"I hear they eat little girls like you up in dorms like these away from Mommy and Daddy." Reid Garwin leaned up to the girl standing in line before him, grinning. The petite blonde turned around and rolled her eyes at him.
"Hmm, wonder which would be worse, them or you? I think you look a little shiesty yourself." The blonde shot back, her big blue eyes locking with his.
"She told you!" Tyler laughed, covering his mouth to hide the smile. Reid didn't like being the one who had not gotten the last word in.
"A feisty one, huh? I like them feisty." Reid rubbed his hands together, always up for a challenge.
"Don't do it. Caleb will go nuts if you use." Tyler elbowed his friend, not trusting his friend's judgment. So much had happened over the last year. The four 'brothers' were back at Spenser, getting ready for summer school and standing in line to register for books and the whole process.
"Is he bothering you? Cause I can kick his ass if you would like." Caleb offered, coming up on the side of the pretty blonde headed girl and his boys.
"What up?? Fashionably late as always, I see." Reid nodded, giving his friend a half hug.
"Oh, I'm sure he's harmless." The blonde smiled, turning back around to face the front of the line.
"I don't know, I'm still deciding that one." Caleb grinned. "You new here?" He asked, switching his papers to the other hand to extend a hand to shake hers.
"Why does he always think he gets the ladies??" Reid huffed, shaking his head, watching the blonde smile and be wooed by his charm.
"That's our boy." Pogue leaned up and replied behind Reid and Tyler, out of breath. He had just jogged the entire distance from the dorms to the school and was glad to catch his crew still in line. "Face it, Me and Caleb are the babes of our group." He laughed jokingly.
"More like the dorks, baby boy." Reid blew into his clasped hands, noticing how much colder the temperature had dropped in what was now the late afternoon of the day.
"Hmm, maybe it's just girls like the smart ones." Tyler shrugged, looking up at the fast darkening sky.
"Yeah, well, they don't know a whole package when they see it." Reid shook his head, adjusting his collar and his pride.
"We can hear you and you can be quiet anytime." Caleb smiled politely and said through clenched teeth, making the blonde laugh. He turned back to her. "Well, can I get your name?" he asked, not sure why he was liking her but he was.
"Laken Michaels." She nodded, shivering.
"Laken? Was you born on a lake?" Reid asked, laughing.
"No, thank you very much. I'm from Oklahoma, actually. Believe it or not, we do have cars that use gas and we even have skyscrapers. Next year, I hear we just might get a few light poles to give us some of that what you'ins call electricity." She said in a very heavy, more embellished southern twang of an accent, being sarcastic.
"Wow, touchy touchy. Guess your name has been an issue for sometime now, huh?" Reid laughed, shaking his head.
"Oklahoma, huh? You are pretty far away from home. I'm Pogue Parry. This is Tyler Sims, and that blonde that keeps on bugging you is Reid Garwin." Pogue stuck out his hand to shake hers.
"Nice to meet you. Yeah, I am far away from home. I love it here, it's beautiful." She smiled, looking at all the trees blowing in the wind that was now picking up.
"He's really not that bad once you get to know him, I promise. " Caleb said, putting his hands in his jacket as the two stood around, watching the other three play fight on the grass after they had made it through the line.
"That's good to know." She smiled, looking at her schedule. "I have heard it's really hard to get used to it here." She sighed, starting to feel stressed as night fell over the big campus.
"Who told you that? It's all in perception, I'd say." Caleb shrugged.
"My boyfriend. He's the one who suggested I come here." She replied, sitting on a fallen, oversized tree and looking up at the twinkling night sky.
"A boyfriend, huh? Where's he at? A girl shouldn't walk in these woods back to the dorm all by herself. He should be walking you home." Caleb scoffed somewhat.
"Oh, he doesn't go here anymore. He got bored and quit. I'm not sure why and we don't really get to talk all that much these days since he had to start working and all. He's out of state and stuff." Laken faked a smile.
"Interesting. Come on, I'll walk you to the dorms." He offered, taking her huge stack of books out of her hands.
"You don't have to. I can manage it." She smiled, shaking her head. She didn't want him to feel obligated to help her. She was used to doing things herself.
"My pleasure. I insist." Caleb smiled back at her. He loved how intense her blue eyes were. It was almost as if he was spellbound by them.
"So, do you have a girlfriend?" She asked, staring at her feet, loving her shoes she had specially picked out for her first day here at Spencer. She silently scolded herself for asking that question but couldn't think of anything else to talk with and the only thing worse that thn question was a dead, uncomfratable silence.
"Nope. I haven't really dated since I have been here. Except once last year and well, that's a whole complicated story. Maybe we should save that for the next walk." He smiled, not wanting to bring up Sara or the whole ordeal he had tried so hard to let go.
