Chapter One – The Misadventures of Cynical Boy!

Nicholas had finished unpacking his things. By his standards that meant they were in disastrously dishevelled piles around his bed, his dresser and just about everywhere except for the top of his desk. He exhaled an exasperated sigh before letting himself fall onto the bed he found more inviting than the one he had at that man's place. Saint Rabona's Boarding School was more of a home than his actual home, which Nicholas found to be quite sad – especially because the majority of the students who lived there felt like they were more or less forever bound to stalk the halls like prisoners. He traced the galvanic steps of a fly around his ceiling for several minutes before letting another sigh filled with the same amount of frustration as his last one, as if he were waiting for someone to ask him what he was sighing about. Of course, there was no one there and he was only sighing in such a perturbed manner because he had no other way to vent the object of his perturbation to anyone with even the slightest interest in giving a damn. With a solemn glance, he checked the ugly clock above his roommate's undisturbed bed. The unyielding hands of time seemed to be racing forward, not stopping to consider that maybe there was one lonely, seventeen year old boy who would have wanted it to stop for a day or two, give or take a couple of minutes.

Thanks, father time, for never ceasing to be a raging douche.

Every few seconds his mind showed him pictures of the man they called his father driving home- not twenty minutes after dropping him off- down the same long, winding street he had killed his wife on. Yes, the man had been drunk, but what the hell kind of excuse is that? "Sorry, I didn't mean to, I was totally hammered." Nicholas said out loud, trying to imagine what the drunk would have said when the police had found him. He had been so distraught over losing his mother and at the same time so angry at his father that after all the commotion had died down all that was left was the anger. He had cried his share of tears, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was fed up with being angry too. What was left to feel at that point?

He had been pulled out of school to spend the week with his father so they could –how did the psychiatrist phrase it- grieve together. Even then, as he lay on his bed seven days after he had last been on it, he did not understand the purpose of putting two sad people together and literally waiting for them to be happy. Nicholas hated spending time with the drunk even when he had to, so naturally he stayed in the dorms on holidays and in the summer time, something only a handful of students did. He found the large, old stone walls of the massive castle-turned high school comforting, as they were something that had existed for such a long time and still had not been torn down. Maybe it was the reassuring feeling that something would always be there for him to come back to, or the fact that his friends would be there with him, but something made him actually enjoy school. He liked his classes, he liked walking to the dining hall every morning and evening; he liked eating lunch with his friends in the castle's main atrium – his connection to St. Rabona's Boarding School was nothing short of formidable.

It was the mid afternoon, and since most of the students were in class, Nicholas was not expected to return to his normal class schedule until first thing the next day. Sliding off the comfortable bed, he felt his bare feet tap against the mahogany hardwood floor; which was cold to the point where it helped yank him from his contemptuous reverie and direct his attention to the knocks placed on his door.

"Uh, hello?" He asked the silence with staggering frailty, to which he received a muffled reply that shook him deeply to the core. He was expecting Raki, his best friend and conveniently designated roommate to be the first to welcome him back. It appeared he was wrong, and the mounting fear to what stood behind the door was backed up by two uncomfortable outcomes. It could be a faculty member wanting to check up on him, or worse, a girl.

It was a girl.

"Nicholas! You son of a bitch, how's it going?" Helen asked, playfully punching Nicholas in his left arm. She held an apple in her free hand that she turned over to bite as she waited for Nicholas' reply.

"Fine, thanks, I guess." He replied, as Helen strode past him into his room. "Come on in..." He sighed. Helen kicked off her boots and plopped down on Nicholas' bed as if she owned the place. Though the boys and girls at St. Rabona's attended classes together in the main wings of the castle, their dormitories were on opposite ends of the campus grounds, so it was odd and unusual to see a female student around the male dormitories. Oh, and it was subject to penalty, too. Good thing Helen could have cared less about penalties.

"So where in the hell have you been? Hasn't it been about a week?" Helen asked, raising an eyebrow at Nicholas, who still stood in the center of his room rubbing his left arm gently. Had he not told her? No, he was pretty sure he had. Helen was not always one to pay attention, although the two were friends.

