sudden as it seemed. But that had been out of the question. Jason was equally stunned. He had wanted to take a plane out immediately. Thank goodness she had been able to convince him otherwise. The last thing she needed was someone poking around trying to figure out what was wrong with her.

Oh damn, tears again? She never cried. Except in the past three weeks, she cried just about every day. She thought she had everything figured out. She was comfortable in her life, and now everything was turned upside down. She hadn’t been in school since she got her Master’s. She wasn’t used to being the student anymore. She reached in her pocket and took out her schedule. Well, at least they were interesting classes. Except the controlling the beast one – she didn’t want to face that. Even admit she needed to. But she had to, didn’t she?