"So, you think there will be a next time, huh?? Pretty advantageous of you, I'd say." Laken smiled, her eyes twinkling with the way the light had hit them. He stared her in the eyes and tried to resist playing with her long blonde hair that reminded him of spun gold.
"Yeah, that did sound pretty conceited, huh?" he laughed, looking down and shaking his head.
"I'm just kidding. I'm hoping we can have another walk too." She smiled, looking at the doorway. "Do you stay in these dorms?" She asked.
"Nope, he doesn't. But I do." Reid smiled, dropping in front of them like he had fell from out of the sky. Caleb gave him a 'you should know better' look out of concern for him doing it in front of her.
"We left you back there like an hour ago. How did you get in front of us?" Laken looked at her watch, very confused. "Where did you come from?" She asked, her eyes wide. There was only open space so it wasn't like he could have came from behind somewhere.
"He took a shortcut and came around another way. He's trying to mess with you. He's pretty funny like that, aren't you, Reid?" Caleb asked, smiling but giving Reid his famous eyes that translated into 'what the hell did you do that for' look, one that he was often giving the boys in his group.
"I'm a regular joker, I am." Reid smiled. " Come on, I'll walk you in and to your room. Caleb stays off campus." Reid put an arm around the girl and smiled at him inncocently as he ushered her in.
"Nice to meet you, Laken. I'll call you later, Reid." Caleb called over his shoulder. "You had better hope you answer, boy." He grumbled to himself as he walked off, not too happy with Reid.
"So what floor you staying on?" Reid asked, opening the door for her.
"Umm, the fifth." She made up an answer for lack of a better one.
"There's no way you could be on the fifth. That is for storage. Seriously, I'm not a perv or a threat, but if you don't want to tell me, its' cool. I can deal." Reid shrugged, trying to not take offence to her lying to him.
"No, it's not like that. I just forgot is all. I guess I'm still getting over the jet lag and all. It's the third." She smiled, patting him on the shoulder. "Besides, you seem all right to me. Course what do I know, I'm just a country girl and all." She twanged again, laughing.
"I guess I do deserve that one." He grinned back at her. "So, I won't crack anymore jokes if you retire that fake accent of yours." He held out his hand for a hand shake.
"Deal." She shook it and nodded in agreement.
"So, this is my floor. I'm down the hall in 222 if you need anything. You can pick up the phones and dial the room numbers directly so just call if you need anything." He nodded, giving her a wave as the elevator door closed on her to take her up to the third floor. She sighed and got out of the elevator and posted herself up against a wall. She slid down the wall, exhausted and anxious with worry. The truth was, she didn't have a room. The room that had been paid for her by her dad was no longer available since he had given the school a bad check. By the time she had found the money to replace it, they had given it to someone who didn't have an alcoholic, who wasn't a forgetfull father who could afford to pay for it on the spot. She was not sure what was going to happen and the admissions department had told her they would have to work something out in the morning. It was easy for them to let it go until morning, her nerves weren't as so calm about the situation.
"Hey you. You can't sleep in the halls, especially when it is storming like nuts with all these open windows. The lightning will keep you up all night." A tall, slender dark headed girl smiled at her, carrying her shower supplies back from the bathroom.
"Tell that to the admissions department." Laken shook her head, her tone of voice quite bitter sounding.
"Did they not give you a room today?" The girl asked, combing her long, wet black hair as she stood in front of the exhausted girl.
"You could say that. We have to try to find one in the morning." Laken, overwhelmed and tired, tried to hold back her tears. Nothing was working out for her right now and she was used to that sort of thing but she had just knew that this was going to be the change she needed to make her luck turn itself around and give her the big break she had been longing for.
"Why wait til morning, I have a free bed in my room. I think everyone is scared to stay in my room. I had a stuck up cheerleader in there earlier and she decided to find a different room." The girl laughed, not bothered by the girl leaving.
"There seems to be a lot of stuck up people here, I gotta admit." Laken agreed whole heartedly, having been snuffed by numerous girls she had passed today.
"Come on, you can be my roommate. You seem pretty cool. I'm Talon, by the way." She said, as she extended a hand to the girl to help her up.
"Thanks. I'm Laken." The blonde smiled as she got up. "I hope you don't think all cheerleaders are stuck up. I used to be one. And I hate stuck up cheerleaders." She smiled, relieved to have made a friend and to have found a room.
"Nah, I don't make judgments by the type of stuff a person does or who they hang out with, just by how they act themselves." Talon smiled, opening her door. The window was open and blowing, making the room smell of an after rain storm smell.
"I love the rain. But this place seems kinda creepy at night. Thank you so much for letting me room with you. I love how you have your side decorated." Laken was taking in all of Talon's decorations and how she had set up her room. She had so many interesting trinkets and pictures and just fascinating stuff that Laken sould amuse herself just by staring at it all.