"Burying my mother." He said quietly.

"Whoa, Nicky, sorry about that" Helen said, a little caught off guard. "That's pretty mor- OH I remember," She said, kicking her feet into a sitting position on her friend's commandeered bed. "How're you holding up? We can go get drunk if you want – I'm heading over to the pub anyways."

"Thanks, but I'll pass." Nicholas said, as Helen nodded and tossed her apple core at Raki's end of the room. The mere thought of alcohol made him feel the abyss within his heart grow deeper still. The apple core missed the waste bin, but Helen didn't care. "Don't you have class to go to or something?" Nicholas asked.

"Class? Why would I want to go there?" Helen asked with a frightening sense of honesty, "Well, just give me a call if you change your mind, but not after five, I'll probably be churned. It'd be better to call Deneve." She circled her forefinger around her ear to emphasize the point and stood up, standing just a little shorter than Nicholas. As well as being a truant, Helen was a well known rebel amongst their classmates - her torn nylons and frayed kilt practically shouted BADASS!

"That's alright; I think I need some time to get my thoughts in order, anyways." Nicholas replied.

"Whatever, Nicky" Helen said, as she made for the door. "Sorry to hear about your mom, the pub anytime!" She closed the door and as it clicked shut, Nicholas groaned irritably. It was not the mention of alcohol that was making him angry, but the pity. He was holding up well enough on his own, he didn't need the pity of others. Of course, being a naturally soft, kind-hearted boy he felt bad for shirking Helen's rare good-will and although it was a little unorthodox, he could accept that she meant well. The room became stifling in almost an instant; there was too much negativity – as if it were escaping from his lungs with every breath. He deduced a walk around the campus was in order. With most of the students in class, he was sure no one would bother him, and if they did he could say he was returning to his dormitory – there was no way he could lose.

After turning the corridor into the main hallway he was surprised to see the most beautiful thing he had seen all day, an empty courtyard. Although the sky was grey and the air rather cold, the stone courtyard was more inviting than any part of the St. Rabona's campus he had been to that day. It was evident that winter was coming, even the grass felt stiff with frost as he walked over it to the large fountain in the middle of the courtyard. The clear water was sprinkled with a thin layer of ice and Nicholas felt a deep chill in his fingers as they pushed past the solid barrier into the water beneath it, the same chill he had felt in his heart when he had heard of what had happened to his mother. His train of thought took sudden solemn turn in the wrong direction as he looked around, realizing just how alone he was in the bitter air, his only confidants being the stone columns outlining the courtyard he stood amongst. He could not talk to the columns; however, as they were too busy fulfilling their purpose of holding up the walls. Just what was his purpose, then? Withdrawing his hand from the icy abyss of the fountain, he exhaled a visible breath and turned to see a female student walking behind the stone columns on the path towards the administration building. With her was Headmistress Ilena, characteristically stern-faced and holding a blue folder in her grip. Both walked silently, as if the silence was louder than they were. Nicholas knew what that blue folder meant – a new student's transcripts. As the two moved behind the columns Nicholas could catch sight of the girl through split seconds as she emerged between the granite pillars before she was hidden away by one of their neighbours.

At that moment, he denounced the empty courtyard as the most beautiful thing he had seen.

He felt his head turn to follow the frail looking girl as she exited the courtyard, but not before turning her head slightly to see him. And then, she smiled. He must have looked so lost, amongst the light beige and grey of the square stood a blond boy wearing a black overcoat and grey pants, like a mistake on a masterpiece painting. He could only sigh as he watched perfection escape him. The courtyard became ugly and unwelcoming, like a beast in disguise revealing its true nature. At that point, Nicholas wanted to go inside and spend the remainder of his day in bed. Maybe that was still an option. To his dismay, the bells chimed from their lofty positions around the campus, marking the end of class. Had he really been out for that long? He doubled backwards and walked in the direction of the boy's dormitories. First there were voices, and Nicholas knew confrontation was unavoidable. Soon after, student began to flood into the halls like ants escaping an ant farm. The crowds engulfed him; he hated feeling like there was no way out, especially when the walls closing in around him were made of students he didn't even like. Suddenly, his sleeve was tugged roughly, pulling him into a hallway with some breathing room. To his relief, it was Raki. His friend's large, optimistic grin was refreshing, especially after spending so much time with people frowning and crying, the mere thought of their faces made Nicholas want to run and hide.

