A week later Ian and Anthony were sitting in their science class again, discussing what a nightmare their maths teacher was, while they were supposed to be completing a worksheet. Their teacher walked between the isles handing back the poster which Anthony and Ian had so wonderfully completed. They grew quiet as Mr. Johnston grew closer to them. Anthony looked at the mark written in red ink.

"Four out of ten. I'm pretty sure thats the worst mark I've gotten all year" Anthony said, a hint of disappointment in his tone.

"Me too. High five bro!" Ian replied, with light hearted sarcasm. They congratulated each other and laughed their way back into work.

Anthony felt he had gotten to know more about Ian in this week than he ever did about anyone. Ian had told him about how he had moved from another area in Sacramento to this one, because his parents wanted a bigger house, but his new house was too far away from his old school to still go there, so he joined this one. Also about how Ian and his sister were constantly fighting, and Anthony felt a sense of protectiveness over Ian because of this, and despised his sibling despite having never met her.

Ian and Anthony were sitting at the lunch table, prodding at something that had been labeled "Pasta with Tuna" at the lunch line, but was so oily that it felt like swallowing a slug with a similar taste as well. Ian pushed his plate away from him, unable to consume anymore, he looked at Anthony who was still prodding at his plate of food.

"My parents are having this stupid house warming party on the weekend now that we've 'finally unpacked', I don't suppose you'd want to come would you?" Ian looked expectantly and hopefully at Anthony. He knew his sister would be inviting some friends her old school, but no one really sat next to him at his previous school, so he had no one from there. There was his old neighbor, but he was three years older than Ian and had probably already forgotten about him. Anthony was his first choice and last resort.

"Yeah sure. Write down your address and I'll ask my Dad if he'll drive me there" Anthony had replied quickly.

"Seriously?" Ian was surprised that Anthony took an interest in his life away from school. He took out a scrap piece of paper, torn from the back page of an exercise book.

"It's on Saturday from two o'clock," he said as he wrote down his address. He passed it to Anthony who looked over it quickly and put it in his jean pocket.

Anthony read the address with dismay. Ian lived in a far more expensive and richer area than Anthony did. His house would be able to fit a lot more people than his house could. He realised that Ian would be there with him so it wouldn't matter that much, but Ian wasn't the only one that was going to be there. Anthony's mind began to gallop as he put the address in his pocket. More people at Ian's meant more people to talk to, to be around. They would be watching him, as Ian was watching him now.

"Dude, are you okay?"

Anthony could feel his hear beating wildly and out of time, it felt as though his heart was trying to break through his ribs. His body began to shake uncontrollably. He was beginning to lose control of his actions and it petrified him. He saw Ian saying something to him, but he couldn't understand them. Ian's hand landed on his arm, he felt paraliysed, but the heat from Ian's hand felt like a burning ember. He swung in Ian's direction, and he felt his hand collide with Ian's body. Anthony had just hit his only friend. He had expected and hoped that Ian would let him go, but he just held him tighter and started to drag him somewhere.

Anthony hated the contact, he simply wanted to get away. Anthony saw that they had entered a brightly lit room, but he had been so committed in trying to remain conscious, as his heart attempted to escape from his chest, that everything else seemed to disappear. Ian had let go of him now but the intensity of the bright light made him feel claustrophobic and paranoid. He just wanted to run away, but he couldn't, because this thing was inside of him. He tried concentrating on his breathing, counting in tens as his as his vision came back, then control of his body and finally his heart beat at a normal pace.

Anthony looked at his surroundings, he was in the boys bathroom again, sitting on the floor. Ian was looking at him, with a scared but relieved look on his face. Another boy, who looked to be two years older than Anthony looked at him in either fear or awe, possible both.

"You looked like you just had an exorcism or something." The boy said still staring at him. Anthony felt rate and insulted at this comment, but he knew that if he spoke, his voice would sound cracked and forced.

"Just go away, man." Ian said

The boy opened his mouth as though he were about to start arguing with Ian, but at that moment the door to the bathroom opened by a boy who looked to be the same age as the other boy, with dark hair and thick rimmed glasses.

"David, come on. How long can it take you to pee?"

The boy, David, mumbled something that sounded like "I'm coming" and retreated to join his friend.

"What a dick," Ian said when David left "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, it was just a panic attack" Anthony replied, but he still felt uncomfortable with the way that Ian had handled him, and when Ian offered him a hand up, Anthony didn't take it. They walked back to their abandoned lunch in silence.

David "Lasercorn" Moss suddenly grew conscious again as his phone began blaring out the soundtrack to Mass Effect, why did he have to choose that as his wake up call? Any other day he would have hit snooze, but he didn't have time to spare. His stomach ached and his mouth tasted sour, due to eating far too late last night. There was a sharp, persistent pain above his eyes, which watered as he yawned. Even in the middle of a Sacramento summer, he still felt cold as he pealed off his covers. He grabbed some clothes from his closet, not really caring if they matched, and put them on, still in the dark of very early morning. He walked out of his room, passing his packed suitcase by the door as he made his way to the kitchen. He clamped his eyes shut as he flicked the light switch on, and waited until he could open his eyes, without feeling any pain. He looked at the analogue clock, which had been placed on a counter leaning precariously against the wall, as he had not bothered to attach it to a wall. It took him longer than he woulds have liked to admit to decipher the handles and read the time as 04:55. He was still on time. He started boiling water and placing spoonfuls of an instant coffee, which David hated the taste of, into a cup. After adding an unhealthy amount of sugar to the cup, he poured in the steaming water and walked over to the coffee table in the middle of the main room. With his awful flavored coffee in one hand, which he drank nonetheless, he reached down picked up two tickets. One to New York and the second, a ticket to New York ComicCon.