"And before someone tells you anything, I am not a witch like it is rumored or they think. Just because I like to study the old Wicca rumors and the Ipswich colony doesn't make me a witch. I might be a bitch but I'm not a witch." Talon laughed, making Laken laugh at her rhyme.
"Well, you can't be that much of a bitch if you were nice to me. I mean, no one today other than this group of guys even acknowledged me. I started to wonder if I had the plague, to tell you the truth." Laken sunk on the bed, sitting criss-crossed as she stared at Talon brush her length waist black as night tinted with purple hair color on the roots. Laken had to admit the girl looked very goth like or Wiccan like but then she chided herself. She hated people labeling her, especially as a dumb cheerleader stereotype so why was she doing it to this person who had just befriended her and saved her from a long night?
"Well, at least you won't have trouble getting a date around here, or so it sounds." Talon teased, making Laken roll her eyes.
"Yeah, right. If I didn't have a man, I would still be weary of dating someone from here. I mean, this group of guys was quite interesting and the blonde in the group was quite bold and I don't even know how the four of them are friends. They are all so different. And like, it's hard to explain but they have this attention getting presence. I bet you think I am weird, huh?" Laken asked, laying back on her bed, loving the feel of a bed beneath her. She had had the longest day in her entire life and was so tired and her body was so tense that the bed felt like heaven.
"A presence huh?? A blonde causing trouble? What did the other guys look like? I might know who you are talking about." Talon stopped brushing her hair and watched Laken now.
"Well, the other three were all dark headed and one was named Caleb, he walked me home and then there were two other ones. One was really quiet and one had longer hair, almost like a hockey player would and …." Laken rambled, with her eyes closed as she talked. She found herself becoming very sleepy after all of the day's events. The first day was always the hardest and this one had been one of the hardest she had ever had in her entire life.
"Did you happen to get their names?? Caleb?? Hmm, was one of them named Tyler?" Talon asked, turning off the lights and getting into her bed with a yawn.
"I think so. I can't remember. One was named Reid. He stays in 222. He's the hyper blonde I was telling you about." Laken yawned, drifting off to sleep and her words stopping as she began to fall into a deep slumber.
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"Trouble maker, troublemaker, watch your back. Don't pick on people and talk your smack." A girl in a dark shadowy frame sat on the edge of Reid's bed singing over and over as he stirred fitfully. He sat up to see the dark figure, his chest breathing hard and his forehead pouring sweat.
"Whh..what do you want??" He asked, holding the covers under his chin like a frightened child who had a nightmare would.
"You scared, little boy?" the voice asked in a whisper, causing the fog from the breath to circulate above the bed.
"Just tell me what you want." Reid tried to not panic, rubbing his eyes. "This is just a dream. Wake up, Reid. Wake up." He ordered to himself.
"Only crazy people talk to themselves, you know." The voice whispered, a blackened hand reaching out to pat him on the shoulder, making him jump up in his bed.
"I'm not crazy!!" He yelled back, throwing a pillow at the dark figure, the pillow going right through the 'ghost'. The ghost laughed, the laugh echoing in his ears.
"I don't know, it's debatable." The voice replied in a sing song voice yet again.
"Tell me what you want." Reid ordered.
"Baby Boy, I give the orders, you take the orders." The ghost's black smokey image swirled, almost as if angered, and then resumed into the figure it was sitting on the chair right next to the bed. This caused Reid to scream like a little girl. "I don't bite. Usually." The ghost laughed yet again, making Reid feel a bit dizzy.
"Please tell me what you want!!" He begged, sweat pouring down his face as he panted heavily. He wasn't the type to play tricks on his friends like this and he knew if this was a trick, it was a mean one.
"In due time, I'll be back. Don't wait up for me." The ghost called, disappearing under the door. Reid picked up his phone and dialed Caleb.
"What's up? It can't be time for class already." Caleb mumbled, the phone ringing making him irritable.
"You jackass!! You scared me, you happy now?" Reid asked, his voice full of anger. "Don't give me that I was sleeping crap either because I know it was you!" Reid yelled into his cell phone.
"What are you talking about, Reid?? I have been asleep since I hit the door. You okay?" Caleb sat up, concerned at how panicked Reid sounded.
"I just got visited by a smoking black ghost. Telling me it would be back and I shouldn't play tricks on people and and and…" Reid tried to find the words to talk but was not doing too good of a job at it.
"I'll be right over. Meet me at your window and let me in." Caleb said, jumping out of bed. "And damn, calm down. " He added, worried Reid would have heart failure before he made the five mile journey to get to him.
"I'll try. You have no idea how scary that thing was!" Reid took a deep breath.
"YEAH, I have no idea how scary dark magic can be, you got me there." Caleb scoffed sarcastically, having seen more horrendous stuff than Reid could ever imagine.