"Nicholas! I'm glad to see you out and about!" Raki said, "When did you get in?"

"Not too long ago," He lied; he tried to pretend he had better things to do than walk around castle campus waiting for someone to talk to him. Both of them laughed a little after he had done so, and Raki shook his head.

"You know, you shouldn't lie like that. You ought to follow the example of a good student like me!" Raki beamed,

"You're kidding." Nicholas replied dryly, "You somehow scrape by with your shirt unbuttoned and your tie not done up – how's the homework coming, Raki?"

"Alright, alright, you win." Raki sighed and admitted defeat. "How are you holding up?"

"...Fine," Nicholas said hesitantly, "But that's going to change if one more person asks me..."

"Hey, I only ask because you're my bro, right?" the brown haired boy said proudly. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't care."

"I know. Thanks, I guess." Nicholas replied. He knew Raki wanted to pry a little more on the specifics of Nicholas' condition, but also knew that Raki was smarter than he looked. Raki was aware of how much Nicholas detested pity, and gave him none. "I'm heading back to the dorms; my classes don't start till tomorrow anyways."

"Seriously?" Raki asked, "Well alright, but don't coop yourself up in your room all night, it's not good for you."

"Being out in the cold all day isn't good for me either."

"Fair enough, I'll come to get you for dinner. I've got to meet with Father Vincent anyways." The friends parted ways, and Nicholas walked up the winding stone staircase towards the entrance to the male dormitories. Raki had been his friend for as far back as he could remember, they used to get in trouble together so often that they eventually started to hang out without having to be seated next to one another in the headmaster's office. Since the day they met, Raki had been there for Nicholas. The feeling of having such a friend was good, but there were some things Raki just could not be counted on for. When Raki told Nicholas he would come to get him for dinner, a mental reminder was set off in Nicholas' head letting him know he had to leave for dinner early so Raki wouldn't feel bad about forgetting.

His cell phone vibrated loosely in his jacket pocket, prompting him to pick it up with the idle threat of vibrating again should he refuse. Whatever would he do if that were to happen? It wasn't like he hadn't ignored calls before, but after the fifth vibration the feeling began to get on Nicholas' nerves. He flipped the front panel of his mobile up and placed the cold metal and plastic monstrosity to his ear. He could hear Helen yelling on the other end but could not make out what she was saying.

"Helen, slow down, what's going on?" She sounded frightened. "Are you okay?"

"No I'm not!" She cried with her words a little messy. Was she drunk? Wait, was she crying? If Nicholas knew her, and he did, she probably fit under both categories. "Deneve can't come down here and I really need help! Nicky, you've got to come meet me!"

"Wha- but, dinner's in thirty minutes..." Nicholas protested, to his reply, a massive, angry wall of shrieking banshee-like noise hit his eardrum like a flying ninja-kick and the other end went dead. She was probably at her usual hangout, the arcade - Helen was about as imaginative as a banana when it came to... just about everything, so Nicholas doubted she would be that hard to find. Donning his scarf, he left his dormitory, walked back down the hall, down the steps, across the courtyard where that new girl had spotted him, through the administration building and out onto the cobblestone street. What was he doing? Helen was not his girlfriend, nor was she able to summon him like a servant boy. Why was he going to meet her? Was it just because she was crying? "When did I turn into such a nice guy?"

