Sorry for the sucky summary. Hopefully it will make sense as this goes along. Message me if it doesn't. And please leave reviews, they're always so helpful to me:)

Now, on with my next story!

Alan sighed as he packed the last of his books into his backpack. Summer was finally over, and he and Fermat- much to the disgust of both- once again had to return to Wharton Academy.

Yawning, Alan glanced at the clock. 5:00 AM. He wished he could be sleeping like his brothers still were, though knew he had to leave early enough to make it to the Academy in time for check-in. Sighing, he picked up his backpack and duffle bag and trudged towards the family room to meet his father and Penny.

When he arrived, he saw Penny and his father deep in conversation, each drinking tea. However, when they heard him enter, they turned and smiled. "Ready to go?" his father asked, setting down his cup, Penny following suit not long after.

Alan merely grunted a yes tiredly in return, flopping into the chair next to him.

"Where's Fermat? Parker's still waiting in the car, poor chap," Penny asked cheerily. How she could be so energetic and cheery at such an early hour was beyond him.

Just then, as though on cue, Fermat came stumbling into the room, backpack in one hand and duffle bag in the other. "S-s-sorry I'm late!" he stuttered, adjusting his glasses once he'd set down his bags.

"Quite alright," Penny assured with a smile. "Now, are you gentlemen ready to go?"

Both of the boys sighed. "I suppose we have no choice," Alan remarked sarcastically.

Jeff laughed. "I'll call you, and I'll make sure your room doesn't get totally trashed this time," he assured with a grin.

Alan shuddered. The last time he'd come home from school, he found his room painted bright pink and everything else promptly replaced with fuzzy stuffed animals and bright, plastic jewelry and dolls. It took him a good week to get his brothers to give him his regular possessions back.

"Thanks Dad," Alan sighed with a slight chuckle. "Tell the others bye for me. And I'll talk to you soon." Hugging his Dad, he smiled at the older man before picking up his bags and following Penny and Fermat, who'd just walked out the patio door.

Jeff smiled and waved until Alan disappeared from around the corner. A frown then began to replace the smile, his brows furrowing together. Something told him this term would be different from the others, and not in a pleasant way. However, he merely pushed the thought from his mind and trudged toward his bedroom.

It was nearly 11:00 in the island's time when Penny and the boys arrived at Wharton, though it was already 3:00 at the Academy. After a brief farewell to Penny, the boys quickly left to find their room assignments and schedules. To both their delight, they shared the same room, along with another friend from school, and one other boy they didn't know. As far as their schedules, they shared only PE together, Fermat otherwise being in mostly higher classes than Alan.

Because they'd missed lunch, they went directly to their dorm. There they found their two roommates, already unpacking their things. When they heard Alan and Fermat enter, they immediately turned to see who it was.

"Hey, Alan and Fermat, cool!" the first boy, who was sitting on the top bunk on the right greeted. He was just as he'd been the last year, though perhaps a bit taller. He had bright red hair and was just above Alan's height. "Long time no see! How've you guys been?"

"Hey Andrew," Alan replied with a smile. "We're good. I miss summer already though."

Chuckling a bit at his own remark, Alan turned to face the other boy who had just finished unpacking on the lower bunk to the right, under Andrew's bunk. He had jet black hair and a serious glaze in his eyes, though his expression held a smile. Alan extended his hand, and the boy immediately took it. Before Alan could even say his name though, the boy interrupted.

"Alan Tracy, I presume?" he said smoothly, more of a statement than a question. Before Alan could even reply to that, the boy again interrupted. "I'm Jeff Sattler. I'm a grade older than you guys but since there weren't any upperclassmen rooms left, I decided to stay here. Hope you don't mind."

Though the boy seemed nice enough, Alan somehow found him a bit odd. However, he just smiled and shook the boy's hand. "Nice to meet you," he said uncertainly.

The boy didn't say anything more, but stared at Alan. His eyes seemed to suddenly harden a bit, and he seemed as though he were scrutinizing Alan. Uncomfortably, Alan released his grip of the boy's hand and moved to grab his things, setting them on the top bunk on the left. As he began to unpack, Alan shifted nervously as he continued to feel Jeff's gaze on him. Finally turning to face him, Alan asked, "Why are you staring?"

Jeff seemed as though he'd snapped out of a trance. He thought for a moment, his mind obviously still wandering a bit, but finally answered, "Nothing. You just seem familiar somehow."

"Oh," Alan said curiously, and found he had nothing else to say to that remark. Turning, he began finishing his unpacking.

"That guy's weird," Alan said bluntly about Jeff as he and Fermat walked through the halls to dinner.

"H-how is he w-w-weird?" Fermat asked, staring oddly at Alan. "He seemed n-nice."

Alan paused, thinking over what happened earlier. "I don't know, just something about him bothers me. He looks kind of familiar, but I can't place it."

"W-well I think you're just im-m-imagining things," Fermat said frankly.

Alan frowned, though didn't say anything in return. Maybe I am being paranoid? I should just give the guy a chance.

"S-s-so did you hear about that c-cool rescue your b-b-brothers went on this morning?" Fermat suddenly asked.

Alan sighed. "Yeah, another earthquake. I already miss being out there with them."

Suddenly, Jeff stepped in front of Alan and Fermat from around a corner, causing both of them to stop. "Hey, Alan," he said with a small smile, though his eyes still held the angry gleam in them. "Would you mind helping me out with my laptop? It's acting strange. I left it in the dorm, so can you meet me there?"

"Uh…" Alan said confused, taking this sudden request in as fast as he could, though the strangeness of it caught him off guard. "Sure, I'll be there in a few minutes," he said warily.

Jeff smiled. "Thanks, see ya!" he said, quickly walking off towards the dorms.

"Told ya," Alan said, glancing at Fermat with a strange look, though Fermat only sighed and walked away.

Not long later, Alan rounded the corner to the dorm rooms. Turning the key, he opened the door to his room, though found no one in it. Stepping into the room to look around, Alan was suddenly blinded as something hard smashed against the back of his skull. Pain quickly overcame him and he immediately fell into darkness.

A/N:
Ok, sorry that was so short. It was just a last minute decision in the middle of the night. Hope you liked it, please review:)

Megz