The road to Pieta was as cold as it was windy, and Nicholas had to pull his coat as tightly as he could around himself to shield his body from the chill. It was beginning to get dark as well and the people on the road were scarce. Pieta's lights glowed brightly in the distance with an orange aura – candlelight. Pieta was an old city, famous for its wine, art, cheese and its alias: the city of love. It was certainly a romantic looking place, filled with old architecture and stone churches. A long, winding river snaked its way through the city and lead to the mountains where people tended to take boat tours to. Nicholas thought the city was beautiful, but rarely spent time in it due to his unyielding class schedule. He felt a violent shiver move up his spine, nearly causing him to turn around and run back to the castle campus, where it was warm and where Raki would be waiting in the dining hall for him- possibly with some soup. He walked into the outskirts of Pieta just as the sky became a dark grey, the clouds moving out of the way for the moon to shine brightly over the old city. As the dim street lights activated, Nicholas had already made his way into the main part of downtown Pieta.

"Now the arcade should be over here, where the heck is she?" Nicholas groaned miserably in the cold before Helen, who could be seen practically pressing her nose up against the glass window; came outside and flagged him down like a taxi driver. She was still only wearing her 'customized' St. Rabona's uniform with the frayed skirt and striped, torn nylons. Ever the classy cat, she was. "Are you alright, Helen?" So was she drunk?

"Nicky! There you are!" Helen whined, nearly falling on him. Yup, definitely drunk.

"Are you okay?"

"They kicked me out of the bar." she said, sniffling excessively. Whether it was from crying or being stuck in the cold, Nicholas didn't know. The drinking age was not high in Pieta, so the reasons that Helen could have been kicked out of the bar for worried the blond boy a little.

"That better not be what you called me down here for, I can't get you back in." He groaned,

"N-no, don't worry, man!" She said excitedly, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the arcade. "It's like way more serious, way, WAY more serious." The girl could sure navigate a busy arcade well for being under the influence of alcohol, she weaved in an out of crowds of thirteen year old boys and older men, not caring who she swore at before they stopped at a brand new fighting game at the back of the store. "This baby is brand new, doesn't it look way cool?"

"No." Nicholas said to himself. "Yeah, sure does. Now what was all the fuss about?"

"I spent all my money on drinks and now I have no money for game tokens, and this one's expensive!" Deep down, he had known something of such trivial nature was at the bottom of the phone call Helen had sent. He could not even sigh as the look of excitement on Helen's face overpowered his low level of willpower. He had been duped. Reluctantly he paid for some game tokens and was ready to sit down when Helen forced him into one of the game seats. "No way, Nicky, you've gotta play too! Check it out, the game's starting!"

"I'm enthused." Nicholas lied blatantly.

YOMA-SLAYER. The game started up, and Helen started slamming away at the keys, to her friend's amazement, like there the world was due to end any minute. He, on the other hand, had no idea what was happening. "So, what is this game about, anyways?"

"Dude, weren't you even watching the intro?" Helen asked, "It's about these hybrid warriors who save towns from shape shifting flesh-eating monsters, it's like a hack and slash." The boy raised an eyebrow before leaning in to assist Helen, although she seemed to be scoring well enough on her own. "Whoa, Nicky you're pretty bad at this." Though the game allowed for two players to act cooperatively, it also had versus mode. However, Nicholas was finding it hard enough to keep up with fighting the computer generated monsters and was in no way ready to face Helen, who appeared to be literally mopping the floor with them.

"...Sorry Helen, I'm just not in the zone right now." That was an understatement. "On the other hand, you're pretty good; you've pretty much doubled my score." The number counter to the right of the screen showed Helen's numbers decimating Nicholas' to the point where he actually felt a little sad.

"I definitely play better with a little bit of booze in me." She said, with a triumphant grin. About an hour had passed and Nicholas' plan to let Helen tire herself out had worked splendidly. After Helen had finally been eaten in the virtual world, (Nicholas had died way earlier) a message prompted her to enter a high scorer's nickname. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Wait... what the hell?" Helen had entered her name and was presented with the number twenty-two in large, silver letters. A list of names running all the way up to number one stood before her.

"That's a lot of people, for a brand new machine it looks like this is a popular game." Nicholas said, "There's a lot of girls from our school on this list... that's all there is on this list!"

"Twenty-two? That's bullshit! All these girls have played this game?"

1 RIFUL 6 HILDA 11 CYNTHIA
2 GALATEA 7 MIRIA 12 ZELDA
3 ALICIA 8 LILY 13 CLARICE
4 OPHELIA 9 UNDINE 14 MIATA
5 RAFAELA 10 VERONICA 15 DENEVE

"And Deneve scored higher than me!" Helen turned around, fed up with reading the rankings. Nicholas wanted to tell her not to worry, that it was just a game, but he didn't feel like having his hands sawed off. It seemed like she was taking YOMA-SLAYER pretty seriously, as did all the other girls – how else had they scored so high? The whole thing made Nicholas feel feeble as he hadn't even made the rankings, though perhaps that was best. At least he would not have to worry about being jumped and beaten in the halls at school by an angry gang of girls. Some of the names on the list he recognized, like Riful, Galatea, and Deneve but that was not to say he knew them at all. Deneve was Helen's best friend, that was all he knew about her, and Galatea was about as enigmatic as they came, but Riful, well, everyone knew about her.

"Don't tell me you're going to train on this thing." Nicholas yawned, but he already knew the answer.

"Fuck, course I am!" Helen said, folding her arms across her chest, "I'm gonna fight my way to number one! I better write these names down..." Helen trailed off and rummaged through her bag. "Nicky, you got a pen?" She had scribbled down some names on a separate piece of paper and shoved into Nicholas' hands.

"What's this for?"

"You've got to help too, find out as much as you can on these bee-otches; I've got a lot of training to do." Helen smirked, "And no slacking, you can be my like, coach or something."

"Wouldn't Deneve suit this position a little more? She is the captain of the girl's soccer team."

"You can get Raki to help, too." She wasn't listening. The worst part of it was that Raki would be totally into this kind of thing. It was right up his alley, so to speak.

She was nearly nodding off when he proposed they head back to the campus before they both received detention. "Alright, alright, you win." Helen said, as they stood before the door leading outside. It was pitch-black out, too dark for even the moon's light to reach the ground where the teenagers stood. Nicholas removed his jacket and placed it over Helen's shoulders, patting her on her right one before walking up the street. "What's this for?" Helen asked, referring to Nicholas' heavy coat. It was hilariously large on her thin frame and had its sleeves covering her hands, the coat reached past her kilt, but in the cold weather it was anything to complain about.

"It'll keep you warm."

"I didn't ask for it, man, chivalry's dead." Helen said, trudging up the hill after her friend. "I don't need it; it's not that cold out, y'know?" By now, Helen had more or less sobered up to a decent level, where a normal conversation was possible without her attempting to throw a punch or two. "God, you're always treating me like such a girl, it's totally weird."

"Helen, you are a girl." And an attractive one at that, despite her 'badass' image, and because of that he would have felt twice as bad for making her walk all the way back to castle campus in the freezing cold. Of course, he would never be able to think of Helen as anything more than a good friend, but that did not mean he was forbidden to think she was good-looking. "I don't want you to catch a cold or something, come on; I don't want to go too far past curfew." Helen blushed a little and was oddly silent for a few minutes as they left Pieta's main gate and were swallowed by the dark of night.

"I can hardly see anything, how do you know where you're going?"

"Here." Nicholas replied quietly, and held his hand out behind him. Helen took it without hesitation and matched his pace, walking beside him. "You look pretty tired, are you sure it's a good idea to play that game as much as I know you're planning to?"

"Look, it's not as if I go to class a lot anyways, I need something to vent my frustration about being holed up in that prison of a school." Helen said, "Besides, if all those other girls somehow played that game and scored higher than me, I want to be able to beat them and brag about it." Nicholas only smiled as they continued the cold walk through the black night, crossing streets and watching the rarely seen cars drive by.

"... So how did it feel...?" Helen asked a little hesitantly, "When you found out about your mom?" Where the hell did that come from? Helen and Nicholas never talked like this; he was thrown off and surprised. Never the less, he tried to answer truthfully.

"I don't know." Nicholas said, "Just... heavy." When he had received the call from the authorities he had become angry, thinking someone was playing a joke. He doubted Helen could understand how hard he prayed every night for time to reverse to a world where that would be a reality, where his father didn't drink like he did, where his mother were still alive. "It's not important now; nothing I say can change anything anyways..." The air was heavy and Nicholas' serious green eyes were focused on the road ahead when Helen stopped beside him, dragging his hand and forcing him to stop as well. "Helen, we don't have time-" Nicholas began, turning around to see his friend looking serious, a face he doubted he had ever seen on her before.

"You're right, Nicky, I am a girl, and no one can read a guy better than a girl." Helen said, positively scaring Nicholas – she was analyzing him, trying to tell him everything the psychiatrist had said earlier. She saw straight through him, that his confidence was fake - that he was still grieving inside and that the pain was obvious.

"Are you going to tell me you know how this feels?" Nicholas asked bitterly, he didn't expect her to answer.

"Well yeah, dipshit, why else would I be prying like this?" Helen asked, "You know me better than that, Nicky. Of course I know how it feels! Why do you think I can get away with all the crazy shit I do?" Nicholas was frozen, not from the cold, but Helen's words as she stood there with his hand in hers.

"No..."

"That's right; there isn't anyone to give a damn!" Helen said, "My whole family deserted me when I was young, my old man couldn't even hang on to his own life for my sake."

"But... I never knew," Nicholas stammered, finding it hard to articulate his sentences. So that was the how and why she ended up at St. Rabona's, a boarding school must have been the only option. Knowing Helen, she would have hated staying with a foster family, she would have thought it was all fake and for show.

"At least your mom wanted to be with you, so don't say that it's not important!" Helen said, her words becoming shaky, "It makes all the difference when they're gone, because you know she loved you!" Helen's grip on Nicholas' hand was starting to hurt, and it made Nicholas feel pathetic, his problems felt like they were drastically blown out of proportion, like they were nothing compared to what Helen was feeling. Deneve was probably the only person she had told about her family, all the same, Nicholas wished he had never heard it. He wished Helen had never had to go through all that. "At least someone gave a damn about you... at least you know what it's like to be cared for..."

"... Helen, you should know too." Nicholas said to his friend as she kept her eyes focused on the ground between them. There was enough light to see tears in her eyes, a sight Nicholas had not wanted to see. He was reminded just how cold it was and stepped closer to Helen. Tomboyish as she was, he got the feeling that she wanted to be held once and a while. He pulled her close to him as she cried, her tears sliding off her face and striking his heavy black jacket, though they probably froze before that point. "I give a damn."

"I know" Helen sniffed and tried to smile, "So, I guess; if you ever need to like... talk or something, I can listen."

"Are you sure? Listening has never really been your thing." Nicholas smiled, as Helen squeezed him tightly, punched him in the gut and let go in almost one motion. "Thank you, Helen. I'm sorry I've been so grouchy tonight."

"You're always like that, dude." Helen chirped, dragging Nicholas up the cobblestone walkway. "But it's alright; I know you've got my back. Now hurry it up, gimpy, didn't you say you wanted to make it back before curfew?" The long walk back to castle campus felt a lot shorter and not as cold. When the two teenagers finally arrived at the massive wooden gates, they discovered they were lucky enough to have made it back before curfew. "Thanks for the jacket, Nicky. Maybe I did need it after all. I don't want to see any slacking on the job I've given you, report back to me by mid day tomorrow if you find any info on those ranked girls from YOMA-SLAYER."

"Um, sure... Have a good night, Helen." Helen waved and walked up the hallway in the direction of the girls dormitories. Nicholas could hardly believe it, was he in a good mood? Maybe all he needed to do was talk after all. As entered the male dormitory corridor, he stopped at his room, number three-cubed, and took a moment to try and convince himself that the room next to the ice machine wasn't so bad. What the hell was he thinking? He could hear the goddamn thing all night, especially when the jocks from the football team would get ice for their water bottles in the morning. He prayed to God their early morning practice would be cancelled the next day and opened his door, to find his two best friends lounging in his room.

"Hey, was wondering when you'd drop in!" Raki chirped, waving his indie magazine over his head like a zealot displaying his flag. Across from him on his bed in the corner of the room sat Isley, casually strumming his acoustic guitar. Isley was in his senior year at St. Rabona's but remained a close friend to Raki and Nicholas, and an irreplaceable coach for tough situations, especially with girls.

"How are you feeling?" Isley asked as Nicholas blushed, "How was your date?"

"It wasn't like that." Nicholas replied grouchily, ignoring his friend's first question. He tossed his soaking wet jacket over the back of the chair at his desk. He sat down on the floor and leaned his back up against his bed, with Raki leaning over him with an apologetic look on his face.

"Hey, sorry about dinner," Raki began, "I was going to come up to remind you but Clare started talking to me-"

"By that, he means he saw her and stalked her for a few minutes until she threatened to sever his arms below the biceps." Isley interrupted, smiling back at Raki with a set of charmingly white teeth.

"What the hell! You wanna let me finish?" Raki shot back, turning to Nicholas, who had an obvious look on his face – he didn't care. "But guys, this time she was totally into me, she like, aw, Nicholas why do you have to make that face? It's totally ruining my Clare-vibe."

"Raki, what's the most positive thing she's said to you in the last week?" Nicholas asked, as Isley chuckled and set his guitar down beside the bed he sat on. Raki seemed to ponder for several seconds.

"She said, 'Leave me alone, or I'll just might break your kneecaps and make you eat them." He then admitted proudly.

"... How is that positive?" Nicholas asked, while Isley said nothing.

"She said she just might break my kneecaps, not that she definitely would." The brown haired boy smiled. "I'd let that girl break my kneecaps anyday."

"Raki, to be honest, I'm worried about you." Nicholas warned, "She's an attractive girl, but..."

"Hey man, I don't diss the girls you like." Raki replied, folding his arms across himself, "In fact, I've always supported you in your endeavours with the opposite sex."

"... No you haven't." But neither friend was listening.

"Come to think of it, when was the last time you had an interest in a girl?" Isley asked a little out of nowhere.

"I don't have the brain capacity for women right now." Nicholas said with a grand sense of absolution,

"Well, come to a show sometime soon, I know you'll meet someone you like once you loosen up a bit," Isley said, "It's been forever since you've been to one of the band's shows." His band, Awakened, was popular amongst their age group and played a lot of shows in Pieta. Isley was talented with a guitar and a great vocalist, not to mention the girls of St. Rabona's thought he was the clichéd cat's pyjamas. "Sleep on it, I'll see you two in the morning." Isley closed the door and hit the lights, leaving only the two bedside lamps on.

Nicholas tucked himself into his bed, a clear, friendly reminder for Raki to get the hell off his leg space. "I'm going to sleep," He said, and as Raki slid off the bed he set down his magazine.

"Hey, Nicky," Raki began.

"Uh oh." He thought.

"Did you mean it when you said Clare might not be the right girl?" Raki, despite his hyperactive tendencies he did have a serious side. He looked serious, and almost afraid, as if Nicholas' words could physically hurt him. Nicholas had to think for a second: Clare was not a bad girl, she was diligent and hard working, but that was where Raki and her clashed.

"No, I think you should do what you want." Nicholas said, "You don't need to ask."

"Thanks, Nicky." Raki said, "Are you staying up for a bit?"

"I suppose so."

"I totally saw you and Helen cuddling outside, by the way." Raki smirked like a confident super sleuth,

"Goodnight." Nicholas groaned, and hit the light switch. He prayed classes the next day would not be awkward, uncomfortable and unpleasant, but knowing his luck they most likely would be.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

So this is chapter one! A few ends to tie up, the city of Pieta in this fic could be compared to Paris, France, or even a busier Tours, France. Think Notre-Dame cathedral for the architecture of the school, lots of wide archways and stone pillars and such. There are obvious out-of character moments, but hey, this is a fanfic after all... there will be more in character moments as the story progresses and new characters introduced...

Ready for part two?
Will Raki ever grow a moustache?
Will Helen learn her drum solo before the big show?
Will Nicholas get the stick out of his butt and have some fun...?

... Probably not. Thanks for reading!